Melissa excitedly tapped away on her computer, finishing up the blueprints for the Full Gauntlets 2.0. They were far from being finished, but they were going to be much tougher than the first one she'd made. After all, it was just a prototype. This would be part of a set that would also cover the legs. She was calling that set Full Greaves.

The blonde woman pushed some hair back behind her ear, looking out the window. She felt a stab of pain as she looked out over the landscape of Japan. She wished her father were here, but something in her heart was still proud of him, if not furious.

After the I-Island incident, once everyone from UA left, her father, David Shield, long time friend of All Might, turned himself into the authorities, confessing in court that he was the one who masterminded the entire attack. Melissa was understandably angry at him, but he simply told her it's what someone who stood by the Symbol of Peace for so long should do and that no wrong goes unpunished, hugging his crying daughter tightly. He promised he'd write every day and she promised she'd answer.

After that, as she had only just turned seventeen, she was being sent to live with her godfather, the number one hero himself, All Might. She was heartbroken that she had to leave her friends at the academy behind, but she didn't leave with nothing. They all made gifts for her and made sure she had their contact info.

As a way to get over her depression and boredom from the sixteen hour flight, she busied herself with her work. She was going to be going to UA's support class, which meant she was going to the same school as Deku! She felt her face flush a bit as she imagined his smiling face, his raw determination, his nerdy, fanboy habits. He was a bit short, yeah, and if she were honest, she liked taller boys (her ex-boyfriends could attest to that), but something about Izuku Midoriya of UA drew her in. She hadn't had a crush on a boy in a while, it was kinda startling.

"We are beginning our final approach to Musutafa International Airport. All passengers are to have their seats in the upright positions and have their seat restraints securely fastened. We also would like to ask that all electronic devices be turned off at this time." The pilot said over the intercom. Melissa saved her progress on her project, switching it and her phone off before getting strapped down. She didn't know what she was more excited for, seeing Uncle Might again, or seeing Deku.

The plane shook hard as it began to fall in altitude. This part always made Melissa nervous. She did some deep breathing to stay calm until the plane gave a particularly rough shake.

"Alright, passengers, it seems that we're not going to get the smooth landing we wanted. Please, ensure that you're properly wearing your oxygen mask and assume crash position." On cue, the oxygen masks dropped in front of everyone. Melissa's heart was pounding as she grabbed her mask. She turned a bit to see the little girl across the lane was freaking out. Her mother had gone to the restroom just a few minutes ago and she wasn't back. The blonde girl hopped up and moved to her.

"Shhhh, shhh, it's okay, sweetie. Your mom will be right back." Melissa said reassuringly before grabbing her mask. "Here, get this on." She helped get the mask on her standing somewhat over the girl, trying to keep her calm as she waited. The plane lurched hard, like it had slammed into something, but there was metal being torn away. Melissa shouted as she was battered against the seat in front of them, leading to the baggage compartment opening and one of the bags hitting her in the head. She faintly felt someone hold her up and a loud voice fill the cabin.

"FEAR NOT CITIZENS! YOU ARE SAFE! FOR I AM HERE!"

Melissa groaned loudly as she finally started to open her eyes. She was laying in a bed in brightly lit room. She looked around to see a woman, the girl from the plane, an airport security guard, and her Uncle Might. All Might was the first to realize his goddaughter was awake. "Melissa! You're awake!" The mountain of a man lifted her up as easily as lifting a child, hugging her close before putting her down. He was wearing a yellow striped suit that seemed to be straining to contain him.

"Hey, Uncle Might. What happened?" She said, slowly sitting up before clutching at her pounding head.

The hulking mass of muscle gently pushed her back into the bed. "Easy now, Melissa, you took quite a hit. A baggage compartment wasn't closed properly, so when I stopped the plane, it opened and a bag hit you in the head while you were helping that little girl."

The little girl in question walked up, looking at the floor. "Sorry you got hurt helping me, miss. I used my Quirk to try and heal you, but I'm not very good at controlling it."

Melissa smiled and pat the girl on her head. "Hey, what's the frown for? Sure, you may not have a lot of control yet, but you'll get there. Do you want to be a hero when you grow up?" The girl smiled and nodded her head vigoursly, much to her mothers and All Mights amusement. "Well, a bit of advice I got from my Uncle Might might just help you out. He told when I was your age that a true hero always smiles, no matter what. In our world," Melissa used her fingers to make an exaggerated smile, "the ones who are always smiling are the ones who are the strongest."

Toshinori felt an immense swell of pride at that. Seeing Melissa, a Quirkless woman with the heart of a hero, passing on his masters words to another… He cleared his throat, catching everyone's attention. "Melissa is right, little one. A true hero keeps that smile, even in the hardest of times. Remember that, and you will be a wonderful hero."

After that, they talked a bit more about what happened, All Might gave Melissa back her glasses, and the mother and her daughter left after both hugging Melissa (and the girl riding on All Mights shoulders for a bit.), leaving the number one hero alone with his goddaughter.

All Might sat down with a huff, Melissa noticing something. "Um, Uncle Might?" He looked up at her. "You're smoking, like there's smoke coming off of you."

The hero looked at himself, noticing as well. "Well, that's disheartening, but I suppose you were gonna find out one way or the other. I can't hold this form forever, like I used to." A massive puff of smoke filled the room. Melissa coughed as she waved her hand, trying to disperse it, but to no avail. It did clear after so long, though, leaving the young girl too shocked. Her uncle deflated! "Well, this is what I really look like. Your father knew about this form, but I hid it from you when you were little. Sorry. You always said I was invincible, that no one could beat me, so I tried to keep that up around you, but now, I can't. You're gonna be living with me, so you're gonna need to know about this."

"H-how-"

"My muscle form is the form I take when I'm using my Quirk. This is what I look like otherwise." Melissa just looked astonished. This lanky man was really the same All Might her father idolized? The same man they had come to see as family. But… she knew it was him. His eyes. In his eyes still burned the heart of a hero. Of the worlds Symbol of Peace and Justice.

She smiled gently. "I have a lot of questions, but I'm sure they can wait til we get home." Toshinori smiled and nodded. "We'll sit in here for a bit, let you catch your breath, then we can go."

'Always thinking of others. That's what makes you so remarkable, Melissa.' "Before we leave, I need to tell you, not everyone knows about this form, so when I'm like this, you need to call me Toshinori or something along those lines, okay?"

"Okay, Uncle Toshi." Melissa said, making them both laugh a bit. After a few minutes of Melissa lying her head in Toshinori's lap and he uncle idly checking her wound, saying he was playing with her hair, they both got up, Toshinori transformed and they walked out of the terminals security room. After grabbing her bags and working through the throng of All Might fans, they finally got to the car.

All Might rolled up the blacked out windows and started driving down the road before transforming back to his true form. "Dammit, that's getting exhausting." He looked at Melissa, seeing her with the same expression as her father. She was lost in thought. "Hey, kiddo, you wanna go someplace to eat? There's a McDonalds not too far from here." The deadpan look said it all, making the elder man laugh. "All right, all right, no McDonalds, but I'm sure you're hungry."

Melissa was silent for a bit as Toshinori ran down the list of restaurants in the area. "Uncle Toshi?" He hummed in response as they stopped at a red light. "Why can't you hold your hero form anymore?"

The man went quiet for a long while after that. "I'll explain when we get home, okay? I promise."

Melissa nodded, her heart clenching in her chest. Whatever had put this limiter on him, it had to be what made her dad try and steal back his research. It must be bad. After they came to a consensus on what they wanted to eat (pizza, surprisingly, considering Melissa was normally pretty hardcore on watching what she ate despite the fact that she could eat just about anything and not gain a pound), they got home. All Mights apartment was actually rather normal, at least compared to what many would think of his home to look like. It was a large apartment with a fairly large kitchenette off the den with the wall on the opposite wall being a giant window. He had a flat screen tv on the wall with an assortment of devices under it, different video players and a cable box.

Melissa poured herself some juice and her uncle some tea to go with the meal, sitting beside him as he started a movie for them to watch. They ate in comfortable silence after that.

All Might was a bit shocked to say the least. Melissa, after everything she'd been through, was adapting fairly well. Either that, or suppressing all of it, which honestly wouldn't surprise him. She'd been through a lot in the past month. "So, hey, Izuku and his class are gearing up for their final exams."

Izuku's name definitely got her attention, almost so quick it made her uncle laugh… and spew blood, which did scare her a bit. "Sorry about that. But, yeah, there's this training camp they're getting ready for and the exam is just before it."

"Wow! I'm sure they'll do great, but I'm guessing there's a written exam, huh?" All Might nodded. "Well, maybe we could hold a study session here and I could help them out if they needed it?" she suggested.

"Huh, that's not a bad idea, Melissa. I'll let Izuku know that I'm doing that, but he doesn't know you're here yet. Maybe we could surprise him and everyone else with that, though I'm sure he's the one you really wanna surprise." All Might had seen right through her. The thing she was most excited about was seeing Deku again, the proof was written in the dark blush on her face.

But now, came the tough part. He wouldn't tell her about One for All, not yet if at all, at least, but he couldn't just ignore the elephant in the room. "Melissa. Do you still think I'm invincible?"

Melissa took a bite of her pizza and looked to her uncle. "Well, it's hard to think of you as anything else." She set the slice down and smiled lightly at him.

'She looks so much like her mother.' He pushed those thoughts out of his mind. It'd just dredge up more problems. "Well, the grim reality is that no one is invincible. No one is immortal, and people can and do get hurt, even the strongest of heroes." He lifted his shirt, Melissa clapping her hands over her mouth as she looked at his wound, horror written on her face.

"My god…"

"Yep, that's what Izuku said. Pretty gross, huh? It happened about five years ago in a fight most of the world doesn't even know happened. Most of my respiratory system and my whole stomach was destroyed. But, I'm the Symbol of Peace. The guy who's always supposed to be smiling. I actually started to lose faith around the beginning of this year. Right up until I met a young boy who asked me if he could be a hero too. This boy, despite being told no, that he couldn't be a hero, threw himself headlong into the danger without a second thought to try and save a friend. He was Quirkless at the time and had no outstanding abilities other than his heart.

But this," he motioned to his wound. "this is the reality that I live in and that young Midoriya now stands in. One day, something like this could happen to him."

Melissa was silent for a few moments after that. "That boy was Deku, wasn't it?" All Might nodded. "But, how? You said he was Quirkless."

Toshinori froze up. 'SHIT, I SLIPPED UP!' "Uh, well, his Quirk hadn't properly manifested yet, it activated due to stress."

The skeptical look his goddaughter gave him was enough to say she wasn't convinced, but she left it alone. As if to save him, his phone started ringing. 'A phone call is here, a phone call is here, a phone call is here!'

He picked it up while Melissa mulled over the fact that his ringtone was himself. "Hey, what's up, Young Midoriya? Mhmm, mhmm. Wait, you want to come to my place to study? Ohhhh, that makes sense. Sure, I'll text you the address."

Melissa looked at him oddly as he hung up. "Was that Deku?"

"Yeah, apparently his mother is having a book club and it's getting loud at his place, so he asked if he could study here. Oh, hold on." He texted out the address and asked if the boy had eaten dinner. After a moment, he put the phone away. "Good thing I ordered three pizza's. Midoriya hasn't eaten. The boy forgot to eat at lunch because he was studying."

"Remind me to smack him for that."

"Only if I don't get to him first." They both laughed at that. After about an hour, there was a knock at the door.

"Mr. Yagi? It's Izuku." 'Not bad, using my real name to keep people from swarming. Smart, young Midoriya.'

"I'm coming." He winked at Melissa who hid behind the door. He opened the door to see his young disciple smiling there and looking all kinds of nervous… and muttering to himself. "Wake up, Fanboy!" All Might screamed in his ear, causing him to jump almost six feet in the air.

"Sorry, All- I mean, Mr. Yagi." Deku said shakily.

All Might smiled and nodded as Melissa tried to not lose it. He was so cute! "It's alright. Come on in." Deku nodded and stepped in, taking in everything quickly before noticing the three pizza's on the table.

"Hey, All Might, I said I was hungry, but I don't think you and me can eat that much." 'And one of them has already been eaten out of.' He noticed.

"You're right, we can't."

"Texas…" Izuku turned at the sound of a new voice before being clocked in the jaw. "SMASH!" The hit didn't really hurt, but it did catch him off guard, knocking him over. He looked up to see Melissa shaking her now reddening hand with a smile on her face. "Maybe now you'll remember to eat lunch."

"Melissa!" He hopped up and much to everyone's, including his own surprise, lifted her up in a hug.

Melissa squealed in shock, but then started laughing, hugging her friend back. Deku blushed darkly and put her down, still in the hug. He tried to stammer out an apology, but she just quieted him. "Let's eat, you two." She sat down and grabbed her pizza, taking a bite. Deku tried to sit beside her, but was stopped when All Might transformed, picked his student up by his shirt and sat himself between them. "Uncle Might." Melissa said sternly, but the hero didn't relent, simply transforming back and starting another movie.

Deku didn't mind really. He got to see his friend, that was enough for him. Throughout the movie he learned why Melissa was there, reaching over his teacher to hold her hand as support for a moment before Toshinori 'accidently' broke them up by standing. "Anyone want something to drink?" he asked, ignoring Melissa's glare.

After the movie and more of All Might trying to keep the teens apart cause he's overprotective of them both, Melissa offered to help Deku study for his test. Deku thanked her and they moved to the dining room table. All Might thought about stepping between them again, but decided to leave it be. They didn't realize how late it had gotten until Deku got a call from his mom.

'Izuku, where are you? It's almost ten, baby!'

"Oh, wow, I had no idea it had gotten so late!" As Deku was about to hop up and head out the door, All Might asked for his phone, transforming into his hero form.

"Yes, Mrs. Midoriya? All Might here. Yes, ma'am, young Midoriya has been a model guest tonight. Well, I'm actually talking to you now because as you said, it is rather late and it wouldn't be safe to send Izuku out on such a long walk. With your permission, I'd like for Izuku to stay here the night and I'll bring him to school with me." A bit of talking on the other side. "Of course I'll be sure he showers!" Deku's face turned bright red in response, Melissa trying hard not to laugh at her friend. "All right! Have a wonderful night, ma'am!" He got off the phone and passed it back to Izuku, transforming back to his true form and panting heavily. "I've been doing that too much today. Melissa, your room is the one across from mine on the left and the bathroom is right next to it. Midoriya, you're welcome to the couch. There are spare blankets in the closet. Sorry, but this old man needs some sleep."

"You're not that old." The kids said, making him laugh before he walked to his room.

Both of them started laughing after a moment. "Well, I think I've studied enough for the night. Thanks, Melissa. You're a pretty good teacher."

"Well, you don't get to be one of the top students in I-Academy for nothing, but thank you." She stood up and walked back to the den, sitting down and patting the spot beside her. "I figured we could watch some more tv before we go to bed."

Deku blushed again at the thought of sitting so close to her, but he got up and sat beside her anyway, after putting the pizza away. They weren't watching the movie, simply talking about what had happened (mostly Deku). They talked about the Hero Killer, how they were caught off guard by him and Endeavor saving them, though Melissa eventually wormed the truth out of her friend. She'd heard of the Hero Killer and to hear that three students beat him was something else.

Izuku knew Melissa was bottling everything up, but he didn't want to press her for the info or why, but he did let her know he was there if she wanted to talk. Her response was to kiss his cheek, leading him to blush furiously, only to notice something wet on his cheek. He looked at her and noticed her quickly wiping face. Was… was she crying? They actually started watching the movie after that, Melissa leaning on Izuku as they did. He was so red faced, he couldn't hear the movie over the pounding of his heart.

When it ended, Melissa jumped up and grabbed his hands, dragging him to her room. He was powerless to stop her, standing in the doorway as she searched through her stuff. He tried not to look at her wiggling bottom as she looked for… whatever it was. She found it, her computer, and set it up. "Come here, I wanna show you something." She fired up the computer and pulled up her blueprints for the Full set.

"Hey, those look like the Full Gauntlet you gave me."

"Mhmm. I'm remaking it, and another as well as a set of greaves to go with it. Of course, I'm sure you're only going to use them in emergencies, but they'll be a good back up if you do need them. It'll be sometime before I have them done though. Hopefully, working on them during my off hours at the school will get them done faster, but it'll still be a while."

Deku wasn't too shocked. She was David Shields daughter after all, but something did cross his mind. "Melissa, are you making these for me?"

She nodded and turned back to him, taking his hand and having him sit down beside her. Her soft, nimble fingers traced his scar. "How exactly did you get this?" Deku told her the story, his bout with Todoroki and the surgery he needed afterwards. "I wanna make sure this doesn't happen too often. I know we only knew each other for a bit on I-Island, but I care about you. I don't want to see you get hurt." The memory of All Mights wound was still fresh in her mind, prompting Deku to gently squeeze her hand. She smiled softly, looking up at him as he smiled in return.

"Hey, Deku?" He hummed in response. "Do you… have someone special to you?" His face turned a brilliant red in response.

"W-well, n-n-no, not really, I-I mean, I-mmph!" He was cut off by Melissa gently pressing her lips to his. She lingered for a moment before pulling away.

"Sorry. I've always to prefer action over words, so I-mmph!" She was shocked when Izuku took the same course of action, despite the fact that his conscious mind hadn't done a damn thing, leaving him blushing heavily. Melissa's own cheeks were rather flushed too. She hadn't expected that. They both just remained silent until Deku said he was going to head back to the den. Melissa followed, saying she wanted to watch another movie in a monotone voice.

Neither kids really knew where to go from there, especially not Izuku. Melissa had dated before, but she was still at a loss for what to do. They simply sat, unconsciously holding each others hands before Melissa fell asleep leaning on her hero, Deku's eyes sliding shut soon after that. He wrapped his arm around her out of instinct as he tried to get comfy. The two kids slept better that night than they had in weeks.

All Might yawned as he walked out of his room. It was one AM and he needed to use the restroom, so he decided to check on Melissa, make sure she had settled in okay. When he saw that she wasn't in her room, he walked to the den, planning on reprimanding them for staying up so late, only to see them sleeping in each others arms. As much as his… fatherly? As much as his fatherly instincts told him to split them up, he couldn't bring himself to do it. He pulled out his phone and took a picture, intending to send a copy to David. He took off Melissa's glasses and gently pushed the two so they were laying down on the couch before covering them with a blanket.

He started to walk off when he heard Melissa sniffle. "Daddy…" All Might turned back around to see her crying, her face showing a wealth of pain and anger. He stepped forward to wake her, but Izuku simply wrapped his arms a bit tighter around her and she calmed down, as if he were protecting her from the nightmare she was being plagued by.

The hero smiled and turned back down the hall to the bathroom. 'They'll be good for each other. I know they will.'