My Hero Academia: Limitless

Bonus Chapter time!
I really should have taken them up on that offer.

The unfamiliar hallway stretched before me, each turn looking exactly like the last. Support course wing - how hard could it be to find? Turns out, pretty damn hard when every corridor decided to play musical chairs while I wasn't looking.

"Left at the chemistry lab, right at the biology wing..." I checked my phone. 4:47 PM. Forty-five minutes of wandering, and I was starting to suspect I'd somehow ended up in a different school entirely.

Todo's earlier words echoed in my head. "You sure you don't want company, besto friendo? The support course labs can be tricky to find."

"I've got it," I'd said, waving him off. "My sense of direction's gotten way better."

Katsumi had just snorted. "Better than what? A drunk penguin?"

"I'll be fine."

I was not, in fact, fine.

Now here I was, somewhere on what I thought might be the third floor, though I'd lost count of the stairs I'd climbed. The windows showed unfamiliar parts of the campus grounds. My phone's map app kept insisting I was somehow simultaneously in three different buildings.

A burst of laughter echoed down the hall, followed by rapid footsteps. I turned to see a flash of pale blue hair as someone rounded the corner at high speed.

"Oh! You're the USJ guy!"

Before I could process what was happening, a girl materialized inches from my face, her crystal blue eyes wide with curiosity. Her long hair drifted as if caught in an invisible current.

"The one who fought the Nomu! I saw the footage - that geometric barrier thing was super cool! How does it work? Does it hurt when it breaks? Can you make them different shapes? Why do they leave those light trails? Is it true you-"

"Breathe," I said, taking a step back. My brain finally caught up. Nejire Hado. One of UA's Big Three.

She inhaled deeply. "Right! Sorry, I get excited. But you're him, aren't you? From Class 1-A?"

"Yoichi Nakamura. And yeah, that was me."

"I'm Nejire! Though you probably knew that. Why are you up here? This is mostly third-year classrooms."

That explains the unfamiliar layout. "I was trying to find the support course labs. Need some costume adjustments."

"Oh, you're way off! Support's in the east wing, ground floor." She tilted her head. "How did you end up here?"

"Would you believe my exceptional navigation skills?"

"Nope!" Her smile widened. "Want me to show you? I was heading that way anyway. Well, I wasn't, but now I am because I have so many questions! Like how did you know to intercept the Nomu's punch? And what's with the lotus pattern thing your eyes do? And-"

I held up my hands in surrender. "I'll answer what I can if you help me find the labs."

"Deal!" She spun in place, her hair creating ethereal patterns in the air. "This way! So about that barrier-"

As we walked, her questions flowed like a river, one topic bleeding into the next without pause. The strange thing was, despite the rapid-fire delivery, each question was surprisingly insightful. She'd clearly analyzed the USJ footage in detail.

"The light trails," she said, gesturing excitedly as we descended a staircase, "they follow non-Euclidean patterns, right? Like they bend in ways that shouldn't work in normal space?"

"You noticed that?"

"Of course! It's similar to how my waves behave sometimes, when I'm pushing the limits of what should be physically possible. Reality gets a bit... stretchy."

I hadn't expected such a technical observation. "That's actually a good way to put it. The trails mark where space itself warps."

"Cool! And the lotus pattern - it spins faster when you're using more power, doesn't it? Like a visual gauge?"

"You got all that from security footage?"

She grinned. "I pay attention! Plus, quirk analysis is fascinating. Everyone's power works differently, but there are always patterns if you look close enough."

We turned down another corridor, and I finally spotted some familiar landmarks. The support labs were just ahead.

"Here we are!" Nejire said. "Hey, want to see something cool? Watch this!"

She held out her hand, creating a small spiral of energy that pulsed with a gentle blue light. "Your barrier thing reminded me of this. I've been working on contained wave forms - trying to make them more precise, less destructive. See how the energy cycles back on itself?"

I leaned closer, studying the intricate pattern. "That's impressive control."

"Thanks! Took forever to figure out the resonance frequencies. Oh! That reminds me - during the USJ fight, did you notice any frequency-based weaknesses in the Nomu's-"

The lab door burst open, cutting her off. A pink haired woman emerged, covered in soot and grinning maniacally. "WHO'S READY TO TEST SOME BABIES?"

"And that's my cue to leave," Nejire said, letting her energy dissipate. "Good luck with your costume! Oh, and if you ever want to compare notes on spatial manipulation quirks, I'm usually in the third-year commons after classes."

She waved and took off down the hall, her hair streaming behind her like a river of starlight. I watched her go, oddly disappointed our conversation had ended so abruptly.

"Well?" She grabbed my arm, yanking me into the lab. "Time's wasting! These babies won't test themselves!"

Why do I feel like I just traded one whirlwind for another?

The soot-covered girl dragged me through the lab's doorway, her grip surprisingly strong. Workbenches crammed with half-finished devices filled the space, and the air smelled of motor oil and ozone.

"Another victim for testing!" She spun me around. "I mean, valued customer! I'm Mei Hatsume, and these are all my beautiful babies!"

"Your... babies?"

"My inventions!" She gestured at the chaos surrounding us. "Each one perfect and- oh! Those eyes!"

She leaned in close, her crosshair pupils dilating as they focused on my face.

"The lotus pattern... the dimensional refraction... Grace! GRACE! You need to see this!"

"Volume, Mei." A tall girl in a black crop top looked up from her workbench, orange-tinted goggles pushed up into her dark hair. "Some of us are trying to calibrate sensitive equipment."

"But look at his eyes! The quantum mechanics alone-"

"I can see them fine from here." Grace set down her tools and approached, her movements precise and deliberate. "Yoichi Nakamura. The USJ incident. Your barrier technology is fascinating."

"It's not really tech-"

"Even better." She pulled out a tablet. "Natural quantum manipulation. Much more efficient than mechanical approximation. Show us the costume you're working with."

I placed my briefcase on a clear spot on the nearest bench and opened it. "The design works, but after USJ-"

"Durability issues!" Mei snatched up the jacket. "Obvious stress points at the shoulders. No reinforcement in the impact zones. Grace, look at these seams!"

"Basic carbon fiber weave." Grace ran her fingers along the material. "No wonder it barely held up. We can do better." She turned to me. "Strip."

"What?"

"Your uniform. Off. We need proper measurements."

"I have my measurements right-"

"Those are static numbers." Mei was already rummaging through a cabinet. "We need to see how you move! The muscle tension points, the quirk activation zones!"

"The school has scanning equipment-"

"Unreliable." Grace pulled out a measuring tape. "Too many variables with spatial manipulation quirks. We need direct observation."

I glanced between them. "Just... right here?"

"The changing room's full of prototypes." Mei emerged with an array of sensors. "Besides, we're professionals!"

"You're students."

"Professional students!" She grinned. "Now come on, science waits for no one!"

I sighed and began unbuttoning my shirt.

"Fascinating." Grace circled me, tablet recording. "The muscle development suggests regular martial arts training, but the energy pathways..." She traced a line down my spine with the measuring tape. "Mei, are you seeing this?"

"Already scanning!" Mei attached small sensors to my shoulders. "The readings spike near the major muscle groups. Almost like- ooh!"

I'd instinctively created a small barrier to stop her from placing another sensor.

"Do that again!" Both girls said in unison.

"The energy conversion rate..." Grace's fingers flew across her tablet. "It's not just spatial manipulation. You're actually folding dimensional barriers through- hold still."

She pressed her hand against my back, between my shoulder blades. A strange tingling sensation spread from the point of contact.

"Techno-empathy," she explained. "I can read the energy flow directly. Your power creates microscopic tears in space-time, then reinforces them into stable barriers. But the current costume material..." She shook her head. "It's actively working against you. Fighting the spatial distortion instead of channeling it."

"We can fix that!" Mei bounded over with what looked like body armor. "Try this on! It's my latest baby - a reactive polymer mesh that-"

"No." Grace pulled the armor away. "That's designed for impact absorption. He needs something that works with the dimensional folding. Something like..." She trailed off, staring at nothing.

"Oh! That could work!" Mei clapped her hands. "The project we've been-"

"Exactly." Grace nodded. "With some modification..."

"And if we integrate the binding system-"

"Using the excess spatial energy-"

"Ladies?" I raised my hand. "Still shirtless here."

"Right!" Mei snapped her fingers. "Measurements first, then revolution!"

The next twenty minutes were a blur of measuring tape, sensors, and increasingly technical discussions about mechanics that went way over my head. I caught phrases like "hyperdimensional threading" and "non-Euclidean fabric tensile strength" before giving up trying to follow along.

"Hold your arms out," Grace instructed, making another note. "The binding system you mentioned - what specifically are you looking for?"

"Something for restraining villains. At USJ, I had trouble containing-"

"Say no more!" Mei dove into a pile of equipment. "I have the perfect baby for this! Where did I put- aha!"

She emerged with what looked like high-tech handcuffs. "Electromagnetic restraints with programmable-"

"Too rigid," Grace cut in. "He needs something flexible, something that can work with the spatial distortion instead of against it. What about..."

She walked to her workbench and returned with a spool of silvery material that seemed to shift colors as it moved.

"This is an experimental fiber we've been developing. Adapts to kinetic and spatial distortions."

"Perfect for your quirk's unique properties," Mei said, zooming in with her quirk to examine the thread pattern. "The molecular structure should-"

"Less theory, more testing." Grace pressed the material against my arm. "Create a small barrier."

I focused, forming a basketball-sized sphere of warped space. The fabric shimmered, its surface shifting to match the geometric patterns of my quirk.

"Did you see that?" Mei pressed her face close enough I could count her eyelashes. "The resonance pattern!"

"Already recording." Grace's fingers traced the edge where barrier met fabric. "The energy transfer is nearly perfect. Mei, get the thermal camera."

"On it!" She vaulted over a workbench, scattering tools.

"Now try teleporting." Grace kept one hand on the fabric, the other taking notes. "Short distance is fine."

I shifted five feet left. The material pulsed with a faint geometric pattern, matching the light trails of my movement.

"Incredible." Grace's eyes lit up. "The fabric's actually augmenting the spatial fold. Mei!"

"Got it!" She thrust a camera in my face. "The heat signature is completely different from standard materials. Look at these energy efficiency readings!"

"We'll need to adjust the weave pattern." Grace pulled out more measuring tape. "The current structure works, but it could be optimized further. Turn around."

"Don't forget the stress points!" Mei attached more sensors to my back. "Flex your shoulders - we need to see how the muscle movement affects the energy flow."

"I really don't think-"

"Science doesn't think, it knows!" She poked my ribs. "Now flex!"

The lab door opened. Power Loader took one look at the scene - me shirtless, covered in sensors, with both girls taking extensive notes on my physique - and slowly closed it again.

"Was that-"

"Focus!" Grace pressed another piece of fabric against my side. "We need to map the complete energy network. Your quantum field has distinct nodes that-"

"Ooh, what about the binding system?" Mei produced a tangle of silver threads. "If we integrate it here and here..." She poked different spots on my back.

"The energy would flow through..." Grace's eyes widened. "Yes. Try channeling power to your right shoulder."

I did. The silver threads lit up with geometric patterns.

"Perfect!" Both girls exclaimed.

"Now we just need to-"

"And if we add-"

"Ladies." I raised my hand again. "What exactly are you planning?"

"Only the most revolutionary hero costume ever!" Mei bounced in place. "A fully integrated system that amplifies your quirk's natural properties while providing adaptable capture capabilities!"

"In normal speak?"

"We're building you a suit that works with your powers instead of just containing them," Grace explained. "The fabric will enhance your barriers, improve teleportation efficiency, and..." She held up the silver threads. "Give you a way to restrain villains using your own spatial distortions."

"Think of it like a web!" Mei spread her arms. "But made of folded space-time! Isn't it beautiful?"

"It's certainly... something." I eyed the growing pile of materials and notes. "How long will this take?"

"Oh, we're just getting started!" Mei dove back into her equipment pile. "We still need to test the resonance harmonics, stress tolerances, quantum field interactions..."

"Three weeks," Grace said firmly. "Assuming you're available for additional testing."

"Additional-"

"We need accurate measurements under various conditions." She tapped her tablet. "Combat scenarios, quirk usage patterns, energy output levels..."

"Plus all the baby testing!" Mei emerged with what looked like mechanical spider legs. "I have so many support items that could work with your quirk!"

"Three weeks," Grace repeated. "No experimental additions."

"But-"

"Three weeks," I agreed quickly. "Regular testing is fine. No jetpacks."

"Fine." She huffed. "But at least let me show you my new sensor array!"

I looked at Grace, who shrugged. "The sensors are actually useful. When they don't explode."

"That was also just one time!" Mei was already setting up equipment. "Now, create the biggest barrier you can! I want to see how the fabric responds to maximum output!"

What have I gotten myself into?