My Hero Academia: Thunder God

Shizuoka Prefecture, Shimizu Ward, Support Equipment Research Institute of the Mitsui Foundation.

"It's about time you got here. Eh, who's she?" Dr. Tenma stood with his hands in the pockets of his white lab coat, ready to complain when his eyes fell on the purple-haired girl behind Kaminari.

"Girlfriend?"

"Ah?!"

Both Kaminari and Kyoka froze. Kyoka's face immediately turned bright red, while Kaminari sighed and shook his head with a small smile. "No, she's my classmate, Jiro Kyoka."

"H-hello, Doctor," Kyoka greeted, her face still flushed.

"Hello. But even if she's just a classmate, you can't fool me. Have you ever seen someone bring an 'ordinary' female classmate out at this hour?"

Dr. Tenma's usual serious demeanor had softened considerably. Perhaps it was because Kaminari had agreed to attend his son Tobio's birthday party, causing the doctor's favorability toward him to skyrocket. Whatever the reason, his tone was now warm, even playful.

"Uh… Doctor, didn't you mention before that you'd watched Pokémon with Tobio? You should already know Kyoka," Kaminari countered, glancing at Kyoka, whose face had turned an even deeper shade of red. For some reason, he found her reaction a bit amusing.

"Hmm… You're right. She's one of those two girls from the band. That just makes your relationship all the more special, doesn't it?"

"There aren't only two girls in your class, are there? So why did you choose them as the heroines? It must mean your relationship is closer than with the others," Dr. Tenma declared with a serious nod, his words leaving both Kaminari and Kyoka speechless.

Especially Kaminari, who could barely believe the transformation in the usually rigid and straightforward doctor.

"Well, we are close because we're in the same band," Kaminari admitted reluctantly. Not wanting the conversation to derail further, he quickly redirected the topic. "Anyway, Doctor, I came here to discuss an idea for her combat suit…"

Dr. Tenma raised an eyebrow and gave a meaningful glance at Kyoka.

At that moment, even Kaminari couldn't help but feel like there really was something between him and Kyoka. Somehow, the way the doctor phrased things made it all sound logical.

As for Kyoka, she was utterly flustered. What's going on? Didn't Kaminari say Dr. Tenma was a serious and professional guy?

Yet beneath her embarrassment, a hint of happiness bloomed. Deep down, she realized that compared to other girls in their class, Kaminari did treat her a little differently.

"Alright, show me what you've got," Dr. Tenma said, finally dropping the teasing. His expression returned to its usual seriousness as he gestured for Kaminari to explain.

Kaminari let out a breath of relief and nodded. He turned to Pikachu and instructed it to send the blueprints stored in its system to the doctor's database.

"'Sadako,' display the concept," Dr. Tenma commanded. Almost instantly, a detailed 3D hologram of the combat suit appeared in mid-air.

"The design is as creative as ever," Dr. Tenma muttered, casually examining the suit, which was labeled 'Bat Girl.'

However, his attention quickly shifted from the aesthetics to the functionality of the suit, particularly the micro sound-hole system.

The room fell silent as Kaminari and Kyoka watched the doctor's expression grow increasingly impressed.

Kyoka, who had been a little nervous earlier, began to relax. It seemed like Dr. Tenma approved of Kaminari's design.

Ten minutes later, the doctor closed his slightly gaping mouth, let out a deep breath, and said, "I swear, even if you don't become a professional Hero after graduation, your imagination alone will lead you to achievements far beyond ordinary people."

"So… can you build it?" Kaminari asked with a grin.

At the same time, he began to wonder if he should start a combat suit design company someday. Perhaps in the future, he could produce support equipment inspired by various worlds.

"Yes, the technology required for this design doesn't exceed the capabilities of our research institute," Dr. Tenma replied confidently. "However, the equipment team will need time to manufacture the micro and larger sound holes."

The doctor paused, his brow furrowing slightly. "But this suit seems to require artificial intelligence to operate. How else would she control the sound-hole system?"

He smirked and added jokingly, "Are your family's assets large enough to buy her an AI? Or is she secretly an unimaginably wealthy young lady?"

"That's not it," Kaminari replied, unfazed. "I plan to have Pikachu control her combat suit. With its capabilities, it shouldn't be hard to manage two suits at the same time, right?"

"…Hmm."

Dr. Tenma was momentarily taken aback, but after a moment of thought, he realized Kaminari's solution was entirely feasible. With sufficient network connectivity and Pikachu's computational power, controlling even ten suits wouldn't be an issue, let alone two.

"I have to say, your idea is ingenious. But this setup only works for people with a close relationship. Not many would be comfortable letting someone else's AI control their combat suit," the doctor remarked.

As he spoke, he couldn't help but feel that Kyoka and Kaminari had a special bond. The scene reminded him of his own youth and a certain girl he'd known back then.

"Doctor, I actually have another matter to discuss," Kaminari said, cutting through the nostalgia and shifting the topic.

"Oh? Go ahead," Dr. Tenma prompted.

"My family is preparing to launch a second IP, and there are some intriguing devices in the concept. I was hoping you could help build them."

With that, Kaminari gestured for Pikachu to project the basic design of the Duel Disk.

Dr. Tenma studied the projection briefly before nodding. "This isn't particularly difficult. Virtual projection technology is quite advanced now. The main challenge will be miniaturizing the equipment for the Duel Disk."

Of course, what Dr. Tenma called "not difficult" only applied to world-class research institutes. Many facilities didn't even have access to large-scale virtual projection technology, let alone the ability to miniaturize it.

But Kaminari wasn't concerned about the technical details. If Dr. Tenma said it could be done, that was good enough for him.

"That's great! I'll inform my father and have him coordinate with Mitsui to start production as soon as possible!" Kaminari said excitedly.

Yu-Gi-Oh! cards in real life. The thought made him almost giddy. In his previous life, he'd only been able to play with paper cards on crude dueling mats, sometimes even using pirated ones…

The mention of counterfeits suddenly reminded him of something. "Doctor, once the cards are digitized, can their data be protected from theft or duplication?"

Dr. Tenma frowned slightly. "That's hard to guarantee. It all depends on the technical expertise of both parties. Even the U.S. military's defense systems aren't immune to hacking."

"What if an artificial intelligence managed the security?" Kaminari pressed.

"That would make things more secure, but remember, AI isn't exclusive to you. Others can use it too," Dr. Tenma replied. "Still, electronic cards are harder to pirate than physical ones. Paper cards can be copied far more easily."

"Good point," Kaminari admitted, nodding in agreement. Indeed, electronic cards, while not invulnerable, offered better protection than their paper counterparts.

***

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