There was a lot more people here than Izuku predicted. Science wasn't a big interest in his own school, who seemed more interested in Heroes like himself. Involving most other schools in the city, the turn out was impressive for something rather tame.
The woman walking next to him had completely opposing thoughts, fidgeting as her head snapped around anxiously at all the weird gimmicks and contraptions surrounding them. An occasional Quirk would activate from a youngster while they exhibited their creation, making her jolt in fright and bump into him.
"Isn't this fun, mom?" Izuku tried encouraging her as she frantically pawed at his shoulders, lowering herself closely behind him.
"F-fun?" She muttered out, jumping again as a kid around his age lit off his model volcano, shooting a cool yellow substance into the air that broke apart and shifted into sparks that crackled like fireworks. "It's... deranged!"
Stuff like this shouldn't exist outside of television screens, in her opinion.
"Mom..." Izuku sighed, rubbing his hand over her arm in hopes to galvanize her own spirit. She looked a bit ridiculous huddled behind him. They were starting to draw a few eyes. "Maybe we can skip looking at the other booths and just head to ours?"
She agreed with an ardent nod, her hands moving to push on his back so they could speed up across the outdoor event. Izuku eyed some of the inventions as they blitzed by, ignoring more of his mother's erratic yelps as he wondered over them and their Quirks. As he did, he noticed a couple police officers on standby for safety, as well as two members of the board in charge of the fair acting servile and obliging to a man who was a bit out of place wearing a suit.
Though he could only glance at them for a few seconds, Izuku assumed the man being lead around by the event organizers was a talent scout observing the proceedings. There were rumors that the winner of last year's fair had been approached by a Support Agency who was interested in their invention. They made a type of versatile costume made from their own hair fibers. Because of their flame Quirk that would ignite their entire body, they would always burn their own clothing. This type of costume allowed them to use their Quirk without burning their garments away.
With his knowledge of the future, Izuku was well aware that those were not mere rumors. He didn't know the specifics of the deal from his previous timeline, but he knew the result. That invention went on to be a huge success for the Hero world, giving people like Mount Lady and Togata-senpai a Hero costume they could efficiency work with. Any day now, that invention would be unveiled after being patented by the company, and they would then begin to take commissions from Heroes and many others to make costumes and other clothing articles out of their own hair fibers.
Who could've guessed a minor event for kids could have such major effects in the world's future?
Izuku proceeded to invest heavy amounts of stock into the company with that key foreknowledge. It still felt dirty capitalizing on what he knew about the future like that, but knowing what he and everyone else stood to lose, he could push against his moral compass and go through with it.
The last hinderance he needed anchoring him was something as insignificant as money.
The potential prospect of his own invention being scouted was also a secondary motive for showing up at the fair. Not simply to compare his own hard work with others, but it could possibly open doors he never had - doors he may need depending on how the future ensued with his interferences.
With his temporary mother-motor, Izuku quickly arrived at the booth prepared for their arrival. It was just as he asked it to be: a small station to ready his gadget, a big deal of open space away from other creation and attendees, as well as a few human-sized wooden dummies he had made in his arts & crafts class. There was also a cushioned safety wall covered in thermal resistant material behind them. A modest looking boy with glasses and neatly combed hair stood in proximity of their booth. He caught sight of them approaching the distant area and wore a friendly expression.
A high school volunteer, Izuku deduced.
"Hello there. Are you the Midoriya's?" He asked politely, looking downwards at his shorter mother.
"Yes, we are," his mother responded in kind, equally well-mannered as she was handed a clipboard with documentations to sign. Now that she was a bit aways from everyone, she seemed to be much more content.
Izuku departed from her into his booth, allowing her to finish with the parental contract as he prepared for the judges to stop by. Considering his booth was the furthest away from everyone else's, and the fact that it wasn't eye-catching meant he likely wasn't going to have a huge audience as he showcased it.
Whether things went according to plan or not, that was definitely going to change.
Readying some emergency equipment like a fire extinguisher nearby, Izuku stepped over to a miniature sleek black suitcase. This one wasn't entirely unlike the security box back at the beach dump - instead being more fitting and appropriate for the item it held inside.
Peeking within, his eyes scanned to make sure everything was in order before shutting the case, choosing to wait for one of the judges to come by. There were three judges scoring the competition, which was why he had three different dummies set up.
He would only get those three chances. He needed to make them count.
Turning to look back at his mom, Izuku saw that the teenage boy had wandered off after marking them present and getting her signature. She stood just outside his area, a gratified smile on her face as she watched the attraction of the only other booth nearby.
Seems this one didn't spook her anywhere near as bad as the other ones.
It was a model train being manipulated around by a girl with light hazel-colored hair a couple years older than himself. What made her invention fascinating was the fact the tracks recomposed themselves across the railroad layout, even carrying the train off the ground into the air as they floated temporarily before coming down perfectly on course.
A wonderful magnetic Quirk by his account, catching him slightly awed. The metallic tracks needed some guidance from the girl herself, but the fact they could react to sudden motion and momentum that quickly was impressive. He was curious what circuitry was being used internally. If he couldn't win, then he was rooting for her.
His mind wandered a bit, thinking about how other people he knew would create in such an event. If Bakugou were here, he would probably build a rocket using his sweat as fuel to power it. He could already imagine the nitroglycerin-like substance causing it to blast off high into the sky.
After waiting around for roughly five minutes, a woman with similar height to his mother made her way over to their section. She wore a badge separate from the other staff - designating her as one of the judges for the competition. As the other girl's booth was closer on the path, she stopped over there first.
"That's an awesome creation, don't you think?" He asked his mother, smiling brilliantly as he stood back next to her. She nodded in agreement as they both watched the woman grade her invention. The judges weren't allowed to reveal much verbally to the contestants to reveal the winner and runner-up's later, but her reaction had been a positive one. "I'll be up next. Wish me luck."
Inko's contented expression immediately faltered, whipping back over at him as her terrified look reappeared. Izuku had already begun walking back to his suitcase, getting ready to unveil and demonstrate his invention.
It was the culminations of his ideas and experiments. He didn't think it was as groundbreaking of an idea as hair-fiber costumes, nor was he sure if it would be good enough to get anyone invested enough to scout his work.
They didn't need to because it was already enough to serve his own purposes. His plans with his gadget went beyond this science fair.
His mother was back to panicking, although she managed to keep it bottled behind a cordial countenance as the woman walked over to his booth. She returned Inko's smile with her own. "Greetings. You must be Midoriya-san?"
"Yes, I am." Appearing composed, Inko shook the woman's outstretched hand.
"Have you enjoyed the fair so far?" The woman followed up.
"It's... been quite a show," Inko replied vaguely. She didn't lie to the woman, but Izuku could tell from her tone that his mom would rather not be here. This was far from the setting she typically preferred.
They exchanged a few more amiable words before the woman stepped into his arena. As soon as she passed, his mother's face fell mortified as she began emoting at him, urging and praying for him to succeed.
"Hello, Midoriya-kun. Are you ready to show me what you got?" The judge asked him as she approached near him, eyeing the wooden mannequins far off to the side before landing on the suitcase.
Visually, his booth was much less impressive than most of the other kid's. He couldn't put on much of a spectacle, so he needed to make up for it with effectiveness.
"I'm ready," Izuku answered respectfully, opening up the black case to reveal it.
Leaning closer to scrutinize it, the woman asked, "It's... a glove?"
"A gauntlet," he corrected, pulling the armor piece out so she could inspect it better. Her eyes scanned it over as she nodded with confirmation.
"I see. So then, Midoriya-kun, what can it do?"
"I'll show you." With that intrepid response, he secured the gauntlet around his right arm. The material locked around his elbow so that it couldn't fall off. He began to make his way over to the dummies, looking back over his shoulder. "Please observe from over there. It might be a little dangerous if you get closer."
"D-dangerous?!" Inko's voice called out from the side, staring at her son in horror. He didn't tell her anything about that.
The judge glanced over at her in surprise, not expecting the green-haired woman's sudden visceral emotion and cluelessness to what her child created.
If they were thinking about calling out or stopping him, Izuku didn't give them time. Standing in front of the first wooden dummy, he readied his right arm for a powerful punch.