David Shield sat at his work desk, looking over a new design. He looked up from his work to see his 13 year old daughter was still in the corner reading a book. He sighed, knowing he was supposed to be taking her out for a day of fun while the candidates of the hero costume contest were on the island.

He had hoped that taking her around the island might give her a chance to make a few new friends with people around the world. But work came first and David had plenty of that. Standing up from his desk, David walked over and sat on the floor next to his daughter, placing a hand on her back.

"Just because I'm stuck here, doesn't mean you are," he said. "Why don't you take some money from my wallet and get some bubble tea from the shop down the street."

"I'm good here, Dad," she responded, her eyes not leaving her book.

"Maybe you could go to one of the demonstrations? It might give you a chance to meet some of the kids from different countries." David continued.

"I-I don't think they'll want to meet anyone like me, Dad," she said quietly.

"Melissa," David sighed. "Did those kids start bugging you again?"

Melissa was the only quirkless kid on I-island. Quirkless people only took up 20% of the world's population and they were especially rare in youth. No matter how hard David and the teachers at the I-island middle school tried, kids always seemed to leave Melissa out on something. They weren't so mean as to be called bullies, but they definitely weren't her friends.

"Maybe..." Melissa said finally. "They just pointed out that the kids visiting would rather focus on the ones with the ability to become a hero is all. And it's true. Most of these kids probably want to be a hero themselves or be a scientist like you, Dad."

"Melissa, you can't stay believing that no one wants to be your friend because you're quirkless." David insisted. "Mandy Nelson has been trying to get you to hang out with her ever since she got her last month. Give her a chance and you'll see."

His daughter just shrugged and continued to read her book. With one last sigh David got up off the floor.

"I gotta go meet up with the people organizing the seating for tomorrow's dinner. Can't have them seat your Uncle at a different table now, can I?" he said. At the mention of Melissa's uncle her mood immediately changed. All Might wasn't going to be showing up till tomorrow and Melissa was ecstatic she would get to see him again.

David left her to her reading and walked down the hall to Meeting Room C, which was being used by the organization committee. When he entered he saw four men and a woman standing around the large table. Circular papers were scattered across the table, representing the tables that would be in the actual ball room. Each person was setting random papers with the name of a country or a pro hero down at each table.

"You don't mind if I make a request do you?" David asked the group.

"Of course not!" the man in a blue suit said. "Who would you like at your table, sir?"

"If you don't mind, my daughter and I would love to have All Might seated with us." he said, smiling kindly at the group.

"Already had that arranged for you, sir." the woman said. "I suspected you two would want to catch up."

"Thank you, well that was all I-"

"Actually, one more thing," one of the men said. He was the shortest of the group and he was staring down at a piece of paper in front of him when David looked over. "Your daughter is quirkless, correct?"

The question surprised David. He almost wanted to yell at the man that it didn't matter. But then he thought, 'why does this matter? Why is he asking that?'

"Y-yes, she is. Why do you ask?" David responded, looking at the man curiously.

"Well, the candidate from Japan is also quirkless," the man responded, looking up to meet David's gaze. "And my associates have only seen him getting along with one of the other candidates. So I was thinking, it might be best to put the two of them at your table. If that's alright with you, of course."

"One of the candidates is quirkless?" David asked, shocked.

"Yes, the one from Japan." the man replied, wondering if David had heard anything apart from that.

"Yes, please, please put him at my table. This would be a wonderful chance for Melissa." David said excitedly. He couldn't help but hope his daughter would become friends with this kid. He also hoped that the child could share better stories about being quirkless so Melissa could have a little bit of hope for the future.

"Alright, I'll add the Japan and Brazil candidates to your table then," the man smiled as he placed the two papers next to his table.

****

"Izuku! Slow down!" Inko yelled at the boy.

Izuku was a little too excited to get everything he wanted down before the dinner celebration tonight. He stopped running and turned to wait for his mother. When she caught up to him he continued leading the way to the small souvenir stand. It had been set up for this special occasion since I-island wasn't used to tourists.

Izuku's eyes roamed the stand, looking at all the t-shirts, hoodies and keychains. His mother told him that he could choose only one thing to bring home. His eyes caught a small figurine of a red car and a driver wearing a lab coat. Upon further inspection, Izuku realized that the car was the same car All Might was known to drive during the beginning of his career in America. And the driver was none other than David Shield himself.

To say Izuku was a fan of David Shield was an understatement. David Shields was the scientist who had designed all of All Might's hero costumes. He was also famously known for his support gear. Especially the Static Staff, a weapon that emitted electricity well used by heroes in America and Europe.

"Can I get this one Mom?" Izuku asked, picking up the small figurine. "It would look great next to my All Might action figure in his Young Age costume!"

Inko laughed at her son as she bought the souvenir from the vendor. Izuku carried it like it was the holy grail of souvenir's. Not holding on too tight, but tight enough that he wouldn't drop it. As they made their way along the walkway, Izuku spotted another demonstration about to begin. The two agreed that it would be the last one before they went back to the hotel to prepare for tonight.

Izuku stared in amazement as the scientist demonstrated his prototype of a glove that shot a net out of the palm. It would be very useful to catch villains on the run, but other than that it didn't have much of a purpose.

Cool design, but it's so bulky. And with only one use I can't see it being very handy.

When the demonstration ended, the two made their way back to the hotel. They both took turns showering and got dressed up in the same outfits they wore at the hero ranking celebration. Izuku gave up on the tie after a few tries, again. His mother giggled as she saw his frustrated look.

"Ties are evil," Izuku pouted, glaring at the piece of clothing. His mother just laughed and ushered him to the door.

"Come on, Samuel is probably waiting in the lobby," his mother said. At the mention of his new friend, Izuku hurried down the hall to the elevator. Him and Samuel had bonded quite easily and he was excited to get to spend more time with him. Maybe even ask for his contact information so they could stay in touch.

When they got to the lobby Izuku looked around, trying to find his friend in the mass of people. He finally spotted him and his brother in the corner of the room. They were both wearing plain black suits with bow ties. Formal and classy.

"Samuel! Ready to go?" Izuku said as he approached them with his mother following.

"Yeah! I hope we're seated together! I heard some workers talking about how they were putting candidates next to other candidates they got along with during their free-time. Hopefully they saw us together!" Samuel said as he fell in step with Izuku.

The group made their way to the giant building in the centre of the island. They waited in a long line as people trickled in and were escorted to their tables. When they made it to the front they found out that they were indeed at the same table. Both of them smiled enthusiastically at the news.

When they made it to the table they saw they were the first ones there. Izuku saw that there were only three seats left and guessed it was going to be another candidate with their parents. Izuku and Samuel talked enthusiastically as they saw heroes seated at different tables. Izuku made sure to explain the Japan heroes and their rankings as Samuel did the same for the South American ones.

Suddenly the two were distracted as two of the seats next to them were taken. Izuku looked to his right to see a girl, probably a few years older than him with blonde hair sit next to him. He quickly shot her a kind smile as his face turned beet red at her arrival.

He then looked at the man next to her and...

Oh my fanboy heart.

"D- Th- You're-" Izuku stuttered like crazy as he stared at the man. The man just smiled down at him amused.

"Hello, my name is David Shield and this is my daughter Melissa," the man introduced.

"I think I'm gonna have a heart attack," Izuku muttered to himself and Samuel nodded in agreement next to him. Shield laughed at his comment and began talking to Inko and Diego.

"So, what are your names?" Melissa asked. Izuku shook his head as to get out of his star struck and stretched out his hand.

"My name is Izuku Midoriya, from Japan. And this is my friend Samuel Rodriguez from Brazil." Izuku introduced. Melissa shook his hand and smiled before shaking Samuel's hand as well.

"Have you enjoyed I-island? It must be different from where you guys are from," Melissa said, starting the conversation.

"It really is! There are so many cool aspects to how you guys keep the island guarded," Samuel said excitedly.

"I've never got to see so many different quirks in two days," Izuku said.

"Oh yeah, Uncle Might told me you guys are rather strict with quirk-usage," Melissa said. Samuel's mouth hung open at her words.

"Uncle Might... As in All Might?!?!" he said enthusiastically. Melissa blushed.

"Oh yeah, I guess it must sound kinda weird to someone who doesn't know him personally."

"Only a little," Samuel laughed. "Actually, while we're still on the topic of quirks. Izuku, you never told me yours. Mine is called Sticky Fingers, I can make my fingers sticky on command and they will stick to any surface I touch." Samuel demonstrated when he stuck his fingers to a fork.

"O-oh, uh well..." Izuku stuttered. "I don't actually have a quirk." Izuku lowered his head as he rubbed the back of it with his hand, embarrassed.

"Y-you don't? Neither do I!" Melissa said happily. Izuku's head shot up at her words.

"Really?!? I've never met another quirkless person my age before!" Izuku exclaimed.

"Neither have I!" Melissa said.

"Neither have I!" Samuel joined, "Well, not until right now... Now I know two!" Melissa and Izuku laughed at Samuel's comment. "Before I forget, let's put our contacts in each other's phones!"

The three passed each other their phones, adding their contacts into the others' phones. Izuku couldn't help but smile at having two international friends, one of them quirkless and the daughter of All Might's costume designer!

As time drew closer to the beginning of dinner, Melissa began to look around excitedly.

"Who are you looking for?" Samuel asked.

"The third person of our party," Melissa smiled, not giving away their celebrity table guest.

A few minutes later, whispers began to sound around them as All Might arrived in the ball room. To Izuku's slight surprise, All Might made his way directly to his table and sat in between David Shield and his mother.

"Sorry I'm late," All Might said, his signature smile on his face. "I couldn't find my tie."

Izuku's vision blurred as he fell off his seat and onto the floor.