"Hey Ingenium! Villain attack in the Red Light district, we're close by so I figured we could have some fun!"

Iida put down the paperwork he was doing for his boss and rose from his chair. Being the only sidekick for the Rabbit Hero, Miruko came with its upsides and downsides. Since Miruko was rather famous for never taking in any sidekicks and for having a disdain for teamwork in general there were many eyes on him after being offered a job as her one and only sidekick straight out of high school. Little did they know that the two of them were already well acquainted after Iida became her intern during his highschool years.

After his internship, the two kept in close contact with each other. Before long, Miruko told him that he was now her "official unofficial little brother" That declaration garnered a laugh from Iida since it was wildly out of character to see her so affectionate.

Shortly after she made that declaration, Iida than got a call from Tensei telling him that Miruko got in contact with the former Ingenium and that she was going to compete with Tensei for the title of "best older sibling". It was at the point when Iida realized that she was serious about becoming his sibling.

Having Miruko as an older sister panned out far better than expected. For one, his family enjoyed the frequent visits she made to get to know them. Miruko and Tensei also warmed up to each other fairly quickly as well.

The worst part of working with Miruko was that whilst she enjoyed the hell out of beating villains, she tended to either delay or outright neglect doing any of the accompanying paperwork that came with beating villains.

...Something that he was doing at the moment when Miruko told him about the two villains. Guess he was going to have to do that later.

"What are we dealing with, Miruko?"

"Two villains- one that can control wood and another that can secrete and shoot ball bearings from his body."

"Those don't seem like effective quirks for battle…"

"It's 'cause they aren't...those two aren't career criminals. Apparently they've just been fired from a company after ten years of loyalty and they snapped. They're holding down the building and demanding money. They got hostages too."

"Although it is wrong how those two were thrown away from their place of employment that is no excuse to threaten or harm innocent people."

"Yup, that's where we come in. we're gonna beat them down before they could hurt anyone."

"Since they aren't career criminals, they should be easier to neutralize."

"I'm not sure about that. These guys are desperate and that means they're unpredictable. Professional criminals are calmer and won't be caught dead harming their leverage. These guys might fuck up and hurt people and that's why we need to take them out quickly"

The two arrived at the scene of the stand off. Multiple law enforcement vehicles and countless police officers were outside the large office, hastily trying to negotiate with the two criminals holed up in the bottom floor with five hostages.

Miruko told the police what she intended to do and then informed Iida.

"Alright, we're gonna jump on top of the building and make our way down. As soon as we are one floor above them, we're gonna smash down and blitz them before they get a chance to react, got it?"

"Understood"

Inside the building, the two criminals noticed that the police had backed off a bit. They were still surrounding the building, but they were no longer that close to them.

"The pigs backed off, Satoshi! I think they're gonna give us our demands!"

"No fooling? Shit, we're gonna be rich! Guess working at this shitstain company gave us some- wait, was that?"

"What was what?"

"Did you hear like a "rumbling" above us?"

"Maybe it's an earthquake?"

The ceiling above them collapsed as the two heroes made their explosive entrance.

"Holy shit, attack those-" the wood controlling criminal never got to finish his sentence as Miruko delivered a devastating roundhouse, shattering his jaw."

"Satoshi! You fucking bitch!" the remaining thug launched a volley of ball bearings at Miruko.

"Watch out!" Iida threw himself in front of her, tanking the metal assault with his sturdy armor before tackling him. The criminal was pinned down and had nowhere else to go

"It's over, cooperate with the police before this gets any worse."

"Fuck off! This was our only chance to get back at the people who sold us out-"

Iida cut him off "You threatened to harm innocent people, that overrides any sympathey you might deserve. You also don't know how to speak to a lady…" Iida knocked the man out when it became clear that he wasn't too keen going quietly.

Miruko let out an impressed whistle "Damn, that was pretty hardcore…"

"You're one to talk. The man I took down will be left with a bruised cheek, you broke the other fellow's jaw."

Miruko shrugged "What did you want me to do? The idiot was close to a hostage and I didn't want him to panic and kill her! Speaking of hostages, we should tell them that they're safe."

Miruko turned towards the still cowering former hostages to inform them that the criminals that took them hostage were neutralized "You guys can get up now. We beat them up and the cops will come soon enough."

Iida chuckled at her casualness "Such a stellar job at re-assuring these people"

Miruko scoffed "Hey, I'm just here to save people, not give them a pep talk."

The two left the scene before they could be hounded by the media.

"You do realize that due to your elusive nature, I tend to get accosted by journalists asking about you?"

Miruko smirked at him "That sucks but it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make to get those pests off of me!"

"How noble"

"Hey, you wanna hit the bar tonight?"

"Drinking? With you?"

"And what's wrong with that?"

"Well you took me to a bar when I became old enough to drink-"

Miruko laughed "And I still can't believe you actually waited that long to drink! I knew that you were a stickler for the rules but I still can't believe you hadn't had a drop of alcohol before then!"

"-As I was saying! When you took me out to drink when I became of age you were the one that ended up inebriated. I wasn't able to drink anything because I was too worried about you!"

"What can I say? I was so happy that my little brother was growing up that I couldn't help but indulge a bit! So you wanna go or not?"

"Alright...just don't expect me to drink too much. I'm expecting a call from someone tonight and I'd rather be sober when I'm talking to her."

Miruko raised an eyebrow in interest "Her? She must be very important…"

A genuine smile crept on Iida's face "You can say that…"

"Aw, look at you!" Miruko joked while punching him in the shoulder "acting all sappy while your talking about your little girlfriend!"

Iida rubbed the now sore spot on his shoulder "Yes...well, let's venture to the bar shall we?"

The Hidden Tiger was an extremely popular bar for it's high end clientele. Everything was quite expensive and the security was strict. The fact that the bar had a strict security policy was one of the biggest reasons why high ranked heroes enjoyed spending time here. It was a place to get away from the media and the fans. The proprietor of the bar knew that as much as anyone else did and made sure that security and privacy were as high of a priority as the quality of the drinks.

Miruko downed her second shot of whiskey while gingerly sipped his orange cocktail.

"Might as well just order some fucking orange juice kid…" Miruko quipped

"You don't see me criticizing your choice of drink."

"Can you even get a buzz off of that?"

"I just have an unusually high tolerance for alcohol. You should know that first hand since I beat you in that drinking game you kept begging me to partake in…"

"I was just going easy on you kid."

"Is that why you spent the next day vomiting?"

"Whatever" Miruko downed another shot as Iida started absentmindedly tapped his fingers on the counter.

MIruko smirked "Nervous, bro?"

Iida shot her a hesitant smile in return "Yes...She's visiting some relatives in Germany and she told me that she'll call me when she lands."

"That's really cute. I know it's really fucking hypocritical for me to pry but you mind telling me how you two met?"

"One of my former classmates and one of Beast Jeanist's highest ranked sidekicks- Ground Zero introduced us back when we were in high school." Iida chuckled as he remembered the events that transpired "Apparently he was quite annoyed that she kept complaining to him that she didn't have a boyfriend and he introduced her to me out of desperation."

Miruko giggled at the odd way the two lovers had met before letting Iida continue to the story.

"The first thing that came to my mind when I saw her was how beautiful she was" he said wistfully. "I was instantly captivated by her. Thankfully, she was also interested in me as well and I asked her out on a date shortly afterwards."

"It was actually difficult keeping the relationship afloat at first. I was in UA while she was all across the country in Shiketsu High."

"So you're dating another hero?"

Iida nodded

"I gotta say, it's good that you kept it private. Hero and hero relationships always brings out the worst of those paparazzi fuckers. Once the secret comes out, you won't hear the end of it!"

"I guess that's true-" He was cut off by the buzzing of his phone "Excuse me for a moment, it's her"

Miruko merely nodded, silently giving him approval as Iida whipped his phone out and began speaking

"Camie?"

"It's good to hear from you! How was the flight?"

"That's rather disgusting but at least you were two rows away…"

"I told you to book your flight earlier so that the first class seats were available!"

"Of course!"

"Alright, I love you too darling"

Anyone else would have just heard one side of the conversation but Miruko's superhuman hearing let her hear the entirety of the conversation.

"You're dating Edgeshot's sidekick, Ms. Illusion? I recognize that way of speaking anywhere...She's really cute; can't believe she settled for you."

Iida rolled her eyes at Miruko's joke. "Yes, We've been together for about four years now…Knowing that her flight went smoothly aside from someone vomiting behind her will let me sleep just a bit more soundly tonight…"

Miruko clicked her shot glass on the table "It makes sense that you're really anxious about her. People like us fight villains on a day to day basis and the sad reality is that every fight might be our last. You don't know how many families there are who got a letter from hero organizations telling them that their husband, wife, mother, father had been killed in the line of duty. It fucking sucks and we ignore shit like that all the time."

Miruko put a hand on Iida's shoulder "I guess it's even worse when the both of you are heroes, huh? Knowing that one day she might not make it out alive or that you might not make it out alive. You must be stressed the fuck out 24/7."

Iida sighed "You're right about that...the fear of losing her and the fear of leaving her in mourning if I fall. But that's just one of the dangers of the job...It would Foolish to live life in fear of what may come…"

Miruko patted him on the back "That's the spirit bro!"

"But I guess it would make sense that someone like you would be worried about what might happen. I mean, you almost got killed by Stain in your first year of high school! That has to leave some emotional scars in addition the physical ones you got on your arm…"

Iida let out a melancholic chuckle "You know it's an odd coincidence that both Camie and I have had close brushes with death in high school…"

"Her too?"

"Yes, she had been kidnapped by the League of Villains and one of their members impersonated her. It's a miracle that she hadn't been killed by them. She was only a second year student when she endured that…"

"Damn...that's rough"

"A while after we started dating, I learned about what happened to her...She never wanted to talk about it and she always wore long sleeve shirts no matter how hot it was. It turns out it was because she had some scars of her own. That rabid Stain cultist Spinner stabbed her in the side and maniacal shapeshifter Toga, repeatedly stabbed her to collect her blood. I assume that her need for Camie's blood is the reason why they didn't kill her…"

"Fuck...how did you deal with that?"

"I showed her my own scars to assure her that she wasn't alone. It was painful reliving those memories because everything that happened on that fateful day was due to the fact I became blinded by vengeance. I would gladly relive that painful memory over and over again if that meant she had someone to comfort her."

Miruko sighed "Ya know, sometimes I wonder why I bothered having you as my intern back then...but then you say shit like this and it just supports the fact that I made the right choice. You're a pretty great guy, you know that?"

"Please, don't give me all the credit. I had a wonderful family and some amazing friends that inspired me to become who I am today. I would be nothing without their influence…"

Miruko grunted while nodding "...You do know that I'm planning on embarrassing you in front of your girlfriend as soon as she comes back. Right?"

Iida guffawed "It would be out of character if you didn't"

When the got back to the office, Iida was surprised when Miruko sat next to him and actually helped him do some paperwork.

"I'm shocked that you're actually doing some paperwork for once."

I'm response Miruko playfully slapped him on the arm with a stack of papers "Shut up! Sometimes I feel bad that you do this shit all by yourself! Besides, you're gonna be a full fledged hero soon so that means I can't rely on you forever."

"You could just get another sidekick…"

"There's a fat chance of that happening."

The duo settled in a steady rhythm of completing work until Iida spoke up again.

"Sometimes I can't believe it's only been five years seen we've met…"

"Yeah, I sometimes forget I didn't always have you as my little bro."

"As a child, I always wondered what having a sister would be like. Tensei was nothing less than an ideal older brother but until I was old enough to go to school the only women that I saw a lot was my mother…"

"I always wanted siblings too...and the rest of a family. My deadbeat dad walked out on me and my mom when I was just four and my mother died a couple years later. Sure, I had some friends but they come and go."

"Yes. For better or for worse, family is there forever. My family has taken quite a shine to you and they consider you as part of them as much as I do."

Miruko gave him a sweet smile in response to his kind words. It was always odd to see her have a genuine smile on her face and not a devilish grin.

"You know, every couple of years my family takes a couple of pictures of us together that we hang over the fireplace. This year we want you to be part of the pictures. After all, you are family now…"

"I'm gonna have to take you guys up on that offer...But man it's gonna be weird when people look at those pictures and see me stand out!"

"I suppose you will stand out, though that will make for a good conversation starter."

"You're such a nerd, Tenya!"