Chapter 2: Requested
"An… arranged marriage…?" Shoto's eyes went wide. "He was planning that far ahead-?!"
"Ahh, hold on hold on." She said, sighing. "I heard before, that he was on a power-path to create a child who could defeat All Might… He was looking for future possibilities, I'm sure… However." She looked up at the boy. "He came to my grandparents with the idea years ago, but he was immediately shot down, scolded even… but he seemed to realize his mistake recently, and he came to apologize for ever suggesting it." She stated. "But that's why I know you so well… because he left all the information with us and insisted on sending updates as though to entice a reaction." She stated. "After he apologized, though… he still seemed like he was looking to get some sort of a meeting… then this came up, so…" she looked at the papers on the nearby desk, Todoroki seeing the symbol for U.A. on it, knowing that those must be the papers to certify the young heroes for their remedial lessons. "When I found out, I wanted to oppose but… I've been curious about you since I first heard of you… so I kind of wanted to see what sort of boy you were… I do apologize for bringing up something so unsightly…"
"… No, thank you for doing so…" Shoto felt almost relieved that his father had apologized and revoked the idea. Sure, he was uneasy, but at least it was no longer an issue, right?
"Anyway, we're going to keep that a secret, okay? I don't tell anyone about these arranged marriage proposals… so…"
"Of course. I won't say a word."
"Hehe… thanks, Shoto… ah, sorry its probably impolite of me to call you that…"
"It's fine… its my hero name too, so…" he averted his eyes a little. Despite all the things going on, he felt relaxed that this girl was able to ease that tension easily… That she knew when to get off of a subject.
"Where…?" Minako jumped at the sudden voice, turning to see the boy who had been unconscious until now sitting up in bed.
"Ah, please don't get up too quickly yet!" she stated, seeing his surprised expression. 'Uwaaa, he's kind of adorable when he's shocked…' she shook the thought quickly, rushing over to him and taking his temperature. "Mm, seems normal… just gotta make sure your vitals are good." To Tokoyami, it must have seemed like he was being fawned over, this girl was so thorough. "Pulse, good… blood pressure good… mm, then no ill effects…" she nodded when she was done examining, seeming satisfied.
"Pardon me… um…" Tokoyami's face was red from the sudden close interaction.
"Ah, pardon the closeness… My name is Minako, I was told to keep watch over you. Your client, Rizu—ah, Miss Ryugazaki said so, since you've been unconscious much longer than the other two… I'd assume its because of your quirk, its like double the dose to knock you out, so double the time to wake up." She stated.
"… Ah, I see… thank you…" he bowed his head. "But where am I…?"
"You're in Miss Ryugazaki's house." Minako replied, patting his head. "Here, drink this. It's a little bitter but it's a precaution since Miss Ryugazaki's still sick." She said, handing him a small cup. He did as he was instructed; with a moment of pause to get the medication down, but he sighed afterwards, seeming glad that was done quickly. "Are you hungry? Everyone else had lunch already but Miss Ryugazaki had us prepare a portion for you incase you woke up. I can go get it for you."
"Ah… thank you…" he replied, surprised that his client turned hostess would go through the trouble, but he supposed that was part of the description they were given. An overly caring woman who always looked after her juniors. A mother bear was how Aizawa-sensei described her. He'd heard a few times before that this woman could take apart a 10-on-1 assault by herself, even if not at full health. Her quirk wasn't well understood, but it was powerful. He watched as Minako went to get his food, wondering if the other two would make an appearance too. The Four Dragon's Conglomerate. He recognized the symbol on the wall scroll nearest to his bed as the same one that his parents had done business with before. The group was strong, they made a huge mark way back when quirks were first becoming a thing. The Ryugazaki was the Forward Guard, the Aihara was the Advisor, the Kujou was the Rear Guard, and the Tsubakawa was the Healer, to put it in the simplest of terms.
"Ah, he's awake…" A new voice caught his attention, looking up to see a girl with dark purple hair and bright blue eyes. "Ne ne, Tama, he's awake." She called into the hallway, immediately Amajiki and Todoroki both came rushing in.
"Thank goodness… we weren't sure how long you'd be under." Amajiki sighed. "If it had been much longer I would have had to call off the remedial lesson…"
"Eeeh, Tama no need to call off…" The purple haired girl pouted, causing the third year's face to color.
"Ayumi-senpai…"
"Ayumi-chan! Not senpai!" she grabbed his arm, making him blush more.
"Ah… would you happen to be the Ayumi Aihara who graduated from UA's general studies division two years ago?" Tokoyami had heard that this girl was incredible in terms of strategy, much like their own Midoriya.
"Eh, Yami's heard of me? Waah, am I famous? Ne Tama, am I?"
"A-ayumi-senpai, please… too close…" he replied as she clung to him, trying not to overreact but obviously putting it out there that he was embarrassed. He was surprised by their interaction though… did Amajiki perhaps like this girl? He wasn't too surprised, since her personality seemed much alike to that of Mirio, his best friend. Unwaivering brightness… almost an aura of sunlight, so it seemed.
"Ayumi. Stop harassing Tama, please…" At the next voice, Tokoyami realized he was grinning at his senpai's predicament and brought his face back down to monotone, looking at the door to see their client, Miss Ryugazaki, followed by a slightly panicked Minako and a white haired girl. "And Mina… I sanitized my hands and I'm wearing my mask… I'm not gonna infect your patient so please stop panicking…" she added, the white haired girl chuckling at Minako.
"B-but Miss Ryugazaki…"
"Mina-chi is silly~" the white haired girl chuckled. "Rizu-nee would never infect a student with her sicky germs, you know. She's smarter than that."
"Emiko, don't make fun of her."
"Ah, sorry Rizu-nee~" she smiled. "I can't help it though, she's too funny~"
"I know but come now… we have guests…" The bluenette who placed his food next to him had an air of power unlike anything he'd ever felt. It was like being washed over by a wave of warm water. However strong, her presence was soothing. "Tokoyami, Fumikage… I apologize for not showing up sooner… had I arrived a few moments earlier I might have prevented this from happening in the first place." She bowed her head.
"Waah, Rizu-nee is apologizing? So rare~"
"Emiko, shh." Minako seemed to know better, that this was part of what the Ryugazaki's job was as well. Taking the brunt of the blame.
"No, not at all… Whatever or whoever attacked us knew our weaknesses and prepared for it… Thank you for coming to our aid, even though its supposed to be our job to protect you, Ryugazaki-san." Tokoyami bowed his head.
"Eeeh, Yami-chi's a good boy too, huh? Hehe, Rizu-nee always attracts those types though."
"Emiko, shh!" Minako gave the girl a swift chop to the head, making her pout.
"Alright enough goofing off. Let's let Tokoyami-kun eat in peace… Minako, keep an eye on him… his vitals may be good but he was out much longer than Shoto or Tama so I want to make sure he's alright before we allow them to continue with their remedial lesson."
"Yes, ma'am…"
"… Mina…"
"Yes?"
"What did I say about calling me ma'am?" her glasses caught the light just as she looked up, causing the whole room to flinch. A menacing look, considering she was sickly.
"I-I'm sorry, Miss Ryugazaki!" she bowed her head, Emiko trying not to laugh. But this group was almost comedic, the way they acted around one another. But it was nice to ease the tension amongst those who'd been attacked.
It was late at night when Rizusa heard someone knock on her door. She reached for her mask, putting it on before turning to the door. "Come in." The door slid open a little, Emiko standing there with a solemn look on her face. "… What's up, Emi?"
"… Sorry to bug you, Rizu-nee…" the girl wandered in and sat herself down on Rizusa's bedside. "I know you should be resting, but…"
"But you're obviously bothered… what is it?" Rizusa pet the girl's head. "Is your quirk acting up? Or are you having nightmares again?" she asked, Emiko sniffling a little.
"I… I saw it again… the scary thing that came after me…" she rubbed the tears from her eyes. "Build Interface wasn't fast enough and I couldn't defend myself… I was alone and I thought I was gonna die…" she sniffled, Rizusa pulling the girl into a hug as she started to cry. "Rizu-nee… it was scary…" she sobbed, the bluenette feeling awful because the "scary thing" only attacked Emiko because she was with Rizusa in the conglomerate to begin with… That man… no, that monster… 1000 blades, Gin. Emiko had been trying to up her quirk's skills alone, Rizusa was visiting her family and both Ayumi and Minako were training elsewhere… Gin busted into the house and almost killed Emiko, but she'd been saved by a Pro Hero. Unfortunately, it took a toll on her personality. She acted childish because it made her feel safe. Rizusa knew though, that had that not happened she'd probably be very mature by now.
"I'm sorry, Emiko…" she said softly, knowing tears or promises she probably couldn't keep were of no use. "… We'll both get stronger… that way your fear can be put to rest…" she rubbed Emiko's back, hoping she would calm down soon. "You need to go back to bed, you know…"
"I… I know…" Emiko pouted. "Rizu-nee should be more comforting… then you'd be an even greater best big sister ever!"
"I'm not though…" she sighed, shaking her head.
"But then you'd probably be able to find a cute boy too!"
"O-oi oi what kind of things are you thinking about? Go back to bed, you weirdo." She shooed her friend to get back to bed, the girl grinning a little. "Geez, despite acting like a kid, she's still a woman inside I guess? Or maybe she's just being a pushy kid…" Rizusa laughed a little, soon going into a small coughing fit. "Owww… Alright time to go to sleep…"
Rizusa woke up the next morning to hear some ruckus in the main hall, straining to sit up, looking around and realizing she must have overslept. She went to wash up and walked into the main hall, eyes wide to see someone she didn't recognize. Red hair, spiked up really tall and hardly dressed. "Um…"
"Ah, Rizu-nee, good morning!" Ayumi grinned. "Kirishima-kun, this is Rizu-nee. The owner of the house and the official client for the request!"
"… Kirishima…?" she blinked. "Ah, you're the other one they said was coming later?" she asked, rubbing her eyes. "Nice to meet you…" she bowed her head. "I'm sorry you didn't have more time to rest, after a mission with a pro you had to come right here…"
"Nah its okay, sis!" he grinned. At this Rizusa froze.
"… Sis…?" she covered her face, hiding in the corner.
"Ah… that's her weakness you know, Kiri-chi." Emiko grinned.
"Hah?! W-weakness?!"
"She's always wanted to be a big sister to a bunch of brothers, so whenever a younger boy calls her sis she gets all happy happy~" Emiko chuckled. "Neeee, Rizu-nee~?"
"H-h-he called me Sis…" she was leaning against the wall, trying to keep her composure.
"Haha, Rizu-nee's funny~" Emiko grinned.
"Oi oi, stop embarrassing her, she'll end up getting worse." Minako sighed, chopping the girl over the head.
"Owwww…"
"Miss Ryugazaki, please get yourself together." Minako stated. "And take your morning medication since you're here… You always forget unless I make you take it… Please don't slack treatment because there are guests."
"Ah, yes, I'm sorry… I didn't mean to slack…" she turned around and went to the kitchen to take her medication as Ayumi sat with the boys and Emiko to discuss their job.
"So essentially, you're just here to make sure she doesn't go wild… you didn't see it the first night, but when she calls out her assistants, the little dolls, for battle combat situations, she gets massive headaches and exhausts her physical limit to the point where she can hardly move. If she goes too long when she's sick she'll basically collapse." Ayumi said cheerfully, all the boys pausing.
"That's not normal…" Eijirou said with surprise.
"Sounds like a hassle for her…" Tokoyami nodded.
"Normally when she's healthy, its easier to handle." Emiko said, swinging her legs over the side of the couch. "But when she gets sick like this, it makes her weaker and weaker… its bad for her… but she insists on patrolling herself, she never lets us join her… so…"
"So we're here to help patrol so she can rest, but also so if she does run into villains, she can have a group to rely on." Todoroki replied. Amajiki was surprised at how fast they realized what they had to do. "That's fine, we're here for about a week…"
"And after that, depending on her condition, we'll decide whether she should come back to the UA with the rest of the girls or stay here if she gets better." Amajiki stated simply.
"Hehe, Tama's so straightforward." Ayumi smiled, petting his head, making him shiver. "But that's right… if she's not well we all want her to go to the UA where it'll be safer. If we have to follow, we will. But Rizu-nee's health has been wavering more and more recently, we don't want to see her collapse."
"Rizu-nee spent so many years protecting us… so if nothing else, we wanna protect her…" Emiko said softly, looking put out. "At least this one time…"
"This one time…?"
"Rizu-nee was the only strong one… out of all of us, whenever something happened wrongly, she always fought for us to make it right…" Ayumi smiled. "So… please… be our strength and help us help our big sister…" She began to cry, Tamaki immediately trying to calm her down, the three younger boys all turning to look at each other, nodding.
"As heroes…"
"When a lady asks for help in such a heart-tugging manner…"
"We have no right to refuse."
"We'd be glad to help." They all said in unison, Emiko and Ayumi smiling and thanking them, Ayumi still crying a little but Tamaki soon calmed her down enough.
((And Chapter 2~ I might post one more before I go to work tomorrow but for now I need to rest my eyes... x
Thanks for the read~ Look forward to more as always~
-Winter Cheshire))