Chapter 10
Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia, or anything related to it. All properties belong to their respectful owners.
A.N: I'm always glad to see how quick and supportive this story is growing. I believe it was Chapter 4 when I said my goal was 500 reviews and 2.5k follow and fav, already we are close to the halfway point on most of those. This Chapter some people might not like, but I'm aware of that, all I will say is that this story is about Izuku and Rumi everything and everyone else is just world building. As such "canon" scenes are not rushed, but rather sped up so to say, that way we get back to Izuku x Rumi.
Whatever conversations may have been held were silenced as the two boys stared one another down. They were silent as Bakugo brushed Izuku's hand off his shoulder and stood taller, if only by a few inches. Izuku had expected outrage or anger, and while it was there, he also noticed Katsuki was still rather subdued.
"Let's go." Katsuki said over his shoulder. He was quick to follow him and finish their discussion before class began in fifteen minutes. Once they were outside the classroom Katsuki continued to walk until he stopped in a secluded hallway. They faced one another and stood in silence until Bakugo raised his voice.
"Speak." He said. Izuku took that as his cue and released his breath while he stood tall.
"I already told you this, but I'll say it again. Everything I said about not competing with you, I take it back. I'm done hiding in your shadow and cowering, we are both aiming to be the best Hero. From now on we are equals and rivals, I'll defeat you with my power." The anger he expected was finally there in full force.
"Dammit you stupid nerd, you were a pebble on my path. How the hell am I supposed to destroy you when you already won." Izuku looked in shock at that.
"Kacchan, what are you…" He was interrupted.
"SHUT UP! Shit, shit shit shit, where did I go wrong. The best Hero is never supposed to lose, he always wins, so how did I lose to you, you damn Deku!" A deep breath passed through Izuku. He needed to keep his cool and talk his way through this with Bakugo if they ever wanted closure.
"Have I ever told you my image of victory, its you Kacchan. Ever since we were young I've always looked up to you. I don't know how or when you got the notion I was looking down on you, but I wasn't. For the longest time I admired everything about you, I wanted to be just like you." His words came out in a calm and cold truth that hung in the air. Bakugo looked near on the verge of tears while he slumped.
"Then where did I go wrong, if I was so much better than you, why did I lose. Was my ideal wrong, the best Hero should always win, no matter the odds. Shouldn't he?" Izuku could feel the pain in his gaze as they bleed their feelings towards each other for the first time ever.
"You weren't wrong, and I don't think I was right either. I've seen and had a lot of different mentalities thrown at me recently. What I learned is that you need power and resolve to back your beliefs. But if I were to symbolize the Hero that saves everyone, and you the Hero who always wins, then why can't we be both together.
"We can both be the best Heroes who always win and rescue everyone. I don't want to fight you anymore Kacchan, I want to be like we once were. Before pride, before arrogance, before ideals, can't we just be friends both working together towards our goals? Rivals that will push each other to be better and always try our best?" Izuku bared his heart with his final push to reclaim his friend.
Katsuki was deathly silent as he took everything in. He had thought and been stuck on this same issue for so long that he didn't know how to let it go. There truthfully wasn't a reason against what Izuku was saying. Katsuki grunted as he thought of something similar that Best Jeanist had also said to him. One thing was still unresolved though.
"What about that borrowed power you lied to me about." Izuku took in a sharp breath, but very subtlety so he didn't alert Katsuki. He knew it would eventually come up; at one point he might have even told him. As he was now though, Izuku had a support group and someone he trusted deeply and had already shared his secret with.
"Truthfully, that was how I felt, I didn't know what else to say without you feeling I had lied to you. With more time to study and learn how my Quirk works however, I don't feel like that anymore. I told you my power was borrowed and someone else had given me my power because it was true to me.
"Shortly after that encounter we had with the sludge Villain, I met an injured Hero. He had seen me rush into the situation and told me that was the true spirit of a Hero that he was looking for. As a retired Hero he had been delegated as a personal trainer, when I told him of my dream to enter U.A. despite being Quirkless he was inspired.
"With his knowledge he trained me to be as physically able to handle the exam as I could be. It was during that time that my Quirk awakened, the doctors believed I was Quirkless, but I wasn't. Since I had never heavily worked out before my body wasn't strong enough to handle my Quirk, it was protecting itself.
"Once my Quirk awakened, I initially thought it was a strength enhancer, so I fired it off at full power all the time and broke my bones. Now that I've had time to work with it though I've learned what it really is. My body produces an energy that I can direct to interact with my body in diverse ways. Truthfully I am blessed, what is only one Quirk seems like many because of its unique ability.
"I didn't believe I was worthy of that power and felt like it had been given to me by my trainer. You've had your whole life to learn what I'm just now putting into practice. So, I'll continue to grow and get stronger, I'd like to do that with my friend at my side. Can we go back to how things used to be Kacchan, can we be friends again?" Izuku knew the story wasn't the full truth, but enough was blended in to come off as earnest. The last bit would also allow him to cover his other Quirks granted from One For All.
"After all this time you can at least pronounce my name properly, can't you Izuku." It was a short sentence, but it held so much weight behind it. He grinned as Bakugo slowly raised his fist and held it out to Izuku with a small smile on his face. The gesture was reciprocated and Izuku lightly bumped fists with him as they grinned at one another.
"It's nice to have my friend back Katsuki." He said. Bakugo grunted as he smirked and headed back to the classroom throwing insults back at him. The weight and snark they used to hold was gone though. Instead it was the light banter of two old friends messing with one another as they went about teasing one another.
Their classroom came up quick as they entered together with similes on their faces. The other students were utterly stunned and didn't know how to react as they entered. Izuku headed toward his seat with a wide smile as he listened to them speak in what they thought was whispers.
"What happened to them?" He noticed that came from Jiro as she talked to Momo. Uraraka gave a light fist pump as her eyes heated up.
"The fated battle of rivals." Asui looked at her with an inquisitive head tilt.
"But they aren't fighting anymore Ochaco." Her point seemed to be ignored.
"The fated battle of rivals." The class continued their conversations as Izuku made his way to talk with Tenya and Shoto before the class began. Both greeted him with a small smile as they talked in whispers about their battle.
"I wanted to tell you both the good news once we were back. My brother is finally being released from the hospital, also he won't be able to resume his Hero duties, but feeling has come back slowly to his legs. The best guess right now is that he won't ever have full mobility back, but my brother may one day walk again." Tenya had a bright smile as he relayed the news.
Their conversation had been overheard as the whole class was paying attention to them. A difference had been noted in the subtle aura the three gave off, whether they knew it or not, each held themselves just a bit taller.
"I can't believe you are all enjoying the time you had, women are demons hiding their true colors I tell you." Mineta was mostly ignored as people crowded around Izuku.
"Still I can't believe you guys fought the Hero Killer, I heard on the news that you were saved by Miruko. You spent your week under her right Deku, that must have been scary." Izuku smiled at Uraraka and noticed a red tint came to her as he chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. Normally he would have stuttered and turned away, but after he realized what he felt for her was his admiration of his same dream he found it easy to talk with her.
"Truthfully I had a wonderful time, I learned a lot from Rumi. She taught me a whole bunch of stuff about what it means to be a Hero." He noticed a look of shock passed over the class and Ochaco seemed to have been struck.
"Rumi, what exactly happened while you were there!?" Denki asked as he got in Izuku's face with an accusatory glare. Mineta seemed to have lost his earlier tension of women as he suddenly drooled in front of Izuku.
"Did some sort of affair occur between master and student? Were her tits huge, I bet she ruined you. Normal girls just wont do it anymore will they, you need to have a mature woman. You damn player I bet…" A slap of Tsuyu's tongue rang out, but eyes didn't leave Izuku as he only laughed and continued to rub his head. Several eyes raised at his lack of blush, stutter, or denial of the situation.
"Nothing like what you said happened, I just grew up. We have similar pasts, and became fast friends, that's all. She asked me to call her Rumi, so I do, she does have a heroic figure though." Izuku whispered the last bit to himself, but it still brought a pleasant heat to his cheeks. The continued grilling of the different work studies would have continued, but the door slide open and they all rushed to their seats as Aizawa entered.
Class proceeded quickly as Aizawa directed the class on what their new goals would be as finals were approaching. His section of the day passed quickly as Izuku took notes and thought over the progress he'd made. Rumi's advice had pointed him in the right direction, it was slow right now, but he had restored his friendship with Katsuki.
The rapid pace continued as Izuku grabbed his costume as he and the class had been told. Once they were dressed they were to head over to ground beta for a special Hero class with All Might. After everyone was dressed and a quick bus ride filled with idle chat they arrived at the grounds. Izuku noticed that his class was giving him odd looks whenever he answered them and conversed, but he put it to the side.
With All Might before him Izuku noticed for the first time that his admiration was still there, but it felt less clouded. He felt as though he was seeing All Might for the first time not as the unreachable symbol of peace, but his mentor and teacher. All Might gave them a run down on the exercise they would be facing as their first test back from the work studies.
He along with four others would start at equal distances apart and race towards the center of the arena. Their goal was to rescue a "distressed" citizen in the form of All Might. While he got into his position he briefly heard the rest of the class talking about who would win.
"It's got to be Sero, he's got the best Quirk and mobility for the exercise." They debated back and forth as the race was almost ready.
"What about Mina and Ojiro, you can't count out the mobility of their Quirks either. Iida is an excellent choice too, but he's still injured right?" As the conversation heated up, Katsuki had a sudden urge to defend Izuku after so long of putting him down.
"Don't count Izuku out, he said he had a major development with his Quirk." The other students and even Aizawa turned at that interested. Normally Aizawa would have left the class alone to All Might and reviewed the footage later. As the finals were coming up and they were fresh back from work studies, he wanted to see their progress with his own eyes.
Everyone had a question on the tip of their tongue they wanted to ask. Regardless of what they wanted to ask however, Katsuki didn't know more as that was all Izuku had told him. Before the questions could start though a loud siren like noise rang out as All Might called over the speakers.
"Start!" They all turned to the monitor with interest for what would be displayed.
'Unless the situation calls for it I should try to keep Blackwhip under wraps. At the same time though, the definition I gave to Katsuki for my Quirk works in my favor. I should get used to using everything I have at my disposal while around my allies. Start at 5% and adjust to the situation.' Plan in mind Izuku shot up towards the roofs of the buildings the second the signal was given.
He shot himself off various surfaces and bounced to the roofs while observing his surroundings. There were lots of slippery surfaces and small pipes he could easily lose footing on, but he had practiced with Rumi about how to best maneuver around. Seeing nothing that he deemed an obstacle, Izuku raised his power to 10% as green electricity surged up.
He shot off at double his speed well increasing the fair lead he already had. As he looked around to determine where All Might and thus the goal were they came into sight. Izuku saw a pipe in front of him angled just right for his plan and purposely slipped off it. With his angle and speed from falling calculated he attached Blackwhip to the pipe and slingshot himself straight to the finish.
As he landed he went to reach for the goal before he stopped. When he looked around he noticed All Might was inside a see though cube that appeared to be made of glass. Around Izuku's feet he noticed five separate small indents that looked like pressure plates. He moved away from the glass and stepped onto the plate, as he did a small green light flashed around it.
Understanding the general concept behind what was happening, he stood his place on the plate and awaited his fellow classmates arrival. When they showed up one by one they first shot him questions one after another before he directed them to step on a plate of their own and wait. After everyone arrived and all plates were stepped on the glass around All Might let out a sound and dropped open around all of them.
"Well done Heroes, this is a good lesson. It's true you must each grow and use your own strengths. But don't forget true Heroes work with those around them to complete a common goal." All Might smirked and gave a thumbs up to his students and told them to rest while he called the next set. With the others gone he whispered under his breath to Izuku.
"Hardly recognized you there young Midoriya. Keep up the excellent work, I can see you are progressing fast." Izuku took the words with pride as he walked off with his classmates. They bombarded him with questions, but he was happy to answer, the weight he used to feel around them lifted and they were all on equal footing as Hero hopefuls. He always placed more weight on his shoulders than he realized, but with his increased confidence it lifted more with each day.
The class was finished in rapid fashion and Izuku returned to his homeroom as he went over his new abilities. They were all wildly impressed with his change in demeanor as well as his growth. Mineta made another comment that was ignored, but his words did put the focus on the in plain view crescent moon proudly displayed on Izuku's chest. He took immense pride in the symbol he was granted to wear and ran a hand over it.
With the day mostly over and classes finished Aizawa told them to study for all the finals tests they would receive. They discussed amongst each other about what subjects they were ahead on and which one others needed help on. Momo offered a group study to help those who wanted her help. Izuku quickly interjected and asked if she had enough room to host the whole class.
She broke into a delighted cheer and held her fists in front of her chest as she exclaimed that she did. Izuku then suggested they could hold a class wide study session and any questions that individuals had could be answered in groups. That would allow everyone to work together, but also break into groups based on the subject they would need help with.
Everyone agreed to the idea despite a few grumbles from Bakugo. With everyone in agreeance together various days and times were set to met at Momo's house for their study sessions. Having a different outlook from his battle with the Hero Killer offered Izuku a clearer vison of his classmates.
Not counting Mineta since he didn't really understand him, Izuku could tell they were all on their way to being great Heroes. Each of them however, himself included, had things they needed to work on. The only one he could try and help at the given time that he noticed was Momo, despite her large intelligence, he had noticed her confidence from the beginning of the year had dropped.
Nezu silently sat in his office as he watched the footage from class 1-A's Hero training. He was glad to see the improvement even if gradual in all the students, but his eyes focused on Izuku. Slightly mad cackles escaped from him as he drank some tea and watched the clip finish off.
'I withheld all the offers from the sports festival for Izuku since I believed Gran Torino would reach out, and he did. But to think he would also receive an offer from Miruko, I didn't expect that. Seems it was an excellent choice to send her offer though, he has vastly improved in the small amount of time he was with her.' Nezu chuckled silently to himself.
He lightly closed the laptop playing the footage and looked back to the papers on his desk. The one he glanced at for several moments before brushing to the side was lightly labeled at the top, "Dormitories". Nezu knew it wasn't quite time for that idea yet and instead focused on the other things right in front of him before a knock came to his door.
"Enter." A member off his staff told him it was time for his scheduled meeting. He hopped down from his chair and headed towards the room. Once he entered Aizawa took center focus and control as he proposed his updated and planned changes to the finals tests. Nezu agreed that with the Villains becoming more focused and bold a change was needed.
Miruko felt her days were passing quickly in a tunneled void. She thought once Izuku left, things would finally go back to normal, and they had. Only she wasn't the same anymore even if her days were. Her chest ached every time she thought of him and it only lessened when she sent or received texts from him.
The days were a blur, because she realized that with Izuku gone she had seemingly become numb to everything around her. It didn't interfere with her work, but she found it harder to smile honestly as Himari had pointed out to her. She found herself once more slipping fully back into the persona of Miruko, the rough and tough Hero.
That was her, but deep down it also wasn't. With Izuku gone she found that she wanted to do more things she would normally consider girly. Before she hadn't put much overall thought into her outward appearance, but she had found herself wondering what she would look like in a dress. Each time a thought came up though she realized that it was a question she wanted Izuku's answer too.
Yes, she was curious if she would look good in a dress, but she was more interested in whether Izuku would think she looked good. Every time one of those thoughts passed her she would grow a tint of red to her cheeks and her chest would clench. She knew that her thoughts on the larger matter couldn't be ignored forever and instead had turned to her trusted friend Himari.
"What's wrong with me Mari, I need your help." Rumi had broken down and explained every situation she had encountered with Izuku and what she had felt after each. Then she had even gone into her recent thoughts and what they meant while asking why she cared so much about one person. Himari had given her a slight look of pity before she huffed and answered.
"I believe you need to come to your own conclusion about these feelings. However, in my experience whether you want to accept it or not, when you have these thoughts and experiences it points to one thing. Not being able to think about anyone else and only wanting to be around Izuku more to spend time with him, it sounds like you are in love Rumi." Everything else around her crashed into black.
After she had heard that word from Himari, Rumi had become almost robotic in all her efforts. She tried to deny how light the word had made her feel, but every time she thought of it the first image that came to her was Izuku and his bright green eyes. Acceptance was a slow and hard-fought battle, but once she caved into the feeling the hole in her chest shrunk until it was instead filed with a large warmth that bubbled up.
Even with the revelation and acceptance, she thought back on her actions and realized she had two major flaws stopping her. The first being spending time with Izuku, they had almost no way to spend time with each other without going completely out of their way to see one another. She would have been happy to do that however, Izuku not only had his schooling, but without knowing if he felt even remotely like her he might not respond the same.
Her second and to her truly glaring issue was her own self-doubts. Rumi had inadvertently pushed Izuku away on his final work study day because she realized she had a fear of abandonment. It wasn't her parents fault they had passed, but by leaving her alone at such an early age with all that responsibility jaded her. Deeper still was her jealous tendencies, before she had pushed Izuku away she had tried to hold him as close as possible and make him hers.
Even if subconsciously she didn't want him to "belong" to anyone else. That was why she had ripped off his All Might ears on his costume and branded it with her own mark. In a way it was her only way to claim what she believed was hers. She knew that wasn't right and Izuku didn't belong to anyone, but she wanted him to be hers and no one else's. It was rooted into her fears, and she knew that, but she still wanted him.
When she heard her phone ping her thoughts immediately went to Izuku and a smile appeared. Her eyes came across the screen however, as it wasn't Izuku's name her smile gradually slide down. She opened and read the message as an eyebrow raised. By the time she finished a smile was back on her face, but it was also filled with anticipation.
'This time for sure I won't hold back.' A large and happy smile came as she held her chest and awaited her coming future.
Nezu was impressed with how well Aizawa and Vlad had watched their students and followed their growth. He agreed with the pairs and teachers that would best fit each pair. The meeting passed quickly for him as he analyzed each possible scenario and the best location for each pair to face their trial. When it finally came to an end he made to head for his office before All Might called out to him.
Having something that he wished to discuss with Nezu he asked to have a minute of his time. He agreed and told All Might to follow him to his office. They arrived quickly and he offered a cup of tea as he asked All Might again how he was adjusting to being a teacher.
"I'm sure you must have been quite proud of Izuku, I watched his footage. Though I must admit I wanted to speak with you as well. We both know what One For All does, does Midoriya actually possess another Quirk?" He asked his question with positive glee in anticipation.
All Might went on to then describe what he had learned from Izuku in their few brief conversations. Nezu took it all in and let his Quirk calmly sort all the information and create several hypothesis. After a few moments he nodded his head in silent thought.
'It is a one of a kind Quirk, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that its evolving after such an amount of time and power has passed through it.' He mumbled lightly before mad cackles again came lose as he thought of all the possibilities.
"You mentioned you've started compiling a book of the previous users. If I can help I will, however, Izuku has already used this new ability, Blackwhip was it? He used the ability in full display of his class, has he prepared an adequate cover for their questions." All Might reiterated what Izuku had said, and the mouse, bear, dog, agreed it was a solid diversion. Enough truth was blended with falsehood to cover him.
"Initially you came here for something else didn't you? What can I be of assistance in All Might?" Nezu posed his question and All Might took a breath.
"I wanted to share with you what Izuku shared with me. The circle of people who know about One For All has increased by two. He didn't mention anything of All For One to his mother, but he did share his Quirk origin with her." All Might coughed lightly and wiped away the slight blood that came up. Nezu offered more tea as he gratefully drank it.
"The real reason I came here though, I definitely trust Izuku and its his secret to share now. What you should know however, is that he shared our secret together, everything about One For All and my injury with his work study Hero. Rumi Usagiyama better known as Rabbit Hero: Miruko knows everything of One For All." Nezu took a small sip of his tea as he processed that news.
'Certainly, I believed it would be interesting for him to study under Miruko, I never believed he would take the offer though. Neither did I believe she would send one, truly a unique situation I have found myself in. I'm always pleased to know things can still surprise me in this world, fu fu.
'This could very well play into the worries that have been rising recently. My oh my, so many interesting ideas are coming to me with this development. I have so many fun schemes that could be played out to a tee.' Nezu broke into full cackles as he went into overdrive with thoughts of several ways he could use the information. After he calmed down and verified All Might needed nothing else he dismissed him to be on his way to prep for the next day's classes.
He thumbed through some old documents he had already filed away for the sports festival and retrieved the one he was looking for. Once he had it a gleam came to his eyes and he took out his phone. The message he wanted was quickly typed and sent away as he chuckled to himself.
A.N: If anyone is interested in beta reading my story to improve grammar and readability let me know, that would drop my posting down to once a week more than likely. Most importantly however, I want to know if you want me to create other Quirks for Izuku and implement them into the story or wait until they are revealed in manga. If you want more Quirks shoot me some ideas for them to use.
Regarding characterization, I know Rumi hasn't been exactly like she is in the manga, but that's why it's fanfiction. I will say though that she is going to get more chances to be her rough and tough self. Some profound changes will be coming soon, and I hope you enjoy them. Also, if you enjoy my work and feel like supporting me please check out my Ko-fi under the same name holliswriting.
