Disclaimer - Don't own anything in this story aside from my original characters.

Chapter 4 - "Resolve"

[Kinoru Inube]

Too far.

It was around five in the afternoon and I was laying in my bed, thinking about last night.

The difference in skill, strength, experience... whatever it was, was too damn far. I got completely crushed by Ms. Hashiro in... everything.

Not to mention Hana was able to avoid her attacks much better than I could, even though I was more athletic.

'I'm behind...'

"It's irritating..." I sat up and put on a loose grey hoodie and black running pants, slipping the hood over my head.

I closed my room's door behind me and made my way to the front of the house.

Passing by my living room, I saw that my Mom sat on the fabric sofa and was watching some news program on the TV.

'If I'm quiet enough-'

"Kino-kun, where are you headed?"

'Oops.'

She looked at me curiously, expecting an answer. I couldn't help but notice her messy black hair and heterochromatic eyes, traits that I had.

"I'm- just gonna go for a run, I'll be back by eight or so..." I opened the front door, feeling the evening breeze on my skin.

"Be safe! Make sure your phone is on-" I heard her say before I shut the door.

I couldn't help but smile. Even though she was always busy with work, she'd find some way to show that she cared for me.

I glanced at my phone, navigating to a timer app. The only thing in front of me was the usual street that I ran on for most of my life.

'Time to take my mind off of that stuff...'

"Alright." I said under my breath, "Let's go for a four-minute mile this ti-"

BEHI-

I collided with somebody, as they seemed to have accidentally run into me. It pushed me to the ground belly-first, and I was spread across the sidewalk.

"Oops! Sorry about that!" An unfamiliar voice apologized, the weight from my back lifting.

I turned to look at the person and was surprised to see a pair of black sclera looking back.

The culprit was a girl who looked around my age, she had visibly pink skin with a lighter shade of the color on her hair. She wore a white graphic tee with grey sweatpants, and had earbuds in her ears. But the weirdest parts were her eyes, whose whites were completely replaced by blacks.

She had an odd pair of what seemed to be horns sticking out of her messy hair, and she had a worried expression.

'I'm probably staring right now.'

"Ah... it's all good." I picked myself up and brushed the dust off my clothes.

"I was going for a jog around this area cause' I haven't been here before. I'm from the city part of Musutafu, by the way. Sorry for bumping into you!" She said all that in one rushed sentence.

"You talk a lot, you know," I said, eliciting a grin from her. She then extended her pink hand.

"You seem pretty chill! My name is Mina Ashido, I go to Mustafa Private Middle School, haha! Where do you go?"

'Too much energy...'

I held up my hands, "I'm Kinoru Inube, I go to Mogetsu Middle School, it's a couple of blo-"

She brought my hands together with hers, startling me.

"OH! My friend's sister's cousin goes to that school! I haven't really met them though, but I bet they're pretty chill!"

Her eyes flicked to the top of my head.

I tensed, 'Oh no... she's going to see my stupid quirk-'

"Woahh! Nice ears!" She shouted, her eyes beaming with interest.

Huh?

Since she was a bit shorter than I was, she stood on the tips of her toes to touch them.

I felt my face heat up, she was too close for comfort, and my ears were pretty sensitive.

"I haven't seen anybody with your kind of quirk before! Actually no, there's this one Pro Hero Hound Dog who's pretty popular- but like, you don't really look like a dog, you know?"

I stepped backward, "H-hold on, you think they're cool?"

She nodded, "I haven't seen a lot of people with animal-type quirks. Well, I do know this one girl who has panda ears, but-"

"You don't think they're weird?"

She looked at me like I was crazy, which weirdly made me feel relieved.

"Why would I? I'm a pretty big dog person!"

I chuckled, I was worried over nothing.

"I can show you around the area if you'd like?" I suggested.

Ashido grew quiet, and it looked like she was contemplating something.

"I'm not busy if that's what you're wondering. I was actually going on a run myself." I tried to reassure her, but she suddenly bowed.

"Thank you!" She said, "If it's okay with you, then I accept!"

...

"They have really good ramen over there..."

I pointed at a storefront we sped by, which quickly faded into the background as we passed it.

She'd agreed to go on a jog, but I didn't think she'd be able to keep pace with me for ten minutes.

"Cool! Your area is a lot more interesting than it looks!"

I brushed aside that remark as we circled the shopping district of Mogetsu, eyes staring at us.

Since I'd lived in this area my whole life, I knew a few folks, so there was no doubt that my mother would hear about her son going around with some 'strange girl' from the market people...

I cringed at the conversation we'd have before we stopped at my school.

Ashido was breathing heavily with her hands on her knees. But after all this jogging, she was a lot more athletic than I realized, with her muscular legs...

She caught me staring and grinned, "See something you like?"

I turned to the side and cleared my throat as she laughed, "Just messing around with you! Haha, the look on your face!"

'This girl...'

I turned to the front of the school, seeing the students on campus in their clubs and sports.

"This is my middle school, nothing really that special about it..." I said, noticing her lack of presence.

I heard laughter coming from a group of students to my right, and it turned out that Ashido had decided to talk to them.

I decided to follow.

"...she's really nice! You look a lot like her!" I heard the pink girl say to one of the girls. Then she noticed me walking up to them.

"Can you believe it Inube-kun? This is the cousin of the sister's friend I told you about!" She said with a happy expression.

"Some coincidence." I stated, I looked at the group.

I noticed the wide-eyed expression the girl was giving me, so I waved to her.

"You know that's the captain of our school's cross country team, right Ashido-chan?" The girl asked in a hushed whisper, but I overheard it thanks to my quirk.

Ashido looked at me puzzled, then grinned once more.

"You're pretty popular, huh Inube-kun? No wonder you weren't out of breath by the end of our jog!" She poked her elbow at the side of my stomach.

'I hope she doesn't get any misunderstandings...'

"I guess so..." I scratched the back of my head.

After a few minutes, she said goodbye to the group and we walked to the park next to the school.

"They told me that you were a bit of a delinquent." She said, which caused me to chuckle.

"Did they?"

"Yeah, they also said you were a player."

I stayed silent on that one.

We sat on the swing set, me on the left and her on the right.

I swung my legs and started to build up momentum.

"What do you want to be Ashido-san?" I asked her. That question rested in the back of my mind ever since Rumi proposed it, and I thought I could find my answer by asking her.

"You're always so confident and talkative, it made me curious."

I expected an answer, but she stayed silent. Her gaze was fixed on the ground, her legs stopped swinging.

"Have you ever seen a villain, Inube-kun?"

Her question made me break out in a cold sweat as it reminded me of the villain who attacked our school the week before.

"Yeah..." I responded.

She hummed and began swinging her legs once more.

"My friends came across a villain before."

That made me stop and listen more intently.

"He was really big, and really scary too. When I distracted him to let my friends go, I broke down and cried." She was swinging higher and higher, but due to the setting sun, I couldn't see her face.

"You're really cool Ashido-san." I blurted out.

'What's up with me...?'

I heard her laugh, "Those girls from before... they told me about more than just what I mentioned."

"You saved one of them from a villain after all."

I was genuinely surprised, "So they told you-"

"-everything, yeah." She finished my sentence. Her face was completely covered by the dark, her swinging speed increased.

'What's with this girl?'

She jumped off of the swing at the crest of her swing, landing perfectly on feet a couple of meters away. She turned around to face me, the lit streetlights now illuminating her determined expression.

"I wanna become a Hero so I can protect those who can't stand up for themselves."

Her declaration blew me away. She looked serious, which got my heart racing.

Her expression then changed to a more carefree grin, "So what do you wanna be, Inube-kun?"

I stopped swinging my legs and met her eyes.

'Should I...?' I thought,

"I was scared, you know. When I fought that villain, I didn't realize how much danger I was in." I admitted. She had a more neutral expression now, I felt her eyes almost boring into me.

'I can't stop myself...'

"I was in the hospital for a week because of a concussion from the incident, and I got scolded pretty hard by my coach for missing practice." I smiled, "But I never regretted it."

I stood up, still staring, which caused her to back up a little.

"I want to be strong! So that I can make up for all the times I never stood up for myself!"

'I've found my resolve... Thank you, Ashido-san.'

"..."

The tension in the air was broken once she started laughing.

"Sorry!" She wiped a tear away, "You were so serious the entire time, I didn't wanna mention the leaf on top of your head."

I felt my face heat up as I plucked the leaf off the top of my head and threw it to the side.

"I have to go, but it was nice talking to you Inube-kun." She dug through her pockets and pulled out a phone, then started furiously tapping it.

"Here." She handed me her phone, "Gimme your contact info, I'll show you around the city sometime." She said with a wink.

'What's different about her..?'

I did as she asked and waved as I watched her leave, her figure fading into the distance.

'Musutafu's city...' I thought, chucking.

"Wait, did she just ask me out...?"

...

[Hana Naneko]

"Hana-san, there's a person at the front door requesting your presence."

My butler said behind my room's door. I sighed and lifted myself off of my bed.

I opened the door, "Do you know who it is?"

He looked at me with furrowed brows, "No ma'am, but they insisted to be let into the plaza. Though I do think I've seen her on TV once or twice..."

'It's Miruko-senpai!'

I rushed down the stairs, almost tripping once I hit the ground and sped to the door, then stopped.

It's not that I'm obsessed with Miruko-senpai's career as a Pro Hero, but she was the first person to who I could truly relate to. She was a strong woman, who was not only a Pro Hero, but also had an animal-type quirk and wasn't afraid to show it.

'Five years old me would be crying tears of joy if she even looked my way...'

Now she's going to help me convince my parents to let me become a Hero...

I made sure I looked presentable enough by dusting off my clothes, which were only a pair of short-shorts, and a loose pink tee, casual loungewear really.

Then I held my breath... and opened the front door.

There she stood, in her hero costume..?

"Hey there Hana! Glad to see ya!" She waved.

'Is she going to do what I think-?'

My train of thought was interrupted when my father's voice came from behind me.

"...what did I tell you about opening the door to strangers-" He stopped, I noticed he started visibly sweating.

Miruko-senpai bowed, "Hello Mr. Naneko, I'm here to speak with you and your wife."

He seemed too intimidated to say anything so I let her in, seeing her eye the place.

"Your house is really nice. Nicer than most offices I've seen, actually." She ran her right hand along the wall.

I felt my father's hand on my left shoulder as he turned me to face him.

"Hana... what's the meaning of this?!" He looked angry, and I could've sworn I saw a blood vessel on his forehead.

"It's Miruk-"

He cut me off, "I KNOW WHO SHE IS. THAT'S NOT WHAT IM ASKING HERE."

Miruko-senpai side-eyed me, noticing my discomfort. She cleared her throat,

"I'm here to convince you to let your daughter attempt the Yuuei entrance exam." She announced, unsubtly winking at me.

I facepalmed, 'YOU AREN'T SUPPOSED TO STRAIGHT UP SAY IT!'

My father crossed his arms, "Hmph. I'm willing to sit down and speak about her, but I'm sure nothing you say will change my stance." He looked at me, "I'm sure she mentioned what that was?"

I felt sweat begin to build upon my forehead.

"Let's move to the dining room."

...

"This is a family matter, Miss Usagiyama."

It was uncomfortable seeing my father talk down to my idol, though I couldn't really interrupt as she was equally as defiant. My father sat at the head of the dining table, while Miruko-senpai and I were sat across from each other to his left. My mother was too busy with something, she didn't exactly say what...

'Probably too scared.' I thought.

"You've said that a whole lot, ya know?" She stretched her arm, and looked bored, "I'm saying that you should let her decide for herself."

He fumed, almost twenty minutes of conversation led to this back and forth, which ended up with them not doing anything meaningful.

"She's a child-"

"She's about to enter High School. She can speak for herself" Miruko-senpai interrupted him, a glare was aimed his way.

I didn't want to speak up, but I felt like I needed to do something,

"She's right Father, you can't keep treating me like I'm still in Pre-School." I had my eyes cast onto the table because I didn't want to look at his face right now.

He slammed his fist on the table, causing me to flinch.

"No, Hana. This is for your sake-" He was about to finish his sentence, but Miruko-senpai stood up and slammed hers as well, causing it to split at the point where she hit.

"Mr. Naneko, have you truly talked to your daughter before? Because at the moment, it looks like ya haven't." She looked at the busted table, "I can pay for that."

My father sighed while rubbing his temple, "No need. It's a 2 million yen table, custom made." He called in our butler, who looked equally surprised at the destruction, and told him to order a new one.

Miruko-senpai's eyes widened, but she sat back down.

"You were a Pro Hero as well, Mr. Naneko, so you've experienced what the profession is like firsthand." She stated, it seemed to have grabbed his attention as he now had a displeased expression instead.

"Ever since I was young, I wanted to be a Hero. So I studied hard, trained myself equally so, and entered an elite school, Shiketsu High School's Hero Course." He seemed forlorn when speaking about his past, but we listened intently.

"I graduated, got my Hero License, and finally achieved my dream... and for what? I spent the entirety of my life just to be ridiculed by the public for the tiniest of things, not to mention the civilians who'd treat me as utter filth, on the basis of my quirk." He spoke with an undertone of anger, the emotion showing on his face.

'I'd never seen him like this before...'

Instead of interrupting him, Miruko-senpai said nothing. She had a neutral expression, one that lacked any sign of emotion, showing that she was listening closely.

"So tell me, Ms. Usagiyama, why I'd put my daughter through the same exact ordeal when I know precisely how it's going to end?" He looked at her expectantly, his pupils peeking over his interlaced fingers.

"She isn't you." She said simply, surprising both my Father and me with her bluntness.

"Excuse me?" He said in a low voice, which showed that he was starting to get frustrated once more.

"Ya heard me. Hana-chan is her own person! You can't base her entire future off of your past." She eyed him closely, "I'm sure you saw her actions two weeks ago regarding the villain who harassed her Middle School?"

My father was the one who stayed quiet this time, confirming her assumption.

He spoke up, "If I hadn't complied with her request to stay at that school instead of a private one, the whole ordeal never would've happened-"

"Kinoru Inube would've died." She said bluntly. This time he couldn't meet her eyes, not contesting her.

'My father's met Kino-kun before, and took a liking to him... nice one Miruko-senpai!' I mentally cheered.

"As a Pro Hero, you were known for your incredible, cat-like reflexes... And sharp intellect." She looked at him, "The Swift Hero, Birman."

He physically cringed hearing those words, which means she hit a sensitive spot. Miruko-senpai stood up and walked towards him,

"Though you weren't particularly popular, you inspired a number of children with animal-like quirks to pursue the Hero Route."

She did the one thing that no one was expecting, which was to bow to him.

"Thank you, sir."

'UHHHH.' I genuinely didn't know how my father would react, but he only served to surprise me even further as he... laughed. A hearty laugh too, which was jarring because I'd only ever seen him either mad or not mad.

He looked at her with an interesting look and a grin, "Is this what a top-ten Pro Hero is capable of?" He stood up.

'?'

"To be honest, when I saw my little girl had helped stop a villain on the news, the first thing I felt was fear." My father looked at me with an unrecognizable expression.

"But the other emotion I felt... was pride." He beamed. "Having seen many heroes turn to corruption in my time, I guess I hadn't wanted my daughter to have the same experience."

He looked at Miruko-senpai with a thankful expression, "But the times where I was able to put a smile on a child's face just for being there or saved a life, far overshadowed those moments."

My father smiled warmly, "Thank you for showing me that I'd accomplished something more."

She had a small smile on her face as she held out her hand, "Mr. Naneko, I promise to take care of your daughter while she's under my training to the best of my ability- No, I will make sure she's safe."

I didn't think it would go this well, but seeing the moment he had shook her hand was when I realized,

Miruko-senpai is different.

Looking around the room, he went back to his naturally grumpy expression as he observed the split table.

"I'm positive I can trust you with her. I've never met anyone who's been able to split a table with a simple slam." He knocked on the wood, "This is hard spruce as well..."

She apologized with a smile, and the both of us left the dining room as I lead her to the front door

"Miruko-senpai." I looked at her with the most respect I could bring together, "T-thank you."

She clicked her tongue, brought a hand up to her face, "You can call me Rumi, ya know." I saw her grin, "I just couldn't stand seeing someone stop a girl with so much potential."

I felt embarrassed, but I decided to show my resolve.

"...I'm going to be like you."

She stopped walking and turned around, "Hm?"

I planted my feet, feeling the emotion build up into my voice, "No, t-that's not right..."

'I need her to see how much I look up to her...'

"I'm going to surpass you someday!"

I could see tears clouding my vision, with more and more falling before I was full-on crying.

As I wiped them away, I felt her arms wrap around me.

"I don't know much about properly raising a kid, maybe it's my motherly instincts or something." She glanced at me assuredly, "But I'll do my best while I'm training ya."

I bawled for a bit, I'll admit. And after a few minutes, I was still wiping away tears when I opened the front door.

"See ya at my agency, Hana-chan." She flashed her signature smile.

"Yeah." I sniffled, "See you then, Rumi-senpai."

With that, she left with a wave.

I didn't know what I felt at the moment, I thought it was happiness. But the desire to better myself... the desire to chase after change,

I was excited.

END OF CHAPTER 4

A/N: Ooh, who did Kinoru meet? O.o

Sorry for the slow start! Since I'm starting to pick up the pace, chapters will most likely be longer to account for more story.

If you're waiting until our protagonists get to the exam... it'llbe the chapter after the next, probably.

Please! Leave a review and tell me what you like and dislike about my story, it'll help me out a lot because Idon't have any beta-readers!