"Rumi. Come home. Please."
He just had to say it. Rumi groaned, both because he was doing this magical thing to base of her ears with his fingers, and because he apparently wanted to discuss the numerous questionable decisions she'd made in the last year. "Can't you just keep feeling me up instead?" She leered.
He wasn't having it, and gently grasped her wrists, stopping her wandering hands. "I'm being serious. I miss you. Your parents miss you. Kacchan, he… Your mom's lost a lot of weight recently. She's… she's not doing great. Come home."
Rumi butted her forehead against his, cursing softly. She didn't want to think about her mother. She probably assumed Rumi ran off to get away from her. That wasn't at all the case, but she was completely in the dark and their relationship had soured before Rumi left for Kamino. What was the woman supposed to think? "I want to. I do…"
"But?" His lip trembled. His eyes grew watery. A few fat tears had leaked out earlier, but he hadn't exactly unleashed the tropical storm he and his mother were famous for.
"Oh no. No, no, no. Stop. Do not." Rumi palmed his face and shoved it away. "If you start, I'm gonna start, and I do not need that right now. Today's been shitty enough." She really didn't want to cry, not in front of him, and especially not while she was on the job.
He sniffled pathetically but nodded. A few slow, deep breaths and he brought himself down. "S-sorry, I-"
"No! No, don't apologize, it's just." She blew a stray lock of hair out of her face. "Now's probably the worst possible time for us to break out the Kleenex box, ya know?" She smiled, somewhat impotently. She probably needed a good cry, but she'd been serious about the timing. "You sappy bitch."
He laughed, and good goddamn, had she'd missed the sound of it.
She nuzzled into his neck with a sigh. He'd grown significantly taller the past year. About five centimeters or so. Or had that been spread out over the past few years? Things got blurry right around the start of her second year of commission training. Mentally, she'd just been sort of… gone. Either way, he had a good five centimeters on her now. That was possibly the most irritating development here. Rumi rather enjoyed towering over Izuku when he was a scrawny runt. Well, less tower, more stand eye-to-eye, but whatever.
She pried herself out of his lap, standing with a wince. "It's a long, stupid, complicated story." She hauled him to his feet in short order, savoring the way he gawked at her bicep. She bit her lip for an instant. This sucked. Running into Izuku here, of all places sucked. "So, you finally got your quirk, huh?"
Izuku frowned. "You're deflecting."
Rumi rolled her eyes, crossing her arms under her chest expectantly.
"It's complicated." He said, prodding at his ring finger.
She squinted up at him. "Dirty bitch..."
He laughed again.
By chance, Rumi noticed the ring finger of his left glove was missing. The edge of the fabric was ragged and torn. The finger itself was beginning to swell, the skin had turned an angry red. She hissed, grabbed his hand, and yanked the glove off.
He yelped.
"What the fuck?" She prodded gently at his ring finger, dragging a whimper out of him, "your finger's broken! Wait, did your quirk do this?"
Izuku shuffled from side to side, obviously mulling over his response. How suspicious of him. She glared, waiting, but patience was in short supply these days. She prodded him in the ribs. "Oi, stop analyzing my goddamn question and answer it already!" Her boot went clack-clack-clack on the floor.
He flinched back to reality. "Sorry! I, uh, I know it looks bad but it's not really that bad."
Rumi's right ear twitched rapidly. She heard his heartbeat accelerate to a near frantic pace before slowly coming down. He was lying. The stupid pretty bastard had the nerve to lie to her about getting hurt. Un-freakin-believable.
"This is actually pretty tame. Really!" With his free hand he rubbed awkwardly his neck.
Tame? This was tame? Her cheek twitched.
Izuku's eyes snapped open. He made a small 'oh' with his mouth, as if realizing he just fucked up, and boy, did he ever.
"Yes!" Rumi shrieked. "It is that fucking bad!" She smacked the heel of her palm into his forehead, incensed. "Don't use your goddamn quirk if it breaks your bones, you moron! And you're trying to tell me this is tame? What in the fuck else have you broken!?"
Izuku backpedaled a bit, cringing.
Rumi stayed on him, got right up in his face, tapping her foot faster and faster. He was so, SO unbelievably fucked if he thought he could get away with some stupid shit like this. Lying about hurting himself. Goddamn ridiculous, had he broken his brain too? And then – and then! – the pretty little idiot had the nerve to look down at her, blushing, like she wasn't pissed off! Rumi gnashed her teeth together. "Well?"
Izuku scuffed his shoes on the floor, mulishly looking away. He muttered an answer after a pregnant pause. Quietly. As if he hoped she wouldn't hear it. She. Rumi. The girl with two friggin giant sonar dishes for ears. The girl that could tell if people – except Hawks – were lying by listening to their pulse. He really had broken his brain.
"You broke your LEGS?!" Rumi made a strangling motion with her hands, but quickly reigned herself in. She laced her fingers together, squeezing until her knuckles went white, and sank into a crouch. With her elbows on her knees, rubbed at the bridge of her nose with her thumbs. "I'm not mad. I'm not mad. This is fine. It's fine, everything's fine." Take a deep breath. Inhale. Count to four. Exhale. Repeat.
"Uh…"
Rumi raised her hand, palm facing Izuku, stalling him. She took several breaths. "You have a quirk now." She heard rather than saw him swallow nervously. "You're a student of the UA hero course, and your quirk damages you when you use it. Is that correct?"
"Er, well-"
"Yes or no." she snapped.
"Y-yes."
Fuck my luck. Hawks, where the hell are you? She clapped her hands together, rising. "Right then." One more deep breath. "Run."
"I… what?" Izuku had, understandably, backed away, putting some space between them.
"Run." She stepped forward.
"R-run?" He took three steps back.
Rumi cracked her knuckles, gritting her teeth at the pain. She probably shouldn't have, the gash on her right middle knuckle was bleeding again. "You need to learn how to fight, and how to use your quirk, AND we have exactly no time for you to learn properly." She was walking forward steadily now. "So, I'm going to beat it into you. Right now. Run."
Izuku kept backpedaling. He raised his hands placatingly. "Can't we talk about this?"
"Fuck no, we're not going to talk about it!" Rumi snarled. She jabbed him in the ribs with her right hand. It was more of a love-tap than an actual punch. Forceful enough to make him wince without causing harm. She kept up the advance, just fast enough to keep him off balance. "IF you get good, then we can talk about it." Left, left, right, snap kick. "Stop trying to tank me! Dodge! Dodge, you fuckin' nerd!" She swung an open hand at his head.
Izuku raised his arm, but his block was weak.
Rumi plowed right through it like it wasn't even there, smacking him hard upside the head, staggering him. She spun, throwing a heel kick at his head.
He lurched back, unsteady.
She'd never fought Izuku before, in a friendly way or otherwise. They roughhoused all the time, but generally she was more focused on beating the stuffing out of Kacchan when he felt like being a dick. Which was always. Rumi darted into Izuku's personal space, planted her foot behind his, and shoved.
He fell flat on his ass with a yelp.
Okay, okay, yes, she was being a bit of a bully. In her defense, it was for his own good. Izuku was a brave little chicken with a giant brain, but that was about all he had going for him. Well, he was pretty as fuck, but that was beside the point.
A merciless axe kick demolished the concrete between his legs. He scooted out of the way in time, but only just. Wide eyed, Izuku turned and got his feet under him. He made to run off.
Rumi rolled her eyes and snagged his hood, letting him strangle himself with his collar like an over eager dog on a leash. It was a simple matter to swing him around, slam his back into the wall, and pin him. Impulsively, she grabbed a tight fistful of his hair and dragged him into a kiss.
This whole mystery quirk business, it sounded like a bad deal to her. From spending her days shadowing Kurogiri and Shigaraki, she suspected that it was possible to transfer quirks between two different people. The idea of that made her so uncomfortable. And now Izuku magically had a quirk? Something didn't add up. She was worried. Not worried enough to let it ruin the moment though.
His hands went straight for her ass, squeezing tentatively, and dragging a delighted groan out of her.
She rose on the balls of her feet, nibbling at his bottom lip.
Izuku worked his mouth after they separated, trying to say something. "Why… w-what are we… I don't… I am so confused!"
Cute. Super fucking cute. She almost felt bad for roughing him up. Poor guy. She glanced down at his hands. "They don't seem very confused."
He let go like he was dropping a hot coal, stumbling over his words as he turned a brilliant, flaming shade of red.
"I like you. I don't want you to die. Pretty straightforward." She shrugged. "Look, I know you and I aren't… exactly on the same side right now. Things are weird and," she curled her lip, "complicated, but work with me here, okay?"
He frowned, "We don't have to be on separate sides." He caught her hand with his. "Just… come home. We can work everything out, I promise. Everything will be okay. I… I can talk to All Might, and-"
"Stop. It's sweet of you, but things aren't so straightforward."
He wilted in her arms.
She felt terrible, and with a sigh, she made a concession. "Oh, fuck me, don't look at me like that. Okay, fine! Look, I'll make you a deal." She just knew she was going to regret this. "Fight me. Here and now. If you can land a solid hit on me without breaking any bones, then… we can… talk. About stuff. Later, after all this is settled." Assuming she didn't get tossed in prison, crushed by All Might, and neither of them got disintegrated by Shigaraki.
Yay.
He mulled it over, unhappily. At least he was considering it. "And what if I can't hit you?"
She shrugged. "Then you let me come to you at my own pace."
He was silent for a moment, looking her over. She guessed he was looking at her accumulated, ah, wear and tear, based on the concern she saw. He nodded sadly. "Before I agree to anything, I need you to answer a question. Please." He pushed off the wall, standing up straight.
Rumi suddenly felt so much smaller. Funny, how such a small change in posture and expression made him look like a totally different person. "Sure. Shoot."
"Do you," he swallowed hard, "consider yourself a villain?" He stared her down, fists clenched. Determination given human form. God-damn, the boy had a real spine now.
A proud shiver ran through Rumi. She grinned sharply. "No way in hell."
That seemed to be the right answer. Izuku nodded. "Okay. Okay then. I don't like it, but… we have a deal."
They shook on it, briefly, before Rumi struck. A mean spear kick smashed a hole in the wall where his head had been just a split second before.
"Fuck! Rumi!" He gawked at the damage. The wall had to be at least ten centimeters thick.
"Don't you dare take your eyes off me!" Rumi thundered, sending him scurrying backwards with a flurry of kicks. "Rule number one! Always. Watch. Your. Enemy!"
Izuku booked it down the corridor.
Shoto knelt, panting, trying to staunch the bleeding. The plaza fountain was to his back. Yaoyorozu was in front. She was defending him.
The villain with the hand over his face had been surprisingly agile. He'd gotten in close and swiped, gouging a chunk of flesh from Shoto's right side before dancing away from a swell of ice.
Shoto's counterattack left him in agonizing pain with his new wound half frozen. He honestly didn't know if he could manage another.
After he was wounded, Yaoyorozu had put up one hell of a fight, creating a slew of weapons, traps, and gadgets on the fly. Somehow, she kept the hand guy back, despite interference from the mist villain, all while dodging around Nomu with clever tricks. She was managing, if barely. It was damn impressive, and Shoto had a newfound respect for her, but it wasn't enough.
Nomu reached for Yaoyorozu, fingers curling.
She faltered.
Shoto was certain he was going to watch her die, and he felt totally useless. He wouldn't look away, he refused. No, he would honor her sacrifice. Yaoyorozu had earned that much and more. A swirl of hot sparks flickered around his left forearm. He was beset on all sides by conflicting thoughts and emotions. Memories of his father, his mother, and his siblings, all vying for attention. Shoto shoved it all aside because he wasn't useless.
He didn't have to be.
Fuck the old man and everything he stood for, Shoto was doing this on his own terms. Those sparks breathed, twisting into a sputtering fire on the back of his arm. The heat was unbearable. He raised his arm.
Then Bakugo blasted his way into the fight. He smashed his left palm into Nomu's wrist and blew the monster's hand clean off. "Fucking-" Pivoting, he landed a right hook in Nomu's gut. Then he pulled the pin. "DIE!" A titanic explosion launched the monster clear across the plaza. At the same instant, Bakugo used his other hand to create a wide conical blast, keeping the other two villains at bay.
Rather lamely, Shoto let his half-starved fire sputter out. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't relieved by Bakugo's timely arrival. Now He and Yaoyorozu both owed their lives to the fool. That was… acceptable.
Bakugo hunched forward, heaving, arms limp. His right gauntlet had been blasted into so much shrapnel and scattered across the plaza. His left lay in pieces at his feet. Thin rivulets of blood ran down his arms.
Yaoyorozu didn't hesitate to return to Shoto's side, tending to his wound. She looked exhausted. Her hero costume hung a bit looser on her frame than it had this morning, and her cheeks had lost some of their fullness.
"Bakugo!" Shoto yelled to get the blonds attention. "The hand guy has some kind of disintegrator quirk; he needs five fingers of contact to use it and he's faster than he looks."
"Yeah?" Bakugo snorted, but never took his eyes off the villains. "You slip up Icy-Hot? Couldn't freeze your way to victory?" He straightened, favoring his right shoulder. His palms crackled like firecrackers. They had been from the moment he blasted the villains back.
Bakugo was getting ready for round two.
Shoto understood. The fight was far from over. He blacked out momentarily when he swayed to his feet. He'd lost more blood than he first thought.
Yaoyorozu caught him, kept him upright. She looked displeased. "What's the plan?"
Normally Shoto wouldn't have bothered with team planning, but he was hurt, Yaoyorozu had a concussion, and he was pretty sure Bakugo was more injured than he let on.
Bakugo spat. "Fuck plans. We fight. We win. Full stop. If you fucking losers need more than that then you don't belong in the fucking Hero Course!"
"F-father! Where… where are you?" Tomura scrabbled miserably across the ground, blinking stars out of his vision.
"Here you are, Tomura Shigaraki."
With Kurogiri's help, Father's hand settled firmly over Tomura's face once more. Hate, cold and bitter, was overshadowed by weakly suppressed rage.
The blond kid, he did this. "You… You… how did you do… that." He pointed at Nomu's dismembered hand, twitching on the ground. Shigaraki choked on the words as he stalked forward. Oh, blondie was going to pay. Slowly. Tomura would make sure of that. "Nomu! Kill!"
The Nomu, his supposed ace in the hole, whined loudly. It quivered to its feet, dragging entrails and stringy bits of flesh behind it. Tomura saw the wretched thing's spine through the rapidly closing abdominal wound.
The brat had the nerve to laugh. To laugh. "Ya like that, you crusty fuck?" He dropped some mangled bits of metal on the ground. "Ya know, copper pipes are everywhere, if you know where to look. Pretty fuckin' useful shit." He bared his teeth in a ragged grin.
Where had Tomura seen that smile before? "What the hell does copper pipe have to do with anything?" He was scratching at his throat. Just a touch, that's all it would take to send his own head toppling from his shoulders. No… No, he'd get the brat first. Then the others. Then All Might. And Mirko. And the whole goddamn world. He'd turn everything to dust, starting with the blond kid's smug face.
"'Cause it's hollow, dumbfuck."
Nomu dashed forward, shrieking.
The kid didn't even flinch.
Tomura saw him raise his hand, all five fingers pressed against a short length of copper pipe. He snarled a command, but Nomu was already committed to its next attack.
"Ever heard of a shaped charge? YOU STUPID FUCK!?" Blondie swung upward, jabbing the pipe into Nomu's jaw. There was a booming report.
Nomu sported a new fist sized hole clear through its head. It crashed down hard, his bulk skidding to a halt, just centimeters from Endeavor's brat and the ponytail girl. Little bits of brain and shards of bone rained down on them.
Tomura had never been angrier.
"Bakugo! Are you okay?" The girl ran forward, to where the Blondie, Bakugo, was clutching his wrist. His hand was a ragged mess.
There was some small satisfaction to be had in that. Tomura supposed he didn't have many more attacks left in him by the way he cradled his arm. "You… have a very impressive quirk. Very impressive…"
"Eat shit and die, fuckface! No one asked!"
Tomura rolled his eyes. "But not impressive enough. You see, Nomu here," He pointed at the gruesome thing, "was created as a tool to wipe out Hero society as we know it... Starting with All Might."
"Hey!" That was Endeavor's kid "He's getting up again!" He limped backwards, alarmed.
Bakugo and ponytail gawked. One terrified, the other enraged.
Good. Good. "You'll have to do better than that to put Nomu down for good. And I sincerely doubt you have what it takes." He sneered at the little idiots as Nomu rose to its full height.
"Now then. Nomu, KILL. Start with the blonde one."
A powerful tremor shook the entire USJ. The massive double doors at the entrance flew inwards, ripped from their hinges, cratered by a single mighty blow.
"I AM HERE!"
Adrenaline rushed through Tomura and he felt just a glimmer of happiness. "Finally!"
Rumi was fast, relentless, and mean. She struck opportunistically, taking advantage of every opening she came across. All while dressing him down like a drill instructor. It was surreal.
"You aren't All Might, so stop fucking acting like it!" She bellowed, effortlessly battering him. "If you're going to have a guard, then guard something!" She undercut his guard with a solid punch to the gut. "If you're weaker than your opponent, dodge!"
He doubled over, winded, and frustrated. He had to keep moving though, she made it painfully clear that he wasn't going to get any breathing room. Their 'friendly' spar grew more and more aggressive the longer it went on, and he had yet to even touch her, let alone hit her. The gulf of ability and experience between them was staggering. She hadn't even broken a sweat, and here he was, gasping like a fish out of water. What the hell had Rumi been doing for the last year? The glint of Mr. Aizawa's goggles around her throat was a tangible reminder that Rumi was leagues above him.
I have to use One for All, or I'll never win. But if I break any bones, I automatically lose. Think, think! Earlier, he launched those three villains back with a flick of his finger. He broke that finger, but it was only a simple fracture, unlike every other time he'd thrown one hundred percent of One for All behind an attack. What did I do differently?! He swung wide at her head.
Rumi lazily caught his fist in her hand. "If you're going to attack, commit. Put your whole goddamn body into it or its just going to cost you." She planted her boot in his chest and shoved him down.
Izuku hit the ground hard, rolling backwards until he flipped. Lying on his stomach, he cursed.
"Mad?" Rumi crouched near him, leering, "maybe the whole hero biz isn't for you. Have you considered quitting? I'm sure your mom could get you a job running her pro media accounts or something."
Sometimes she was a jerk. Sometimes she was angry. Sometimes she teased too much or pushed too hard, and she'd always been a hot-blooded mess. Regardless, Rumi didn't have even a bit of cruelty, or hate, or evil in her. She was kind. Sweet. Honest. A little rough around the edges, but she had that cliché heart of gold. That is who she was and always had been. That was Rumi. He'd been worried that he wouldn't recognizer her when they reunited, but he could still recognize Rumi for Rumi. It was wonderful, and he hadn't been so happy since before she left.
But right now she was being a jerk, and he was done with it. "Shut. Up."
"Oh?" she said brightly, "so you are mad." She rose and cocked her hip. "Can't say I'd recommend it. Fight mad, die mad."
One for All thrummed eagerly. Familiar webs of glimmering red energy grew across his skin. A storm of green current crackled, arcing between himself and the surroundings.
Rumi swore. "Izuku Midoriya, don't you fucking dare." She jabbed a finger at him. "If you break a single bone you lose, and I swear to god, I'll break whatever's left over." Oddly, she swayed on her feet for a moment, raising a hand to her head. She blinked distractedly. He had an uncanny feeling that she was going to react that way a split second before she actually did. He didn't have time to think on that though.
"I'm not going to quit, and I'm not going to lose." So, so carefully, Izuku pushed himself up. Dial it back, dial it back! Don't overdo it! Reigning One for All in was staggeringly difficult. He imagined it would be easier to divert a river with your bare hands. Please, please work with me. I need you to help me if I'm going to win, and I have to win! He felt ridiculous, talking to his quirk. Was it even his? He'd thought of it as 'All Might's borrowed quirk' ever since he'd gotten it. Was that why he'd been struggling so much?
Surprisingly, One for All relaxed. Somewhat. He was out of breath and sweating buckets, but he was back on his feet.
Rumi looked terribly worried.
Izuku smiled tightly. "I'm never going to quit. You're one of the most important people in my life. My best friend." He had absolutely no idea if this was going to work, or if he was just setting himself up for defeat, but damn, if he wasn't going to go beyond. "And as your best friend, it's my job to tell you when you're being an idiot. She's way, way faster than me, I don't need strength, I need to match her speed. 100% is a 100% guarantee of broken bones. It's way too much. Even half is too much. "Rumi. You're being an idiot. I'm bringing you home. I'll kick your ass if I have to, and I don't need to break anything to do it." I can do this. I have to! He ground his teeth together in a grimace. Honestly, he felt like his body was barely holding up. Just moving his limbs at one hundred percent made them ache. In hindsight, he really should have waited until he was on his feet before activating his quirk.
She puffed up, but he saw the anxiety in her twitching ears. "Big talk for someone in kicking range. Stop, before you hurt yourself." There was a raw note in her voice.
The webs of power faded away, leaving behind the green current. The arcs grew thinner, sharper. "You've been pulling your punches, but you're tired. I can tell. In school you always dominated the sprints but lagged by the end of the long-distance races. You aren't built for endurance." One for All had relaxed as much as he thought it was willing to. A mere sliver of its total power simmered, tightly coiled, ready. "You're hurt too. You're favoring your right leg, and you move like you have broken ribs on your left side."
"Decent analysis, nerd, but it means exactly fuckall if unless you can use it." She snarled. "You really think you can beat me at my own game, then come on." She hooked her finger at him. Her posture was neutral. Deceptively so. With her reflexes it probably didn't matter how she stood. "Hit. Me."
Exasperation. Sadness. Comfort. Hope.
Trust.
Strange emotions swept over him, only for an instant, but it was enough to leave a distinctly maternal impression. "Do you trust me?" He had no idea why he felt the need to ask, but it felt right.
"'Course I do." She didn't need to think about her answer. "You trust me?"
"With my life."
Rumi snorted. "Well that's fuckin' dumb, considering the situation." She shook out her arms and cracked her neck. Muscles relaxed and eyes closed, she took a deep breath and raised her arms with limp wrists. It almost looked like she was doing Tai Chi. Her ears swiveled around, aimed right at him. "Come on then."
Izuku lunged.
Rumi caught his wrist and flipped him over her shoulder.
The exchange was over in an instant.
It worked, it actually worked! Izuku's back ached, and he was completely winded. He hadn't won the exchange, but it was still his victory. "Nothing… broken…" He gasped, grinning up at Rumi.
She beamed, genuinely happy. "Fuck yeah!" The smile slid right off her face, leaving a stony expression behind. "Now do it again." She raised a leg to stomp his face.
Shit.
The Big Three made good time to the USJ, considering it was clear across town. They'd covered so much ground so quickly that they actually caught a glimpse of All Might's back just as he made his dynamic entry to the facility. At the ruined entryway they came across Thirteen, who they hurriedly triaged.
"She seems stable for now, but there's not much more we can do for her." Tamaki zipped up his first aid kit and stood. "Water, breather, plan." He reminded them softly. Always trust Tamaki to take good care of you.
Nejire sucked down a gulp of water. She was sweating like a pig, and she was sure she looked paler than usual. That was fine though, she was making good progress! And Ryuko was going to be so mad at her for doing this. So, so mad! But that was also okay.
"We'll, I say we leave cleanup to the Big Guy himself," Mirio pointed at the titanic battle between All Might and some hulking villain with an exposed brain. "He looks like he's got it covered."
"We should definitely focus on rescuing the students and the teachers. Central plaza, then divide and conquer?" Nejire squinted as she scanned the area. "Wait, there's Mr. Aizawa and… oh no." She didn't say any more, instead rocketing down the stairs towards the group of 1-A students huddled at the fountain.
There were two villains cornering them. Nejire remembered them. The ones that saved her life and then tried to kill her. Shigaraki and Kurogiri.
Mirio popped out of the ground ahead of her. "POWER!" He struck true, and Shigaraki flew back.
Kurogiri retreated, standing protectively over Shigaraki.
Nejire really wasn't in a cute mood anymore, so she hauled off, screaming at the top of her lungs, and threw the mother of all punches at the two villains. A staggeringly bright conical helix of energy shredded the ground between her and the villains. It hit them hard, launching them into the copse of trees nestled between the downpour and flood zones, at the far edge of the USJ. She dropped out of the air like a rock, landing hard on her knees.
Mirio popped up next to her and looked over the glassed earth. "Holy moly." He let out a low whistle. "You okay Nejire? You're not overheating, are you?" He offered a thumbs up and a goofy smile.
Panting, Nejire pulled her canteen from her belt, downed half and dumped the rest on her head. Thin curls of steam floated up through her horns. "No… no, I'm pretty not okay Mirio. I will be, but I'm not right now." She smiled weakly and let her friend help her up. "I'm good to go though. Any injuries?" She looked around and spotted Tamaki halfway up the staircase, helping the small group of students to the triage area they setup at the landing.
His voice came through on the small button radio in her ear. "Mr. Aizawa's out cold, major concussion, possible skull fracture. One student with a traumatic abdominal injury and moderate blood loss, but he's stable. The others are ambulatory." Faintly, she and Mirio heard one of the first years ranting.
"OI! Put me the fuck down you tentacled fuck! I don't need your shitty help!"
"One is being a pain." Tamaki sighed.
Mirio snickered, "Well if he gives you too much trouble, I'm sure Mr. Aizawa wouldn't mind you giving him a good smack. Or a tranquilizer." He looked out at the surroundings. "Huh, you know, I expected more of a fight." Prone villains were scattered about either out cold or groaning in pain. "Guess that's All Might for you though. What do you say we divide and conquer, go round up the firsties?"
The ground shook, spewing chunks of rubble into the air. Nejire and Mirio jumped back, expecting a fight. Her jaw hit the floor when she spotted Mirko in the middle of the debris cloud.
The girl landed in a crouch at the edge of the newly formed crater. She blinked owlishly, ears swiveling. "Eh?" She whipped her head around and looked right at Nejire. "Eh?! Nejire?"
Nejire swallowed. Phantom pain of broken fingers had her clenching her hands. "Mirko."
Mirio leaned in and whispered. Uhh… I take it that she's your bunny?"
She nodded slowly, not breaking eye contact with Mirko. "Yup."
"I see, I see." Mirio nodded sagely. "You good?"
"Nope." Her hands were shaking, and she felt like she was falling. Logically, Nejire knew she wasn't actually in danger of drowning in the ocean, but her brain was being a dummy again.
"Want help?"
Mirio was such a treasure. "No, I need to do this myself. But thank you… Mirio." She smiled at him.
"Alrighty then!" Mirio clapped her on the shoulder. "I'm gonna go deal with Tweedledum and Co., holler if you need anything!" He smiled brightly and was gone in a flash, charging off to pummel the fear of all things heroic into Shigaraki.
Mirko, now standing, shifted uncomfortably. "Well… glad you're alive… I'm, ah, sorry about-"
"SMASH!" a green blur – a student! – shot out of the ruined tunnel. He hammered his fist right into Mirko's cheek, sending the bunny girl crashing to the ground.
Nejire winced at the meaty smack. That was a hard hit.
Mirko groaned, holding her face, and pushed herself up, dazed.
The green haired kid hunched over, bracing his hands on his knees. "That!" He gasped for air. "That's one! One good hit. I win."
Mirko froze where she sat, wide eyed. Then she laughed. "FUCK!" she flopped onto her back, cackling.
The green kid started laughing too.
Nejire was very confused. On the bright side though, her hands weren't shaking anymore! More confident that a brawl wasn't imminent, she marched up to Mirko. Nejire poked and prodded, forcibly looking her over, noting her injuries. "You have no sense of self-preservation at all, do you?"
"Please, I'm fine." She sat up again, rubbing at her cheek. She winked at the guy that punched her. "Oh! Right, Iz-" She cleared her throat "Midoriya, meet my esteemed rival, Nejire Hado. Nejire, meet the hopeless sponge that is Izuku Midoriya."
"Oh, uh, hello." He then muttered something about not being hopeless.
"Hey." Nejire said distractedly. She didn't miss Mirko's little slip. There was something going on here. She glared.
Mirko turned back to Midoriya. "Not bad. For your first time, I guess." She eyed him up.
Nejire, ignored, puffed out her cheeks and scrunched up her nose. She curled her index finger and used the tip of her second knuckle to dig into Mirko's ribs, right where she suspected they were broken.
"YEOW, fuck!" Mirko clutched at her side, swatting at Nejire with her free hand. "Goddamnit blue, are you sure you're not the villain here? You'd make a great interrogator, fuck sake!" Mirko's ears bristled and her eyes opened wide. "Ooh, boy." She tackled Midoriya to the ground "COVER!"
Nejire threw herself to the side on instinct.
The massive beaked villain, the one All Might had been fighting, crashed into the ground, pulverizing it and spreading ragged cracks across the plaza.
All Might himself wasn't far behind.
The creature lurched out of its crater, warbling. It stood practically on top of Mirko and Midoriya.
Nejire swore.
To Rumi, this was the worst possible outcome of the day.
Izuku, somehow on his feet, stood over her. His heart rattled in his chest. He was terrified.
Nomu towered over them both, scarcely aware of their existence, simple minded as it was. It wouldn't attack her, she was on the 'friendly list', whatever that meant. But anyone else was fair game.
She could hear the alarm in Nejire's voice as she radioed her team. Golden power roiled around her extended arm.
She could hear All Might whistling through the air. He'd land somewhere within five meters of them, probably. But he wasn't on the ground yet.
They were all too far away.
Move! She lurched to her feet.
Nomu dully noticed Izuku. It pulled back a tremendous fist.
She didn't want to lose him. Did she love him? Platonically, absolutely, she one hundred percent did. Romantically? She had no idea, but she would really, really rather explore that part of her life with him instead of after burying him. Would she die for him?
Yes.
Yes she would. Without hesitation.
She'd do the same for Kacchan. For her parents, or Izuku's mother. For Hawks. She felt, not quite at peace, but satisfied, when she jumped. This was the best possible decision to make in the worst possible outcome of todays events. She'd just deal with the aftermath later. She always did.
Raw power exploded off Izuku, the weird pattern of bright red streaks glowed balefully on his skin. Green lightning dug furrows in the concrete. Some arced to the Nomu, and some to Rumi. He turned his body, fist raised. He was going to blow his goddamn arm off!
"NO!" It was too late, she was already moving. She couldn't change direction without something to push off of.
Firing on all cylinders, Izuku threw a terribly average right cross to brilliant effect. "SMASH!"
Nomu, despite its shock absorption quirk, veered back nearly ten meters, trenching the concrete as it slid. The gale force winds produced by the punch crumpled the near side of the downpour zone's dome, uprooted trees, and shattered some of the lights high above.
That same wave of pressure nearly launched Rumi clear across the USJ. She'd clung to the jagged edge of the crater made by Nomu's initial landing, but only just. Her arms burned from the exertion.
Some distance away, Nejire popped her head out of a shrub with twigs and leaves stuck in her corkscrew horns.
Fucking incredible.
All Might touched down where Nomu had once stood.
Rumi barely heard him murmur "Young Midoriya!", as though astonished. It was all well and good that All Might was here now, but if he hadn't managed to defeat Nomu yet. Well… Rumi's blood was already up, and she was in the mood to do something exceptionally stupid. She grinned savagely and lunged right for All Might.
The No. 1 Hero saw her, and raised a huge arm, not to counterattack, but to block.
Rumi contorted in midair, colliding with him feet first. She looked him in the eye for what felt like a year but was just a fraction of a second. A sense of familiarity and overwhelming happiness swept over her. She was smiling, and never wanted to stop.
Joy! Trust! Warmth!
"Thanks for the assist!" She kicked off hard.
As one would expect, it didn't even stagger the man, but honestly, she was only using him as glorified springboard. It was good that he was who he was though, because Nomu was still trying to kill All Might. Which meant now Rumi was flying right at the monster. Just as planned. "Oi, beak face!"
The thing whined.
Rumi hit it right on target, seizing its neck between her thighs. She swung around smoothly, so they were facing the same direction. She squeezed as hard as she could, until she heard a wet crackling pop. Her knees screamed in protest. "FUCKING! DIE!" She threw her entire weight back, flipping her body. Despite being small, she was strong, and Nomu was heavy. Rumi stuck the landing perfectly, threw her arms out, and roared, as Nomu's headless body toppled before her.
A true hero will always find a way for justice to be served.