20.01.2022

It's a-me the guy-who-writes-in-his-free-time-or-at-work-when-the-time-allows and I'm back with, what, like the third chapter in a row? I really should spread my focus more evenly, but I'm just drawn towards this story for some reason. It may be the IzuRumi banter or just the idea itself, but I doubt any of you mind it.

But before we get to the chapter let's answer the comments!:

equinoxhun - Happy to deliver man! Especially with all of the kind words thrown my way!

Fate OW - I too enjoy mysterious MCs! Thanks for the support!

Notasavior - I hope you've enjoyed your devouring session xD As I've said already I enjoy witty banter especially when countered with a suddenly flustered bunny. I'm going to stray away from Midoriya's Quirk for the moment just to give all of you some time to think on it and maybe come up with your own theories (I love reading them)

Voidicus - I played the absolute shit out of the first game, completed the second one, but didn't touch the Legion, since my setup was a bit too weak for it at the time and I'm not really looking to buy it now with DL2 and Warhammer 3 around the corner, but maybe in the future, who knows

Guest - 1. I'm not sure I understand this. 2. Like Clayface sandman or the 'imma steal yo' dreams' sandman? 3. Midoriya-Nomu might be a fine one, but I have enough projects as it is and a few of them already swirling in me head.

TigerTrainerXD - Well... no. I scoured my entire smooth brain a couple of times but I can't for the love of Tsukuyomi remember any shy Rumi stories, but I know I read them since the concept isn't mine! I know about two great IzuRumi stories though - Life is Simple, Love is Not by TheSandwichGhost as well as Deconstruct, Reconstruct by ColdLuigi. Both of them are great in my opinion!

And with that we've wrapped up the review sections so let's dive into the story!:

The Detective was really impressed not only by the fact that she managed to acquire those few samples of Anti-Trigger but also that she hadn't smashed them to bits whilst dealing with the dealers. Mirko should probably feel offended, but decided to let it slide this time, which was really unusual for her.

"Maybe he dosed me with Reversal while I was asleep?", she thought to herself, trying to figure out how the fuck Aiden managed to break into her apartment without actually breaking anything or waking her up. A sudden blush invaded her cheeks as a stray thought crossed her mind. "Did he barge into my bedroom while I was sleeping?! What if he took photos of me?! I think he did say something about selling pictures of me not being his hobby so maybe I'm in the clear? But what if he took them for himself?!"

You see, in her pursuit of becoming one of the best ass kickers - Pro Heroes - in Japan, Mirko or rather Rumi Usagiyama sacrificed quite a lot to achieve that goal. This included many things from her personal life such as having friends or family. Sure there were a couple of boyfriends here and there, but nowadays she pretty much intimidated everyone that she wasn't close with and she was close with only a handful of fellow Pros like Ryukyu. All this led to the fact that Rumi was now dangerously close to becoming a christmas cake. It's not like she minds it though. She can always just turn lesbian or at least bi and ask Ryukyu out. She vaguely remembered that the Dragoon Hero had a thing for women to which she shamelessly admitted one night when they went out for drinks.

To sum it all up - not many people managed to keep up with Mirko's drive, energy and menacing aura besides her few friends and the newly met Aiden.

"Guh, where the fuck am I going with this mental monologue type of shit?", Rumi groaned to herself.

She was currently sprawled across the couch in her living room after another day of taking ass and kicking names. Wait, the other way around - kicking ass and taking names.

The truth is that she was slowly but surely losing her edge over time. The reason for that was simple - Aiden. He was so annoyingly enigmatic that Mirko's thoughts seemed to naturally gravitate towards him. She was wondering all kinds of things ranging from his name, Quirk and the basic stuff all the way to his motivations for being a Vigilante and rescuing Pros.

And that in and of itself was almost as annoying as Aiden himself. And the worst thing was that he could text her basically whenever he wanted, but whenever she tried to send a reply there was an error saying 'this number doesn't exist' or some shit and it was pissing her off even more.

"At this rate I'm gonna have to double my shifts to get all of this out of my system before going to bed…", she thought to herself with a sigh.

It wasn't that bad of a thing since she loved her job, but it would no doubt spark some nuts theories about how she was 'dumped by a boyfriend for a younger girl and is now unwinding by brutalizing Villains left, right and center' or some other bullshit. She would be unwinding by brutalizing Villains left, right and center but it had nothing to do with a boyfriend.

She didn't even have a boyfriend for the last two or three years for fuck's sake!

Still, tabloids were tabloids and there was nothing she could, legally, do about them.

That's why she was surprised that no one had uploaded a photo of her and Aiden in that deadly embrace they shared a couple of days ago. Just thinking about that moment again made her cheeks heat up a bit.

"Stupid, annoying schoolgirl syndrome… and smug, annoying, kinda handsome Aiden…", she groaned and covered her face with a pillow.

Mirko prided herself on being able to kick some major ass and having a good memory, which is why she still vividly remembers how Aiden looked when they got in each others face and she had to admit that his serious expression coupled with what she assumed to be a couple of days worth of unshaved facial hair that that looked like a freshly mowed lawn was very easy on the eyes. And he wasn't overly bulky to the point of looking like an inflated steroid advertisement like All Might and Endeavor!

"Why the fuck am I still thinking about him?!", Mirko exclaimed in frustration. A few moments of brief silence passed before her phone went off with a new text. "It better not be him or I swear to God someone's gonna get hurt!", she picked up her phone angrily and stared at her notifications. The glare mellowed out as soon as she saw who the message was from.

'I'm about to wrap up my shift, would you fancy grabbing a drink or two?', the text read.

"Always so formal Ryuko…", Rumi thought to herself in amusement. 'Sure, I'll come by in an hour or so', she texted back and got up from the couch.

She didn't know if Ryukyu had a sixth sense or something but Mirko could definitely use the distraction right about now. Thankfully that one text worked wonderfully and Rumi was able to leave all of her Aiden-related angst with the pillow on her couch to be dealt with later.

Late night escapades were necessary to get used to when the whole world was out to get you. Both sides of the barricade had a grudge towards him. Sure, he was saving lives of those who saved lives, but did so illegally and don't even get me started on the trail of bodies behind him. The Villains on the other hand surely didn't appreciate him meddling in their business. It wasn't an easy life, but if an easy life was something he wanted then he would've never moved to Japan.

He knew the risks and still decided to leave his comfortable life behind and become who he was today.

The Guardian Angel of Tokyo.

"Such a cringey name…", Aiden groaned quietly.

At least it was better than his real name being out in the open, which could've put his family in danger.

A nearby set of double doors creaked open, the hinges whining from the strain as two men walked out of the building and into the dark alleyway, their forms illuminated by a singular, fading lamp hanging over the door frame.

"Man, I was getting worried about cash when the boss decided to withdraw from the market for a time, but sticking with him was the right call", one of them started as both of them reached for their respective packs of cigarettes.

"Totally, I got almost double for the last month!", his friend agreed.

"Dang, that's crazy!"

"Sure is! Maybe this year I'll be able to take my girls on some luxurious vacation"

"You really love your family, huh?"

"I mean, they are my world basically"

Aiden paused at that - family. One of them had a family. Did the other one have family too? How many widows was he going to create tonight? How many more kids would have to grow up without their father figures? How many men won't be coming home tonight?

Those were things that Aiden sometimes wondered about when he was about to start his work. He was a human and they were too. Reminding himself of that fact helped him stay grounded and steadfast.

Helped him remember what he was fighting for.

Aiden shook his head to clear his mind of these traitorous thoughts - the remains of who he used to be - and focused on what was here and now. His right hand traveled under his coat and wrapped around the handle of his pistol. The left one meanwhile reached into one of his pockets and procured a clean magazine. The dead can't use their Quirks anyway, so there was no need to waste the Reversal-coated bullets after he went through the trouble of obtaining them.

The green-haired man reloaded his pistol and took a quick glance at his phone where a progress bar was about to fill up.

The screen went black briefly before a bright white circle appeared in the middle with only a single word to accompany it.

Aiden put on a pair of glasses that he took out from another pocket and tapped a button on the side. Everything went suddenly brighter as the accessory enhanced the view, acting as a homemade pair of night vision goggles that didn't really function like that, but offered a nice edge nonetheless.

His vision dimmed back down as soon as he tapped the big button on his phone - plunging the entire neighborhood into absolute darkness with a blackout.

"The fuck?", one of the men near the door exclaimed.

"Power shortage in the middle of the night? Maybe one of the guys was fucking with the fusebox again?", his companion speculated.

Both of them looked slightly unnerved so Aiden decided to ease both of their worries, permanently.

The pistol, which had a suppressor built into it for the sake of convenience, whispered four times and the two guards fell to the ground, their cigarettes landing next to them as their glow also died.

Aiden released a sigh and then stalked towards the metal doors before sneaking inside.

There he was instantly assaulted with loud curses and complaints that almost drowned out the angry commands of whoever seemed to be in charge of the place.

All this chaos would allow him to get what he wanted and vanish without the need for more bloodshed. If he didn't stumble into one of the thugs that is. He also didn't know their Quirks so one if them could be able to see in the dark.

Keeping both of these concerns in mind Aiden cautiously made his way through the small storage area that he found himself in upon stepping inside the building and proceeded towards the main open room.

He peeked around the corner and spotted several beams of light in the darkness ahead. Having flashlights would make it easier for them to find him, but with a bit of luck they'd mostly end up blinding their friends.

"Watch where you're pointing that thing shithead!", luck seemed to be on his side tonight. If you leave out his encounter with Mirko that is.

"Ya bette' watsh yo' mouth or Imma fuck you up!", the flashlight wielder either had a terrible lisp or tried desperately to act cool in front of his gangster friends.

Aiden took one last look around before dashing out of his cover and towards the metal staircase leading to the catwalk on his left. Climbing to the elevated position gave him a much better view of the room which, thanks to the skylights and his light-enhancing glasses, was decently well-lit.

The room seemed to be occupied by around 5 guards, each one with a flashlight and two of them with handguns at the ready. There were around a dozen more enemies, though they seemed to be responsible for production and not security, but Aiden knew better than to underestimate an opponent.

The catwalk was patrolled by only a single guard who was more occupied with scanning the ground below him instead of keeping track of his designated area.

Aiden started making his way towards the offices on the far side of the catwalk when the doors leading to the aforementioned part of the building nearly exploded when a bulky man stepped onto the catwalk.

"What the fuck's taking so long?!", he yelled and all of his employees stiffened.

"We've checked the fuses but they are still intact, so it's not on our side", one of the thugs below reported.

"It's probably just a quick shortage", another one tried to downplay the situation which seemed to anger his boss quite a bit.

"If I wanted to hear about 'chances' and 'probabilities' then I wouldn't have dropped out of college!", if he was angry earlier then now he was practically fuming in rage. "I want fucking results and I want them now!", and with one last yell he vanished inside the office, but not without slamming the door to further accentuate his message.

The room went quiet enough that Aiden could hear one of the thugs breathing so loud that he should probably stop taking whatever he usually takes and just stick to booze or start writing his will.

The silence lasted for about two seconds before the thugs shook off the stiffness that enveloped them and got to work. Aiden watched as a couple of them left the room which was good news and bad news at the same time.

Good news because he had less of them to worry about if shit was to hit the fan. On the other hand however there was a high chance that one of them would go for his own smoke break and find the two bodies right outside the door. If the sky was clear enough to provide a decent amount of light inside then it would no doubt be bright enough outside to spot two men laying in the puddles of their own blood.

Now on a self-imposed time limit, Aiden hurriedly - but still cautiously - made his way across the catwalk and towards the office. He briefly considered killing the guard that guarded the shortest path, but he only seemed to stick to that one part of the catwalk so he was ultimately spared.

Aiden was only a couple of steps away from his destination when the office door opened once again suddenly. The Vigilante froze in place and watched anxiously as the bulky man from earlier stepped onto the catwalk, followed closely by another man in an expensive-looking black tuxedo with a white dress shirt and a silverish tie.

"I expect you to finish all of the reports once the power is restored. We have big things planned and for that we need to know precisely what we have at our disposal, am I clear?", the way he spoke and all around carried himself practically screamed 'no nonsense'.

"Yes sir, I'll have it done by tomorrow if the circumstances allow it", the angry one from before answered tamely with a bow, not daring to look his superior in the eye.

The man in the suit only nodded as a sign of acknowledgement and then took his leave with his subordinate just behind him.

Aiden waited a couple of seconds for them to go away before he released the breath he was subconsciously holding. This was way too close for his liking. He was almost tempted to just say 'fuck it' and fire the first shot, but managed to hold himself back. This move paid off big time when Aiden noticed that neither of the thugs locked the office door behind them.

This allowed him to easily sneak into the room without making a sound. The office looked a bit larger from the outside, but the compactness made Aiden's job all the easier. He quickly made his way towards the document-covered desk and sat in the worn out chair.

He quickly scoured his pockets for another gadget which he then plugged into the computer. Both devices came to life and Aiden quickly started copying all the data he could find. It wasn't exactly a goldmine of information but he managed to pick up a few interesting bits here and there.

The process was about 75% completed when Aiden heard some shouting from the outside. He made his way to the door and cautiously snuck towards the railing.

"The cops could definitely cut the power to the whole neighborhood", one of the guards said.

"But they'd already be here if it was them", another one stated and the rest seemed to agree.

"Maybe it's just a bunch of morons hoping to get their hands on some Trigger or something? I mean, it doesn't take a genius to cut some wires, right?", one of the workers speculated.

"It doesn't matter who they are", their boss interrupted. "Sweep the building and find the intruders", he ordered and started climbing the metal steps.

"Fuck…", was the only thought on Aiden's mind as he quickly retreated into the office.

He quickly made his way to his device - 96% done. This meant that he should have enough time to copy all of the local data and still make it out before they find him. The escaping part however just got a bit more complicated, especially since the front door to the office is not an option anymore. Thankfully he spotted a fire escape outside one of the windows, so with little to no time to spare he decided to use that as his exit.

Aiden opened the window fully before going back for his copying drive. 99% done. Just a bit more.

"Come on", he whispered as the sound of someone walking on the catwalk drew closer and closer.

The progress bar finally touched the other end and Aiden almost ripped the USB cable out of the computer as he pocketed his device and then dashed outside. And not a second too soon it turned out as the angery man from earlier walked in right as Aiden closed the window.

The Vigilante carefully made his way to the metal steps and then started descending. He made sure to stay calm and steady even as he was already a floor below the office, not wanting to jeopardize the entire operation right as he was about to complete it.

His shoes soon made contact with the concrete pavement on the ground and he booked it out of the area as quickly as his legs allowed him to.

In the end he managed to acquire quite the sizable amount of data to sift through and there weren't that many unexpected obstacles this time around. If only all of his escapades went so smoothly.

One hard drive worth of intel in exchange for two taken lives and many more ruined ones. Is that what one would call a fair deal?

Aiden used to ponder that too and came to one simple conclusion - even one taken life makes the deal overpriced as hell.

"Let's hope you're worth it", the Vigilante whispered to himself as he touched the device in one of his pockets.

"Gimme another one!", Rumi exclaimed and slammed her glass on the counter, though she made sure not to shatter the damn thing.

"You seem disturbed, did something happen?", her best friend asked from beside her.

Ryuko and Rumi were classmates in UA and seemed to hit it off right from the start despite their personalities being pretty much polar opposites. Their friendship lasted the three years of training and it's been going strong throughout their respective careers with no signs of stopping any time soon.

Ryuko would say that it was due to the bonds they've created a long time ago, whilst Rumi knew it was just Ryuko's natural Ara-Ara energy coming through and making her act like a big sister that wants to keep her younger sibling out of trouble as much as she can.

"Here you go miss", the bartender passed another round of drinks to the Rabbit Hero.

"You are drinking way more than usual that's for sure", Ryuko stated with concern in her voice despite the heavy blush on her face indicating that she too had indulged herself quite a bit tonight.

"There's been this jerk that's constantly on my mind…", Rumi finally caved in.

"You had a boyfriend and didn't tell me?!", the blonde woman gasped in horror.

"He's not my boyfriend!", Rumi immediately corrected with a scowl. "I would never want someone as annoying, smug, handsome, talented, handsome and rude as him as a boyfriend!", it took a couple of seconds for her to finally catch up with what she said and she couldn't help but slam her head on the counter, nearly causing her drink to spill.

"Well, not a boyfriend, but definitely sounds like a crush", Ryuko observed with a small smirk, eager to hear more of the man that seemed to steal her best friend's heart.

Mainly so that she can track them down, maul them to death and take Rumi's heart for herse- I mean, politely discuss the repercussions of emotionally hurting her dearest friend of course.

"I know", the white-haired woman groaned and then slowly lifted her head off the counter. "And it pisses me off"

"Well, who is it then?", Ryuko pressed, knowing very well that Rumi didn't give a damn about anyone and most things, so for her to speak so strongly about someone was intriguing to say the least.

"The fucking Guardian Angel of Tokyo, he hates that name by the way…"

"No way", Ryuko gasped in disbelief. "How did that even happen? No one knows who he is or how he looks. You fell in love with his voice? I mean, his voice is kind of amazing… so smooth and deep, gave me shivers when I heard it"

"Well, he tried to warn me about a drug deal I was about to interrupt, but I didn't listen and I'd probably be dead if he didn't save me back then…", Rumi recalled somberly. "He took me to his secret hideout and treated my injuries quite well… At first I thought that he was with the guys I beat up and captured me, but that was quickly cleared up", the Rabbit Hero elaborated without even being asked to.

"You got to meet him in person?"

"Yeah, though I still don't know his real name. He introduced himself as Aiden Pierce"

"I'd be surprised by you having a crush on anyone really, but the fact that you are crushing on that enigmatic savior makes this even harder to believe in. I almost thought that you've given up on relationships after the last fiasco"

"Shut up… How about we discuss your love life, huh?", Rumi turned the situation around, which led to a very flustered Ryuko denying all accusations thrown her way.

Their conversation soon steered away from romance and they focused on catching up with each other's achievements and whatnots before calling it a night. Ryuko, being the responsible one, escorted Rumi to her apartment before calling a cab for herself.

In the end Rumi felt much lighter after being able to vent her thoughts to someone else and had some of the best quality sleep in a while.

This one was a bit heavier than the previous ones, but that was bound to come up sooner or later what with Aiden being on his own for quite some time, doing things that Heroes can't and fighting the good fight against all odds.

A big thank you to everyone for making this story explode so much with over 200 followers and 140 favs! You guys are the reason I keep writing!

Have a great day and I hope to catch you in the next update!