A.N: I'm honestly overwhelmed by the positive feedback regarding my previous chapter. Honestly, I was terrified about the entire dyslexia plot-line for the longest time, and I'm glad that you've all taken really well to it. Onto the reviews!
SkeenTheDream: Thank for understanding and supporting the creative pursuit of mine! I'm happy that the surprise was a pleasant one for you! As for Rappa replacing Death-Arms, I wouldn't necessarily say that, though a greater hero... well shit, you're just gonna have to wait and see. ;P Thank you again!
talorjohnjero1: I mean... shit dude, you more or less gave a complete and professional rundown of everything I was going for so far. Don't get me wrong, I'm entirely happy that you did, and I'm honoured that you're enjoying my own rendition of Rappa! I have to ask though, are you like a professional writer or something? If not, dude, you've got a damn good analytical eye for it!
Kevin J Rosario Cruz: (Pumps fist in joy) I'll do my best to keep every chapter interesting and entertaining! Thank you dude!
FalconPuncher: Glad you also see what I was going for with Rappa's issue. Also, he is technically a troubled learner, so you aren't really wrong and it was a good catch! Hope you continue to like what I've got in mind for Rappa!
Either way, back to the show! Also more interaction-based, so a good deal of talking in this one. Sorry, but I hope you enjoy regardless!
Rumble, Young Man Rumble!
Chapter 9
Hope and respect
"You used me, finally! I'm so happy!" It appeared in front of Kendo again, the monstrous version of himself. Yet, its voice was different from last time. It wasn't as twisted, as warbling or demonic. Though, it was still packed with bloodlust and insanity that for some reason seemed to… agree with Kendo. "It's fucking annoying that the bark-boy got in our way, but it was still pleasant for you to finally loosen your chains, if only a little bit."
"… who the hell are you?" Kendo asked. It was strange, his eyes still stung with tears, his throat locking up.
"What, are you a fuckin' idiot? I'm you!" The beast cackled, before abruptly stopping, a confused look on his face. "Well… nah, not really you. I'm the strongest possible you that could exist!"
"…okay, and? You don't help me," Kendo spat, more shame creeping up his throat. "He… he must've been watching me. That bastard… humiliated me in front of the entire class!" Molten heat began to sear his veins, his fury beginning to rise. The beast smiled wide before Kendo was cooled down by his grief. "He humiliated me in front of Rumi. I-I… don't want her to see me like this… like the idiot that I am." His head drooped, his teeth clenched as he failed to hold back tears. "That's not how I wanted to tell her! I wanted it to be on my terms! I don't want her to think of me as just some mindless idiot who only knows how to fight… I don't want to lose my only friend because of something I can't control!"
"Perhaps you cannot control that… but you can control everything else." The beast put its hands on his shoulders, fingers gripping tightly, painfully. Its smile was manic, twisted, utterly gleeful. "Use me. If anyone should decide to make fun of you… if they want to push you around for something that isn't your fault… uSe Me." The beast grew more and more twisted as he once remembered it, but it seemed to try and calm itself. Somewhat. "When that brat shows himself again, you know what to do. Break his arms like a pile of fucking twigs. Shatter his ribcage, make him suffer. RiP anD tEaR his head from his fucking shoulders! Show him that we have the power to make him scream like a pig! If he thinks he's bad, we will be worse! RIP AND TEAR, UNTIL IT'S FUCKING DONE!"
...
Kendo's eyes snapped open and he lurched up in his… well, not his, but an infirmary bed. Still, the sight was familiar enough to him that it allowed his body to relax somewhat. He felt to points of pain: one on the centre of his chest, the other on the left side of his neck. The memory as to why he had those was still very fresh in his mind. He saw the look of utter disbelief in Rumi's eyes, and he felt his shame dumped on him like a bucket of ice-cold water. "I'd slap Aizawa for hitting you as hard as he did," Recovery Girl sighed, startling Kendo, "But I'm just glad that you're alright. How are you feeling dear?"
"O-oh… I'm fine!" He chuckled weakly, trying his best to put forward his bravado, however false it was. "Kinda surprised that scruffy-Sensei could hit that hard, but besides that, I don't-!"
"Kendo, I heard about what happened," She said, cutting him off firmly. "You only have minor bruising. I'm asking if you're alright." The smile was wiped off his face, but he did his best to hide the quiver in his lip as he looked down in his lap. He heard Recovery Girl sigh softly before she pulled up a chair and sat right by his bedside. "I suppose I have my answer then. Mental health isn't my specialty, but as a support-hero, you learn to help people through their emotions. So please, tell me how you feel."
"…Am…" Doubt, fear, self-loathing felt like it was drowning him. "Am I just… wasting everyone's time being here? Fighting is the only thing that I can do…" He clenched the sheets so hard that his knuckled turned white. "…and when I met All Might… when he showed me what a good person could do with power like that, I thought I finally found my purpose. I thought that I could finally make my parents proud. But now, because of him…" He snarled, and tears flowed freely from his eyes. "Everyone sees who I really am. I'm just a fool who can only fight, and I'll never get anywhere because I can't fucking read! And Rumi… god, the one person who I'm friends with, my first friend…" He felt a small hand on his shoulder and turned to see her smiling lightly at him.
"It isn't your fault young man," She said softly. "Allow me to make something very clear: being dyslexic does not make you a fool. As far as I am aware, you're simply a hard worker who has a roadblock ahead of you. You'll never be a waste of anyone's time, because I and every other staff member here knows about the effort you're willing to put in spite of that."
"…" He was silent for a while, stewing in his own thoughts.
"I know that little-ol' me pulling a motivational speech like that from nowhere isn't going to change the way you feel," She chuckled, "But you should know that we will never think of any of you students as a waste of time. Especially those who want to succeed. For the rest of your class, we cannot really change the way they think about you. It's up to you to show them that you'll push past that issue. However, if they belittle you for something that isn't your fault, I'm sure that Aizawa will be… very strict with them."
He snorted a bit at that and wiped his eyes. He felt a bit better, but all in all… shame still breathed down his neck. Recovery Girl wasn't blind to this and sighed, patting him and hopping off her chair. "It's midday. You've been out for a good four hours. Aizawa and I have given you a pass for the rest of the day. Feel free to go home and recover, get your head back on your shoulders." She turned to him, getting his attention. "Personally, I advise that you take the day off." Kendo nodded numbly and slid off of the bed, silently putting his shoes on and making his way to the door. He stopped for a moment and looked to Recovery Girl.
"… Thank you ma'am."
"Anytime young man," She replied with a kind smile. She sighed to herself as he exited, again massaging the bridge of her nose. She barely heard the bell for lunch go off, reaching into her desk to grab her bento-box. There was a loud *BANG* that nearly made her leap from her skin, quickly turning to see Rumi Usagiyama standing there, her face almost in a panic. "Where is Kendo!?"
'…ah, this must be his friend,' She thought. 'Her eyes…' Recovery girl had only seen that kind of worry and anguish in a pro-hero's eyes, the eyes of someone who failed to protect or save someone.
"Lady, please, I'm begging you, where did Kendo go!?" Rumi literally begged, her own eyes wet.
"He's on his way home miss Usagiyama. Unfortunately you won't be allowed to chase after him unless you want to add truancy on your record – "
"DAMMIT!" She roared, her voice cracking as a few tears dropped from her eyes. She did her best to breathe, wiping her eyes and bowing. "I-I'm sorry for barging in ma'am."
"It's fine, just relax okay?" Rumi nodded silently and made her way out. Recovery Girl stared at the door for a moment before a small smile made itself known on her face. "Young man… it seems that you haven't given your friend enough credit."
…
The walk to U.A that next morning was lonely for Kendo, and it was a choice that he made himself. He woke up earlier than normal, unable to face Rumi yet. Though Recovery Girl's talk helped ease his heart somewhat, shame was still at the forefront of his mind. Walking down the hall felt more and more oppressive, this throat locking up as soon as he reached the door to Class 1-A. He didn't know what he was going to be met with. Scorn? Disgust? Laughter? Whatever the case, he knew that something was to come, and he did his best to put a shackle on his emotions. Especially if Tetsude walked into the class… Kendo shifted uncomfortably at the thought, familiar heat thrumming through his veins. He forced it down, opening the door to find… an empty classroom. He sighed, idly scratching the back of his neck. 'No surprise there, I'm almost an hour early. Might as well keep up my practice.'
He plopped himself into his usual seat and took out his textbook, again trying his best to read and make out words. He sat like this for some time before he heard the door open again, flinching as he glanced at someone walking in… going right towards him. 'Just ignore it just ignore it just ignore it-!'
"H-hey um… Kendo?" That voice was… way too nervous. Curious, he looked up to see the long-haired prodigy, Yu Takeyama.
"…That's me," He said gruffly, still on guard, though he definitely dropped it at the sight of her squirming uncomfortably. "U-um… I-I just wanted to…" She quickly pulled out something from her pocket, a small and shiny-looking bauble of some sort and handing it to him. "Th-that's one of my lucky earrings," She explained, blushing hard as he raised an eyebrow. "I-I…!" She coughed into her hand, doing her best to calm herself. "I think… I think that you deserve it. Forget what that jerk said yesterday. You might not be as skilled as a prodigy like myself, but… I think that you're still pretty cool. Being able to make it here with an… issue… like that isn't easy." Kendo stared at her for a moment, his brain working to process the meaning behind what she said.
'She's… she still respects me.' He coughed into his hand, gathering his thoughts and gently holding the bauble. "…Thanks. I… I appreciate that." She let a happy smile slip through, though she squashed it and put on her usual haughty expression.
"Don't let that compliment get to your head though, I can still easily surpass you."
"Heh… sure." She flipped her hair and made her way to her seat, though it was nice to see her genuinely happy. As more and more people made their way in, this feeling of hope started to blossom in his chest. There was no scorn, no laughter, no jeering. The girl with snakes for hair waved and winked at him, the dragon-girl smiling and nodding, Sendo outright saluting him. They only had respect in their eyes, all of it directed at him. 'Am… am I not an idiot in their eyes?' When Rumi walked in, however, his heart dropped: she looked like a mess, hair a mess, bags under her eyes. When their eyes met, he was shocked: shame and regret was pouring from her, though none of it directed at him, more like it was aimed at… 'Herself?' She wasn't insulted or disgusted by his presence, nor was she ashamed to be around him… no, she seemed almost afraid. Tetsude's entrance on the other hand caused the chatter of the class to go silent. Everyone glared at him, and he wasn't blind to it. His aimed his sights right at Kendo, and the two of them openly snarled at each other. Though, something distracted Kendo, a slight scraping sound in front of him. He looked saw Rumi staring right Tetsude, her teeth bared like a predator, muscles bunched up all over her body like she was about to leap at him, her fingers literally carving out grooves into the desk. Again, that hope within him sparked. 'Is she…?'
"Hey," Aizawa's voice startled everyone, the man idly standing by the door, "Did you all not check your schedules? Combat-Class is the first class of the day. Hurry up and get your gear on, go to gym Alpha." The mood of the class was lifted again, excitement rolling through as everyone quickly stood and jogged out the door, Kendo included. 'Finally, I can kick some ass and loosen up-!' He stopped dead in his tracks when he felt something grab his hand, squeezing gently. His heart leapt as he looked to see Rumi standing right next to him, looking straight ahead and glaring at Tetsude's back. "I'm sorry," She said, her voice tight as if she was about to cry. "I failed to help you."
"U-Usagi… wha-?"
"Just watch me today." Her hand squeezed his own one more time before she jogged off, leaving him standing there for a moment in shock. The hand she held felt… warm. His heart felt erratic, pleasantly so. Though, that was overshadowed by the worry swirling around in his head. 'Usagi… what are you planning?'
…
His gear fest as comfortable as ever on him, yet Kendo couldn't help but feel restless. He was undeniably happy that Rumi wasn't disgusted by him. Still, that shroud of worry hung over him as he glanced at Rumi. He knew that look on her face too well: the dead eyes, the set teeth, the constant tension. "Relax a bit big-man," The dragon-girl said as she nudged him with her elbow. "You look too wound up. Just think of today as a time to relax, y'know?"
"Ryuko, it ain't me I'm worried about."
"Oh? So one of our aces is capable of being worried?" She teased, draconic eyes glinting playfully. Ryuko Tatsuma was one of the more chill people in the class, as far as Kendo was concerned. Similar to Rumi, but much calmer and more collected. Speaking of which…
"Yeah… guess so," He answered, keeping an eye on Rumi.
"Alright you all! Same formula as day two, one versus one matches, full use of your quirk is allowed," Vlad King called out, taking out his usual clipboard. "Alright, first up, we've got Tetsude Ken…" The boy smirked and cracked his knuckles and casually walked into the centre of the gym. Both he and Kendo stared each other down, though Tetsude wilted slightly at his bared teeth. "And Rumi Usgiyama." It was like a bucket of cold water was dumped on Kendo's head. His eyes quickly turned to Rumi as she gently brushed past him, her fingers brushing across his arm. He just barely heard her whisper to him, "Watch me."
"…He's fucked, isn't he?" Yu asked Kendo after a moment.
"Yeah, he's screwed," He said, though he didn't feel particularly bad about the fact. Rather, the fact that Rumi was going to go out of her way to do this made him feel… a certain way. 'I'm… I'm watching Usagi.'
"Hey cutie," Tetsude said with a grin, "I promise I won't go too hard on ya. I'm not like the karate-boy over there, I've got actual meat on my bones!" Rumi just silently bounced on the spot, her entire body loose and flowing, a complete contrast to how tense she was before. For the first time ever, she didn't pick up any kind of stance.
"BEGIN!"
A.N: Am I being a dick for putting on a cliffhanger? Yes. Am I still laughing about it? Absolutely! Jokes aside, keep an eye out for the next chapter, we've got ourselves a good fight ahead of us. Hope you still enjoyed, and peace out y'all!