A.N: YEEEAAAAH BOOOI almost at 50/50 Follow and Faves! Not to mention, reviews finally loaded up just in time, to let's get to them!
The Kromann: Glad you're enjoying the story so far! And yup, I (sort of) apologize for the tease XD. Hope you stick around dude!
Kevin J Rosario Cruz: Hope the wait was worth it my man, because here it is! Though, I'm still largely unapologetic for the cliffhanger ;P. Read on dude, you just might be surprised!
SkeenTheDream+Thanos Cradik: (Gonna address both of ya'll since since the reviews are very similar, hope you don't mind) Thank's, I really did my best to make the set-up as believable as possible. I think the fight IS gonna be amazing, but not as one-sided as both of you might think. Read and find out, and thank you!
talorjohnjero1: Thanks again for the super-professional analysis by dude! I'm honestly overjoyed that my character-interactions come off as (at the very least) believable. I really appreciate that the dyslexia-arc hasn't come off as dragged out (kinda thought I was going too fast) but thank you for the warning. I don't plan on constantly bringing it up excessively, but there are gonna be jabs at it occasionally in the future. Finally, I'm just happy that you're enjoying the story so far, and to be honest, I actually struggled with the idea of a Bnha Fanfic for about two years. Thank you for seeing the potential in this crazy A.U of mine, and I can only hope to impress and deliver. And don't worry, I'll make sure to take my time and think things through if need be, don't wanna end up in a writer's exhaustion situation. Rock on man!
(Also, happy to see another Doom/Mick fan, recently got into the franchise and it's amazing, from the action to the damn music. You're probably gonna like this chapter then ;D. Never forget: KAR EN TUK!)
Anonymous Guest: Thank you dude, hope you stick around for more!
Now, for the fight you've been waiting for: LET'S GO!
Rumble, Young Man Rumble!
Chapter 10
Bloody consequences, happy outcomes
"BEGIN!"
"SHAA!" Tetsude roared as he charged forward, still grinning as he casually swung his fist wide. Yet, Rumi looked almost bored as she ducked under it, almost dancing past him with quick footwork. He pivoted rather quickly for someone his size, throwing out his usual swings which seemed a bit faster than normal. Still, she slipped, ducked, bobbed and weaved expertly, at one point crouching to the floor before outright flipping directly over his head. "Gotcha!" His hand shot up and quickly grabbed her leg, bodily slamming her into the floor like he was swinging a bat. Everyone winced, but Kendo refused to take his eyes away.
She winced, having managed to land on her side and protect her head, but never cried out, her free foot kicking at his shoulder and forcing him to let her go. Kendo saw it: 'She's holding back, a lot. She's just scoping him out.' He saw that look in her eyes, narrowed and darting around all over Tetsude's body, watching every movement of his, every small twitch and every single reaction. You'd have to wonder, as outlandish as the idea is: what would happen if the prey suddenly became the apex-predator? "Stand still dammit!" He grunted as he swung wide again, intentionally keeping his hand open.
'He's switched to grappling and throwing. Smart, but it isn't enough.'
She stepped in this time, shocking everyone as she grabbed his arm and twisted with the flow, cleanly throwing him over his hip. "SEI!" She barked out, snapping a quick but light kick into his chest that sent him rolling across the floor. Instead of going after him, she stood on the spot, openly scowling.
"Lucky sh-!"
"Don't say lucky shot," She cut him off, scowling. "Don't you dare spit on my hard work, the hours that I put into that one move, and call it lucky. Everyone here, everyone," She emphasized, her eyes meeting Kendo's and going soft for a split second. "… worked their ass off and put their all just to get here. You think you can just half-ass everything to pass through, all because of your quirk? You think you can belittle someone for an issue they want to overcome?" Her relaxed posture turned more and more tensed, her expression brimming with raw fury. "I live my life to the fullest, with no regrets. I'm not gonna regret what I'm about to do to you."
Her words seemed to chill the entire room, the air almost electrified by the tension. Vlad-King himself narrowed his eyes, easily able to pick up that something could go wrong at any moment. Kendo though… his heart raced. 'I'm watching.'
Que Music: Doom Eternal OST, The Only Thing They Fear Is You
She still just bounced on the spot for a bit as Tetsude cautiously shifted forward. Ten seconds, she stood on that spot before her body literally exploded into action.
*BANG*
She blasted her knee into his face, nobody able to see her move as his head flew back in a burst of blood. Her hands gripped his hair and she whipped her head forward, smashing her dome into his mouth and busting his lip. Everyone's jaw hadn't even hit the floor yet before she crouched low under a wild, panicked swing, lashing out and sweeping his feet out from under him. She spun with her sweep, her expression that of a snarling predator as she shot her foot into his chest, his body folding before it went flying back, rolling across the ground as he clutched his stomach. "Wh-what the fuck-!?" He managed to squeak out before he was assaulted again, Rumi tearing across the floor and clocking him clean across the temple. At that, Tetsude roared in indignation, moving far faster than normal as he grabbed her by the waist, picking her up and dropping all of his weight on her. There was a sickening *CRACK* of her flesh hitting stone, far harder than the first time, but Rumi snarled and elbowed him across the jaw, rocking his brain before kicking him off of her. Both of them scrambled to their feet, but again Rumi moved in first, her mouth dropping open as she screamed.
Tetsude wasn't prepared her to start railing into him with her fists. She abandoned the use of her feet, standing right in front of him and throwing combination after combination. Right hook, right uppercut, left overhand. She deftly shifted backwards, dodging a lunging grab and blasting him across the jaw with a blurring right roundhouse-kick, another *CRACK* echoing through the gym. '…That wasn't his jaw breaking,' Kendo realized, his eyes going to Rumi's kicking-foot. It was a subconscious act on her part, too swallowed by her own fury to even notice, but she was leaning her weight on her left leg more. 'She broke her foot with that kick.' But even on a single good leg, her fists flew and landed with bad intentions. Tetsude wasn't one to go down so easily: he put up a guard and did his best to power through.
'I'm well over a hundred pounds heavier than her, so why the fuck do her attacks hurt so much!?' He panicked. 'I… I don't care about the rules! If you're weaker than me, then you deserve to get crushed: I'll be the strongest hero, and live life on easy-street forever!' For a moment, he grinned madly. 'Time to use it then.' All the hairs on the back of both Kendo's and Rumi's necks stood right up as Tetsude stepped forward, a hand raised high in the air and his fingers tensed like claws. He swung straight down.
*FWOOOSH*
Rumi seemed to barely managed to leap back in time just as a horrible… crushing? Scraping? A sound ripped through the air and everything was still for a moment before blood flew through the air. Rumi's blood. She winced in shock and looked down, seeing the stomach portion of her costume ripped in a clean gash, nine inches across… along with all of the skin missing in that single line. She looked up, her eyes narrowed as she saw the five grooves that were cut into the floor… cut with Tetsude's own fingers. "Pretty neat huh, cutie?" He laughed, holding up his blood-coated middle-finger. "Let's try it out some more!" He dashed forward, mixing up grapple-attempts with those terrifying slashes of his.
Even the ones that grazed her cause blood to fly, and her attempt to dodge were getting more and more difficult as the seconds passed thanks to her injured leg. She side-stepped a grab only for a slash to cut grooves from her arms. Weaving away from a swipe split a portion of her cheek open. Leaping over his lunge caused a rib to get nicked, the pain doing nothing to overwhelm her mind, but breaking her body down bit by bit. She tried to go for a kick, which landed successfully, but as soon as she drew away she felt the same gouging sensation on her calf-muscles, three grooved cut into them as she limped back. She was feeling really lightheaded, the pain in her foot and the deep 'cuts' across her body starting to really debilitate her movement. 'I ain't out of stamina, so I ain't done just yet. Getting dizzy… blood-loss? Did he cut that deep? Damn… since when did I become so aware of my own body? Either way, can't bitch about it… need to end this now. Need to WIN.'
"Wanted to save it for the dumb bastard in the corner there, but you're a pretty good start!"
"… what did you call him?" Rumi asked, her voice near-flat.
"Eh? Oh! The dumb bas-"
Rumi instantly appeared in front of him, raw violence exploding from her, though Tetsude was no fool: he saw it coming, shooting his own hand forward. Kendo was about to scream out: if that hit her head on, she could die. And yet… her body twisted away at a ridiculous angle, her back almost to the floor as she balanced herself on a single foot, his hand sailing over her harmlessly, a single nail barely brushing her cheek. Even covered in her own blood, the grin of pure triumph stretched across her face and what he swore were sparks dancing from her eyes, was simply…
'Beautiful.'
"LUNA STRIKE!"
Her right foot seemed to blur straight up, as her body straightened, her balancing-foot launching her off the floor, her kick striking him right in the chin with enough force to flip him over onto his neck with a sharp *THWACK*. Once more, he was completely unconscious as Rumi landed silently, a single fist raised into the air.
(Music End)
"W… Winner, Rumi Usagiyama!" The tension gave way to cheers of excitement, Kendo's face hurting from the massive smile on his face. Though, that smile was wiped away as soon as Rumi turned to look at him. Her eyes were hazy, welling with tears, but she smiled dazedly, her steps unsteady. He didn't think, rushing forward and managing to catch her in time before she hit the floor face-first. "Blood-Sensei, I'll take her to the Infirmary!" Vlad King nodded and gave a thumbs up, his face set in stone on the outside, but excitement bubbling just under the surface. 'Tch, damn you Aizawa… you've got a wild bunch in your class. But talk about potential! It's a good thing for them to beat the negativity from each other early. When they learn to work together… only god knows what would happen then.'
"A-ah, shit, my head…!" Tetsude managed to shakily make it to his feet, growling, "What the hell happened!?"
"You lost kid. Take a seat on the side, and make sure you get an ice-pack to that head of yours, it'll help." The kid looked lost for moment, stunned that he lost even after unveiling a truly terrifying technique. 'Either live with it or let it drag you down, Tetsude Ken. The choice is yours.'
…
"…Several fractures and muscle-tears across her right leg."
"Like, her upper leg or lower-?"
"The entire leg young man!" Recovery Girl snapped before sighing, looking over the now-healed Rumi with a hint of curiosity. "Goodness… I think I know what may have happened. You said that she kicked him with this leg right?"
"Yup. This one was way more intense than before, faster too."
"Hmm, it's as I thought. I believe Rumi, if only for a split second, may have tapped into a brand new function of her Quirk. The muscular damaged she suffered seem… oddly similar to cases where someone triggers their fight or flight instinct." He froze a bit as she turned to look at him, curiosity in her eyes. "Muscular pulls, tears and damaged bones specifically. Sounds oddly familiar, doesn't it?"
"…Hold up," Kendo said as soon as he realized the implication, "We don't have the same quirk though. I just punched really fast, but what the hell would Rumi do? Become more like a rabbit?" Recover girl hummed and nodded after a moment.
"… You aren't necessarily wrong. Surpassing your limits in a moment of emotional stress seems to have had different effects on you. Your muscular damage was an even mix of lifting and fast-twitch, combined with extremely fast movement. Hers appear to be caused by the need for high-speed, and the majority of damage is done to her fast-twitch system. Oddly enough though… her nerve-activity was shockingly high for some time, even while she was unconscious. It's as if you two are different sides of the same coin… I'll have to look into it more." Rumi's eyes began to flutter open and Recover girl smiled, relieved that she was already awake after all that healing. "I'll give you two some time alone. She's free to stay here for the rest of the day, and I advise you help her home." Kendo grunted, barely hearing her as all his attention focused on the waking Rumi.
"…Yo, Usagi. Welcome back," He said warmly. Being the first thing that Rumi heard, she felt… safe. Happy. Though, it died down a bit and she averted her eyes, ashamed to even attempt look him in the eye.
"Did… did you see?"
"I watched the whole time Usagi. You kicked his ass," He replied with a small laugh. "… Can I just ask something?"
"Y-yeah, shoot." She was a bit curious now.
"…Am I…" He hesitated, worry creeping into his voice, "Am I just a big idiot? Am I only bound to mindlessly fighting?" He flinched in shock when he felt her calloused hand tightly squeeze his.
"Don't you dare fucking say that," She said fiercely, surprising Kendo at the rage in her voice. "Fuck what that asshole said. I had a feeling that that was what you wanted to tell me about, wasn't it? When you were worried about the Written Entrance Exam. When that bastard ran his mouth in class about it, I…" She averted her eyes again, swallowed by shame as tears suddenly began to spill from her eyes. "…I sat there with my mouth hanging open like a fucking idiot! I didn't come to help you, I didn't even fucking let you know that I didn't care about that! You're my friend… but I failed you… and I'll always regret that…" She sobbed, her ears drooping as her face scrunched up in anguish. "I'm s-sorry Kendo. I failed as a Hero and as a friend."
It was her turn to flinch when she felt his hand on top her own, squeezing tightly. She slowly looked up to see his face, smiling with utter joy as he cried. "Usagi… f-fuck, you had me worried for a bit. I just thought that you were disgusted by me. Now that I know what you're thinking…" His yellowed eyes shined, "I know that you're the greatest friend a guy like me could ever ask for. My goal might be All Might's power, but… you're my Hero. Ain't jack shit that can change how I feel about you Rumi." Rumi's face scrunched up in the sudden surge of overwhelming elation before she shot forward, almost tackling Kendo off of his chair with a bear-hug as she cried into his shoulder. "Th-thank you…" She shuddered out.
"Ditto, Usagi," He managed to shake out, squeezing her with his own embrace. They stayed like that for some time, just basking in the feel of each other's joy. The flow of tears grew thin as time passed, but that sense of joy and relief never faded. They parted after several minutes, unable to wipe the smiles from their faces. "So uh… you kinda fucked your leg up." Kendo started, the air around them much lighter. Rumi looked down at her legs and immediately winced.
"Ah… shit, yeah. That felt… weird." Her expression now turned to wonder. "I've never felt any attack of mine move that fast. Hell, I swore that for a split second, everything… slowed down. It was like I was aware of everything going on… urgh…" She winced, massaging her head. "Feel a bit slow myself now. Mind's kinda… groggy?"
'That's weird, I know that Recovery Girl's quirk uses stamina to heal, but Usagi got up not long after. Why is she getting tired now?' Kendo thought for a moment.
"Eh, you did lose a good amount of blood back there. You're fine to rest here for the rest of the day. Promise I'll help you home after the day is done."
"… Thank you Kendo," She said, smiling brightly, her cheeks pinking slightly. The sight made Kendo's heart skip a beat. Or three.
"…Anytime, Rumi," He got up and walked towards the door, pausing for a bit and turning to aim a thumbs-up and a smile her way. "Thank you for being my equal."
"…Anytime, Kendo."
Though he walked away, it was strange how such a simple, if someone painful chain of events led to the two of them coming even closer together. Fate was a fickle thing, yet it could certainly be broken, surpassed. Certainly, the idea of someone destined to become a villain suddenly had their fate changed by one small encounter. Such was fate's new course then for Kendo Rappa and Rumi Usagiyama: similar yet opposite, bound together on the path to greatness.
(To be Continued...)
A.N: So, how was it? For a chapter mixed with heartfelt emotion and extreme ass-kicking (not necessarily in that order) I thought this was a pretty good go on my part! Either way, hope you all enjoyed this one, and thanks to all the current regulars for your continued support for this crazy, wacky and kickass idea of mine. Peace out!