Warning: this chapter may include events that can trigger emotional episodes in some readers. Especially American ones. This chapter will involve a school shooting, if you are uncomfortable reading about this I advise you skip to the section with the warning label. I will put a summary of what happened at the very end of the chapter so you aren't left out of the story.
The police cruiser drove along a long country road; someone out in the country had called about a disturbance. When asked for details, Dispatch said the caller believed that someone was out there shooting off a cannon of some kind. Although it is perfectly legal to own and fire a cannon on your own property, for someone in the country to call and complain, it must be a big cannon.
Sure enough, two miles out from the location, they heard a rhythmic *thump thump thump* of a gun. ["God damn, that's a loud gun,"] said Jonathan. Miruko nodded in agreement. It took a while, but with Miruko's ears, they could locate the person.
It was a shack in the middle of nowhere with some targets on a homemade range. An elderly man was busy placing large shells into several stripper clips and didn't notice their approach. Jonathan raised a hand in greeting and said, ["Good morning!"]
The man looked up, surprised by their sudden appearance, ["Whas this about?"] he demanded.
["We got a call from one of your neighbors about some loud shooting, figured we'd drop by and see what all the excitements about."] said Jonathan.
The man squinted at them, ["You're not feds, are ya?"]
Jonathan glanced at Rumi, then shrugged, ["Depends. Right now, we're only state."]
The man nodded, ["I see, you tryna take my guns?"]
So we're dealing with one of these people, the perpetually skeptical and distrusting nutjobs who thought that anyone with the government was after everything they owned and would do anything to get it. He wasn't entirely wrong. Jonathan knew that the US government wasn't a benevolent institution some made it out to be. Still, it wasn't an evil one, either.
["No sir, we only take people's guns on Wednesdays,"] joked Jonathan. Seeing that the man didn't find his statement in the slightest bit amusing, Jonathan added, ["But in all seriousness, we just need to find out what's causing all the noise and ask you to keep it down."]
["Why should I? This is a free country, ain't it?"] said the man.
If he had a nickel for every time someone used that as an argument, he'd be a millionaire, ["Yes, but your neighbors do have the right to enjoy their morning coffee in silence, sir."]
The man opened his mouth to say something, then closed it, frowned, and sighed. ["Don't mean a thing. I still got a right to do what I please on my land."]
Jonathan felt that the man understood what he'd tried to say but refused to give ground on the issue. This was going to be an interesting argument.
["Still doesn't give you the right to mess with someone else's day"] replied Miruko in a huff.
The man raised an eye at her, ["That right? Well, what gives you the right to meddle in my affairs?"]
["Sir, we're not saying you can't; we're just asking that you don't shoot off, whatever you're shooting, at six in the morning,"] interjected Jonathan before Miruko could say anything. She shot him a glare as if daring him to do it again.
The man rolled his eyes, ["You know, I always looked up to cops, but it seems this day they let just anyone in, don't they."]
What the hell did that mean?
["What the hell does that mean?"] asked Miruko hotly. Damn, here we go.
["Means what you thinks it means."] said the man, crossing his arms.
["Sir, please, we're just trying to do our jobs, and quite frankly, you live in the country where people are always shooting off their guns. And if someone's bothering to call us about it, you're making one hell of a racket,"] said Jonathan.
The man made a tch, spat some tobacco, then grinned, ["I s'pose you got a point. Don't mean I ain't gonna stop shotin it."]
["Just try not to shoot it this early in the morning. Around midday during the week would be best. Most people are at work or school by then."] suggested Jonathan.
The man nodded, ["Fine, fine."] He picked up a shell and fed it into a clip.
Miruko turned and stalked off back to the cruiser, but Jonathan's curiosity got the better of him, ["By the by, what the hell are you even shooting?"] the shells looked nothing like standard shells you'd shoot out of a cannon. They looked like enlarged bullets. ["Never seen any shells like that before."]
The man grinned ["Cause nobody makes em. These are special made for my gun."]
["What are they?"] asked Jonathan.
The man's grin got wider, [".308's. For my Garand."]
.308's? Those things were the size of his arm! ["Hold on, did you say for your Garand?"]
The man nodded, ["Wanna see it?"]
He had to see this, not it firing, of course, but what kind of Garand fired something that big. ["Sure, I got time."] The man beckoned for him to follow and led him around the shack, and Jonathan had to stop dead in his tracks.
Mounted on the stand was the most enormous rifle he'd ever seen in his life. It must have been a scaled-up replica because he knew for a fact that M1 Garand's are not sixteen feet long. The man chuckled at Jonathan's reaction, ["No, it ain't a replica, that's the real deal. My great great great great great grandpappy used it during the war to clear out Jap bunkers."]
["Why's it so big?!"] asked Jonathan.
["My power lets me enlarge things. One day, I just thought to myself that shooting a regular-sized Garand was cool, but shootin' a giant one would be badass. Gotta say, sex ain't got nothing on hearing that ping."] the man patted his giant Garand fondly.
["I'll um, I'll take you at your word."] he stood there a moment, trying to make sense of it all, and decided that no matter how much he tried, he never would. ["Well, I should get going."]
["You have a blessed day."] said the man as Jonathan returned to the cruiser.
["What was that about?"] asked Miruko.
Jonathan put the car in reverse and said, ["He wanted to show me his giant gun."] Miruko blinked once, then guffawed, ["What?"] asked Jonathan.
["He wanted to show you his giant gun? He offer to let you polish it?"] She grinned cheekily.
["I'm dead serious, the thing was massive!"] Said Jonathan.
["Was it now? Are we talking normal size big, or I can't believe it's not a horse?"] laughed Miruko.*
He suddenly realized what she was implying, ["I hate you."]
["Didn't know you swung that way, Helmet,"] cackled Miruko.
["Shut up, Rabbit, you know that's not what I meant,"] said Jonathan, annoyed.
Miruko kept cackling, ["Oh my god it took you this long to realize?"]
["I swear to god I'll throw your carrot smoothie out the window if you keep this up,"] threatened Jonathan.
Miruko gasped, ["You wouldn't dare!"]
["Try me,"] said Jonathan.
They glared at each other for a moment before breaking and laughing. After a few wheezing guffaws, Jonathan said, ["But seriously, that guy has a giant rifle."]
["Like legit giant?"] asked Miruko.
["Legit giant, it's cannon sized for sure,"] said Jonathan.
["Where'd he get it?"] asked Miruko.
["Says some long time ago grandpa used it in World War 2,"] said Jonathan.
Miruko had a 'what the fuck' look on her face and said ["How'd he make it so big?"]
["Apparently his power, sorry, quirk lets him adjust the scale of objects,"] said Ranger.
["Damn, okay,"] said Miruko. ["But him making it bigger, surely that isn't allowed."] said Miruko.
Ranger sighed, and after a moment to think about it, he said, ["Well, it's a gray area. You can change parts of a gun, so long as it's within the manufacturer's specifications, so homemade modifications are out. But technically speaking, he didn't make any part modifications; every part on that gun is within the manufacturer's specifications."]
["That makes no fucking sense to me,"] said Miruko, ["He shouldn't be allowed to use his quirk on a gun without some sort of regulation!"]
["I agree; I don't feel like he's going to do anything bad or actively try to harm anyone with it. Hell, the gun's less practical now than in its original state."] said Jonathan, ["But it sets an uncomfortable precedent."]
["We should do something about it! We shouldn't let this guy get away with this!"] said Miruko.
Jonathan squirmed in his seat ["We can't. Our job is to keep people safe from others trying to hurt them. We aren't arbiters of good and evil."]
Miruko crossed her arms and muttered, ["We should be."]
Jonathan sighed; as much as he sympathized with Miruko and her views on police work, if police were granted the authority to dictate what's right and wrong, then their society would crash and burn. They are as human as the criminals they're tasked with catching; humans make mistakes, and humans with unlimited authority ultimately become evil.
Miruko gazed out the window, watching the large fields, rolling hills, and endless countryside forests as they drove back to the city. Once they got back, Jonathan called Dispatch to let them know they were ready for retasking. Dispatch directed them to patrol the downtown area for the rest of shift.
Downtown traffic was absolutely horrendous today; drivers were driving like maniacs, and on more than one occasion, he had to stop for a wreck or pull someone over because they cut someone off and nearly caused an accident.
Three exhausting hours later, their radio came to life with a new tasking by Dispatch. ["All units in Tarrant county, all units in Tarrant county, 10-18, head to W.T. White High School immediately. Code 10-00. Multiple fatalities reported, unknown number of assailants. Over."]
Before the call was over, he had flipped on every light and increased the siren volume to max. He pulled off the road onto the shoulder and pushed the pedal down as far as it would go. Cars along the highway pulled over as far as possible to let him pass.
Miruko asked, ["That means-"]
Jonathan nodded, ["Yup."]
["Oh, god,"] whispered Miruko.
- (warning: this is the section I was talking about earlier) -
Getting to the high school only took a few minutes; three other police cruisers had already arrived. Rumi pulled up to the building, and onto a sidewalk; Ranger and Rumi jumped and ran over to where several officers were lined up on a door.
["Situation!"] barked Ranger.
["Unknown, we just got here,"] said an officer.
["Dispatch, unit 15 has arrived on scene; I am taking control. Over,"] he turned to another officer before Dispatch could reply, ["You two, stay here, everyone else on me."]
Ranger pulled his revolver out of its holster, lined up square with the door, and kicked it. The door flew open ["Dispatch, units 15 and 21 moving inside. Over."]
Ranger raised his revolver, pointing down the hallway, his helmet moving from side to side, looking for movement. There shouldn't be many people here; the only students here should be attending summer school, which was the only consolation.
They came to a split in the hallway, and Ranger directed the other two officers with him and Miruko to head down the hallway on the right. There was a faint *thud thud* of a gun firing, ["Unit 21, check in."]
["Not us, moving that way."]
He and Rumi nodded and took off down the hallway. They turned down another hall, heading in the direction the shots came from, and found a cafeteria. Ranger peaked inside. ["Dispatch, seven bodies in the cafeteria."] His voice was unnaturally unemotional; Rumi couldn't understand how he could be this calm in a situation like this.
She peeked inside and immediately wished she hadn't. She saw the bodies of kids lying under and around a dozen tables, blood pooling the ground under them. The worst part was she couldn't look away.
She heard Ranger call out to her, but she couldn't respond. One body had held her gaze longer than the rest, their wide, lifeless eyes boring holes into hers.
["Rumi!"] she snapped over to Ranger, who was looking at her, ["Focus. Look for the shooter."]
["R-right. Look for the shooter,"] she repeated.
She was a pro hero, well, former pro hero. Why was she freezing up?! She had a job to do, damn it!
["I'm fine, let's go,"] said Rumi, trying to force her voice into the same robotic tone Ranger used earlier.
Ranger nodded and rounded the corner, his pistol raised and called out, ["Is anyone alive in here?"]
There wasn't a response, ["I'm a police officer, is anyone alive?"]
There was a squeak and a scrambling noise, ["I-I am!"] a girl poked her head out from behind a trashcan in the room's far corner. Ranger quickly moved through the cafeteria, skirting around the tables, and approached the girl, Rumi quickly following him. She tried not to look down at the floor even when she slipped. She didn't want to know what she slipped on.
["Do you know how many of them are there?"] asked Ranger.
The girl nodded, ["One."]
["Do you know which way they went?"] asked Ranger.
The girl pointed at the doorway they came from, ["That way."]
Ranger nodded ["Stay here, I'll send an officer to get you when it's safe."]
The girl nodded again. Rumi noticed for the first time that the girl was shivering uncontrollably, blood stained her white shirt. ["Are you hurt?"] asked Rumi.
The girl shook her head, ["M-my, f-friend wa-was hi-hit. I d-d-dragged h-her he-here w-with me."]
Peering behind the trash cans, she saw another girl lying on the floor, a hoodie bunched up to use as a pillow for her. The girl was pale but breathing. ["Ranger, she's still alive!"]
He holstered his pistol, pulled a syringe from his belt, and moved a trashcan aside. He pulled back the girl's shirt to examine the wound ["This is going to hurt just for a moment. You've gotta be brave, okay? Can you do that for me?"]
The girl nodded and grimaced as Ranger poked the needle into the wound and pressed down on the plunger. As he injected whatever was in there, he pulled the needle out, and Rumi saw a foam coming from the wound. It expanded slightly and hardened. After a moment, the girl visibly relaxed. ["Better, right?"] asked Ranger. The girl nodded, ["Alright, we have to go now. Stay here, stay quiet. No matter what happens."]
The two girls nodded, and Ranger pushed the trash cans back to where they were, obscuring the two girls from sight.
As they walked back to the doorway, Ranger said over the radio ["Dispatch, two survivors located in the cafeteria, one injured. Survivors managed to identify one gunman. Over"]
They left the cafeteria and moved down the hall in the direction they hoped the shooter had gone. They cleared the first floor, meeting up with the other two officers. ["First floor clear,"] said Ranger into the radio.
["Roger that, paramedics, you are clear to move in. Units seven, twenty-five, and thirty-one have arrived on the scene and are approaching your position. Over."]
The four of them waited at a stairwell for the other officers to move into position. Once given the go-ahead, each team moved up to the second floor in tandem. On the second floor, they broke off into two groups; one team would stay at the stairwell, the other would sweep the floor.
Ranger was again on point as they moved down the hallways, checking doors and classrooms they came across. ["Dispatch, four bodies found in classroom 211. No survivors."] It was one of the other teams. Rumi felt her heart sink at the news, but they pushed on; they needed to find this gunman and bring him down before they killed anyone else.
*POP POP POP POP* Ranger and Rumi's head snapped in the direction of the gunfire, ["Move!"]
She didn't need to be told twice. She and Ranger tore down a hallway before stopping at a corner. The hallway T'd, and on the other side, two more officers arrived, their pistols drawn. Ranger signaled to wait, then peaked around the corner. ["Shit"] he immediately pulled back as the gunman shot at him. ["You two stay here; we'll flank around and take him from behind."] The two other officers nodded.
Ranger and Rumi sprinted down two halls, looking for the other side of the hallway the gunman was on. And as they rounded a corner, Ranger said ["Cover!"]
Rumi slid to a stop, and Ranger dove to the other side of the hall. Bullets whizzed past where she was.
["Police!"] yelled Ranger, ["Put the gun down!"] In response, the gunman shot another dozen rounds at where Ranger had taken cover. ["Shitballs,"] swore Ranger. Rumi peaked out at the gunman. The gunman was a kid, probably no older than Midoriya. They had a rifle pointed at Ranger, which, when Rumi popped out, they aimed at her. She ducked back around cover, bullets blowing holes in the wall she was behind.
There was the *Pop Pop Pop* of a pistol, most likely from the other officers as they took this opening and shot at the gunman.
The gunman swore loudly and got behind cover. Ranger popped back out of cover, aimed his pistol, and pulled the trigger. *FZZZZT*
His aim was true, and the gunman started screaming. ["Move in!"] yelled Ranger.
Rumi dashed out from cover, charged down the hallway, and kicked the rifle away from the convulsing gunman. She kneeled, turned the gunman onto their stomach, and clicked handcuffs onto their wrists.
["Gunman detained!"] yelled Rumi.
- (It's over, you can start reading again.) -
The gunman was shoved into a random police vehicle. Fortunately not theirs.
Jonathan saw a small hoard of worried parents trying to push their way past the police barricades set up outside. The Police commissioner was there trying to calm the crowd, explaining that the paramedics would release their children as soon as they finished checking them. A few children had been released, and were currently being smothered by their parents; the children were either an emotional wreck or too traumatized to express any emotion.
On the outside, he displayed a calm demeanor, his helmet helping that in magnitudes. But his hands shook so much that he had to grab hold of something to keep them steady. His legs felt numb, his mind walking towards their police cruiser on autopilot. He ignored the news crews trying to ask everyone questions, his gaze firmly locked on the cruiser's hood.
In the corner of his eye, he saw Miruko; she walked with an even gait, long, smooth strides, and a large, confident smile on her face. To all the world, she was an unshakable police officer.
But Jonathan could see the cracks, her hands gripping her uniform belt so tightly her knuckles had turned white, her eyes flitting back and forth as if looking for a way to escape, the hair on her ears was standing on end, the sunlight glittering on the pinprick tears she was trying so hard to repress. They got into the police cruiser, and Jonathan picked up the radio and said, ["Unit 15 requesting 10-44. Over."]
After a moment, Dispatch replied ["Granted unit 15. Report back at the station when possible. Over."]
["Ten fo-r"] he couldn't stop the slight break in his voice. He coughed to clear it and tried again, ["10-4 dispatch, Unit 15 is finished for the day and heading home. Over."]
He placed the radio back, turned the car on, and drove away from the school. They rode silently for a few minutes before he pulled off the road and into a stealth spot where officers would try to catch speeders.
He turned the car off and looked over at Miruko. She asked, ["Why the hell did you stop here? Weren't we going back to the station?"]
Jonathan nodded ["Before we got there, I thought I should give you the opportunity to take a moment and breath."]
["I don't need a fucking moment. I already had all the fucking moments I need."] spat Miruko.
["I know you like to put on a tough front. But shit like this, it's better to air it out before getting back to the office,"] said Jonathan.
["Oh yeah?"] asked Rumi defensively ["And what makes you think I need to air anything out?"]
["Nobody goes through this kind of thing unscathed,"] said Jonathan simply.
["What makes you think I fucking can't?"] demanded Miruko.
["Because,"] said Jonathan simply. ["Nobody in our profession can deal with this. We all like to keep it to ourselves; we like to keep this wall hiding our emotions, pretending that as long as we can pretend everythings alright, that everything will be alright."]
Miruko glared at him, her fists trembling, ["Yeah, well, you're one to talk; you seem to be handling this just fine!"]
["No, I'm not,"] said Jonathan.
["Bullshit! Back at the cafeteria, you didn't have a trace of any emotion! Not a single drop of anything!"] Rumi was yelling now. The windows shook slightly.
So she thought he wasn't experiencing any kind of emotional turmoil because he didn't crack back at the cafeteria? Well, viewing it from her point of view, he supposed he'd think the same thing. He reached up, pulling the helmet off his head. It really was a fantastic way to hide his true feelings from the world.
Miruko seemed slightly taken aback by what she saw: the visible paleness, bloodshot, puffy eyes, the clenched jaw. He held out his hand to her, its uncontrolled shaking proof of his fury and sadness. ["It's okay to feel like this, this is normal."]
Miruko seemed to freeze, then slowly, she sunk into the seat, her expression changing from a snarling cornered animal to grief. She let the tears roll freely down her cheeks. "Why?"
The sudden change from English to Japanese made him pause momentarily before asking, "Why?" asked Jonathan.
"Why am I like this? I've seen people die before, but why am I getting so emotional?" asked Miurko through sobs.
Jonathan shrugged, "If it's any consolation, it just means you're human."
She continued crying for a few more minutes. "I think I'm ready." Jonathan nodded, then handed her a pair of sunglasses; she raised an eyebrow at them, "Why the fuck do I need those?"
"You look ugly," replied Jonathan.
Miruko took them, slid them on, and muttered, "Asshole."
Alright, I know this chapter was shorter than my normal ones, but I figured that this portion needed to be published separately. It wouldn't flow right having this and then another completely separate thing happen, it just doesn't work tone wise. I guess what I'm saying is it would lessen the impact this chapter should have.
The gradual friendship that Rumi and Jonathan are making and the situations that drive them to grow as characters. This chapter also serves as a kind of dichotomy of Miruko, the fearless rabbit hero, and Rumi, the human that deals with the aftermath.
In the show and Manga we don't really see the effects of situations on most Pro-Heroes, I think it's because the Pro-Heroes are supposed to be larger than life figures. In Japan Miruko is what Rumi is supposed to be almost 24-7. She's supposed to be this stalwart bastion of confidence, an unshakable piller to root the public.
While in the US pro-heroes are relegated to being just law enforcement, they are not held to the high standards that Japan's Pro-Heroes are. In essence, they are allowed to be more human. Here in the US she's allowed to be vulnerable, she doesn't have to constantly embody her Hero persona. She's allowed to be herself more. I wanted to try and show that side more, and this was the only way I could do that.
For everyone who skipped the section in the middle, here's a brief breakdown of what happened.
School shooting (duh), Rumi gets caught up in emotions and is snapped out of it by Jonathan, the two subdue the shooter, end scene.
Thank you for taking the time to read this, it really means a lot to me. Due to the nature of the topic covered in this chapter I won't make any dad jokes.
I still have to do the disclaimer though;
I do not own My Hero Academia and probably never will. Rangers armor is based on the Riot Gear from Fallout New Vegas, and I also do not own that.
This story is also loosely based off of other fanfictions that I have read. Any persons or events that mirror reality or another story are completely coincidental. If anyone wants to see any specific quirks or has any ideas about quirks they would like to see in the story, let me know, and I'll see about adding them.
If y'all want to leave a review about what you like or hate, feel free to do so, that's why the little review button is there. Feel free to Pm me as well; I'm always happy to hear criticism, and suggestions or if y'all just want to chat for a bit