Welcome back to a new chapter!
A loud knocking on his apartment door made Izuku jump in surprise. Looking over to his mom in the kitchen, she did not seem to be expecting anyone either. Checking his phone, Izuku did not see any new messages from his friends. They were all busy with their own homework and wanted to study alone that day.
The person knocked loudly on the door again.
Before Inko could put down her cooking utensils, Izuku stood up. She gave him a smile as he passed by to get to the door.
When he opened it up, Izuku was surprised to see Rumi standing there with a wide grin. She was wearing a hoodie that looked like her uniform except it was mainly dark green. Izuku noted it was nearly the same shade as his hair.
"What's up Teiboku-kun?" Miruko said teasingly. She reached up and ruffled Izuku's hair much to his embarrassment.
"Rumi-san, please," Izuku begged.
In response, Rumi pulled the boy into a headlock.
"What I tell you about formalities, kit?"
"That I should forget about using them with you," Izuku said wriggling free.
"Exactly kit. Now, I've come bearing presents!" Rumi said holding up a bag to Izuku.
As Izuku took the bag, Inko poked her head from the kitchen. She almost fell over when she realized who was standing at her door.
"Miruko?" Inko asked in a stage whisper.
"Oh? You must be Izuku's mom. Would you mind if I come in for a bit to chat with him and you?"
"U-u-uh p-please come in. Izuku, don't make our guest stand at the door." Inko said before disappearing into the kitchen. "Do you want anything to drink?"
"Just some water please," Rumi called out. "Well, are you just going to make me stand here Teiboku-kun?"
"Maybe I should… Usagi-nee," Izuku said remembering what Bae-chan called Rumi. Rumi however just grinned.
"March kit, we got things to talk about!" Rumi said as she took off her shoes and walked into the apartment. Izuku just sighed and followed after her.
Once they were in the living room, Izuku finally got to sit down and check the bag. Tears began to well up in Izuku's eyes when he found an identical copy, that's a tad smaller, of the green hoodie that Rumi wore.
"You like? I got a new merch line coming out and I asked if they could make me a few exclusive hoodies. They agreed and I got them in my size and what I guessed was yours." Rumi was eagerly learning forward watching Izuku try it on. She smiled when she saw it was a good fit. "Perfect! Now we're matching!"
Izuku was blushing at the thought of matching with the rising star hero that Rumi was. She had just broken the top twenty and was now on her way to the top ten.
When Inko stepped into the room, she could not help but blink in confusion when she saw Izuku and Rumi wearing matching hoodies.
"I…" Inko started before shaking her head and setting the water on to the table. "Welcome into our home, Miruko-san. I'm honored you stopped by but I have to ask you why? Is Izuku in trouble?"
Rumi waved a hand through the air, "Oh no, Izuku isn't in any trouble. Unless he got into some more recently. And please, just call me Rumi. I'm off duty right now. I'm just here to check in on Izuku. Would be a bad teacher if I never visited my student."
It took Inko a long second before she could respond, "You're Izuku's teacher?"
"What did he not tell you?"
"No, he only mentioned that he was using a workout that you designed." Inko gave Izuku a sharp stink-eye. Izuku gave a sheepish smile. "May I ask what else have you been teaching him?"
"Besides the workout, not much, yet. Once he's in better shape, I plan on teaching him how to fight! I've been thinking about different martial arts and fighting techniques that would be useful for Izuku to learn. While I'm not amazing at the more investigative hero work, I know a few people who are and I figured introducing Izuku to them would be a good start."
"You're trying to teach Izuku how to be a hero?" Inko asked a little surprised and worried. "Are you aware that he's… qurikless?"
"Psh, as if that would stop him from being a kickass hero. When I'm done with Izuku villains will cower in fear before him." Rumi cackled as Izuku facepalm.
Inko let out a heavy sigh before beaming.
"I'm glad that you have so much confidence in my Izu-chan. I hope you can share more of your teaching plan with me and let me know what I can do to help." Inko's eyes burned with an intensity that made Rumi grin.
"Hell yeah! So basically, here's the list of martial arts that I think have the most useful and devastating attacks…"
Izuku and Inko were both soon taking mountains of notes as Rumi began to show off the plan. Inko was very meticulous about making sure that Izuku was not over-exerting himself and hurting. Rumi promised to insure there was plenty of rest day. She could not guarantee there would be no injuries but that she would do her best to prevent them.
Of course, Izuku was more interested in the things that Rumi was interested in teaching him. He debated the pros and cons of each martial art with Rumi who was happy to share and show off her experiences. Most of her reasons came down to, 'this martial artist with this move hurt like a bitch to fight and I think we could tweak it to make it work for you.' Not that Izuku could disagree as the variety of skills listed seemed to have good synergy and made use of all of his body and not just focused on using only one specific part.
"In the words of Bruce Lee, 'I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once but one kick 10,000 times' and 'Research your own experience; absorb what is useful, reject what is useless and add what is essentially your own.'" Rumi quoted pridefully, "Bruce Lee was a martial arts master and was kickass awesome."
With a thoughtful look, Izuku mulled over the quotes. Izuku was never a big martial art nerd. Big name martial artists tended to fade into obscurity. Even so, Izuku heard and watched Bruce Lee before. He could see the wisdom in his words and he could understand how Rumi might have applied those words to her own life. With a low incomprehensible muttering, Izuku began to wonder how to apply such wisdom to his own life.
At some point during Izuku's introspection, Inko took Rumi to the kitchen and continued cooking lunch. By the time Izuku joined them, Rumi was behaving un-Rumi-like. She spoke much softer and acted shyly. His mom acted as if nothing was up so Izuku just rolled with it and took a seat next to Rumi.
Before Izuku could ask about a hero team-up that Rumi did with Gang Orca, Inko started asking about Rumi's hobbies.
Rumi was bashful as she began to talk about the martial art movies that she had been watching. As she relaxed, Rumi went on to rant about Enter the Dragon and how awesome it was. Izuku and Inko listened along asking questions here and there that served to cause Rumi to go off on tangents about other movies and martial artists. At one point Rumi and Izuku were making jokes about what a Chuck Norris-like quirk would be like. Eventually, Inko finished cooking and excused herself for a bit to leave Izuku to serve lunch.
Izuku watched confused as Rumi became bashful and shifted in her seat.
"Rumi? You okay?" Izuku asked setting down a plate of food in front of her.
"Er… Yeah, I'm okay. Just a little embarrassed how carried away I got." One of Rumi's ears bent down low so she could play with it.
"Don't be embarrassed, kami knows how many times I've ranted to mom about quirks and heroes. Pretty sure I ranted about you to her before too." Izuku scratched his cheek blushing.
Rumi laughed, "Aww that's flattering. Glad I'm rant worthy." They sat in silence for a bit poking at the food before Rumi looked up again. "Is this what it's like to have a mother cook for you?"
"Yeah, your mother never…" Izuku trailed off.
"No, my mom's rabbit quirk was far more pronounced than mine. She lived by her rabbit instincts." Rumi gave Izuku a bitter smile, "If that wasn't clear, that mean she lived to fuck and breed. She gave me to my aunt and uncle when I was born. As far as I know, I'm a single child. Honestly, though, I probably have hundreds of siblings."
"Your aunt or uncle never cooked for you?"
"Nah they did, well more like it was never just for me. It was always for their own kits. I was just an afterthought. Not that I blamed them, I had so many cousins that they barely got their own parents' time. My aunt and uncle didn't treat me badly but they never made time for me if you understand."
Izuku gave an understanding nod.
"It's always just been me and mom. My dad divorced mom when I was young because they fell out of love and their marriage was not working for them. I talk to my dad every so often and he always sends us money on time. But sometimes, I can't help but wonder." Izuku shared causing Rumi to give him a mirthful smile.
"Look at us, two kits just wanting a full family," Rumi joked.
"If you wanted, I'm sure mom would be happy if you came around more often," Izuku said.
"I don't want to impose," Rumi protested, "I'd feel bad cutting into your family time."
"Family is not just whose blood you share," Inko said cutting into the conversation. Izuku and Rumi looked over to find her leaning against the door frame. "It's also about who you choose to call your family. Friends can be just as close if not closer than family." Inko walked over and took the seat between Rumu and Izuku. "For what it's worth, I'd be happy to welcome you into my own family. I've always wanted a daughter."
Rumi teared up a little before furiously wiping it away. It did not stop Izuku from teasing her.
"She's already tears up like a Midoriya," Izuku said nudging Rumi with his foot.
"Maybe I should give you something to cry about," Rumi bit back with no real heat.
"Kids please, behave," Inko said in a mom voice that immediately cowered the two.
Lunch was a simple affair. A good meal mixed with small talk. Yet, to the people at the table, it seemed like a magical experience.
Eventually, Rumi left to go on her patrol for the day. When they were watching the news that evening, Izuku noted that his mom seemed particularly proud as they watched Rumu apprehend a bunch of villains. It seemed to him that he got an older sister. Not that he hadn't already considered her like one in his head.
Rumi showed up the next day for lunch and she brought Inko a matching green Miruko hoodie. She would forever deny it, but the tight grateful hug that Inko gave Rumi for the hoodie sealed the deal on the whole family business for the bunny.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
I had the random idea of Rumi getting special merch made for her and Izuku and it somehow leads to her getting adopted by Izuku and Inko. Basically, I wanted to make them all green bunnies and they would all be about the same size too lol. Also, Rumi being a martial art nerd seemed like a totally in-character thing, and of course, Izuku and Rumi nerding out together in the future sounds like a fun idea. Getting a chance to show Inko getting involved in Izuku's hero journey was also something I wanted to show.
I hope you have a good day!
PK OUT!