Hey guys. It's been a long while, too long actually. I'd say sorry but the honest truth is that I started making stories over on AO3 and it kind of made me forget all about this account. If you want to follow me over there I implore you too, the formatting of this story'll make much more sense over there.
Well, without further ado here's the continuation for Why Is It Different For Him? Hope the next few chapters dedicated to this Arc makes up for the absence!
Chapter 4: Arc 2-The Past; Part 1
It was official, Rumi hated the Hero Commission.
She could have been jumping around looking for villains to stomp but no. Those damn suits had the gall to order her to take on some interns this year for some stupid Team-Up program they were doing. She scoffed at the notion. Rumi hated working in a team for an extended period of time.
Oh sure, she'd team up with other heroes for an operation. But long term? Joining a team of heroes that needed to rely on each other constantly?
Yeah, no way in hell was she going to lower herself to that. Rumi worked hard to turn herself into who she was today. Miruko wasn't some little cute bunny that needed protection. She was the one doing the protection. When villains saw Miruko in the streets, they feared her. She marketed herself as someone who took shit from nobody and people ate that up.
Sure, her manager sometimes begged her to at least sit still for some boring meetings about marketing or products but she didn't really care. Aki could take care of that by herself, she had much more important things to do.
'Things that I could be doing instead of sitting here and watching a couple of brats pound on each other.' The current number six thought, growling as she shoved some popcorn in her mouth.
Disguising herself with a navy blue cap, a white t-shirt, and baggy pants the Rabbit Hero sat in one of the various seats in the UA Sports Festival stadium. She and whatever other hero the commission had brought on for this stupid project were required to actually be there in person. They didn't want a single one of them using the excuse of an 'emergency' to get out of it, not that any other hero but her had an actual problem with the idea.
Each of them were given strict requirements to meet and unfortunately Rumi was assigned to make an offer to at least two of these ankle biters.
'Easier said than done.' She thought. 'None of these kids are showing up on my radar, even if they did the hell am I supposed to teach them? I'm not exactly the mentor type.'
It wasn't that the kids weren't putting in effort in their own ways. It's just-she didn't see anything that was appealing to her . Sure, that girl with the gravity quirk showed some grit but that didn't mean Rumi wanted to take her on. Then there was that rich girl who obviously thought too much in a fight.
She sure as hell wasn't going to take on that purple haired kid who literally got carried through the first two rounds.
All in all, this whole thing was a joke.
'Well, maybe not entirely.' She thought, leaning forward as the next fight was called. 'That blonde with the explosion quirk looks interesting enough, he goes straight into a fight without holding back. I like that, not sure what I could teach him though. Maybe help him be more mobile, from the looks of things he might be a fun brat to hang around. Reminds me of myself.'
Then there were the two currently making their way to the stage, on one hand there was Endeavor's kid who was just-no. Just no. She wasn't taking that kid on even if someone offered her all the money in the world.
She wasn't going to help some brat that obviously had issues but was holding himself back to boot.
Then again if he accepted her offer it'd probably mess with Endeavor….nah, wasn't worth it.
Then there was the other kid, Midoriya something or other. Kid was reckless but seemed to be somewhat smart. That trick he did with the mines to take first place earlier was hilarious but otherwise he hadn't really stood out from the rest of his classmates.
Hell, Rumi doesn't even think she's seen the little runt use his quirk once the entire festival. That either meant it was A. Too weak or B. he had no control over it. Neither of which she wanted to deal with.
'Then again, even if I wanted to show off here, from that look on Endeavor's kid's face this'll end up like that last fight with the living tape dispenser.'
Rumi grumbled in annoyance as the two students were called to begin. She really could have been spending her time doing anything else right now.
In the future, the red eyed woman would later comment that there was no other place she'd rather have been than right there in that moment.
Immediately everyone in the stands had to lean back from the force the two boys began throwing at each other, the ice from Todoroki wasn't anything new but what the kid dished back was! Whatever quirk he had put Endeavor's kid on the backfoot almost instantly.
She heard Present Mic yell something about him smashing it and upon closer inspection she saw the kid cradling his hand and a very broken finger.
But what got Miruko's attention was that look the kid had in his eyes.
She knew people were going to call it determination, call it the look of someone gritting his teeth and fighting through pain as they tried to grasp victory from broken bones and desperation.
Her ears twitched as she heard some other Pros wince and mutter in disgust at the kids recklessness, at his desperation.
But it wasn't desperation Rumi saw in those eyes.
It wasn't recklessness and, although it was there, it wasn't just determination either.
No, no Rumi Usagiyama knew those eyes. She knew them better than most people on the planet. She knew what it meant.
Even when the kid lost the match she couldn't stop the feral grin that had formed on her face, she didn't stick around for the last fights. Not when she'd already made her decision, she knew who she wanted, no—who she needed to take on.
After all, people like them needed to stick together right?
Izuku Midoriya's file was—
"Fucking ridiculous."
...Yeah, it was that.
Rumi scoffed as she tossed the papers onto her hotel room's table. She crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair, she felt her temper grow as the words she read echoed around in her head.
Disruptive, liar, cheater and more were listed in a way that just screamed bullshit to her. Teachers were quite obviously trying to do everything in their power to get this kid to be turned away at UA's gates.
'If he tried to apply for any other hero school, that probably would have happened.' She thought, utterly annoyed at the fact. 'If anything this Aldera place probably helped form that thing he's trying to bury, not that it's going to help him in the long run.'
She let out a loud groan, slumping in her chair lightly kicking a nearby chair.
"Fucking hate this paperwork behind the scenes shit. I'm going to have to ask her for a favor again aren't I?"
She let out another groan but got up off her ass, she'd call her friend up later, for now she should probably get herself ready for the brat to show up.
DING
Huh, speak of the devil.
Rumi's ear twitched as the elevator door to her room opened up and in walked the Izuku Midoriya. The kid was a nervous wreck, clutching onto his backpack straps tightly as he shuffled out of the elevator. It was a far cry from what she saw during the Sports Festival but she does know what she saw.
And she wasn't going to waste her time.
"Um, Ms. Miru-whoa!"
Rumi grinned as Midoriya ducked out of the way of her kick. "Nice reflexes kid."
"I—what are you-!?"
"Think fast!"
What followed was a full three minutes of fun for Rumi and utter panic and pain Izuku. She hounded the boy. He did his best to dodge and fight back but against a seasoned veteran like her it was a losing endeavor, especially when he didn't have control over his quirk.
Eventually she tagged him. She didn't use her full strength of course, she wasn't trying to kill the kid. But that didn't change the fact that a kick from her was going to hurt no matter what.
"Not bad kid." She said, watching him tumble over a chair and onto the floor with a pained groan. "Like I said you've got some pretty good reflexes. But if you think just running is going to get you far in this business I suggest looking for a different profession."
"I don't understand." He gasped out, holding onto his side as he struggled to sit up. "Why'd you—"
"Because I hate wasting time." She answered, turning on her heel and marching over to the fridge. "I don't do this normally. This whole mentor internship thing. It's a waste of time and a hassle. Why teach a brat when I could be knocking a villain's lights out."
He fumbled with the water bottle she threw at him. "But, then why did you decide to take me on?"
"Well for one the HPSC basically forced me to pick a kid out of UA to mentor this year."
He tensed at her words, a frown forming on his face as his eyes shot to the floor. Rumi watched as the kid fiddled with the bottle, he was skittish. Nervous. Some of it was genuine but Rumi saw the way he was shuffling backwards towards the elevator.
Ah, so that was another problem she'd have to add to her plate.
"The other reason is that I know what you're hiding."
He froze. "I-I don't know wh-what you're talking about."
"Don't bullshit me kid." Rumi growled, munching on the carrot she retrieved from the fridge as she marched over. "You can bullshit everyone else but not me, don't lie to me or I'm going to kick your ass."
He clenched his mouth shut, causing Rumi to groan and for him to lock up even more. Okay see this? This is why she didn't deal with kids, the little ones she could handle fine but actively talking or taking care of one was a hassle.
"Get up. I'm not going to force you to talk about things you don't want to talk about. But if you don't want to tell me something then say that, don't dance around the subject."
He looked at her in confusion and she waited for him to stop trying to feel her out. The silence that reigned between them was annoying but she knew it was needed, she didn't trust anyone at first too. Not with this at least.
Still, patience wasn't one of her stronger points.
"Alright brat, breaks over."
"W-what?" Izuku asked, scrambling up as Miruko crouched down and tensed her legs. "Wait a second I don't—"
"You think villains are going to sit around while you ask them to wait!?" She exclaimed, launching herself around the room. "I ain't like those other pros who have experience with this kind of thing. I don't usually do the whole advice thing, but I'll tell you this."
She clipped him and sent the boy stumbling, even holding back her hits were that of a seasoned pro against a kid barely into his first year. Midoriya didn't stand a chance in hell of beating her as he was now but that wasn't the point.
"You think too much!" Rumi exclaimed, her feet cracking the ground Midoriya had just been.
The boy had rolled out of the way and yelped when he found a foot inches away from his face.
"Villains ain't gonna wait for you to form a plan. They're gonna be bastards and you won't be able to do shit with the way you use your quirk." She saw him wince as she put her foot down, his gaze beginning to turn to the floor again before Rumi started hopping once more. "So we're going to train until you can do both at the same time! I don't need a brat slowing me down from doing my thing, so you get two days to figure out how your quirk works before I send you back!"
"Wha—but that's not fair!"
"When has life ever been 'fair' to you kid!?"
She slammed into him when he stopped moving at her words. Call it cruel but she was right. Villains weren't going to wait for him to think of a plan and they sure as shit weren't going to let an opportunity to hit him pass by if he gave an opening like that. The world was a cruel and harsh place and once you got a few years of Heroics under your belt people tend to see that it can get even harsher.
Whether it's villain attacks, criminals or this stupid industry trying to promote deals and fake essays and articles on your character, this life was going to either eat you alive or conform you to its standards if you let your guard down.
She was one of the few that stuck a middle finger to them all.
She proved them all wrong. Everyone who thought a tiny bunny wouldn't be able to fight, to make It big. That thought it would be better for her to be cute and gentle.
Rumi Usagiyama was many things but gentle was not one of them.
She was loud and brash. She knew what she wanted and how she wanted to do them. She didn't let an agency slow her down. She didn't need the HSPC telling her what city to stay in or deals to make. She went in full force with her entire being, leaving nothing to chance In how she did her work.
She didn't need the world to accept a different version of her because there wasn't any other version but herself.
…But there was a time when she wasn't. She wasn't always an adult after all, she was a kid too at some point after all.
But she got over it-no she had no choice but to get over it.
It's why she needed Midoriya to get over it too.
After all...she knew exactly what it was like for one bad day to make you lose your shit. With the power this kid had she couldn't let him get that far.
She went at the kid for another two hours before giving him a break for the day. Like she said she wasn't going to let him slow down her routine if he couldn't keep up. She wasn't going to sit around teaching with words when experience worked just as well.
' Lasted longer than I thought he would though. ' Rumi thought as she leapt from rooftop to rooftop. 'Kids used to taking hits, if I didn't know any better I'd say he got that from using his quirk.'
But people like them didn't get that kind of tolerance from just gritting their teeth and bearing the Quirk Backlash. Besides, according to his file, Greenie's quirk only came in when he took the Entrance Exam. She had to admit, taking the exam without a quirk was a ballsy move. She kind of wished he'd passed without it if only to laugh at how the tabloids would react.
'Fucking weird though.' She thought in a huff. ' If the kid is smart enough to figure out how to take my hits without breaking his bones then why hasn't he figured out how to use that quirk of his then?'
For that matter why the hell hadn't UA helped the brat in the first place?
Even with that incident at the USJ the Sports Festival was more than far enough away from the first day of classes to help the kid out. Especially considering literally every one of his other classmates had good control of their quirks so far.
Midoriya seemed to be the only one fucking up and not getting any help. Another thing Rumi was going to have to look into later, for now she should be approaching her destination right about—
"GAH!"
-Now.
Rumi let a grin grace her face as she hopped into the alleyway below, before her was the familiar scene of a bunch of criminals in the process of being knocked on their asses. Only this time she wasn't the one doing it, instead of her kicks these guys were met with the quick punches of a mutant woman with the appearance of a sheep. Her fluffy white hair bounced around as she grabbed a crook and pinned him to a wall, her four pigtails bounced in the orange bands that kept them from growing too large to manage in situations—well situations like this.
She wore a black sports bar underneath an orange tank top that was tucked into green cargo pants held up by a brown belt that was further tucked into some brown and tan colored combat boots. Her fingerless brown gloves were accompanied by black elbow sleeves and a bronze cowbell to complete the set on her costume.
Rumi never really understood that last part of her costume but hey if she got the job done without getting caught she wasn't going to give her grief over it. Speaking of getting the job done.
"On your right!" She exclaimed as she shot off, sending the thug that had tried to pull a gun on her fellow hero spinning in the air with a kick to the face.
"I knew you had him." Her fellow mutant said, handcuffing her own thug before dropping him to the floor and turning to Rumi.
"Heard me coming?"
"These ears have to be good for something right?"
The two smiled as they wiggled said ears before the Number Six hero laughed and swept the shorter up into a hug.
"Good to see you Lanolin!" Rumi smiled, squeezing the sheep mutant tight causing her to laugh in turn.
"You too Rumi." Lanolin smiled, patting the dark skinned woman's back. "I didn't expect you to be in Hosu."
"Ah, I'm just here cause I took on a brat to train for the week."
Lanolin looked at her in surprise as she was let down. "You? Took an intern?"
"Yeah, HPSC forced me to take on one of the brats from the Sports Festival." She explained. "I wasn't happy at first, but I'm making an exception for the kid I got."
"What makes him so special?"
"He's like us."
Rumi watched Lanolin's blue eyes narrow and dull, her mouth turned into a frown as she processed Rumi's words. The rabbit mutant knew the conclusion she'd draw from that, she was always the smartest friend she had on hand after all.
"He's human isn't he?" She asked which got her a nod. "You want me to look into him."
"Him and his teachers." She amended, crossing her arms with a frown. "No way he gets like us without something going down, UA may need some looking into too."
Well now she had her attention. "That's a big favor to ask Rumi."
She knows. She knows what she'll have to do in return but she needs this. This wasn't just her curiosity getting the better of her. Lanolin could see it in her eyes. Forced or not Rumi was going to see this through. Following her own rules and guidelines.
'Which means I'm going to be dragged into it regardless.' The sheep sighed. "Fine, you owe me though."
Rumi simply gave her another grin before leaping off, her friend yelling that 'She meant it this time!' as she did so.
Lanolin was a good friend, one of the few that stuck with her over the years that she actually put thought into. Rumi wasn't one to sweat the finer details of things like she did, she wasn't dumb but there was a reason Lanolin was more underground than limelight like she was. She could always rely on her when needed even when It came to the most ridiculous request.
'Not that she can't dish out what I give.' Rumi thought with a hum, bouncing her way through the city. 'Sheep or not, she hits hard when she wants to. Fluffers got some thick skin .'
The various aches she'd given the rabbit hero during their time in high school was proof enough for that.
But what to do now. Head back? Nah, she didn't want to deal with the brat just yet. Especially not when she's already out here. The Hero Commision can push her to take a brat but she's going to keep doing her job.
Especially when there was some guy running around killing heroes in the area.
It was fucking stupid they weren't putting the word out to the top heroes to stamp this guy down. Especially after what happened to Ingenium, the rookies weren't going to be able to handle him. The whole reason she was moving over here initially was to make sure no glory hog ended up with their throat slit in some alleyway.
Rumi growled at the thought, if there was one thing she hated it was a coward. She didn't know what this guy's deal was and she didn't care. Near all his kills were found down in isolation. Never a straight up fight. She hated guys like that.
Guys trying to 'send a message' while silently creeping in the corner.
Whatever message he was trying to send was null and void in her mind when he started killing low level heroes. Rookies that had barely been on the beat were just snuffed out before they could make a name for themselves.
She didn't miss how most of them had 'flashy' or 'weak' quirks either.
She spent the next hour hopping around the city before deciding to return to her base of operations. She let out a yawn as she walked back into the apartment, if she was right then the kid should be exhausted right about—
WOOSH
-now?
Rumi blinked as she watched a green blur zip around her apartment. Cracks and small craters littered the walls and floor as the thing she assumed was her intern zipped around.
She felt a grin stretch across her face as she watched him bounce off a railing and to the ceiling. There was no fucking way the brat was doing what she thought she was doing.
She bent down, the muscles in her leg flaring before she launched herself. Catching up to the kid wasn't hard, after all he was nowhere near as fast as her but that wasn't the goal. She just needed to see him, see the way he moved, the way he tensed his legs before each hop. The way he twisted and turned, the way he used the tips of his feet to stick his land and start his next leap.
All of it was textbook.
All of it was her .
"Hey brat!"
The yell startled him, losing his focus and causing him to slip and tumble down to the ground. She didn't hold back her laugh as he skipped before sliding and stopping at a wall.
"M-Miruko-san!?"
"Those were some familiar moves you were usin' back there."
"I-I'm sorry."
Rumi rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Did I ask for an apology?"
"W-well no but—"
"Then don't apologize! It's annoying." She grumbled, crossing her arms and glaring at him. "I'm impressed. Not many people I know that can just copy how I move after seeing it a couple times, you ain't breaking your bones either. Tell me how."
He hesitated. "Well, I noticed that when you jump you don't just put power into your legs." He said. "You use your whole body, more than that you tense both of your legs not one and it made me realize something."
His body tenses, lighting filtering across it as his skin gained a lighter hue. Rumi whistled, she could feel the pressure he was giving off. That was some power he had on him.
"If I transfer the power of my quirk through the rest of my body I can divide the power. I have to think of it as one big system that I have to remove or add parts too to get it to work without blowing up."
Rumi grinned. "You got all that from watching me huh?"
He twitched, looking away again in shame. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to copy you it's just-the way you moved just made more sense. I can't use my arms anymore because they might not be healed and—"
"A bubububu. Stop. Don't care." She cut him off again with a wave of her hand. "I told you to get it under control and you did. Don't care how you did it and you shouldn't care that you used me to do it. People like us need everything we can to get somewhere. Besides, ain't no villain that's going to care about copying you if it means they get to beat you senseless."
He didn't believe her.
More accurately he was on guard with how she worded her response. That was fine, he could expect anything and everything from her all he wanted. Rumi wasn't going to doubt the words that left his mouth nor his intent behind them.
She meant what she said. Long as the kid didn't lie to her they'd be golden and by the end of the internship she'd have him trust her. He needed to trust someone if he wanted to survive out there.
'Well, at least things won't be boring for awhile.'
