One of the things Izuku had never really talked about or questioned when he was younger, was how only Heroes were allowed to just… Move about the heavens or across rooftops with Superhuman capacity.
So many people in the world were capable of doing so thanks to their inborn Quirks, and yet it was a common social taboo, to the point where just balancing on walls or telephone poles in daylight got him lots of sideglances and annoyed looks.
No one actually called him out on it though.
Wheter that was due to Nerima being full of Ki users, who like him, were legally(If not always in practice) unbound by the laws against Quirk usage, or the fact the locals knew him as "Soun Tendo's Son-In-Law", or something else he did not know, but as September finally entered it's second week, Izuku had the realization as he walked across a steel roof, munching casually on Kasumi's cooking from a small bag of warm, baked goods, that he belonged here.
Not just in the Tendo Dojo, here in Nerima, specially.
He knew the feeling well from similar points in journeys across the globe.
There was always a point where you finally began to fit in.
When the local people stopped looking at you funny, and just accepted you as part of the environment.
This time was a bit different than usual, given he was now planting roots that would be there for life, as well as being a massive, sprawling city, but he recognized the beats well.
As far as places he'd been, Nerima was an interesting contrast.
On one hand there was no mistaking it as anything but a metropolis, a part of the single biggest, and densest city on Earth, with only the great De-Facto capital of Europe; Paris and the various capitals of China, Ethiopia and Brazil coming close to just how densely populated and developed the greater Tokyo Area was.
This was a modern city in all respects with all the conveniences, transport systems, stores, gaggles of Highschoolers, and Hero/Villain brawls you could ever want in a city.
But on the other hand, it was also a strange place, where a lot of anacronistic elements from an older age could be found.
And not the kinds that only existed because people were too poor for newer stuff either.
His own home was one such, but it was far from the only one… Heck, it wasn't even the biggest old school mansion in the local area, with the complex belonging to the Kuno family having slightly less land, but having much more buildings inside of it.
But houses with old school Japanese ponds were commonplace, people still used signs outside their houses in the style of ancient Dojos, and private Duels, be they between local Ki users or Quirk users, or a mixture of both, were commonplace.
He'd grown completely used to seeing people duking it out in local open but secluded spots, and so as he was jumping across the roofs, he innitially thought nothing of seeing a group of people facing someone in a clearly hostile manner at some abandoned former construction site that had never gotten past clearing the grounds.
It wasn't before he came a bit closer and looked down on the scene from a nearby telephone pole that he realized there was something a bit… Off about this particular scene.
For one, it was clearly one person facing several who were surrounding her.
That immediately brought to mind the image of someone being ganged up on rather than a duel.
The second was that the people who were attacking the single lady, were all wearing gym track suits, were bandaged over their heads like they were mummies with only the eyes having holes to clearly see through, and were wielding some strange wooden clubs with circles across them.
As Izuku closed, then hooked his bag of baked confectionery on an outsticking part from the metal pole he was standing on, he froze, as suddenly he heard his school's name being mentioned.
"Pardon me, but you are from Furinkan Middle School are you not?"
The speaker, the lady who was currently surrounded by others, was a rather attractive young lady who looked to be several years his senior, but something in her voice told him she was probably about his age.
She had a husky if still feminine voice that was on the cusp of maturing into something much more womanly give or take a few years, and now that he was actually observing her more closely, he realised a large part of why she seemed drastically older was due to heavy and expertedly applied makeup, that no normal middle schooler would have bothered with.
She had her hair tied up in a sideways ponytail, and she wore a sailor suit dress of white and dark, faded green, along with a red ribbon for the neck.
The lady did not seem to notice him, though neither did his seeming schoolmates.
"If I'm not mistaken, our schools will have our big match in one week. Please, no need to rush on my account."
"NO MORE TALK!"
"WE FINALLY GOT YOU RIGHT WHERE WE WANT YOU, AT LAST!"
"WE'RE FINISHING YOU OFF RIGHT NOW!"
Izuku had been considering whether to jump down or not, but it wasn't before the next line from the strange assailents from his school, where he decided he would indeed do just that.
"PREPARE TO DIE!"
Okay, this had… Clearly escalated WAY beyond any sense.
Before he managed to jump down though…
"Forgive me please… If I've failed…"
There was a snapping sound like a whip as she pulled out… A piece of cloth that was attached to a baton?
She drew the line of cloth with the slender fingers of her other hand, before with a crack like a whip, sensing it flying towards them… In a spiral motion.
"TO MAKE MY POINT!"
Izuku stiffened.
That… That was Iron Cloth. And a high level version at that.
Not the French style he knew though.
Whatever style it was, as the cloth line hit the assailaints, it broke the strange clubs to pieces, and hit the attackers bandaged bodies with more than enough force to cut open their clothes and the bandages beneath, and accompanying a series of loud, pained cries left them with a dozen massive bruises in an instant.
The girl brought the whip like ribbon or whatever it was called up and over her head, while twirling it around herself in a downward circle from above, that clearly was both a means of attack or defense that could easily be flipped depending on the need.
It was bizarre motions in Izuku's mind.
Even with Iron Cloth, this should have led to her twirling it above her head in a lasso like movement, but instead the cloth went downwards around her like a reverse maelstrom instead.
As the attackers tried to scramble to their feet after all of them had suddenly gotten a dozen massive bruises, the girl immediately switched to attacking, breaking the defensive circular motion to instead snap the cloth at them like a whip.
"If I might reinstate it…"
She brought it down, leading to one of the foes letting out a huge yelp.
"Perhaps this…!"
Another downward motion, and another cry of pain.
"Or this might be clearer!"
She brought it down again, but this time there was no cry of pain, as instead a distinct and rather strange snaping sound came, then vanished.
Izuku, now standing in front of one of the attackers, had caught the end of the cloth with one hand.
The girl looked immediately surprised, and had he been able to see them, he would have seen similar looks in the eyes of the downed people behind him.
Izuku though, focused exclusively on the girl.
He had been wrong somewhat.
The girl did not merely look older than him by virtue of her very well applied and mature makeup.
The people that immediately came to Izuku's mind then was Kasumi… And to a lesser extent Nabiki.
Here too was someone, who like Kasumi had once been, was much further along the path of physical adulthood than her age would suggest.
The same as is own age he realized, if there was a match set up with her and these people from his school.
She had a lot of the same mature facial features that separated Kasumi from her sisters, but there was… Something about her that immediately reminded him of Nabiki.
He wasn't sure what it was though.
Her Dark Grey-Blue eyes locked with his, as he finally spoke.
"I would say you won rather decisively here… You… Don't have to keep kicking after they're down on the ground."
The girl cocked her head.
"You caught that ribbon like it was nothing. Forgive me for saying so… But you don't seem like a regular boy."
"Yeah… I'm really not… I don't think there are many boy's around here who knows how to use Iron Cloth."
The girl, whose face had been frowning, only deepened.
"Iron Cloth… So you knew it from the source then… What European school do you hail from?"
"The French one."
"Ah… The Imperial Style of Paris…"
"My… Master was from Paris, yeah."
"Mine learned her arts in Vienna, the Royal Capital of the German Königreich."
He felt his heart perk up at this, rather unexpected talk of European martial arts styles.
"I traveled through the Kingdom of Germany once… I never did get to see the Capital though."
"I'm sorry to hear that… It is a beautiful, glorious place… A city of true beauty and grace… The German Kings knew what they were doing when they rebuilt it from it's ashes after the collapse… And how to make a true capital city of Romance, beauty and splendor… Not like Tokyo."
"You've been there then?"
"No… But I know it's architecture and layout by heart… My mother taught me such before I learned how to walk… As she taught me this style."
She motioned her foot so it was casually pointed towards the sorta splintered remains of a still mostly intact(At least in so far that it retained the overall shape) club, then in one swift motion too fast for most Humans to see she let go of the ribbon, kicked the club up, snapped it out of the air and stabbed at Izuku's face!
He ducked under it, and sidesweeped her leg out from under her, but rather than fall on her face, she instead caught herself with her hands, and using both, she flipped herself through the air away from him, though with quite a bit less power than Ryoga had when he sent him and Izuku flying to through the sky.
As she landed on her feet, and turned round in a snap, Izuku was in a more serious stance, expecting another attack.
The girl smiled, and here she finally looked completely different from either Kasumi or Nabiki.
It was a confident, seductive like smile, but unlike Nabiki it lacked… Something. It was more obvious, less teasing… More what one saw was what you got.
Unsubtle was probably the word to use.
"My, you are good… These poor girls could learn something from you… They use a variety of Iron cloth derived from the Italian style you see."
"That… Is very sad."
It really was.
His father had actually once made a perfect analogy for the Italian style of Iron cloth.
It was like comparing the Italian military of either World Wars, with their corresponding German counterparts from said conflicts.
Italy actually had a lot of good martial arts techniques and styles… But their native Iron Cloth was not one of them.
The girl actually laughed, and it was as close to the stereotypical noblewoman's "Oh ho ho ho!" laugh that he had ever heard, though she didn't exactly shout it at full volume to the heavens.
"Indeed! It's good to hear not all men in this dreary city are uncultured boors… Only caring about stuffy Samurai and outdated Bushido… As if those are the only things in the world."
Then, out of nowhere, she pulled out a black rose, then with a snap of her fingers, she threw it at Izuku.
"I'm called the Black Rose of St. Hebreke's School for Girls. Kodachi the Black Rose. Please don't forget it."
Then, she promptly turned, and with some pretty powerful jumps, and a loud, echoing "OH HO HO HO HO!" she bounced away across the roofs.
Izuku looked after her, trying to recall…
Ah, right… Hebreke.
He thought the name sounded familiar.
His father, in his usual way regarding Japanese history, had told him about him in great detail once.
Hebreke was famous for his work during the recovery period.
He had played a huge role in not only helping the country back on its feet after the apocalyptic societal collapse in the aftermath of the emmergence of Quirks, but he, more than anyone else, was also responsible for the fact that christianity had bounced from less than 1% to 7% of the entierty of Japan's population.
He had also been brutally murdered at the age of 94 by villains while helping children escape a burning building.
After his death, both for his tireless work helping those who suffered during the destruction of society, helping rebuild it, spreading the cross across Japan, and dying a martyr, he had been declared a saint by the Catholic church.
Not bad for a man saddled with the birth name "Drunk".
He was still thinking about that, and this mysterious Kodachi, when behind him, several of the bandaged girls began crying.
"HOW HUMILIATING!"
The two other girls nodded furiously, as all 3 cried loud sobs.
Izuku though… Well despite having saved the girls from a much worse beating, and despite his nature generally being very kind had a… Hard time just giving in and feeling sorry for them.
On account of the whole attempted murder thing.
"It's… Probably for the best. Getting charged for murder is probably not the best way to end your Middle School periods."
All 3 girls turned and glowered at him, with cold, icy stares.
"So… What was this all about anyway?"
I
Akane now and again got sought out by girls from her school to come help them with some problem. Usually guys who wouldn't leave them alone and needed some "Convincing" to make them stop doing that… Which was rather ironic given who they got to help them with that.
Today though, the matter 3 girls came to ask her about was a bit different.
"You were ambushed? All of you?"
"Yes! All the girls from Furinkan's Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics team! All of us were injured!"
The girl, who shared her name with Akane's oldest sister, buried her bruised and badaged covered face in her hands.
"It's humiliating beyond words! Now we'll have to withdraw from the match!"
Akane nodded.
She… Vaguely recalled this as one of the new superpowered sports that had popped up, which Furinkan had invested in.
Besides her, sitting on the far end of the bed a bit away from her, Izuku thankfully asked the question she wanted to ask, out loud.
"Rhythmic Gymnastics Martial Arts? What's that?"
The cold, cold, bitter looks the 3 battered girls sent him in response suddenly made Akane really glad she hadn't asked the question herself.
One of the girl pulled out a small hologram recorder, but rather than a video, it simply popped up a stylized image of two ladies in leotards fighting by what seemed to be throwing various pieces of gymnastic equipment at each other, with a logo helpfully spelling out "Rhythmic Gymnastics Martial Arts" underneath.
"Rhythmic Gymnastics Martial Arts is a sports all about beating up the opponent with Gymnastic equipments!"
Well… At least it wasn't complex.
"You're not allowed to directly attack your opponent with kicks, punches, headbutts or throws! But other than that, you can use ribbons, batons, rings, it's all free game! Anything your second can give you that's not explicity against the rules is allowed! You throw, entangle, or bash your opponent over the head until they are out of the ring, unconscious, disqualified or give up!"
Akane considered that.
"So… It's basically boxing… Just with equipment instead?"
That… Didn't sound too bad.
"And you girls… Want me to take your place right?"
That seemed the only possible way this would end up going. Akane just could not see any other reasons why they would want to seek her out about it.
All three teary eyed girls nodded dramatically!
"Yes! That's exactly it! Our last ditch plan to even the odds failed, and so we have nothing else we can do but to find a substitute! The next match is the school championship match! Furinkan Unisex school against our hated rivals of St. Hebreke's Girl School!"
Akane nodded.
"Well… I'm not quite sure I get it… But all right. I'll avenge you!"
All 3 girls immediately clustered around her front grabbing her hands in thanks.
"Oh thank you Akane!"
"You're the best!"
"Thanks to you, Furinkan's honor will NOT be diminshed!"
They were quite passionate, the girls from Furinkan's Rhythmic Gymnastics Martial Arts.
I
"You think I was rash, don't you?"
Akane had changed from one of her casual outfits, to her trusty martial arts one, the beige white and red belt.
Around the Dojo though, rather than her usual gym equipment, there were various gymnastic tools, such as batons, circular rings, long slender ribbons attached to a handle and some more.
Izuku was currently holding one of those ribbons, and was measuring the cloth with a curious look on his face.
"I shouldn't have agreed so quickly."
She didn't feel like that herself… But she was pretty sure that was what Izuku felt… He was just too polite to say it.
"Actually I thought that was super cool."
She froze, as suddenly her stomach felt… Weird and a faint blush crept across her cheeks as he continued.
"I'm not sure we're on the "Right side" here if there is one, but the way you agreed to help them like that with almost no hesitation was really cool of you."
"That… Thanks."
She distinctly did not look his direction as she bent over and lifted up two batons, one in each hand.
"So… I just need to hit the enemy with these… Either as a Club or a thrown object… Let's try throwing them."
She prepared doing just that…
Akane immediately thought back to how to throw a ball, an artillery shell, or something heavy like that.
Then she threw.
The first one weered off completely from the intended goal, but at least it hit the other side.
…Okay, so there was something weird going on with the weight.
She needed to put a spin on it!
The second, in a circular motion went off to the side and went clean through one of the panels in the wall.
"That… Could have gone better… But at least there was force behind it!"
"Very funny."
Okay… Try something else.
She went over to pick up a ribbon.
"Oh, you know how to do Iron Cloth! …Then again… Actually you would be using the Italian version… Nevermind."
She had no idea what he meant by Italian, but…
"Actually I don't… I just… Want to get a feel of how they work."
She tried using it as a gentle whip, like she recalled these were supposed to be.
The thing seemed to have a mind of its own and snapped back around, going around her head and neck and entangling itself there.
The utter silence from Izuku hurt more than any awkward comment might have.
She felt a sense of panic slowly, slowly beginning to set in.
After untangling herself from the accursed ribbon, she next picked up a one of the plastic ring that in a regular rhythmic gymnastic show would be used to dive your body though.
"This… I would just need to use this as a weapon right? Beat someone up with it?"
"Um… Yeah, but… You'd have to really-"
She swung it through the air with massive force like she was wielding a big, metal chakram ring!
The sheer force behind it ripped the entire thing into piece with only the part she still held in her grip in one, relatively unsplintered piece.
"-Infuse it with a lot of Ki…"
As reality began to set it, of just how screwed they were, she let forth a scream of frustration.
I
"I'M A KLUTZ! I'M A KLUTZ! I'M A KLUTZ!"
Her utter failure at this, showed Izuku a new side of Akane.
The kind she got when she was flustered and frustrated, and threw a tantrum.
The fact it was not in any way directed at him made it far more tolerable than usual.
In fact, it was kinda cute and adorable in its own way.
Had he been a more teasing sort, he probably would have had a lot of fun with it… But he was not, so he instead tried to console her.
"It's okay! We… We still have two… Two weeks for you to improve."
Akane let loose another frustrated scream.
"I can't fix this in TWO WEEKS! I'd need MONTHS for ONE of these! Much less ALL of these."
She stiffened, having seemingly realized something.
"Izuku, you met my opponent right? How is she strong?"
"Well her Ki reserves weren't too strong but her control was about 27-35 times better than your-"
He immediately stopped the instinctual response he often made when it came to Ki and martial arts, but the damage was done.
Akane let forth another cry of frustration.
"I'm so SCREWED!"
In his own mind, Izuku actually kind of agreed with her assessment, but he did not say that out loud, instead he said, in a kind supporting tone, as he clapped his fiancee supportingly on her back.
"Well, you never know… I know Ryoga has a tendency to make huge leaps in technique mastery when he's got a fight with me coming up… You could go through something similar…"
It… Wasn't impossible.
Those sorts of drastic leaps in a short amount of time did happen a lot in the world of superpowered martial arts… But Izuku really wasn't the person to ask about it.
That really was Ryoga's wheelhouse, not his own.
He was more of a steady learner and trainee by comparison.
"I concur."
A voice declared from behind them.
Both teenagers turned, to where Ryoga was standing in the doorway, leaning up against the side.
"She certainly will NOT make that kind of leaps and bounds with you as her trainer. And so…"
He stepped dramatically into the room, with a stoic expression, that Izuku recognized was how he acted when he wanted to look cool.
"I shall instruct Akane in these arts."
In his own way he actually did… But for Izuku he had seen him like this, and ALL the ways he could flubb it, too many times for him to actually take him truly seriously.
That said he was genuinely happy to hear him say that.
For several reasons.
"That's great Ryoga! That said… These arts? As in several? I'll addmit, you're amazing at Iron Cloth now, but…"
Ryoga chuckled as he bent down on the way to pick up the long ribbon.
"Where do you think I improved my Iron Cloth so much? I spent two months training this art while I was stuck on Kyushuu after getting back from China."
For a brief moment his cool facade shifted to something more frustrated and murderous.
Izuku immediately realized what had happened.
"The Jusenkyo guide didn't ask WHERE in Japan you wanted to be sent did he?"
"No."
"This is so generous of you Ryoga!"
Akane suddenly broke into the conversation, with a huge smile, and relief in her voice.
Ryoga immediately blushed.
"It's… The least I can do… But let us begin. Izuku go stand over there!"
He pointed at a spot.
"We'll start by me showing you the peak, so you'll know exactly what we're aiming towards. A powerfull, but relatively simple technique that allows for multiple blows on various points in one attack. It has several names… But I prefer to call in the "Maelstrom"."
Izuku suddenly got a feeling he knew exactly what "Maelstrom" was… And he was absolutely right, as Ryoga began Akane's training session by unleashing the same attack Kodachi had used against the Furinkan girls earlier that day.
I
Outside the gates of Tendo Dojo, a figure engulfed in a dramatic, black cape about her body strode.
More impressively, not a single person in the Dojo; be it Soun Tendo, any of his daughters, either of the father and son pair of Midoriyas, or Ryoga Hibiki sensed the figure at all, despite having substancial Ki reserves in her body.
That was impressive. Remarkably so, and a living example that the old arts of the Ninja lived alive and well into the modern day…
However, this rather remarkable display of spiritual stealth skill, was undone rather blatantly by the fact that her complete disregard for keeping herself hidden as she walked the streets, meant the only reason few people recognized her was that it was the middle of the night.
Even so, several pedestrians stared after her as she walked with her dramatic cape about herself, wondering if she was some new Hero.
That or if she maybe had some sort of Vampire Quirk.
She stopped her walk, as she recognized the Tendo Dojo sign.
Then she pulled out a massive wooden hammer from the interiors of her cape, which seemed way too big to have fit there.
The only thing that could have made her physical appearance less stealthy, would have been if she had actually monologed her overly dramatic thoughts out loud.
So, they sought help huh?
These Furinkan Girls sure were such bad losers.
Alas, their last ditch effort to turn things around would be twarted… Akane Tendo, I, Kodachi, the Black Rose will DESTROY you… In GRAND fashion as I slip in and out of the Home of the strongest martial artist in Japan!
I
Tendo Training was filled with heavy, heavy breathing as Akane tendo was on her knees.
7 hours they had spent here.
7 hours of long, hard labor all the way until it was 12.00.
"That's enough special drilling for today."
Ryoga's powerful voice said, as he casually snapped the huge, long ribbon into a band around his fingers, before beginning to tuck it away.
"Thank you… So much…"
She took deep, deep heavy breaths, in a way she hadn't in a long, long time.
"You're making very quick progress with the ribbon. You're handling it well for a beginner."
She looked up at him hopeful, with starry eyes.
"Really…?"
It was Izuku who answered though.
"Well you ARE making actual progress… And it's always important to keep morale up. If you lose that then-"
"Oh just shut up, Izuku!"
She said exasperated, as she forced herself to her feet… Half a dozen ribbons around her body, and about her was a sea of destroyed equipment.
I
"How DID she end up with such abyssmal Ki control?"
Izuku shrugged, as Ryoga paced back and forth before the pond.
"No idea."
"Well, it has to have been something. Any girl with that level of Ki capacity should NOT be having this kind of trouble!"
He shifted his hand over to under his chin in a thinking posture.
"And only two weeks… I'm gonna have to actually plan this out in way better detail… Halfassing it won't do."
"That… Doesn't sound like you. You generally just take it as it comes."
"Maybe you've failed to notice Izuku… But this isn't MY fight. It's Akane's. I need to figure out some training that actually works for her grace and might!"
Izuku nodded.
"We need to play to her strengths… Which is raw, brute power. I think-" "Oh Izuku, there you are."
He froze as behind him Kasumi suddenly sounded.
"You three done with training for today?"
Izuku immediately turned.
"Um… Yeah. Akane agreed to fill in on a sporting event. This is related to that.
Kasumi, taking it completely in stride, nodded casually.
"Well, that explains the reasoning… However, Izuku, could you make sure to leave the bag I gave you earlier today in the Kitchen before you head to bed? I intend to fill it for you again, before you head to school tomorrow."
He nodded, which was good enough for her, as she vanished off to the side, though not towards the stairs.
For a moment, he wondered where she was heading… Then he suddenly had a shocked realization.
He… Couldn't recall where he left Kasumi's bag… He… Hadn't come home with it, he recalled that much.
So… Where…
Ah… He left it back at the pole.
He nodded to himself, and jumped up on the wall.
"Later Ryoga, I need to go get something."
I
Akane let out a deep, deep sigh, as she let the warm water engulf her.
The frustration and embarrassment did not wash away with the sweat though.
Two weeks.
Not enough time… Not NEARLY enough time.
"I never should have agreed to this…"
I thought that was super cool.
She felt her cheeks blush furiously, and she slowly slid down further into the bath, until only her nose and higher were still above the water line.
Despite the now surrounding heat… She felt her face was even warmer than the water itself, which was quite an interesting experience.
As she actually thought about it though… She suddenly felt the exact opposite.
Lame.
If she lost this fight… After telling the Rythmic Gymnastic crew she would be able to handle it…
Eventually, after about maybe half an hour, she got up from the bath, and began drying off before throwing on her pyjamas and then going through the house to her room.
She was… Tired.
And not just because of the hours of training Ryoga had put her through.
It was late, she had gotten up early, and she'd spent her Sunday, her one day off, on this.
The mental realization that not only was she gonna train tomorrow, but she would need to somehow balance it with going to school, taxed her in its own way.
As she threw herself on her bed, she had a final realization for the day, namely that however she would need to deal with it all, she was going to figure it all out tomorrow…
She rolled herself around, and was about to reach out for the controller for the light, and click the brightness away, when she saw a most peculiar sight above on the room's ceiling.
A buxom, beautiful woman clad in a leotard, clinging to the wooden outlines there, back flat against the wood, using only her fingers and toes to hold her frame up, holding a rose in her mouth, and a mallet held up against the roof by the back part of her middsection.
Then, faster than a normal person could blink, she had used that incredible leg and feet strength to reposition herself and then launch herself downwards, the hammer suddenly in her hands, with its heading coming crashing downwards towards Akane's head!
Akane, using her own superhuman speed, flipped up sideways and out of the way and landed on her feet in the middle of the room.
The woman wrenched the hammer up, and looked at her with a confident look.
"So, this is what you can do Akane Tendo… Well, I must say I'm at the very least intrigued… But I suppose I would have been heavily dissapointed if that would have taken you out."
"Who the hell are you!"
"Kodachi Kuno, the Black Rose. I shall be your opponent next week!"
With insane speed the hammerhead flew sideways through the air right at her head!
Akane backstepped, but before she could make a counterattack, Kodachi was once again out of reach.
Then again, the hammer was through the air, this time low, and forced her to doge sideways as it smashed through her desk!
"So let us do our best to fight in all fairness!"
The words as she once more was out of reach was so oxymornic that Akane, who was already suddenly pumped up and angry immediatly back at her, and then roared as she launched a flying jump kick at her assailaints head:
"You call this… IN ALL FAIRNESS!?"
As Kodachi dodged to the side, she used the wall she landed on to pounce back unto the floor, and once more into a fighting stance.
"It's YOU ISN'T IT!? The one who has been ambushing the team!"
This seemed to annoy the woman.
"Ambush? What a crude way to put it. I simply believe in fighting in all fairness before the match even starts!"
"That's the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard!"
"You might think so… But the team who have hired you on does not, I can assure you. They follow similar conduct against our school's team, as both our institutions have done for the last 4 years."
That… That was… Wait…
Her brain was distracted from this accusation by a sudden realization.
"Wait, Kuno? You… You're not related to that bastard Tatewaki Kuno are you?"
"Indeed. He is my brother… And you are his crush, and the target of all affection to whom's pictures he enjoys himself to every night… Or he did until his collection was suddenly stolen by a thief in the night. Thank the Lord."
Akane suddenly went stiff.
Two things went through her mind. The first was a rather disgusting reality that she had always kinda known being confirmed… And the second a question.
A question with some very disgusting implications.
"How… Do you know that?"
"Not through any way I wish to know, I can assure you. But he is very, annoyingly loud and shameless about his "Goddess of victory"."
That… That was more than she had EVER wanted to know about Kuno.
"Whatever… I'll be sure to kick him really HARD, the next time he challenges me to a Duel."
Of the kind she didn't usually deliver.
Between the legs.
The girl smirked.
"As much as I would enjoy seeing that, we still have a score to settle tonight."
Akane's fist gripped tighter… Then she realized something about the area behind Kodachi.
The previous hammetblows had not only destroyed her desk… It had OBLITERATED her homework, who's remains and torn pages were now scattered across one side of the room.
That meant… She would need to redo all of it. Tonight. Before she went to bed.
"Now then… Shall we dance?"
Had Kodachi been familiar with this part of Akane, and how her speed and power could fluctate so hard with her mood swings, she was more than fast enough that she could have dodged what came then… But she was not, and as such was taken completely by surprise as Akane SURGED FORWARD with roaring speed, and SMASHED her under the jaw with an uppercut that sent her straight up through the roof, and RIPPED half of her room's ceiling with it from the sheer force of the blow as Kodachi was sent flying skyhigh through the wood, metal and cheramic of the roof tiles!
"SCREW YOUR DANCE YOU… You… You…"
She blinked, then just stood there, mouth open in silence as she looked up at the starry sky… Then the thud from a piece of her ceiling collapsing down on her floor made her realize what she had just done.
"GAAAH! NOOOO! MY ROOF!"
For some reason, as if to TOP the utter destruction of her room's roof, suddenly there started heavily raining black rose petals for some reason.
Accompanying them… Was the cold, cold wind of September's nights.
I
Izuku was munching on a bit of bakeware as he skipped back across the roofs to the Tendo Dojo.
It was completely cold, the september night air having robbed it of any of the heat it had retained when Kasumi made it… But it was still pretty good.
Kasumi was GOOD at making food.
Much more so than his mom, he mused, as he swallowed a piece.
His mother had generally been the cook of their little family trio for their travels… Other than one very specific year… But Izuku had eaten enough of her food, and gotten to compare it to a lot of other outcasts food, to recognize that his mother was a good, but not spectacular chef.
She had the kind of cooking ability that came with experience… But not innate talent.
Kinda like him and martial arts he supposed.
His father had talent. So did Ryoga.
But Izuku had always excelled because he was remarkably quick to pick up how the mechanics of moves and techniques worked on a technical level, rather than an innate understanding to pick up something through feeling it out.
It was why his specialty was Ki manipulation as opposed to anything else.
In that regard, Kasumi was the opposite… At least as far as Cooking was concerned.
She GOT cooking in a way very few people he had met over the years did.
Then again… There was something else about her cooking that stood out to him as well.
She'd started making specific meals for him over the last week.
Not huge meals, but things she didn't really do for anyone else. Not even Akane.
He'd noticed it during their Lunches at school, where his Bentos had a bit more spices and such into them than Akane's.
Then she'd started to give him something to eat as he headed out after school.
Nothing fancy, just something to eat as he walked.
It wasn't until she'd begun giving him food in a special little bag before he headed out at night though, that he really began to take notice of it.
The fact she seemed to know when he'd be heading out and made sure he had food for it was… It was both rather sweet, but also sorta creepy in how well she read him.
She didn't comment on it though.
It had just… Become something normal.
Nobody else in the house commented on it.
Had they just… Not noticed?
Or was this so normal nobody cared to bring it up?
It wasn't really something he thought much about… Right up until he realized he'd lost this bag.
This little bag… Wasn't anything special. There was certainly nothing unique or stylized about it.
It was just a small bag Kasumi had bought from a store. Thousands of them existed all through the city.
And yet… It was something she'd given him.
That… Made it important to him.
His musings on food, and bags were cut short though as while looking sorta upwards for a jump up onto a higher roof, he spotted something rather peculiar.
A seemingly unconscious woman, tumbling down through the sky.
He didn't think.
Instead he suddenly shot into high gear, and bounded across the rooftops with a speed almost thrice the one he'd use to travel across the roofs, towards the spot where the girl was tumbling down towards.
He jumped up, and grabbed her in the air as he summersaulted and twisted to land on his feet, but then kept going, her now in his arms, as he tried his best to decelerate his speed so as to not cause potential broken bones or whiplash that might come with a sudden halt.
It was as he finally stopped, his right arm under her knees, and his left one under her left arm, and holding her closely towards him at a sorta awkward and yet intimate angle as to not let her head just loll, that he recognized her.
"Kodachi…"
I
Kodachi's world swam.
There was a sharp, throbbing pain under her jaw, and her brain felt like it had felt when Tatewaki had been able to land his Bokken on it full force during a fight they had a year ago.
There was… The Nerima scenery far, far below… She felt her body in great motion as the blurry world became bigger… Then for a brief, brief moment the world had… Stopped moving… Then… It had begun moving again quicker and quicker and quicker as the swimming world suddenly began approaching her like a wall.
She'd been completely out of it… Right up until something had caught her, and suddenly she found two, strong, warm arms wrapped around her.
Her world swam, but… Her mind began clearing up again.
"W…Wha… What happened?"
She saw something green, lit up by what her mind vaguely recognized as the light of the moon.
"You were falling… Then I caught you so you wouldn't… Crash into the ground full force."
There was a bit of hesitation, before the voice… Which Kodachi could have sworn sounded absolutely adorable… Continued.
"Are you… Alright Kodachi-Tan?"
She felt her cheeks blush faintly at the way he spoke to her… Then her vision, finally did clear up.
He was… Beautiful.
That was the only way to truly describe him.
He was cute, with a set of freckles that lent him a boyish charm, yet also handsome in the way only a man who had not quite been chiseled into a macho face, with strong lines could be.
It was his eyes though, a set of compassionate green orbs that truly made her cheeks blush scarlet red!
There was passion, worry, concern in them! So many emotions conveyed just through a look!
"I… I…"
What to say?
She grabbed his shoulders…Then hoisted herself forward so her arms were now completely around his back, and her face was buried in his shoulder!
He immediately went stiff, but it was nothing compared to how furiously she blushed as she hugged herself tightly against him!
"I was so frightened!"
That was true indeed, though the thoughts in her heads and the reading the green-haired boy took from them could not have been more different.
She had almost died! Akane Tendo had come within a hairsbreath of ending her life!
Truely, a woman to be feared…
But GOD had been on her side, and had not only sent her salvation… He had sent her something equally as grand!
A MAN!
She who had given up long ago of finding a man to love… Had been sent a Heroic stud from the heavens in her hour of need!
As she hugged him, and contemplated her heavenly luck, she suddenly felt a strong, powerful, warm feeling on her back as her saviour actually hugged her closer to him.
"It's… It's gonna be allright Kodachi-Tan…"
She felt her heart beat even faster at his considerate words.
Heavens… Could this truly be happening? She who had long, long ago given up hope or even dreams, of finding a man to pour her soul into during her life on a dreary Girl's School?
I
Izuku was… Unsure what to do.
He'd definitly done the right thing… And it wasn't the first time he had saved a stranger(Or defacto stranger as the case was here) from death… But it WAS the first time he'd suddenly found himself hugged in a death grip by someone scared, who obviously felt she needed him.
No training, or lessons had ever told him what to do in such a situation… Though ironically this was bread and butter for a Hero.
At least he wasn't caving in on himself because a cute girl was hugging him as he might have when he was younger… Kasumi's times with him in the bath had done wonders in that regard.
Finally though, and face slightly less red than when she hugged him(Though the blushing was still nowhere gone away), she eventually pulled back and though he still held her in his arms, she now looked him in the eyes.
The girl brought her hands together in something that could have been a prayer, though honestly he just thought she looked really, really shy.
"Um… Sir… May I please know your name?"
His name?
Well at least that was something he knew how to do.
"I-Izuku… Midoriya."
The girl blushed furiously… Then disentangled herself from him fully, and once back on her shaky feet, she reached into her still leotard clad cleavage… And pulled out a full bouquet of black roses.
Izuku immediately blushed as she offered it to him.
"For you… My Izuku-Sama!"
He blushed even harder as she pushed the… Gift into his hands, very close to his face.
The smell was…
"What… Perfume is this?"
Kodachi stared at him… Then gasped and suddenly she looked awestruck.
Why… He couldn't begin to understand.
"You… Truly have been sent to me by the heavens!"
He… He hadn't even said he liked it!
It wasn't bad though, it just… Was really, really strong.
It actually reminded him faintly of several kinds of paralyzing poisons he'd subjected himself to to adapt his body to over the years… Just much, much sweeter.
The girl fidgeted, and in honesty despite still appearing 3-4 years older than him in looks, she in that moment struck him as nothing so much as a lovestruck schoolgirl.
Lovestruck…
He suddenly froze again.
Wait… Was this… Was this one of those Heroes saving someone and the rescuee crushing on them, situations?
As she looked at him, her next words put any doubt in his mind that it might not be, away.
"Izuku-Sama… Will you go out with me with Marriage in mind?"
Boy, that… That escalated quickly.
He steeled himself though.
"I… I'm sorry…"
The girl immediately started crying, though not false, steady tears.
Instead they were almost immediate waterfalls of passion and sorrow.
"Do you hate me so much Izuku-Sama?"
He suddenly got the sense she might be… Genuinely Bi-Polar.
"N-No it…. It's not that… It's just… I'm not available you see. My… My parents have set me up with marriages when I was a kid."
Kodachi… Froze. Then suddenly calmed herself again.
"Ah… But you are not married yet, yes? Just bethroed?"
Where the Hell she was going with that he had no idea.
She was… A bizarre woman Kodachi the Black Rose.
"Not… Yet no… Why?"
She just smiled at him, a smile that reminded him so much of both Kasumi and Nabiki at once.
"We will meet again Izuku-Sama… Very soon…"
"W-wait!"
He called to her as she turned and was about to leave.
She in turn, turned her head and looked at him with starry eyes, and quivering lips.
"Yes… Izuku-Sama?"
"Do you… Want me to follow you home? Also, how… How did you end up 80 meters into the sky?"
The girl blushed, but then replied.
"I'm sorry Izuku-Sama… I must decline… But as for my misfortune… A monstrous, evil BRUTE sent me flying through the heavens!"
"I see… Well… If you're sure you don't want me to protect you on the way home…"
He… Kinda wanted to force that issue, and he… Got the distinct impression that Kodachi would probably go along with it if he pushed… But… That felt kinda… Manipulative.
This girl… Had a crush on him. An honest crush.
That made him feel… Weird.
There were the faces of two women dancing his mind then.
One was the girl who had given him his first kiss… And the second was of the woman who waited for him back home.
He… Could not return this girl's feelings… But he would not use them either.
So… What could he do?
"Do you… Want something to eat for the trip home?"
He said, suddenly feeling incredibly lame as he offered her the bag still tied around his wrist.
"I… Kinda need the bag, but… You seem like you need the contents more than me…"
The girl blushed furiously, but she did open the bag and fish out its remaining contents.
"Thank you Izuku-Sama! Truly… You are not just a true, heroic STUD… But you have a kind heart as well! But farewell for NOW! WE SHALL MEET AGAIN SOON!"
Then with a wave goodbye, she, with immense speed, bounded across the rooftops leaving Izuku where she left him, looking after her, still holding the strangely smelling bouquet of black flowers.
I
When he came back home, Izuku surprisingly found the house in a lot of motion, and lots of broken pieces of the house in the yard and courtyard.
He stopped for a second, feeling a spike of alarm… But then noticed how neither of the two people he could immediately see, seemed all that upset or worried.
The two people in question was Kasumi and his father, the latter who seemed to be bringing up a tarp of some kind up to the roof.
He as such went to Kasumi.
"What happened?"
"Kuno apparently attacked Akane in the middle of the night."
Izuku immediately felt ANGRY.
"That piece of shit…"
"It's allright… Akane sent him flying… Unfortunately, she didn't have the sense to send him through the window… Instead her uppercut took a large part of the roof with him."
"That's… That's bad isn't it? I mean… Winter is coming."
Kasumi nodded.
We're going to have to stretch our budget to get it fixed… But we should manage. Until then, a tarp to keep out the snow and rain."
She sighed.
It's a pity she didn't subdue Kuno rather than send him flying… If she had, we could have justifiably taken this to court and forced him to pay for the damaged as well as having him face criminal persecution…"
"Ah… Yeah that… Makes sense… And since Akane isn't a licensed Pro-Hero…"
"Her word alone is worthless in court withouth anything else to prove her… Story… Are… Are those for me?"
Izuku had COMPLETELY forgotten about the roses, after hearing about Akane's woes.
Kasumi's actual blush brought it immediately back.
It… Wasn't anything like Kodachi's blush… It was far more reserved, and less spectacular… But it was there, faint but clearly visible in the moonlight.
"Ah… Um…"
He suddenly felt incredibly sheepish.
"No actually… I… Saved a girls life while I was out walking and… She gave me these."
He motioned with his other hand.
Her eyes went over the roses and the bag.
"Hmmm… I see."
"I-I… I thought it would have been rude to decline so…"
Kasumi smiled, and the blush faded.
It was that knowing smile again.
"I'm not jealous, because a random girl gave you flowers Izuku dear."
She took the flowers though.
"But just so you know Izuku I actually prefer…"
"NO WAIT, don't sniff-"
Kasumi almost buckled over as she literally tried to smell the roses, which she now held as far away from herself as she could, with a horrified expression.
"The… Perfume on them is… Quite strong…"
"I noticed dear… I think gonna be sick… Young girls these days… They always go far overboard… I'll wash these first before I take care of them."
"Sorry… If… You don't want to keep them we can just… Throw them away. You… Don't have to force yourself."
Kasumi smiled again, though it was sorta undercut by the way she held the bouquet away from herself like it was a poisonous snake.
"They are beautiful Izuku. It would be a shame to just throw them away because they require a bit of work…"
She was cut off, as in the distance up above, on the other side of the house, Akane let forth another frustrated scream into the night.
"I should… Probably go help out with that…"
"Yes. There is some warm food for you in the living room by the way. You should get some of it in your stomach. You'll have a long night ahead of you I think."