[1st POV]
Rumi attended UA High and graduated three years ago.
During her time at UA, we hung out occasionally. After the UA Sports Festival, she even got a scholarship and lived alone in Musutafu for a few years.
She moved around Japan to further her hero career before eventually settling down in Chiba Prefecture. She said she wanted to move soon though, she didn't really like busy cities.
After she arrived at the scene, we were able to deal with any consequences, somehow. I wondered how she managed to talk us out of getting into trouble. When I asked, she simply said that she had lots of experience.
Whatever that meant.
I knew she was kicked out of many schools when she was young. Maybe she used her Quirk without permission often.
Right now, we were sitting in a cafe. Obviously, Rumi had that green drink that looked like it was made of grass. I was not surprised, since she was a bunny and all.
I, on the other hand, ordered cake and food.
Deku had marshmallows and hot chocolate.
"Kacchan, why have you never told me that the professional hero Mirko is your friend?" Deku was almost crying that I kept such a secret from him.
"We've been hanging out for years now. It's weird that you don't know," I said while stuffing my face with cake.
"HOW WOULD I KNOW IF YOU NEVER TOLD ME!?!"
"The conversation never came up," I shrugged.
"How can that be? You've been friends for how long?" Deku turned to Rumi, and she showed six fingers.
"6 years! And the conversation never came up? That's almost as long as the time we've been friends!" Deku was thoroughly heartbroken.
Since I always sent him to different dojos to learn martial arts, he and Rumi never met, and I never mentioned her since I thought that was not important.
Turn back time, I would do it again. His reaction right now is kind of funny.
"Deku, do your thing," I said, activating Pokedex Deku.
He knew what to do immediately.
And so began the mumbling.
"Mirko, real name Rumi Usagiyama, currently one of the fastest-rising Pro Heroes in Japan. She graduated from U.A. three years ago and has already built a reputation for working independently rather than joining a major hero agency. She doesn't have a large agency, sidekicks, interns or a permanent team, and instead travels around Japan taking on hero work wherever she's needed. Her Rabbit Quirk gives her incredible leg strength, speed, jumping ability and heightened hearing, making her extremely effective in close-quarters combat. She also has exceptional physical conditioning and combat instincts, which means she doesn't need to rely heavily on support from other heroes. Most Pro Heroes build their careers around a specialised role and then surround themselves with people who compensate for their weaknesses, but Mirko seems to prefer doing everything herself. She doesn't appear particularly interested in rankings or fame either, even though her combat ability and growing reputation could eventually put her among the top heroes. She also seems to dislike being tied down to one place, which explains why she's moved around Japan since graduating instead of establishing a permanent office. Her fighting style is extremely aggressive and direct, and she seems to prefer closing the distance and overwhelming villains before they have the opportunity to respond. She's basically an entire assault team by herself, which is probably why she has so little interest in working with other people. She's still only 21, but she's already becoming a major name in the hero industry, and if her current rate of growth continues..." He stopped to take a deep breath. "She might actually become one of the top-ranked heroes in Japan."
I nodded wisely. I pride myself on understanding everything he just said. The dumbfounded face Rumi made only made me prouder.
"What do you think? Pretty cool huh?" I said, patting Deku on the shoulder like a cool toy to show off.
"And you're 21? Damn, I thought you were 13."
"That's barely one year older than you, Kacchan. She's already a pro hero."
Rumi didn't seem like she cared about her age. Weird, my mother is usually pissed off whenever I mention it.
"Why did you come to Chiba anyway, Katsuki?" Rumi said, finally having space to speak.
"I came to see you, of course," I said with a wide smile.
"Really?" Her ears stood straight.
She was excited.
Of course, she was an orphan, and she had very few people actually close to her. She didn't even have a lot of friends due to her hard personality. Perhaps I was one of the most important people in her life.
We shared a deep bond.
"It's been a while since I sweat," she said while licking her lips.
So of course she was excited because she was going to fight me.
"I don't get why you seem so eager to lose to a child..." I trailed, "...again,"
Among other things, like eating spicy food at a restaurant, one way of our bonding was fighting each other.
We've fought each other perhaps a dozen times. She had more wins, but that was because I was young. In our recent clash, I was always the victor.
Rumi had no problem taking a child seriously when it comes to fighting. Or was I an awful exception?
"You're a hero now, so you must have a place to train and stuff, right?"
She huffed, "Of course. I know a great place."
I shoved a whole cake in my mouth. Rumi matched me by downing a whole cup of matcha.
"Let's go then," we said in unison before walking out of the cafe. Deku tried his best to keep up with our pace.
"Don't you have to patrol, Miss Mirko?" Deku asked as we walked through the streets, getting some attention since we were walking with a hero.
"I am not under any agency, so they just call me," she said and showed a neat little phone from her belt, "This is both a phone and a GPS. The Hero agency knows my location at all times, so if I am near any trouble, they just give me a call."
Deku already had his notebook out, "I see, so that's how solo heroes operate."
"You wanna team up with me after I become a hero?" I asked.
She opened her mouth to speak but no words came. She paused her expression briefly, as if seriously racking her pea-sized brain.
She admitted in the end, "That might not be too bad."
"We can set up a hero agency," I said with a grin, already seeing the vision, "Deku! You can do all the messy stuff while I fight villains!"
Deku seemed surprised at Mirko's words and mine. "Well, as long as Kacchan doesn't name it."
I scoffed, "Of course I wouldn't name it because it's already got a name!!"
"That's fast!!" Deku said.
"...Dare I ask what?"
"Green Explosion King Boom Boom Bunny,"
"That's horrible, Kacchan, but thanks for the consideration,"
Rumi simply smiled as he watched us interact. We texted a lot, especially after I had my phone, so we both kept up with each other, so there wasn't much to say when we actually met. I've also talked about Deku to her even if the opposite was not true.
But as we walked through the streets, the device on Mirko's belt began making noises.
We stopped.
"This is Rabbit Hero Mirko."
"(Requesting help from Kisaragi Street! A villain robbed a jewellery store, but he is not running away! He seems to want to fight! Hero Iron Hound is confirmed dead, and Hero Blastshield is heavily injured!)"
Rumi adopted a serious expression, which I didn't see often.
"I need to get there quickly. We'll have our spar later, Katsuki!" Mirko said before blasting away and jumping up to the top of a building.
She quickly moved in response to the call, jumping from building to building.
Deku robotically turned to me with a worried expression, "Did you hear that, Kacchan? Someone is...dead,"
I have lost my smile as well.
Was this my doing? Did I do something wrong by bringing Deku out here? Did his presence actually cause some disaster to happen, or was this supposed to happen anyway?
I wasn't sure.
All I knew was that someone died because of it.
"Deku," I turned towards him, but he was already on his phone, scrolling quickly through some things.
I just stared, dumbfounded.
"I see, so Kisaragi Street is that way," he said and pointed at the road.
He finally turned back to me, "Hmm? Anything wrong?"
"...What are you doing?"
"We're going there, right?" he said, confused. "Although I don't want to cause any trouble, we need to make sure that Mirko is okay. Maybe we can help in a small way. " Your Quirk is strong after all!"
He was smiling brightly.
I quickly matched his grin.
It would be ridiculous to think that two kids could actually help in any situation. But I have trained for things like this since I got the memory. I also knew that we would eventually be pulled into far more dangerous situations while we were still 15.
Our presence would not be a problem for the heroes in our case.
"Good job, Deku!"
"Hai!!"
Truly, he was a plot magnet.
I did not know if I was biting off more than I could chew, and I was responsible for this event, but whatever the case, I needed to remember the vague memories in my mind.
I remember there was a saying.
With great power comes great responsibility to whoop ass.
I will take this to heart.
..
..
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