It was the second day of the internship. This morning, Sam was back to normal, thanks to getting recovery girl to heal him up. He had to be careful with the healing so he didn't get it done all at once. Plus, he had a therapy appointment. After that, he returned to Recovery girl and had his wounds healed up.
He was on his way to Rumi's house. He remembered yesterday, how they fought all day.
He enjoyed himself.
It was something strange. Yet, not unwelcome.
He packed some exercise clothes and was ready for another day of scrapping.
After a half-hour, the bus arrives near her home and he walks the rest of the way. He is back to the secluded house surrounded by trees.
He sees the broken front porch.
Sam sighs.
"Is she ever gonna fix that? Or is she just gonna leave it, like she leaves her old exercise equipment all over the house?"
"Shaddup! I'll fix it eventually!"
Sam looked to his side and saw she was already outside.
"What are you doing out here?"
"What? You think I'm some NEET who stays inside all day?"
Sam looked at what she was wearing. A sports bra and yoga pants and some sneakers.
He was wearing a t-shirt and some shorts.
"I was doing some stretches. Get changed and join me."
She gestured to his bag and went to the back of the house, around this time.
Sam watched her as she walked away.
He just had one thought.
'This should be interesting.'
———
Sam was in an under-armor shirt, and some sweatpants. He was currently stretching and getting ready for another spar.
"By the way, I see you're fully healed. How?"
Sam noticed she only had minor bruising on her stomach. And she walked fine.
She just smirked.
"Tch! I'm always getting injured. Of course I have someone to help. Costs a pretty penny to use their service, but they are almost as effective as recovery girl."
Sam nodded. Understanding.
He was in awe of doctors like Doctor Miller and Recovery Girl. They truly were miracle workers. He didn't know who healed Rumi, but he wouldn't think about disrespecting them, seeing how Rumi can walk normally.
"By the way. Did you eat lunch yet?"
"Yeah."
"Good! Then we can get started!"
"Another spar?"
"Nah."
Sam's eyes widened.
"What do you mean, 'nah?'"
She rolled her eyes.
"Do you think I'm just a crazy battle junkie?"
"Yes."
She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists.
"I'm not! I know when to chill! Today we are exercising! I wanna see if you can keep up with my routine!"
Sam raised an eyebrow at that.
'This might not be so bad.'
"Alright."
She smiled.
"Good! Let's see how long you can go before you break!"
Sam knew this woman was stronger than him. Her legs were weapons. Most of Sam's opponents were much stronger than him. He always uses tactics and strategy to overcome such obstacles. But in pure tests of strength, he didn't think he would be too close to Mirko.
"…I'll try."
She raised a brow this time.
"What's that supposed to mean? What happened to the tough guy who fought me all day yesterday?"
"In a spar, I keep up because I use strategy and skill to overcome the strength gap. But in tests of raw strength, I am not that strong."
Her eyes widened in shock.
She thought he would be some cocky brat after being able to fight her to a stalemate yesterday. But here he is, admitting his shortcomings.
'Interesting… I like this guy more and more.'
"Don't worry. If you can't keep up, just try your best. Let's see how far you can go and work on that. Cool?"
Sam nodded.
"Cool."
She smirked and wrapped up her stretches, having Sam join her. She got a look and saw he was surprisingly flexible.
After doing those, she brought him inside and finally brought him to her gym.
When he reached the basement, he was stunned.
The gym was filled with the newest and highest quality exercise equipment.
'I thought only UA would have this type of equipment, but this lady threw all her money into building this gym with only the finest equipment. That's some dedication.'
Sam couldn't help but respect her resolve. She is not faker who just relies on her quirk. She actually earned her strength. Anyone who earns their power has his respect. But heroes are just focused on bettering their quirks nowadays. They have no other strengths. Bakugo was a fine example. He was strong, his quirk was strong, and he was very talented. But he only focused on cultivating his quirk and his body. But he did nothing to prepare for instances where using it is out of the question.
"Well? Ready?"
Sam was knocked out of his thoughts by Rumi.
Sam nodded.
"I gotta admit. This is a fine gym. It's a lot like the gym at UA. And those fuckers only have the finest stuff."
She snickers.
"Of course! This is some good shit! Alright! Let's begin with endurance. How long can you run on the treadmill! Let's begin.
———
For the rest of the afternoon. And long into the evening, Sam and Rumi worked out in her gym. They had a few water breaks, but worked out until they thought it was enough.
They both knew the consequences of overdoing it. They could damage themselves. Rumi has much stronger legs, due to her rabbit quirk which lets her last longer when exercising.
This was evident to Sam as she could keep doing leg exercises when Sam felt he had reached the acceptable limit for his body.
Other than that, Sam managed to keep up with Rumi for pretty much everything.
Sam kept up with her treadmill run, her weight lifting, her deadlifting, and pretty much everything else. He finished each one at the same time she did.
He only couldn't finish the leg exercises she does, since they were ridiculous. He understood how her kicks were so strong now after seeing what she does to her legs.
He could only watch her do it.
When it reached supper time, both Sam and Rumi were starving. They spent so much time working up a sweat that they could eat a whole pantry of food.
"Hey, wanna stay for dinner? I'm starved!"
Sam could feel his belly grumbling too.
"Yeah."
She smirks.
"All right! But you should know, I'm a vegetarian."
"Please. I'm no stranger to eating plants."
She could detect a shudder in his voice when he said that, probably something he didn't wish to dwell over.
"Alright, I'll get us something. You can just wait at the table."
"Okay."
Sam and Rumi went upstairs together. She went to the kitchen, while Sam went to the dining room table. It was just a normal dining room table. Nothing fancy.
He felt his muscles aching. And was chugging his water bottle.
'I could only just keep up with her.'
Sam could admit it. Rumi's exercise routine was incredible. But if anyone else were to try it, they would be destroyed. Sam was only barely able to keep up, due to the grueling training regime he was forced to do in Africa. That, and he had to endure a whole year in the forests of Africa, trying to survive while his body was dying from Gaboon venom.
Sam shook his head again. Getting those thoughts out.
After a few minutes. She had two large plates of salad. One thing he noticed, was that she made sure to put an abundance of carrots in the salad.
"You like some salad with your carrots?"
She clicked her tongue.
"Shut up. Carrots are a nice and healthy food."
"But it doesn't help with the stereotypes."
She rolled her eyes.
"I couldn't care less about stereotypes. Those creeps want to talk crap about me aren't even worth bothering."
Sam raised a brow at that.
"Wow. I thought you would be hot headed and would destroy your TV from negative or offensive press coverage."
"I'm not hot-headed!"
She yells. Sam just smirks at her contradicting herself.
He starts eating. He sees her eating like a ravenous rabbit.
"So unladylike."
He whispered.
But her sensitive ears caught it.
"You have something you want to say?"
"Oh. I was just saying you are very unladylike."
Sam didn't even try to pretend he said something different.
"Tch. Just eat the damn food!"
Sam also decides to just dig in. He doesn't taste anything though. This was common. His trauma robbed him of many of the pleasures of life. He couldn't taste food.
He still ate it. It was food. It would keep him moving.
By the time he finished, she was already long done. She was looking at Sam with narrowed eyes.
Sam clapped his hands and did the traditional Japanese 'thank you' at dinner time. He usually didn't do such things since he couldn't care less about traditions. None of it mattered in the grand scheme of the world.
But he felt like since she was kind enough to make something for him, he needed to show her some respect.
When he finished his thanks, he got up.
"Here, I can do the dishes for you."
She raised a brow, but just allowed it. She could see he wasn't the type to take things for free.
Sam took it in the kitchen and saw the sink and started to wash them.
He then saw the dishwasher and put them in.
When that was done, he also washed the utensils and put those in. When he was done, he returned to the table and saw Rumi sitting there, in thought.
He sat across from her. He was curious what she was thinking about, but decided not to pry.
"Well, I think it's about time I-"
"Come with me real quick."
Sam cocked his head. Confused about what else she could want to show him.
He just shrugged and nodded.
She then walked upstairs. Sam followed. Enjoying the nice view he got from behind her.
"Keep staring at my ass and I'll kick you in the face!"
She yelled without turning around.
'Shit.'
Sam may have been traumatized and depressed. But that didn't mean he couldn't appreciate the good things in life.
———
They reached the top floor and she brought him to a guest room. In that room, was a window. She opened it and stepped on the window sill.
"What are you-"
"Just follow me."
She then jumps up to the roof.
"If you think you can."
Sam felt his eye twitch.
He got onto the window sill and carefully climbed the roof. He didn't jump like Rumi, but he did get up quick enough.
When he reached the top, he saw her sitting on the roof, looking into the distance.
"What did you want to show me?"
She just nodded her head forwards.
Sam turned around and looked at the sight.
He gasped.
Before his eyes, was a beautiful starlit sky.
"I love to come up here during the night. And just stare. It's one of the most relaxing feelings for me. Just sitting here, letting the wind flow through my hair and just watching the beauty of the stars. Pretty cheesy, huh?"
'*Fucking hell this looks so godddamn cheesy! Fuck it! I'm doing it!*'
A memory shot through Sam's head. The very first kiss Zola gave him. Underneath a starry sky. Just like this one.
He already concluded that Rumi and Zola were entirely different. And yet… some of the smallest aspects of her personality are eerily familiar.
He felt his emotions start to spiral.
Rumi, who was watching the stars, waited for a response, but when she got none, she looked at Sam and saw a familiar sight.
The very first day they met, Rumi caught a glimpse at the despair in Sam's eyes when he saw her. Then, he had a similar episode at her front door yesterday.
But this time, he looked like he was… longing. Mourning.
She couldn't slap him this time. This wasn't panic. This was just grief.
Sam just sat down and looked at the stars with empty eyes, flooding with tears.
He couldn't move on. He just couldn't.
Every time he is reminded of her, he feels dead inside.
He just wishes to disappear.
All of a sudden, he feels himself being pulled into a hug.
Rumi was next to him. Her face was serious and she didn't say anything. She just saw his grief, and thought that being lonely while grieving would make it worse.
"It's okay. You don't have to hide it."
Sam was shocked, and despite the smell of sweat from her workout attire being all he smells, he felt… comfort.
Sam finally let himself cry. Silently he just allowed her to hold him while he sobbed silently.
He missed her so much. He wished she was here with him.
But he felt at ease. He needed to grieve. And he needed to let it all out. What better way to do that, than with a friend.
Yes, a friend.
Sam has come to see her as a friend. His first friend since his return to Japan.
They just sat in silence. Rumi, not saying anything more, letting the poor boy get it all out of his system.
This was another step forward for Sam. A step towards acceptance.