Chapter 40: Rumi is Acting StrangeAuthor: Geraint
(MC's POV)
After escaping from the crowd of music fans and media, I ducked into a dark alley and quickly reverted to my child form.
"SHAZAM!"
A bolt of lightning struck me from above, shrinking me down.
I let out a tired sigh after that impromptu mini-concert."That was exhausting... I probably won't be able to transform again for a while."
Scratching the back of my head, I stepped out of the alley and headed back to the meeting spot where I left Rumi and Ryukyu.
When I arrived, only Ryukyu was there, sitting alone on a bench under a streetlamp.
"Umm... Ryukyu, have you seen—"
She looked over at me, clearly not recognizing who I was."Hi there, are you lost?"
Annoyed she didn't recognize me, I squinted at her.
"What's wrong? Tell me where your mom is, and I'll help you find her," she offered sweetly.
I grinned secretly and answered with an innocent smile,"My mom is Usagiyama Rumi—and she's a great Pro Hero."
"I see… Usagiyama Rumi… Wait, WHAT?! Mirko has a child!?"
She jumped in shock.
"Hey, Ichika! Stop messing around with Ryukyu!" Rumi finally arrived, scolding me.
"Eh? Ichika? This kid?" Ryukyu looked totally confused.
"I'm just teasing her. She didn't recognize me."
"So you transformed back to your child form, huh?" Rumi circled around me, observing me.
"You're telling me this is Falcon's child form? Unbelievable," Ryukyu said, awestruck, and reached to pinch my cheek.
"Hey!" I slapped her hand away.
"Ah! Sorry…"
Rumi stepped closer and placed her hand gently on my head.
"You've grown taller over the past few months, Ichika. Pretty impressive for a 10-year-old."
I only reached up to her chest in height.(Yeah... but I'm way taller than you when I'm in adult form.)
"But I'm taller than you by a huge margin in my adult body."
"Nah… you should take your time growing up."
Suddenly, Rumi hugged me from behind. Her chest rested uncomfortably on top of my head.
"I think I like this form of you more than the adult one. It feels comfortable."
(Yeah, for you! Not for me!)
"Cute..." I heard Ryukyu mumble.
I glanced at her."…Did you say something, Ryukyu?"
"Nothing!" she immediately denied, looking away.
Feeling sleepy, I yawned and covered my mouth.
The downside of my child form? I get sleepy really easily.
"I am here!"All Might appeared in full costume.
"It's time to go home, Ichika. You've already overstayed your welcome."
"Yeah... take me home, Dad... I still have a lot to do tomorrow," I mumbled, yawning again.
He handed me a can of latte."Here, drink this. We've got a long trip ahead."
"Thanks, Dad..." I popped it open and took a sip.
"Cute...""Huh?"
I heard Ryukyu mumble again but I was too sleepy to process it.
"Let's go, Dad…"
I tried to leave, but Rumi didn't let go.
"Uh? Rumi, I have to go…"
"Just a little bit longer."
She was acting strangely, continuing to hug me.
"Umm... Mirko? We need to get going," All Might gently reminded her. "Ichika already missed several days of school, starting from the first day."
"Ah, okay. Sorry…"
She finally let go, a little sad.
"I'll visit again next time, Rumi," I said, waving.
She simply nodded without saying a word.
"You too, Ryukyu. Please take care of me next time."
"Sure," she smiled.
I climbed onto All Might's back and gripped his shoulders.
"Goodbye!"
Ryukyu waved back while Rumi quietly watched us leave.
"Hold on, Ichika!"
All Might jumped high, bounding across rooftops at high speed.
"You really stirred up trouble back there, Falcon."
"I just didn't want people fighting for a cause that's already meaningless. I'm free, thanks to you, Dad. They don't need to protest anymore."
"I hope the Hero Public Safety Commission doesn't take action."
"It's too late, Dad. I got intel that they're planning to execute Lady Nagant—Tsutsumi Kaina—in Tartarus to silence her."
"What?! Is that true?" All Might stopped on a rooftop, shocked.
"Yeah. Some of my people are working inside the Commission. They feed me info directly."
All Might clenched his fists in frustration.
"Why?! I told them to leave Falcon to me! They're just making things worse!"
*Let me explain how it got to this point, Grandfather.*Roboco's voice came from All Might's phone.
"Roboco?" he blinked in surprise.
*It's Father's fault for leaving his phone in his adult form's pocket. I told him to remove his stuff before transforming.*
"Sorry, I forgot." I apologized.
*Here's how it went. Father came up with a plan to change the Hero Public Safety Commission using the second most powerful force in the world that nobody realizes they have…*
"What is it?" All Might asked.
*Father?*
I sighed.
"It's money."
*Exactly. Everyone obsesses over Quirks, but they forget money is also power. That's why Father always says anyone can be a hero, even without a Quirk.*
"What does that have to do with this situation?"
*The plan is simple: use money to secure key positions in the Public Safety Commission. To fund that, Father founded a music company and produced tons of songs in a short time. The album went global—it was a massive hit. We earned millions.*
"Incredible... No wonder Ichika's been so sleep-deprived lately," All Might said in awe.
*Then, we started blackmailing corrupted commissioners to step down, replacing them with our own people. But the more positions we took, the higher the risk of getting exposed. When Father revealed himself in public as Fujiwara Ichika, they realized he was also Falcon. That blew our cover. Now they believe he's actively gathering evidence of their corruption.*
"So they plan to silence the only witness…"
"They're going to kill her to cover up their crimes. I have no choice... I need to break Lady Nagant out of Tartarus."
"No, you don't, Ichika! That's what villains would do!"
I frowned, furious.
"You're just going to let her die?! She was forced to kill for the sake of the Commission's twisted image of heroism. Now that they're done with her, they're going to throw her away like trash. And you're fine with that?! You disgust me, All Might!"
I jumped off his back.
"SHAZAM!"
A bolt of lightning struck me again, returning me to my adult form. I floated in the air, facing him.
"Wait! Ichika!"
"If you can't act because of your righteousness... then I'll do it myself."
"Ichika!!"
I flew off at high speed toward Tokyo.
(To be continued.)
A/N: I'll fix more mistakes later.