Page 13
Gauntlet of Learning
An average day in the D.R.E.A.M. World, some weird fucked up shit is going on that is going to be nearly impossible to explain in the real world without sounding like you need a hole to let all the crazy escape.
Today it's a half-naked Izuku, who looked like he had just been through the wringer from how scuffed up his hair was and was hanging on to the leg of the infamous Hentai Yokai that was rampaging the field for his dear life.
Perfectly normal.
With a moaning shriek, the yokai once again charged toward another tree. A screaming Izuku screamed as he embraced himself for impact. Right before the collision, time froze for the green fox.
'Yep, that's me, you're probably wondering how I got here… well… it's a long story.'
It was only a couple of hours ago that this mess started.
"Great, you're awake," Lai announced to the boy as soon as he woke up in the world.
The first thing Izuku noticed was their surroundings. No longer were they at the standard house they usually talked in, now they were in front of the multiple-layered red and gold palace Izuku saw when he was falling from the moon. He always wanted to find out what was the purpose of such a place and was going to ask Lai about it but since he never saw it again, no matter how high up in the sky he was, he never felt it was right to ask. He looks up in awe of the giant red torii gates, getting closer to observe the golden inscription design on it. His attention was only brought back to his guide when Nana tapped his shoulder and pointed toward the impatient masked fellow, who sighed before he continued to talk.
"Alright kitto here's the deal, the odd mutation you had since you were a child is because someone in your family lineage had relations with a Kitsune, which is a mythical fox by the way. No, I don't know when this happened but yes, it obviously came from your dad's side of the family. If you're going to have a crisis about if you're human or not, I suggest you skip it because it's pretty obvious that you're human, you're all mortals. Being a mythical being just means you're more connected to the more spiritual things in the world. It's like being rich in your world, it can give you a whole bunch of unfair advantages and you can get away with a lot more than you should compared to the average life. Granted, a lot of these advantages aren't too amazing and some are straight-up pointless, kinda like quirks. It's the diamonds among the crowd that causes the overhype of it."
Lai scratched his mask as he continued, "Let's see, oh! This is basically some cognitive, partially astral place that, to my knowledge, all Kitsune have some version of. Here you can explore and sort out all your inner turmoil, as well as work on unlocking your latent potential. Of course, I'm your guide for that, I'm nothing special, I was just made as a companion to guide you through all of it. I think I explained that as well."
The masked man then gestured toward Nana before saying, "Of course, you know this is Nana, the representative for One For All in your system. Since they're here they'll be assisting sometimes in your training. That wraps up most of it, best keep this as much as a secret as possible, or else anyone you tell could possibly to most probably end up dying a brutal death. Any questions?"
…
…
…
"I'm a what now?" Izuku asked, his head was spinning from the sheer amount of information he was hit with right after waking up.
'Ok, so it wasn't that long of a story.'
Like clockwork, time moved forward and the Yokai crashed into the tree, launching Izuku into the air before rolling along the ground. He just lay there recovering from the impact as the yokai simply got up and ran around as if nothing had happened.
"Look on the bright side, you didn't die," Izuku heard the voice of Lai say, he only had to look to the side of his head to see Lai's mask rattling.
This was going to need a bit more explanation.
The place they were in when he woke up was the first floor of his Soul Palace, which Lai explained is where most of his latent abilities lie, and he needs to conquer each stage in order to gain different abilities. Right after Lai explained this, he said that someone else was going to hand him his trial for the first floor. That was when he took off his mask and placed it on the side of his head because he'll need his assistant for this trial. For a moment Izuku thought he would finally see what was behind that mask, only to look up and see a squared jawed bulky male staring down at him with his small eyes.
Izuku almost screamed, backing and getting a full view of the guy. This could not be Lai's true body, the body type is all wrong, facial structure, and even the height was off. Lai has a more slender bulk build, this man had a wide build. Not to mention that Lai is usually dressed in traditional Japanese kimonos. The kimono Lai was wearing dropped to the ground leaving the man in his dark leather clothes that he leaves open to show he wasn't wearing a shirt, stylish goggles, and a bandolier. It was right then that Izuku remembered that Lai said someone else was going to give him his trial, he guessed this was him.
The guy himself wasn't too bad, he says to call him Hellboy and he speaks in a super funky tone. He said his trial is the Trail of The Encage. Izuku has to capture the five Yokai's that they set free from Zaiaku Forest(The forest from chapter 10 that is said to keep all of Izuku's guilt and regret from different events). The Hentai Yokai was decided to be one of them, by Lai's account Izuku's feeling in the real world caused another kind of Yokai to spawn, Nana personally went deep into the Zaiaku Forest to find the Yokai that was released during the first Hentai Yokai attack, and the last two were minor Yokai let out for the trial. Turns out he only needs to capture one of them to unlock the power from the trial but to move on to the next one he needs to capture all of them.
That was where Lai's assistants came in. When he puts on Lai's mask, he can use some of Lai's abilities. In this trial, he's only allowed to use the Doresu trick he used to dress both him and Nana. Unfortunately since, as Lai put it, he sucks he can't take that technique nearly as far as Lai can.
"Though I must say, you were sloppy and had very poor judgment! Run it again!"
He wished Nana didn't teach him modern language, while he appreciated that it made Lai not talk in such an ancient and confusing way, now he has to suffer understanding every insult or harsh criticism Lai had.
As Izuku dusted himself off, he caught out of the corner of his eye, a being with green hair was staring in his direction. By the time Izuku turned toward him, the creature ran off.
'It was probably one of the others Yokai,' Izuku thought, 'And I already hate that thing.'
"Wow, where did that come from kitto?" Lai asked, surprised at the sudden aggression toward something that hasn't done anything to him yet.
"I… don't know," Izuku answered, it was strange but just seeing the creature aggravated him for some inexplicable reason.
"Well, don't dwell over nothing for too long, you got something to do here. There's no trick to this task, you just gotta keep at it until you get better at it. Try going after one of the weaker Yokai's first." Lai advised.
"Y-yeah….." Izuku says half-heartedly, despite knowing it wasn't healthy he couldn't stop thinking about that green-haired creature that lived in his mind rent-free.
"Oh hey All M- I mean Mr. Yagi."
Ah... Young Midoriya, how are you doing?"
"I've been doing well for myself here, thanks to Rumi, I've recently made a whole new batch of friends in the area."
"That's wonderful to hear, I was worried you might've not taken the move well. Homesickness is a common occurrence when a change of familiarity happens to adolescents."
"Don't worry, out of everything I'm dealing with, thankfully that isn't one of them. What wasn't expected was seeing you here. What brings you around these parts?"
"I was just running a few errands for Nezu."
"Really? Was it for anything important? Rumi always mentions how her father doesn't like delegating his tasks to others unless it's overly minor. Even then, he'll usually give it to her to do than anyone else."
"Ah well, sometimes there are things that adults can only ask other adults to do."
"I remember Aunt Bakugo will say similar things during times where she looked distressed but wouldn't ask me or Kacchan to do anything for her, even if we offered. It was a bit unsettling seeing her like that yet being unable to help because she only wanted to talk to my mother about it."
"Don't let it drag on you for too long. You kids are capable of a lot more than what you're given credit for, things I can't even imagine what you guys can set-up, but at the same time, there's only so much you can do. I wouldn't call it a limit, but you can only do what you know, and there's some knowledge that can only be obtained through time. Or in certain situations, it's best for it to be learned through time than alternative methods. Not learning everything at once can"
"Oddly…. Wordy…. And philosophical over a faint memory, but thanks for the words of wisdom…. I guess. Anyways, did Nezu mention something about me?"
"A- yeah of course we discussed you, you are one of the few things we're both associated with together."
"Did he mention anything about my training? I've been dying to know what he has in store for me."
"No, he didn't mention what he had in store for you. It was mostly a casual talk for the brief meeting we had, outside of what he asked me to do I can barely remember much from it."
"Ah man, he's killing me with the anticipation! You can't remember if Nezu mentioned anything important involving me, or at least something that hinted at something interesting."
"...N-no... sorry, I'm racking my brain as hard as I can but… nothing sticks out."
"Darn."
"Sorry once again Midoriya, I have to rush off to get some things done. Some of the places Nezu wants to visit closes at weird times. I'll... speak to you another time."
"Ah ok see you around Mr-... and he's gone. I thought he was only fast in his buff form?"
2 Years & 9 Months Left Before U.A. Entrance Exam.
"AH!" Those were the shrieks of Izuku after bumping into a rather lardy-figure, he was repulsed off his feet and dropped his mochikagu box(Japanese delivery box).
"Apologies my little foxy friend," the person Izuku had crashed into said after seeing how hard the fox bounced off him.
"No, no, I should be sorry," Izuku quickly replied, swiftly recovering his delivery tool, "It's my fault, I was daydreaming and wasn't paying atten- oh Officer O'inks!"
Upon a closer look and recognizing the green fox, the pig-face officer greeted him with a warm welcoming smile as he exclaimed, "Ah, if it isn't Rumi's little friend! How have you been doing lately?"
"I've been doing fine," Izuku replied, picking himself off the ground.
"Wait a minute, I recognize that uniform from somewhere," Officer O'inks states, taking notice to the peculiar white attire Izuku was currently wearing, "Did you get a job at that one restaurant? What was it called again? They have a legendary ramen menu."
"Ichiraku's."
"That's it! Love that place, the owner and his children are such wonderful people."
"I know, they were quite accepting of me when I came in with a recommendation from a friend that knew them."
"I'm impressed, they don't hire often as they like to keep their staff closed like family to improve their overall team efficiency. Well, that and it lowers the chances of someone coming in only to steal their recipes."
"Don't think I'm too important there, I only do the local deliveries. Though he did offer to show me a few things once in a while."
"Meh, either way, it's not bad to get some work experience at your age. Could learn a few skills you're going to need when you're older, like patience and steps when dealing with a less favorable person. You must have a good friend if they manage to get you a job that can give you that but is also a place that treats their employees well."
"Uhhh, yeah he's… quite a… friend. Ahem, anyway I'm actually in the middle of a delivery right now-"
"Oh, I'm sorry! This old hog must be taking up your time. Is your box ok? If it's broken or damaged please let me know, I'll gladly compensate you for it. My heart would ache if you end up losing the few bucks you make because you bumped into me. My gut may be all girth and fat but it's a weapon not to be messed with," the officer joked, playfully tapping his stomach before refitting his pants. He stepped aside, giving Izuku room to continue down the sidewalk.
"Don't worry, it's fine," Izuku assured him before getting on his way to his destination, "They said I own this now, so I don't have to pay for damages unless they have to replace it because I'm unable to make proper deliveries with it."
Waving farewell to the boy, O'inks says, "Alright, take care young one. If you see Rumi again, tell her I said how's my little Rumy doing? With extra emphasis on the Y, that's how she'll know it's from me."
"I will, goodbye!
"I just realized something I'm thankful for," Nezu randomly announced as he and his daughter were lazing around their living room.
"What?" Rumi asked him, not looking away from her phone.
"The fact that you never got into make-up as a child. Out of everything that came with raising a human child, that was probably my biggest fear at the beginning."
"Really? Oh, all the things a daughter can get into growing up, that was the biggest one? I could've gotten into porn growing up for all you know."
"Oh, those fears seeped in as the years passed on. But the first thing I thought about when I took you in was how would I handle you wanting make-up as you grew older. I may have the intelligence of a genius human being but I'm still an animal. I wouldn't have known if it would be too soon or if I do get you some, it'll be impossible for me to tell if you use enough to look modest or to look like you're going to be standing at a street corner."
"Woooooow! Your rodent ass should be praising God that I skipped over that phase."
"We don't have religion in the animal kingdom…. Well except for bird jesus but you wouldn't get it even if I did a full presentation on it."
"And I never would want to know, what was the second biggest fear?"
"You dating."
"What? You're afraid of me dating someone?"
"No, I'm afraid of what I'll do to the boy you'll bring home."
"And what if I bring back a girl?" Rumi tauntingly questioned, a smug smile was spread across her face while she continued to text a certain friend of hers.
Only a cocky chuckle came from Nezu's mouth in response.
"Oh?" Rumi went, lowering her phone to give her father a raised eyebrow, "What does that mean?"
"Thankfully, I know I don't need to deal with that. YOU KNOW who'll deal with any girls you might bring home."
A cold shiver went down Rumi's spine as she knew who he was referring to, she can hear the whip now, she murmurs, "Deep regrets that I brought it up."
"No need to regret having facts reiterated for you," Nezu proudly says after taking a sip of tea, "If you ever get a boyfriend, there's an extremely high chance that I'm going to break his kneecaps upon introduction."
"...uhhhh," were the incomprehensible sounds leaking out of Izuku's mouth as he stood by the entrance of the living room.
Casually, Nezu turned toward the boy and greeted him, "Oh hello Izuku, I see you're back. What's the matter?"
"N-nothing!" Izuku squeaked, quickly snapping himself out of his daze.
"Welcome back champ," stated Rumi, sitting up properly in her chair as if something had captivated her attention, "What did my favorite delivery boy bring for us today?"
Setting his carriage box down on the table, an oblivious Izuku replied, "Uh, what you ordered of course. Ichiraku would have my tail if I delivered the wrong food."
An exasperated but silent sigh escaped Rumi's lips as she mumbled, "Fuckin-... no- ah, damn it dude."
"Thankfully this is my last delivery for the day," Izuku continued, taking out the boxed food letting its glamorous aroma fill the room. Passing out the colorful boxes to each patron in the room, "I got one vegetarian meal for the manimal, and two specials for the rest of us."
"You got things mixed up," Rumi tells him, going over to her father and swapping the boxes that were handed to them, "While I'm starved, I'm not desperate. The vegetarian one is mine!"
Half-listening at first, Izuku responded, "Well of course you-... wait you're the one who ordered the vegetarian?"
"Yeah, why?" answered Rumi, her shoulders shrugged a bit at his comment.
"T-then... what will your dad eat!?"
"The same special you're going to eat. How do you not know this, you got us the food?"
Izuku's dilated eyes frantically glare back and forth between the food and the mouse, finally directing itself rightfully toward Rumi, "B-but he's a... you know, and the special had at least four different kinds of meat in it. Don't you have any empathy for your fallen comrades?"
Eagerly taking the one Rumi set down for him, Nezu nonchalantly spoke to Izuku before digging into his meal, "Hey, that's just the rules of nature, not my fault they lost."
A petrified look of horror stained the young fox's face upon hearing such dark pragmatic words from him, only deepening the mental image of a pit that showed how far Nezu's insanity went. The expression continued to stay as Izuku watched the manimal devour his dish with such severe pleasure. Even though he was doing similar not too long ago, an unsettled chill came from watching specifically Nezu doing it.
'Does that make me a hypocrite?' Izuku thought to himself, before he could dig any further into the topic his mind was occupied in a flash by another question he found more pressing, "Wait what was with the whole never eating meat thing then!? You guys never cooked a scrap of meat here the entire time I was here!"
"That's because my daughter is going through one of those vegan phases," Nezu sighed as he accompanied his meal with a sip of tea.
"You're vegan!?" Izuku exclaimed, shooting Rumi an astounded look, 'When was this a thing!?'
"Noooo, I'm a vegetarian," the busty chocolate rabbit said, rolling her eyes while rubbing one of her ears from the shouting. She really wished he didn't always react like this to things. Her attitude swiftly changed to irritated as she stared daggered toward her father, "And it's not a phase dad! It's a legitimate life choice! It's strange to eat the same species your dad is, how would you feel about eating humans!?"
At first, Nezu's face instantly scrunched up in disgust at the idea, but then it quickly melted into an appraisive expression, giving a slight nod to himself.
"Whatever you say sweetie," Nezu dismissively said, grabbing the nearby newspaper and reading it, "They're all the same to me."
"I'm not a child, stop calling me sweetie!" Rumi scolded, her usual bold tone quickly morphing to be more flustered girlish when a dark red tint emitted from her cheeks, her voice abruptly slipped to pianissimo as she continued to rebuke Nezu, "And not in front of others, you're embarrassing me damn it!"
"Ok dear."
"No more of that one either! Jeez, we just got done talking about how I skipped over many stupid crap young girls were into, I would've assumed you would get that cutesy names would be one of them!"
"I remember a time where I stopped, someone was so upset that she cried the entire day until-"
"H-hey, hey, hey! No need to bring up completely irrelevant things that happened at unrelated times to this conversation!"
A small chuckle left Izuku, anytime Rumi had a reaction that was a stark contrast to how she usually acts always brought a bit of joy to Izuku's face now. It made her seem more endearing as a person then some holy icon. Still, this was a catastrophic surprise he wasn't expecting. Looking back, he realized during the barbeque with the rest of her friend, she was the only one he had no memory of seeing eating the meat. He kinda assumed it since she was there and did eat, but upon second look he could only remember her eating the grilled vegetables and chips that were provided as well. How could he miss such a thing even after living with her?
"Oh Izuku," Nezu calls out, "I hope you're not clouding up your schedule. School will be starting for you soon and so will your training."
Izuku's ears perked up hearing the second part, giving an energetic cheer, "Really!?"
"Of course, you had to start eventually. I hope you enjoyed your time off because things are about to get quite hectic for you soon. Please clear your schedule accordingly. If you have any plans, I suggest rearranging them to be outside your two priorities right now."
"I will."
"You're not getting yourself involved in anything that'll distract your schooling or training are you?"
The fox's seeking eyesight glanced at his bunny companion, after seeing her give a more confident look back, he answered, "No, this job of mine made it easier to get used to the area. Maybe I can even make a few friends in the area that I'll meet in school."
The bear-chimera looked up from his newspaper for a momentary glance, examining Izuku's face before going back to reading.
"...That's good, just keep out of trouble," He finally said.
After turning away from him, Izuku sighed relief before looking toward Rumi, who responded with a nod. After nudging her head toward the door, she squinted one of her eyes to give a questioning expression. With wandering eyes, Izuku pondered something before raising three stagnant fingers toward her. Understanding, Rumi smiled before returning to her phone. Settling down in a chair himself, Izuku finally enjoyed the food he had to deliver himself, but he couldn't take all the time in the world to eat this in one sitting.
They need to be somewhere in thirty minutes.
2 Years & 8 Months Left Before U.A. Entrance Exam.
Just as Rumi said, her friends at Yasei Alley were more than welcoming in training him as well. While expectations on what they'll do for him weren't high at first, Izuku was quickly surprised by how diverse and in-depth they were in tutoring. When he thought of learning how to fight from these people he expected it to be more 'Let me teach you how many pounds it takes to break a human nose kid!', but what he got was a little bit beyond that.
For now, he was alone with the biggest of them, Yogi The Grizzly, at his residential area. After helping him find his way here, Rumi went off to see Rideru after Yogi informed her that the stoic greenet was hanging out with Tsuyu.
"Taste," Yogi the unidentified bear told him, holding out a metal saucer filled with some kind brownish-black liquid.
As instructed, Izuku accepted the saucer before taking a small sip from it. The sugary taste of the substance felt both familiar but vastly different. Its flavored was more of a watery syrup than then the tart his mind was remembering, he recognized this beverage.
"It's cola!" He exclaimed, going back for another sampling of the drink, "Is this a new flavor?"
Chuckling, Yogi went back to his low burning pot and continued to stir the content inside slowly as he said, "No, it's decarbonated cola."
"Is that some kind of new flavor, because the difference is amazing."
"Nope, it's pretty simple to do, the easiest way is opening a bottle and leaving it out for about a day or a few hours. Without the carbonation the cola loses a lot of its tartness, making it easier to consume for people who can't handle all the bubbling, and more importantly an effective sports drink."
"Really? Soda being turned into a sports drink, that's amazing. How did you guys discover this?"
"Grrrorororo, it's not exactly some government secret. There's a tale that a man brought a cola bottle and let it out in the open the day before he ran a marathon and drank it before the race. He ended up winning the marathon thanks to the extra stamina he got. It's a pretty well-known method used by athletes and even some heroes. If you ever catch a hero before he goes on patrol, you might be able to catch it."
"Now that you mentioned it, I can think of one occurrence where I saw a hero with some cola," Izuku's memory went back to the day he first met All Might. The bottle he kept the slime villain in was a cola bottle after all, with everything else happening he didn't question why the number one hero just had a bottle of soda to contain the villain in. Considering All Might's current condition, having something that'll hopefully boost his stamina in his buff form should be treated as a holy elixir.
"Please pass me the bottles," Yogi asked Izuku, taking the pot off the fire and putting it to the side so they can start filling up the bottles, "It's just that when there are regular sports drinks around, the fact that there's a timely process that needs to be done first after buying the product which won't always fit people's convenience and the fact that people like their soda carbonated that this isn't a thing that not everyone knows about. Of course, because this place isn't some five-star neighbor we don't exactly have access or the fiances to be buying all that expensive stuff, and we're not really about robbing a place just for sports drinks. So we got to be creative with what we got."
"Yeah….. I can only imagine what you guys do to live normally here."
"Quite a lot of interesting stuff actually, they're fun so I don't mind it. This is my home and my family lives here, so whatever I need to do to help them out just a bit I'll do with joy."
Izuku looked confused as he asked, "You have actual family here?"
"Yes," Yogi answered, pouring the cola into the bottles with a ladle, "All my friends here of course, including you."
"So that's what you meant," Izuku said to himself, nodding to himself as he was able to question how that would be possible. From Rumi's description of this place earlier, most fully grown adults aren't exactly welcomed there.
"You thought I meant blood relative?"
"Yeah, I was about to-" His eyes quickly widened when the last part of Yogi's former sentence hit him, "Wait, you consider me as family as well!?"
"Why wouldn't I?" Yogi casually asked.
"We… just met though. I haven't been with you guys nearly as long as someone like R-Miruko has."
"You're friends with her right? Must be close enough for her to bring you here of all places considering how secretive she wants this side of her life to be. I used to live in a not so good orphanage that didn't take care of the kids there until I ran away when I was nine and wandered a bit until I met Simba. Simba said that your true family are the people you trust, are comfortable with, and are there for you, that bond is thicker than blood."
"...Huh,"
"Speaking of Miruko, she told me about how much you were whining from not eating meat."
"I wasn't whining, it was literal torture!"
"When you can't go out to buy something, I got some seasoning and cooking techniques to make some of the food you eat taste like meat."
"... I'm listening."
"Grrororo!" Yogi laughed, "Just ask Merrie for all the medical reasons we use it, it's best when someone here bust their jaw or something like that and eating meat isn't recommended. Now they can still get the taste of it while their mouth recovers."
"Alright, clothes off and get on all fours," stated Cassidy.
"WHAT!?" was the very reasonable reaction Izuku had. Here he was entering this room as requested expecting some integral teaching and this was the first thing he was hit with. She didn't even have the decency of buying him dinner first.
"What? You came here to train right?" Cassidy casually said, putting a hand on her grand waist.
"Yes but not this kind of training!"
"How else are you going to learn!?"
"When I'm ready and the time is right!"
"There's no need to delay, start today or you're only going to hinder yourself! What if Miruko wanna ride you one day?"
If Izuku was drinking water right now... Well, you can already tell where this gag is going. Our broccoli haired protagonist now had a red stem. Take that however one may.
"What?" Cassidy asked, tilting her head, "It's nothing that special. Riding someone may be a bit difficult at the beginning and its killer on the pelvis region but once you get used to it it's pretty enjoyable."
"I-... I'm just not sure if I want to go that far, despite what my body is telling me."
"Got it, you're scared of your first time, understandable."
"Really?"
"Of course, everyone is always scared of their first. No need to bust your chops over it."
"Oh….." Izuku sighs in relief, "Thank you."
"That's why you gotta breakthrough that fear," she says, showing her back toward Izuku as she calmly began taking off her jacket and unbuttoning her shirt, "Luckily I don't mind breaking that fear for others. Give me a second to get my clothes off, I'll let you ride me for the experience."
ACCEPT IT
"That's nice and all b- WHAADFFJSRGI! I can't do that!"
"Why not?"
"Such a treasure shouldn't be given out with such half-hazard care, we barely know each other!"
"That doesn't matter to me, I'm all accepting. Ask the others, everyone in our friend's group rode me at least once before."
"Bwahaa-!?"
"Well except for Yogi, he's a bit too big for me. Then again, I have gotten stronger since last time, maybe I can handle it this time. Though I'll have to plan ahead of time how he'll fit."
Izuku covered his flustered face, "I can't believe what I'm hearing."
"Miruko always did have the best time, we'll both try to make it as rough as possible and get the other to submit."
A drizzle of blood emerged from Izuku's nose, "...Go on."
"Why explain when you can do it? Now get on, I'll give you at least one round trip," she states, she only had her white bra on and was already working on removing her shorts, "I'll go easy on you but your groin is going to be aching later. I can't control how rowdy I can be."
POUNCE!
'Stop it brain!' Izuku thought, trying to dispel the pink words.
The smiling wink Cassidy did at the end of her statement didn't help either of them.
Stammering, Izuku told her, "Wait! Wait! Wait! Don't take off anymore, I still haven't decided yet."
"Can't," Cassidy claims, in one broad movement she bent over, pulling down her pants and leaving only a thin but fluffy looking piece of fabric on that kept her from being considered 'nude', "If I keep these on then they'll rip when I transform."
"I don't care, you can't just force on a-...wait transform?"
"Yeah, I'm about to transform into my cow form so you can ride me. I'm not sure why you wanted my bra on for that but hey I'm not one to judge."
"W-wait why?"
"I thought Simba already explained this when he sent you to me?"
"You guys have yet to explain anything that's going on here!" Izuku shouted, wiping off the last remnants of blood from his nose. There was a soft chuckle he heard through the room but he wasn't sure where, it was only him and Cassidy in the room.
"Oh…...well he was saying that you're greatly underusing your fox attribute by always fighting straight up like a human. You should take advantage of the predator animal your quirk is based off and learn how to pounce and walk like an animal."
"Is something like that really necessary?"
"Well for me it helped me get better control of my cow form to fight more effectively, for Miruko it was what inspired her signature running start, Rideru is wicked agile because of it but then again that guy already had insane reflexes, that Tsuyu girl greatly benefited from learning how to hop around like a frog, and Simba said he might have the perfect technique to teach you once you get used to running like the fox you are."
"Even Miruko learned from it?" Izuku mumbled, put a hand on his face as he thought of the possibilities Simba might have in store for him, "Then it won't be such a bad idea to invest."
"That's the spirit," Cassidy cheered, "Now take those clothes and get on."
"Why do I need to take my clothes off!?"
"You're fighting straight up because you're still thinking like a complete human with a human mindset. You gotta shred those things and bring yourself back to your primal instinct like true animals are, naked but fierce. Losing your clothes is only a step in getting in the right movement."
"C-can't we see if I can get it with my clothes on first!?"
"You're going to fail anyway. Why watch you fail a bunch of times first then come to me for a hint when I can just give you that hint from the beginning and not waste the time."
"A-... good point but-"
"No further complaints, now quit your yelps," Cassidy demanded as she rushed over to him.
"Wait what are you- Hey! HEY! DON'T GRAB THERE!"
A FEW MINUTES LATER
Accompanied by Rideru, Rumi began entering the building wanting to check up on Izuku's progress.
"So what restaurant are we going to after you pick up the boy?" Rideru tauntingly asked Rumi.
"Shut up Ryu," Rumi responded, rolling her eyes, "I'm just seeing how he's doing."
"You already came in with him and it barely has been over an hour since you two arrived."
"How am I not surprised you kept track?"
"Because this kind of awareness is my specialty."
"Huh, ironic. Yet you can miss so many hints."
"Don't you have someone to mom over?"
"I'm not 'mom'ing over him, that's gross and I'm not planning to have kids in a long time. By that I mean never!"
"If that is so then you better stop acting like it before someone starts getting the wrong impression. Might be better to clear the air now than later before things get complicated for you two."
"There's nothing to clear!" Rumi snapped, giving him an annoyed pout. She hates how he tries to advise her, especially when he's right about something, his inglorious attitude about things makes her want to purposely do the opposite of what he says at times.
Rideru shrugged, "Whatever, don't blame me for what happens. Then again, knowing my luck with you, it's most likely going to come back to bite me instead of you."
"I honestly don't know what you're rambling about now, what's going to bite you?"
The greenette sighed, scratching the eye that's covered by his hair before saying, "I wish some of the muscles that went to your body went to your brain as well. It's a wonder how a maniac like you haven't gotten me killed yet."
"Oi, it's your choice to continue being with this maniac. I don't force your furry-eared ass to hang around me."
"Unfortunately for me that's true," Rideru mumbled, giving a self-pitying shrug and shaking his head, "Don't know how you did it but your chaotic ways manage to break down enough of my casement for me to mind your well-being, even if it was unintentional. Now I can't help but care about you, no matter what trouble you bring."
"Oh wow!" Rumi chucked, "I...didn't expect that display of compassion from you. Huh, if only you can show that when it counts the most."
"Fuck off!" Rideru mumbled, a tint of pink sparked across his cheeks, "I swear in my past life I must've done something awful to end up like this."
Nudging his elbow, Rumi says, "No worries, I got what you mean. Guess us shattered people have to stick together right?"
"...You're fucking horrible at puns."
"You started it."
"Whatever, how is the little fucker doing?"
"That's what I'm trying to… figure…...out."
…
Rumi rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn't seeing things. Cassidy, as usual, was randomly naked. Nothing new there. The abnormality was seeing Izuku in his boxers on her back as she ran around the room on all fours.
Or in shorter terms, Izuku was riding Cassidy.
For a moment, if her emotions could be charted with a clock, the hands could've worked as helicopter blades from how fast it was spinning around. An accurate description of her cycle of emotional confusion. And then, she felt nothing. As if the utter madness she saw was so ridiculous that it overloaded her raging emotions and canceled itself flat like a badly designed RPG.
She wasn't the only one who suffered a severe case of whiplash. Izuku's eyes were whited-out when he turned and saw Rumi staring at them. Course, Cassidy saw nothing was wrong and greeted the two.
"Hey what's up guys, was just showing the kid how to ride someone, it's his first time but he's not bad at it."
That comment immediately made Rideru scoff, holding back his laughter by covering his mouth.
"What are you two doing here?" Cassidy continued to ask.
Silent at first, Rumi opened her mouth as if she was going to speak.
ONE MINUTE LATER
"I'll give you a ride of a lifetime!"
"You ain't shit!"
Watching from the sidelines, Izuku, who was supposed to be getting trained right now, was now witnessing a fierce wrestling match between a naked busty blonde and a slightly less busty, but equal allure, still clothed chocolate bunny. Though for how long they'll stay on is the real question. Nezu was right that his life was going to be more heretic if these kinds of shenanigans were going to be every day here.
"Hey let go of my hair!"
"Aww, what's wrong you can't handle it!? It's just a little hair pulling princess"
"Oh I'll show you! RAWRGH~!"
"AGH! You fucking bite me!"
"What's wrong, you can't handle it? Just my teeth digging into your fucking leg!"
Not that Izuku was complaining about it, he was just making peace with it now since it's going to be his upcoming reality. The other person in the room who seemed to be enjoying the scrap was the one-eye-showing guy Rumi walked in with. As his face remained in his neutral expression, despite breaking in his earlier holding-back-my-laughter smirk, his head leaned in and tilted as it intensively followed the girls rolling around in front of him.
Out of everyone he met in this place over the last couple of weeks he's been coming here, Rideru always stuck out in his mind. Not from how impactful he was during his time here but from how strange it is that they see each other as often as Izuku sees all the other members, maybe even more since he often comes to talk to Rumi, yet he knows almost nothing about him. All the time he spent here, he's been slowly associating himself with all of Rumi's friends and gradually learning more about them through them or information the others told him.
For example, Yogi's dad was a villain who was a part of a villain group called the Wild Villains. Merrie told him how she's of the few people here, along with Tsuyu, that has the goal of becoming a hero. She especially is currently studying hard as apparently, a school is considering accepting her as a recommended student due to her quirk's wide usage and medical utility. According to Setsuna, Simba once revealed when he was drunk that he had a younger sister he's jealous of.
Cassidy had one of the more unique ones among the residents. She is here as an exchange student because her family is planning some business moves in Japan and needed someone here to get some of the groundwork settled. Since her parents were busy running the farm and tending to the family's business, she volunteered since she was the oldest among her siblings and by her own words 'why not it seemed fun'. Personally, Izuku wasn't sure if that was a smart move considering her tendencies but he's going to assume she was their best, most likely only, candidate for this task.
Even Setsuna, who supposedly is the most tight-lipped about herself, tells him some things about herself. Granted it's mostly shallow information like favorite color, or what clothes she likes, or what she prefers to eat but at least it's something.
With this guy, he got nearly nothing personal. Besides being friends with Rumi, seeing how often they talk to each other, they're good friends.
'A bit too good of a friend,' thought Izuku before slapping himself, he wasn't sure why that thought popped out, it's been happening quite frequently.
His actions caught the attention of Rideru, who gave him a bewildered look before turning his sights back on the girls.
The only other thing Izuku can assume about Rideru is one thing, he probably didn't like Izuku's presence too much. Wasn't sure why. Outside of that time where Rideru helped Rumi teach him how to box, the one-eye-showing boy hasn't interacted or even extensively spoken to him. He didn't want to seem invasive about another person's life unnecessarily, especially if he wants to keep it private, but even his friends barely speak of him. Granted, Izuku could tell that they're being more private of his information until Rideru tells him himself but still, pretty unsettling the people he supposedly close to can barely tell something about him that doesn't need to be privatized.
There are only a few things he knew and they can barely be considered personal information, more so his standing among the others.
1. The group has a sort of hierarchy system of who'll watch over/lead the group in events of trouble or a situation that comes up that requires leadership. It's mostly reserved for the more senior members of the group. Rideru is the fourth seat, with Simba as first, Merrie as the second, and someone everyone refers to as "The Ripper" as the third. Though it's rumored that Merrie may give up her seat soon because of her focus on school. When it comes to combat, he takes the second seat. Rumi bragged that if she got a seat she would be above him and only doesn't because she doesn't want the responsibility for it since she has a life outside of this place she doesn't want to jeopardize.
2. Rumi informed him that Rideru was sixteen when they made a bet, she still sounded pretty steamed about losing a hundred bucks. By the sound of it, it was her fault for guessing way too high but he was smart to keep that comment to himself. A poor garbage can was demolished in a tiny anger-fit.
3. Out of everyone here, he knew Simba the longest.
4. He refuses to eat off of anything that can break. During the barbeque, while everyone ate out of regular plates, he ate out of tupperware he brought himself.
5. People usually rely on him as a deliveryman as he's usually going around getting something for the group or delivering something they need to be sent.
6. He frequently switches his way of speaking from regular language, to occasionally some kind of weird gamer slangs, and then his usual crude language.
7. And most importantly to Izuku, He hates the color green. Found that out when someone brought up the afro Izuku wore during his fight against Mezo and asked if he looked better with black or green hair….. He really hates green hair.
Izuku couldn't even find out what animal mutation Rideru has. The only hint Izuku got is the fact Rideru got the canines of a predatory animal. He also must have some hidden quirk or something to explain how he's somehow always grabbing things from a distant range in a small amount of time. Right now when he looked back, he saw Rideru neatly folding Cassidy's carelessly discarded clothes. Izuku doesn't even know when he grabbed it.
'Honestly, I'm not sure if Rideru is doing this because he's a reserved person who likes to keep his life private or because he's an edgy dickhead who thinks it's cool to purposely be mysterious….. Did I really just think the word dickhead? Huh, Rumi's language must be rubbing off on me. I don't think I ever used that language before. Oh well, it's not like he can hear me, I can say whatever I want about him. Fuck Rideru, overly edgy bastard! I don't even know what Rumi sees in him, she could do way better in who she spends time with. Why would such an upbeat and talented person like herself waste her time hanging around some sulking green-haired schmuck from nowhere, much less be friends with a guy like that,' Izuku thought to himself, he found himself subconsciously grinding his teeth together before a moment of clarity hit him, 'Wait…. Did I just describe myself?'
...
'N-no, no. Just a coincidence. I'm nothing like that brooding mess Rideru!'
"What the fuck you saying about me?" Rideru abruptly asked, snapping his head toward the green fox with his usual glare.
Izuku's skeleton was only an inch away from hopping out of his skin from this reaction, causing him to exclaim, "H-how did you know!? Can you read minds!?"
"No, you were mumbling your thoughts for quite a while. For a second I thought I heard my name beforehand as well but it was unclear and decided to give the benefit of a doubt. Until you said it again. So I'll repeat, why the fuck was my name coming out your mouth?"
There was a mini-panic going on internally for Izuku, he didn't mean most of what he thought, he was just indulging in this new emotion that's been constantly bubbling up. There was only going to be one way out of this without an unneeded confrontation, thankfully Setsuna had helped him practice his lying skills.
"I was just trying to figure out what animal mutation you have."
….
Rideru stared down Izuku with his glassy eyes before turning away, giving himself a small smirk as he replied, "Wouldn't you like to know, fox boy."
Silently Izuku sighed, 'Thank god, as I suspected he didn't fully hear what I said."
"Hey!" Rumi shouted at them before tossing Cassidy over her head into a pile of boxes near the corner, "If you got any clues to which animal he is, let me know. I bet two hundred bucks that I can remember it by Christmas."
"Remember? He told you before?"
"Yes I did," Rideru cut in, "And as usual this dumbass forgot it."
"I didn't forget!" Rumi exclaimed, "I just temporarily can't remember what it was. I'll get it, you'll see."
"Ok, I believe you."
"You're doubting me aren't you?"
"You barely got your foot in the door."
"Lies! I'm hot on your trail."
"Prove it."
"That's easy," Rumi says, in a flash, she approached Rideru and grabbed a lock of his hair.
Before she could do anything else, Rideru reactively grabbed her wrist saying, "The hell you're grabbing me for?"
"I want to show him something," Rumi told him, reaching for his hair with her other hand only to be stopped the same way, "Stop stopping me!"
"No! Don't touch me!"
"Will you show him yourself?"
"No!"
"Then I'm going to show him, hold still."
"Fuck off, I'll show whatever to whoever!"
"Don't be a baby."
"It's not being a baby, it's not wanting people to do annoying things to you," Rideru replied, giving her a piece of her own medicine by wrapping one his hands in her long snowy hair and yanked it so hard that her head jerked downward, "How do you like it!?"
"Yowch!" Rumi shrieked, wincing from the pain, "What's with everyone today and pulling my hair!"
"You literally started it!"
"I only wanted to lift your hair, not yank it like you're pulling off a wig!"
"I mean you have been furrowing those brows of yours a lot recently, that might not be a far-off future!"
"Oh you dick!"
"Bite me princess!"
"Don't tempt me, Cassy got the bite marks to show."
In their struggle Rideru fell back, causing Rumi to fall on top of him, yet they continued their dispute as if nothing had happened. One of Izuku's eyes twitched again, something about seeing her straddling Rideru even though they were just roughhousing didn't sit well with him. Unbeknownst to any of the two on the ground, they were being watched by Izuku with ominous glare, a cold demeanor shadowing over him.
Like an old friend, those floating bold words appeared in his sights again, but this time they were green.
WHY! WHY! WHY HIM! GATEKEEPER! ROAD BUMP! OBSTRUCTOR!
Luckily, the feeling of his claws bearing themselves snapped him out of his mood.
'That was weird,' Izuku thought, something like that wasn't necessary. While he may not be a fan of Rideru's presence at the moment, it's not like he did something horrible to him(yet) or tortured him for years. Not to mention that he's begrudgingly the reason why Izuku had the job he has right now. He wasn't even sure why his body thought a situation like this needed a violent physical response of any kind. While his body acts on its own at times, he's not going to let it do what it wants. Hiding his claws and waiting for them to slowly retract.
Upon second look, he did see something interesting. As the two friends were struggling, pulling hair and shoving their hands into the other's face, Rumi had lifted a piece of hair Rideru used to cover his right eye up. Izuku had taken a few guesses as to why Rideru always hid it, with the most likely reason being some sort of injury. He guessed correctly as Rumi's actions exposed Rideru's scarred eye. The eye was kept closed, showing off the multiple crisp marks that created a mild discoloration across that section of his face.
Knowing how this place can be, Izuku assumed it might've happened during a fight against one of the other Laguz but then he noticed the lack of pattern of the marks. He learned this from Merrie about how to identify an animal based on the marks they leave when they use their claws. An average animal claw marks usually range from two to four jagged but parallel lines. The marks on Rideru's eyes didn't follow this pattern, they had no lines that paralleled reasonably to each other. Some spiraled a bit, others had inconsistent height and width, few went in weird directions, and they lacked distinct jaggedness claws usually left.
"Let go!" Rumi shouted, trying to escape his grip while refusing to let out.
Rideru managed to shake his head despite his head being pin against the ground, "No you!"
"You do it first!"
"Will you let go after!?"
"No!"
"Then no! Why would you even ask as if you were going to make a deal!?"
"I don't know, just let me get your hair out the way. I want to show him the black fur behind your-"
"DOGPILE!" a voice called out above them.
"Hold up?" Rumi said.
"What?" Izuku says, looking up.
"Nani?" Rideru went.
Izuku experienced many new things this day he didn't expect to happen, witnessing a nude cowgirl leg drop his crush [and potential love rival] were one of these things.
From then on, life continued to move on. Most of the same happened. School started but Izuku continued to go to Yasei Alley to train with everyone. Thankfully Merrie, Tsuyu, and even Setsuna(though it's usually at a strange price) were surprisingly great tutors. Helping both him and Rumi in academics with study groups leaving them with more free time then if they tried alone. Rideru would usually join them as well but he doesn't contribute besides talking to the girls, only leaving when he has to do something, occasionally his crude language would get so explicit that Tsuyu will throw her books at him to make him shut up.
Nezu's training started as well. In an act of mercy, he said he'll start small for a while, so the first thing he made him do was run… 5K… through the rougher terrains the city had which made running difficult….. Did he mention that there's a jumbo tire tied to his back which Nezu leisurely rests on? Who had methods to get Izuku to continue running in case he ever started slowing down too much or got demotivated. By using one of his devices to cause big branches to collapse extremely close to Izuku's head and using nature's resources to endlessly torment the fox to keep running.
The pit only gets deeper.
At one point, Izuku got to the point where he had to ask, "Why are we even doing this!?"
"You'll see, it'll be totally worth it. Guaranteed results, never failed me before."
"You sure!?"
"You doubt my methods?"
"I'm just wondering if you do these kinds of things with Rumi, because if so that'll explain a lot."
"Me!? Do things to this extent to my daughter!? Hell no, that's child abuse and sick!"
"Then why do you do it to me!?"
"Because I got a signed contract from both you and your mom that says I can."
"You-"
"No more objections!" The sound of a whip cracked by his ear.
"Is that a whip!?" a panicked Izuku asked, trying to look behind while not tripping over.
"What, are you complaining about this too?"
"YES! Now you're just being unnecessary!"
"Oh I see, you humans are allowed to whip us animals for thousands of years for sport but when we do it, then we have to care about ethics."
"What the fuck does that have to do with anything!"
"EVERYTHING!"
CRACK!
So that training is going well.
His mom is doing fine as well. He goes back to visit mostly during holidays. It's refreshing to see how his other family is doing. He and Katsuki still don't talk, making for very awkward nights since they still sleep in the same room. Thankfully in the day time isn't as awkward since Katsuki barely spends the day at home. Though more haunting news came when he found out that his Mom now slept in the same room as Mitsuki. They explained that it was a swap because Masaru had back problems or something but the entire time Izuku entered a contemplating state greater then The Thinker himself over if Rumi's prediction was right after all.
…
Of course, Rumi laughed as soon as Izuku told her.
The one thing that seemed to have not changed, is the stalemate between him and Rideru. It seems as though nothing changed about them, from an understanding of the other to comfortability being around each other, simply talking to one another, and who was gonna have a happy easter.
Izuku's lungs felt heavy as he panted, his body was covered in scrap and dirt but a sense of accomplishment was washing those things away. In the realm of the D.R.E.A.M. World, he was standing next to one of the Yokai he was tasked to catch. It wasn't the Hentai one(that one was too tough to catch) or even the annoying green-haired creature that pisses him off by existing, but one of the lower-ranked Yokai. This was the one that held the regret of when Izuku accidentally tripped over the school janitor's mopping bucket and tipped it over. Izuku felt so bad that the sweet old man had to reclean the floor because of him. That was probably why the Yokai took the form of a monster that was in chains, it was easier to catch since its movement was already hindered.
CLAP, CLAP, CLAP!
Approaching him was an applauding Nana followed behind by the bald funky man.
"Not bad kid, not bad!" The Hellboy stated, he stretched out his hand, "You still need to capture the other four later but as agreed, you catch one and I'll lend you my ability. I'm not one who'll waste your time, you seem pretty tuckered already. Let's get this over with."
"T-...th-thanks," Izuku says, reaching out to accept it.
As their hands met, Hellboy stated a vow.
"I am thou-"
"Uhh, actually you can skip that first part," the mask of Lai rattled, "I was just pranking you."
That earned an annoyed look from the bulky man as he grumbled, his grip became crushing to Izuku's hand, "You mother-"
"Let it go," sighed Nana, "You bother with it every time then you'll have a headache that'll make you wish you were dead again. Just move on when you can, you'll get used to it."
After taking a deep breath, Hellboy continued.
"Accept my power,
Battle with an endless reach,
inherit my will.-"
"-I bestow onto you the power to catch anything you want, so nothing will ever be outside of your reach again."
A bright rainbow light shined where their hands held, sparkling like a firecracker.
"It is done," Hellboy announced, taking off Lai's mask from the side of Izuku's head.
Still exhausted Izuku asked, "What did I inherit?"
"You'll find out," Hellboy told him, "Just think about something you want to capture."
"Did you mean literally or metaphoric-lEEEEEEEEEE!" Shrieked Izuku, mid-sentence Hellboy used their connected hands to launch him over the grown man's shoulder.
…
As the three watched Izuku's body fly through the sky toward the lake, Hellboy comments, "You're right this is kinda fun."
"I told ya," Lai replied, the mask rattling a bit.
Stepping over dominantly, Nana asked a peculiar question, "So what can you do now Lai, since you're just a mask and all?"
"Why does that matter?" Lai asked.
Taking the mask from Hellboy, Nana held it close before saying, "I'm asking how could you resist if I decided to do something devious like paint all over you, or toss you to the bottom of the lake you like to throw our little boy into often, or carve into you with a knife, or maybe even stuff you somewhere interesting."
The glee in her smile from how long she waited for this moment, it could shine brighter than the sun.
"On the last one, depending on where then I'm helpless. All the other ones, I would advise not trying them."
"Why?" Nana asked, tilting her head tauntingly as she loosely held the mask with only two fingers. She swung it side to side as if it was a toy, seeing what he'll do as it's most likely a buff.
"While my form isn't the most promising at the moment, I assure you, I can still act. I must be able to if I am to serve my master."
"Sure whatever you say," Nana shrugged, spinning the mask around on her finger, "Alright what we need to do to get you back to normal."
"I'm serious, I can- Hey, stop spinning me, you're making me dizzy!"
2 Years & 7 Months Left Before U.A. Entrance Exam.
"Alright, what did you want to show me so badly that you needed to drag me out here so early?" Rumi asked, rubbing her sheepish eyes. She stayed up a bit way too long last night watching matches at the X-Games with her friends(and thankfully making the money she lost back thanks to some smart choices that a certain one-eye-showing friend advised her on. Though it's debated if it was out of kindness or because he wanted Rumi to have more money so she can lose it to him). Now she needed a few more minutes to fully wake up, thankfully Izuku came to her room after she got her clothes on.
"I'll show you, just wait right there," Izuku says. After setting her on the sideline of his little display, Izuku ran over to get in position. A few feet in front of him was a single empty bottle on top of a garbage can.
After taking a deep breath, Izuku pulled one of his arms back before whipping it forward. As his hand lashed out forward, a dark tendril that was made out of black energy emerged from his wrist and struck the bottle.
That jolted Rumi wide awake, her reaction was as if she witnessed magic.
"Wow, what was that!?" Rumi exclaimed, running over to him.
"It's my- ow!" Izuku winced, as he tried to reel in the tendril he accidentally hit himself in the face with it, "...it's something that awakened in me recently actually. I've been spending the last few days trying to get it to work?"
"You got a name for it?"
"No, I've thought of a few like Venom Stretcher!"
"...meh," Rumi says, looking away with an unimpressed look.
Izuku inhaled to hold in the pain from that response.
"How did you get it or awaken it?" Rumi asked, while the beta-name wasn't anything interesting she was interested in the cause.
"Uhhh, it just popped up one morning after a dream."
"So basically a boner?"
"Erg- um I guess you can look at it that way."
"Don't embellish me like that when I'm being stupid."
"...I'm a bit confused but ok."
"Anyways, what else can you do with it?"
"Not a lot. I've been struggling to get it out, much less do anything with it. It's like a whip and I'm not familiar with that kind of weapon, or any weapon at all, so it might take a while to get good at it."
Rumi chuckled to himself, "Guess you lucked out that of all things a whip was what you got. People here having a secondary ability outside of their mutation quirk ain't anything new here but at least a good amount of the time they go well with what they got."
"I guess, but it's not like this was something I chose, I'm just stuck with it. Now I gotta learn how to control it."
"What do you do to bring it out?"
Izuku softly smiled at this, rubbing the back of his head with a small pink tint coming across his face. Thankfully with all the time he spent thinking to himself, among them, he came up with a mini-plan of saying something special to her at just the right time. Now was his moment, he said, "Well in my dream, I got a hint that I just need to think of something to capture. So I…. thought of how much I wanted to capture your h-"
Rumi stopped him mid-sentence by putting a hand on Izuku's mouth, saying, "Oh, hold that thought! I just thought of something."
"What?" a wide-eyed Izuku muffled.
"I know the perfect guy who can help you out!" Rumi says, this time instead of just dragging him along, she lightly tugs his sleeve wanting to lead him where she wants to go, "Come, he shouldn't be too far from here! He's great at teaching people things he knows or has an interest in, your progress should increase several folds"
With the disappointment of the plan he spent three hours yesterday thinking of the right things to say and practicing saying them so his voice wouldn't crack slowly going away, he asked, "...Really? Who?"
'Oh, you gotta be shitting me.' were the words Izuku thought of when they arrived where Rumi wanted to take him.
Sitting across from him was the last person in the world right now he wanted Rumi to take him to. Rideru.
As usual, Rideru just sat there with that unmoving face that Izuku is now starting to find annoying to look at.
"Surprise!" Rumi exclaimed excitedly.
Neither of the boys reacted, but they made eye contact and kept it.
Rumi continued, "As soon as Izuku mentioned the trouble he's having with his whip thing I thought, hey Rideru would be the perfect person for this. He's good at this! I mean you are the only person in our group who isn't teaching Izuku something and I don't think you two talked that often."
The two boys blinked blankly at the other, not responding to what she said but showing that they were listening.
"Since you're both my friends I thought hey, this'll be the perfect opportunity for you two fucks to get to know each other. So what do ya say?"
…
'I can appreciate the thought,' Izuku thought to himself, 'But I can see from a mile away how this wouldn't be the smartest idea to take. I don't think I need him anyways.'
Right as Izuku was about to speak and refuse her offer, Rideru spoke up first.
"Sure why not."
'What?' Izuku thought, his eyes widened from shock.
"Wooow, that's new for you," jeered Rumi, "Didn't expect you to accept so easily."
"Consider it paying you back for… the other thing you're helping me out with," Rideru shrugged, taking a gumball from his personal container and popping in his mouth. He stretched back and put his feet up on a nearby box before stating, "Besides, I have no reason to object such a simple task."
"Great!" Rumi cheered, taking two gumballs from his container. She turned toward Izuku with a smile, offering a gumball, "What about you Izuku?"
…
The things that went through Izuku's mind at that moment.
'This mother-' Izuku had to calm himself, he knew how sometimes his thoughts leak out. Instead, he did something different. He accepted the gumball with no hesitation and said, "No objections here, thank you so much Miruko, for this opportunity."
This guy seems to have an attitude with Izuku and the first time Izuku was ever going to directly flirt on a girl got ruined because of his existence. Izuku doesn't know what Rideru's issue is, rather it's to fuck with him or whatever, but he's going to get to the bottom of it. And this is the perfect opportunity.
Suddenly a lightbulb went up in Rumi's head, she asked Izuku, "Oh right, you wanted to say something to me earlier? What was it?"
"Oh don't worry it, it was nothing," Izuku answered, he couldn't say that line now anyways. At least, not until he takes care of something first, "Nothing at all."