Life is Simple, Love is Not (Izuku x Miruko)

Chapter 21: Speed and Aggression

Rumi was once again down in the observation bunker as the tall boy named Iida prepared to fight Izuku. With dozens of screens capturing every angle of the scene, Rumi found herself waiting with anticipation to see what kind of tricks Izuku would use this time.

However, Rumi's train of thought was interrupted as a nervous voice called out to her.

"Umm...excuse me...Miss Miruko?" The boy with red hair said with obvious trepidation.

Turning around, Rumi was surprised to see the three remaining students from Class 1-A looking at her apprehensively as they awkwardly avoided meeting her gaze.

"First off, just Miruko is fine." Rumi said with a grin. "Second, what do you want? An autograph or something?"

Before the red-haired boy could answer, the short girl with brown hair had stepped forward and began asking questions while keeping one eye on the many screens.

"We wanted to know more about Agent Midoriya." The shy girl said honestly. "He is...well he is kinda scary. Is he always like this with everyone? I know we don't know anything about him, but the way he is acting I can't help but feel he has some sort of grudge against us."

Rumi arched an eyebrow in surprise. That was certainly not what she had expected to be asked about.

Rumi let out a soft sigh before speaking. "Alright let's get one thing straight right now, I am only gonna tell you what I think is relevant. To be honest I probably shouldn't say anything considering how pissy Iz...I mean Midoriya, gets when people start poking around his personal life. I mean the guy scares the shit out of me sometimes, and that is a hard thing to do considering what I do for a living."

The three teens all seemed to go a few shades paler after hearing Rumi's words, but seemed determined to get some answers regardless.

"Short answer, yes he has one hell of a grudge against all of you." Rumi said bluntly. "Not against you personally, but against what you guys represent. You guys are living the life he dreamed about as a kid. He was not given any opportunity to grow or prove himself and now he is competing against the very people he used to idolize."

Rumi idly ran a hand through the notch on one of her ears as she spoke.

"Frankly it is pretty sad the way he turned out. If things were different I could easily see him being the best hero around. So don't take everything he says personally."

The three teens nodded understandingly, and then the stern girl with a ponytail asked a new question.

"What is it like to work with him?" The girl said curiously.

Rumi could not help but grin as the memories of her partner flashed through her head. "Well we had a really rocky start. Mostly because I was a complete asshole. I am lucky he gave me a second chance after all the shit I put him through. But now we are a good team. If you can get on his good side Midoriya can be a really nice guy. I know it is hard to believe, but he can be very sweet with the people he trusts."

It looked like the red-haired boy was about to ask another question, but he was interrupted as the many video screens zoomed in on the two figures squaring off in the fake city street.

Dressed in his standard UA gym uniform, Iida bounced lightly on his feet as he put his glasses in a protective case. Across the street, Izuku slowly loaded shotgun shells into his weapon before racking the pump with an ominous click-clack.

"Are you ready Iida?" Izuku said flatly to his opponent.

"Yes sir!" Iida responded enthusiastically.