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

Chapter 48: The Aftermath

Rumi stood silently in the hospital hallway, her eyes focused on the immobile Izuku laying in a nearby hospital bed. His face was covered by an oxygen mask while tubes and wires criss-crossed his body. IV bags full of fluids and medication hung from a nearby rack, the occasional bubble indicating that Izuku's body was still pumping blood through his veins. The handsome agent was alive, but just barely. At first Rumi had been hopeful that her soulmate would eventually recover, but after several weeks of waiting she was starting to lose hope. The doctors had explained that along with the physical trauma from being stabbed, the dirty clay had left a raging infection behind that was on the verge of overwhelming Izuku's immune system.

To say that Rumi was not in a good mood was an understatement.

In a way, Izuku had saved himself. Right before he had charged in to save Rumi, Izuku had sent Uraraka off with an improvised radio amplifier to call for help. The timely arrival of reinforcements was what had saved Izuku from certain death.

The first day after the mission, Rumi had made sure to sit down with Uraraka and make sure she was mentally okay. The poor girl had been through a lot, and Rumi wanted to ensure that the intern was not going to blame herself for what happened. Needless to say there had been some waterworks from Uraraka, but in the end Rumi somehow managed to make the teenager feel a little bit better.

Waking up without Izuku next to her was a new kind of hell Rumi had to experience, and in the back of her mind she wondered if she would ever get to talk to her lover again. It felt like the world had lost its color and vibrance, and Rumi had seriously considered taking up drinking to help her sleep at night. Luckily, a talk with Miss Sasaki had nipped that bad idea in the bud.

So now here she was, spending another night in the hospital in the hope that she would be the first person Izuku saw when he woke up.

If he woke up.

Sighing heavily, Rumi leaned against the cold tile wall and idly inspected her long hair. Something had changed in her during that fight, and Rumi would have been ecstatic at her newfound strength if it had not come at the price of possibly losing Izuku. Her white hair now had a white-silver sheen, and her red eyes almost glowed in the dark. It was like something had supercharged her quirk, and Rumi had almost accidentally killed the first criminal she had apprehended by herself. It was like something had dialed all of her senses up to eleven, and increased her physical strength and speed tenfold. After nearly destroying the training equipment in her apartment, Rumi had been forced to buy a whole new set that could handle her newfound strength.

Of course there had been several visitors when the news came out of the disastrous mission. Cassandra and Miyu had consoled Rumi when she came back, and had made sure to let her know that they would do anything in their power to help her. Hawks had been the next to visit, and while the visit was short it did make Rumi feel slightly better that one of her few pro-hero friends cared enough to see Izuku in person. To Rumi's surprise, Uraraka had also shown up with a card signed by her entire class. Then there were the dozens of phone calls and emails from Izuku's co-workers and superiors.

Suddenly, Rumi's newly enhanced sense of smell detected a scent that made her hair stand on end.

The smell of rotting meat and blood.

Turning around, Rumi did nothing to conceal her contempt as Oscar walked towards her with a smile on his face.

"Heya Lola." The American said teasingly. "Spending another night waiting for your sleeping beauty to wake up?"

Barely suppressing the urge to punch Oscar's teeth down his throat, Rumi settled on giving the creepy agent a glare that could freeze a campfire.

"The fuck do you want Oscar?" She growled.

Leaning against the opposite wall, Oscar grinned wickedly. "I am calling in that favor you owe me. I have a job that needs doing and you are the perfect fit for it."

Straightening up, Rumi finally was able to say what she had been wanting to say for a long time. "Go fuck yourself Oscar." She hissed. "I dont give a shit what you want right now."

His fiendish grin growing wider, Oscar glanced over at the immobile Izuku and licked his jagged teeth. "First off, rude. But I can see why you are in such a pissy mood. How about I sweeten the deal?" The American then pulled a small piece of paper out of his suit jacket pocket and offered it to Rumi. "What if I told you I know of an experimental drug being developed that could save poor Mido's life? In fact, it is in the same building as the hard drive I want you to acquire. You do this favor for me, and I will call us even. Honestly it is a win-win scenario for both of us. I get what I want, and you get a chance to save your boytoy's life."

Rumi wanted to spit in Oscar's face and tell him to shove it, but the prospect of getting Izuku back made her pause.

"Am I going to have to kill anyone?" She asked suspiciously. "I don't care what you offer me, I am not killing random people for no reason."

Oscar shrugged uncaringly. "Not if you don't want to. Ideally you just be fast enough to avoid any confrontations."

Rumi frowned as she mulled over Oscar's offer. "You need to give me more information before I agree to this. Where is the hard drive? Who owns it? That kind of stuff."

Oscar chuckled. "And here I was thinking I could just make you run off without telling you. Seems like some of Mido's intelligence has rubbed off on you." Oscar then smiled sinisterly as he glanced back at Rumi. "The lab is being funded by the Ministry of Defense, off the record of course. Especially considering the work that goes on there is less than ethical. I want the hard drive from a specific scientist's workstation."

Well that certainly complicated things.

"What the fuck Oscar? If it is a Ministry of Defense lab why can't you just go get it yourself?" Rumi asked bluntly.

Oscar rolled his eyes before speaking. "Nevermind, I take back what I said earlier about you being smarter." Oscar then tapped his forehead condescendingly. "Think about it Lola, how would a lowly field agent like me know about a classified lab, let alone have access to it? I need the data on that hard drive, and I need to get it in a way that can't be traced back to me. Even if you are caught, you can just bluff and say you got a tip about the lab doing illegal stuff. It's not like the Ministry of Defense will be able to refute your claims."

Clenching her metal fist, Rumi snarled back at Oscar. "Whatever, just give me the address. How soon do you need it?"

Smiling victoriously, Oscar handed the piece of paper to Rumi. "Preferably in the next few days. Besides, who knows how long poor Mido will be able to hang on?"

Turning around, Oscar spoke over his shoulder as he walked away. "Your miracle drug is in lab C, and it should be labeled as compound 3Z. When you have the goods, call the number on the paper. See you around."

Watching Oscar turn a corner and disappear from sight, Rumi growled in frustration as she slipped the folded piece of paper into one of her pockets.

Great, there is no way this could end badly. Just a quick trip to the local black site to grab some medicine and computer parts. Maybe if she asked nicely she could even get it gift-wrapped.

Returning to staring longingly at the comatose Izuku, Rumi put her human hand against the glass and whispered softly.

"Just hang on a little longer Izuku...please..."