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The first time she met Miruko, Fuyumi didn’t introduce herself properly. She used her mother’s maiden name at school instead of the Todoroki family name. Endeavour prefered if people didn’t know about his children that ‘failed’. Public image was something Fuyumi painfully understood. There had been a villain attack near her preschool, thankfully long after school was released. She had been on the way to the train to head back to the estate to make her and her father’s dinner when there was a small explosion. The blast of heat caught her off guard, a natural ring of frost blooming from Fuyumi’s core to cool her down. Suddenly, a pair of strong arms lifted her off the ground and back a few hundred feet. Fear ran through Fuyumi more than shock, so she didn’t make a sound as she made her body colder, colder, colder. She was quickly placed on safe ground and released.
“It’s alright, I just need civilians to stay back here until it’s safe.” That was the voice of a hero, Fuyumi recognized the tone. She looks up, seeing the white costume and powerful body of the Rabbit Hero: Miruko. “You’re a little chilly, miss.”
“Sorry.” Fuyumi bowed her head. Miruko chuckled.
“I’ll be back to check on you in a moment.” And she was off, springing into action and jumping back into the fray. The battle was fast, Fuyumi watching the hero’s strong kicks and impressive evasions. That was a true hero. She cared. She trained. She smiled and laughed. She comforted civilians. She winked at Fuyumi-she winked at her?! She clutched her tote bag on her shoulder and tried to dust the self-made frost from her cardigan. Too many emotions swirled in her. Understanding of the situation, the charisma of the hero, her basic appearance that was good for teaching but not for flirting, stop THINKING about that Fuyumi, now is not the time.
“What’s a pretty thing like you doing out so late?” A greasy voice accompanied a greasy hand on her shoulder. Fuyumi let the frost reappear.
“Waiting for a friend, sir.” She shook him off, stepping closer to the scene of action, which seemed to be safer than where she was at the moment.
“Now now, no need for the cold shoulder.” The pun was not appreciated at the time. “Why don’t I get you somewhere safer? No need to lie.”
“She wasn’t lying,” Miruko, villain trapped between her thighs like a vice, called. “I’ll be done in a moment, Frosty, and then we can get on our way.” She winked again at Fuyumi before handcuffing the villain between her legs. Fuyumi tried not to focus on the power of those thighs. The greasy man grumbled and thankfully left. The cops took the villain away, asking Miruko questions and checking that Fuyumi was okay and not injured from the attack.
“Miruko got me out of harm's way, I’m fine. Thank you for your assistance.” She was courteous as always, in case any of them even knew who she was, and because that’s what she taught her students.
“I’ll get her safely home, no worries!” Miruko slapped one of the officers on the back before moving to wrap an arm around Fuyumi’s shoulders. “Sorry about that creep, Frosty. Glad he backed off.”
“Thank you for helping me, and for stopping that villain. You’re a wonderful hero, Miruko.”
“Why thank you! You got a name, or should I keep calling you Frosty?” They began walking towards the train station.
“Fuyumi. Yukimura Fuyumi.”
“Pleasure to meet you, Fuyumi-chan! Ice quirk?”
“Yes. Sorry about that, when you saved me. It’s instinct in times of, um, distress.”
“Hopefully you don’t get into those too often.”
“Nothing like this specifically. Nothing as bad as what I’ve seen.” Fuyumi sighed. “Sorry, a little too deep there. You didn’t have to walk me to the station, Miruko.”
“Call me Rumi.”
“What?”
“A beautiful woman like you? I’d want you calling me Rumi.”
“O-oh.” Fuyumi blushed dark.
“Ah, too forward? I don’t even know if you’re interested in..women.”
“No. No! I am, I’m just, uh..I’m not used to people being interested in me .”
“Bullshit. Sorry, but I don’t see how someone as gorgeous as you didn’t have all the guys and gals and enbies falling for you at school.”
“There were a few..obstacles to that happening.”
“Well, I’m just going to keep shooting my shot then. Can we swap numbers, Fuyumi-chan? I’d love to get to know you more.”
“Okay. Okay! Yes, here.” Fuyumi pulled her phone out, Rumi getting a peek at her screensaver. A childhood photo, four siblings. A girl, Fuyumi assumedly, squeezed between two boys with opposite hair - one bright white and the other stark red - and a baby in her arms with evenly split hair of those colors. They all wore matching dark blue clothes. Fuyumi opened her messenger app. “Add yourself and send a message so you’re at the top.” Rumi did just that, adding her first name and a rabbit emoji to her contact info. “I teach at a preschool near here, if you’re ever in the area. I know the kids would love to see you.”
“And you would too, I bet.” Rumi winked again.
“Maybe.” Oh, now she was playing coy. This was escalating much too quickly.
“I’ll talk to you later then, Fuyumi-chan. Get home safe.”
“Thank you. Have fun with your paperwork!”
“Ugh, don’t remind me. Worst part of being a hero.” Fuyumi laughed.
“Good night, Mi- Rumi.”
“Good night!”
Rumi and Fuyumi texted. A lot. Rumi liked using emojis and current slang, and she taught it slowly to Fuyumi. Her new knowledge was only released on Natsuo once, but he completely freaked out. He called her immediately and they actually got to talking for hours, which was nice. They hadn’t had time to catch up recently. Rumi convinced her to get Snapchat, and she sent her a lot of pictures from different hero activities. Pictures of her desk covered in paperwork, pictures of fights, pictures of Hawks devouring fried chicken, pictures of villains in cuffs. It actually got on the news once, Miruko taking her phone out immediately after an arrest. A reporter asked if she had a secret boyfriend. She just laughed, and laughed again when she sent the link to Fuyumi.
“We should go out sometime, Fuyu!” They were video calling on a Friday night after Miruko’s patrol.
“Like a nightclub, or a movie, or…”
“Have you ever been clubbing? Hawks likes going out to these hero-only clubs, we could totally go out!”
“I’ve never been clubbing before. I’ve always had to be home, at least when my brother still lived here. And I have to make dinner for my dad, but I’m sure I can prepare some things before we go.”
“Can your dad not cook his own food?” Fuyumi still hadn’t told Rumi about who her father was, and they’d been talking daily for over a month.
“He’s very busy, and he’s used to me doing it. I’m sure I can work something out. I don’t even know if I have anything to wear.”
“I’m sure you do! You can always borrow something of mine if you need to.”
“Rumi, we are different sizes.”
“If you have a pair of leggings, one of my tank tops would look great on you!”
“Is that appropriate attire for that location?”
“Yes, Fuyumi, it’s absolutely fine. No one is going to judge you there, that’s the point. You just wear what you feel confident and comfortable in.”
“What would you wear?”
“Usually, a cropped hoodie and high waisted jeans, or whatever matches with Hawks because he’s a brat.”
“Okay. Alright. And I’ll be let into this bar, even though I’m not a hero?”
“Of course! They’ll let you in with me, and just don’t act all weird around any heros that are there.”
“I’m plenty used to interacting with heroes, it’ll be fine.”
“Really? Just because of me?”
“I know...I’ve met quite a few heroes, through my family.”
“Huh, cool.” They talked for a while longer and decided Rumi would pick Fuyumi up the next night to go to the bar.
Fuyumi worked on her lesson plans and grading in the morning before precooking her father’s dinner and starting to get ready. She’d told Rumi she didn’t need to borrow anything, finding a pair of nicely fitting jeans in her closet as well as a patterned short sleeve blouse. She put her hair up and wore a little more makeup than usual, but she still looked very much herself. Rumi showed up about 10 minutes early, much to Fuyumi’s surprise. She was honestly expecting her to be late. They spent the drive listening to Present Mic’s radio station and Rumi ranted about something Mt. Lady had sent her. They found a parking deck and walked to the club. Rumi had her ears tucked into a hat, sporting a muscle tee tucked into joggers. They clearly weren’t trying to look all done up to show off. The entrance was fairly hidden, and Rumi had to show her hero license to get in. Fuyumi showed her government ID, as well as the provisional license she kept on her.
“Whoa, you have a provisional hero license! When did you get that? Do all teachers have them?”
“No, but I got mine in high school. Me and my tw-my friend just wanted to try it, as we’d done some training, but we were never going to be full-fledged heroes. It’s more for emergency use.”
“Aw. It would have been so fun to meet you on the field.”
“I much prefer the safety of my current position. And in a way, I’m still helping people. I want to help these kids be the best they can be and have a safe environment to learn.”
“You definitely provide that, Fuyu. Let’s get some drinks!” As Rumi led them to the bar, Fuyumi recognized quite a few sidekicks and lower ranking heroes. Miruko was definitely the most famous hero here, and Fuyumi was here with her. They ordered some house special cocktails and chatted at a table for a bit. “It’s not like most bars or clubs, you know? It’s pretty low key, but you can still dance or drink or socialize, whatever. It usually goes the hardest on Fridays.”
“It’s nice. Not the vibe I was expecting, but I prefer this.”
“The bird might be stopping by later, depending on how his patrol goes.”
“You haven’t seen him in two weeks, that should be nice.”
“Yeah, I miss that brat.” They finished their drinks and danced for a bit, Rumi having to teach Fuyumi what to do. Some time later, the door opened and red feathers darted towards Rumi.
“Bunny!” Hawks came over fast, hugging Rumi right as she laughed.
“Birdy!” She lifted her best friend off the ground and swung him around. Fuyumi tried not to stare at her flexing muscles. “Let me introduce you to my date.” Hawks’ eyes were immediately on her, the shocked recognition visible. They’d met a few times before when the young hero would follow her father home.
“Todoroki-san! Good to see you again!”
“Todoroki? Like Endeavour?” Rumi looked over at her too.
“Ye-yes. He’s my father.” And this is not how she wanted her possible future girlfriend to find out!
“Endeavour can’t make his own dinner?”
“That’s what you decide to focus on, Rumi? Really?”
“You look kind of like him, not by much. More like the UA kid, Shouto, your brother I’m assuming.”
“Yes, Shouto is my brother.”
“You two look a lot alike, and everything I know about your family kinda fits in with them. That’s how you’ve met so many heroes before!”
“More when I was younger, my brother and I went to some events with my father, or we’d stay with him at his agency so we could use some training facilities while our house was being renovated.”
“You and Natsuo? He must have been a baby!”
“Not Natsu, um...my..I really don’t feel comfortable talking about this right now, I’m sorry.” Fuyumi looked down at her shoes but felt strong arms wrap around her.
“No, I’m sorry hun, I shouldn’t have pushed it. Let’s dance some more, yeah? Hawks can buy us drinks!” Hawks groaned.
“Fine, only because I love you, Ru.” It was a fun night overall, and Rumi was kind enough to drop her back off at the Todoroki complex.
“Text me when you get home, okay?”
“Yeah, of course.” Fuyumi opened her door to get out but the rabbit hero grabbed her arm. “Wait! Um...do you..I know dating a hero is really difficult and emotionally taxing, I think you understand that from having family in the business but..would you like to go out with me? I really like you, Fuyumi. I’m fine with staying friends if that’s what you’re comfortable with, I really treasure your input and company-”
“Yes, Rumi.” Fuyumi cut off her rambling. “I’d love to go out with you.” She pressed a kiss to Rumi’s cheek before getting out. “Remember to text me, sweetie.”
“YES! Yes, I will.” She was blushing deep. “I’ll text you for sure.”
“Good night. I had a lot of fun.”
“Me too.” They smiled at each other for a moment before Rumi finally drove away. Fuyumi watched her go, sighing happily before going inside. It was late, for her at least, the time ticking past midnight, but she smelled her father before she saw him. Fire had a distinct scent, and Fuyumi flinched before taking off her shoes and going to the kitchen. Endeavour, facial flames off, was hunched over the counter eating the food she made for him directly out of the tupperware. “You’re up late, father,” she said conversationally.
“You went out.” He stated.
“I did. Did patrol go well today? You don’t look hurt.”
“It went fine. Where did you go? Who went with you?”
“Father, I’m 23. This isn’t necessary. But if you must know, I went out with a friend of mine to a bar.”
“Who?”
“I’m going to bed, father. I’ll be up to make breakfast.” For the second time that hour, there was a hand on her arm to stop her, but this one was far less gentle.
“Fuyumi, what boy did you go out with?”
“My friend’s name is Usagiyama Rumi, and she’s very nice. Please let go of me, dad, I’m tired.”
“Usagiyama...Miruko? How do you know Miruko?”
“I ran into her a few months ago and we got to talking. She’s very nice. Can I please go to bed now?”
“Hawks wasn’t with you? I know they’re friends.”
“Hawks showed up to the bar after his patrol, but he got very easily distracted. I was there to spend time with Rumi, which I did.” This felt so circular. Her arm was starting to feel numb. It had been a good night.
“What bar? Did anyone see you?”
“A hero license-only bar, I don’t remember the name. Yes, plenty of people saw me. Only Hawks knew who I was. Enji, I would really like to go to bed now. You should do the same, it’s been a long day.” He finally let her go.
“We can talk more in the morning.” Endeavour went back to his food and Fuyumi huffed.
“Good night, father.” She quickly walked to her room. Moments like that made her understand the way Natsuo and Shouto felt, but she could also see the care behind his actions. He just...didn’t implement them correctly. At least he wanted to know why she was out so late. At least he noticed. At least he was aware of her routine, that showed something, right? She tried to find the positives of the situation while changing for bed. She was settling down when her phone buzzed.
Rumi 🐇
Home safe! ;*
Fuyumi
I’m glad :) get some rest, you have patrol tomorrow afternoon!
Rumi 🐇
yeah yeah, whatever babe
Fuyu
(*´I`*)