Chapter Text
Nine year old Izuku Midoriya was a scrawny quirkless kid with no friends, but that didn’t really matter to him. He was going to be a hero no matter what anyone said!
You see, people always imagine heroes to be someone like All Might, someone who can blow up a block of buildings with one punch. But to Izuku, a hero was someone who helped people no matter what.
He didn’t care that Kacchan called him useless, or his mom treated him like he was made of glass, or even that his teachers messed with his grades. If he could help even one person, he’d be okay!
Izuku was walking home from the store after buying a snack, and walked past his neighborhood park. He heard the sounds of kids playing, and he tried to ignore the sad feeling in his chest.
He let himself think about the different heroes he’d seen on the news recently, to distract himself.
The Rabbit Hero Mirko had just moved to Musutafu! She was super cool and would definitely be a top hero in the next few years.
Izuku started thinking about her quirk, and he almost missed the cry of pain coming from the park.
When he looked to his left, he saw a girl with a deer mutation quirk being pushed down by a group of kids. They were calling her mean names and she began crying.
Izuku didn’t even have time to think before he was running towards the group.
───※ ·❆· ※───
Rumi had just gotten off of her patrol, and couldn’t wait to get home. She kicked a few asses today and now her feet were killing her.
There was a bowl of fresh carrots and a few beers calling her name.
She was taking her usual shortcut through the local park when she noticed a group of asshole kids pushing a little girl down and circling around her.
Rumi felt rage filling her, as memories of her own childhood filled her head. Images of kids pushing her around and making fun of her quirk pushed her forward, ready to step in to protect the girl from the group of bullies.
Before she could get too close though, a scrawny little kid with green hair jumped in front of the girl.
The kid was clearly scared, but he stood his ground and told the bullies off for messing with the girl.
The group just laughed at the kid, and went to hit him next.
Luckily, Rumi was fast as hell, so she jumped in front of the little shit that was about to push the kid and gave him one of her signature glares.
“Oh my gosh! It’s Mirko!” One of the kids yelled.
They started swarming her and asking for her autograph, and it pissed her off.
“Why would I give my autograph to a bunch of assholes who were just messing with other kids?” She crossed her arms over her chest to look even more intimidating.
The group of idiots paled, before hanging their heads and giving a half-assed apology, then walked off in different directions.
Now that the group was gone, she turned to the two kids that were getting picked on.
“You two okay?” The boy was trying to help the girl up, but she swatted his hand away and shot him a glare.
“I don’t need help from a quirkless freak, Deku!” She huffed before getting up and walking away.
The boy was frozen for a moment before hanging his head low, tears brimming his eyes.
Are all the kids in this neighborhood fucking assholes? Rumi thought to herself.
“Hey kid, screw her. You were awesome back there!”
The little guy’s eyes lit up and he looked at her like she just offered him the world.
“R-really?” The boy stuttered out.
“Yeah! Bullies suck. How about I walk you home, kit?”
The boy bobbed his head up and down quickly, his curls bouncing on his head as he gave her a bright smile.
“O-okay! Um, as long as it’s not too much trouble.” The boy wrung his hands nervously.
“Nah, it’s no trouble at all.”
Rumi normally didn’t like kids too much, but something about this kid really spoke to her. Someone who was clearly spit on by the world, but still stepped in to help when it was needed.
As they walked towards the kid’s apartment building, she realized they lived down the street from each other.
She watched him walking next to her and felt a new feeling blossoming in her, one of protectiveness. In her 21 years of life, she never felt the urgent need to keep a kid away from assholes before.
The kid - Izuku is what he told her to call him, paused for a second - clearly wanting to ask something.
She patiently waited as he worked up the courage to ask her his question.
“U-um. Do you think a quirkless person could be a hero?” The kid wouldn’t meet her eyes when he asked.
Rumi looked at this kid, who was nothing more than skin and bones, who willingly put himself between someone who needed help and danger. Her face formed into a rare, genuine smile before she answered his question.
“Hell yeah. Especially someone who is badass like you.”
She knew in her heart that if this kid applied himself, he could become a pro.
Izuku looked up at her with sparkling eyes, speechless.
She looked into the kid’s eyes and cursed at herself.
Fuck. I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure this kid’s dreams come true.
They finished their walk to the kid’s apartment, and his mom invited her in.
“Would you like some tea, Mirko-san?” Izuku’s mom asked.
“Oh please, call me Rumi. Tea would be great, thank you.” Rumi sat on the couch next to Izuku, watching him write in a notebook.
“Of course, Rumi. Please call me Inko then.”
The green-haired woman made her way to the kitchen to get started on tea and snacks.
“What you working on there, kit?” Rumi looked over his shoulder as he stopped writing.
“Oh! I like to analyze heroes, so I write down facts about them and any questions I have about their quirks. I-I h-have one on you ifyouwanttoseeit.”
This kid is full of anxiety, I need to make sure to help him with his confidence.
“Yeah? Let me see what you got.”
She watched as he flipped through the pages until he landed on her pages.
Rumi was currently ranked number 40, and finally had her own agency so that she could work alone. She wondered what the kid would write about her.
A few minutes later, she was sitting in shock after reading over her spread in the notebook. Izuku was smart as hell, and very observant from what she saw. He had great suggestions for her costume, new support gear, and even new ways to take advantage of her quirk.
She finally looked over her weakness section, and bristled at the last bullet point.
Does not work well with others.
Tch. We’ll see about that.
“Doesn’t work well with others, huh? Well that’s just cause I don’t like working with punks who can’t hold their own. Great analysis though kid, we gotta find you someone that can help you hone these skills.”
Izuku just giggles at her statement, blushing at her praise.
“Well, like I said, I don’t normally like working with people. But I think you’d make a great teammate. What do you say? Wanna get trained by a pro?”
Izuku sputters before looking at her in awe.
“W-what? You’d train me?” The sparkles were back in his eyes and she felt firm in her decision to train him.
“Yeah! We just gotta make sure it is okay with your mom, okay?”
After a cup of tea and a great conversation with the young hero, Inko readily agreed for her son to train.
They set up a schedule, meeting everyday after school and her patrol, and everyone went to sleep that night with a new sense of satisfaction.
───※ ·❆· ※───
6 Months Later
Izuku felt like his thighs were going to fall off, but he knew this was just a sign of hard work.
Every day after school, and even on the weekends, he would meet Rumi for various types of training.
She had him lifting weights, working on hand to hand combat, and even parkour!
Rumi really felt like a big sister to the nine year old, and she was also his only friend.
He tried to hide the bullying from her, but she noticed the bruises and burns as soon as they started training together. He wouldn’t give her any names, but she taught him some easy ways to get out of certain holds just in case. His daily run also helped him build stamina and gave him the ability to run away from his tormentors.
Today was an especially bad day, as a few of the students pushed him halfway down a flight of stairs. Luckily, he wasn’t badly injured, but he had a few bumps and bruises on his arms and legs.
“You’re gonna be a better hero than any of those assholes, green bean.” The pro ruffled the boy's curls, a smile on her face but concern in her eyes as she saw the newest batch of cuts and scrapes.
She spoke to Inko constantly about Izuku’s progress, as well as her concerns about the bullying, but Izuku refused to open up or switch schools.
Rumi definitely thought of him as her little brother now, and it was frustrating that she couldn’t do anything to help him.
“Izu, you know you can come to me with anything, right?” Rumi finished patching him up, and the boy nodded to her.
“Thanks, Rumi. I know I can always count on you and mom.” They both stood to leave the gym they trained at.
Inko had insisted that Rumi join them for dinner after each training session, and Rumi initially was hesitant. She was a lone wolf, so this was all very new to her. Luckily, she finally bit the bullet and started having dinner with the Midoriyas, and now she really felt like part of the family.
She happily ate her meal, taking a moment to appreciate her little bro and her pseudo mom. She couldn’t wait to see what her little green bean made of himself.
The world wasn’t ready.