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

Chapter 15: The Heart of the Matter

It had been one day since Rumi had dragged Midoriya kicking and screaming from his self-imposed exile in a generic motel room. Shortly after arriving back at Rumi's penthouse apartment, Midoriya had passed out from a mixture of emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion, giving Rumi a small window to plan out her liaison's recovery. Eventually, she decided on a course of action and mentally prepared herself for the challenge ahead of her.

Now it was the following morning, and Rumi sat on her kitchen stool munching on carrot slices as Midoriya slept on her couch. She was dressed in her usual casual attire, just a pair of black sweatpants and tank top that showed off her various scars and caramel skin. The grouchy field agent had thankfully not woken up in the middle of the night or tried to sneak away, which led Rumi to believe that deep down a small part of the green-haired man was crying out for help.

With a thick blanket draped over him, Midoriya snored softly as Rumi ate her light breakfast. Even in his current bedraggled state Midoriya still looked good enough that Rumi occasionally caught herself staring at him and admiring his features. Rumi had initially planned to just throw him in her bed and snuggle with him in case he woke up and tried to escape, but after some careful consideration she decided that letting the man sleep in peace was the best option.

Roused from her musings by the sound of irritated grumbling, Rumi watched as Midoriya sat up and blearily looked around in a sleep addled daze. With the barest hint of a smile on her lips, Rumi cleared her throat loudly and spoke to her troubled partner.

"Mornin sunshine." She said teasingly. "If you had told me a few months ago I would be looking after an emotionally unstable guy in my penthouse I would have called you crazy."

Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, the still shirtless Midoriya gave Rumi a weak glare that had the potency of a bowl of warm soup. "God, you just don't ever shut up do you?"

Shrugging uncaringly, Rumi stood up and slowly walked over to her partner with a carrot slice in hand. "You know once I realized that you talk like that just to get a rise out of me it became a whole lot easier to stay calm. Plus I know you don't really mean it."

Coming to a stop just out of reach in case Midoriya tried to do something rash, Rumi examined him carefully as she spoke in a concerned tone. "You sleep okay? Do you need something to eat or drink?"

"Okay I must be dreaming." Midoriya said as he stared at Rumi like she had grown a second head. "There is no way the Miruko I know would be actually concerned about someone else."

Rolling her eyes, Rumi crossed her arms. "Ha ha very funny Midoriya. Not everyone gets to see the nice side of me, so stop trying to push my buttons and answer the question." She then smirked teasingly. "Or am I going to have to hold you down and force feed you like some kind of little kid throwing a tantrum?"

For a second the familiar spark of defiance flashed in Midoriya's eyes, but it was immediately snuffed out and replaced by a look of uncaring depression.

"Some water please." He said quietly as he stared at the floor.

Nodding in satisfaction, Rumi went over to her massive refrigerator and grabbed a cold plastic bottle of water and tossed it to Midoriya. "See? That wasn't so hard was it?"

Deftly catching the water bottle, Midoriya took several big gulps of the refreshing liquid before responding. "It's only because I know that even if I tried to put up a fight you have more power in one finger than I do in my entire body. So what would be the point?"

Sighing sadly, Rumi walked back over and sat down on the opposite end of the couch. "What happened to you Midoriya?" She asked gently. "Where did that badass I used to know go? I am doing my best to help you but you gotta work with me here."

Midoriya briefly glanced up at Rumi, and all she saw in his eyes was self-loathing and pain. It broke her heart to know that the person she liked was in so much pain, and it was made even worse by the fact that she now understood that he had been unhealthily bottling everything up his entire life.

"I don't want any help!" Midoriya spat venomously. "Just leave me alone and go back to being a hero! It doesn't matter what I do because people only see me as a quirkless freak to be pitied at best and ridiculed at worst. Like right now, you are just being nice to me because you found out I am quirkless."

Rumi frowned and crossed her arms. "No, I am being nice to you because I am trying to pay you back for all that you did to help me. You were so supportive and helpful even when I was being a total dick to you, is it so hard to imagine that someone might actually respect you?"

Making a sound of disgust, Midoriya chugged down the rest of his bottle of water before responding. "Yes it is hard to imagine. My entire childhood I was ruthlessly bullied every single day by kids that grew up to be respected by their peers. The thing with kids is that they are honest, so no matter what anyone says I know that they still consider me a worthless freak."

Rumi opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by an angry glare from her partner.

"Don't give me some bullshit about how people can change!" Midoriya snapped. "That is just a fairytale people keep repeating to make themselves feel better. In reality people just always stay the same."

Rumi shook her head defiantly and placed a hand on Midoriya's knee as she tried to look him in the eyes. "Look me in the eye and tell me I have not changed." She challenged. "I think you are just scared of getting hurt again and you think that it is safer to cut off anyone who gets close to you! You can't just live your life hiding from the world. Eventually your secret is going to be found out whether you like it or not. Why can't you follow your own advice and trust me, your partner?"

Midoriya's eyes softened a little as he hung his head in shame and spoke softly in a defeated voice. "That isn't fair, stop using my own words against me."

Sensing a breakthrough, Rumi seized the opportunity and gently slipped her flesh and blood hand into Midoriya's grasp. "Midoriya I swear on my life that I am not going to make fun of you or anything like that. The old me might have, but you taught me that strength is not what defines someone. For fuck's sake you are like some sort of secret agent with all these amazing accomplishments to your name! It doesn't matter whether you are quirkless or not, that shit is impressive."

The defiance and bitter cynicism finally appearing to lose its grip on his mind, Midoriya stared at the caramel-skinned hand in his own with a confused expression on his face. "I...I want to believe you, but it isn't that easy..."

Squeezing Midoriya's hand gently, Rumi spoke with a warm smile on her face. "Then let me prove it. I promise I will prove that you are more badass than most of the clowns who call themselves pro-heroes."

Her smile changing to a feral grin, Rumi pressed onwards as she tried to lift her partner's spirits. "And if anyone tries to put you down I will punch them in the fuckin mouth. We ride together, we die together. Right?"

Midoriya was silent for a few moments, and for a second Rumi worried that her partner had slipped back into his downward spiral of self-hate and bitterness. However, she let out a sigh of relief as Midoriya let out a quiet chuckle.

"Always the diplomatic one." He said quietly in amusement.

Taking a deep breath, the weary man straightened up from his defeated slouch with an anxious look on his face. "Okay, I guess I will trust you. But if you are lying to me I am never going to forgive you."

Rumi smiled, grateful to see a little bit of the real Midoriya peeking out from behind the black cloud of depression and doubt. "Hey I never go back on my word. If I am lying to you it means that something must be wrong, like I am being mind-controlled or somethin."

It seemed to finally dawn on the man that he was still holding Rumi's hand. With a slight blush on his face, he tried to pull his hand away with an awkward cough.

However, Rumi intertwined her fingers with his and gave him a cheeky smile with a slight blush on her cheeks.

"Can't have ya runnin away on me again Izuku." She said teasingly.

For once Midoriya seemed to be caught off-guard. As his cheeks blushed bright red his mouth silently opened and closed several times before he could choke out a coherent sentence.

"B-but..." He stuttered. "I n-need to...use t-the b-bathroom..."