Chapter 21 : Hawk 'em

A/N: dang it took me so much time to write the next chapter, dunno... it's not a writer's block... I just didn't have the words flowing as usual...

Anyway I hope y'all will enjoy reading!

https://discord.gg/nnUPcCrNea

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The next day.

A yawn broke the silence of the morning, a cute little rabbit girl was sitting on her bed, stretching her arms.

Stretching after a good night of sleep can bring people a heavenly feeling, "Ahn… I feel so refreshed!" A feeling shared by Rumi too.

She turned her body on the left side of the bed, where her slippers were, but all of a sudden she froze.

Waking up from her morning daze, "Huh? I felt good after waking up?" She murmured.

She continued, and started rubbing her head in confusion, "Is this another dream? Why didn't I have a nightmare tonight?"

She usually wakes up all groggy from her 'attempts' at sleeping because, normally, she has those nightmares.

Even though their frequency diminished thanks to Kurai making her days more jovial, she still had difficulties at night.

For now, she found them manageable, though, she knew that she was only hanging on by a single thread.

She faintly remembered her last 'nightmare' where a crowd of kids was insulting her, mocking her dream of being a Hero. She could disregard those with her smile, the smile she learned from Nana...

But…

What if in the next dreams it's a teacher instead of random kids, or her mother…

Or even worse… Her best friend Kurai?

What if they started stepping on her ambition too?

What if they made her conceited, complacent and lazy instead of what she truly is? Turning a hardworking girl with genius adaptability into an average kid because of some dreams?

'What kind of illusion is this?' It wasn't the first time she repeated this sentence.

"So why?" Indeed, she asked herself, why didn't she have one last night?

"What changed?" Except for the outing they did with Kurai to go and see the baby…

"Was it that burning feeling in my chest?" She got up with a hand on her chest and absentmindedly went to the bathroom.

Lost in her thoughts, she couldn't reach a conclusion at all. She tried to connect the dots, but Rumi knew that she wasn't a great thinker.

*Splash*

Splashing water on her face and trimming her hair, she shrugged, "Meh, it's not like me to think too deeply! Whatever happens I'll face it straight."

Looking at her reflection in the mirror, she could already see the beauty effect of the sleep on her skin.

"Nice!" Rumi smiled, feeling gleeful.

She was already thinking about her day at school, and what they'll do with Kurai after it. She really came to like school nowadays, all thanks to him.

Seeing her dreamy look in the mirror, she blushed and slapped her cheek, "Tsk! Bastard! Even when you're not here you keep annoying me!"

She slammed the bathroom door and went down to eat breakfast with her mom.

Mai seeing her daughter was a bit weird out, she had a cheeky smile on her face while her left cheek was all red, 'A hand mark?'

"Huh.. Everything's good Rumi-chan?"

Rumi was hungrily munching on her thin baguette with her front teeth like a true rabbit, "Yep! Yep! 'S'all good!" She declared between 2 bites.

"Then are you going somewhere with Kurai?"

This instantly made Rumi raise her head but she shook it and answered back.

"Nah! Nothing! But I feel like today will be a great day!" She stopped eating and showed her mother a genuine and full blown smile.

Even Mai was caught off guard, it's not that her daughter didn't smile, no, in fact she smiled a lot. But some of them felt more heavy, as if she was shouldering weights and weights behind that smile.

Today, she had that 'free-of-worries' kind of smile. 'Something must've happened with Kurai right?'

Her motherly senses were elated at this conclusion.

"Fufufu! Don't choke on your food then! It'll be bad if you had to go to the hospital again, no?"

"Un!" She nodded at her mom's word and proceeded to eat slowly, well just a tad bit more slowly, she was that impatient.

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"A great day?" Rumi frowned remembering her previous words.

"What are you gonna do now that your 'lover' isn't here, huh?" A snicker escaped a taller boy's mouth.

Him and his group had surrounded Rumi directly after she entered the school playground.

They looked prepared for this moment, a few of their acolytes were hiding the view from the teachers' eyes.

The other boys behind, laughed at their leader's words. A thick mark appeared on Rumi's forehead.

The day wasn't great at all, for whatever reason that bastard Kurai was late, and those assholes came to annoy her the first hour of the morning!

"Repeat, what did'ya say?! Huh?!" Rumi rolled up her sleeve. It seemed like those last few years where she was a bit more peaceful thanks to Kurai were enough for the other kids to forget about her.

"Oh! Would you look at this, guys? She wants to fight us all alone! Ahahah" The leader looked back at his friend and mocked her again.

Rumi shut her mouth, and gritted her teeth silently, even her knuckles were white…

She was enduring, she remembered Kurai's words to not fall to the provocations and be smarter…. But she couldn't…

'It's the same as in the dreams…' She thought.

Was it starting to spread into her real life too now? All of a sudden a feeling of dread bloomed in her mind, if the Kurai in real life started… 'No I can't think like that!'

She bit her tongue to get her bearings back, and dashed forward, 'Whatever happens, happens! I don't care!'

They were all snickering at her, mocking her, trying to tie her down but she wouldn't let them succeed, no, very far from that, she would show them how she truly fights.

In front of her, the kids didn't even have time to prepare their quirks that Rumi was already right before them, 'Not fast enough! If it was him…'

*Paf*

She used her forward momentum to punch the first kid on her left, striking into his solar plexus. The kid, a head taller than her, didn't have time to blink that he felt his breathing stop because of the shock.

Falling down, he remained clutching on his stomach, his face was all red.

"Is that all?" Rumi glared at them.

They ruined her day, and they weren't even half as decent as Kurai, Rumi shook her head, "You can't even beat 'him' blindfolded."

This time the kids were prepared and started activating their quirks, but Rumi didn't mind, she knew that she could beat them. This fight compared to the training with Kurai was just a joke.

Those few years with him she learned to re-use her hands in a fight more appropriately. Just like the beginning of the fight where she k-o'ed that kid.

If it was the 'her' from before she would've kicked him instead, and maybe the fight would have reached another ending.

She stopped thinking and let the flow of the fight dictate her movements, leaning back with grace, she grabbed the tail she just dodged and pulled it toward herself taking the kid with her.

Even though she seemed weak from the outside, Rumi wasn't a girl to be underestimated or trifled with, her physical abilities were boosted by a big margin! So she didn't even flinch after making him fly, she also had time to kindly receive him with her heel right into his face.

"Argh!"

She grinned, 'Another one down!'

She started to appreciate this fight which ruined her day, and that bizarre feeling of pleasure when she fought against Kurai came again. Undoubtedly with less intensity, but still, because it reminded her of the nightmares, the fight had more stakes, thus more excitement.

Another one threw a rock at her from behind, but thanks to her ears she managed to turn back right on time to dodge some and deflect the others. She also grabbed two stones to throw at the other kids, giving her time to catch her breath and start rampaging again.

Seeing their shocked face, Rumi let out a refreshing smile, showing her pearly white teeth, "Bunny-eared Usako is back, bastards!" She resumed her run.

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'Smart.' From up a tree, laying flat face down on a branch, Kurai complimented Rumi.

'I should let her have her fun, it's peaceful here.' He continued to say lazily.

Indeed, Kurai had arrived just when the fight started. He was truly late for once, it wasn't one of his usual games.

Mainly because yesterday he couldn't train, well mostly because he skipped his daily training to go to the hospital.

So to catch up that wasted time, he woke up sooner and did his exercises, and that's what made him late. He just didn't feel good after skipping a single day, the urge to train his physique was too strong.

'Anyway, she improved, huh?'

Kurai remembered their first fight, and how impulsive she was. Seeing her now, it was like night and day. Her movements were calculated, even though there were some wastes of energy here and there compared to his own movements, she was doing very well.

Blocking a punch from her side, then countering with a palm strike, and sending her opponent flying, she jumped out of the encirclement of kids with her powerful legs.

'Back then she didn't even use fist, now, her legs are her strong point, but since she's a close quarter fighter not using her fists is just dumb.'

Currently in the air, she calmly observed her surroundings, she saw that only 5 more kids were left, including the leader.

Kurai nodded when he saw that. 'Calm and composed, she really copied me well…' He rubbed his imaginary beard.

Even though he saw her fighting with a very good control of her emotions, compared to her past self, or the Rumi who could've never met him, he had to admit that she was more harsh.

The strikes dealt by her were heavy and precise, hitting at the kids weak points.

Kurai used Krav Maga on her because their fights were more deadly, but it looked like Rumi didn't know restraint when she 'copied' him… She kept on hitting them and making them fall like the autumn's leaves with only one hit.

Her improvements were clearly showing to Kurai now that she was fighting someone other than himself. She was now in a league of her own too. 'Obviously.' He sneered from the top of his tree.

If she couldn't even deal with them, Kurai would be disappointed. She was nearly going toe to toe with his human form after all.

'Ooof!' Kurai was surprised to see her execute a Cobra Twist, it was a move that he only showed her recently, and although it lacked fluidity, she was already able to do it.

Twisting the kid's arm behind his back, Rumi looked up to the leader, 'Heh.' She chuckled seeing his fearful look.

Freeing the kid, she kicked him with a side kick, and then approached the 'last boss', "Are you afraid?"

She jumped, kicking the ground and instantly closing the distance between them, the leader didn't even have time to raise his hand and activate his quirk that Rumi's heel was already under his neck.

"Weak."

Turning around, she hit his temple with her other foot just when he was about to lash out at her. The leader fell unconscious too, and Rumi prepared to leave. 'What a nice move! It seems that she stol—learned well under my tutelage… Anyway, time to do my entry I guess.'

Kicking the tree a few times quickly, he initiated his own remastered Shunpo and appeared before Rumi in a blink of an eye.

"Yo!"

Rumi deadpanned at his arrival, "Were you hiding somewhere all along?"

"Me? Hiding? How could I act so cowardly? No, I would've come and saved my bunny princess from danger, like a shining knight." He declared, trying to divert her even if he cringed at his own words.

"Who are you calling a Princess!?" She hit him and murmured 'idiot' under her breath.

Kurai stopped her punch just before it hit his shoulder and smiled at her, "Anyway, what happened?" He still had to act like he wasn't there from the beginning.

"Urgh! Don't remind me! The day started so well but they came and ruined it!"

They both started walking to their class, with Kurai glancing at the kids painfully wailing on the ground, Rumi didn't care but he could smell trouble already, 'Ah no, now, I can see the trouble.' He thought, seeing the teacher noticing them from afar.

"To go on a rampage like this... It seems like you slept well even if we got back a bit late yesterday… So did you have a nice dream, haha?" Kurai raised his eyebrow, trying to joke with her, to prepare her for the storm coming for when the teacher arrives.

What he didn't expect was her overreaction.

Stunned, she stopped in her tracks and looked directly at him, "Huh? What did you say about my dreams?" Rumi's look was hard to decipher at this moment for him, there were so many emotions hidden behind that gaze.

'Fear? Expectations? Disappointment? Hope? Nothing's matching!' He tried to reason her jumbled 'all-in-one expression', but to no avail.

'Did I—' Unfortunately he was interrupted.

A teacher was walking toward them with a furious look, "You two! In my office!"

"Now!"