Chapter Text
A few months after Izuku’s graduation, and a few weeks before Miruko and Ryukyu’s wedding. Izuku and Ochako train with Miruko, and Ryukyu while the others are out on patrol. As Miruko’s still carefully recovering from that gunshot wound, Ryukyu’s keeping a close eye on her and her stretches to make sure they’ll both be able to walk the isle soon.
Miruko watches as Ochako bombards Izuku with a flurry of punches as they spar, and it reminds her, “Did I tell you guys my parents are coming to the wedding?”
Ochako tilts her head, She has parents?
Ryukyu adds, “My dad is too.”
Izuku tilts his head, She has a dad?
Miruko stares at them, I’m gonna assume no… “It’s been a few years since my parents have been back in Japan. They moved to Puerto Rico…-” She realizes how long it’s actually been, and feels the sands of time in her throat as she coughs, “Ten years ago…”
Even Ryukyu shutters at that passage of time, “Oh god…”
Ochako and Izuku are still too young to be affected, and each just tilts their head in the other direction, “?”
Ochako decides to ask, “Miruko, I don’t think you’ve ever really told me about your parents. What are they like?”
Izuku adds, “And, Ryukyu I don’t think I’ve ever heard you mention a dad before.”
Over the past few years, Izuku and Ochako have heard bites of information from their respective mentors about their past, but in this moment, Miruko and Ryukyu realize they haven’t ever really shared all that much… Since these two are to be the Best Man, and Maid of Honor, it seems only right that they get to learn just a little bit more.
Miruko takes a seat, and gestures for the other heroes to gather round. “I’ll do ya one better! I’ll tell you about my parents, and then I’ll tell you about how Ryuko and I met, and how we got here!”
Ryukyu says, “And I suppose I’ll tell you about where I came from-”
“Me first though!” Miruko sparkles at her. Ryukyu gestures for her to begin. Miruko smiles, “Okay, okay, let’s see where to start…”
Many years ago, a white haired woman from Puerto Rico took a vacation to Japan. At a cherry blossom festival she bumped into the cutest thing she had ever laid her eyes upon: A nervous looking business man, with big fluffy ears… It was love at first sight…
The woman was Blanca Sabrosa, soon-to-be Blanca Usagiyama. Soon-to-be owner of a not so successful foodtruck. A sort of collector of all things cute, and part-time martial arts aficionado.
The man was her soon-to-be husband, Lopmaru Usagiyama. A rabbit-eared, rabbit-nosed, and rabbit-footed, and that is to say very lucky, though very anxious businessman. Another martial arts aficionado though rarely a participant in the actual thing, he much preferred martial arts anime. He considered himself most lucky for having met Blanca, becoming her ‘esposo’ and sometime after that fateful meeting….
They had a child, who would one day be known as The Rabbit Hero Miruko, The Number One Hero, and The Symbol of Hope. Though for a while, she was mostly known as-
“Rumi!!!” Blanca called for her daughter, “Are you ready to do some training!?”
The little rabbit girl sprang down the hallway of their little apartment, dressed up in the kickboxing gear her mom gifted her for her sixth birthday, just yesterday. “Listo!!!”
Blanca’s heart melted at the sight, “Ay bendito! So CUTE!!!” She couldn’t help but hug her, much to the little rabbit’s discontent.
Rumi squirmed free, “You said fight training!”
“Okay, okay.” Blanca giggled, and slid on her target gloves. She had to stay seated on her knees to be at Rumi’s height. She started by letting Rumi punch and kick those gloves to her little heart’s delight, but the more important thing she felt was teaching Rumi how to dodge, and how to handle incoming attacks, “You gotta be ready, mija!” She told her as she slowly swung that glove over the little rabbit’s head.
Rumi ducked, and asked, “But why Mama?”
“In case someone comes at you.” She swung again for Rumi’s side.
Rumi blocked it with her little hands! “But why would they come at me, Mama?”
Blanca didn’t want to answer that, so instead she asked, “Ready for my ultimate attack?”
Rumi nodded, so excited!
Blanca just started swinging wildly, “Aaaah! Puerto Rico Smash!!”
Rumi giggled so much as she blocked and evaded as much of it as she could, but eventually her mom got a good whack on the side of her head. Rumi fell over dramatically.
Blanca snickered, “Ohhh my poor babyyy, ven aquí!” She scooped her up, and blew a raspberry where Rumi got tapped.
Rumi thumped her leg in protest though giggling the whole time, “Stop iiiiit!”
Blanca took a deep breath. . . “No.” She blew another raspberry on Rumi’s cheek!
Rumi squirmed to break free! “Mamaaa!”
Blanca let her go.
Rumi sprawled to all fours, like a tiger about to pounce, “I wanna know why!”
Blanca stifled a giggle at the sight of “My little tiger bunny. I just want you to be safe.”
“Safe from what?- er- Why?”
“Because you’re adorable.”
Rumi shook her head, still on all fours, “Nononono. Why?”
“That’s the reason.” Blanca really wasn’t sure she should say all this to a six year old, but she couldn’t think of a made up reason she imagined would satisfy Rumi. “You need to be ready, because you’re cute, but it’s not just that…” She beckoned Rumi to sit in front of her.
As an afrolatina woman living in japan, Blanca’s had more than her share of dirty looks, and awkward interactions. She struggled to get a job at any nice restaurant like she wanted, that was the whole reason she started the food truck, so poor Lopmaru wouldn’t be forced to pay for everything on his own. Even then it hasn't been easy. She’d wanted to shield Rumi from this hard truth for as long as she could, but in this moment she thought maybe it’d be better she heard it from her, than suddenly wondering why kids- why adults would treat her differently when they don’t even know her, just for the way she looks.
Blanca told her, “Even though you were born here, you don’t look like the people who were born here. You look like me- like a foreigner, and… not all the people here like foreigners… Especially when they look like us. There’s some people out there, who won’t be nice to you just because of the way you look. I want you to be ready for them.”
It took Rumi a moment to process that… She eventually said, “So this is so I know how to beat em up like All Might!”
Blanca squints, she felt like there was something wrong in that logic, but she couldn’t quite pin down what, so she just said “-Yeah. Like All Might.” She realized the error- “But only people who come at you first- Like if they grab you or something. All Might wouldn’t just punch a random guy on the street you know!”
“Yeah yeah! Only villains who are big meanies cause I’m a rabbit!!”
“Eh- Yeah…” Blanca, as not a heteromorph, just a brown woman with white hair, hadn’t even considered the whole heteromorph discrimination angle on top of everything. Ay dio… My baby’s going to be attacked on three sides!
Rumi remembered her dad taking her to an All Might meet & greet. Blanca couldn’t go despite being the bigger All Might fan because she got sick, but she wouldn’t allow Rumi to miss such a chance. The line for the meet up went all the way out the building, and down the street, when Rumi saw this she started to worry they’d already missed their chance. “Papa…I can’t even see the front.”
Lopmaru hoisted her up onto his shoulders so she could get a better view, “What about now?”
She saw even more people than she thought possible, and despaired more between Lopmaru’s black fluffy ears. “He’s gonna leave before we get to meet him…”
“Rumi, do you wanna know a secret?”
“You know how we can skip the line?” Rumi sparkled.
“Uh, no-”
Rumi whined and held on to his ears like handlebars. “I’m never gonna meet All Might!”
“But Rumi, I have a secret trick to make sure you do!”
Rumi grumbled with her cheek against the top of his head. “What is it, Papa?”
“If you say something, that’ll make it true.”
Rumi perked up, “Really?”
“It doesn’t work for everything, but like… Your mom, she said last night: ‘Oh no, I’m getting sick!’ and now look at her.”
Rumi gasped.
“You have to really believe it for it to come true, and the best way to believe it is by saying it.” This was one of Lopmaru's methods for managing his own anxiety. It wasn’t always so effective for him, but he hoped maybe for his daughter it would-
Rumi panicked, “But wait! I already said I’m never gonna meet him- so I ruined it already-”
He reached up and held on tight to her little hands, “No no no, you can still fix it, just say what you want, and really believe it!”
“I wanna meet All Might!”
He realized his error, “Wait, not want. You’re going to meet All Might!”
Rumi squeezed his hands and just kept repeating “I’m going to meet All Might! I’m going to meet All Might! I’m going to meet All Might!”
“Yeah!”
Rumi said the simple prayer, “I’m going to meet All Might.” About a thousand times, even when her voice went hoarse from saying it, she kept on saying it.
Then, her wish came true. They made it to the front of the line! Lopmaru let her down so she could go first.
All Might kneeled to meet Rumi at her height, or at least as close to it as he could get. “And what’s your name, little hero?”
Rumi strained to say, “Rumi… Usagiyama.”
All Might held his hand out to her, his hand was almost the size of her whole torso.
Rumi shook it as hard as she could with both of her hands, and all the strength her little body allowed.
All Might chuckled-
Rumi dove face first into All Might’s chest. She clung to him so tight, “I’m gonna be super strong like you…”
He could barely understand her hoarse voice, but he patted the back of her head and said, “I’ll be looking forward to it.”
As sweet as the moment was, were it up to Rumi she’d stay attached to him forever, eventually Lopmaru helped All Might pry her off. He put Rumi back on his shoulders, and All Might signed a few hoodies for them. Lopmaru shook his hand before they left, telling All Might, “My wife is a big fan!- I am too- She got a little sick last night and couldn’t come.”
“I’m sorry to hear that! You make sure she gets that hoodie!”
“I will- Thank you All Might!” Though she couldn’t quite see it from where she was sat, Rumi remembered the delight in her dad’s voice the whole way home. The sort of pride he had in giving his daughter a good day.