No Good Deed Goes Uncomplicated Part 3

Fighting was always about the thrill of battle, winning against impossible odds, proving she was the strongest one standing - that's what actually mattered to her the most, money was secondary. She'd deliberately avoided collecting most of her winnings too, not wanting to draw attention since there was always the risk of her high school finding out and expelling her.

Well, that ship had sailed spectacularly.

Now that she was already kicked out and basically made homeless overnight, there wasn't really anything stopping her from finally collecting what she'd earned. Plus, she had actual reasons to need the money now - like not feeling like a complete freeloader mooching off funny-eyes and his annoyingly kind sister. She was a badass fighter who could pay her own way, not some charity case.

Although, she was still thankful for giving her a roof.

Which brought her to her current situation: sitting in a dingy dental clinic waiting room, feeling like someone had taken a sledgehammer to her face.

"Ow, you idiot!" She shoved Kaito away hard, her defensive instincts flaring as sharp pain shot through her jaw.

"Shush, I needed to check how bad the swelling was," he said, stumbling backward and nearly falling on his ass from her push. The movement earned them a strange look from the bored secretary, who glanced up from her magazine with obvious annoyance before returning to her reading.

"Really? Because it felt like you were poking a fucking corpse instead of somebody who just got their mouth drilled into!"

"Well, you did get a tooth completely knocked out," Kaito adjusted those weird glasses he'd been wearing today - apparently they helped him focus his quirk better or something. His spiral eyes spun rapidly behind the lenses as he examined her face. "The dentist had to do emergency work before he could even make the mold. We're lucky he agreed to see you on such short notice."

"Lucky," she repeated bitterly, gingerly touching her swollen cheek. "Yeah, I feel really lucky right now."

"Could be worse. You could've lost an entire side."

"Thanks, that makes me feel so much better, funny-eyes."

He sighed, sitting back down beside her. "Look, at least the hard part's over. In two weeks you'll have a proper replacement tooth, and nobody will even know the difference."

"Two weeks," she groaned, slumping in her chair. "Two entire weeks of looking like a hamster."

"You lost a fight, after all. Sort of. I mean, you won the local tournament, but you still got hit hard enough to-"

"I didn't lose shit," she snapped, her ears flattening against her head. "That lucky bastard got one good hit in before I knocked his lights out. One. Hit."

"And what a hit it was," Kaito muttered, earning himself a glare.

She still remembered the complete chaos of last night's event - a massive free-for-all that had drawn in way more fighters than usual. Plenty of quirk users in the crowd had jumped in when things got heated, turning the whole place into an absolute war-zone. But she'd won. She'd beaten every single one of them and claimed her prize money.

Just like that other time though, the salty losers and opportunistic bastards had tried to jump her afterward to take the money. The idiot host had made such a public spectacle of how much she'd earned that she might as well have painted a target on her back.

And now that hard-earned sum was completely gone - spent on emergency dental surgery and making a mold for her new tooth. She was right back where she started, except now she had to wait two weeks for the replacement.

"Well, at least it's healing really well," Kaito pushed his glasses up his nose, his spiral eyes still analyzing her. "Your recovery speed is actually pretty impressive. By the time we get home, you should be able to drink something without wanting to die."

"Yay," she said with heavy sarcasm, then immediately hissed in pain as the movement jostled her injured jaw. "Fuck!"

"Right, the lingering pain," he said sympathetically. "Didn't they prescribe you some painkillers?"

"Yeah, but those cost extra money I don't have right now," she grumbled, crossing her arms defensively. "I'll just tough it out. Not like this is the worst pain I've ever felt."

"That's not the point-"

"I said I'm fine."

Kaito gave her a long look, those green rings spinning with obvious exasperation. "You know, for someone who's supposed to be smart enough to win street fights, you're remarkably stupid about taking care of yourself."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me. You push yourself until you break, then act like it's some kind of badge of honor." He leaned back in his chair. "The whole 'tough it out' mentality is great in a fight, but it's going to get you killed - or at least permanently injured - if you keep this up."

"I don't need a lecture from you," she muttered, though the pain in her jaw was making it hard to maintain her usual fire.

"Clearly you do, since you keep doing this to yourself." He softened his tone slightly. "Look, my sister's got some painkillers at home. She won't miss a few pills. At least take those so you're not miserable for the next few days."

Rumi wanted to argue, to tell him she didn't need his or his sister's help, that she could handle her own problems. But another throb of pain shot through her jaw, making her wince despite her best efforts to hide it.

"Fine," she muttered. "But I'm paying her back once I win my next fight."

"Of course you are," he said with a slight smile. "Wouldn't expect anything less from the great Tiger Bunny."

She glared at him, but there wasn't much heat behind it. This really did suck. Not just the tooth - though that was definitely terrible - but the fact that her first real payday had gone straight to fixing damage from the fight that earned it. At this rate, she'd never save up enough to get her own place and stop being a burden.

Not that living with Kaito and his sister was horrible or anything. The couch was comfortable enough, and they didn't treat her like some pathetic charity case. The place was cozy despite being small, and she'd gotten used to their routines. But she didn't want to live off them forever. She wanted her own space, her own money, her own life built on her own merits.

She didn't need anyone's handouts to make it.

Even if accepting a little help right now was the smart play.

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They ended up at Blend Rush, one of those smoothie chain places that seemed to be on every corner in this part of the city. Kaito returned from the counter carrying two large cups, settling down across from her and sliding one across the table.

Rumi grabbed it immediately, taking a careful sip and letting out a long sigh of relief.

The painkillers had already kicked in, and the freezing smoothie was exactly what she needed. The cold numbed that burning spot in her mouth that had been driving her insane for the past hour. Though drinking it was a little awkward - she had to tilt her head at a weird angle to keep the liquid from seeping into that part, making her look like some kind of lopsided idiot.

"You look funny," Kaito observed casually, sipping his own drink.

"Shut up," she muttered around the straw, refusing to straighten her head. "This is working, and that's all that matters."

"I didn't say it wasn't working. Just that you look like-" He tilted his own head at an exaggerated angle, mimicking her posture.

"Do you want me to throw this at you? Because I will." She held up the cup threateningly, her ears flattening against her head.

"And waste a perfectly good smoothie?" He raised an eyebrow, those spiral eyes spinning with amusement. "That seems…wasteful."

"Worth it to wipe that smug look off your face."

"What smug look? This is my normal face."

"Exactly. Smugness is your default setting, twerp."

He laughed, taking another sip. "You're one to talk about smugness."

"That's different. I've earned the right to be smug." She flashed him a sharp-toothed grin despite the lingering pain.

"At the cost of me patching you up every other week." He gave her an infuriatingly smug smile of his own.

She merely scowled back at him. Sure, he patched her up sometimes, but it wasn't like it happened after every fight or anything. Only when some asshole got lucky and landed a solid hit. And seriously, why were there so many guys with body-enhancement quirks that made them punch harder? Like that one bastard who could make his fists sprout spikes - good thing she'd gotten him with a solid kick before that punch could've gored her face completely.

She took another long sip, savoring the sweet mango-banana blend as it soothed her aching mouth.

Despite everything Rumi actually relaxed. The combination of painkillers and cold drink was making everything feel significantly less terrible than it had an hour ago.

Her ears perked up when Kaito's phone buzzed, and he pulled it out, glancing at the screen before his expression shifted to mild concern.

"Something wrong?" Rumi asked, pausing mid-sip.

"Hm? Oh no, nothing wrong." He typed a quick response. "Just my sister asking where we are."

"Tell her we're celebrating my victory," Rumi said proudly, despite said victory currently costing her a tooth and all her money.

He snorted, continuing to type. A moment later, his phone buzzed again.

"What?" Rumi demanded, noticing the slight grimace on his face.

"She's coming to pick us up. Apparently she needs help to carry some stuff she bought." He pocketed his phone with a sigh.

"What kind of stuff?"

"Knowing her? Probably supplies for the clinic. Or groceries. Or both." He leaned back in his chair. "She has this terrible habit of buying way more than she can carry and then calling me for backup."

"Sounds like someone I know," Rumi smirked, earning herself a pointed look then winced as the movement jostled her jaw.

They finished their smoothies in comfortable silence, and about ten minutes later, a small, slightly beaten-up car pulled up to the curb outside. A woman who looked to be in her late twenties leaned out the window - she had the same dark hair as Kaito, but normal brown eyes instead of his distinctive eyes.

"There's my favorite freeloaders," she called out cheerfully.

"We're not freeloaders," Rumi protested as they walked over to the car.

"You live on my couch rent-free, kid. That's pretty much the definition."

"You were the one to offer me the couch," Rumi muttered, sliding into the back seat while Kaito took the passenger side.

"Sure, sure." Kaito's sister - Yuki, Rumi had learned her name was - pulled back into traffic as soon as the doors closed. "So, did you two enjoy your little date?"

There was a beat of silence.

"Seriously, sis?" Kaito turned to look at her with exasperation clear in his voice.

However, Rumi's brain seemed to screech to a halt.

Date? DATE? Her ears shot straight up as the word echoed in her head. This wasn't a date. Absolutely not. No way. It was just... just hanging out with her friend after getting dental work done. A celebration for another badass victory in the ring - well, sort of celebration considering the whole tooth situation.

"What? I'm just saying, you took her out for smoothies after her appointment," Yuki continued, clearly enjoying herself. "That's pretty date-like behavior, little brother."

"I took her out to cheer her up," Kaito protested. "Cold drinks help with the pain."

Dates were for people who did romantic stuff, right? And this was just... smoothies. Friends got drinks together all the time. It meant nothing. Kaito was just being nice because she'd lost a tooth and needed something cold to drink and-

"Uh-huh. And you couldn't have just brought her something from home?" Yuki's eyes sparkled with mischief in the rearview mirror. "You had to take her to that nice smoothie place?"

"It's not fancy."

Oh god, he'd paid for her smoothie without even asking.

Was that... was that a date thing? Rumi's thoughts were spiraling now. She'd never really paid attention to this kind of stuff before. Fighting was straightforward - you won, or you lost. But whatever this was? This was confusing territory she'd never bothered to map out.

"Still counts," Yuki sing-songed. "You paid for her drink, didn't you?"

"She is my patient, common courtesy."

"Aww, so considerate," Yuki teased. "What a gentleman. Taking care of his girl after a tough day."

"She's not my-" Kaito groaned, running a hand through his hair. "Can you please stop?"

But what even was a date, anyway? Was it about the location? She'd seen couples around the city before, doing couple-y things, but she'd never paid much attention to the details. They held hands sometimes, right? She and Kaito hadn't held hands. That meant it definitely wasn't a conventional date.

...Right?

"I'm just saying what I'm seeing," Yuki mused. "You two went out together, got drinks, sat at a table-"

"Oi! Knock it off!" Rumi suddenly kicked the back of the driver's seat - not hard but still hard enough to make her point clear. Her ears were pinned flat against her head and then winced as that kick somehow made her jaw throb.

"Alright, alright!" Yuki laughed, holding up one hand in surrender while keeping the other on the wheel. "I'll stop. I got my fun."

"Bitch," Rumi muttered under her breath, crossing her arms and sinking lower in her seat.

"What was that?".

"Rich," Rumi said louder. "I said that was rich coming from you."

The older woman just chuckled, clearly pleased with herself for getting such a reaction. "You know, for someone who fights entire underground rings without breaking a sweat, you get flustered pretty easily."

"I'm not flustered," Rumi protested. She was annoyed more than anything - yeah, that was it. Just annoyed.

"Sure you're not," Yuki agreed in that same infuriating tone.

Kaito groaned from the passenger seat, his face still buried in one hand. "Are we done now? Can we please just drive in peace?"

"Fine, fine. No more teasing," Yuki promised, though the smile on her face suggested she'd definitely bring this up again later.

"So, what kind of stuff do you need help carrying, anyway?"

"Medical supplies mostly. But I need to set up new equipment down there which is rather heavy for a single person."

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The underground venue was located beneath an old warehouse in a different district, accessible through a rusted door that looked like it hadn't been used in years - which was exactly the point. Rumi had been to this particular ring a few times before; it rotated events between locations to avoid too much attention from authorities which seemed to be working perfectly since they never came knocking.

The place was empty when they arrived, just dim overhead lights casting long shadows across the concrete floor. No crowds, no fighters, no bloodthirsty energy filling the air. Just the skeletal framework of the fighting ring in the center and some storage rooms along the walls. It felt strange seeing it like this.

"Over here," Yuki directed, leading them to one of the side rooms where she apparently kept her doctor stuff to treat the losers.

Rumi and Kaito spent the next twenty minutes hauling boxes from the car which turned out to be some medical equipment, bandages, other things with complicated names and what looked like a portable examination table that was surprisingly heavy for its size. Kaito's eyes kept flickering as he examined each box, dunno why he was doing that since he told her that his quirk only worked on people.

"This one goes against that wall," Yuki instructed, pointing to the far corner. "And be careful with that one - the equipment inside is fragile."

"Yeah, yeah, I got it," Rumi muttered, setting down her box with exaggerated care despite her growing impatience.

Once they'd finished unloading everything, Yuki started organizing the stuff while the other two caught their breath. Well, not really breath-catching for Rumi - she had pretty good stamina from all her training and fighting, if you couldn’t keep up you were dead meat after all. The room was looking more like a medical station now,. The kind of place where she'd be sending her future opponents after she was done with them.

Rumi wandered back out to the main area, her hands clasped behind her back as she looked around the empty space. Without the usual chaos of fight night - the screaming crowds, the smell of sweat and blood, the electric anticipation in the air - the place felt almost peaceful.

Strange.

She walked up to the ring, running her fingers along the worn canvas as memories of past fights flickered through her mind. This ring had seen plenty of her victories. That guy with the hardening quirk she'd knocked out in round two. The woman who could extend her limbs who'd thought reach would save her. The absolute mayhem of that five-person brawl where she'd come out on top.

"Something wrong?" Kaito's voice came from behind her.

She turned around, her ears twitching at the interruption. "Nah, just looking around. I'll be fighting here again in a week." Then she hopped down and crouched to check under the ring, clicking her tongue in disappointment when she found nothing interesting hidden there - no stashed weapons, forgotten gear, or even loose change like she'd hoped.

"Hey, you can't actually fight for at least two weeks," Kaito said, his tone taking on an almost lecturing edge she was starting to recognize all too well.

"Says who?" she challenged, straightening up and dusting off her hands.

"Me."

"Ha!" She barked out a laugh. "Since when do I take orders from you, spiral-eyes?"

"And any doctor, my sister, the dentist, and basically anyone with actual medical knowledge," he added, crossing his arms. Making it clear he wasn't backing down on this.

She stared back with her red eyes but he wasn’t relenting under gaze.

"Ugh, fiiiiine," she groaned dramatically, throwing her head back. "I'll just train then. Keep my skills sharp."

"Not that either."

"Oh, come on!" Her ears flattened in frustration as she dropped down to sit cross-legged right on the concrete floor. "What am I supposed to do for two entire weeks? Just sit around and rot?"

Kaito had somehow already made his way to the ring and hopped up, sitting on the edge with his legs dangling over the side. He looked thoughtful for a moment, those green rings spinning slowly. "Honestly? I dunno. Maybe... study again?"

Rumi just burst out laughing - genuine, uncontrolled laughter that echoed through the empty venue and bounced off the walls. She actually had to brace herself on the floor as the laughter shook through her, then reached up to pat Kaito on the back, almost making him lose his balance on the ring edge. "Good one! Study! That's hilarious!"

"I'm being serious," he furrowed his brow, though there was a slight smile tugging at his lips.

"Oh, I know you are, which makes it even funnier!" She wiped at her eyes, still grinning. "What am I gonna study, huh? ' Ass Kicking I'? 'Math to grade how screwed you are'?"

"If you like fighting so much, why not become a hero and get a license?" he asked, his tone more thoughtful now.

"Nah." She waved dismissively. "Too much work. Too much paperwork and bureaucratic nonsense. All those rules and stuff just to get that license-" She made a gagging gesture.

"I'm serious though." Kaito leaned forward slightly, his spiral eyes focusing on her. "As a hero, you get to fight a lot of people. Legally. Villains, criminals, whoever causes trouble. And nobody can tell you it's wrong, even more, they will cheer you on."

That made Rumi pause, her ears perking up with interest. She actually had to think about that one. Fighting powerful people legally? Her expression shifted from dismissive to contemplative, and she pouted slightly as she actually considered it.

"That's... not a bad point," she admitted reluctantly.

"Plus, you'd get steady pay," Kaito added, clearly sensing he was making progress. "No more relying on tournament winnings or losing all your earnings because of an injury."

Rumi's pout deepened as she stared at the ring, her mind clearly working through the possibilities. "Steady pay, legal fights, no more hiding..." she muttered to herself. Then she looked up at him suspiciously. "But there's gotta be a catch. There's always a catch."

"I mean, you'd have to actually pass the licensing exam, or enroll in a hero school," he pointed out.

"Ugh, see? I knew it." She flopped backward on the concrete floor dramatically. "Nothing good comes without annoying strings attached."

"Yeah, but who said it was easy? A big reward if you succeed too." Kaito pointed out, still sitting on the ring edge. 

"Big reward, huh?" Rumi stared up at the ceiling, her ears twitching as she processed everything. 

She was quiet for a long moment, just lying there on the cold floor while her mind worked and processed her thoughts. Like the ring had a lot of people lining up but it was getting repetitive. Fighting on the streets on the other hand? Well, that certainly was a new challenge.

And it would be all legal.

And honestly? The idea of punching bad guys in the face without worrying about getting arrested was pretty damn appealing.

A slow smirk spread across her face as she sat up, crossing her legs and looking at her friend with her red eyes. "You know what, Kaito? That's actually not a terrible idea. Might be the smartest thing you've said since we met."

"Wow, high praise," he said dryly, but there was a pleased look on his face.

"Don't let it go to your head," she warned, but her smirk remained. 

He merely smiled and closed his eyes. "You're welcome, Rumi."

Uh, weird.

Why was it so hot in here?