No Good Deed Goes Uncomplicated

A certain wild-spirited teenager was prowling through the desolate midnight streets of Fukuoka. This wasn't about typical teenage rebellion - hell no. This was about something far more exciting. 

Because Rumi Usagiyama wasn't your average troublemaker. 

She was Tiger Bunny! 

The unstoppable force that dominated the underground fighting scene!

Although….

Although her current state hardly matched her usual swagger. 

Without her mask, each breath came ragged and sharp, her teeth grinding together to keep from making a sound. Not that she'd give anyone the satisfaction of hearing her pain - she was too damn stubborn for that. Still, her body was screaming bloody murder with every step, forcing her to use the wall as a crutch while her other hand clutched her battered torso.

But hell if she wasn't grinning through it all.

Why?

Because she'd just shown those arrogant bastards, that's exactly why you shouldn't underestimate Tiger Bunny. Those cowards in the cage event had thought ganging up on the "little girl" would teach her a lesson. 

Ha! 

She'd taught them one instead - specifically, the lesson of how many bones the human body has, and how many she could break in one night.

Five against one? Please. 

Yet…

A coughing fit racked her body, forcing her to pause and spit a glob of blood onto the concrete.

‘Damn, that's gonna leave a mark.’

Sure, she'd taken some hits. But this was different from her usual underground scraps. Tonight, she hadn't just fought in the ring - she'd taken on the entire organization running it.

And holy shit, had it been worth it.

Best. Fight. Ever.

It was their own fault, really. Their prissy boss had his perfectly planned event ruined when she'd demolished all his fighters. So what does the idiot do? Sends every goon he has - quirked and quirkless - after her. 

Like that would stop her.

"Send more guys next time!" she'd taunted as she laid them out one by one. The whole place had erupted into chaos, spectators jumping in left and right, and she'd been in her element. Each punch, each kick, each challenger who thought they could take her down - it just made her feel more alive.

Another violent coughing fit forced her to stop, spitting out a thick glob of blood and saliva onto the dark pavement. 

She stared at it for a moment, the metallic taste lingering in her mouth. 

Well, at least it's not as bad as the other guys.

She was still breathing, still standing - more or less - and that was good enough in her book.

All she needed was to drag her fucked up body home, crash into her bed, and sleep off the worst of it. Tomorrow she'd figure out how to patch herself up, probably raid that stash of medical supplies she'd been hoarding under her bed.

Missing school wouldn't be an issue at this point. The teachers had given up on her months ago, treating her like some delinquent lost cause. 

Hell, even the principal barely bothered with the disciplinary lectures anymore. "Miss Usagiyama, your behavior reflects poorly on our institution," she mockingly mimicked his stuck-up tone in her head. 

Another absence on her record wouldn't make a difference.

But a hospital? That was completely off the table. Those self-righteous doctors would have her reported before she could even explain herself. Then she'd be neck-deep in shit with the school board - again. 

They'd start spouting all that crap about "illegal fighting" and "endangering yourself and others" and "bringing shame to the institution." 

As if they understood anything about real fighting, about proving your strength.

Tch. 

She would've told them all to shove it and dropped out ages ago if it wasn't for one annoying detail, she needed that stupid piece of paper they called a diploma. 

Without it, getting into any decent quirk program would be ten times harder. The thought made her grit her teeth. Having to play by their rules, even a little bit, felt like swallowing glass. But if Tiger Bunny wanted to go pro someday, she had to show at least some semblance of what they called "responsibility."

She attempted another step forward and immediately regretted it. Her legs buckled, and she would have face-planted if she hadn't thrown her weight against the nearest wall.

“Fuck, that hurts.”A sharp hiss of pain escaped through her teeth.

The adrenaline that had carried her through the fights was definitely wearing off now. Every punch, kick, and throw she'd taken was coming back to haunt her with interest.

Her ribs screamed in protest with each breath. That last guy - the one with the steel-reinforcing quirk - had gotten in a solid hit before she'd managed to find the weak spot in his defense. Her right shoulder was fucked, maybe worse, from when three of them had tried to pin her down. But she'd shown them exactly why that was a bad idea. 

The memory of their stupid shocked faces when she'd broken free brought a fierce grin to her face, despite the pain.

But she couldn't pass out here in the street. Some wannabe hero or concerned citizen would spot her and call an ambulance. Then she'd really be screwed. No way was she letting tonight's victory turn into that kind of mess.

‘Just gotta... keep moving. One foot... in front of the other.’

Her legs trembled with each step as she rounded the corner onto a new street. The familiar route home seemed ten times longer than usual. Her vision started swimming, dark spots dancing at the edges like annoying little flies she couldn't swat away. 

One knee hit the ground hard, the impact sending fresh waves of pain through her that, much to her dismay, was the spark that ignited all of her body.

Come on, get up! You don't just give up because of a few…

The world suddenly tilted sideways as her body finally betrayed her. 

She felt herself falling, but her limbs refused to respond. The last thing she registered was someone catching her before she could face-plant into the ground. 

A voice might have said something, but she couldn't make out the words as everything faded to black.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Consciousness returned slowly, and the first thing Rumi registered was that she was lying somewhere that wasn’t her home. Her eyes snapped open, survival instincts kicking in as she launched herself off the mattress… only to immediately regret that decision. 

More pain than she thought possible shot wrecked her entire body, causing her to hiss through as she noticed the bandages wrapped around her torso and arms. 

"Shit," she muttered, carefully lowering herself to sit on the edge of the bed. 

Running her hand through her messy white hair, she pieced together the events from last night. The fights, the brawl, stumbling through the streets, and then... something catching her before she hit the ground.

Her long ears drooped in frustration as she pulled at them. "Can't believe someone actually got me like that." 

However, she had to admit, whoever found her had at least helped instead of calling the authorities. 

That was something. 

But she patted her pants pockets and confirmed what she already suspected - no wallet. "Great. Just great."

Probably lost it when she was limping.

Standing carefully, she made her way to a conveniently placed mirror hanging on the nearby wall. 

"Oh damn," she whistled low, examining her reflection. An impressive black eye dominated one side of her face, which was swollen enough to make her look like she'd smashed a brick wall. 

Multiple times.

She gingerly poked at her cheek, wincing slightly. "Definitely left a mark this time." A grin slowly spread across her face despite the pain. "Worth it though. Should see how the other guys look."

She then took a look at her surroundings.

The room itself was modest but neat - not a hospital, which was a relief. But that still left the question of exactly where she'd ended up, and more importantly, who had brought her here.

The sound of a door opening made Rumi's muscles tense instantly, her body automatically shifting into a defensive stance despite the pain. 

But what she saw made her pause - a guy around her age carrying a tray of food. What caught her attention weren't his movements or the food with a very good smell, but his eyes.

They were unlike anything she'd seen before: a hypnotic spiral pattern of luminous green rings that seemed to glow with their own light.

"Oh! You're finally awake," he said, a surprised smile crossing his face.

Rumi frowned, dragging a hand down her face. "Tch. Like this would be enough to keep me down-" She cut herself off with a wince as her fingers accidentally brushed against her swollen eye. 

‘Damn, that's tender.’

The guy just chuckled as he walked closer, the tray balanced carefully in his hands. "Indeed. Most people would've been out for at least a week with injuries like yours. But you managed two days."

"TWO DAYS?!" Rumi's ears shot straight up as she bolted upright, only to immediately regret the sudden movement. A sharp pain lanced through the right side of her chest, making her yelp and fall back onto the bed, clutching her ribs.

"Hey, careful there," he said, setting the tray down on a nearby table. His strange eyes showed genuine concern, though there was also a hint of amusement in his voice. "Those ribs of yours are still pretty messed up."

Her mind was racing. Two whole days?! What the hell... She'd been knocked out plenty of times before, but never for that long. 

Just how fucked up was her body?

The new guy raised his hands in what she assumed was some sort of placating gesture."Name's Kaito. And before you try to kick my ass - which would probably tear your stitches, by the way - I'm just trying to make sure you didn't undo any of my work from the past two days after that jump."

"Like hell I'm just gonna let some random guy check me out!" Rumi growled, though she remained seated on the bed, one arm still protectively wrapped around her chest.

"Says the girl whose bandages I've been changing for the past two days," Kaito said with a slight smirk, those spiral eyes glinting with mischief.

The effect was instantaneous. Rumi's face flushed as red as her eyes, her ears shooting straight up as she bared her teeth. Pain or no pain, she launched herself up from the bed, fists clenched. "You WHAT?!"

"Kidding! I'm kidding!" Kaito quickly backpedaled, hands raised in surrender as he took a step back. "My big sister did all that stuff! She's a nurse at the local clinic - she handled anything... uh, intimate. I just helped with my quirk to point out bad places when she was around!"

Rumi stood there for a long moment, her crimson eyes boring into him. She was searching for any hint that he was lying, any reason to follow through on her impulse to punt him through the nearest wall.

Finally, she let out a long breath and dropped back onto the bed, though her glare didn't soften much.

"Your sister better actually exist," she muttered, wincing as she adjusted her position. "Or I'm gonna add spiral patterns to the rest of your face to match those weird eyes of yours."

"They're not weird!" Kaito snapped defensively, crossing his arms. "It's my quirk that made them like this. Can't exactly help it, you know."

"Aw, did I hurt spiral-eyes' feelings?" Rumi smirked, her sharp canines showing. "Don't worry, they suit your whole 'trying to act cool' thing you've got going on."

He rolled his eyes, the green rings seeming to spin slightly with the motion. "Just lie down, will you? Those ribs aren't going to check themselves."

Rumi's frown returned, her ears twitching with suspicion.

"Look…" he sighed, running a hand through his short brown hair. "I'm not going to touch you or anything like that. I just need to make sure you're healing properly. You took one hell of a beating, and the last thing either of us wants is for those injuries to get worse because you're too stubborn to let someone help."

She kept her eyes locked on him for a long moment, then finally grumbled, "Fine. But remember what I said about rearranging your face."

"Trust me, the threat was received loud and clear the first time." he said dryly. "Now, can we please get on with making sure you didn't mess up my sister's hard work with that little jump scare of yours?"

"Whatever," Rumi muttered, carefully lying back on the bed, though she kept her sharp eyes trained on him. "Just make it quick."

Kaito stepped closer, his spiral-patterned eyes seeming to focus more intently as he looked her over. "Try to stay still for a minute." The green rings in his eyes began rotating slowly as he scanned her injuries.

"The hell are you doing?" Rumi demanded, her ears twitching with unease at his intense stare.

"My quirk - Triage Vision," he explained, still focused on his examination. "I can see injuries like they glow a lot if it is bad. Helps figure out what needs the most attention." His brow furrowed slightly. "Your right side is still showing pretty severe trauma... those ribs definitely need more time to heal. Shoulder's looking better though."

"So that's what's with the freaky light show in your eyes," Rumi said, a hint of genuine interest creeping into her voice despite her attempts to sound unimpressed. "Guess that's actually kind of useful."

"More useful than getting into underground fights and ending up half-dead in the street?" he shot back, though there was more curiosity than judgment in his tone.

Rumi's ears flattened against her head as she bared her teeth in a snarl. "Watch it, funny-eyes. You don't know anything about-"

"You're right, I don't," he cut her off, stepping back and holding up his hands. "But I do know that if you don't take it easy for at least a few more days, you're going to end up with permanent damage. Even someone as tough as the 'Tiger Bunny' needs time to heal."

Rumi shot up to a sitting position, ignoring the pain as she fixed him with a dangerous glare. "How the hell do you know that name?"

"Calm down," Kaito said, maintaining his distance but not backing away entirely. "It wasn't hard to figure out. You're the only rabbit-quirk fighter in the circuit, and my sister... well, let's just say treating underground fighters is her side gig. She's patched up quite a few people who've mentioned getting their asses handed to them by a bunny girl."

She studied him for a long moment, ears still alert and tense. "Your sister's one of the underground docs?"

"Yeah. Though she prefers 'discrete healthcare provider,'" he air-quoted with a slight eye roll. "I help her sometimes - my quirk makes it easier to spot which fighters need immediate attention. Plus, it's good practice for my own medical training and it pays the bills."

Rumi slowly settled back, though she remained sitting up. "Huh. So that's why you didn't call the cops or a hospital." A smirk crossed her face. "And here I thought you were just another do-gooder trying to play hero."

"Please," Kaito scoffed. "If I was trying to play hero, I would've lectured you about the dangers of illegal fighting instead of admiring how you managed to take down five guys at once." His eyes widened slightly as he realized what he'd said.

"Oh?" Her smirk grew wider, showing her sharp canines. "Been admiring my fights, have you, spiral-eyes?"

"That's- I meant-" he stammered, then took a deep breath. "Look, just lie back down so I can finish checking your injuries. Unless you want my sister to come home and find out you've been undoing all her work?"

"Yeah, yeah, quit your nagging," Rumi lay back down, though her smirk remained. "Though I gotta say, you don't seem all that impressed about having the legendary Tiger Bunny in your bed."

Kaito's eyes spun rapidly for a moment as he tried not to choke on air. "That's- you can't just- I mean-" He took another deep breath, trying to regain his composure. "You're doing this on purpose now, aren't you?"

"Maybe," she grinned, clearly enjoying his discomfort. "Consider it payback for that stupid comment."

He sighed, focusing his quirk back on examining her injuries. "You know, most patients don't try to give their caregivers heart attacks."

"Most patients aren't me," she replied smugly, then winced as she shifted position. "So what's the verdict, doc? Am I dying or what?"

"No, but you're definitely not going anywhere soon," he said, his spiral eyes still scanning. "You've got extensive bruising, both internal and external. Those cracked ribs need at least another week to heal enough for any strenuous activity. And before you start arguing - yes, fighting counts as strenuous activity."

Rumi's ears drooped. "A week? Are you kidding me?" She pushed herself up on her elbows, ignoring the pain. "I can't stay down that long. I've got to show up at school at least three times this week or those stuck-up administrators will start asking questions."

"And how exactly are you planning to explain looking like you went ten rounds with a cement mixer?"

"Wouldn't be the first time," she muttered, then groaned. "But I can't afford them poking around right now. Last time they threatened to put me under 'special supervision' if I kept missing classes."

"Special supervision?"

"Some crap about assigning a teacher to monitor my movements," she made a disgusted face. "Like I'm some kid who needs a babysitter. They're just looking for an excuse to stalk me and catch me fighting."

Kaito crossed his arms. "Well, showing up looking like this is definitely going to raise some flags."

"Yeah, no shit, twerp," she snapped, then immediately winced as the movement jostled her ribs. "Got any bright ideas?"

"Actually..." Kaito's eyes spun thoughtfully. "My sister might have something that could help. She's got these special patches she uses for fighters who need to keep a low profile."

"Patches?" Rumi's ears perked up with interest.

"Yeah, they're pretty effective at hiding bruising and swelling. Won't do anything for the actual injuries though," he warned, giving her a stern look. "And you'll still need to be careful. One wrong move and those ribs..."

"Yeah, yeah, I got it," she waved off his concern, then immediately regretted the motion as pain shot through her side. "Fuck."

"That's exactly what I'm talking about," he sighed. "Look, even with the patches, you're going to need to take it easy. No fighting, no training, and definitely no picking fights at school."

Rumi's red eyes narrowed. "I don't pick fights. I finish them."

"Right, because that's so much better," Kaito rolled his eyes, the spiral pattern making the gesture almost hypnotic. "Just... try not to get into any situations where you need to 'finish' anything for at least a week. Think you can manage that?"

"No promises," she smirked, then added more seriously, "But I'll try. Not like I have much choice anyway."

"Speaking of which, you should eat something," he gestured to the forgotten tray of food. "Fighting off injuries takes energy, and I'm guessing you haven't had a proper meal in two days."

As if on cue, Rumi's stomach growled loudly, causing her to look away in embarrassment.

"Why do you even care?" Rumi asked suddenly, her red eyes studying him intently. "Could've just left me there in the street."

Kaito shrugged, absently running a hand through his hair as his spiral eyes dimmed slightly. "Honestly? I don't really know. I was just heading home from a late shift at the clinic when I saw you about to faceplant into the concrete. Didn't think much about it, just... moved."

"Most people would've called an ambulance," she pointed out, ears twitching suspiciously.

"Yeah well, when your sister regularly patches up underground fighters, you learn that sometimes ambulances do more harm than good." He picked up the food tray and set it carefully beside her. "Besides, once I got a good look at your injuries with my quirk, I could tell you'd been in one hell of a fight. Figured you probably wouldn't want official attention."

Rumi snorted, though she eyed the food hungrily. "Could've been a villain for all you knew."

"A villain with rabbit ears and fighting injuries that looked like they came from taking on an entire fight club?" He raised an eyebrow, the green rings spinning lazily. "My quirk showed me the full extent - you had hits from what must have been at least a dozen different people. It was pretty obvious this wasn't some normal underground match."

She paused with a piece of bread halfway to her mouth. "You can tell all that just by looking?"

"The injuries tell a story," he explained. "And yours told me about someone who fought their way through a crowd. Multiple angles, different types of impacts - some quirk-enhanced, some normal punches and kicks. It was like reading a blow-by-blow of you taking on pretty much everyone in the place."

A fierce grin spread across her face. "Damn right, I did. Those bastards thought ganging up on me was a good idea. Showed them exactly why it wasn't."

"Yeah, I can see that," Kaito said dryly, his spiral eyes scanning her injuries again. "Though next time maybe consider not fighting an entire underground fighting ring by yourself?"

"Where's the fun in that?" she smirked, then winced as her bruised face protested the expression.

"You've got a weird definition of fun," Kaito muttered, watching as she finally started eating a loaf of bread. "Most people don't consider getting beaten half to death entertaining."

"Most people…" Rumi said between bites, "don't know what it feels like to be the strongest in the room." Her red eyes gleamed with pride. "Even when they all came at me, I still won."

"Is that what you call this?" he gestured at her injuries. "Winning?"

She swallowed her food and fixed him with a serious look. "I walked out of there on my own two feet. Everyone else? Had to be carried." Then she grinned, showing her sharp teeth. "Well, more like dragged."

Kaito opened his mouth to respond, then closed it, shaking his head. "You're actually crazy, you know that?"

"Says the guy who picked up a random injured fighter off the street," she shot back, reaching for more food.

"Fair point," he conceded. "Though in my defense, I didn't know you were this insane when I helped you."

"Regretting it now, spiral-eyes?"

He studied her for a moment, those green rings in his eyes rotating slowly. "Surprisingly... no. Though I probably should be."

"Ha!" Her ears perked up in amusement. "Maybe you're the crazy one after all."

"Maybe," Kaito admitted with a slight smile. "Speaking of crazy though, my sister should be home soon for her check-up on you. And unlike me, she's definitely going to give you an earful about fighting an entire underground ring by yourself."

"Great..." She groaned, her ears drooping. "Another lecture."

"Look at it this way - at least she'll bring those patches you need for school." He started heading toward the door. "Try to finish eating and get some more rest. Doctor's orders."

"You're not a doctor yet, funny-eyes," she called after him, though there was more amusement than bite in her voice.

He paused at the doorway, those green rings in his eyes spinning playfully. "No, but I am the guy who kept you from face-planting into the concrete. So maybe listen to me just this once?"

"Tch." Rumi leaned back against the pillows, trying to hide a small smile. "Get out of here before I change my mind about rearranging your face."

"Yes, yes, very threatening," he chuckled. "Try not to break anything while I'm gone."

As the door closed behind him, Rumi found herself staring at the ceiling, her mind replaying the events that had led her here. Getting saved wasn't usually her style, she was self-reliant.

But somehow, this didn't feel as bad as it should have.