"It's not what we have in life, but who we have in our life that matters." - Unknown
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Izuku and Cassandra returned from their discussion to see Rumi and Miyu sitting next to each other on the couch while chatting happily.
Izuku smiled as he thought to himself. "If expensive carrot cake is the price for Rumi to make a new friend, I will gladly pay it."
Looking at Miyu and Rumi curiously, Cassandra suddenly spoke up.
"Well you two seem to be getting along well. Miruko, I hope you are not trying to steal my girlfriend from me." She said with a teasing smile.
Miyu's face immediately turned bright red as she frantically tried to explain the situation. "We were just talking! I don't like her like that! Well, I like her, but not like like her. Wait did you just say girlfriend?!"
Izuku could now see why Cassandra enjoyed Miyu's reactions. While it was fun to see the normally calm and stoic woman so flustered, Izuku wanted his subordinate to have a good time as well.
"Yeah, my girlfriend." Cassandra said like she was speaking about something blatantly obvious. "I mean after all we did last night I figured-"
"Okay that information is not needed!" Miyu said loudly as she cut Cassandra off.
Rolling her eyes at the antics taking place in front of her, Rumi looked at her boyfriend expectantly. "So what were you guys talking about? Some kind of disguise or something?"
Giving his girlfriend a quick smile, Izuku gestured for her to follow him. "It will be easier to show you." Turning to Cassandra, Izuku nodded gratefully. "Thanks for the help Cassandra, I really appreciate it."
Walking over to sit next to Miyu, Cassandra smiled warmly.
"No problem Izuku. I hope you two enjoy going out together."
Guiding Rumi to one of the bathrooms, Izuku gestured to a small metal briefcase sitting on the countertop. "Care to browse my magical wares milady?" He said in an exaggerated manner. "I can guarantee I have items that are positively mind boggling."
Giggling a little, Rumi lightly punched Izuku's arm. "Cmon Izuku, just show me what the stuff is."
Walking over to the briefcase, Izuku opened it up to reveal a neatly organized selection of products that looked similar to makeup and costume parts.
Arching an eyebrow curiously, Rumi looked at the items in confusion. "I don't get it. It all just looks like regular makeup."
"That is where you are wrong." Izuku said as he began digging through the many items. "These are some of the best look alteration products around. Just think about it, we live in an age where anyone can look like anything. Old fashioned image products that were only designed for regular humans just don't cut it anymore. It doesn't matter what you look like, these products can change anyone's appearance."
Nodding but clearly still a little doubtful, Rumi gestured to her long white rabbit ears. "So they can even change something like this?"
Nodding, Izuku finally found the items he had been searching for and gave Rumi a teasing smirk. "Trust me, Cassandra showed me what is possible with this stuff. Now hold still, I need to make sure I put this stuff on correctly."
Fifteen minutes later, after much griping and whining about "girly shit", Rumi's transformation was complete.
Feeling proud of his work, Izuku gestured for Rumi to look at herself in the mirror. "Take a look for yourself."
Clearly still a little hesitant, Rumi slowly turned around and peeked at the mirror.
Her caramel skin was now a striking light purple, and her white hair was now jet black. The most amazing part was how Rumi's face had been completely changed. Gone were her normally sharply defined facial features, now replaced with softer features that one would find on someone who did not relentlessly train their body. Her red eyes were now jade green, and her bionic arm looked almost perfectly human. To top it all off, Rumi's normally tall and skinny ears were now fluffier and more akin to a fox.
With her jaw agape in amazement, Rumi stepped closer to the mirror and inspected her new appearance. "Holy shit Izuku! I...I look totally different! I thought this stuff would be annoying to have on, but I can barely feel any of it! I mean even my ears still move and everything!"
Nodding proudly, Izuku put away the appearance alteration items and closed the briefcase. "Like I said, Cassandra knows her stuff. Now that nobody will recognize you, are you ready to go on a date like normal couples do?"
Her face lighting up with happiness and excitement, Rumi stopped inspecting herself and gleefully bounced out of the spacious bathroom. "Fuck yes! Let's go Izuku!"
Getting dragged out to the living room by his exuberant lover, Izuku smiled happily as Rumi swept Cassandra up into a tight hug. Meanwhile, Miyu's jaw was hanging open as she stared incredulously at Rumi's new kitsune appearance.
"Thank you so much Cassandra!" Rumi said loudly as she gave the singer a back-breaking bearhug.
Laughing in amusement but wincing slightly, Cassandra waited for Rumi to put her back down before replying.
"Your welcome Miruko." Cassandra said warmly. "I am glad I could help."
"Oh no you don't!" Rumi said with an excited smile on her face. "We are friends now, you call me by my actual name. Not my job name."
Laughing softly at Rumi's exuberance, Cassandra nodded. "Understood Rumi, I will have Miyu send you my number as well."
Izuku was about to comment on needing to buy two slices of carrot cake, but before he could get a single word out Rumi had dragged him out of the hotel room and over to the elevator.
"What should we do first?" Rumi said like a kid arriving at an amusement park. "Walk in the park? Get some crepes? Get one of those ridiculous couple drink thingies at a restaurant? Maybe go to a photo booth? God, I wanna do so many things!"
With Rumi practically vibrating in excitement, Izuku chuckled as the elevator doors opened. "We have the whole day to do all the generic couple stuff we want. Go crazy."
Exiting the hotel, Rumi's first request was a nearby shopping mall.
"Because I want to go clothes shopping with you." She had explained to Izuku. "I wanna pick out some clothes for you."
Happy to do whatever his girlfriend wanted, Izuku drove them to the shopping mall and led Rumi inside. Stepping into the crowded indoor plaza, Izuku held Rumi's hand and guided her towards the nearest clothing store.
If he was being honest, Izuku was having fun just watching Rumi's reactions. From walking while holding hands, to pushing their way through big crowds, Rumi looked like she was having a blast the entire time.
Walking into the clothing store, Izuku watched as Rumi navigated her way to the men's clothing section and began picking out clothes. For half an hour, Izuku indulged his girlfriend and tried on a wide variety of clothes. If he was being honest, Rumi did not have much fashion sense. The majority of the clothes he tried on appeared to be of the aggressively stylish design, and he eventually always ended up looking like a bouncer or a tacky generic musclehead.
Buying a few pieces of clothing so as not to hurt his girlfriend's feelings, Izuku gently pulled her out of the clothing store and asked what she wanted to do next.
"We should go see a movie!" Rumi replied enthusiastically. "I wanna make out with you in the theater like they do in TV shows!"
Izuku chuckled in amusement. "If that is what you want to do, I have no reason to object. I am pretty sure there is a movie theater in this mall, let's go see if there are any good movies playing."
Eventually finding the movie theater, Izuku and Rumi bought tickets to a generic romance movie and made their way inside. Once they were in their seats, Izuku had his hands full keeping his enthusiastic girlfriend from kissing him while the lights were still on.
"Rumi we have to wait for the movie to start before kissing." Izuku explained as he gently pushed his lover's face away.
After a few minutes of disappointed pouting from Rumi, the theater lights finally dimmed as the movie began.
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It was a good thing they had chosen seats at the very back of the theater. If anyone had seen what was going on there was no doubt Rumi and Izuku would have been kicked out for indecent exposure.
Walking out of the theater with a happily sated Rumi in tow, Izuku had to take a minute to get his thoughts in order before asking what Rumi wanted to do next.
With Rumi pressed against his side and humming happily, Izuku found a quiet spot away from the crowds of shoppers before speaking.
"Umm, Rumi...that was a little bit more than just making out." He said quietly.
Rumi smirked teasingly as she replied. "I did not hear you complaining. If anything I was worried you were going to draw too much attention with those cute moans of yours."
Feeling his cheeks blush bright red, Izuku awkwardly cleared his throat. "That is b-besides the p-point. What do you want to do next?"
Rumi took a minute to think, but was interrupted by the sound of her stomach growling.
"How about some lunch?" She said as she grinned sheepishly.
Resisting the urge to laugh, Izuku nodded and led the way to the nearest restaurant. The establishment in question was nothing special, just another generic restaurant that served mediocre food for hungry people on a budget.
After being guided to a table by one of the restaurant employees, Izuku sat down with Rumi and picked up one of the laminated menus.
"So what are you going to get?" He asked as he examined the affordably priced meals on the menu.
Rumi was silent for a moment before replying. "Probably just a burger. What I really want is the special drink on the back of the menu. It's called the cupid float, and it looks overwhelmingly lovey-dovey."
Turning the menu around, Izuku examined the item in question. If he was being honest, it was exactly the kind of drink that one might see in a romantic comedy show or movie. It was a tall glass full of root beer, strawberries, and vanilla ice cream. The top layer frosted with pinkish-red sprinkles and whipped cream, while two curly plastic straws formed a heart before ending on opposite sides.
Izuku nodded as he smiled. "Yeah it looks very over the top. If that is what you want, lets get it."
Quickly ordering their food, Izuku and Rumi ate their lunch before finishing the meal with a cupid float.
The teenage server who delivered the colorful desert looked less than pleased to be associated with such a cute dessert, and quickly disappeared as soon as he had appeared.
Rumi on the other hand looked absolutely delighted, and immediately placed the dessert in the middle of the table so it could be reached easily.
"If I was a teenager and saw a couple order this i probably would have barfed." She said with a grin.
Izuku nodded in agreement. "I never thought I would be in this position, but now that I am I can honestly say I don't hate it at all."
Leaning in to drink from the straw on his side, Izuku found himself almost nose to nose with his girlfriend. Staring into her jade green eyes, Izuku could not help but think he preferred Rumi's natural eye color over the artificially vibrant green.
Rumi paused her drinking for a second, but kept her face close to Izuku's as she spoke.
"I love you Izuku." She said with a warm smile on her face and a slight blush on her cheeks.
Mimicking Rumi's movements. Izuku smiled back. "And I love you Rumi."
Oblivious to all the stares from other customers, Izuku and Rumi finished their dessert and left the restaurant after paying.
"So what do you want to do now?" Izuku asked as he walked hand in hand with Rumi through the bustling shopping mall.
After a moment of silent thinking, Rumi replied. "I want to go to an arcade. I haven't been to one since I was a kid and I wonder if it will be as fun as I remember it."
Nodding in agreement, Izuku led Rumi back to his car and drove away from the large shopping mall. As he drove, he had Rumi look up good arcades on her smartphone. After some browsing, Rumi decided on a location. Apparently the best arcade nearby was situated close to UA. Now called a game center, the large building was a prime location for bored students. Boasting a wide selection of games and activities for affordable prices, the game center appeared to be the perfect spot for Rumi to relive some of her youth.
After dealing with a small traffic jam and the usual busy city intersections, Izuku and Rumi finally arrived at the game center. Parking in a nearby parking garage, Izuku let Rumi lead the way to the modern arcade.
Stepping inside, Izuku was momentarily overwhelmed by the many colorful lights and loud noises. He had never actually been inside an arcade before. When he was a kid he had avoided any place where kids his age would gather, and spent most of his free time either at home or at the local library.
"Izuku are you okay?" Rumi said worriedly, obviously having noticed the change in Izuku's demeanor.
Quickly adapting to the sensory overload, Izuku nodded. "Yeah I am fine. I just have never...actually been inside an arcade before."
Rumi seemed to quickly understand what that meant, and entwined her fingers with her boyfriend's hand as she smiled confidently.
"Well then I guess it is my turn to teach you a thing or two. C'mon let's go!"
Walking through the arcade with Rumi, Izuku marvelled at all the various games and activities. There was everything from rhythm dancing machines to virtual reality combat simulators.
Stopping in front of a large machine that had a wide screen featuring anime characters dancing to a beat, Rumi smiled excitedly.
"Oh shit! I remember this game!" She said with nostalgia in her voice. "It's a newer version of a dancing game me and my friends used to play. I used to kick ass at this stuff! I wonder if I can set a new high score?"
Happy to see a more carefree side of his girlfriend, Izuku gestured to the machine. "Well why don't you give it a shot and see if you still got it?"
Grinning eagerly, Rumi cracked her knuckles. "Oh I know I still got it. If anything I will probably be even better than I used to. Let me do a practice round just to get used to the machine before I do it for real."
Stepping up onto the platform, Rumi used the touch screen display to set up the practice round. As she did so she explained how the game worked. On screen there would be anime characters dancing as color coded movement prompts went from the top of the screen to the bottom. The platform was actually a highly durable screen itself, and the movement prompts would scroll by in time with the screen so as to provide the corresponding dance moves.
Picking a generic upbeat song, Rumi slipped into a state of intense focus. For Izuku, he had only seen his girlfriend enter that hyper focused state when she was in combat.
It seemed that Rumi had picked the normal difficulty level, as the movement prompts scrolled by at a moderately sedate pace on the screen and platform. It was obvious that Rumi was simply warming up, as she completed the song with a perfect score. Bouncing lightly on her feet like a pro boxer, Rumi flashed Izuku a breathtaking smile.
"Alright, now to do it for real." Rumi said excitedly. "Let's look at the high scores." Pulling up the scoreboard, Rumi scrolled all the way to the top. "Alright...extreme difficulty...high score...okay the top scoring player is named...Pinky? With a score of ninety eight percent."
Suddenly a girl spoke up from behind Izuku. "Are you sure you can beat that score?"
Turning around, Izuku looked down to see a short girl with purple hair accompanied by two boys. One boy had blonde hair with a lightning bolt-shaped streak of black, and the other boy had four large purple and black balls in something resembling a mohawk where his hair should be. They all wore the U.A. school uniforms but seemed to be enjoying some free time.
"Jirou what are you doing!?" The diminutive boy whispered frantically.
Ignoring the panic from her short schoolmate, the girl named Jirou continued to stare at Izuku and Rumi curiously.
"My friend set that high score after weeks of practice." Jirou said flatly. "No offense but I don't think you adults can really keep up with her kind of energy."
"Jirou knock it off!" The blonde-haired boy said through gritted teeth.
Seemingly impressed by the girl's boldness, Rumi grinned cockily. "I like your guts kid, but those are fighting words if I ever heard them."
As the two boys shrank back in fear, Izuku rolled his eyes as Rumi specifically selected the song Pinky's high score was made on.
"Just watch and learn kiddo." Rumi said in a slightly condescending manner.
Pressing the start button, Rumi waited as the anime characters began to dance in time with the beat. As the music rose in volume and intensity Izuku did his best to hide the smirk on his face.
These kids had no idea who they were talking to.
Immediately a colorful cascade of movement prompts began racing down the screen, and Izuku quickly learned that it was impossible to try and understand what they all meant.
Besides, it was more entertaining to watch Rumi dance anyways.
Starting off with perfect synchronization and coordination, Rumi began shuffling around on the platform in a series of complicated dance steps. As the pace of the music only got faster, Rumi slid across the platform and executed a perfect moonwalk exactly in time with the prompts on screen. Continuing to dance without missing a single step, Rumi suddenly turned around.
Then she began dancing with her back to the screen.
Looking over, Izuku could not help but laugh at the two boys' expressions. Their jaws were agape in amazement at Rumi's dancing prowess and seemed to be too shocked to even move.
Jumping up and spinning back around to face the front, Rumi smirked at Jirou as the scoring meter stayed at one hundred percent.
Jirou was much more reserved than the boys, but Izuku could see her eyebrows raise in surprise as Rumi continued to flawlessly dance in time with the song.
As the song reached a fever pitch, the smile on Rumi's face grew even bigger as she threw in a few extra moves of her own between beats.
One of those moves being a one-handed handstand.
Flipping back up to her feet and landing with the coordinated precision of a professional dancer, Rumi finished the song with a theatrical flourish. Giving Jirou a smug look, Rumi stepped off the platform as the anime characters on the large screen burst out into applause, and the score meter remained firmly at one hundred percent perfection.
Walking to stand next to Izuku, Rumi batted her eyes at him flirtatiously.
"Do I get a reward for getting a perfect score?" She said with a sultry smile.
Hearing the two boys splutter in what sounded like a mix of disgust and envy, Izuku smiled and gave Rumi's head a gentle pat.
"There are kids watching so that is all you get...for now." He said as he gave Rumi a knowing wink.
Turning to face Jirou, Rumi leaned against Izuku and crossed her arms haughtily. "What was that about adults not being able to keep up with twerps like you?"
Rolling her eyes, Jirou held up her hands in mock surrender. "Fine, I take back what I said. You obviously have the skills to back up your words."
As the two boys seemed to finally recover from the shock of the dancing and flirting, Jirou eyed Rumi curiously as she spoke.
"Our friends are actually on the second floor. Would you be willing to meet my friend and give her a few tips?" Jirou said evenly before smirking slightly. "Plus I want to see her face when I tell her you beat her score. It is not often she gets beaten at something she loves."
For Izuku, he honestly did not really want to get dragged into meeting some random teenagers. This was supposed to be time just for him and Rumi, and he was on the verge of declining the purple-haired girl's request.
However, before he could say anything, Rumi had already agreed. Her ego was obviously taking over, along with the fact that she wanted to show off for her boyfriend.
"Well when you put it like that I can't refuse." Rumi said haughtily. "Lead the way."
With her two friends in tow, Jirou led Rumi and Izuku through the maze of game machines, up an escalator, and over to a group of students crowded around a retro fighting arcade machine.
Immediately spotting several familiar hairstyles, Izuku mentally groaned in annoyance.
Of course these kids had to be from the same class.
Rumi seemed to spot the familiar students as well, but it was already too late to run away.
As the small crowd of students cheered excitedly, Jirou called out to a certain pink-skinned girl.
"Ashido!" Jirou said loudly. "I have someone you need to meet."
As one, the students of class 1-A turned around.
Immediately there was the sound of panic as five of the students shrank back in fear.
Obviously confused, Jirou gave her five terrified classmates a puzzled look. "Umm...what's up with you guys?"
Finally, the brown haired girl named Uraraka managed to stutter out a coherent response that made the rest of the class erupt into panicked shouting.
"T-t-thats Agent Midoriya!"