Chapter Text
"I hate it, I hate it, I hate it" Rumi thought as she tugged against the tight, white dress she wore.
She looked stunning, she knew so, but not being to move like she usually did was such a pain in the ass. The slit up her right thigh, probably her favorite part, the only redeeming factor this dress had as it allowed at least some freedom of movement.
"I should have stayed at home. . .or at least found a good excuse not to come" She continued, bag in hand as she looked out of the window of the taxi she had taken. "I could have just offered to take another night patrol. . .fuckkkk"
She hit her own thigh in frustration, sighing to herself aloud, making even the taxi man worry.
"Are you okay mam? Is the car too hot?" The question was fair, it was summer and nobody liked getting sweaty. Except maybe her, hot and sweaty was almost her second nature.
"No. . ." She answered, huffing out. "But thank you. . .just regretting my own decisions" She followed, tilting off her hand and off the window and sitting back against the seat, crossing her arms under her chest.
The older man chuckled, his brown eyes reflecting against the mirror. "I have done a lot of that in my life" He said plainly and with a smile, Rumi nodding along. "Care to see if I have any experience with your problem?"
She considered the offer, honestly she did and given that any more silence would make her want to kill herself. . .
"Ever gone on a blind date before?" She asked blankly, making the man chuckle once more as he shook his head in defeat. That one he hadn't gone through.
"I am afraid I haven't" Rumi titled her head up, looking at the night sky through the sun-roof the taxi had. A few stars were doted all along the expanse of black, those few that the lights of the city couldn't hide.
"Well. . ." She started. "I am about to suffer through my first one"
The man nodded, going down a gear as he parked the car a few blocks away from the destination. "Want me to turn around? I am not keen on leaving a woman with a man she doesn't want to be with"
Rumi smirked, she liked his attitude. "I could beat his ass if he tried something, honestly I could"
"I do not doubt that all mam, just asking, for your sake"
She titled her head, looking at herself, chest down, before her eyes went back to the man that had turned his head to face her. "What would you do if you were me?"
"Not meet up with a guy I don't know and don't want to learn about"
"Oh I feel like I know who it will be. . .that actually makes it even worse" She said with a smile, the kind that hid slight disgust.
The man sighed, looking at his counter still ticking up. "If it's in any case about the money I can-"No no please. . .I will pay you in full no worries. I am just really not sure if I want to waste my night like this"
He shrugged his shoulders. "I mean is this a dare. . .a challenge, something like that? Why are you even going through this if you knew you didn't want to meet the guy?"
Rumi smiled, first time for the whole ride. "A friend of mine set this up, she is sweet and wants me to. . .meet someone, haven't been in a relationship for a damn while, and so she set up this, not knowing I kinda listened in on her talking about it, figured out who the guy was and the fact that I don't like him passively. . .hate him is a better word"
The older man let out a loud oh, his eyes widening a tinge before he sat back in his chair. "Dare I speak my mind mam?" He asked, Rumi smirking wide. "Please do"
"Fuck this blind date"
Rumi laughed, tilting her head softly. "And what would you have me do?"
"Anything other than this? Call that same friend and tell her you didn't wanna go while I will drive us right back to your home so you can do that anything else. You are a grown woman you know, just like my daughter, and just like I have told my daughter, if you don't wanna do something do the second best thing!"
Rumi raised her eyebrow. "And what is that?"
"Stay home and eat some goddamn chocolate, that will get you fixed up right"
She smiled again, now warmly, she felt comfortable, and in this state, now having already delved into something personal like her dating life she asked freely. "And what if I have someone I want to eat that chocolate with?"
The man let out a loud hohoho, it was almost christmassy, the kind of sound a grandpa makes that makes you feel safe and warm, like he knows what he is talking about. "Then you call him too, or her, I don't judge, we go pick them up and you two spend the night you both deserve!"
"What if he is the densest, most handsome man you have ever met and he doesn't understand that I. . ." She paused, making him chuckle.
"Oh come on don't hesitate now, you love him don't ya? It's only the most normal thing you can feel! You are young, just say it, you love him, fuck I used to go on and on about how much I loved my wife when she barely even knew me! And now we have two kids together and have been married for the last 20 years!"
Rumi couldn't help herself, smiling wider, softer as she let out a sigh, giggling to herself, quietly, sinfully imagining that same life with Him.
"Oh I see it in those eyes, tell me the adress, we are going there right now, so you better call him!"
Minutes Later
Rumi waited in the taxi, legs crossed, her smile warm, her heart beating a tinge faster.
"I wonder how he is going to react to seeing you in a full dress when you told him you just wanted to hang over at your place"
Rumi's eyes remained locked on his house door. "I know how he will react, he will come out, smiling with that dumb fucking smile of his, wave at me, realize that I am in a taxi, look curious, relaize what I am wearing, blush to high heaven and then stumble forward"
"Geez, you could have fooled me if you told me you two were already together" The older man said, turning off the AC and opening the windows wide open for the night's breeze to fill the car, the smell of nightflowers filling the air.
"I love this smell" She said, quietly, almost lovestruck, the setting perfect in her mind, as if god himself was quietly crafting this romance movie kind of night. Though of course she would fervently deny watching any of those.
"And to what you said. . ." Rumi started, tracking a line back. "It's as I have told you, we watch movies together, we go out on walks that are actually dates, he buys me stuff that I would kill anyone else for buying me, he got me fucking flowers. . .and there wasn't even an occassion, and I loved them. . .when I told him that I might go out one night on a blind date I could see that he got. . .jealous or hurt. . .I am not sure and I don't want to find out cause that would make me hate even thinking about the fact that I almost went to that fucking date in the first place"
She paused for a second, laughing to herself as she realized. "He even has me monologuing about him. . .like damn. . .sweep me off my furry feet why don't you and marry me then. . . "
That last line made her heart flutter so hard it hurt.
"Do I have to worry about you two getting at it in my car?. . .Do I have to break a few laws, go above a few speed limits?" The older man joked, Rumi laughing with him as she waved him off.
"No no no, I. . .I have a plan, I want to take it slow, make sure he fucking understands that I want a relationship, a proper, long relationship"
The older man nodded, putting both his hands back on the steering wheel. "Then lets wait for- oh there he is, making me eat my words"
And as mentioned he came out, green messy hair and all.
He smiled warmly, as Rumi had said, followed by the wave, the realisation and the adorable blush that was making her heart skip so many beats she might as well have been dead.
"Oh yeah you got him" The taxi driver whispered, nodding to himself, sure to all hell.
"Come on kid, don't keep the woman waiting" He procedded to shout, Izuku walking forwards and opening the door, his eyes all on Rumi who, as mentioned, was looking stunning, nose bleed stunning.
He sat next to her, the seat already warm from her sitting there before, her aroma lingering in the air, filling his nostrils, and her presence? Her presence even inside the backseat of a taxi was palpable.
He felt her there, her smile as she looked at him, her beauty radiating, killing his brain cells in a way that would visually be shown as a bunch of Izuku's jumping off a bridge in absolute euphoria. She was perfect, she had no flaws, the white dress made him feel stuff that would earn him a sentence if he named them alloud, the way she rocked the cross legged stance, the slit of the dress, those abs he could see from inside the fabric and lastly those red eyes that hummed and pulsed under the night.
If he was not a man of sheer conviction, he would have jumped on her then and there.
"You look beautiful" That he didn't even think of, it just rolled off the tongue.
At Her Home.
The car ride had been mostly silent, both lovebirds just looking at each other, the taxi man having put on music to hide any possible sounds that might occur from the two forgetting the setting they were in.
That however didn't happen and when they got to her home, that modern piece of wonder at the side of a mountain, the kind of house that she had earned through and through, she made sure to pay the taxi driver handsomly, 3 times the charge.
And she went to unlock the door, Izuku's attention was grabbed by the man that had called him over to his side of the taxi.
"Kid. . .do you know what kind of woman is unlocking that door right now?"
Millions of the greatest compliments run through his mind.
"A great one?"
"Not just that, but yeah, a great one, now, it isn't my place to say much but I will say this, she is one of a kind, a real woman, one that I know you love with your heart"
Izuku's mind stop and the moment he went to open his mouth the older man's face dropped. "Ah! Don't pull that shit with me young man" Izuku stopped.
"Now, go in there, treat her right and do what your heart says you got to do okay? You love her, show it to her, flowers are lovely, dates are good but you gotta kiss a woman sometimes to show her that it isn't all just talk and easy action"
The green haired man could only nod, his heart racing.
"Goodnight both of ya!" The older man shouted one last time before dissapearing onto the road, the two now alone, Rumi halfway in and Izuku walking over to her, fingers twitching.
As he went inside he closed the door behind him, he had been to her house hundreds of times now and so he took off his shoes as usual and went to the couch, the same spot he always took, the one that always next to her own.
He looked at her as she looked at him, placing her bag with the others as she walked over to the connected kitchen, opening the fridge and pouring herself a glass of carrot juice.
He took a breath and spoke. "You look beautiful"
This time the intent was clear and Rumi appreciated it by offering him a smile he could call his, giving it a second before she poured the glass. "Thank you" Came her response, soft and measured.
"I. . uh. . .I am going to put two and two together and say that the. . .blind date was tonight?" She could basically feel the disdain in his voice when he said that, not to her of course but the event itself.
"Mhm. . ." She hummed, leaning a bit against the counter, that fucking dress showing off so much more than he could ever kiss. . .chew. . .chew, more than he could ever chew. ". . .but as you should also be able to guess from the time. . .I didn't actually go"
It was around 9 in the night, she didn't go to bed before 12 usually. Sometimes she did, when he was over and they fell asleep on the couch. Oh she loved those nights.
"You didn't? How come?" He didn't give a shit, he was just happy she didn't go.
"I. . .I had a moment of realisation, partly because that man that brought us here is a great listener. . .and I realized that I didn't want to go. . .shame really, I got all dolled up, put on such a dress, suffered through heals and didn't even get to drink"
Rumi put the glass against her lips, the lipstick mark, red and powerful against it left there for effect as she drank it all down, his eyes way too focussed on how her throat bobbed and her chest jumped a little. She caught his gaze with a lone red eye. He. . .could look all he wanted. That, if all went well, would be part of the job after tonight.
She poured another glass and walked over to him, placing it down in front of him as she stood a few steps back, hand on her hip. "You think he would have liked the dress?" She asked, such a teasing and harsh question. His eyes flared but he nodded none the less.
She took a second to take off her heels, moaning in delight as her feet were freed from their horrible hold. Her bare feet now pressed against the carpeted floor, her gaze upon his, his smile a tinge hurt.
"Do you actually think I care if he would have liked it or not?" She asked, tilting her head, smirking wide, iconic. "I don't even know the fucking guy. . .I know you though. . ."
He looked at her silent, one hand gripping his green shirt tight, the other twitching softly against the sofa.
"Do you like it?"
"Do you actually care if I like it?"
To that she took some offence, unable to read his face.
"I care more if you like it than anyone in this fucking world dumbass. Now, use your analytical brain, analyze me and tell me if you fucking like it"
He gulped down, his mind racing, all honest thoughts being put in front as all hesitation got crushed down under pure love and want.
"I would kill to have a picture of you in that dress on my phone"
"I love that but I want more. Analyze it like a quirk. Everything" She said, emphasizing every word, serious as all hell and so he started.
Izuku took a deep breath. His fingers twitched against the couch, eyes locked on Rumi like she was a puzzle he both wanted to solve and was terrified to touch.
“Okay…” He mumbled, eyes narrowing in concentration, voice soft but determined. “The dress. It’s… it’s tailored perfectly to your figure. High-quality fabric, it moves with you, but has enough hold to accentuate muscle definition. The slit on the right, intentional, functional, not just aesthetic. Allows for mobility, especially with how your quirk utilizes leg strength. You could throw a side kick in that and not tear a seam.”
His eyes flicked up, briefly meeting hers. She smirked, arms crossed, watching him unravel.
“The neckline draws attention upward, balances the proportions. The color, white, contrasts your skin tone and makes your hair and eyes stand out more vividly. Red eyes, silver hair, sharp contrasts, it’s striking. It’s… honestly, it’s lethal. You walk into a room, and no one can ignore you.”
His voice got quieter, a little shaky, but he kept going.
“And your posture… Rumi, you stand like you own the room. One hip cocked, arms loose, relaxed. You’re not even trying, but you’re commanding attention. And when you walk, the way your calves flex, the line of your thighs, the definition in your quads, I swear, it’s like watching a sculpture move. You’re… you’re beautiful and strong in a way that’s not fair to anyone else.”
He rubbed the back of his neck, cheeks flushing deep pink. His eyes darted to the side, but they kept dragging back to her like magnets.
“And your arms…” He huffed a quiet laugh, “I mean, honestly, people talk about abs all the time, but your arms? Your shoulders? The way they taper into your waist? You look like you could deadlift me one-handed and then throw me on the couch and I’m not saying I’d complain about that.”
Rumi let out a laugh, a low, amused sound, and that only made him spiral further.
“I mean, god, your abs. They show even through the fabric. Do you know how insane that is? Do you know how hard people work just to get half of that definition? And here you are, hiding it under a dress and still managing to flex just by existing. It’s not fair, Rumi. You’re not fair.”
His words were tumbling out now, unfiltered, his hands gesturing as if they could help him explain the tornado in his chest.
“And your eyes, shit, when you look at me like that, with that little smirk like you know you’re driving me crazy… You do, by the way. Drive me crazy. Completely insane. And your smile? You could knock me out cold with that. No quirk needed. Just… smile at me, and I’m gone. Flatlined.”
His hands dropped into his lap, and his voice softened to something almost vulnerable.
“And your laugh… Rumi, when you laugh like that, when you’re relaxed and real, when you let me see you like this… I just… I don’t know how to stand still around you. I don’t know how to keep my heart from trying to jump out of my chest. You’re… you’re everything.”
By the end, he was staring at her like he’d never seen anything more breathtaking in his life, because to him, there wasn’t.
Rumi’s smirk had faded into something softer, warmer, touched by something rawer than amusement. She stepped closer, barefoot on the carpet, the dress swishing softly around her thighs, eyes glowing faintly under the soft lights.
Izuku swallowed hard, eyes wide, fingers curling into the couch cushion like it was the only thing tethering him to earth.
“…So yeah” He muttered, voice nearly a whisper now, “I like the dress.”
He looked up, she down. "Me or the- "You. . ." He didn't even let her finish.
She looked at his lips, he at hers, it was clear what was supposed to happen but she held off for one more second. "How jealous where you when I told you about the blind date?"
"I almost broke the UA training dome"
"Fucking hot~"
It didn't take more than a second, fingers on his chin as she moved to his lap, his arms were immediatly on her, grabbing her hips like he was starved of them, like he needed them under his fingers to survive.
Their lips came together, first it was soft, one soft meet up, one soft press for them both to mentally grasp the situation.
But then came the real thing, she leaned down fully, pressing him against the back of the couch, her body molding onto his, the dress, that damned dress doing nothing to hide all the muscle he had felt countless times against him during training.
Her hands moved, one around his head, in his hair, grabbing, petting, the other atop his cheek, holding so firmly he might have actually dissapeared if she stopped. His did too, both wrapped around her, one lower back, one upper, aching to hold her close.
Izuku felt like every nerve in his body had been lit up. Rumi’s weight on his lap, the feel of her fingers in his hair, the sheer heat rolling off her, it was dizzying. His heart pounded against his ribs like it was trying to punch its way out.
She kissed him again, harder, deeper this time, and his hands gripped tighter at her waist, pulling her flush against him. She could feel the tremble in his fingers, the tension in his arms, the way he held her like he was terrified she might vanish if he let go.
“Damn, Izuku” Rumi murmured against his mouth, voice low, wrecked, amused. “Who knew you had this in you?”
He let out a shaky laugh, forehead pressed to hers. “I’ve had this in me for a long time.” His thumb brushed along her side, over the curve of her waist, up the line of her ribs. “I just… I never thought you wanted it.”
Rumi pulled back just enough to meet his eyes, really meet them, her fingers cradling his jaw, her red eyes bright, soft, burning all at once. “You idiot” She whispered. “I wanted this the whole damn time.”
The confession hit him like a freight train. He sucked in a breath, chest tight, hands still on her, like he was grounding himself.
“Okay” He breathed out, shaky but sure. “Okay.”
Rumi grinned, sharp and gleaming. “You good, hero?”
His laugh came quick, helpless. “Not even close.”
She kissed him again, quick, fierce, stealing the breath right out of his lungs.