Chapter 34: The rabbit won't let go of her prey!

The session ended an hour later, when Ibara didn't have the strength to hold a single vine in the air anymore.

Her forehead was drenched in sweat and she was breathing heavily.

Rumi, on the other hand, was thrilled. She stood in front of Izuku with her fists on her hips and a cheeky grin.

"Hey, Broccoli Boy! Good pick!" she blurted, nodding toward Ibara. "I like this girl. Looks like a gust of wind could carry her off, but she's got guts. I like that!"

Izuku puffed out his chest. Finally, someone understood his choice of student.

"See? Told you. I don't let anyone down. You just needed to trust the expert a little."

"But..."

Izuku blinked, not understanding where that "but" was going, and he didn't get the chance to find out. Rumi wrapped an arm around his neck and buried his head against her chest before he could do anything about it.

"...So, when are you gonna use that Quirk of yours on me again, brainiac?" She squeezed him a little tighter, not caring in the slightest that his mouth ended up pressed against the side of her cleavage. "I'm still waiting for you to call me in for training. I wanna beat up the rookie and see how much she's improved, so don't keep me waiting too long. This time I wanna fight for real, got it?"

Anyone in Izuku's position would've fought to break free. A muscular girl, with rabbit ears, a sexy figure, famous for being the most solitary and lethal heroine in the rankings, had him trapped against her chest with no intention of letting him go. Put that way, the question answered itself: who the hell would want to escape a situation like that?

Izuku's resistance was nonexistent. He surrendered to the softness against his cheek, unable to believe that the tits of such a muscular girl could feel so comfortable.

Hold on! Mirko isn't wearing a bra!

The discovery struck him as more monumental than anything he'd jotted down in his notebook all afternoon.

"Hey, you! Loud-mouth bunny! Let go of my assistant!" Yu, seeing that her employee had his face buried in another woman's chest, decided it was time to mark her territory and stomped forward.

"W-wait, boss! Don't worry about me, I'm sacrificing myself for a good cause!" Izuku protested, his voice muffled.

"Ha! See that?" Rumi shot Yu a smug look. "The kid'd rather stay with me."

"Oh yeah? Maybe because you've got him trapped and won't give him a chance to say a word!" Yu shot back, stepping forward to slam her own chest against Rumi's.

Rumi burst out laughing and tightened her grip on Izuku.

"Nice try, Takeyama! Just admit you lost!"

"Me? Lose? In your dreams, bunny ears! We're not done yet!"

The move had a side effect. When she collided with Rumi, Izuku got caught in the middle, trapped between two pairs of soft, heavenly pillows fighting over the same space.

Ahh... I can die in peace now. I fulfilled the one dream I came into this world for.

"Can't you see you're suffocating the poor kid?" Rumi complained, not backing down an inch.

"Oh yeah? Then you let him go first, flea-bitten bunny!"

"I'll let him go when you stop butting in where nobody asked you to."

"I came to rescue my assistant from your claws. Somebody's gotta take care of him, or do you think I let people take what's mine just like that?"

"Rescue him?" Rumi laughed. "Take a good look, rookie: this kid doesn't wanna be rescued."

And both of them were right, because there, caught in the crossfire, Izuku wasn't lifting a finger to escape.

Keep arguing all you want, ladies. I'm not going anywhere.

"Mmmpf!" Izuku chimed in, trying to contribute to the discussion from his cushioned prison.

"See? Even he agrees with me," Rumi said.

"He didn't say anything, his mouth's covered because of you," Yu replied.

Rumi frowned as she took a step forward.

"Exactly, so let him breathe easy right where he is."

Neither of them backed off. They argued with their faces inches apart, raising their voices with every sentence, while poor Izuku experienced his sweetest death between the two heroines, oxygen-deprived but with an idiotic grin nobody could see.

At a distance, Ibara brought her hands to her lips. Her master seemed to be having a very rough time in there, trapped between two women who showed no signs of giving in, and stepping into a fight between two pro heroines could only make things worse.

She looked for support from the only nearby person who gave her any sense of calm.

"Kayama-sensei... do you think Midoriya-sensei will be all right? He appears to be having quite a bit of difficulty."

Nemuri only smiled, not missing a single detail of the show.

"Oh, Ibara... So considerate. But don't make that face. That boy knows how to take care of himself."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely." Nemuri crossed her arms. "Besides, look at him. If he were really in danger, he would've asked for help by now."

"But... that doesn't seem right at all!"

"Let me let you in on a secret: that boy isn't suffering one bit. There are men who'd pay a fortune to be exactly where he is right now," she replied, winking.

"Pay... a fortune?" Ibara didn't know what she meant.

Nemuri gave her a few reassuring pats on the shoulder.

"Relax. If things get really bad, we'll step in."

Ibara nodded with some doubt.

"Yes... I'll trust you, Kayama-sensei."

She didn't understand a thing. How could someone be enjoying themselves when they were being squeezed and couldn't even breathe? The logic of this place completely escaped her.

"May the Lord grant me strength," she murmured. "This place tests my understanding more than any sermon."

"Ladies." Nezu's voice cut through the commotion.

The principal wasn't about to stand by while two of his most promising heroines fought over an interesting young man and, in the process, sent him to the next world by crushing.

"WHAT?!" Yu and Rumi snapped at the same time.

Nezu smiled.

"I need to have a word with Midoriya-san. If you would be so kind as to return him to me in one piece, I would greatly appreciate it."

Rumi clicked her tongue, clearly annoyed by the interruption.

"You can talk from right here."

"Oh, I have no doubt that I could," Nezu replied, letting out a laugh that made his whiskers vibrate slightly. "However, I'm afraid it would be rather difficult for me to hold a conversation with Midoriya-san while the two of you have him trapped in between."

The principal tilted his head slightly and directed his gaze toward the small tuft of green hair peeking out between the two heroines.

"Midoriya-san, allow me to congratulate you. In all my years as principal of U.A., I have rarely had the opportunity to observe such a versatile and, I must say, promising effect. Even among professional heroes with years of experience, it would be difficult to find something comparable."

He glanced at Ibara before turning his attention back to Izuku.

"What you have accomplished today with Miss Shiozaki is something wonderful and worthy of study... but do not be too quick to celebrate."

He raised a paw, as if he had just remembered an important detail.

"After all, Miss Shiozaki remains an applicant. And however promising her performance during this demonstration may have been, we still need to see how she responds during the entrance examination. It would be rather dull if the decision were made before the exam even began, wouldn't you agree?"

Izuku could barely contain his excitement. This was like passing half the test: in a single day of training, he had proven that his promises weren't cheap bragging, and Nezu himself was acknowledging it in front of everyone.

Ibara lowered her gaze to her hands. They felt strangely sensitive, and she had to interlace her fingers to hide just how much those words had affected her.

"Fank ou, principul! I bwomise I won't wet you down!" Izuku answered, his words turned into babble by having his face completely flattened.

Izuku's words gave Rumi a little flutter in her chest, and that was enough for her to loosen her grip.

"All right, all right, enough drama," she grumbled, pushing him out with one hand while shooting Yu an unfriendly glare.

Yu wasn't satisfied either. She was sure that, if the principal hadn't stepped in, Izuku would've come to her side on his own.

Izuku dropped to the floor and took a huge breath while straightening his shirt collar.

"Phew... sorry about that, Principal. I was saying I won't let you down."

"I'll hold you to that, young Midoriya." Nezu took a sip of his tea. "The exam will be held on February twenty-sixth. That is all I can reveal for now. As for the content of the tests... let us say it will be something Miss Shiozaki will have to discover on the day of the exam. It would be rather unrefined to hand her the answers, wouldn't you agree?"

"Don't worry, sir. That sounds fair to me."

Ibara clasped her hands in front of her chest and lowered her eyes. She still couldn't quite believe everything that had happened that day. U.A. had chosen to place its trust in her and, on top of that, had assigned someone to help her prepare.

She couldn't take an opportunity like this lightly.

And certainly not after what she had seen Midoriya do. In just a few hours, he had managed to awaken something in her Quirk that she had never accomplished before. If this was only the beginning, Ibara couldn't help but wonder how far she could go if she truly put in the effort.

"That is a most generous consideration on U.A.'s part. I will do everything within my power to prove worthy of it." She tightened her fingers as she looked down at her feet, taking her time to absorb the weight of the opportunity.

Then she raised her gaze and turned toward Izuku. This time, when she spoke, her voice sounded far more resolved.

"And if you are to be the one who guides me through this preparation, Midoriya-sensei, I trust that I will be able to learn a great deal from you."

She took a deep breath and continued as she bowed her head in a sign of respect.

"I would ask that you be strict with me, Midoriya-sensei. I would not wish to waste an occasion such as this."

Izuku, for his part, felt like one of those Chinese masters from xianxia novels with a long beard and thick eyebrows. He was itching to tell her: "My little disciple, greet your master."

Ahhhh, I didn't come prepared. Should I make her take the disciple's oath to her master? If only I had a beard I could stroke right now. Damn, I hate being clean-shaven.

"Ahem... ahem, ahem... My dear Ibara, you don't have to be so formal with me, you know we're friends," Izuku said with a smile.

He made no effort to hide how much he was enjoying it. It was, without a doubt, the best thing that had happened to him all day, right after the heavenly suffocation from earlier.

Nezu, who never let an opportunity slip by, chimed in with a pleasant smile.

"Midoriya-san, allow me to add one last thing before I take my leave." He lowered his voice to give the phrase a hint of secrecy. "If everything continues to go well, perhaps in the future we could consider putting into motion an improvement program aimed at professional heroines. Naturally, provided you would be willing to collaborate."

"A program of what?" Yu whipped her head around at top speed, alarms going off. She was already picturing Izuku loose among an entire lineup of heroines, touching left and right. "Principal, do you realize what you're saying?"

"Oh, of course, Miss Takeyama," Nezu replied. "Precisely for that reason, I believe it could be a very interesting proposal."

"Oh, Yu, don't be so suspicious." Nemuri ran her tongue over her lips, already savoring the possibilities. "I think it's a splendid idea."

She turned toward Izuku with a much more interested smile.

"If you need someone to supervise the program up close, you can count on me. Someone's gotta make sure everything's done properly, don't you think?"

HOW COULD I NOT AGREE?! PRINCIPAL NEZU, YOU ARE THE MAN... UH, MAN? MOUSE? WHATEVER, THE KINDEST PERSON I'VE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE. He's a saint sent from heaven with furry ears!

Izuku had to bite his tongue to keep from shouting it from the rooftops. Just the thought of training an entire army of heroines in tight leggings filled him with such joy that a couple of tears threatened to escape. He held back his happy tears as best he could and answered with exemplary composure.

"Don't worry, Principal. I say yes to everything!"

"That is precisely the disposition I was hoping to hear!" he responded enthusiastically. "It would be a true pleasure to have you among our teaching staff, young Midoriya. I am certain we will be able to accomplish great things together. We shall have another chance to discuss the details."

And with a lazy wave of his paw, the principal bid the group farewell, leaving behind a Midoriya who was floating on happiness.

Izuku had barely taken a couple of steps toward the exit alongside Yu, already picturing the glorious future ahead of him, when Nemuri raised a hand and made them stop.

"Hold on!" she exclaimed, cutting her way to the center of the group. "Are we really gonna end the day like this, without even celebrating? That would be unforgivable."

"Fine by me!" Rumi stretched enthusiastically, cracking her shoulders. "After all that wrestling, I'm starving."

Yu let out a small laugh.

"With you it's always time to eat, huh, bunny? Though I gotta admit, some rest wouldn't hurt. After putting up with you two all afternoon, I've earned it."

"I... wouldn't wish to inconvenience you," Ibara murmured, clasping her hands in front of her. "You are all professional heroines, while I am still only an applicant. Perhaps the most appropriate thing would be for me to withdraw and allow you to enjoy your..."

"What're you talking about?" Rumi cut her off immediately.

Before Ibara could finish, the heroine wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into the group with a firm smile.

"You earned your spot. You fought, you sweated, and you gave everything you had. So you're coming to eat. And I'm not gonna take 'no' for an answer."

Ibara blinked, surprised by the abruptness of the invitation.

"I... sincerely appreciate your kindness."

"That's it!" Nemuri gave a clap. "That's more like it. A dinner among heroes always tastes better when nobody gets left out."

Izuku watched the scene with delight.

Dinner with four heroines and free meat. I definitely picked the right job.

"And you." Yu pointed a finger at Izuku, narrowing her eyes. "You sit next to me, where I can keep an eye on you. After that heroine program business, I'm not letting you out of my sight for a single second."

"Whatever you say, boss. Though I gotta warn you, you just claimed the best seat," he replied, thrilled at the idea of having her close.

Yu raised an eyebrow.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yep. You'll be sitting right next to me."

For a moment, Yu looked at him in silence before bursting into laughter.

"Then it's settled!" Nemuri threw her arms open with a triumphant smile. "How about we celebrate with some barbecue? I know a yakiniku place nearby."

*********

Author's Note:

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