The neglected but loved hero

Chapter 23: Internships 2

(A/N: Okay, so, I meant to post this a few day ago but didn't get to it. Sorry it's been taking so long to post anything, just trying to deal with some burnout with writing right now. I hope you enjoy!)

Izumi was sleeping in a spare bedroom Ryuko had in her home, when a sudden weight landed on her, jolting her awake. "Time to train!" She heard the familiar voice of Miruko and groaned internally.

She got up and changed into her exercise clothes and headed to the gym for training. When she got there, Rumi handed her a set of weights to be put on her body. "Get this on. We're working on your stamina today."

Izumi did as a shudder ran through her from the red eyes watching her. Once she was ready, Rumi took her on a run outside. Izumi was struggling slightly, even though she was using her quirk, as she tried to keep up with Rumi who kept a set pace.

Rumi looked back at the girl. 'Damn, All Might did even worse than I thought with her. I've really got my work cut out for me with this one. Guess I'll have to do my hell training like I did with Izuku.' "Come on kid! If you can't catch up with me with only 500 pounds on you, how can you hope to catch any villains running away?!"

"I-I'd use my telekinesis."

"Ha! And what if that doesn't work?! If you can't catch me by the time our run is over, I'll make you train twice as hard!"

Izumi was breathing hard. She had already run a mile and now she had to catch Miruko? 'I swear she's trying to kill me! Tch, not like she doesn't have a reason.' She tried to run harder, use more of One for All, anything but it didn't matter.

They had reached the house and she couldn't do it. Miruko stopped in front of the house, wiping away the sweat she had built up and looked over at Izumi as she was struggling to reach her.

By the time she did, Izumi was completely exhausted. Rumi brought her inside and took off the weights and had her take a break. As she was sitting there, she couldn't stop herself from thinking if Izuku had to go through the same training. "If you're wondering about Izuku, yeah, he did the same training. And damn did he work hard at it." Rumi smiled at the memories of training him.

Izumi thought to herself for a second. "And h-how do I compare to him?"

"Tch, doesn't matter. You two are different people so your bodies react differently and adapt differently to training. What you need to do is stop comparing yourself to him. What you should be doing is comparing yourself to how you used to be. Are you stronger than before? Faster? More responsive? Those are the things that matter in the hero world. If I went out every day, comparing myself to All Might or Star and Stripe, I'd be a much worse hero for it."

Izumi sat there, thinking about her words.

Miruko stood up. "Now come on, we need to get back to training."

——

Izuku was walking the streets with Mirio, getting some practice in for patrols. "Hey Izuku, you were raised by Miruko and Ryukyu, right? What was that like?" Mirio asked.

"Oh, heh, honestly, they were great. I don't think I could have asked for anyone else to be there for me like they were." Izuku remembered back to when Ryuko was teaching him how to fly with his wings.

——

"Come on, Izuku, just focus." Ryuko looked down at the small, twelve year old Izuku as he tried to fly with his new wings.

It felt so weird just having three more things to control on his body and he begged Ryuko to teach him how to fly, much to her worry. He was trying to flap his wings in unison to begin gaining altitude but he was struggling.