[The Fox and the Hare] Chapter 30 - Confession (Patreon)

Chapter 30 - Confession

With a population of 1 million and a half, Fukuoka was the largest city on Kyushu Island and one of the top 10 largest in Japan. It was also the main area of operation for Hawks’ Hero Agency, Garuda.

Three weeks after being hospitalized, Keigo Takami, also known as the Wing Hero Hawks, finally received his doctor's permission to be discharged.

"I missed this," he said as he glided over the city and took in a deep breath, filling his lungs with the salty air coming from the sea.

He missed spreading his wings; he missed flying. Three weeks of being confined to a hospital bed had almost made him go crazy.

"Ah!" he cried out in pain and winced when his wings flapped a bit harder than normal to keep his balance in the air after a sudden gust of powerful wind.

Landing on the rooftop of a nearby high-rise building, Hawks held onto his belly with his hands.

‘I’ve overexerted myself.’

Although he was discharged from the hospital, his wound was not completely healed. Full recovery would take one or two more months - assuming he actually rested instead of doing hero work.

Still holding onto his stomach, Hawks flew slowly towards his office. When he finally arrived, he flew through the open window and let himself fall onto his chair.

‘Thought I was going to die.’

Reclining his chair, Hawks stretched his arms above his head and sighed in relief as he felt the pain in his gut recede.

‘Luckily, that attack didn’t hit any vital organs.’

Thinking about the villain that attacked UA High’s training camp, Hawks frowned in thought. It was unlike him to show such concern on his face, but he couldn’t remember ever being as helpless against a Villain as he had been in his encounter with All For One.

Recalling that fight also made him think of the boy who had held his own against AFO up until the moment he and the Rabbit Hero arrived. Going by the devastated appearance of the environment, he could tell that the fox boy must have put up a hell of a fight before he was defeated.

‘He’s a good kid,’ Hawks thought as he remembered how Naruto came to visit him two times while he was in the hospital.

"Hawks! Hawks! There’s trouble!" a shout broke him out of his thoughts.

It was one of his sidekicks. He had come back to the office through the open window without alerting anyone only a few minutes ago, but it was as if his sidekicks had a sixth sense when it came to finding his location.

"What happened this time? Give me a break, I’m still a recovering patient."

"Two villains got murdered in the middle of Hakata subway station!"

Hawks raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Who did it?"

"We don’t know-"

"What do you mean you don’t know? Just check the CCTV!"

Japan was one of the Top 5 most heavily monitored countries in the world, with a network of millions of CCTV cameras. Most of the subway and train stations in all large cities were monitored.

"The CCTV cameras were all turned off. All we know from the witnesses is that a man wearing a hood and a white animal mask dropped a smoke bomb and that by the time the smoke was cleared away, the two villains were found lifeless, with their throats sliced off," the sidekick hero said.

Now that got his undivided attention.

"The CCTV cameras were off? This must have been a premeditated crime. Also, only someone with enough power and authority in the government could have ordered the CCTV to be shut down. Or the killer had a hacker on their side," Hawks said, deep in thought. "Any civilian casualties?"

"Some people suffered from mild panic attacks, and an old man was almost trampled by the scared crowd, but nobody else died aside from the villains."

"Let’s go to the crime scene," Hawks said as he folded his wings and stood up from his chair.

⁂

Whether it was because of Mirko’s connections or because the HPSC wanted to do him a favour, the Provisional Hero Licence Exam had been mostly a formality for Naruto.

"Feels a bit anti-climactic," Naruto said as he looked at his Provisional Hero badge.

"Would you have rather waited to take the exam in September and compete against other kids in ‘play fighting’ games and contests?" Mirko asked.

"No. But I was expecting more hardship."

"Everyone knows what you’re capable of by now, and you had the personal recommendation of the Number 1, Number 3, and Number 4 heroes in the country."

"...All Might and Hawks recommended me too?" he said surprised. He could see why All Might would agree with it, but he had not expected the Wing Hero to vouch for him as well.

"I asked them to put in a word for you, and they didn’t object to the idea. With three of the top five highest-ranking Pro Heroes in the country recommending you, the HPSC didn’t want to make your life difficult either, so here we are."

Clapping her hands once, Mirko was suddenly filled with energy as she said:

"Let’s celebrate!"

⁂

"Yare-yare. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you’re the teenager and I’m the responsible adult!" Naruto grumbled, shaking his head.

"Shaddap, it’s okay to let loose sometimes!" Mirko shot back.

Having had one too many drinks, the Rabbit Hero was draped over his back, plastered.

"If people see us now, there will be new rumours again."

"I’m nearly 10 years older than you. Who cares what they say."

"It’s because of that age gap that they are saying things! Also, could you stop moving around too much?" Naruto said, his face unknowingly flushing from feeling her breasts pressing tightly against his back.

"Don’t be so grumpy!" she said, climbing a bit higher on his back. With him holding her by her thighs and with her arms wrapped around his neck, Mirko rested her chin on his shoulder, her face leaning against his. "Even if I were to like you, would you mind it that much?"

‘Is she really that drunk? Or is she pretending she’s drunk just to ask me this kind of questions?’ Naruto thought.

Momentarily, he walked in silence, not knowing what to say.

"I wouldn’t. I actually like you a lot," Naruto said.

Due to how hard he was blushing, he didn’t feel how Mirko’s face started burning at his unexpected confession too. He was not one to beat around the bush. He had always been direct and honest about his feelings, even in his past life. God knows he had exasperated Sakura with how many times he had asked her out on a date.

In his current life, however, having grown up with the morals and values of modern Japanese society, he was far more tactful and conscious when it came to romance.

"But I’m still underage while you’re a mature and successful woman. As one of the Top 3 ranked heroes in Japan, you have an image to protect."

Mirko giggled softly at his words and rubbed her cheek against his, all the while tightening her arms around his neck.

"T’was a joke. You’re too serious for your own good. Hahah!"

"This damned drunkard!" Naruto started cussing. "I should make you walk home by yourself! You’re always messing around with me!"

The Rabbit Hero continued to giggle at his expense and ruffled his hair, further annoying him.

Half an hour later, Naruto sighed in relief as he reached Mirko’s home.

"You can get down, we’re home," he said as he fished out the keycard from his wallet and swiped it on the digital lock.

"Don’t wanna!"

Snorting at her whiny words, he carried her to her bedroom.

"I know you’re not that drunk; from here you can walk to your bed alone."

Although he had been living with Mirko for several weeks already, he had never entered her room. On the first day he arrived there, they had agreed on some ground rules. Neither Mirko nor Naruto were to enter each other’s bedrooms. It was for the sake of preserving their privacy.

"Noo. Carry me to the bed!" she said, tightening her legs around his waist.

"Okay, okay! Stop squeezing me, it hurts!"

Opening her door and turning on the lights, he was momentarily frozen in disbelief at the mess in front of his eyes. While the common spaces in her apartment, such as the living room, kitchen, and bathroom, were being cleaned every Saturday by the two of them together, they had to clean their bedrooms alone.

"When is the last time you did any cleaning? What’s with this mess?!"

"You’re so loud, stop nagging me!" she whined.

Letting out yet another sigh, he started shovelling aside the pile of clothes and books on the floor with his foot as he made his way to her bed.

"Imagine if other people knew what a slob you are!"

He used to be just like her before, but, ever since he regained his memories and turned over a new leaf for the sake of his parents, he fixed many of his bad habits. Nowadays, he had a hard time believing anyone could live comfortably in such a messy room.

"What the hell!" he said and jumped back when his foot touched a particularly unusual object. "Seriously?! God damn it, Mirko!" he yelled and turned his head to the side as much as he could to glare at her.

"What?! What’s with that overreaction?! You’re acting as if you’ve never seen one!"

"That’s because I haven’t! You damned pervert!"

"I’m not a pervert!" she shouted back at him. "It’s normal! I’m a woman and I’m single! I have needs too!"

"Peeeeervert!" he said, stretching out the word and turning with his back to the bed. He let go of her thighs and tried to untangle her arms from around his neck to make her fall on the bed.

"I’m NOT a pervert, you cheeky little shit!" she shouted at him and squeezed her arms tighter around him.

Catching his neck in a rear naked choke, she forced him to fall on the bed with her. With her right forearm under his chin and the other on the back of his neck, and her legs locked around his waist in a body triangle, if any Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner saw her position at that moment, they would applaud it as perfect.

"I give! I give up!" he yelled, rapidly tapping her forearm.

Although she lessened the strength of her choke, she didn’t remove her hands completely.

"I’m not a pervert!" she insisted again. "I’m really not!"

"I get it, I get it! Just let go of me!" he said fearfully after she nearly choked him unconscious. If Mirko was a bit crazy even when she was sober, it looked like drunk-Mirko was on another level of crazy altogether.

At his words, she removed her arms from around his neck, but her long and muscular legs were still locked around his waist.

"Mirko? Your legs."

"Will you stay with me tonight?" she unexpectedly asked.

"I-, I don’t know if it’s a good idea-" he said, suddenly becoming aware of their rather indecent position.

"Don’t leave. Please."

Something in her voice made him unable to say no again.

"Okay,"

Finally letting go of him, Naruto rolled off her and turned on his side, lying next to her. As Mirko turned on her side too, the two ended up with only a few centimetres between them.

Whether it was due to being drunk or maybe it was due to the effort she made earlier to choke him, her face was unusually red as she stared at him. From the soft dark skin of her cheeks to her cute little nose, her sparkling with mischief red eyes, and her plush red lips, Naruto found himself awestruck by her beauty.

"Am I your friend, Naruto?" she asked, her voice only a whisper this time.

"How is that a question? Of course you are!"

She smiled - it wasn’t one of her usual teasing grins this time. It was a pure, happy smile. Bringing her right hand to his face and cupping his cheek, Naruto shivered and closed his eyes as she started gently caressing his whisker-like birthmarks. Before he knew it, he felt her softly nudging his head closer to her.

As she pressed her lips to his forehead, he felt his insides twist. It was at that moment that he came to the realisation that he had fallen completely in love with her. Unable to fully contain his newly found feelings, he closed the remaining distance between them and wrapped his hands around her, hugging her close to his body.

Mirko sighed in bliss as she returned the hug and buried her face into his chest.

"I’m glad you’re my friend," she mumbled softly against his chest.

Inwardly, he wished to say that friends wouldn’t lie in each other’s arms like that, but, recognizing the vulnerability in her voice, he kept his mouth shut.

A few moments later, the rabbit girl’s breathing became even. She fell asleep.

⁂

The next morning, Mirko was the first to wake up.

‘Oh, fuck.’

That was the first thought that came to her mind as she realized the kind of position she was in. If anyone saw her sleeping with her head on his chest and with one of her legs draped over his waist, she would be hard-pressed to convince them that there was truly nothing between them.

Getting up and slipping out of bed with great care so as not to wake him up, Mirko quickly left the bedroom and made a beeline towards the bathroom.

It took nearly an hour of struggle against her embarrassment for her to finally come out of the shower and gather her courage to return to her bedroom to face Naruto.

Seeing the door of the bedroom cracked open, she quietly peeked inside to see if he had woken up yet. To her surprise, he was in the middle of cleaning up her room, and, going by the three piles of clothes, food wrapping, and other miscellaneous objects he had separated on the floor, he must have been at it for a while.

"Naruto, you didn’t have to! I was going to clean it myself."

"Oh, hey, good morning!" he said happily, smiling at her.

His innocent smile made her embarrassment and guilt return anew. But when she saw her toy propped at the top of the pile with miscellaneous objects, she burst with a mixture of shame and indignation:

"Couldn’t you at least have some tact?! At least hide it somewhere underneath!"

Naruto laughed out loud as she quickly grabbed the offending object and shoved it into the drawer of her nightstand before slamming it shut with a bang.

Her angry and embarrassing blush was so adorable that Naruto found himself smiling from ear to ear. He understood then why his parents and Mirko too often tried to embarrass him for the sake of snapping photos of his expression.

"How is it to be on the receiving end for once?"

When she lunged at him, Naruto rolled away from her and broke into a sprint towards the balcony. Her finger just brushed past his t-shirt as he jumped from the balcony’s window sill towards the rooftop of the building.

If he thought she was not going to come after him because of her attire—she was wearing only a pair of dolphin shorts and a tight, sleeveless white t-shirt—he was gravely mistaken because she jumped right after him, hot on his heels.

"Shit!" he let out a curse and jumped off towards the rooftop of a nearby building, running away in a panic.

Mirko started running after him too, with the two of them engaging in a crazy game of tag as they jumped off from one high-rise building's rooftop to another. Although she was faster than him on the ground, he was far more experienced than her when it came to "shinobi jumping" like that. For a while, she couldn’t close the distance between them.

Half an hour later, however, gradually getting used to that type of movement, Mirko managed to catch up to him and back him into a corner. Both of them were panting from the crazy run they had just had. But they were also grinning widely.

"It's my loss, you win!" he said, raising his hands in surrender.

"If you think you’re getting scot-free just like that, you’re sorely mistaken. If you wanted to give up, you should’ve done so from the start!" she said as she walked toward him while cracking her knuckles.

But when she got within one meter of him, four golden chains suddenly burst from Naruto’s back. He was just about to start laughing in triumph when Mirko’s body seemed to blur out of his sight. In a feat of speed hard to imagine, she suddenly appeared behind him and kicked the back of his knees, making him fall to the ground.

"How did you dodge that?!" he said. He knew she was fast, but his attack had been at blank-point range, and she had not seen it coming either. It was incredible.

As she pushed him flat against the ground and pressed one of her knees against his back, she said:

"You must’ve forgotten. My quirk had awakened too."

Her voice was dripping with smugness.

"Now, what shall I do with you?" she sing-sang. "How about we start with you calling me Aneki."

"Damned brutish gyaru!" Naruto muttered under his breath. "Ow, ow!" he yelped in pain when she grabbed him by one of his fox ears.

"Aneki! I’m sorry!"

Mirko laughed out loud in glee. Beating people up and forcing them to call her "big sis" was one of her favourite pastimes, back in her days as a delinquent when she was infamous as the Tiger Bunny.

⁂

"Now I’ll have to get a shower again because of you!" Mirko said in annoyance while she flipped an omelette in the frying pan.

His hair ragged and his clothes battered from how she roughed him up earlier, Naruto sulked with his chin on his hands as he waited for her to finish cooking breakfast.

"You were calling me a pervert last night, but it looks like you can’t take your eyes off my ass," Mirko suddenly said, and Naruto sputtered at her unexpected words.

"Don’t even try to hide it! Hahaha!" she said as she turned to look at him with a grin. "I can feel your gaze on me every time."

"Sorry," he muttered as he turned his head away from her, his arms crossed at his chest.

She merely chuckled as she turned back towards the stove to continue cooking. She didn’t really blame him. She understood that he was a hormonal teenager, and her attire didn’t help the situation either. Her dolphin shorts did almost nothing to hide the amazing shape of her wide hips and her big, sexy cheeks.

A few minutes later, now seated across from each other at the table, they both said a small prayer of thanks and started eating.

"About yesterday, I know it’s not a good excuse that I was drunk. I shouldn’t have let it get to that point. I’m sorry I made you uncomfortable with my behaviour," she said sincerely. "It’s just- …" she made a small pause to find her words. "I rarely get the chance to let loose like that. It’s been several years since I could enjoy myself like that in someone’s company."

Thrown off by the sudden apology, he asked:

"Why? I mean, what stops you from going out and drinking once in a while?"

"Duh, I’m a hero," she said with a roll of her eyes. "My appearance makes it hard for me to blend with random people in a pub. But, more importantly, I’m not a chill drinker. The last time I got drunk, I sent four men and one woman to the hospital."

Naruto burst into laughter before he could stop himself.

"You started a bar fight or what?"

Mirko laughed too, but it was hollow. He could tell that his joke hit the nail right on the head. He stopped laughing when he realized what it meant for someone with her power to get into a brawl against regular people. The fact that she had also almost choked him unconscious last night let him know that she was serious about what she said.

"...I’m glad you didn’t start one yesterday."

"Maybe it’s because I was in a great mood," she said, shrugging her shoulders.

Tucking a stay strand of hair behind her ear, she smiled as she looked at him.

"Were you serious when you said you see me as your friend?"

His chopsticks stopped midway as he momentarily forgot about his food while he looked at her.

"I wouldn’t joke about something like that. And you’re not just a friend. You’re much more than that."

Although there was quite the age difference between them, mentally, due to his past life memories, Naruto felt rather close to her. His behaviour wasn’t exactly that of a regular teen either.

"You’re also my benefactor, my sensei, and my role model."

As he spoke, Mirko’s face started reddening at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"And last night I realized that I fell in love with you."

Her face flushing profusely now, the rabbit girl stared at him speechless, her red eyes wide with surprise.

"I know it’s not proper for us to be together now. But I won’t give up. Within two years, I will make you fall for me too, believe you me!" he said with conviction.

"...Are you crazy?" she said, breathless from embarrassment.

"It’s your fault. I’ve liked you for some time, but last night you made me fall in love with you completely."

"How can you say something like that with a straight face?!" she half-yelled at him.

The way she covered her face with her hands and the sight of her long rabbit ears falling down made her look so cute that Naruto felt the proverbial butterflies in his stomach. When he saw her peeking at him through her fingers, unable to suppress his thoughts anymore, he burst out:

"Maaan, you’re so cute, it hurts."

Eventually, Mirko gave up all pretence and turned away from him together with her chair, so he could not see her face anymore.

But he didn’t want to leave it up in the air. Whether she accepted his feelings or rejected them, he wanted a clear answer from her.

Her long rabbit ears flinched when she heard the scratching sound made by his chair against the sandstone floor as he stood up. Coming in front of her, he gently pried her hands away from her face. In spite of her embarrassment, she did not put up too much resistance.

"Mirko? Could you give me an answer, please?"

"Rumi," she said quietly. "From now on, call me Rumi."

"Is that a yes?" he said, his voice betraying how hopeful he was.

Standing up from her chair, Mirko rose on her tippy toes to press a soft kiss on his cheek.

"That’s all you’re going to get for now," she said coyly as she looked up at him.

The smile that appeared on his face in the next moment was so happy and pure and Mirko felt her cheeks flush again. If the fox boy was adorable in general, that expression of pure happiness on his face was simply cheating.

She did not even try to break away when he suddenly took her in his arms and embraced her tightly. Instead, she laid her head on his chest and hugged his waist too, melting in his embrace.

Mirko was known as the fierce rabbit hero, and many people described her as a violent and battle-crazy maniac. But now, she looked no different from an innocent girl basking in the loving embrace of her boyfriend.

Deep down, however, the rabbit girl couldn’t completely extinguish the voices that disapproved of her feelings. That he was too young. That she was "a Christmas cake". That society frowned upon big age gaps between partners. That’s why, despite her feelings, she set a clear boundary between them. (1)

⁂

"Mommy, can we call Naruto-nii-san later today?" Eri asked, giving her the best puppy eyes she was capable of. The little girl learned early on what a powerful weapon her cuteness could be when used against adults. It was super effective!

"You really love your big brother, don’t you?" Kushina cooed at her and pinched her cheeks.

Eri giggled and nodded her head at her.

"Okay, but what do you say if we waited for daddy to come home so we can all talk to him together."

The little girl pouted at that answer.

"But daddy is always late. Sometimes he doesn’t even come home at night."

Kushina’s smile waned at her words. It was true. Ever since they started their "new" life a few weeks ago, her husband had been busier and more absent from home than ever before. He left early in the morning and came back late at night - if he came back at all.

"It’s a difficult period for us, but things will go back to normal soon," Kushina said hopefully as she caressed her hair lovingly.

At that moment, her laptop started beeping, indicating an incoming video call.

"Mirko?" she said in surprise when she saw the name of the caller.

"Usagi-nee-chan?" Eri also asked.

As Kushina clicked on the button to receive the call, a new window opened, and Mirko’s face appeared on the screen of her laptop.

"Hello! …are you alright?" Kushina asked, realizing something was not completely right about Mirko’s facial expression. "Did something happen? Is Naruto alright?"

"Hello. No, don’t worry, everything is fine. We just came back from a day of Hero work. Naruto is on the rooftop now, training."

"Not that I’m not happy about your call, but-" Kushina began to say.

"IthinkI’minlovewithyourson."

The rabbit girl spoke so quickly that Kushina couldn’t understand what she said at first.

"Um, what?"

For the first time in her life, Kushina saw the Rabbit Hero actually start fidgeting and biting her lower lip with an anxious look on her face. Taking a deep breath, she exhaled slowly before saying in a clear voice this time:

"I’m in love with your son."

⁂⁂⁂

AN:

(1) A slur used for women over 25 years old in Japan that are still not married. It references the cakes that go on discount after the 25th of December - the cakes that are not wanted. Basically, "leftover" women that nobody wants... ...Which is crazy. In my opinion, women look their best between 25 and 35, that’s when they fully mature. But I guess Japanese people like their women much younger.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter. I've also attached two pics of Mirko blushing (I don't own them). Until next time!