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It was cloudy when she woke up, and by the time school ended, it was raining lightly. This isn’t to say Himiko Toga doesn’t like the rain, the blonde-haired girl actually loves when it rains. The smell of the air, the rumbling of the thunder, the feel of it on her skin…she only wishes she could dance in it. But, the Perfect Daughter wouldn’t ruin her school uniform by splashing in puddles chasing thunderclouds, so Himiko remembered to pack an umbrella, and headed straight home. As quietly as she can, Himiko neatly places her umbrella, raincoat, and boots away, hoping to make it to her bedroom before her parents-
“Himiko.”
The blonde-girl freezes, before squeezing her eyes shut. When they opened, The Mask was back on.
“Yes, Father?”
She turned to face the man she has to call father, a placid look on her face. She can’t think of any reason why he could be mad at her, but when it came to her, did he ever need a reason?
“Your school nurse called us today.”
Himiko could barely contain a flinch, nodding mechanically. The Blonde-haired girl can see behind his shoulder, her mother watching on from the kitchen, her stomach growls suddenly, and the teenaged girl can’t contain the wince, she gives her father a pleading look, edging toward the kitchen.
“Y-Yeah, i just fell in gym today, nothing serious, I’ll just grab a snack and then be busy studying-”
The blonde-haired girl tries to slink past him, but her father grabs on tightly to her elbow, the one she scraped and needed to visit the nurse for. Himiko automatically hisses in pain, her head whipping toward her father. The man was twice her height and weight, but he let go like she burnt him, and Himiko freezes, suddenly realizing she had a…unpleasant look on her face. Her eyes flash to her mother, and can see the woman paralyzed with fear. Her father’s voice grew low.
“I’d hope you're aware that trips to the nurse shouldn’t be commonplace, Himiko. You’ll risk the school finding out about your…your curse.”
Himiko flinches, and she can feel it, her stomach rumbling. Ah, that’s it, she’s not hungry, she’s thirsty. The blonde-haired girl swallows thickly, and nods
“I-I understand Father-”
“Do not slip up again, Himiko. You may be a freak of nature, but you’re still a Toga. Act like it.”
Himiko stares down at the carpeted floor. It was cream-colored, and uniform with the rest of the living room.
“Y-Yes Father.”
Her father huffed, and nodded, before pointing toward the stairs.
“You mentioned you had studying to do? Well get to it.”
Himiko blinked, looking back up at her father
“B-but i haven’t eaten-”
Her father’s eyes narrowed, and Himiko shrunk back
“Do you think you’ve earned dinner tonight?”
Himiko didn’t answer him, merely hunching her shoulders, and slinking past him, up the stairs.
Himiko’s fist tightened on the railing as she did so, her mask falling away now that her parents couldn’t see her expression. She’d gotten good at this, hiding away her true feelings, only expressing herself when she knew she was safe. If she hadn’t, she’d probably be homeless by now. As Himiko steps in front of her door, she suddenly realizes that…something is wrong. The Blonde-haired girl strains her ears, before raising an eyebrow. There was…someone in her room? Himiko looks back down the stairwell, if she can strain her ears, she can hear the hushed conversations of her parents, discussing how much of a disappointment she is. They…they don’t know about this. A part of her, the…the Perfect Daughter would call for help, she would let her parents know, but…she’s alone right now. Before she can dissuade herself, the Blonde-Haired girl opens her door, shutting it behind her quietly, as to not get the attention of her parents down below.
Himiko didn’t have…many personal effects. A couple stuffed animals, a bookshelf filled with books her mother picked out for her, ones that she’s never read, a white-blanketed bed, and four Boring Lifeless Barren cream-colored walls. There was one particular piece of furniture that was her favorite, though. Unlike her parents, her Grandmother actually loved Himiko. If she could, Himiko would have lived with her in a heartbeat, but Nana’s health wasn’t good enough to raise her, and, while they may hate her, her parents would never jeopardize their perfect nuclear family picture by sending her off to live with Grandma. Before Nana died, she managed to convince her parents to get Himiko something nice for her room, and that would be the rocking chair in the corner. It offered a splash of color in the barren wasteland that was her home, Himiko still smiles at the thought of Nana conspiratorially sneaking her a blood-red cushion for it. That chair and cushion has probably been the only thing keeping her sane her entire life, and someone is…sitting on it. Sitting on her chair. The boy sitting on her chair what is he doing get off- turns and smiles at her, his eyes lighting up.
“Ah, hello! I was wondering when you’d get home!”
Himiko slowly sets her backpack, cream-colored and picked out for her, like everything else in her life, onto the bed. She takes a single step forward, her eyes narrowing. Himiko honestly wishes she could be more angry than she is right now, there was someone, a stranger no less, sitting in her fucking chair. But she doesn’t care, because the boy is obscenely cute. The boy had emerald green eyes, and mossy green hair. Himiko never thought she’d like a color as much as she liked red, but green was clearly a close second. He was wearing what must’ve been his school uniform, a black jacket was thrown over the back of her chair, he had a white dress-shirt and black pants, with-
“Where. Did you get. Those Shoes?! ”
The green-haired boy looked down at his blood-red shoes, before chuckling softly to himself. Himiko quickly freezes, realizing her outburst. Himiko’s eyes flash to the doorway, and the green-haired boy smirks, shaking his head
“Don’t worry about your parents, they can’t hear us.”
Any thoughts of the cute boy and his cute shoes left her as she remembered oh yes, this is a stranger. Himiko’s eyes narrowed at the boy, before she shifted, attempting to pull the Mask back on, trying to at least pretend to be normal, when the boy shook his head, smiling gently at her
“There’s no need for that, Himiko, I told you they can’t hear us, remember? No need to play pretend for them.”
Himiko stared at the boy long and hard, her face unreadable, before slowly, she began to bear her teeth, her eyes narrowing to slits, the green-haired boy smiled widely, unthreatened.
“Atta girl! Now, I'm betting you have questions.”
Himiko nodded her head, and the boy stood up from his spot on her chair, before stepping closer into the center of the room, Himiko took a step back instinctually, and the boy raised an eyebrow, holding his hands up in mock-surrender. Himiko rolled her eyes, before taking a step closer to the boy, until they were face to face. The two teens began to pace each other, Himiko...she didn’t like that she couldn’t read him.
“...Who are you? And what do you want with me?”
The green-haired boy walks with his hands behind his back, tilting his head curiously, and Himiko doesn’t know if she wants to giggle or snarl. She does the exact same thing.
“My names Izuku, Izuku Midoriya. And I want to help you, because I’m a friend.”
Himiko narrows her eyes, examining the boy, now named Midoriya, even closer.
“How can you be a friend if we’ve never met before? And what do you mean ‘Help’?“
Midoriya smiles, and there’s an edge of something in his eyes, but…it doesn’t look malicious.
“I wanna help you be who you really are.”
Himiko narrowed her eyes, frowning
“And who do you think I really am?”
Midoriya hummed, tapping his lip, like he was pondering the question.
“I think you’re a cheerful and bubbly girl, who just so happened to get the worst fucking parents in the world.”
Himiko tenses and freezes, and the green-haired boy continues, now pacing circles around the girl.
“I think your favorite color is red, your favorite fruit is pomegranate, I think you like horror movies and scary stories, and most of all, I think you like blood.”
Himiko’s breath hitches, and Midoriya grins, knowing he hit the jackpot. Himiko looks away, speaking up.
“I-If you know all that, then you must know about my quirk.”
Midoriya nodded, and Himiko pressed on.
“T-Then you know that it’s…it’s evil, unnatural, I’m not normal, i was born Evil, I’m a demon I…”
Himiko stumbles to her bed, her sitting down heavily, her head between her knees as she hyperventilated
“What’s wrong with me?!”
Suddenly, Midoriya was in-front of her, Himiko didn’t even notice him taking her hand, until he spoke.
“Absolutely nothing.”
Himiko’s eyes widened, and she met Midoriya…Izuku’s gaze, tears falling from her own eyes freely. Izuku smiled at her gently, squeezing her hands.
“The truth is, Himiko, you were born with a quirk; and that’s it. Nearly 60% of Japan's population has some type of dietary requirement, yours is to drink blood.”
“A-And it’s not Normal-!”
“There Is no normal, Himiko!”
Himiko freezes, and Izuku sighs, shaking his head.
“Your parents are Quirkist assholes, who don’t know what they’re talking about.”
“B-But…”
Izuku looks around the room, before looking back at her
“Himiko, do you know what I see when I look at this room?”
Himiko shakes her head no, and Izuku’s eyes harden.
“A Dollhouse. One for the ‘Perfect Daughter’. They want you to be unthreatening, pretty, Normal. They want you to be made of porcelain. But we both know that’s not who you really are. So, Himiko Toga, who are you?"
Himiko’s breath quickened, her thoughts running a mile a minute, holding onto the green-haired boy like a lifeline. This couldn’t happen, She needed to be perfect, needed to be normal, she couldn’t have a freakout, she doesn’t know how her parents haven’t heard them yet, but if they found her now, they’d kick her out, because she was a monster, a freak, she, she…Himiko’s lips curled back, into an ugly snarl, growling and hissing, finally letting go of the boy in front of her, beginning to pace back and forth in her Perfectly Normal room.
“Fine! I like blood, ok?! But-but not just any blood! Warm blood, from veins! I want it because it tastes good, alright? Like Cherries and Pomegranates and Candy! And, And it’s beautiful. There is no shade of red as cute as blood-red! Everyone is beautiful, and they’d all look better bloodied! You wanna know who Himiko Toga is?! Himiko Toga is someone who wants to live! Who wants to love! I want to be who I love! But I can’t! My parents wouldn’t let me, and there’s nobody who’d ever-”
“I would.”
Himiko’s snarling, vitriolic rant died in an instant, the Blonde-Haired girl freezing. Yellow, cat-like eyes snapped to calm green ones. He was sitting cross-legged on her bed, watching with a smile, and she couldn’t bring herself to care that his shoes were touching her bed.
“You want to drink from someone, right? I’d let you drink from me, anytime you like.”
Confusion, Bafflement, Wonder, a thousand different emotions passed through Himiko’s face, even as her mouth split into a grin
“Y-You mean it?”
Izuku nods, rolling up his sleeve to show her. He had…nice arms.
“I promise, Himiko, and I'm not one to break my promises.”
Himiko licked her lips, before shaking her head, and looking back up at Izuku
“B-But why?”
Izuku smiled gently at her, shrugging his shoulders
“Remember? I said we were friends.”
Himiko laughed, somewhat shell-shocked.
“You still didn’t answer my question on how we can be friends if we’ve never met before.”
Izuku hummed softly, another unknown emotion reaching his eyes, before he stood up again.
“I say we’re friends because, in all honesty, Himiko; we’re pretty similar.”
Himiko raises an eyebrow, and Izuku continues.
“There are people who’d say I’m not normal because of my Quirk too.”
Himiko lifts an eyebrow, and holds his hands up, one hand lit up with fire, the other electricity. The Blonde-Haired girl tilted her head in confusion, Izuku smirking
“These are two different quirks.”
Now Himiko was really confused, even as Izuku dispelled the fire and the electricity. The green-haired boy must’ve seen the confusion on her face, so he explained.
“My quirk allows me to give and take people’s quirks, I say we’re similar, because to most people, certainly to most heroes, my quirk would be seen as pretty villainous. Do you think it’s villainous, Himiko?”
Himiko stilled, before she slowly shook her head, Izuku smiling at her
“Well, I don’t think Transform is villainous or evil either, in-fact, I think it could help a lot of people.”
A realization dawned on her, and for the first time in this conversation, fear began to bubble in her
“Do…do you want to take my Quirk?”
Just as quickly as that fear manifested, it was quashed when the green-haired boy shook his head vividly, eyes warm.
“No, I want your help.”
Himiko let out a breath, relieved, she supposes that, even though she’s constantly told her quirk is evil and a burden, she doesn’t think she’d enjoy having it taken. There was still a note of confusion, though, as she listened to the mysterious green-haired boy's words.
“M-My help?”
Izuku smiled and nodded, he finally stepped off her bed, standing in-front of her.
"Yes! I want your help, because…we both know that this world isn’t fair, right?”
Himiko nodded, and the green-haired boy continued.
“This world Isn’t fair. It’s cruel, it pushes people aside who don’t fit the status quo, and I wanna fix that.”
“How?”
Izuku grinned, he stepped closer to her, and Himiko’s breath stilled, they were basically chest to chest now. Himiko could faintly smell his shampoo.
“By becoming a hero, well, our own heroes. You and I…our voices would be buried if we tried to do things the normal way, if we went to a hero-school, got our licenses, etc. they’d bury us and put us out of a job ASAP. But, if we do things our way, if we target not just villains, but the hero-society that’s allowed to get away with holding us down? Then, they wouldn’t have any other choice, but to listen.”
Himiko looked into his eyes, looking for any hint of falsehood, of insecurity. Izuku’s gaze was resolute, unflinching. Himiko slowly began to nod her head, making the green-haired boy smile
“So…become like, what? Vigilantes?”
Izuku chuckled and shrugged
“I was thinking more along the lines of ‘becoming our own heroes’, but…”
“But it’s basically being a vigilante?”
Finally, the green-haired boy looked a little bashful, scratching the back of his head and nodding, Himiko liked the light blush on his cheeks, the red made his cute freckles pop. Himiko chewed on her lip for a moment, before nodding, eyes shining.
“I’ll do it! I’ll join you, Izuku!”
Izuku’s smile turned into a grin, and he laughed, cheerful and brightly, it was a beautiful sound, and Himiko couldn’t help but laugh too, and cry a little, as what felt like a weight lifted itself off her shoulders. The green-haired boy stepped closer, seeming like he was about to hug her, but he froze momentarily, unsure. Himiko giggled slightly, before launching herself into him, giving the green-haired boy a hug, making him chuckle. They embraced for a long moment, before Izuku cleared his throat, she looked up at him, and the boy almost looked a bit sheepish.
“I…thank you, Himiko, truly, but…I do have bad news.”
Himiko frowned, confused, and Izuku shrugged.
“You know how we’ve been able to have this conversation in-peace? It’s because of a Quirk of mine, it’s a sound-proofing one, but not in the way you may think. It ensures no sound enters the general vicinity, not that no sound leaves.”
Himiko stilled, her eyes widening. She looked toward the door, and…it was shaking, silently, someone was pounding at the door, trying to get in. Himiko’s eyes whipped back up toward Izuku, and he frowned, eyes regretful
“I really am sorry, Himiko.”
The Blonde-haired girl took in a shaky breath, before nodding.
“It…It’s alright. I was probably gonna run away anyway, right? This just…confirms it.”
Izuku nods, before closing his eyes, a war of emotions going on in his mind, before he nodded again, resolutely. Suddenly, flashing into his hands, was a knife. A beautiful Karambit, with a red-blade, and a black handle.
“Your parents hurt you, Himiko. They abused you for 16 years. Hell, they were even planning on sending you to Quirk Therapy!”
Himiko flinched, and Izuku nodded. There were…stories of what happened to kids who’re sent to Quirk Therapy programs. It wasn’t pretty. Izuku sighs, and begins speaking again.
“You don’t need to do anything, you don’t even need to leave your room, I promise you they wouldn’t be able to get in if they tried, but…I can’t let what they did to you slide.”
Himiko’s eyes stayed fixated on the knife for a moment longer, before she looked back up at Izuku. Wordlessly, Himiko held out her palm, and Izuku wordlessly handed her the blade handle first. Himiko tested the feel of it, twirling it gently in-between her fingers like she’s seen in all the videos. Before she finally turned toward the door, her eyes narrowing, baring her teeth.
“You said you have a quirk that keeps them from getting in, right? Do you have one that’ll keep them from getting out?”
Izuku grins, lightning began to dance off his skin, as he cracked his knuckles and nodded
“Then it’s settled; here’s to being true to ourselves, yeah?”
Izuku snapped his fingers, and the door finally burst open, her father stumbling into the room, with what looked like a Kitchen Knife. He didn’t have the time to get his bearings before Himiko descended on him. Laughing and crying and roaring. This house needed a dash of color anyways.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Aizawa was contacted early Sunday morning, which both annoyed, and really unnerved the Underground Hero. Tsukauchi knew today was his day off, so for him to bring him in on a case like this, that must mean it’s important. The Underground hero couldn’t help but groan as he pulled up to the address, so it was one of those cases. The neighborhood itself was flowery, and perfectly pedestrian, the flashing lights of several police cars painting a ghastly picture in the otherwise picturesque neighborhood. Neighbors crowd the police tape, as Detective Naomasa Tsukauchi approaches him. The dark-haired man smiled at him, but there were dark rings under his eyes, as he handed the Erasure Hero a steaming-hot cup of coffee.
“Heya, Eraser. Sorry to call on your day off, but this one’s nasty.”
Aizawa took a sip of the piping hot coffee, before clearing his throat, as the duo stepped under the yellow tape, moving into the house proper.
“It’s fine, gimme the run-down.”
Aizawa’s nose-scrunched up as he entered the threshold of the home. The smell of Iron was pungent. Naomasa nodded, smirking dryly
“We’re looking at a double homicide, at least a day old, maybe even 2. Both parents, we’re unsure of the location of their daughter.”
As Aizawa and Naomasa entered the living room, the scent of death and blood got even stronger. The entire living room was ransacked, like a hurricane ran through it, chairs were strewn about, the TV was hanging crooked on the wall, and had a massive crack running through it. The coffee table was broken, wood and glass everywhere, and the couch was overturned. And of course, there was the blood. It was everywhere. On the walls, the ceiling, the floor, every inch of the place. And it was localized around the first body. Forensics were gently taking blood samples, putting down evidence markers near the corpse of the mother. Aizawa scrunched up his nose at the sight, she was…not pretty. Her blouse was stained red and torn apart, long, deep cuts and stab wounds decorated her torso, there was a tear in her cheek that exposed her teeth, and one of her eyes was missing. The most gruesome thing, though? her head was rotated 180 degrees. This woman died on her belly, looking up at the ceiling. Naomasa nodded, leaning against the kitchen island as he gestured toward the woman with his chin.
“Misaka Toga, or what’s left of her anyway.”
Aizawa stepped closer to the body, crouching to examine it closer, ignoring the harsh scent of blood.
“A villain-attack maybe? Do the Toga’s have any known enemies?”
Detective Tsukauchi shook his head, crossing his arms, as Aizawa got up from his crouched position, moving to lean next to the dark-haired man.
“Nope, i spoke with each of their neighbors, and they all said the same thing; Kaito and Misaka Toga were picture-perfect, them and their daughter Himiko were well-liked. in the neighborhood, at work, and in-school.”
Aizawa narrowed his eyes, as he went over their options.
“What are their quirks?”
“Misaka can change the color of her hair and eyes, and Kaito can get slightly faster upon drinking water, their daughter inherited a cat-mutation, from somewhere in Misaka’s line. Nothing the normal quirk-traffickers would bite at.”
Aizawa’s eyes scanned the walls, and noticed a crooked-family photo, his eyes finding the face of the daughter, Himiko.
“It could be sex-traffickers, then. The daughter has to be like, Jesus, 16? She’d check the boxes.”
Naomasa nodded, seemingly accepting Aizawa’s hunch, before the detective spoke again, making Aizawa still.
“That doesn’t explain the file we found on the daughter’s bed, or the fact that her clothes were gone.”
Aizawa’s eyes widened, as the detective began to make his way toward the stairs.
“C’mon, now we gotta check out the father.”
Aizawa followed Naomasa, slowly moving up the carpeted stairwell. The blood-trails continued, stretching from the stairs, down the hall, into what Shota has to assume is the daughter’s room. This room wasn’t as destroyed as the living room, instead being barren. The closet-door was thrown wide-open, and Aizawa could see from here it was emptied, there was a dresser in the corner, its drawers strewn about, also empty. The most prominent thing in the room, however, was Kaito Toga. Kaito, unlike his wife, died on his back. He also had dozens of stab wounds decorating his body, but he also had dozens of knives stuck into him. the blades were stabbed deep into his body, his chest, neck, belly, the man looked less like a human-being and more like a pin-cushion. Aizawa throws a glance at Naomasa, who shrugs
“That’s every single kitchen-knife in the household.”
Aizawa turns back to look at the man, crouching near his body. His face wasn’t nearly as ruined as his wife, and Aizawa frowns at the abject terror etched onto his face. Aizawa takes a long breath through his nose, before nodding.
“This changes things, Tsukauchi, a normal crook wouldn't get this extreme. It could be some crazed serial-killer, but the fact that we haven't found the daughters body along with the fact that her belongings are missing, that makes her the prime suspect.”
Naomasa nodded, pulling out a vanilla folder, apparently the one that he was talking about earlier. he handed it to the underground hero.
“She’d certainly have a motive. This folder was left on Himiko Toga’s bed, apparently, the parents were lying about her quirk.”
Aizawa narrowed his eyes, opening the folder and beginning to read the contents. As he read further and further into it, his lips curled into a snarl, his hair slowly beginning to float, as the beginnings of Erasure began to activate.
“Naomasa, if this is true…”
“Then Himiko Toga very likely was defending herself from being sent to Quirk Therapy, yeah.”
Aizawa groaned, handing the folder back to Naomasa, the underground hero pinched his nose. He had the urge to kick the dead man next to him, but he didn’t want to contaminate the body, it was too early for shit like this. The dark-haired man began to think of their next move, as he examined the room, before he blinked.
“Naomasa, come look at this.”
The detective followed Aizawa, as he stepped around the body, moving toward an empty spot in the corner. Aizawa crouched down, and gestured for Tsukauchi to follow him.
“Do you see that?”
Indents, in the carpet. Like a piece of furniture was sitting there. From eyeballing it, Aizawa guesstimated that it was probably something like a rocking-chair. Naomasa noticed the indents too, and shouted toward some forensics down the hall.
“Hey! We’re gonna need an evidence marker and a camera over here!”
Aizawa stood up, the detective doing the same, as a pair of men took their spots, taking a couple photos of the spot in the carpet. Naomasa looked at Aizawa curiously, as the man crossed his arms, and began to think.
“The kid, Himiko, she can’t be over 5’4 right? Being gutsy is one thing, but her dad is a foot taller than her, and has to have a good 90 pounds on her. This was a violent struggle, Tsukauchi, and we didn’t hear about this for a solid day. That, combined with the fact that she had luggage? Something’s not adding up.”
“What’re you saying, Aizawa?”
Shota Aizawa narrowed his eyes, looking down at the corpse of the father, before taking one last look at the indent in the carpet.
“I’m saying that someone helped her do this, but who?”
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
It was a warm, summer night in Hosu. The city was tranquil in its sleep, a rare opportunity for its denizens to stop, and enjoy the silence for a moment. Not everyone was resting, however. Two figures were crouched on a rooftop, closely watching a neighboring building. The building was nothing special in itself, except for the fact that it was a Hero Agency. Like many other limelight heroes, The Earthen Hero Tectonic had long-since closed up shop for the day. But, the figures watching his Hero Agency weren’t interested in the man himself, not yet anyways, no, they were interested in someone who’ll be approaching the building very soon.
“Do you see her?”
Izuku chuckled, as he scanned the building, looking for anything unusual.
“Not yet, Himiko.”
The blonde-haired girl nodded, growing silent once again, before speaking up once more
“And why can’t I meet her with you?”
“Because I don't want to frighten her, Himiko.”
The blonde-haired girl pouts, but smiles as Izuku lifts his head and rubs his hand through her hair, making her giggle.
“I think it’s just ‘cause you wanna be all mysterious and badass.”
Izuku looked over at the vampiric-girl, raising an eyebrow.
“It worked on you, didn’t it?”
“Well yeah, but we could be badasses together!”
Izuku rolled his eyes and chuckled again,
“We can be badasses together when we go handle Tectonic, alright?”
Himiko giggled and nodded excitedly, clutching the Karambit knife Izuku first gave her.
And then we’ll string him up by his ankles!”
Izuku smirked, before his eyes narrowed, and he pointed down toward the street, Himiko following his finger.
“That’s her.”
Himiko gasped, her smile turning into a grin. Izuku slowly stood up from his perch, stretching his back and groaning, Himiko giggled, and stood up as well. The figure down below them had made their way toward the wall of Tectonics Hero Agency, and, before Himiko’s very eyes, began to float up into the air, toward the Hero in question's personal office’s window. Izuku lifted a hand, opening a swirling black and purple portal, before turning to smirk at the blonde-haired girl.
“Wish me luck?”
Himiko smirked right back at him, she could do him one better. The yellow-eyed girl stepped closer, standing on her tippy toes, and pressing a kiss to Izuku’s lips, making him blush.
“Good Luck, Izu~!”