Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Something slams into the brick wall, the echoing thud reverberating throughout the alleyway.

Toga Himiko twitches, groggily opening her eyes. She had just been having such a pleasant dream. She’d been at a feast of birds for her to drink dry of their delicious red nectar, but before she could take so much as a single nourishing gulp, someone had to interrupt her.

Himiko considers rolling over and going back to sleep, but there’s the possibility that she’s actually in danger.

She shifts, quietly, subtly, and holds her breath. She clears her mind, concealing her presence, and vanishes in the dark of the night.

Himiko creeps out from around the dumpster she’s been using as a shelter from the wind to see what all the commotion is about.

She has to bite back the urge to scoff.

A man in dark clothes has another man—a tall blonde twig of a man, the kind of guy who looks like a stiff breeze would collapse him like a house of cards—shoved against the wall, a knife held threateningly to the skeleton’s side.

A mugging.

Her nap was interrupted by an average, boring, uncute, run of the mill mugging.

Himiko wants to cry. She’s barely gotten enough sleep as it is these past few days since she—

Demon spawn! Monster! Witch! She-devi! Bitch! Murderer!

—Since she left home.

Himiko tunes out the familiar ringing of her parents screams and curls back up on the small piece of cardboard that she’s taken for herself to use as a bed. She has no blanket, unless you count the somewhat ragged school uniform she had meant to wear to her graduation ceremony, before Saito got into a fight.

The idea of caring about her appearance feels like a lifetime ago.

But now she’s free.

And she’s not going to give up this newfound freedom over a scuffle that’s none of her business.

Her breathing hitches as a memory suddenly rockets to the forefront of her mind.

“Principal… I’m worried about Toga.”

“What do you mean? She’s an exemplary student.”

Himiko catches her breath in her throat, not daring to breathe and give herself away. Why was the nurse talking to the Principal? Did they know? She’d been so careful to be Normal! There was no way they could know what she really is, right?

“It’s… well, I think she might not be happy at home.”

“Parents and children argue all the time at their age. If she and her parents have had some kind of falling out, that’s none of our business.”

Her throat aches with thirst, as it’s ached for the past ten years.

She closes her eyes and swears in her head.

Himiko is about to do something really, very, extremely stupid. And she isn’t even going to have the common decency to look cute doing it.

She creeps closer to the man in the dark clothes and his skeleton victim.

“—just give me the fucking money, man. I’ve got a knife, you’ve got shit. Give me the money and we can both go home happy and healthy.” He taps the knife against the skeleton’s side to make his point, and the skeleton winces. “Capiche?”

Who the heck says ‘capiche?’

She’s right on top of them now, and neither of them have noticed her. She reaches for the shiv hidden in her skirt, but hesitates.

Freak! Bloodlusted thing!

The skeleton probably doesn’t want to be covered in the mugger’s blood.

She’s so thirsty.

Himiko runs her tongue over her sharp fangs.

She doesn’t need a knife.

Only blood.

“Alright,” the mugger spits, and Himiko refocuses. “I’ll give you to the count of five. One. Two. Three—”

Himiko pounces, surprise flashing across both the mugger and the skeleton as she seemingly manifests from the shadows. Himiko sinks her teeth into the man’s exposed shoulder and he roars, but Himiko couldn’t care as the sweet, sweet blood pours down her throat.

The mugger falters, crashing to the ground under Himiko’s unexpected weight. She hears his knife clatter to the ground and with a smooth movement swipes it deep into the alley. Knives aren’t cute in the hands of guys like this.

She relaxes her jaw, licking the puncture marks left behind, as she raises herself to keep the mugger pinned.

“That wasn’t very nice of you, you know,” she says in a quiet singsong. “Some people are trying to sleep around here, and you’re going around making a mess.”

The mugger thrashes under her hold. She tightens her grip.

“Crazy bitch!” he snarls.

Himiko rolls her eyes. She’s never heard that one before.

Today.

It’s clear that she’s already won. She hasn’t drunk enough blood to kill him—at least, she’s fairly sure she hasn’t—but the blood loss has weakened him significantly.

“It’s sleepy time,” she coos, giving him a good smack across the head to encourage him to do what Himiko wants to be doing right now. That and his sudden loss of liquid assets has the man rolling his eyes back and passing out beneath her.

Himiko sits up and wipes sweat from her brow. Mugger down. Now she can go back to sleep, but she’s gonna need to find a new alleyway now. This guy is not gonna be happy in a few minutes when he’s back up.

The skeleton coughs and Himiko jumps out of her skin. She’d completely forgotten about him.

“Young lady,” he says, and Himiko stiffens to avoid flinching. “Are you alright?”

Himiko blinks. Of all the questions she had anticipated from someone who watched her crack open a guy like a juice box, that wasn’t one of them.

“Uh,” she says.

The skeleton hums, his sunken eyes sweeping over her and seeming to pierce into her very self. Himiko pulls herself in a little.

“I think,” he says, “That you could do with a warm meal and some fresh clothes.”

Himiko tilts her head. After several seconds, she says, “…are you offering?”

“Sort of,” says the skeleton. “I work as an assistant in Might Tower—” Himiko’s eyes blow wide, and she swallows. “—and we have services available for people down on their luck like you are.”

“Are you…” she chokes, “Are you going to—to get my parents…?”

The skeleton purses his lips in thought.

“A runaway…” he murmurs as he crouches down to be at eye level with Himiko. Louder, he says, “I’ll be honest. It depends on why you ran away from home. If—if your parents hurt you, then I promise you, young lady, that I will ensure that they never do so again.”

Oh.

Oh, he’s going to call them.

“It was my fault,” she whispers, more to herself than to him.

“No.”

Himiko starts, raising her head to meet the skeleton’s gaze.

“I have worked at a Hero Agency for a long, long time, and I have heard those words many times before. And every time, every time, they were not true.” The man stands back to his full height. “Here is what is going to happen now. This mugger needs to be arrested, so I am going to call the police.” Himiko flinches. “I will not restrain you. You may listen in if you wish, to see if I say anything about you. I have no intention of doing so. If you want to run, you can. As far as I can tell, you did not use a Quirk so it isn’t even Vigilantism.” The skeleton chuckles. “But first… my name is Yagi Toshinori. Who might you be?”

“…Toga Himiko.”

The skeleton—Mr. Yagi—smiles wide and warm. “A lovely name. I’m going to call this in now, and then, Young Himiko, I want to help you, if you’ll let me.”

The corners of Himiko’s eyes sting. She tries to blink out whatever it is that’s in her eyes, but all it does it make them wetter.

She doesn’t understand. Why is he acting this way? He saw her drinking blood! Why isn’t he afraid! Why doesn’t he hate her?

Why? Why? Why?

Mr. Yagi pulls out his cell phone, moving slowly enough that Himiko can follow his movements easily. He dials and holds the device up to his ear. After a moment’s pause, he speaks.

“I would like to report a mugging,” he says. Himiko tenses, ready to bolt the moment he says anything about her.

Mr. Yagi gives the mugger’s physical description and the location of the attack. And then he gets to the part that has Himiko’s stomach churning in dread.

“The man was taken down by a passing good Samaritan,” Mr. Yagi says. He pauses. “No, I didn’t get a good look at him. No, he wasn’t dressed like a Vigilante. I think he just happened to be nearby.”

Himiko openly gapes at the man. He… he lied to the police… so that he could protect her? Why? She doesn’t deserve that! She’s a monster! Why would—

A sob escapes her throat.

Why is he acting like this?

She doesn’t understand.

“Why?” she manages to say, her vision blurry; her cheeks are wet, and she doesn’t know how.

“Why what?” Mr. Yagi says.

“Why didn’t you tell them? Why didn’t you sell me out? I’m a monster! Why didn’t you tell them!?”

Mr. Yagi sucks air in through his teeth.

Oh, she’s crying. That’s why her cheeks are wet. She wipes her face on her sleeve, her sobs hiccupping.

“Who told you that?” Mr. Yagi says, slowly, shakingly.

Himiko opens and closes her mouth several times. Why does it matter who told her that? It’s the truth—who told it to her doesn’t matter.

“Young Toga…” Mr. Yagi says quietly. “Is it alright if I hug you?”

Himiko doesn’t know what to say. Even how to speak seems a distant memory right now. She sluggishly opens her arms and feels Mr. Yagi wrap his arms around her. He’s much sturdier than she’d initially assumed, but she focuses more on how warm he is.

“Young Toga,” he says. “You are a child. No child is a monster. No child should ever be told that they are a monster. Do you understand?”

No, she doesn’t. She shakes her head.

“Then I promise to help you understand. Please listen to me. You are not a monster. Can you try to believe me?”

“I—I can try,” she manages.

A police siren blares in the distance and they both tense. Mr. Yagi pulls away from her, looking over his shoulder.

“I want to help you, Young Toga. Please, hide nearby and when the police are gone, I’ll take you back to Might Tower, get you some warm food, clothes, and a roof over your head. I promise that you’ll be safe.”

Safe.

That’s something Himiko doesn’t think she’s ever been. She’s always had to be on guard to avoid letting anyone see her be anything other than Normal, see her being a devil—

The sirens grow louder, snapping Himiko out of her daze, and she scurries back to the nest where she had been trying to sleep only a minute or two ago.

Himiko conceals her presence again. Her heart roars in her ears, her heart aching with thin, fragile hope. She wants to believe Mr. Yagi, she does! But how could anyone honestly think she isn’t a monster? Maybe he thinks he can make her be Normal again.

But he said—he hugged—he promised—

She’s hungry.

She’s tired.

She shouldn’t, she knows she shouldn’t… but she wants to go with Mr. Yagi.

Himiko strains her ears, listening to Mr. Yagi speak to the officers. He repeats the same story he told on the phone. Himiko feels energy run down her spine. If he was going to betray her—it would be right now. He could tell them that she’s here.

But he doesn’t.

He even says that he doesn’t know where the bite mark on the mugger came from.

Himiko sits there completely bewildered as the cops load the mugger into the back of their car and drive off, not shooting so much as a glance towards her hiding place.

The car drives off, and Mr. Yagi relaxes with a sigh.

“They’re gone,” he says. “If you’re still here, you can come out now.”

Slowly, Himiko emerges from around the dumpster, crawling out and standing up. Mr. Yagi beams when he sees her.

“You… mean it…” she says near soundlessly.

Mr. Yagi softens. “Young Toga, would you care to come to Might Tower with me?”

Himiko bites her lip and nods. Just this once, she’ll take the chance.

Mr. Yagi leads her out of the alley and onto the street, lit brightly by streetlamps and neon signs. She trails behind, her footsteps so silent that Mr. Yagi keeps checking to see if she’s still there.

He leads her several blocks over, around winding streets, to a colossal tower of glass and steel. She has to strain her neck to see all the way to the top, where a model planet with two rings caps the building.

“Welcome, Young Toga, to Might Tower!” Mr. Yagi says.

She follows him into the lobby and feels like she walked into a palace. Everything in the building is so big! The walls climb high overhead, at least ten times taller than even Mr. Yagi!

“Welcome back, Yagi.”

Himiko’s head snaps to the reception desk, having somehow overlooked the only other person here in the lobby this late. It’s a short woman with dusty yellow hair curled up over her similarly dusty blue eyes.

The woman smiles, shaking her head. “I see you found another one.”

Mr. Yagi rubs the back of his neck. “Well, er, yes.”

“You can go ahead and get her set up in Suite B. I’ll tell Amano to get food ready for her.”

“Thank you, Fujimori. You’re a lifesaver.”

Mrs. Fujimori rolls her eyes, gentle smile still on her face. “We work at Might Tower, Yagi. It’s what we do.”

“I guess that’s true enough,” Mr. Yagi laughs. He gestures for Himiko to follow him into the elevator. Himiko has to force herself not to gape at the size of the elevator, too. It’s probably large enough for an elephant.

Mr. Yagi presses a button, and the elevator shoots off, leaving Himiko’s stomach behind. The door opens with a chime, and she staggers out onto sweet solid ground.

“Sorry about that, Young Toga,” Mr. Yagi says.  “I always forget that not everyone is accustomed to elevators that fast. Don’t worry, you do get used to it.”

She nods, afraid to open her mouth in case she loses what little food she has. Once she recovers, Mr. Yagi leads her to the door labeled ‘Suite B.’

She looks to him nervously, and he nods for her. Gingerly, she takes the doorknob and turns it. The door opens, and she steps inside. The room is probably a little bigger than her old bedroom. There’s a short hallway from the door to the main part of the room, with a closet on one side and a bathroom on the other. The suite itself has a desk in the corner, a large bed with a puffy comforter and a widescreen television on the wall facing the bed. The floor has a thin carpet.

“Make yourself at home, Young Toga,” Mr. Yagi says. “The mattress is adjustable; feel free to change it however you wish.”

“…no futon?” Himiko says.

“Oh, do you want one?” says Mr. Yagi. “We have some if you—”

“No!” Himiko covers her mouth with her hands. She didn’t mean to yell at Mr. Yagi, but she’d been so surprised to be given a bed instead of something more traditional, and she’s never slept in a bed before, she was so surprised and she didn’t mean to yell, and she—

“Young Toga, breathe,” says Mr. Yagi calmly. He murmurs reassurances to her until her breathing evens out again. “How are you feeling?”

“Tired,” she rasps. “Hungry.”

“Well, the food will be up here shortly.” Mr. Yagi pats her on the back. “And then you can sleep. How does that sound?” Himiko nods. “I unfortunately have some other matters to attend to. If you need anything, there’s a phone on the desk and a list of numbers you can call.”

“…I can’t pay for this,” Himiko whispers.

“No,” Mr. Yagi says. “But All Might can and has. These suites are for people who need a little help, and Might Tower is happy to feed anyone.” Mr. Yagi smiles widely. “I hope you like it, Young Toga. Here’s your room card.” He hands her a small plastic card, and she clutches it to her chest. Mr. Yagi says his goodbyes one more time and makes his way down the hall back towards the elevators.

Himiko watches him go.

There’s a knock on the door to the suite a few minutes later, and Himiko opens it to find a man with a large cart with a full course dinner sitting on top of it.

“We’ve got a restaurant where you can go if you want to order anything yourself,” he says. “That’s on Floor 3. Remember not to eat too fast or you’ll make yourself sick.” Himiko nods, salivating at the sights and smells. The moment the man leaves, Himiko tears into her food like an entire pack of wolves. Tearing and biting the meat and vegetables, draining the broth in large gulps.

She hadn’t realized how famished she truly was until she’d seen real food for the first time since… since.

She wipes the back of her hand against her mouth, setting the last empty dish back on the cart, and flops onto the bed. She reaches for the knob on the side and makes the mattress as soft as she can get it, sinking into the material like a particularly dense cloud.

She’s out before she can even reach to turn off the light.

This is nowhere close to the strangest day Yagi Toshinori has had.

Being mugged is rather atypical, especially so close to Might Tower, but he was wandering around at night in his tweed suit, so he supposes he should’ve at least acknowledged the possibility. The homeless girl tackling the mugger before Toshinori could take him down was, admittedly, unexpected.

Toshinori hates seeing runaways, seeing children deciding that the streets are safer than their own houses.

He opens up the police database under his authority as All Might and types in ‘Toga Himiko.’ The response is immediate.

Several days ago, at the graduation ceremony from her Junior High School, Toga had unexpectedly attacked another student, sucking his blood through a straw with—according to eyewitnesses—a look of ecstasy on her face. Following the attack, she fled apprehension and disappeared, with a warrant currently out for her arrest. The boy, Saito, is still in the hospital recovering from the severe blood loss. Toshinori leans back, exhaling.

At least the boy survived.

He closes his eyes and goes over the facts. She had drunk the blood from the mugger in the alleyway, and then been afraid of how he would react to seeing her do so. She was lucky it was him, if he’s correct. As All Might, he’s seen all sorts of weird things in his long career. Watching a girl drink someone’s blood like a vampire out of myth isn’t even a blip on his radar anymore.

But when he’d offered her his help, she’d been afraid that he would involve her parents. Swallowing his dread, Toshinori scrolls through the police file for any interviews with her parents.

Two minutes later and he is shaking from fury.

How could they say such things about their own daughter!?

He takes a calming breath. It would not do to accidentally use One For All in his office. Most of his equipment and furniture is custom-made to be as durable as possible, but if his control slips, he could easily break most of it.

Toshinori picks up the phone, then hesitates. It’s almost two in the morning. He’d better make it an email.

He starts drafting.

‘Detective Tsukauchi, I have a lead I would like you to pursue at your earliest convenience.’

Chapter Text

“I’m always amazed by how fast you can arrange these things,” Yagi Toshinori says. Tsukauchi looks up from his phone to smile mischievously at him.

“If you want to make it up to me, you can try filing some of your own reports for a change,” he says.

“Now that’s not fair,” Toshinori says. “I’ve been handling Young Himiko’s case by the book and you know it.”

The two of them are in the back of a nondescript van, Toshinori bulked up into his All Might form. Tsukauchi meanwhile has long finished setting up all of the equipment hidden in this back part of the vehicle.

“You always had a bleeding heart for kids,” Tsukauchi says fondly. He pats Toshinori firmly on the back. “I’ve just gotten all the confirmation we need. If they were willing to say that…” Tsukauchi’s face shrivels in disgust, “that bullshit about their daughter to the press, they’ll probably throw themselves at your feet and assume you’re on their side.”

Toshinori shudders at the mere thought of being the kind of person who would treat a child the way those despicable people have. Fortunately, his long career has given him a decent poker face when it counts. He’ll restrain himself, and he’ll do this right, no matter how much he wants to Texas Smash the smug looks off their faces.

The Togas may not be legally Villains, but it’s rare for criminals to incur such wrath from him. Perhaps Tsukauchi has a point about him and children.

“Everything’s ready,” Tsukauchi says.

All Might takes a steadying breath, steps down out of the van (which shifts without his weight pressing it down), and strides with purpose to the front door of the Toga estate. The conspicuous wealth on display makes his blood boil. They clearly had the funds necessary to secure the necessary provisions for their daughter and chose not to.

He knocks, once, twice, three times, careful not to shatter the door. As it is, the door rattles in its frame enough that someone who isn’t used to his control over his strength might worry.

Exactly seventy-four seconds later, the door opens, revealing a sleazy looking man in an equally sleezy suit, poorly fitting beneath the various pins and cuff links.

“All Might,” says Mr. Toga. “What a surprise! To what do I owe this honor?”

“I am here to speak with you regarding your daughter,” he says, keeping his voice even.

Mr. Toga rolls his eyes. “That thing is no daughter of mine. Come in, come in!”

Toshinori nods, stepping through the doorway, his large size blocking out the early morning sunlight. Strikes one and two in a single moment. He’s almost impressed.

“I can’t imagine what went wrong with her,” Mr. Toga continues, leading Toshinori down the hall towards a sitting room. “We were so careful to ensure we had a proper child, not that… demon.”

Toshinori forces himself to unclench his hands. “So you didn’t feed her any blood?”

“Heavens no! We wanted a child, not some blood-crazed hellspawn. Disgusting wretch. She should’ve listened when I told her to throw the thing out, or better yet smother her, prevented this whole mess.”

Toshinori has lost count of how many strikes he has against this man and his wife, but he isn’t going to put up with another minute of this drivel. He reaches for his hidden earpiece, disguising his push of a button with him fixing a loose strand of hair.

Seconds later, there’s another knock at the door, just as fierce as Toshinori’s.

“This is the police!” someone says. “We have a warrant!”

Mr. Toga startles, paling. He turns to Toshinori with confusion in his eyes.

“You, sir,” Toshinori says, no longer hiding his venom, “Have confessed to me multiple forms of child neglect and abuse, including knowingly starving your daughter. All of which has been recorded. I suggest you come quietly.”

Mr. Toga opens his mouth weakly, but under Toshinori’s glare, he closes it again in a shocking display of self-preservation.

Toga Himiko stirs with a groan. She stretches, feeling the soft, plushy ground beneath her shift around her movements, the fine fabric soft against her skin.

Huh.

She doesn’t remember finding a mattress or blanket in any of the dumpsters she’s checked. At least it’s a nice day, warm with no wind. Or the sounds of people or traffic. Must be a weekend or something. She’s lost track of the day.

It’s a shame that her wonderful dreams keep getting interrupted, though. First was that bird dream and then she finally gets to sleep and has a dream about someone from Might Tower actually caring about her, and she had to go and wake up from that too—

Himiko pauses, mid-stretch.

Gently, she presses her hands down on the fabric she’s lying on.

Himiko sucks air through her nose and pushes herself up with a start, eyes wide.

It wasn’t a dream.

The room—the suite in Might Tower—it’s here. The bed is here, the mattress still super soft like she set it to be. The desk still in the corner, ready for use but with nothing of hers on it. Her reflection stares back at her from the black TV screen.

It wasn’t a dream.

She stumbles to her feet, only now realizing that she went to sleep in her shoes. Sunlight is coming in through the window, illuminating the room, even though Himiko doesn’t remember turning off the lights. She checks the clock on the table beside the bed.

10:54

Huh.

Himiko bites her lip. She’s hungry, still, even after all the food they gave her last night. Maybe it would be alright for her to swing by—what was it? Floor 3? –and get breakfast. Or brunch, she guesses.

As Himiko steps lightly towards the door, she sees something in the closet out of the corner of her eye. She shrieks and jumps back, her hidden shiv in hand, aimed defensively at… a shirt. Himiko tilts her head, approaching it slowly. She slides the closet door open and finds that at some point in the night, it’s been filled with clothes.

Her eyes widen. They’re… cute clothes! With pretty pinks and cat patterns and rainbows and puppies and bright colors and skirts and she loves them!

There’s a note posted on the closet door.

‘Himiko

I grabbed some clothes for you. I’m estimating the sizes, let me know if they don’t fit, and if you want any more, I’ll see when we can go shopping.

I turned out the light for you. Sleep well.

Fujimori’

Himiko bounces in place, not bothering to hide her fangs in her smile. She can get changed!

She reaches for the nearest adorable outfit, then stops. She slowly turns her head to look at the bathroom behind her, pristine white and teal tiles.

She can take a bath!

Himiko wastes no time, darting into the bathroom with a bright giggle and stripping out of her filthy clothes. Her soft cardigan is coated in stains from various alleyways, leaving it coarse and uncute in several places. Her sailor-like school uniform is in better condition by virtue of wearing the cardigan over it, but it’s still caked in sweat. Himiko scrunches her face at the pile of clothes, kicking it back a few centimeters.

With that done, she finally takes in the bathroom properly. The floors are a cool set of white and blue tiles. The walls are smooth marble, and she runs a hand down one to feel the finish. The sink has wooden shelves on a metal frame, with a white ceramic top, and a metal shelf at the bottom where the towels are stacked.

The tub is what really interests her though. It’s square shaped, so about twice the width of her old tub. She bounces on her heels, turning on the faucet and breathing the steam in deep. As the water rises, she sprinkles in pinches of bath salts and a splash of bubble bath fluid, releasing a cute floral scent.

When the tub is finally full, Himiko dips a toe in and squeals in delight. It’s been ages since her last hot bath, and she’s nearly forgotten how wonderful they are.

She slips under the water, her muscles melting in the warmth as the salts set to work on her skin. Himiko sighs contentedly, leaning her head back and closing her eyes.

Half an hour later, she drains the tub again, her skin positively glowing. She keeps rubbing her hand over her arms and legs to feel how soft her skin is again! Himiko must have died in that alleyway, and this is heaven.

She dries herself off and hangs up her towel on the wall rack, vibrating with giddiness.

It’s clothes time!

Himiko hums to herself as she trots back to the closet, slipping on the first bra and underwear she can find. The next thing to catch her eye is a loose long sleeve shoulderless shirt, with two thin green straps. The shirt itself is completely adorable, a series of colors from red to yellow to green to blue, each patterned like it’s dripping into the color below it. It goes perfectly with the black skirt dotted with off-white-colored stars.

Himiko stands in front of the full-length mirror and twirls, giggling. This is so much better than those stuffy uniforms her parents bought for her. She can hardly believe how cute she looks! How cute she feels!

Mrs. Fujimori also left her a set of indoor shoes, which is good, because the only shoes she has are for outdoors, and they did not handle her brief stint in the alleyways very well, so she’ll need to find some new ones. That note said she could ask Mrs. Fujimori, but is that really alright?

Himiko runs her hand across her shirt, feeling the fabric on her palm.

Maybe…

Making sure to take her card with her—the skirt come with pockets! Pockets! –Himiko closes the door to the suite behind her and skips down the hall to the elevator. This time she knows to brace herself for its speed as it shoots off to the third floor.

It takes Himiko a few steps on the third floor to get her bearings again. She hopes that Mr. Yagi is right about getting used to how fast those elevators move. But then again… how long is she going to stay here? Someone’s got to be hunting her by now, and this is Might Tower. At any second, All Might himself could arrive and hit her with his least cute Smash and that would be that.

Her stomach growls, and Himiko pouts.

But… her dinner last night was wonderful. And so was the bed, and the bath, and the clothes…

Maybe she can stay here. Just for a little while. Yeah. And then she can take what she can carry and run.

That’s… that’s a plan.

Yeah.

The elevator lobby is surprisingly empty given that it’s almost noon, and this is the floor with the food. Maybe everyone leaves at noon on the dot? Himiko doesn’t know, but she appreciates being able to move around without worrying about anyone else nearby.

There’s a TV in this lobby, unlike the one on the floor Himiko is staying, with the Minato Ward news on. That makes sense. This is a Hero Agency, so knowing what’s happening at all times seems like common sense.

Himiko is poking the leather on one of the couches against the wall between two potted plants when the content of the news broadcast catches her ear.

“—couple in the Mita District were arrested early this morning for multiple counts of child neglect and abuse, with All Might himself assisting in their arrest.”

Oof. Himiko winces. She’d hate to be the kid whose life was so bad that All Might himself had to get involved. And she lives—lived—in the Mita district. She hopes it wasn’t anyone she knew from school. Sure, none of them were really her friends, only friends with her when she was Normal, but that doesn’t make them bad. She was the bad one.

She glances up at the screen to see if she recognizes the house or the parents and freezes. That was… that was her house…? And those are her parents being led out of the house in handcuffs…? Why? Maybe because they didn’t do enough to make her Normal? The world around her disappears like smoke.

But—

Arrested—

Handcuffs—

What—

Police—

All Might—

Doesn’t make sense doesn’t make sense doesn’t make sense doesn’t make sense—

A scent crashes into her, something sweet and delicious, and Himiko, already hungry, starts salivating.

Slowly, shapes and colors begin to form again around her, fading in and twisting into familiar forms. Yellows and peaches swirl together until she recognizes Mr. Yagi crouching in front of her.

Mr. Yagi, in a different but still yellow suit, smiles brightly at her. He’s holding some kind of drink pouch, though it doesn’t seem to have any brand information on it.

“Are you feeling alright, Young Himiko? You seemed rather out of it,” says Mr. Yagi.

“When—” she swallows, eyes locked on the delectable-smelling drink, “When did you get here…?”

“About five minutes ago,” he says. “You weren’t exactly… responsive.”

Oh.

Mr. Yagi holds the pouch out for her with a smile. “For you!”

She takes it gingerly. “What is it?”

“There are many Quirks out there that have some form of nutritional requirement to them,” Mr. Yagi says. “All Might, for example, requires several times the calories of the average person. Several Mutation-type Quirks require food related to their mutations, animals in particular.”

“Okay…?” What does that have to do with anything? Mr. Yagi seems to read the lack of comprehension on her face and sighs lightly.

“Young Himiko,” he says. “You need blood. You don’t simply want it; it is a physical need. Your body cannot function without it.”

Himiko nearly drops the pouch.

“No, no…” she shakes her head. “No! Normal people don’t drink blood!”

She feels a hand settle on her head, ruffling her hair, and Himiko can’t help but want it more. The sensation lingers long after Mr. Yagi lifts his had again.

“Perhaps two-hundred years ago, that would be true,” he says. “But we now live in a Quirk-based society. One of the people working at this building has eight eyes and eats bugs. One of the top Heroes in Japan is part rabbit, and another turns into a dragon from Western myth. The top school in the country is run by an animal of indeterminable species. How could anyone claim to know what ‘normal’ is?”

“But that’s why they went to jail, right?” Himiko begs more than says. “Because they—they couldn’t control me! They couldn’t make me be right!”

Suddenly, Mr. Yagi wraps his arms around her again, squeezing her tight and filling her with warmth again.

“Do you remember what I told you last night?” he says. “You are not a monster. You should not have been told otherwise. You are a child who should have had parents who supported and encouraged you.” Mr. Yagi loosens, leaning back so he can rest his hands on her shoulders, her skin tingling under his touch. “Those people went to jail, not because they couldn’t reign in your physical need for blood, but because they were not giving it to you. They were starving you, Young Himiko.”

Mr. Yagi gently squeezes her shoulders, then brings his hands down slowly to take Himiko’s own, still wrapped around the pouch. He raises it up for her.

“This is…” she says, staring distantly at the pouch.

“This is artificial blood we produce for use in emergency transfusions,” Mr. Yagi says. “And for people like you, who need to regularly consume blood. Please, Young Himiko, drink.”

Himiko brings the pouch up to her mouth, her breath running across it as she hesitates for a moment. She tears open the top and timidly brings it to her lips.

It smells like blood.

Her throat aches.

Himiko squeezes her eyes closed and empties the pouch into her mouth, gulping down the sweet, sweet red liquid. She can tell at once that it isn’t real blood—the light aftertaste of copper is new—but otherwise it tastes wonderful.

Counting the man from last night and… Saito… this is the most blood Himiko’s ever had in such a short span of time. It’s as if a gaping void in her chest is slowly sewing itself shut.

Himiko drips the pouch dry of every drop that she can. She looks up brightly at Mr. Yagi, and he ruffles her hair again, leaving her scalp all nice and tingly and longing.

“You really mean it?” she says.

“I do,” says Mr. Yagi. “I’m sorry that you had to suffer through all of that on your own for so long. But now that I am here, I will help you. I promised you, didn’t I? That if your parents hurt you, I would make sure they never would again.”

“I don’t understand,” she whispers. “Why are you—why are you helping me?”

Mr. Yagi shifts, guiding Himiko to sit down on the sofa and taking a seat beside her.

“Sometimes,” he says, “We all need a little help. No matter who we are. That’s the idea that predicated this building. I’ve worked here for… a long time, really. At least two-thirds of my life in fact.” Himiko gapes at that. “I can’t speak for everyone in this building, but I can say that a good many of us would always choose to extend a hand to someone in need.”

She shakes her head. “They were right, I’m— I’m a freak! I hurt Saito and I liked it!”

“You lasted for more than ten years,” says Mr. Yagi. “You were starved and told that you should be grateful for being starved for over a decade, and in all that time you kept going. You are so much stronger than you know. If you were the monster you seem so determined to convince me you are, then you would have attacked someone sooner. Or, once you were on the streets, you would’ve attacked more random passersby. You did neither of these things.”

“No…”

“You told me last night that you would try to believe that you are not a monster,” Mr. Yagi reminds her. “I do not believe you are a monster. The police who arrested your parents do not believe that you are a monster. Fujimori does not believe you are a monster. Amano does not believe you are a monster.”

“Amano…?”

“The man who brought you dinner last night,” Mr. Yagi explains. “And there is one more person, who you might find somewhat more persuasive.”

Himiko tilts her head. Mr. Yagi snorts and gestures back to the TV, still playing the news.

On screen, All Might stands tall and proud in front of her old house, speaking into a microphone being held by someone from the news station.

“I have never understood why there is a need to label a Quirk as Heroic or Villainous,” says All Might. “Quirks are parts of our bodies. We do not call our hands Villainous because many, many people in the past have used them to commit crimes. Furthermore, this divide seems purely arbitrary. Endeavor does good work with his Quirk, but in the hands of another it could cause untold destruction. I myself could level entire cities if I so choose, and yet our Quirks are seen as ‘Heroic.’ A Quirk is a Quirk. There is nothing else to it.”

“…what?” says Himiko. Mr. Yagi chuckles.

“I suppose you must not have been paying attention. They haven’t said the names of you or your parents, but they have reported the fact that they were arrested because they mistreated you for your Quirk. All Might was asked to comment on this. Do you know what that means, Young Himiko?”

“All Might… doesn’t think I’m a monster…?”

“No,” Mr. Yagi says, “He doesn’t.”

“But… Saito…”

Mr. Yagi sighs, placing a gentle hand on Himiko’s back.

“Young Saito was an accident that you could not control,” he says solemnly. “Mistakes, accidents, and failures are a sad fact of life. What happened to him was not your fault, but it is your responsibility to grow from it. To ensure that it does not happen again. And do you know how you can do that?” Himiko shakes her head. “By drinking one of those blood pouches every day. Can you do that for me?”

“That’s not fair,” Himiko whispers. “That’s not asking anything of me…”

“Perhaps not, but I think you have been through enough. There’s nothing wrong with needing a hand every now and then.” Mr. Yagi winks at her, and stage whispers, “Take this one.”

“…okay.”

“Now then,” Mr. Yagi says. “I’m rather famished. Would you care for lunch, Young Himiko?”

Before she can answer, her stomach growls, and Himiko’s blush deepens. She smiles sheepishly.

“Is Mr. Amano cooking?” she asks as they stand up to head into the café.

“Mr. Amano is, ah, actually not a chef,” says Mr. Yagi. “He delivers food to other places in Might Tower if for whatever reason they can’t or won’t come here themselves. Last night Hashiguchi was the head chef, and today is Ikeda.”

“Oh.”

The café is large, which isn’t a surprise when everything Himiko’s seen in Might Tower so far has been large. But it’s not as cute as it could be. The chairs and tables are nice, but minimalist.

On the windows is a large sign facing out to the street below. It takes Himiko a moment to reverse the text in her head. Mite’s Café.

Well, it is kind of cute how on brand it is.

The two of them make their way up to the counter to order. Himiko bites back a giggle at how flustered the poor young man working there becomes as the two of them start ordering several meals apiece.

Himiko feels light. She doesn’t know how long she’ll stay here at Might Tower, but maybe she’ll stick around for a while.

The food here is really yummy.

Chapter Text

Detective Tsukauchi Naomasa looks up from his file. Saito clutches his trembling hands close to his chest. Whether they’re shaking from fear or rage, Naomasa doesn’t know. Saito’s parents, standing to the side of his hospital bed look like they’re turning green. Naomasa can’t blame them. He himself can only keep a clear head and a settled stomach thanks to years of detective work.

“How horrible,” Mr. Saito says, taking his wife’s hand. On the hospital bed, Saito clenches his hands around the sheet hard enough to ball the fabric.

“I…” he starts. “I don’t think I can forgive her,” he says. “But… but this—this never would’ve happened if they’d—!”

Mrs. Saito puts a hand on his shoulder. She nods towards Naomasa.

“In light of this information,” she says, her voice shaking ever so slightly, “I believe we can drop the charges against Toga. Would it be possible to place charges against her parents for their role in all of this?”

“I believe that would be a lawsuit,” says Naomasa. “If you would like, I can get you in contact with a lawyer—”

“No need,” she says. “We already have one. Thank you for your time, detective.”

Naomasa stands, bows, puts on his hat, and strides out of Saito’s hospital room.

Yagi will surely want to hear the good news.

Himiko skips down the path out of the Kiyashi Ward Shopping Mall while humming to herself, each arm loaded with bags.

“Wait up, Himiko!” Mrs. Fujimori calls. Himiko slows her pace, letting the woman catch up to her. “I see you had a good time.”

It’s the first time that Himiko’s left Might Tower since she first arrived some days ago. She doesn’t know exactly how long it’s been; she isn’t counting the days. But the sun feels wonderful on her freshly washed skin, and it’s been a while since she’s mingled in crowds like this. Probably not since what should’ve been her graduation ceremony.

She shoves down that thought.

Himiko grins wide. “The mall was so cute! And they had so much stuff! I never really looked around before, but it’s so big! And they were selling so much cute stuff!” Her arms swing at her sides, but she’s mindful of the contents of her bag.

“I’m glad you enjoyed yourself,” Mrs. Fujimori says. “How are the new shoes?”

Himiko glances down at her adorable laced boots. They go up past her ankles, all black with matching black laces. They’re nowhere near as tight and stuffy as those tiny shoes her parents always got her, and the bottoms are so much nicer on her soles.

“I love them!” she says.

“Not too much, I hope,” says Mrs. Fujimori. “I’d hate for all the other shoes you got to go to waste.”

Himiko pretends to gasp. “Why, Mrs. Fujimori! Don’t tell me you expect me to wear the same shoes every day with every outfit! I have to match them! It wouldn’t be cute if my shoes clashed with my clothes!”

“Of course. How silly of me,” Mrs. Fujimori says with a small smile of her own.

The past few days have been increasingly strange. Mr. Yagi seems to think that drinking blood is a perfectly Normal thing for her to do, and the rest of the staff at Might Tower saw her before she could put back on her Normal mask, but they all act like they like her anyway.

She hadn’t wanted to mention at first that some of the clothes Mrs. Fujimori had gotten for her were slightly too big for her. They’re comfy and she can hide in them! They’re great! But Mrs. Fujimori had spotted her, hands not quite out of her sleeves, and offered to take her shopping properly. Himiko doesn’t want her spending money on her, but apparently Might Tower puts money aside specifically for the people staying there to get clothes and necessities?

Himiko doesn’t understand.

But it’s making Mrs. Fujimori happy and she’s getting a wonderfully cute wardrobe out of it, so Himiko isn’t about to complain too hard.

More clothes to fill out her closet and the wardrobe in the suite. More shoes for outside. Perhaps most importantly: accessories! Ribbons, bracelets, stockings and sleeves! Necklaces and jewelry! Himiko’s always thought that accessories are pretty and cute, but she hadn’t been allowed to wear them, to bring attention to the her underneath the Normal. But now! Now she can dress however she wants!

“Your hair is looking better,” says Mrs. Fujimori. Himiko giggles, spinning a loose strand with her finger.

“It feels better! It’s not all gross and icky anymore!”

The suite in Might Tower already comes with all kinds of different products for her skin and hair, and with the filth scrubbed out and her hair properly brushed again, it’s not as wild or grungy as it was a few days ago. Now her hair’s bright sheen and silky texture is back and cuter than ever! Even in the few days she was on the streets, she’d gotten pretty tired of fighting the loose strands that sprung up every-which-way no matter how hard she tried to keep them down.

Maybe now she can finally style it instead of keeping it perfectly straight like how her parents wanted her to keep it! They knew it was too wild to be straightened like that, it just left her hair going everywhere.

Ooh, so many possibilities…

Maybe she’ll put it up in a ponytail? Or twin tails, those would be cute! Maybe buns? No, not buns—braids? Maybe she can curl her hair and get it all wavy, or brush it back like it’s being blown by the wind! Or cut it super short, that’d be adorable too! Ooh, ooh, or maybe super long instead! Not like that shoulder-length cut she used to have. And she’ll wear a hairclip, maybe one with a flower or a cat. Or a ribbon! She picked out a few of those.

Maybe there’s a salon in Might Tower? They’ve already got food and housing, at this point it wouldn’t surprise Himiko if the building was entirely self-sufficient.

Mrs. Fujimori unlocks the trunk of her car, an older blue sedan, and Himiko happily slides the bags off her arms and into the trunk, stacking them next to each other in neat little rows. She giggles to herself. It’s such a little thing, but it’s amusing to her.

“Glad I thought to drive,” says Mrs. Fujimori with a smile. “It would not have been easy taking all this on the train.”

Himiko bites her lip, glancing at Mrs. Fujimori. Did she get too much? She’s already worried about the cost, even if All Might is covering it.

Mrs. Fujimori ruffles Himiko’s hair, leaving her scalp tingly. “I’m glad. It’ll be nice to see you wearing more of your own clothes.”

Oh, they are hers, aren’t they? She knew that she was going to wear them, obviously, but the fact that they’re hers, that she owns these clothes, that they were bought for her and now they belong to her, that’s a new concept.

All her old clothes belonged to the Toga Himiko she pretended to be.

“We’ll also have to get you some room decorations at some point,” Mrs. Fujimori continues.

Himiko blinks. “Is that okay? I mean, I’m in one of the suites…”

Mrs. Fujimori gives a smile that makes Himiko feel like she knows something that Himiko doesn’t, but it doesn’t seem unkind. Himiko can’t for the life of her figure out what it is that she could be up to though.

“Ah, Young Himiko, Fujimori!” Mr. Yagi greets them as they step into the main lobby. “Welcome back!”

“Waiting for us?” Mrs. Fujimori says, raising an eyebrow, “Or her?”

Mr. Yagi laughs awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. “Just Young Himiko. I have some news for her.”

“Got it.” Mrs. Fujimori turns to Himiko. “Do you want me to take these up for you, or stay here?”

“You can take those up,” Himiko says, slightly embarrassed. It’s weird that people keep asking her stuff like that! It’s not like her opinion matters all that much.

“Alright hon, see you in a bit.” And Mrs. Fujimori struts off towards the elevators.

“I’m glad to see you making friends,” Mr. Yagi says, patting Himiko on the head. She had to bite her lip to keep down her squeals of delight. “I have some good news for you!”

“You do?”

Mr. Yagi nods deeply. “I was contacted by a friend of mine, a detective. He’s the one who helped—helped All Might arrest your parents. He’s been speaking to the Saitos about the charges against you.” Himiko’s breath leaves her. “They’ve all been dropped.”

“…what?” she croaks.

“The Saito Family has agreed that your parents were more responsible for the, erm, incident than you were. I don’t believe they wish to see you, but they’ve dropped all charges against you and are looking into suing your parents, as it was their criminal behavior that resulted in Young Saito’s injury.”

“They… they don’t hate me?”

Mr. Yagi looks sheepish. “I don’t think they’ll want to invite you to tea anytime soon, but no, they don’t hate you.”

“Is… is Saito…?”

“He’s expected to make a full recovery.”

Himiko’s legs buckle under her, and the only reason she doesn’t fall to the floor is because Mr. Yagi catches her—surprising her once again with how sturdy he is despite being thinner than a pencil.

“He’s alright…?” she says. “I—I didn’t know, I thought—but I didn’t—I didn’t…”

“He’ll be just fine,” Mr. Yagi says. “Though I get the impression he never wants to be in a hospital again.”

Himiko picks herself back up, her hand lingering on Mr. Yagi’s arm for a moment. She doesn’t know what it is, but something about when Mr. Yagi and Mrs. Fujimori touch her warm and leaves her wanting more contact.

“That’s…”

“I have more good news,” Mr. Yagi says. Himiko looks up at him, eyes wide. How could there possibly be more good news for her? “Now that—that the Togas have been arrested, they have been deemed unfit as parents. As such, guardianship has transferred to Might Tower.” He pats her on the shoulder as Himiko attempts to process what he’s telling her. “Which means you are now, officially, a ward of Might Tower.”

“...a ward?”

“Basically, the administration of Might Tower has assumed custody of you, Young Himiko. Your health and wellbeing is now not only our moral responsibility, but our legal one.”

“So you—you’re taking care of me now…?”

“For as long as you wish to stay here, yes,” says Mr. Yagi.

“Does that mean I’m All Might’s kid?” Himiko’s eyes gleam. She was never all that into Heroes—Normal girls don’t care about things like that—but she doesn’t know anyone who doesn’t know who All Might is. She remembers some of her classmates joking that everyone wants All Might to be their dad.

Now, she might kinda actually have that happen.

“I guess you could say that,” says Mr. Yagi, suddenly blushing fiercely. “He is the highest-ranked member of the administration here, so in a sense, he is your primary guardian.”

“Whoa…”

Maybe she can stay here for a while after all. With Mrs. Fujimori and Mr. Amano and Mr. Yagi and the others she’s seen around the tower from time to time.

It might be nice.

They’ve all been so nice to her.

But…

Himiko bites her lip.

“What about school?” she says slowly.

She… does not really want to go to school. She wants to stay here, keep things how they’ve been these last few days. But she also knows that she legally has to go, or she’ll be truant and get Mr. Yagi and everywhere in trouble, but she also didn’t go through her whole graduation ceremony and she doesn’t remember if she even had a high school application—her parents would’ve handled all of that for her.

For her own good.

And after everything she was probably rejected and the application window ended a month ago so there’s no time for her to come up with anything else, she’s going to get them all in trouble and—

“That is something we’ll have to discuss in more detail at some point,” says Mr. Yagi, “However, the courts have approved giving you a gap year to recover from everything the Togas put you through. As such, you will be starting high school next year.”

Himiko blinks, then blinks again.

“I can do that?” she settles on.

Mr. Yagi nods, a wide smile on his face. “It’s uncommon, but sometimes exceptions are made for people in circumstances that call for it. You, for example, need to focus on your physical recovery, and attempting to send you back into a school environment may be too stressful right now.”

Himiko can’t hide her relief at the news, which probably only helps Mr. Yagi’s point that she isn’t ready for that yet.

“It’s really okay for me to stay here?” she says, her wide eyes shining.

Mr. Yagi smiles and puts a hand on her head, gently rubbing his palm against her scalp. Himiko leans into the touch.

“Yes, Young Himiko. It’s more than okay. We here at Might Tower want you here.”

Himiko inhales sharply through her mouth.

“Even though I drink blood…? Even if I think gore is neat? Even if I’m weird? Not Normal?”

“Young Himiko, those are the things that make you who you are. And besides, I believe I’ve already told you that in our world there is no such thing as normal.”

Himiko nods shakily, teeth resting on her lip.

Mr. Yagi continues. “You, Young Himiko, are a delightful young woman that I’ve loved having the pleasure of getting to know these past few days. And I know for a fact that everyone else in this tower feels the same way. Young Himiko, you don’t have to be some… imagined ideal in order to deserve being happy. You exist, and that is reason enough to deserve a good life.” His smile softens as he ruffles her hair. “You’ve been dealt a bad hand until now, but I can assure you, that is not your fault. You did not deserve what the Togas did to you.”

“But—”

“But nothing, Himiko. Remember what I told you?”

Himiko nods slowly, whispering. “I am not a monster.”

“Exactly. You are a child who deserves love and care. And I am personally disgusted by how the Togas refused to give that to you. You are wonderful, Himiko, and I’m sorry you had to go through all of that on your own for so long. But now I am here, and everyone in this tower will make sure you get everything you deserve.”

Mr. Yagi lifts his hand, and Himiko feels herself missing it already. How many times did her father make her feel so warm with only a touch? Her mother? She can’t remember. She can’t remember the last time either of them touched her at all.

“I had a… teacher, once,” says Mr. Yagi. “She said that as someone going into the Heroics industry, it was important that I smile, because the people who I would encounter had just been through something terrible. She stressed the importance of saving the hearts of people, and she was correct.” Mr. Yagi lightly taps a finger over Himiko’s heart. “I can see it, even if you can’t. The light that still shines there even after everything the Togas did to you. After all, the night we met, you saved me.” Mr. Yagi bows. “Thank you, Himiko, for saving me that night.”

“I…” Himiko swallows. “I wasn’t going to… at first, when I woke up… I was just gonna go back to sleep.”

“But you didn’t,” says Mr. Yagi cheerfully.

“It was just… I—I remembered something… and I didn’t want to be like that, let someone get hurt because I didn’t know them. That’s all.”

“Himiko… that’s a very Heroic instinct you have.”

Her head snaps up, mouth open in disbelief. She studies his features for any sign of dishonesty, but no matter how much she scrutinizes him, she can’t find one. But that doesn’t make any sense!

“I’m not—I’m not a Hero,” she says, “I was just…”

“Just what?” says Mr. Yagi, raising an eyebrow. “Risking yourself to help a total stranger because you could not stand the idea of leaving them to their fate? Helping someone with no promise of a reward for doing so?”

“But I was going to… to let him…”

Mr. Yagi looks around the room and leans in close, holding up a hand by his mouth. “Do you want to know a secret, Himiko?” Himiko pauses, then nods. “All Might has his doubts too.”

“…what?”

“It’s true!” Mr. Yagi says. “He’s told me himself! Sometimes, All Might wants to let things play out, or he wants to leave someone behind so he can catch the Villain and ensure that they never hurt anyone else. But he never does. He always chooses to save the people in front of him. And that there is the key.”

“The key?”

“That he chooses.” Mr. Yagi smiles gently. “Just as you are not a monster because of how you were born, All Might was not born a Hero, saving lives from his crib. Heroics is a career field, and a competitive one. You do not accidentally become a Hero. It is a choice—a series of choices made every day at every situation you’re called to handle. That choice is what sets Heroes apart from everyone else. So thank you, Himiko, for making that choice. If you hadn’t, we’d never have met, and I know that I greatly prefer having met you.”

Himiko sniffles, wiping at the wetness in her vision.

“Yeah,” she manages. “I’m glad I met you too.”

Chapter Text

It’s April.

Himiko has been at Might Tower for about two weeks now, and in that time it’s come to feel more like a home than her old house ever did.

Himiko has no schedule, though she has developed a bit of a routine.

She wakes up when she wakes up, clambers off of her cloud-soft bed and draws up a bath. She doesn’t need to be presentable or make a good impression for the family, she just like having soft skin and silky hair! Not to mention all the fun she can have with bath products. Bubble baths and bath bombs are divine.

Once she’s satisfied and dries herself off, she sifts through her closet for an adorable outfit to wear. Today, she picks out a sleeveless dress that has a cat-face pattern on her stomach so that the skirt looks like the body of a kitty! She pairs that with some simple black loafers to complete her look.

Himiko giggles, doing a twirl for the mirror. She’s so cute!

Next up is the Mite Café. Himiko’s gotten into a bit of a bad habit of getting a lot of food whenever she eats, but she’s hungry and the food is tasty! Besides, Mr. Yagi and Dr. Maki from the Might Tower infirmary say that she wasn’t eating enough before, and Might Tower food is supposed to be healthy! Not to mention all the yummy foods on the menu from All Might’s time in America.

Today she gets miso soup, tamagoyaki, rice pudding, and shokupan toast, alongside stacks of pancakes, bacon, eggs and cheese, plus a bowl of fruit and apple juice. The food is, of course, heavenly. Wonderfully savory on her tongue and leaves her making delighted humming sounds.

After she’s eaten her fill (for now), she swings by the infirmary.

Dr. Maki—a short older woman with wavy brown hair and eyes an adorable shade of pink—meets with Himiko frequently to monitor her health. Apparently, what she went through might have really hurt her, which sucks, but Dr. Maki is really nice! She even gives Himiko a lollipop at the end of every check-up, even though Himiko isn’t a little kid!

Himiko rolls the lollipop around on her tongue. It’s strawberry flavor, a cute red flavor.

She can do whatever she wants!

Or, sort of.

Mr. Yagi assigned her homework of all things. Himiko has to force down an exhausted groan at the thought. It’s just so that she doesn’t go completely out of practice during her gap year, small assignments due weekly, but it’s boring. It’s uncute!

But… she has to admit, he’s probably right that she needs to do it.

Himiko pouts. That doesn’t mean she has to like it.

Besides, she’s got most of it done anyway. It’s all refresher stuff. Himiko’s never been the best student, but she’s not dumb. Himiko’s just always preferred doing stuff hands-on to reading about it in stuffy old books. Mr. Yagi’s homework at least gives her something to do. She can handle that.

But maybe tomorrow.

Instead she browses channels on the suite TV, settling on a slasher movie marathon. She doesn’t understand why her parents hated her watching these movies so much. It’s obvious how fake the blood looks, anyone could tell! It’s like the leads are sweating strawberry jam.

A few hours into her marathon, someone knocks on the door. Himiko hurriedly turns of the television and jogs lightly over to the door.

“Ah, Himiko,” Mr. Yagi says. “Can I come in?”

Himiko can’t think of a single reason she would ever refuse to let Mr. Yagi see her. She grins wide, showing her teeth, and opens the door for him. Mr. Yagi follows her into the room, his usual smile not quite as wide as she normally sees it. There’s a tension in his shoulders.

“What can I do for you?” she asks.

Mr. Yagi coughs. “Well, erm, that is to say…” he sighs. “Himiko, I’m afraid that I haven’t been entirely honest with you.”

“Okay?” says Himiko. Is that unusual? She wore a mask of Normal all the time. Obviously, normal people don’t need to do that, but Himiko knows that they all wore masks of their own.

“You see, Himiko…” Mr. Yagi rubs the back of his neck. “Have you ever wanted to see All Might?”

Himiko tilts her head. “I guess so.”

“You don’t sound sure.”

“Well,” she shrugs, “I’ve never been that into Heroes. They didn’t want me to.” She doesn’t need to say who she’s talking about. All her friends at Might Tower keep telling her that what they did to her was wrong, and that she shouldn’t call them her parents if they never truly parented her.

“Well… Himiko, the truth is…”

Mr. Yagi’s frail form explodes, surging with power. In a moment, his lanky frame fills out into bulging muscles, sending air rushing out in all directions. Himiko yelps and falls back in surprise.

“—I am here!” says All Might.

Eyes wide, Himiko takes in the sudden appearance of the Number One Hero. Mr. Yagi’s always loose-fitting suit is perfectly sized for All Might’s bulk. He smiles down at Himiko.

“…Mr. Yagi…?” she says slowly.

All this time… the man who reached out to her in the alleyway… that man is secretly All Might! Mr. Yagi told her that he wouldn’t let her parents hurt her again, and then he went and arrested them himself! He brought her to his own agency to help her with his own money!

All this time… everything she’s had, all this wonderful food and cute clothes… it all came from Mr. Yagi.

“That’s correct!” says All Might. His smile turns sheepish as steam suddenly starts pouring out of him. All Might deflates again, leaving the familiar figure of Mr. Yagi once more. “I—”

“You’re a shapeshifter?” Himiko says.

“Not… exactly,” Mr. Yagi says. “As All Might, I always flex myself so I look as powerful as I do. Of course, it’s gotten more dramatic in the past few years.” He coughs a few times, and Himiko can’t stop staring at the thin trail of blood on his chin.

She blinks out of her stupor. “But… why?”

“So that I can continue to inspire people. Were people to see what has become of the Symbol of Peace, there would be chaos.”

Himiko tilts her head. “There would? But aren’t there other Heroes?”

Mr. Yagi stares at her for a moment before chuckling. He reaches up and ruffles her hair the way Himiko loves.

“There are,” Mr. Yagi sighs, “But Heroics is a career field now. A popular one. Many Heroes are content to settle without striving to improve, only interested in the fame that comes with the job. If I weren’t able to work, there are few Heroes that could replace me in the public’s eye as a Symbol that all will be well.”

“Oh.” So this is a pretty big secret, Himiko guesses. Why tell her then? “Um, Mr. Yagi? What happened then? That made you all skinny?”

Mr. Yagi bites his lip, then slowly lifts up his shirt.

On his side, near his heart, is an ugly, cracked, uncute gnarled scar that spreads out across his chest like shattered porcelain. Himiko swallows at the sight of it.

“This injury… It came from a powerful Villain I fought five years ago. My respiratory system was almost completely destroyed, and my stomach had to be removed entirely. Surgeries saved my life, but the aftereffects have left me slowly wasting away. I can only do hero work for three hours a day now.”

Himiko doesn’t know a whole lot about Heroes, or about All Might, but she does know about sadness. About being limited. And there’s a deep sadness in Mr. Yagi’s voice as he talks about his limitations.

Himiko hugs him. She doesn’t want to squeeze too hard, not when she’s seen the state of him, but she wraps her arms around him. Mr. Yagi tenses for a moment before softening and stroking the back of her head.

Eventually, she pulls herself away from him.

“Thank you, Himiko,” Mr. Yagi says with a warm smile. “You’re very kind.”

Himiko sniffles. That isn’t something she heard a whole lot before she came to live in Might Tower.

“Um,” Himiko eventually says. “You—you said this isn’t something that you can let people know, right? So why did you tell me?”

Mr. Yagi clears his throat. “You see… the thing is…”

“Did I do something wrong?” Himiko wracks her brain, but no one’s said anything about her activities, so it can’t be that, right? Or have they been waiting for something and now—

She shakes her head. Mrs. Fujimori wouldn’t do that to her. And neither would Mr. Amano or Dr. Maki.

“No! Not at all!” Mr. Yagi says, waving a hand.  “The opposite, in fact!”

“Huh?”

“Himiko,” Mr. Yagi rests his hands on her shoulders, making her skin buzz in warmth. “These past weeks since you’ve come to Might Tower have been… nice. You’ve reminded me of a part of Heroism I’ve long grown too accustomed to: the impact it can make on someone’s life to have someone reach out to them. And how easy it can be for cruel people to escape punishment by hiding behind closed doors. You’ve become a part of Might Tower, and everyone here is fond of you.” Mr. Yagi closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, his hands falling limp at his side. “Himiko… would you like to stay at Might Tower? Permanently?”

“Yes!” There’s not so much as an instant of hesitation before Himiko cheers. “Can I? Can I? Can I?”

Mr. Yagi chuckles, ruffling her hair again. “I’m… not quite finished, Himiko.”

She blinks up at him, head cocked slightly to the side. There’s more? How could there be more?

“Himiko,” he says, “You’ve grown on me in a way I wasn’t expecting. I know it’s only been a few weeks, but seeing you everyday has become a major part of my life. Himiko… would you like it if I adopted you?”

Himiko sucks air in through her teeth.

“You… want me?” she says slowly, achingly. Could she be so lucky?

“I do,” Mr. Yagi says. “It was not a decision I’ve made lightly. I have given it quite a lot of thought, and I have come to care for you a great deal. You deserve a better hand than the one you were dealt.” Mr. Yagi smiles a blindingly bright smile. “I want to help you, Himiko.”

Himiko launches herself forward and presses her face into Mr. Yagi’s shirt. For the first time she can remember, the tears streaming down her face are happy one.

“Yes,” she sobs. “Yes, yes, please… I want to stay here! I—I want to stay with you! And… and… and all the nice people here!”

Mr. Yagi hums softly, stroking a hand down her spine. Now that she knows his secret, his sturdiness is no longer so surprising to her.

Himiko can’t stop herself crying.

She’s never been so happy in her life.

But eventually she runs out of tears even as her heart soars ever higher. She sniffles, pulling herself away from Mr. Yagi and looking up at him.

“So I’m…” she rasps, “I’m your daughter now?”

Mr. Yagi coughs quietly. “To be honest, Himiko, I think I’ve thought of you that way for some time now. However, there is some amount of paperwork that needs to be filled out to make it official.”

“Mmkay,” she says into Mr. Yagi’s chest.

He gently pats her on the back. “I’ve filled out most of it already. Once I’ve finished, I’ll send it off. Since you’re already a ward of Might Tower, it shouldn’t take more than a few days to take effect.” He turns serious. “This can’t get out, you know. That I’m All Might. As far as the world is concerned, you’re the daughter of Yagi Toshinori.”

“That’s fine,” she murmurs. “It wasn’t All Might who saw me in the alley.” Wasn’t All Might who led her to Might Tower, who brought her to this suite, who gave her a pouch of blood. “Mm.” A sudden thought strikes Himiko. “Am I going to move in with you?”

Mr. Yagi laughs. “I was about to bring that up, actually! Did you know that I have a private penthouse at the top of this tower?”

“You do?” Himiko’s eyes sparkle.

“These suites are cozy, but they were designed for people to use while working towards more permanent accommodations.  The penthouse is, well, I live there.” Mr. Yagi rubs the back of his neck. “I recently had a few rooms renovated. So, how about I show you up to your new room, and you can move in with all your clothes while I finalize the paperwork?”

Himiko hugs him again, only barely restraining herself from squeezing him too tight.

Once she unwraps herself from him, Mr. Yagi shows her the elevator’s secret panel—DNA coded to him, and soon to her as well—to reveal more floor buttons. Mr. Yagi presses one of them and the elevator shoots off.

There’s no lobby on this floor.

The elevator stops at the end of a large hallway, and Himiko stares up at how high the walls climb. This is a space clearly made for All Might to move around. Himiko knows she’s not the tallest person, but she’s never felt quite so small before.

They pass several rooms, each of which looks like something out of a magazine, before Mr. Yagi stops in front of a specific door. As Himiko catches up to him, he pushes it open.

“What do you think?” says Mr. Yagi.

Himiko gawks.

Her room is much, much bigger than the suite she’s been staying at, or even the master bedroom at the Toga estate. It’s practically an apartment unto itself.

Under the loft—because this room has a second floor to it—is an island table that seats four. In that corner is a refrigerator and a countertop, with a toaster oven separating them. There are even shelves.

Outside the kitchen is a long hardwood table with matching benches. This dining area and the kitchen behind it are up against the windows, with blinds for privacy but an incredible view of Roppongi.

On the other side of the room is a square of couches that look so soft that Himiko has to restrain her urge to throw herself face-down onto the cushions and sink into them. They’re all centered around a low coffee table with a carpet.

Under the stairs to the loft is a room with glass walls, presumably for some kind of soundproofing since that’s the room with the massive television screen. The thin black box goes on for almost four meters!

Between the two halves of the enormous room is a hallway leading down to a doorway that Himiko has to assume is a personal, private bathroom.

On the loft, above the TV room, are some chairs next to bookshelves, and above the kitchen, Himiko is pretty sure she can see a king size bed. More hardwood furniture lines the walls in that far corner—an armoire and dresser and an L-shaped desk.

With the exception of the furniture, it’s undecorated, but Himiko thinks that’s fine anyway. There’s plenty of space for wall decorations or things to sit out. The room is perfect for housing succulents. Some of her old friends had had some in their houses, and Himiko always thought they were adorable. Of course, anything even as sharp as a cactus was a no-go, and she never asked for any others.

“You can go in, you know,” Mr. Yagi chuckles.

Himiko takes her first cautious step on the wooden tiled floor, then another. She moves like a ghost silently around the furniture, staring at it all and breathing in the atmosphere of the open space.

“This is really… all for me?” she says.

“It is,” Mr. Yagi says with a nod. “We’ll have to get you some items to personalize it for you at some point. I know Mrs. Fujimori would be happy to assist with that. But this is all your space. No one will come in here without your permission.”

She blinks. “I can do that?”

“You can.”

How weird. She’ll think about that later.

“Why is there a fridge?” she says. “We have Mite’s Café…”

“It’s for if you wanted to make something yourself,” says Mr. Yagi. “Do you like cooking?”

“I dunno.” It always looked fun at least, being able to use a big knife like that to mix stuff together and get other stuff.

“Well, now you can try it.”

Himiko hums to herself. Maybe she will. She’ll have to talk to Dr. Maki and see what kinds of foods she can pour her blood pouches into. Blood is delicious enough on its own, imagine how tasty it would be with other stuff?

Blood Chocolate Cake?

Himiko nearly drools at the thought.

She pads around, poking some surfaces and gingerly dragging a hand down others. The couch is as soft as she’d hopes, with a nice upholstery to it.

“What’s with all the chairs?” she asks. The island in the kitchen seats four, the lounge has plenty of long couches, not to mention the benches on each side of the dining table. And, of course, the seating in the TV room.

“I thought you’d like it if your friends had somewhere to sit.”

Himiko pauses, turning her head slightly to the side, not quite enough to see over her shoulder.

“Friends?” she echoes.

“You are going back to school in a year,” Mr. Yagi says. “And how could someone like you not make friends?”

“But…”

Himiko doesn’t know how to vocalize her concern. She had plenty of friends in Junior High and Elementary School, but none of them knew her, they knew the Normal mask she wore. And, little by little, Himiko’s already forgetting how to wear that mask with each day in Might Tower. How is she supposed to make friends without it?

“Himiko,” Mr. Yagi says. “You are a sweet and kind girl who loves the things you find cute. I can guarantee you will make many friends. And if anyone doesn’t like you for something as arbitrary as your Quirk? Then they didn’t deserve someone as wonderful as you.”

Himiko chokes on a sob, and if she hadn’t cried so much when Mr. Yagi told her that he wants her, she’d break down right now.

“So, do you like the room?” he asks, pulling her back out of her astonishment.

She turns slowly in place, looking over it all. “It’s so much for me…”

“You deserve it all and more,” Mr. Yagi says with such certainty that even the darkest whispers in Himiko’s mind can’t voice against him. “I’m going to go finish the adoption paperwork. Why don’t you go get all your clothes moved in?”

Himiko nods, a shaky smile forming on her face.

He’s going to be her dad!

Midoriya Izuku stares at the calendar hanging on his wall, dread clinging to him like a second skin.

Only a few days until the new school year starts.

Only a few days until he has to go back.

Only a few days until the bullying.

Only a few days until the burns.

Only a few days.

Chapter Text

“So,” says Mr. Yagi over dinner later that same evening. “As your—your legal father, I have to ask… what do you want to do with your life?”

“Huh?”

Yagi Himiko looks up from her teriyaki rib-eye steak.

She and Mr. Yagi are in Mite’s Café again. Himiko hasn’t looked into any blood recipes she can make in her new kitchen—something that she still can’t believe Mr. Yagi gave her—and she doesn’t have any ingredients anyway. So it’s another Mite’s Café dinner, not that she’s complaining.

In addition to her steak, she has a miso salmon, chicken katsu, yakisoba, oyakodon, two hamburgers stacked taller than her fists, some onigiri stuffed with takana mustard greens, and stir-fried vegetables, along with what they refer to as a fishbowl of lemonade, which from what Himiko can tell is a fancy way of saying ‘comically oversized wineglass.’

Mr. Yagi rubs at the back of his neck. “Your gap year is only that: a year. I know it feels like a long time, but we’ve only got about ten months until the entrance exam season. So if you have any particular plans for the future, now is the time for you to really start working towards them.”

Himiko takes another bite of her steak, chewing slowly as she thinks.

Her—the Togas planned out everything for her. ‘For her own good’ they said, something about keeping her abnormalities from dishonoring the family name. Well, now they’re in jail and she’s a Yagi, so she thinks they did a good job of that themselves. Not to mention…

“I…never really thought about it,” she admits. “I was more worried about the ‘now’, you know? Making sure that I was Normal. That’s all I really thought about. So I don’t really know.”

Mr. Yagi hums, taking a sip of his own soup, and that’s the end of that conversation.

But Himiko can’t get it out of her head.

Not even how soft her new bed is (it can go softer than the one from the suite!) can distract her from the question.

She lies there looking up at the ceiling, the room illuminated by faint moonlight.

What does she want? Her friends talked about high school plans back when he was a Toga, when she wore her Normal mask. They had cool ideas. Dreams. Aspirations.

Kei wanted to go into journalism, join up as a reporter with a big company like Shoowaysha, or JIDO Corp.

Maekawa was hoping to get into fashion, really looked up to this one woman in the industry but Himiko can never remember her name.

Oshiro wanted to be a graphic designer, make mascot merchandise.

With a sigh, Himiko rolls onto her side. She still thinks about them sometimes. They never knew her, not really. They knew the Normal Toga Himiko that she showed the world, but… they were still nice to her.

Himiko doubts they want anything to do with her now.

She wonders if any of them are still pursuing the same dream after she attacked Saito. She wonders if she’s prevented Saito from going to the high school he was going to go to.

She wonders whether they ever think about her.

If the things they think are the things the Togas said they would think. If they were right all along.

She remembers her parents—no, the Toga’s—lectures well. She heard them almost daily. That no one is allowed to live as they want. That the things they did were for her own good. And their favorite: that no one, not a single person, would ever accept her for who she is.

That she could only be happy if she hid herself away.

“You were wrong about that,” Himiko whispers into the darkness of her room. “Someone did accept me.”

Tears sting at the corner of her eyes as she smiles. Mr. Yagi has done so much more for her in these past few weeks than her parents ever did. He gave her food, a supply of blood, this room she’s in right now which is practically the size of the house she used to live in. And he doesn’t mind that she drinks blood.

“You were wrong,” she says to no one. “Someone did accept me… so why couldn’t you?”

The darkness does not answer.

“How did you decide to become a secretary?” Himiko asks Mrs. Fujimori the next day.

Mrs. Fujimori hums, looking up from the glass wall around the television room. (Theater?) Himiko had asked her after breakfast to come up and take a look around so they could workshop ideas for decorations. Though they had made a brief detour so that Mrs. Fujimori could talk with Mr. Yagi. Himiko didn’t make out any of the words, but Mrs. Fujimori left looking incredibly smug.

“Well,” Mrs. Fujimori says. “It wasn’t something I really planned for. I went to UA, actually; Gen-Ed, but I didn’t have any real plans for the future. Then… well, I had some bad luck and needed some help.”

“Oh, did you stay here at Might Tower too?” Himiko says.

Mrs. Fujimori snorts softly. “No, this was a while ago, and I wasn’t anywhere near Roppongi. It was a Hero called Seabite. I don’t think you’d have heard of her, she retired…oh, fifteen years ago? Twenty?” Himiko doesn’t know any Heroes other than All Might off the top of her head anyway. “Well, I was pretty down on my luck at the time and Seabite found me and reached out. It was thanks to her that I was able to pull myself back up. Eventually, I decided to pay that kindness forward. Help people the way Seabite helped me. Might Tower wasn’t where I started, but they reached out to me and offered me a job, and I accepted.”

“Huh.” Paying it forward…

Mrs. Fujimori opens up the dark wood cabinet against the wall by the door to the theater room. “Looks like your new shelves are still pretty empty in there. We’ll have to find you some movies, maybe some shows. Do you like video games?”

Himiko shrugs, and then realizes the Mrs. Fujimori can’t see her. “I dunno.” She’s heard of a few, mostly through ads on TV. She remembers hearing people talk about Last Horizon 7: Reincarnation back in her old school, but she didn’t pay much attention at the time. “I play some phone games.”

“It’s a start,” says Mrs. Fujimori. “This place will feel completely different once you’ve had a chance to make it your own.” She smiles, ruffling Himiko hair and leaving it sticking out wildly, making Himiko giggle.

“I know! I can’t wait!” Himiko bounces lightly in place. She’s always wanted to have a room like she sees on TV, with posters and dolls and little figurines and stickers and books and stuff that’s hers. Stuff that shows off the kind of person she is. Not the most Normal stuff her parents can find for her.

And now she has so much space for it all!

Himiko lets out a content sigh.

“I’ll take a look around online; see what kind of stores there are for what you’re looking for,” Mrs. Fujimori says. “I can’t promise anything fast, but if you want to start with some Hero merchandise, there’s a gift shop down on the second floor.”

“Uh,” says Himiko, her voice getting weaker as she talks, “I don’t have any money…?” She cringes.

“Don’t worry about that,” Mr. Yagi says from the doorway, startling them both. He pulls out a small plastic card striped in red, white, and blue. In his other hand is his phone, camera pointed at them. He chuckles. “How could I possibly deny you personalizing your room? Here’s a gift card specifically for the second floor. 70,000 yen. Go nuts, Himiko.”

Himiko’s eyes have stars in them as she gingerly takes the card.

She’ll be careful, she thinks to herself. She’ll behave and be responsible.

She spends it all.

Himiko raises her hand to knock, but pauses.

She closes her eyes, reminds herself that Mr. Yagi is nothing like the Togas, and raps her knuckles on the door to his office.

She hears a few papers rustle and Mr. Yagi calls, “Come in!”

Taking another breath to soothe her nerves, Himiko opens the door and steps into the office.

Like everything else in their penthouse, it’s probably larger than strictly necessary, but given how tall Mr. Yagi is, and how broad All Might is, he could easily need the extra room. It’s a nice office, with wooden furniture. Bookcases line the walls and a large desk sits square in the middle, shaped like a U, with a computer at the front and various binders and files on each side.

“Do you need something?” says Mr. Yagi, as though Himiko has ever needed anything since she’s arrived at Might Tower without him providing it at his earliest convenience, and far grander than Himiko could’ve imagined.

“Nope!” she says with a smile that’s less forced than she’s used to. “I was thinking about what you asked me at breakfast—about what I want to be.”

Mr. Yagi leans back in his chair. “I’m listening.”

“Well,” Himiko shuffles a foot on the carpeted floor, “I was thinking about something Mrs. Fujimori said. About how she became a secretary here because someone helped her when she needed it. And… I—I want to do what you did for me.” Himiko bites her lip, only avoiding drawing blood from years of practice. “I… I want to be a Hero!”

Mr. Yagi looks at her for a moment, and then he smiles.

“Well alright then. Do you have a plan?”

“Nope!”

Mr. Yagi laughs. “I should have guessed! Well, I have a suggestion. It’s just that, mind you, a suggestion. But I think you should aim for UA High School.”

Himiko blinks. “Oh, right, that’s the big Hero School everyone talks about!” She’d honestly forgotten about it.

“Indeed! It’s considered one of the best in Japan, alongside Shiketsu. Not only that, but…” Mr. Yagi’s eyes twinkle with mischief. “Can you keep a secret?” Himiko giggles. “Well, Nedzu reached out to me and offered me a position there some years ago. I’ve decided to take him up on that.”

“Oh!” Her new dad and possibly her teacher?

“And, there is one other thing,” Mr. Yagi says slowly, face scrunched in consideration. Himiko tilts her head. “Well… you know that I am slowly losing the ability to use my Quirk. Truth be told, I’m planning on retiring within the next few years.”

“You said that would be bad,” says Himiko.

Mr. Yagi nods. “The Heroes of today are fine people, but with few exceptions, they are unprepared to a world without me. That is one of the reasons I am going to be teaching. But I have another reason. My Quirk is transferable.”

“Huh,” says Himiko. “I didn’t know they could do that.”

Mr. Yagi laughs so hard he coughs. Himiko catches a faint scent of blood and swallows. Thankfully her daily pouches have been helping.

“Well, Quirks can’t normally be transferred, but mine is special. It’s called One For All, and can be given from one holder to another,” Mr. Yagi explains. “And since I can hardly use it anymore, part of the reason I'm going to work at UA was originally to look for a successor, and to train them.”

Himiko blinks twice. “Was?”

Mr. Yagi smiles. “I think I found one already.”

He did? That’s good to hear! Himiko may not have the most knowledge about Heroes or Quirks but even she knows how strong All Might is, and it’s not that hard to infer that finding someone he can trust with such power isn’t exactly easy. That’s probably why he wanted to go to a Hero school to look. But he deserves to have an easy time with this after everything he’s done for her—

Himiko freezes.

She raises a finger to point at herself, eyes wide.

“Me?”

Mr. Yagi’s smile widens. “If you want it. I’m sure you can become a splendid Hero without it. The choice is yours.”

She gapes.

Her voice catches in her throat as she attempts to formulate a response. Eventually she manages to formulate one.

“…I’ll think about it,” Himiko lies. She doesn’t think there’s anything that Mr. Yagi could ask of her that she wouldn’t do.

“In any case,” Mr. Yagi says, “if you want to be a Hero, you’ll need to put some meat on those bones!”

“I’ve been eating plenty,” Himiko says with a mock pout.

“You have, and I’m very proud of you,” says Mr. Yagi, “But I was talking about muscle. A Hero who relies only on their Quirk is a Hero who can’t survive without it. I’ll have to introduce you to the gyms.”

“We have gyms?” Himiko asks. Then she processes how many floors Might Tower has and the other facilities that have been available so far and feels silly for asking.

Mr. Yagi smiles warmly. “We do! Two of them are for the general public to use—provided they have a reservation, of course. But the one I was thinking about is on the floor just below us. My own personal gym.” He rubs the back of his neck. “I’ll have to show you how to adjust the equipment sometime.”

Himiko imagines trying to lift a weight designed for All Might himself and nods hurriedly.

“And I’ll have to speak with Dr. Maki…” Mr. Yagi leans back in his chair.

“What—what about?”

“Making sure you don’t overwork yourself,” he says thoughtfully. “It’s common for newcomers to assume that working with your body has linear returns. Do more, harder work, get more results. But that simply isn’t the case. We all have our limits, and if we exceed them, we only end up hurting ourselves. And while treatment can be easy, it can also take time. Time to rest and recuperate.”

“And we only have ten months to the exam,” finishes Himiko.

“Precisely,” says Mr. Yagi. “So with Dr. Maki’s help, I should be able to whip you up a plan to get you well and truly into shape!”

Himiko’s chest warms.

Mr. Yagi’s done so, so much for her. Given her everything she could ever need and more. She… she refuses to let him down!

“Thank you so much!” Himiko says with a small bow.

“Nonsense!” says Mr. Yagi. “It’s the least I could do!” He pauses, looking thoughtful, and turns to his computer. Himiko doesn’t know if she’s allowed to peek at what he’s doing.

“Um?”

“I had a thought, or perhaps a memory,” says Mr. Yagi. “But there is a beach, not far from UA, that has a truly magnificent view!” Oh, Himiko will need a swimsuit then; something cute. “Unfortunately, it has recently become an unofficial garbage dump.”

“…eh?”

Mr. Yagi scoffs, but not at her. “A bunch of rubbish was illegally thrown out into the ocean, and the tides carried it to Takoba beach, where it piled up. Seeing this, people started deliberately throwing their garbage at Takoba since no one would be able to tell the difference. Eventually, the beach was completely covered.”

“Oh.” That’s… really tragic, actually. She remembers how much Kei loves the beach, though Himiko doesn’t think she ever went with her. She’d be heartbroken to hear about that.

More heartbroken than when you attacked Saito—

“So,” Mr. Yagi says, “It occurred to me that lifting that trash and carrying it might make for a good full-body workout.” He cups his chin. “It should work, but I’ll speak with Dr. Maki to be sure…”

Himiko blinks. “You want me to clean the beach?”

“No! Well, yes. Hold on.” Mr. Yagi pauses to gather himself. “Starting Friday, I will be moving my patrol route to Mustafu in Shizuoka, where UA is, so that I can speak with Nedzu more, and to acclimate to the area around the school. If you are willing, then I can take you with me and spend my time off patrol with you as you work on the beach. If not, we still have the gyms here at Might Tower.”

“Y-yes!” Himiko says. “I… I want to clean the beach!”

She’s surprised to find that it’s true. Not just that she wants to spend more time with her new dad, but… but thinking about Kei has really made her want to see this beach cleaned again. She wants to see it for herself—that view that Mr. Yagi mentioned.

She wants Mr. Yagi to be able to see that view again.

She wants Kei to be able to see that view.

“Well alright then,” says Mr. Yagi, a bit aback. He smiles at her. “I’ll talk with Dr. Maki about it, see if I can get a permit, get a truck to haul everything. But I’m glad to see your Heroic Spirit again!”

“…eh?”

“Like I’ve said before, many Heroes are sadly only interested in the money and fame that comes with profession. As long as they’re willing to risk their lives to help people, I cannot fault their motives, but the true origin of heroism is civic duty, helping the community.” Something about Mr. Yagi’s smile sharpens. “Even if it isn’t glamorous, to help others is the whole point! That’s what you were thinking, no?”

Himiko’s breath hitches.

“Oh,” she says.

I get it now, she means.

This is why you say I’m not a monster, she means.

This is why you called me Heroic, she means.

“Oh,” she says again.

She hears a shutter snap and glances at Mr. Yagi holding his phone up to take a picture. He shrugs, unashamed.

Himiko… smiles. And doesn’t hide her fangs, a habit she’s still getting used to. She is going to be a Hero, no matter what the Togas said. She is going to receive One For All and be the Symbol that Mr. Yagi thinks she can be.

She will not let him down.

“Izuku!”

Midoriya Izuku looks up from his desk. His mom stands in the doorway, a soft smile on her face.

“Yeah, mom?”

“I just wanted to make sure you remembered to do that future school form,” she says.

Izuku cringes. He’s been putting it off for a while now.

It’s not that he doesn’t know what to put on his form, because he does. But, well… the thought of having it on paper, giving that paper to a teacher…

But mom is right. And he isn’t going to let a teacher stop him from reaching his dream.

“I’ll do it now, mom. Thanks,” he says, plastering on a fake smile. She smiles back and heads back down the hall.

Izuku lets out a breath and pulls out the paper.

He hesitates for half a moment before writing down ‘UA High School Hero Course.’

Chapter Text

“…Idiot,” Midoriya Izuku murmurs to himself.

He reaches over, gingerly picking up the notebook floating in the small fishpond at the side of the school.

Aldera Junior High School let out of classes about fifteen minutes ago, but he’s still here. Kacchan hadn’t liked the teacher telling everyone that Izuku is planning to apply for UA. Decided to have a personal… discussion with Izuku about it.

His shoulder stings as it rubs against the fabric of his school uniform.

“That’s not fish food, dumb fish,” he says, fanning the notebook off in an attempt to dry as much of it as he could.

Given that it’s also been burnt and, in several places, charred, he already knows that the book is a lost cause.

But he can’t help it.

He pours himself into making these notebooks on Heroes and their Quirks.

They’re basically his art.

It’s like salvaging a classical painting.

He doesn’t understand why Kacchan takes it so personally that Izuku wants to be a Hero. It’s not a competition. Kacchan is amazing; what does he have to worry about? It’s not like Izuku’s going to overshadow him.

That’s not how it goes for the Quirkless.

But he acts like it’s some kind of personal offense. Is it really so important to him to be the first and only student from this Junior High to get into UA? That’s stupid! No one is going to care about that!

Izuku flinches as Kacchan’s cruel words still echo in his mind. But it’s fine.

It’s fine!

He promised himself back when he was first diagnosed as Quirkless, when he realized that no one else was going to believe in him, that nothing anyone ever said was going to stop him.

Izuku doesn’t care what Kacchan said.

He doesn’t.

Izuku takes a deep breath to steady his shaking hands.

He will get into UA High School. He will become a Hero. Not even Kacchan can stop him. He’ll press forward.

Izuku has only taken five steps into the underpass when he hears something behind him, like some kind of thick syrup.

It all happens in less than a second.

He turns, barely glancing over his shoulder—

Fluid body, either mutation or transformation quirk. Eyes and teeth still visible. Unlikely to be organ or bone when other organs and bones not present. Possibly composed of same material as the rest of the body, yet still capable of normal functioning. Implies transformation Quirk, or mutation that allows for some level of body alteration. Actual composition of the fluid unknown. Green coloration, not transparent, estimate minimum 80% opacity. If mutation, likely uniform composition, if transformation, possibility of assimilating nearby fluids into body.

Subject emerged from holes in a manhole cover, confirming that teeth and eyes are malleable.

Movements wild, implying that fine control of entire body is difficult, but body remains in approximately humanoid shape, confirming that subject is in control.

“A medium sized body to hide in…”

Capable of speech, further supporting earlier hypothesis of body alteration and function. Apparently capable of possession. Noting the size implies that certain threshold of mass required for process. Vessel undefined. Size undefined. Inanimate? Animate? Medium relative to what?

—when he is abruptly enveloped in slime.

Shit, he’s the medium-sized body.

Which also means that this guy must be a Villain.

What a fantastic end to the day.

The Villain almost completely cocoons his upper body, swirling around like a vortex as he attempts to force himself down Izuku’s throat. In his panic, the only coherent thought Izuku manages is, thank God he doesn’t taste like sewage.

“Don’t worry, I’m only hijacking your body. Calm down. It’ll only hurt for the first 45 seconds, then it’s over.”

There are a concerning number of implications with that sentence, but Izuku doesn’t have it in him to analyze any of them at the moment.

Izuku struggles, but there’s nothing to grasp. His hands tears at it, but it’s like ripping apart syrup. The Villain simply reforms the grooves he carves into the surface.

“No point in any of that. I’m fluid, kid!”

Yeah, Izuku did notice, thanks.

The edges of his vision darken and blur. He can feel his muscles starting to give out on him.

Is this it? Is he dying? Is he going to die here?

He doesn’t want to die he doesn’t want to die he doesn’t want to die—

Metal clangs as the manhole cover flies off from the hole and clatters against the top of the underpass.

And out steps a man Izuku would recognize anywhere, with a voice almost as familiar as his own mother’s.

“Fear not, kid! For I am here!”

The Number One Hero, All Might, emerges with his fist already pulled back for a punch.

“Texas… Smash!!”

His punch rips a hole through the liquid body of the Villain, pulling the sludge out from Izuku’s throat from the sheer force of the air pressure.

And that’s the last thing he sees before everything fades to black.

Something is touching his face.

“Hey! Hey, kid!”

Izuku groans, swiping lazily at it, and opens his eyes.

“Thank goodness!” All Might says. “I got worried when you fainted there! Glad to see you’re okay!”

Izuku shrieks in surprise, though All Might doesn’t seem to be bothered by it. Or at least if he is, he doesn’t show it.

“My apologies for getting you caught up in my Villain chase! I’m still getting used to the layout here in Mustafu!” He laughs his signature laugh, smoothing back his iconic bangs. “But I was successful, all thanks to you! I have contained the Villain!”

All Might proudly holds up a bottle of soda that now contains the dazed eyes of the Villain that had attacked Izuku. Izuku makes a mental note that the eyes are smaller, proving again that he was correct that they can change shape.

Izuku blinks back to proper awareness, realizing he’s sitting here in front of All Might.

All Might, who really is in a league of his own.

“Oh! Ah!” Izuku looks around frantically. “An autograph—”

His notebook sits gently next to him, open to a page with All Might’s signature and a small doodle of the Hero himself.

“Thank you so much!” Izuku bows. “I’ll treasure it always!”
“Glad to hear it!” says All Might. “But I must bring this fellow to the authorities! You’ll see me again on TV!”

Izuku freezes, ice in his veins.

No—not yet.

“Um! Wait… that’s it? I…I still—”

“A Hero is opposed not only by Villains, but time itself!”

No, not yet! Izuku still needs to ask him—

“Until next time,” All Might crouches down, and without thinking, Izuku does something very, very stupid. “Thank you for your support!”

It’s not until All Might is high above the rooftops, with Izuku clinging desperately to his leg, that he realizes his mistake.

“Wha—hey now!” All Might says. “This is a bit too much enthusiasm, don’t you think?”

“If I—if I let go now… I’ll die!” Izuku manages over the wind.

“True.”

“I have to ask you something!”

“Well, close your eyes and mouth,” All Might advises, and Izuku does so. Oh yeah that’s much better, he really should’ve done that from the start.

Seconds later, All Might lands on a rooftop with a skid, sliding along the roof, Izuku supported by the back of his neck like a kitten to keep him from touching the ground himself.

All Might sets him down and Izuku takes a moment to process what he just went through. He lets out a low whine.

“Of all the…” All Might shakes his head. “Hopefully someone inside will be able to help us get down.” He peers over the fencing to look down at the ground, presumably measuring the distance. “Truly I have no time for this.”

"Wait! Uh!” Izuku whirls.

“I am sorry, but I cannot!”

“Even though I have no Quirk, can I still be a Hero?” Izuku squeezes his eyes shut. “Can someone without a Quirk become a Hero like you?”

There’s a pause.

“Quirks… Quirks are…” says All Might quietly, but trails off. So Izuku continues.

“Maybe it’s because people pick on me for being Quirkless… but maybe that’s why… I think that saving people is the coolest thing that someone can do.” He folds one thumb over another. “The way you save people, that fearless smile of yours, I want to be strongest Hero, like you—”

There is a very thin man standing where All Might was.

There is a lot of steam.

Steam was likely produced by Quirk effect, but potentially unrelated to reduction in size. Possibilities: shapeshifting Quirk, delayed onset Quirk effect, or All Might lost his form. Odds that All Might was affected by a Quirk are negligible. Odds of shapeshifter capable of replicating All Might’s strength, unlikely but possible. Odds that All Might was somehow reduced to this are laughable. Conclusion:

“Wh—you shriveled up? Are you an imposter?” Izuku is not proud of how his voice cracks.

The man stares at him with sunken eyes.

“I… am All Might,” he says, and blood dribbles out of his mouth.

“What.”

“It’s like how people hold in their gut at the pool,” says allegedly All Might. Which also makes no sense and is in fact the opposite of what he just did, so maybe even he doesn’t know. Unless he means that he’s flexing or something?

“A fearless smile, huh…” All Might sits down shakily. “don’t tell anyone what you’ve seen here, alright kid?”

“Y-yeah,” Izuku nods. That’s common sense.

All Might pulls up his shirt, revealing a twisted mess of cracked flesh. Izuku recoils, forcing down a gag reflex.

“It’s not pretty, is it?” says All Might. “This is an injury I received five years ago. I lost my stomach and most of my lungs. The surgeries kept me alive, but they put a tremendous toll on my body. Now I can only do Hero work for three hours a day.”

“That explains why you’ve been seen less and less…” Izuku says. “Five years ago… was that the fight with Toxic Chainsaw?”

“That upstart? He could never dream to do something like this,” scoffs All Might. “No, this was a battle I kept hidden from the public. A Symbol of Peace, one who saves people with a smile, must never be daunted by evil.”

All Might’s gaze remains as powerful as ever.

“The reason I smile is not because I am fearless. The opposite, in fact. I smile because I am afraid. That smile relieves that fear, that pressure from inside me, and reassures everyone else that I am here.”

Izuku knows where this is going. He shouldn’t have expected anything else.

“A Pro should always be ready to risk his life. Without a Quirk, can one become a Hero like me? No. No, I think not.”

Izuku’s heart turns to ice. He doesn’t even have the strength to cry.

But, after a long pause, All Might speaks again.

“However,” says All Might, “The first question you asked was, ‘Even though I have no Quirk, can I still be a Hero?’ It was not until you rephrased your question that you compared us. I will freely admit that I have my doubts, but a Hero without a Quirk is not completely outside the realm of imagination. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about nontraditional Quirks in Heroics. There are several Heroes I know of with Quirks so limited they may be comparable to your situation. Such as Mandalay of the Wild Wild Pussycats, or Odd-Eye, or…” All Might swallows. “Or my old sidekick, Sir Nighteye.”

“I won’t tell you that it’s possible,” All Might continues, rising back to his feet. “But at the same time, I cannot say that it’s impossible either. But if you are going to try, you need to remember to be realistic. It’s not wrong to dream, but there are threats that you will never be able to face. There are people you will never be able to save. It may be wiser to become a police officer or detective instead. While our Hero-centric society often derides them, the work they do is the backbone of Heroics.”

The door must not be locked, as All Might simply pulls it open and disappears down the stairwell, leaving Izuku alone with his thoughts.

“A Hero like you,” he says quietly.

Izuku looks out over Mustafu. It’s a beautiful city.

So All Might doesn’t believe in him. So what?

It’s the most encouragement he’s gotten from anyone who isn’t his mother. His hands clench into determined fists.

It’s just like he’s always said.

He’ll become a Hero, no matter what anyone else says.

And then something explodes in the distance.

“…Fuck,” says Izuku, squinting. “Isn’t that the—the shopping district?”

Getting down from the top of the building is one thing. It’s another entirely to get to the scene of that blast. It’s nearly a kilometer away, and even at a decent run, it’s a several minute trip.

Just like he thought—there’s a crowd when he arrives. This has to already be a Hero fight. Looks like Death Arms and Kamui Woods are holding the perimeter on this end, with Mount Lady using her larger form’s arms as a barrier on the other side.

The property damage is notable even as Izuku approaches. Looks like that initial explosion cracked several windows and did some damage to the walls, too. And fires have broken out, which has Backdraft focused entirely on putting them out.

And then, through the crowd, Izuku sees it.

The green viscous tendril flailing about wildly.

No.

He pushes his way through, taking advantage of his short height to slip between people and get a closer look.

And it’s exactly what he feared.

It’s the Villain that attacked him. That same Villain now has someone else!

But how? He’d been caught by All Might, kept in a bottle—

Izuku gasps.

The bottle that All Might had in his pants pocket.

Did—did he knock it loose when he clung to All Might earlier?

“This—this is my fault,” he breathes out.

“Man, why are the Pros just standing there?” the guy in front of Izuku says.

“The Villain nabbed a kid,” says the guy next to him.

Which means that—that someone else is going through that horrible feeling of having that Villain force himself down their throat. Izuku covers his mouth instinctively. It’s such a horrible feeling, he can’t believe that someone else has to feel that.

When he snaps back to attention, the crowd is talking about All Might. Someone must’ve connected All Might’s earlier ‘Villain chase’ to this Villain. But All Might isn’t here. He can’t be here, because Izuku went and wasted all his time.

All Might can’t do a thing, and it’s all Izuku’s fault.

Please, please let a Hero come! Izuku prays. He’s never been one for prayer, but desperate times and all that. Someone will save you soon, please hold on!

A face pulls free from the sludge.

Izuku sees familiar red eyes in an unfamiliar expression.

The Villain has Kacchan.

And Kacchan… is scared.

Between heartbeats, Izuku tears through the crowd and past Death Arms and Kamui Woods.

Someone behind him yells out, but Izuku doesn’t hear him. His body is moving on its own. But he won’t let Kacchan die. He won’t.

The Villain turns to face him, in clear recognition.

Good. Recognize Izuku all you want.

Fluid body. Physical attacks will have no effect. Subject seems dependent on eyes, as regardless of size of subject, eyes remain, shrinking or growing to match. Eyes likely impervious to harm, but still necessary for sight and potentially contain nerves or equivalent.

Conclusion:

In a single smooth movement, Izuku pulls his backpack off and pitches it at the Villain’s eyes. He strikes true, and the Villain rears back in pain and surprise, freeing Kacchan’s face.

Kacchan takes the presented opportunity and sucks in desperate lungfulls of air.

“Kacchan!” Izuku calls, tearing at the Villain to keep it off Kacchan’s face.

“Why…!?” Kacchan manages while fighting for air.

“I—I don’t know!” says Izuku. “My legs, they started moving on their own! And—” Millions of reasons could’ve come to mind, but only one does. “You looked like you needed saving!”

“You little shit!” the Villain roars, swinging an arm down at Izuku.

Another arm grabs him first.

“Did I not tell you?” says All Might. “A Pro should always be ready to risk his life!”

All Might yanks Izuku and Kacchan clean from the goop and slams a fist into the ground with a “Detroit Smash!!”

The Villain splatters in all directions as the wind pressures spins and rises into the air.

Gentle rain drips onto Izuku face.

“Rising air current…?” Izuku murmurs. “Changed the weather… just from a punch?”

While Izuku pulls himself together, the Heroes get to work collecting the scattered parts of the Villain’s body, containing him in multiple bags for the time being. It doesn’t take too long with all of them working at it.

So they quickly turn their ire to Izuku.

“What the hell—heck were you thinking, kid?” Death Arms says. “There was absolutely no need for you to go throw yourself in danger like that!”

“I agree,” says All Might, suddenly looming behind Death Arms. Death Arms turns to greet him, but at the sight of All Might’s intense gaze, his smile falters. “The fact that I was here was a stroke of luck. So what exactly would you have done if I had not arrived?”

“We—our Quirks weren’t suited for—” says Slugger, another local Pro Hero.

"That,” says All Might, “is irrelevant. A child nearly died because you chose to not do your jobs. Another child nearly died because he had to do your own work for you. I suggest you reflect on this.”

All Might shepherds Izuku away from the crowd, shaking his head and sighing. The press attempts to follow but a single disappointed glower from All Might gets them all to pause.

“I was under the impression that harassing minors was both illegal and immoral,” he says. That gets the cameras and microphones away from them and back pointed towards the other Pro Heroes on the scene.

All Might takes advantage of the distraction to sneak the two of them between some buildings and away from the prying eyes of the crowd.

“A true travesty,” he says, more to himself than Izuku. “Such a shameful display, and a waste of their potential. The only ones I could consider passable are Backdraft and that newcomer, Mount Lady, was it? And even they could have been better.”

“Uh,” says Izuku. “Sir?”

“I wanted to thank you,” All Might says, deflating again with a burst of steam and a bloody cough. Izuku whirls his head around but luckily there’s no one around. “Please, I have better situational awareness than that, kid.”

“Sorry.”

“Don’t be. It was a legitimate concern. As I said, I wanted to thank you. Without you… if you hadn’t spoken to me, well…” Izuku wonders if he’s meant to hear him mutter, “I would have failed her.”

“Sir? All I did was get in the way. Even from the start, I’m the reason the bottle fell. I’m just a Quirkless—”

“Exactly!” says All Might. “Anyone at the scene could have done what you did, but they didn’t. You were the only one who acted! And that spurred me to action in turn! They say most of the top Heroes showed signs of Heroism even as children. They say that their bodies simply moved before they could think!”

Izuku gasps, curling over on himself. Tears well up in his eyes.

“That’s what happened to you, yes? You… you can be a Hero!”

Yagi Himiko taps her foot against the ground to the beat. Heraldic Blaze: Champions has some excellent battle music for a phone game. She pokes the screen and orders Princess Mars to attack the enemy grunt. Like all the unnamed units, it stands basically no chance against any of hers.

She smiles as Mars crits despite there only being a 28% chance.

“Himiko!”

At her name, she looks up, pulling out one of her headphones.

Her dad waves as he approaches, a wide grin stretching across his face like usual. Himiko beams back at him.

“I’m sorry I’m late,” he says, pulling a bottle of soda out from a plastic shopping bag. “I had a run-in with a Villain earlier.”

“Mm. I saw the tornado,” Himiko says, eagerly reaching for the sugary concoction. Mr. Yagi hands her a water bottle instead. “Boo.”

“Hydration is important, Himiko,” he says. “Now, are you ready to get started cleaning the beach?”

“Yup!” she saves her game and pockets her phone again. “Ready when you are!”

“Excellent!” Mr. Yagi pauses for a moment. “Would you… would you be opposed to having someone your age helping you?”

Time Remaining Until UA Entrance Exams: 317 Days

Chapter Text

Yagi Himiko peeks around the doorframe, peering into her dad’s office. Mr. Yagi itches the side of his head with the end of his pen, looking down at a paper Himiko is already familiar with. It’s a copy of her own personalized workout routine. The one he made for her to ensure that she’d be training her muscles properly.

He’s now going over it again to modify it for someone else to use as well.

She hadn’t known what to think when her dad asked about the possibility of somebody joining her for her beach cleaning. He gave her a quick explanation—that he’d met a boy about a year younger than her who wants to be a Hero.  And much like her, he needs to put some muscle on his body before the entrance exams next year. And this boy knows about his injury, so she won’t have to worry about him finding out about Mr. Yagi’s secret.

And she knows why it’s so important that he does this workout planning. He’d gone over it with her, how easy it can be for an amateur to accidentally hurt themselves because they didn’t understand their own limits or failed to prepare or rest properly. She understands how crucial it is that she does not deviate from this schedule without a good reason.

All of that makes sense to her.

But she’s curious about this new boy! What’s he like? What does he like? If Mr. Yagi called him Heroic, so what did he do? And how did he find out about Mr. Yagi’s injury?

What would he think about a Quirk like hers—

She doesn’t know if it would be rude to ask.

She already agreed that he can help her clean the beach. Having seen how gross that place is, she can use all the help she can get. So she knows that she doesn’t have to wait very long to meet him for herself.

“Can I help you, Himiko?” says dad, and she squeaks in surprise. Busted.

“Uh,” she says, stepping out from around the corner and into the doorway. “I just… I was wondering. What’s this boy like?”

Mr. Yagi leans back in his seat. “Well, he’s a good kid. A bit reckless, I suppose. He’s quite knowledgeable about Heroes—or at least about me. He could do with some confidence in himself. I guess that’s my job, though,” he says with a hearty laugh that quickly devolves into a single hard cough.

“You said he’s a year younger than me, right?” Himiko says hesitantly. “So that means he’ll be in the same grade as me next year?”

“That’s correct,” says Mr. Yagi. “And he’s also aiming for UA. Who knows? Maybe you’ll be in the same class!”

That might be nice. Already knowing somebody at the start of the year.

“Uh, is he… is he someone you’re thinking about for One For All?”

Mr. Yagi stops.

“Well,” he says. “It’s possible. He has a strong Heroic Spirit. But if you’re worried, you should know that you are still my first choice. If you want it, it’s yours. And if you don’t, I’ll come up with something else. Maybe that means him, maybe it means someone else entirely.”

Himiko’s chest warms at his words, but her mind stutters a bit. Something that she sees from Mr. Yagi over and over again.

He asks for her input instead of giving it to her.

She doesn’t know how to feel about that. It’s so different from what she’s used to. Unfamiliar.

But, at the same time… it’s nice.

Himiko hears the oven in her room ding and straightens. Judging by her dad’s grin, he heard it too. She scampers back to her little kitchen area, her socks sliding a little on the floor as she runs. She’d almost completely forgotten about her cake!

Practically throwing the oven mitts on, she opens the oven door and pulls out the cake tray, setting it on a cooling rack. Her first try at cooking something using blood as a replacement for eggs.

It’s a simple cake, cooked in a small metal square pan. She thinks it’s risen properly, but she has very few points of reference that she can use to judge with.

It’s also the first time she’s baked a cake at all.

The cake is a rich, dark brown. The top practically glistens in the light, letting her see every one of the small craters and tiny cracks in the surface. She thinks they’re from bubbles that popped, since she saw a whole bunch in the batter.

Himiko glances at her phone, sitting out on the kitchen island with the recipe pulled up. Once the cake itself is cooled, she’ll frost it. Sadly, she hasn’t found a frosting she’d be able to add blood to without it thinning out into a glaze, but at least she’s still going to be able to coat the top in tiny chocolate flakes.

She has absolutely no idea what to expect.

But it smells delightful!

Himiko doesn’t like how early she has to get up to commute from Might Tower to the beach, but at least Mr. Yagi doesn’t mind her napping on the train.

“Humans shouldn’t get up so early…” she murmurs as she steps out on to the sand. Himiko still hasn’t really seen the view here herself with the mountains of trash everywhere, but the sky at Takoba is beautiful. A clear sunrise with only a few small clouds.

“A side-effect of our transit time, I’m afraid,” says Mr. Yagi. “But we’ve made it here at 6 on the dot! Young Midoriya should be joining us any minute now!”

“At least one of us will be well rested.”

But Mr. Yagi’s estimate is right on the money, as not three minutes after they arrive, Himiko hears a bright voice call, “I’m—I’m here!”

Himiko turns to finally see the newcomer for herself. He’s hunched over, hands on his knees in support, as he pants. Like her, he’s wearing simple clothes that he won’t mind getting covered in dirt. As a matter of fact, he’s wearing an All Might T-shirt.

“I’m here!” the boy says again, raising his head. Himiko meets his gaze, and both their eyes widen.

A mess of wild green curls frames a round face spotted with freckles. His large eyes are a brilliant green that seem to take in everything in front of him. The sunrise leaves his face with a warm glow, his eyes sparkling in the soft sunlight.

“Uh—um,” he says, staring at her with wide eyes.

Himiko’s heart beats louder in her chest.

Oh no. He’s cute!

And how cute would it be if she sipped some of his blood and became him! Oh, she gets shivers just thinking about it! Using his legs to run around as him with his face! Running a hand through his hair! It looks so soft! It would be bliss!

“Hi!” Himiko says, bounding up to him with a cheery grin. “I’m Yagi Himiko! You can call me Himiko, though!”

The boy’s eyes flick down from hers to her teeth and his mouth twitches. Before Himiko can panic about him showing disgust at her fangs, she picks up the some of the quiet noises he’s making.

“—on both top and bottom. No other obvious animal mutations such as claws, indicating subject’s Quirk is limited to either bite or ingestion. Probable that Quirk has dietary requirements—”

He speaks so quiet and so quick that she can barely hear anything he’s saying.

Himiko tilts her head. “Huh?”

“Eep!” The boy slams his hands over his mouth and looks away. “Sorry… that was probably creepy.”

“No, I thought it was cute,” Himiko says honestly. He got all passionate like she can get about blood! What’s so creepy about that?

But was he talking about her Quirk just now?

Was he… interested in a Quirk like hers? He liked her Quirk enough to start muttering about it, to pay attention to it, to try and figure it out from the sounds of it.

That’s actually kind of comforting. She could fall asleep to him doing that.

The boy doesn’t seem to think the same, looking at her with surprise. “Really?”

“Uh huh!” She smiles again to prove her point, and after a moment’s hesitation, he gives her a shaky grin of his own.

“I’m—my name is Midoriya Izuku,” the boy—Midoriya—says. “It’s, um, nice to meet you, Yagi.”

“You too!” she says.

“Midoriya, I’d like to introduce you to your training partner,” says Mr. Yagi.

Midoriya nods slowly, looking up at him. “Yeah, when you told me to meet you here, you, um, you said you had someone else you would be training alongside me.”

“Uh huh!” says Himiko. “I could’ve used the gyms at Might Tower, but I wanted to do this instead!”

“Oh!” Midoriya says. “The gyms at Might Tower are famous for the sheer variety in their equipment to accommodate all kinds of Quirk mutations and how they can affect how someone needs to exercise! It’s one of—no, it’s the best gym in Japan that’s available to the general public!”

Himiko didn’t know any of that, but there’s something about Midoriya’s voice that she finds comforting. She’d listen to him talk all day. Maybe she could record him or something? That might work. Unless he thought that was weird…

“Yeah, I heard it was a good gym!” she says. Mostly because she’s overheard some of the guests at Might Tower while eating at Mite’s Café or hanging out in a lobby. She’s learned an awful lot by eavesdropping.

She still needs to actually take a look around those gyms sometime. She’ll probably end up needing them at some point if she’s serious about being a Hero—which she is—so looking around a little is a good idea.

“So, um,” Midoriya says, dragging her out of her thoughts, “How did you meet All Might?”

Mr. Yagi laughs before Himiko can respond, patting her gently on the back. Himiko leans into his touch. “You see, Young Midoriya, Himiko here is, well, she is my daughter.”

Midoriya’s eyes go totally blank, like a game that isn’t responding. Himiko nervously glances between him and Mr. Yagi, but her dad doesn’t seem too worried. More amused than anything. Like this is the reaction he was expecting from him.

And then Midoriya opens his mouth. He barely gets any noise out at all before Mr. Yagi lurches forward, planting his hands over Midoriya’s face, muffling his surprised shouting. Mr. Yagi holds up a finger to his lips, and Midoriya nods, so he lowers his hand.

“This is, of course, absolutely top secret, you understand. And also a fairly recent development.”

“I’m adopted!” Himiko adds cheerfully. Midoriya nods slowly.

Mr. Yagi clears his throat. “Himiko’s existence is a bigger secret than even my current form. The world can never learn that All Might has a daughter. As far as everyone is concerned, she is the daughter of one of my secretaries. I have gone to great pains to separate my… professional and personal lives.” He gestures to himself, and Himiko abruptly remembers that most people think he always looks like his big form. “The media would turn her into a spectacle, something to be torn to shreds, put under a microscope, and examined for any sign of fault. Or placed on a pedestal as my second coming. Not to mention those fans who tend to get… weird about who I choose to spend my time with. Many of them would view her as a distraction,” he spits, “or a waste of my time. Under no circumstances are you to reveal our relation to anyone. Do you understand?”

“Yes, sir,” says Midoriya, looking several shades paler.

“Good.”

“Um,” Midoriya says. “So, uh, why are you, um, telling me?”

“Well…the thing is…” Mr. Yagi rubs the back of his neck with an awkward smile. “Since I have you training together, you’ll see us interacting and, well… I’m not sure I’d be able to keep that a secret from you for more than—”

“About five minutes!” says Himiko. Mr. Yagi looks at her. “What? The guys at Might Tower had a bet on when you’d adopt me!”

“You heard about that!?”

Himiko laughs, too busy looking at her dad’s embarrassed reaction to see Midoriya blush. “Yup! Mrs. Fujimori told me when she was setting up my new Shift!”

And once she gets a carrying case for it, she’ll be able to take her console on the go with her and play all her games wherever she is, like here at the beach! Though, she has to admit that playing on the giant TV screen in her room is something special.

“But to answer your earlier question,” says Mr. Yagi, “I met Himiko here when I was out for a late-night stroll, and she ended up saving me from a mugging.”

Midoriya turns to look at Himiko and she swears she can see stars in his eyes. Like she hung the moon. Like…

Like she’s a Hero.

Energy races down Himiko’s spine at the thought. Is that what it’s like? For people to look up to you for helping them? It’s… weird.

She likes it.

“Uh huh!” says Himiko. She giggles. “So he took me to Might Tower so I’d have a place to stay and then he adopted me! So now I’m Yagi Himiko!”

“So, uh,” Midoriya says, “Is Yagi a fake name…?”

Himiko and Mr. Yagi stand there staring at Midoriya for a few seconds before her dad smacks his hand against his face.

“I am so sorry, my boy,” he says. “It slipped my mind completely. While I’m like… this,” he gestures at himself again, “You can call me Yagi Toshinori. That’s my name.”

Midoriya’s mouth hangs open.

Mr. Yagi clears his throat awkwardly. “Ahem. Yes. Well. Anyway. We should get to work!”

Himiko loops an arm around Midoriya’s shoulder, leaning her weight on him. “This beach isn’t gonna clean itself!”

“Wait,” Midoriya says, “Clean the beach!?”

Oh, he’s even cuter when he’s flustered!

Himiko takes solace in the fact that she is not the only one on this beach covered in sand and sweat.

“You know, it’s quite a nice perch up here!” says Mr. Yagi in his larger form.

She and Midoriya give another pull on the ropes wrapped tight around a refrigerator. They pull and pull. Himiko feels her body screaming in protest as her muscles flare up in ache. The fridge moves maybe a millimeter closer to the end of the beach.

The two of them, on the other hand, fall face-first into the sand.

“It would be even nicer if it had a little movement!”

“All Might,” Midoriya pants. “You’re… you’re 274 kilos alone…”

“Not quite!” says Mr. Yagi, taking pictures of the two of them on his phone. “I’ve lost some weight since then, so I’m only 255!”

Himiko lets out a whine.

“So…” Slowly, Midoriya pulls himself up to a sitting position. “We’re hauling this trash around as physical training…”

“Uh huh!” says Himiko between breaths. “But we’re also helping the community!”

“This section of the beach has been like this for years now,” says Mr. Yagi. He hops down from the top of the fridge and taps his knuckles on the side.

“No one comes here anymore,” says Midoriya. “The currents wash stuff on the shore, and, um, people dump their own garbage, even though they shouldn’t.”

“I see you know your stuff!” says Mr. Yagi. “I shouldn’t be surprised. You’re a local after all! I only found out about this place while I was researching Mustafu.” He places a hand on top of the fridge and easily presses down, starting to crumple it down on itself. “Heroes these days… care more about the fame and glory than the true heart of heroism.

“But Heroes are here to help people!” Himiko says brightly.

“Exactly!”

Mr. Yagi slams the fridge the rest of the way flat, blasting back a pile of garbage and revealing the ocean. The brilliant blue stretches all the way to the horizon, where the rising sun peeks out, shinning out and making the waves sparkle like diamonds.

“The two of you want to be Heroes… well this is your first step!”

“But…” Midoriya looks around. Himiko’s already taken stock of the beach, so she can guess what catches his eye. The rusted truck with even more machinery in the flatbed. The piles of boxes and scrapped broken-down electronics, some taller than both of them. “All this?”

“You want to get into UA, correct?” says Mr. Yagi. Himiko finally sits up herself, because yes, she does.

“Yeah!” Midoriya says. “It’s the best Hero School in Japan… and you went there!” Oh, Himiko didn’t actually know that, but it makes sense now that she thinks about it. It makes going there even more exciting!

“It’s not only the best Hero School in Japan,” says Mr. Yagi, “It’s also the toughest. And that includes their entrance exam. So…”

“So in ten months, we have to be ready for that exam,” Midoriya finishes.

“And that’s why I made these!” Her dad whips out two very familiar packets and Himiko smiles. She’s already seen hers, so she doesn’t need to look right now. “I designed these myself! The “Pass the Test: American Dream Plans!”

Midoriya thumbs through the packet, his eyes scanning over the page.

“You even planned out how much I sleep…” he says quietly.

Personally, Himiko is more surprised that he has a section about their diets. Hers obviously takes her blood into account, but also what foods she should get from Mite’s Café and when, as well as suggestions for things she can make herself.

“You should be aware that this will be incredibly difficult,” All Might says. “Are you up for the challenge?”

“Yes!” Midoriya says without hesitation. “I—I know I already have to work harder than anyone else! I can do this!”

“Are you sure?” Himiko purrs as she drapes herself over his shoulders. She feels his skin heating up under hers. “I’ve been doing this for two days already and he’s not kidding about it being hard!”

It always feels better after a good night’s sleep, but before then her entire body feels like it’s on fire. She’s grateful for the days she can see on the schedule as being purely for rest, not that she’s had one when this is only her third day into her new routine.

As it is, she comes home from the beach with enough energy to shower and then crumple onto the couch in the lounge in her room so she can play games before bed. Dad usually has to drag her out of the room to dinner because she doesn’t have the energy on her own.

Admittedly she’s much perkier once her stomach is no longer empty.

“I—I—I’m sure!” Midoriya says. “Like I said… I already have to, uh, to work harder than anyone else. I can do this!”

“Well in that case,” she says, and pulls out Midoriya’s phone from his pocket. He yelps and grabs at it, but Himiko giggles and moves so he can’t reach. She swipes her fingers across the screen as fast as she can. “Here you go!”

Midoriya scrambles to catch it from the light toss. He blinks down at the screen.

“You… added yourself?” he says quietly.

“Yup! Now we can talk whenever we want!”

Himiko smiles.

She thinks she’s made a friend!

Midoriya Izuku sinks into the couch with a sigh.

Yagi wasn’t kidding when she told him that this was going to be hard work!

It’s only been a week of beach cleaning and he already feels like death warmed over.

But it’s fine. He can handle this. He has to handle this. That’s what it means for him to be a Quirkless Hero. He has to not only match his peers with Quirks, but be able to go above and beyond them.

Plus Ultra.

“Are you alright, dear?” mom says. Izuku grunts in affirmation. It’s his first rest day, so he gets to stay home and recuperate after his and Yagi’s embarrassing attempts at making progress.

Well he says that, but he has started to actually see more of the beach already, so maybe they aren’t doing too badly.

“Izuku, Sunshine, I’m worried,” says mom. “I know you’re going out to train, but you’re exhausted, and I haven’t even met this trainer or your friend yet.”

Izuku blinks a few times. He sits up to face mom properly, forcing down his instinctual defensive remarks. He can’t exactly tell her that he’s training with All Might and his daughter. But maybe he could do something else?

“Do you want to meet them?” he says, pausing to yawn. “I could invite them over…?”

He has Yagi’s number, after all. All he has to do is not think about the fact that he’s inviting the Number One Hero and his daughter over to their small apartment for dinner. As long as he does that, he won’t have a complete mental breakdown.

“I trust you,” mom says seriously. “And if you say they’re trustworthy, I believe you. But I want to at least talk to the man who made this schedule for you, alright?”

Izuku smiles. “Alright.”

Time Remaining Until UA Entrance Exams: 309 Days

Chapter Text

It only really hits Midoriya Izuku what’s happening the day of the event itself.

The sun rises, his alarm goes off, and Izuku sits bolt upright.

“Oh fuck,” he whispers. “Yagi is coming over. All Might is coming over!”

Izuku glances around his room, something that could charitably described as ‘passionate about All Might,’ or, more accurately, as a shrine to the Hero. Posters, action figures, clothes, blankets, and other assorted memorabilia line just about every surface it’s possible for them to line. His signature red, white, and blue coloration coats the entire room. No matter which way you look, you can see his eyes. Staring.

Izuku plants his face into his hands and groans.

Luckily, it’s a Sunday. Not only is it a day off from school, but it’s also his rest day. He’s got plenty of time to try and make his room look like something that belongs to a sane human being.

If Mom notices that he’s late to breakfast, she doesn’t say anything about it. She instead serves up breakfast for him with a hum and a gleam in her eyes. Izuku thanks her and sits down to eat. It’s as delicious as he expects from his mom’s cooking.

Mom sits down across from him with her own bowl.

“You remember what tonight is, right?” she asks.

Izuku nods. “Yeah. All— the Yagis are coming over tonight.”

It’s been two weeks since they discussed having them come over and speak with Mom. While All Might was happy to talk with her and reassure her that everything was fine and safe, his schedule can be packed tight and unpredictable. This was the soonest time he could meet with her.

And despite having two weeks to prepare himself mentally, Izuku is still biting down the urge to scream at the thought.

All Might. Will be. In his apartment.

Holy.

Shit.

And he can’t tell Mom that because it’s a national secret.

And what’s more, Yagi will be here too! She’s going to meet Mom, see where he lives! And for some reason, the thought of All Might seeing the shrine he just frantically disassembled and hid in his closet doesn’t make his stomach lurch as much as the idea of Yagi coming over.

(He took care not to damage any of his merchandise, of course. He’s not a heathen.)

Izuku swallows.

Yagi…

He’s known her for about three weeks now, but she’s still a total enigma to him.

She doesn’t show off her Quirk the way that the kids at school do. She never talks about Quirks at all. Izuku considers that a blessing. He doesn’t know how she’ll react when she inevitably learns that he’s Quirkless.

Yagi also doesn’t know any Heroes other than All Might. She listens to him ramble about various Heroes and Quirks when he gets on the topic, and she asks questions so he knows she’s paying attention. But every time he names a Pro Hero, he has to give her a quick summary of who they are, what their Quirk is, and the basics of their persona. Izuku has to admit to being more than a little worried that she only seems to vaguely know the names of the Top Ten, and even then, only if he prompts her.

He can guess that she must’ve had a rough childhood, if All Might found her on the streets. But she also apparently saved All Might. Yeah, it was a mugging, and Izuku gets the feeling that All Might was partially joking about how that went down, but still!

And she’s also the most physically affectionate person Izuku’s ever met. It’s like whenever she has a chance, she’ll find a way to lean on him somehow.

Is that normal? Do friends do that? Izuku tries to remember if he was like that with Kacchan back when they were little. He doesn’t think so, but maybe Yagi’s just a very physical person. It’s not like he minds.

That’s the other thing. He doesn’t really mind her casual touching.

Having someone so openly content to have him around is… well. It’s been a long time since anyone his age acted like that. Like he wasn’t to be kept as far away as possible.

He just wishes that every time she leans on him, he wouldn’t forget how to talk. Ugh! That’s so embarrassing!

Izuku wipes his hand down his face.

Yagi really is incredible, though.

She saved All Might, something he doesn’t think he’ll ever truly get over. And despite how hard she must’ve had it growing up, she’s so cheerful! Izuku can’t imagine how anyone could’ve been cruel to such a kind, energetic girl like Yagi.

(He ignores the sudden memory of how his own classmates treat him.)

The two of them make small talk when they’re cleaning the beach, and the stories she tells about Might Tower are all so incredible. As an agency, it’s everything Midoriya could ever dream of. Using all that vertical space to help so many people in so many ways. All Might truly is the greatest Hero.

And Yagi’s bounced back from her struggles so fast! She’s apparently trying her hand at baking, and Izuku’s seen firsthand how excited she gets about her video games.

He thinks back to his own bedroom, and how bare it looks with his merchandise squirreled away. A shiver dances across his skin.

“Are you nervous?” says Mom, nearly startling Izuku out of his seat.

“I—uh,” he says. “Is it that obvious?”

“Well, it was either that, or you found something incredibly interesting in your breakfast.”

Oh.

Izuku chuckles awkwardly and scarfs down the rest of his meal.

“Yeah,” he admits. “It’s the first time I’ve had friends over since…”

A moment of silence passes between them. Neither of them wants to acknowledge that the last time he had friends visit was years ago.

Tonight is a bit of a special occasion. And that’s the tragedy.

Izuku shakes himself out of those thoughts. “I’m—I’m excited! It’s just… I don’t know. This feels like a big deal even though I know it isn’t”—except that it kind of is because holy shit— “and I can’t stop worrying, and—”

“Sunshine, Izuku,” mom says tersely. “Everything will be okay. Breathe.”

Izuku nods, taking her advice. A deep breath in, hold, a deep breath out. Repeat. His heart stops beating out of his chest. He wipes the cold sweat off of his palms.

“Okay. okay.”

“Izuku, you have nothing to worry about. The way you talk about the Yagis, if they’re anything like that, then it’s going to be alright.”

“I know,” Izuku says quietly.

The two of them eat the rest of their meal in silence, but a comfortable one.

The knocking at the door is completely innocuous and yet Izuku’s heart still jumps into his throat.

He’s up before his mom can ask him to get the door.

The short hallway seems to stretch out in front of him, the door looming far overhead. He swallows his nerves and opens it anyway.

“Ah, Young Midoriya!” All Might says. He’s in his smaller form, wearing a nice polo shirt. “Thank you for having us!”

“Thank you for agreeing to come All—Mr. Yagi,” Izuku says carefully. He steps to the side. “Please come in!”

As All Might moves past him, Izuku gets a look at Yagi.

His breath hitches.

Her sleeves are loose, draping down around her arms. The rest of her top is a tighter fit, but still hardly form-fitting. It ends off in a ruffled skirt that doesn’t even make it halfway down her thighs. She has a nice jacket tucked under her arm, a much lighter color that pairs with the deep reddish-brown of her shirt.

While she’s wearing heels, they look more like sandals than anything. They have a wide platform with thin red straps and aren’t that tall. Just enough to put her at eye-level with Izuku.

Himiko giggles, showing off those fangs of hers. “Hey, Midoriya!” Before he can respond, she hops in front of him and gives him a loose hug. He feels his face heating up. “Thanks for having us! Mr. Yagi really needs to get out more. You know, for non-work stuff!”

Izuku blinks.

Oh right.

Words.

“Uh,” he says, scratching at the back of his head. “It’s no problem!”

Himiko lets her arms slide off his shoulders and nudges him with her own, following All Might down the hall with another giggle.

Alright.

They have made it inside and Izuku didn’t completely freak out!

Now he just has to keep it up for the rest of the evening!

That’s fine and completely manageable to achieve.

He’s going to die.

By the time Izuku’s close the door and made his way over to the living room, mom has already emerged from the kitchen to greet them.

“You must be Mrs. Midoriya,” says All Might with a small bow. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“I’m Yagi Himiko!” Yagi says. “I’m friends with your son!”

Friends…

That’s the first time Izuku’s heard her say the word aloud.

They’re friends!

Mom laughs, eyes scanning over their two guests. “Yes, Izuku has told me a lot about you both. Have a seat! Dinner will be ready soon.”

Izuku wonders if he’s supposed to hear Yagi whisper to All Might, “Why is my room bigger than this apartment?”

She has to be exaggerating anyway.

For his part, All Might simply chuckles, his gaze sweeping around and drinking in the details. Izuku wonders what he thinks of the place. It’s admittedly not a very large apartment, and they never felt the need to really redecorate the furniture. Most of their decorations are pictures on the wall or contained to their bedrooms.

While mom puts the finishing touches on their meal, Izuku sits down at the table next to Yagi.

“It’s a lovely place,” says All Might.

All Might likes his apartment!

“Thank you, sir!” Izuku manages. Himiko giggles again.

“I hope your mom made a lot,” she says with a nudge.

“With guests coming over?”  says Izuku. “She’ll have made enough to feed a small army!” Himiko hums.

True to his word, Mom went overboard. Izuku doesn’t remember the last time he’s seen so much rice. The smell from the pork nearly knocks him out of his chair. He has to stop himself from salivating. Katsudon’s always been his favorite, after all.

“Thank you again for having us,” Mr. Yagi says after they’ve started eating.

“It’s my pleasure. I can hardly let Izuku here run around with strangers, can I?” says Mom, shooting a look at him and Yagi that he can’t decipher. “So how exactly did you meet?”

“Ah,” says All Might. “Did Young Midoriya tell you what I do for a living?”

Mom pauses. “No, I don’t think he did.”

“Well, I’m a secretary at Might Tower. I’m sure you remember that Villain last month?”

“How could I forget…” Mom says quietly. Izuku chills at the reminder of how close he came to dying in that underpass. Mr. Yagi seems to notice the tension, as he moves on quickly. “All Might spoke to your son after the incident and heard that he wants to be a Hero. He was impressed by Young Midoriya’s Heroic instinct, and wanted to help him along. So he asked me to come up with a training program.” All Might gestures to Yagi. “I had already made one for my daughter, Himiko. So I spoke with Dr. Maki—one of the doctors who works at the medical floor of Might Tower—and she helped me create their training schedules.”

“It’s a rather intensive schedule,” Mom says.

“Heroics in an intensive career,” says All Might. “Though I freely admit that this schedule will no longer apply after the entrance exam. Much of the training from this schedule is built into the Hero Course curriculum.”

That’s actually a relief to hear. The homework at Aldera is hardly what Izuku would call difficult, but studying can take time. He was a bit worried about exams at a school as prestigious as UA if he had to spend all his time working out. From the glance Yagi shoots him, it seems he’s not alone in that.

“It had better not get in the way of his studying,” says mom.

“And it won’t,” says All Might.

Mom shifts her attention off of All Might and his shoulders visibly relax. “And what about you, dear?”

“It’s okay, you can call me Himiko!” she says, throwing an arm around Izuku’s shoulders. “I met Midoriya here when he showed up at the beach to help me clean! Mr. Yagi already told me about him though, so I wasn’t surprised.”

“That’s not quite what I—Mr. Yagi?”

“I adopted her not long before I met Young Midoriya,” says All Might. Yagi grins wide.

“Oh,” says Mom, blinking. “I was actually going to ask how you were holding up with everything.”

Yagi tilts her head. “It’s been nice so far, I think. I usually kinda crash when we get home though.”

“It’s true,” nods All Might. “I have to drag her to get food.”

You wouldn’t be able to tell from the way she eats. Yagi isn’t rude, but she effortlessly puts away food. At that moment, she stands up to get another serving, her permanent blush turning a deeper red.

“Go ahead, dear, it’s why I made it,” says Mom. As Yagi does so, she turns back to All Might. “How’s the commute? I assume you live over in Roppongi.”

“That’s correct,” says All Might. “Actually, Himiko and I live in Might Tower itself. For security reasons, the top floors are residential for any member of staff who might want them. There’s currently about a dozen staff families living in the Tower.”

Izuku is beginning to think that Yagi wasn’t exaggerating about the size of her room.

“Oh, is that so?” says Mom. Yagi slips into her seat beside Izuku and beams at him. “Well, seeing as our kids get along so well, we may have to do this more in the future.”

“Ooh! Ooh!” Yagi says. “Sleepovers!”

Mom and All Might look at Izuku. He resists the urge to shrink on himself. “That, uh, that sounds fun.”

“While my schedule can be… inconsistent, we should be available to host something like that. Even unsupervised, I think they’re smart enough to know not to do anything too crazy.”

“Of course,” says Mom with a twinkle of mischief in her eye. “Izuku knows to finish High School before he gives me grandkids.”

Ah.

Well it’s been nice being alive but it seems mother has decided that his free trial of existence has expired.

Izuku’s face catches fire and he lets out a low rasp in place of words. He can practically feel the steam leaking out of his ears. All Might coughs hard enough to get a splattering of blood on his chin. He’s not fast enough to wipe it off before Mom sees it.

“Yagi, are you alright?” Mom says.

“I’m fine,” says All Might. “Or, as fine as I can be. I was badly injured in an incident some years ago, and not all of my organs were… salvageable.”

“I’m sorry,” says Mom.

“No need,” All Might waves her off. “On the contrary, I’m grateful for the consideration. But it’s hardly pleasant conversation during a meal.”

“Your food’s really yummy,” Yagi says. “Um…” She bites her lip.

“Yes?” says Mom.

“Could you… could you lend me the recipe? I’m trying to learn,” she says.

Mom smiles. “Of course, dear. You’ll have to give me a second. I’ve made this one so many times I have the whole thing memorized. It’s Izuku’s favorite.”

Yagi practically brightens, leaning closer to Mom, over Izuku. “Really?”

“He used to ask for it every night,” says Mom.

“Mom!”

“Oh! I’ll have to get really good at it then!” Yagi says.

“Is that right?” says Mom, raising an eyebrow.

Yagi nods. “Mhmm! If it’s his favorite, then he won’t accept just any katsudon!”

That’s true. Izuku always prefers his mom’s to any restaurant, no matter how delicious they make it. Though Izuku also knows that this isn’t why his mom asked that. He doesn’t have to look at her to know the smug expression she’s wearing.

Yagi is the first friend he’s had over in years! Mom could choose to not tease him about it!

Izuku shoots Mom a look he hopes conveys ‘knock it off’ and not like he’s pouting. Which he totally isn’t.

Her stifled laugh doesn’t fill him with confidence that he succeeded.

Izuku doesn’t contribute much for the rest of dinner, eating quietly while Mom fields more questions to All Might about the research he did into health and fitness, the risks of cleaning the beach, and more. She also directs the occasional question towards Yagi and her interests.

“I don’t really know what I like yet,” says Yagi with a shrug. “So I’m trying out everything that seems cute and seeing what sticks. Baking’s been nice so far!”

“Don’t forget your games,” chuckles All Might. Yagi grins.

“Sewing might be fun too,” Yagi says. “I’d get to make all kinds of cute little plushies and blankets with a sharp needle!”

“It’s been far too long since I’ve sewn anything,” Mom says. “Maybe you can come over and we’ll do something together sometime?”

“I wouldn’t want to impose my responsibilities,” All Might says.

Mom shakes her head. “Izuku never brings anyone over anymore. Having the place a little more lively wouldn’t kill me.”

“You mean it?” says Yagi, eyes lit up like stars.

He can’t help but grin. Watching Yagi get excited is like watching a child. The joy that radiates off of her is infectious, and he always finds himself smiling while he’s around her.

Given how little smiling he does at school, Izuku can’t bring himself to mind that much.

“So,” says Mom. “Dessert?”

Yagi squeals in delight.

Yagi Toshinori sighs quietly. Himiko’s off with Young Midorya, watching something on TV while he helps Mrs. Midoriya with the cleaning.

Or, more accurately, while they talk without being overheard. Chores are apparently an excellent pretense. Something to keep in mind for the future.

“Does it ever get any easier?” he says. Mrs. Midoriya looks up at him. “Well. I—” He averts his gaze. “I couldn’t help but notice that there was no mention of a… Mr. Midoriya.”

“No,” she says. “There isn’t.” And he knows that’s all she’ll say on the matter. “You mean, does it ever get easier being a single parent?”

“I’m worried about her,” Toshinori says. “I… I might be the first positive experience she’s ever had with an adult. I’m worried she’s hiding things from me because she thinks I’ll be rid of her.”

“All parents have those worries,” she says. “The specifics change, but we all wonder if we’re doing enough. In the end, all we can do is prepare them to live well without us.” Toshinori nods as he absentmindedly dries a bowl. “I have my own regrets with Izuku, ones I wouldn’t have thought about on my own. But that’s what parenting is. We’re all trying our best.”

“I hope it’s enough,” he says.

“So do we all.”

Time Remaining Until UA Entrance Exams: 294 Days

Chapter Text

Might Tower.

One of the most important aspects of Heroism for many people is the Hero Agency. Usually owned and operated by a single Hero, sometimes a small team, a Hero Agency is an office meant to expedite Heroic activity.

It’s a base of operations for the presiding Hero and their sidekicks.

It’s an office where a team of analysts and aides can investigate crimes and cross-reference reports of Villainous activity.

It’s a communication hub to connect Heroes across the country and coordinate their efforts.

And of the Hero Agencies in Japan, one stands tall above the rest.

Like All Might himself, Might Tower is considered by many to be the Hero Agency.

In addition to the staffing and functionality that all Agencies have, Might Tower is equipped with numerous accommodations for public use. From housing to food to gymnasiums, Might Tower has just about everything. And, since All Might has some of the most lucrative merchandising contracts in the world, these accommodations are affordable.

Loads of talent from a wide variety of fields find successful employment at the Tower.

And it also happens to be where Yagi lives.

Midoriya Izuku cranes his neck to look all the way up.

The structure dwarfs every building around it. It’s easily the biggest building in all of Roppongi, if not Minato as a whole. It’s a simple square shape, with rounded corners that extend slightly out from the faces. The windows extend up until the very top floors of the building, which are instead flat, smooth steel.

Adorning the building’s roof is a globe with two large rings. When the Tower first opened over thirty years ago, All Might explained in an interview that the rings symbolized a connection. That everyone on the planet who needs a Hero might look to the sky and see one appear. That those rings were the Heroes crossing the globe to do what’s right.

Izuku has long dreamed about coming to Might Tower. Who hasn’t? It’s All Might’s agency, everyone who ever wanted to be a Hero was wanted to come here at some point. To see what it’s like at the very top.

“Are you finished gawking?” Mom teases. Izuku adjusts the bag strap on his shoulder and nods. He doesn’t trust his voice to speak at the moment.

The moment the main doors open, something barrels into Izuku and he barely catches himself. Fortunately, he’s used to this.

“Hi Yagi,” he says, looking down at the girl wrapped tightly around him.

“Midoriya!” Yagi cheers. “Hi, Mrs. Midoriya! Thanks for letting him come over!” She pulls herself off of him, grabs his arm, and drags him in.

“Don’t forget that you’ve still got training tomorrow!” Mom calls after them.

“We won’t!” says Yagi.

Izuku barely has time to wave back at his Mom’s laughing figure before Yagi pulls him into an elevator.

“Um,” Izuku says, “Thank you for having me.”

“Of course!” Yagi says, beaming up at him as she fiddles with the panel. “I’ve always wanted to have a friend over!”

“Me too,” Izuku murmurs.

“Well I gotta stay at your place sometime,” Yagi says. “Your mom’s cooking is so good!”

Izuku doesn’t see what Yagi does, but whatever it was causes another panel of buttons to appear. She presses one of them and the elevator takes off like a rocket.

A moment later, and a giggling Yagi helps him stagger out of the elevator. He thinks his life flashed before his eyes, but he was moving too fast to tell.

“I was like that at first too,” she says. “You get used to it!”

Izuku only moans.

Yagi is polite enough to wait for him to pull himself back together. As soon as his stomach returns from wherever the hell it went, she leads him down the hall.

So far, the penthouse seems fairly normal. Well, it’s big, but so is All Might. It’s fairly modestly decorated out here. Most of the doors are closed, though, so maybe some of the other rooms have a bit more personality to them.

“So where’s All—where’s Mr. Yagi?” he says.

“Work.” Yagi rolls her eyes. “Secretary work. He’s done so much paperwork lately I’m surprised his hands haven’t fallen off!”

Yagi stops and turns to Izuku, beaming. Behind her is a door with a sign reading ‘HIMIKO’ proudly attached. She swings it open wide with a “Ta da!”

Oh.

Oh wow.

She was not exaggerating about the size of her room.

The room itself has its own sub-rooms. What kind of bedroom has its own kitchen? Is that a TV lounge!?

Every wall is covered in framed All Might posters, as well as a handful of posters for other Heroes. Miruko, Sunspot, the Wild Wild Pussycats, Nyanko, Uwabami. Either she got posters after hearing him talk about them, or she grabbed merchandise for whoever she thought looked cutest.

The large windows are covered with vivid pink curtains etched in flower patterns. They’re pulled together and the bottom and tied with a ribbon, letting the light in. And letting Izuku see out over Roppongi.

The view is incredible, though Izuku’s always been fond of city architecture.

All in all, her bedroom feels more like a large studio flat.

“We’re here!” she says. “Make yourself comfortable!” And with that she flops down onto a sofa with a sigh.

“Wow…” Izuku breathes, slowly looking around the room. “Isn’t that from the limited edition run Moon Landing Anniversary Star and Stripe poster series?” It’s one of Izuku’s personal favorites, but the prints were only available through a charity auction, and at the time he was in another country and three. He figured he’d never see any of them in person.

“Yup!” Yagi smiles sheepishly. “I uh, kind of mistook it for an All Might poster… but it’s so shiny! I love it!”

Izuku nods slowly, admiring it like he would a painting from the Louvre.

“What about that one?” says Yagi. “Mr. Yagi gave it to me. He talks about her like she was from a while ago.”

Izuku follows Yagi’s pointing finger to a small card-sized print, depicting a Hero Izuku doesn’t recognize. He picks up the frame, careful to avoid touching the glass.

It’s a midair shot of her, the camera aimed down at the streets far below, with her looking up. She’s posed, legs spread out wide and gloved fingers pressing into the corners of her mouth as she smiles as wide as possible. It almost reminds him of All Might. The Hero’s white cape billows out wildly. Her black suit is remarkably simple; there’s not iconography anywhere except for the buckle on the red cloak wrapped around her waist. Etched into the clasp is a strange shape, like an inverted letter A.

Quirk clearly allows some level of flight, exact method undetermined. Clothing still affected by wind and gravity, indicating gravitational effect unlikely. Hard to tell from picture how her Quirk affects her hair, estimate of effect on her body impossible without more data. Unable to determine wind and debris resistance. Occam’s razor: self-affecting levitational Quirk, propulsory abilities likely.

Izuku shakes his head and sets the print back down. “I don’t know her.”

“I can’t find anything about her online,” Yagi says. “But I think she’s his favorite. Mr. Yagi calls her Nana.”

“That’s… that’s a shame.” He’d love to know more about her. Heroes with only a flight Quirk are pretty rare. Usually, flying Heroes have a versatile Quirk with flight being only one of a number of uses. Even Hawks can wield his feathers.

Izuku hums, his eyes tracing the woman’s features one last time before he turns away.

“Where should I put my bag?” Izuku says. It’s got his changes of clothes in it, as well as his basic toiletries, so it’s pretty important he doesn’t lose it.

Yagi shrugs. “The bathroom, I guess. That way it won’t get underfoot. It’s down the hall.” She points, and Izuku ignores the voice in his head that asks, ‘what kind of bedroom has its own hallway?’ He also ignores that there’s so much floor space, he’s almost certain it’s impossible to for anyone to trip in here.

Much like the rest of her room, Yagi’s private bathroom is significantly larger than it probably needs to be. Though part of that is her very fancy tub. Judging by the number of products she has around it, Yagi appreciates it.

When he returns, Yagi looks up, now sitting at the table (why is there a table) instead of the sofa. She stands up.

“So!” she says. “What do you wanna do first? Mr. Yagi got me started on a cute movie collection and I haven’t seen ‘em all yet! Or I’ve got Super Hero Smash Unlimited, that’s fun!”

Izuku’s eyes dart to the hardwood cabinet to his left. He doesn’t think anyone but Yagi would ever use ‘cute’ to refer to The Thing.

“I’ll try Smash; I’ve never played it before,” he says.

“Oh! Oh! It’s great for newcomers! Here, let me show you!”

Yagi practically skips past him into the TV lounge. She picks up a controller from one of the cushioned benches and presses a button. Izuku sees a light come on from the small black box sitting beneath the frankly massive television screen—it could eat his TV at home as a snack holy fuck. Yagi fiddles with a remote for half a second and the screen clicks to life.

“Come on, Midoriya! Sit down!” Yagi says. Izuku laughs awkwardly and carefully lowers himself onto one of the cushions. As expected, it’s very soft, and he nearly sinks in it at first.

Yagi hands him a controller and selects the icon on the screen.

Huh. Izuku didn’t know they had a full-blown music video intro for this game.

“So who’s in this one?” he asks. He’s not super into games, but he does know all the major releases featuring the likenesses of real Heroes.

Yagi looks at him seriously. “Everyone.”

“Everyone?” he repeats in surprise.

She wilts a little. “Well no, not everyone, but they got… I looked it up once, it was… it was the whole Top 50, and a few guests from beyond that. Mostly ones who’d been in the earlier Super Hero Smash games.”

“How do they balance playing as All Might?” he asks.

“They based his moveset on his ‘Young Era’ or whatever,” she says with a shrug. “I guess he was considered weaker back then? I don’t really know.”

She flicks between a few more menus until a massive Hero roster appears. They’re sorted by their rank, interesting.

Huh. Hawks is the Eight spot. This must’ve come out the year after he debuted.

“So, um, Yagi, how well do you know these Heroes?” he asks.

“Well I didn’t know any of them before I met you,” she says, “But now I know them all!” she giggles, and Izuku snorts. “And that’s why I know you’re gonna ask about the rankings. They don’t update the list because they’re based on a specific era. And if they changed where they were in the list, they’d have to acknowledge all the cute super moves they’ve shown off since then.”

“Fair enough.”

Somehow, it feels wrong for him to play as All Might against All Might’s actual daughter. He flips a coin mentally and picks Miruko over Shishido. Yagi flicks down exactly to Ryukyu with practiced ease and that’s Izuku’s first red flag that he’s in for a bad time.

“So let me run you through the controls,” she says as the announcer counts down to the start of the fight.

And she does. She politely coaches him through moving, jumping attacking, using his special attacks, and how his directional inputs change what his moves do.

And then she starts actually playing.

It takes her about thirty seconds to burn through all three of Izuku’s lives. It’s the single most brutal fight he’s ever seen.

“Rematch?” Yagi says sweetly. Izuku blinks a few times, and then a smile stretches over his face.

“You’re on!”

By their fourth match, Izuku figures out the timings on his dodges and the real fighting starts in earnest.

By the time they’re both laughing too hard to continue playing, the sun has started to set, and both of their stomachs are protesting.

Yagi stands up with a stretch. “Alright! Guess that means it’s dinner time!”

Izuku wasn’t totally certain what the plan for dinner was, and he didn’t want to presume that Yagi would be cooking for them just because she offhandedly mentioned it once, so he’s not completely surprised that they go to Mite’s Café. Especially since they both know they can stick to their meal plans this way.

It does come as a pleasant surprise when they get back to the room and Yagi reveals that she made cupcakes.

“The ones in red wrappers are mine, though,” she says. “The rest are for you!”

Ah. He was already pretty sure that her Quirk had some kind of dietary aspect. He doesn’t know what specifically she added to hers, but he’ll trust her on whether he’d like them.

He picks up the one closest to him.

“Mm,” Izuku says. “These are good, Yagi!”

She beams.

While they agree on watching a movie after they finish, it takes some work on Izuku’s part to talk her out of watching a horror film. As much as he’d love to, it’s not something he’d like to see right after a meal. She does make him promise to watch one with her the next time they do this, which he agrees to easily.

Yagi instead picks a classic movie about a cursed prince and his quest to save his own life, and how he stumbles across a conflict between the old world and the modern. Izuku’s heard of it, but it’s his first time actually watching it.

He’s proud of himself for managing to pay attention to the film even after Yagi slumps against him about fifteen minutes in, especially since she keeps her head on his shoulder for the rest of the movie.

Yagi yawns as the credits roll, finally shifting up.

“I think—” Izuku has to stop to yawn himself. “I think it’s time for bed.”

“Uh huh. I’ll go get my nightgown,” she murmurs. Izuku nods, ignoring his blushing, and heads into the bathroom to change.

Yagi gasps when she sees his pajamas.

To be fair, Izuku should’ve assumed this outcome.

“You look so cute!” Yagi says, which Izuku is willing to bet wasn’t the intent behind this design. It is, however, All Might themed, and he’s long since gotten used to Yagi’s favorite adjective.

“Thanks,” he says, rubbing the back of his neck. “You too.”

Yagi’s wearing a simple nightgown, but a brilliant crimson shade.

“Thank you!” she says, twirling so that the end billows. “It has pockets!”

Izuku smiles softly.

And then he realizes there’s a very important question he never asked.

“Um, Yagi,” Izuku says. “Where am I going to sleep?”

“The bed,” says Yagi.

“And… where are you going to sleep?”

“The bed,” says Yagi. Her tone is playful, like he’s being silly. She tilts her head at whatever expression he makes. “Why, isn’t that where people normally sleep?”

“Well, um.” Oh God help him how does he explain this. He can feel his face turning the brightest red possible. “Sharing a bed is, uh, considered kind of intimate. So I kind of thought I’d be using a futon or a sleeping bag, or a sofa or something.”

“Oh.” Yagi blinks a few times, then shrugs. “I don’t mind. We cuddle all the time anyway, right? It’s like that!”

“Not… really…” Izuku says, ignoring how Yagi refers to their physical contact. And how much he likes her calling it that. “It’s, uh… more intimate.”

Yagi stares at him for several seconds before nodding. “Advanced Cuddling. I understand.” Izuku bites down a wheeze before it can tear itself out of his throat. “Though now that I think about it, Dad once mentioned having multiple friends over, and I think my bed can only fit three at most, so that makes sense. Ah well! The sofas in here are cute! we can work it out!” She giggles.

Izuku smiles, however shaky. Yagi’s cheer is infectious as always. Regardless of any unintentional implications from her sleeping arrangements, his heart warms at the idea of Yagi making plans for a larger friend group.

Someone like her deserves to have people who care about her.

“I think I’ll take one of the sofas,” he says.

“You sure?” says Yagi. “The bed is so soft!”

“Thanks,” Izuku says, smile slightly strained by his internal screaming, “But I’ll take the sofa.”

“Your loss!”

Moonlight pierces the dark of the night, gently basking her room in a peaceful glow.

Yagi Himiko knows that she shouldn’t.

She knows, she knows, she knows!

But she can’t help herself! She’s spent weeks around him and the temptation hasn’t faded at all!

Himiko gazes down at him from her bed. From up on the loft, she can see Midoriya easily as he slumbers peacefully away on her sofa.

He’s so cute when he sleeps.

So peaceful.

She wants to be him.

She’s quiet. She’s always quiet. But when she slips off of her bed and sneaks down the stairs to the sofa, she makes sure to be especially quiet. It would be rude to wake him.

And if he knew what she was doing he would hate her.

But she can’t take it anymore!

“Just a little,” she whispers to herself. Her eyes are laser focused on his arm. She doesn’t need to hurt him to be him. She only needs a little.

Himiko gingerly lifts Midoriya’s arm to her mouth.

Slowly, she sinks her fangs into his soft flesh and it feels so good when his blood fills her mouth. After a moment or two, she releases her jaw, gently licking the pinpricks she leaves behind. She doesn’t know why, but it feels like she should.

His blood is as sweet as she imagined. She sighs through her nose, savoring the nectar on her tongue. It’s like nothing she’s ever had before. Saito, that mugger—neither of them can compare to this. It blows her artificial blood out of the water.

By the time she sets his arm back down, he’s stopped bleeding at all. She forces down her disappointment.

It’s better if there’s no sign of this in the morning.

At last, Himiko swallows.

It’s been a long, long time since she last reached for her Quirk, but it heeds her call like an old friend. The familiar embrace of her transformation envelops her, hiding away the Himiko and replacing her with him.

Midoriya.

She looks down at herself, and giggles—barely remembering to keep her voice down. She’s a few centimeters taller now, but their builds aren’t all that different. Her nightgown still more-or-less fits on him. She rotates her new shoulders. Broader than she’s used to, but only slightly.

Himiko runs a hand through the green curls on her head and lets out a gasp. They’re as soft as she imagined. She reaches up with her other hand, playing with the way her new hair sticks out in all directions.

She takes a slow step, and then another, slightly faster, as she twirls around the room, dancing in the moonlight to a tune she can’t hear.

And then she freezes.

Midoriya stares up at her from the couch, looking almost as surprised as she does.

Time Remaining Until UA Entrance Exams: 279 Days

Chapter Text

“Yagi?”

No.

No.

Yagi Himiko takes a step back, the moonlight casting a shadow from her all the way to the couch.

He wasn’t supposed to see her. He wasn’t supposed to know. No one was supposed to know. He knows, he knows, he knows—

Midoriya rubs the sleep from his eyes as he shifts up on the couch. His gaze pierces straight through her, to the ugly wretched thing hiding under a façade of something as good as him.

“That is you, isn’t it?” Midoriya says. “Why do you look like me?”

Himiko open her mouth and rasps wordlessly.

He knows!

Midoriya stands up slowly, idly rubbing the spot on his arm where she bit him like some kind of freak—like the monster she is—like a killer—

“Yagi?” Midoriya says again. “Are you alright?”

Of course she isn’t alright. She’s deranged. Sick. She hurts people. She hurt him. Everything Mr. Yagi did was pointless because at the end of the day she’s still her and you can’t fix her and there was nothing he could do from the start why couldn’t she have been content with what she had why did she have to get greedy and hurt him the first friend she ever had that saw the her under the mask ad now he’ll hate her—

Hate her like they hated her—

Himiko’s vision blurs.

Her legs give out under her and she collapses in a heap.

There’s as stinging in her eyes and she doesn’t know what it is.

Why did she ever think she could be a Hero?

How did she delude herself into thinking it was possible?

She starts inhaling and exhaling faster but she isn’t getting any air.

“Please, talk to me,” she hears.

She raises her head. Through the fog in her eyes, she sees a blurred shape in front of her, in bright colors she’d know anywhere.

“…Mi…dori…ya?” she manages.

“You’re spiraling,” Midoriya says gently. “I—I don’t know why you’re panicking, but, uh, please, Yagi, talk to me.”

She shakes her head. “Go away,” she whispers.

Her haggard breathing hitches when she feels something wrap around her. Something warm. The weight is familiar to her somehow.

“I’m sorry,” Midoriya says. “But you—you look like you need a hug right now. And if you’re not, um, not going to hug me, then I’ll have to—to come to you.”

She slowly raises her hands to Midoriya’s back.

“Please go away,” she says so quietly she’s not sure if any sound comes out.

“You’re my friend, Yagi. I’m not leaving you like this.”

“I’ll hurt you.”

His neck is right there with his veins and arteries and pumping that delicious blood and it’s right there—

“No you won’t. I trust you.”

Himiko presses her face down into his shoulder and shakes her head. “I already hurt you.”

Midoriya squeezes her. “What are you talking about?”

“Blood—” Himiko chokes. “I—you—I—your blood.”

“You drank my blood?”

Himiko nods, refusing to lift her head.

“I didn’t even notice,” Midoriya says. “Is that why my arm itches? Is your saliva anesthetic? Probable, would help with acquiring blood—oh, sorry Yagi.”

Himiko’s entire body shudders.

“I hurt you,” she says. “I—I didn’t want to, but I couldn’t help myself! I just needed to be you! I needed your blood and I couldn’t stop myself and I’ll do it again and—and—”

“Shh… shh…” Midoriya murmurs. “It’s alright Yagi. It’s alright. I’m fine, see?” Yagi shakes her head. “Yagi, look at me. Please.”

She hesitates. But she has to. She hurt him. She owes him this.

Slowly, Himiko raises her head. She sniffles, tears still blurring most of her vision.

Midoriya is beaming at her.

“Wha…”

“Yagi,” he says. “I’m fine.” He raises his arm and points to where she bit him. “See? I didn’t even notice until you pointed it out. Look!”

She does. There are faint red tracks stained across his skin, thin and short, coming from the pinpricks she left.

“I hurt you,” she says.

Midoriya shakes his head.

“I think—I think your saliva has an anesthetic effect, so I didn’t even feel it. It didn’t hurt at all. I think there was some discomfort, since I woke up, but there wasn’t any pain. And look! No bleeding! Maybe there’s a clotting effect as well?”

Himiko opens and closes her mouth. Why isn’t he afraid? Why isn’t he disgusted? Why isn’t he freaking out? Why is he being so nice?

He still hasn’t let go of her.

She clenches her hands, balling up the fabric of his pajamas in her fists.

Why, why, why?

“I don’t… I don’t understand,” she says.

“Neither do I,” says Midoriya. “You said you needed to be me. Your Quirk—” she tenses “—it’s some kind of shapeshifting, right? You ingest someone’s blood and then you can make yourself look like them.”

She nods.

“I—I love blood.” There, she said it. Now he’ll get it. “I love blood. I love it so much. It’s so cute and it tastes so good and when people are covered in blood—” she moans. “I love it so much! And I… I wanted to be you. Needed to be you. So I took your blood. I bit your arm and I sucked up your blood and you taste so good!”

“Huh,” Midoriya says. “Must’ve been your cupcakes.”

“Eh?”

Midoriya shrugs, and shifts so she can see him smiling softly. “I’m trying to figure out what about my blood would taste good, and that’s all I can think of.”

“Why?”

It’s the only thing she can think to say.

She doesn’t understand.

“What do you mean?” Izuku asks.

“Why don’t you hate me!?”

“Because you’re asking me that.”

Himiko blinks, then blinks again.

What?

She shakes her head. She doesn’t understand.

“You keep asking me that,” Midoriya says. “And telling me that you hurt me, and talking about how you like blood. It’s like you want me to hate you.”

“No!”

“No. No you don’t. But you expect it. That’s what this is, isn’t it.” Midoriya’s face softens, and he hugs her tight again. “You don’t understand why someone would know about your Quirk and still like you. I’ll bet Mr. Yagi knows, and he adopted you! He loves you! You’re my friend Yagi! You’re kind, and you care, and here you are crying because you’re afraid of hurting me! How could I hate you?”

“Because… because… because I’m a freak!”

“So am I!”

Himiko goes very, very still.

Midoriya’s breathing is faster, and she can feel the tension in his muscles.

“So am I, Yagi,” he says. “I don’t drink blood, but I’m not normal either. Yagi, the truth is—the truth is that I don’t have a Quirk. I’m Quirkless.”

“Quirk…less?”

Himiko’s heard of that. Her parents said it a lot. How much they’d prefer it if they’d had a Quirkless daughter. She looked it up once, to see if she could do that, to be Normal.

Someone without a Quirk. Someone born without any kind of power.

Himiko couldn’t be that.

“You don’t… have a Quirk?”

She feels Midoriya nodding. “And that makes me weird. They say only 20% of the population is Quirkless, but that’s mostly the older generation. There’s only a few million Quirkless kids my age in Japan.”

“A few million?”

“Like, three out of the fifteen million kids. Across all of Japan. And three is being generous.”

“Oh.”

That’s true enough, she supposes. She knows there was a Quirkless girl at her Junior High, but only one. Himiko thinks she graduated a year before Himiko, but she’s not sure.

But still.

“That—my Quirk is bad,” Himiko says. “It makes me hurt people.”

“I told you, You didn’t hurt me at—”

“Saito.”

Midoriya stops.

“Saito? Is that a name?”

“He—he went to my Junior High. He got in a fight and I… I saw the blood… Midoriya, I hospitalized him because I wanted to drink him so bad!”

“Stop that,” Midoriya says.

“What?”

“You’re doing it again. Trying to make me hate you. Stop.”

“But I—”

“Stop.” Midoriya pulls away, and looks her right in the eyes. “If you were half the monster you claim to be, you wouldn’t have gone for my arm. You wouldn’t sit here trying to convince me that you’re terrible. Yagi, you drinking my blood doesn’t make you a bad person. Just ask for permission next time, okay?”

Himiko’s mind crashes to a halt.

“Next time?”

Midoriya finally pulls away leaving her skin longing for warmth.

“Well, yeah,” he says. “I’m guessing you have some kind of blood source already, since you mentioned that some of your cupcakes were only for you, but if you’re that worried about it, I mean…” He scratches his cheek, “I don’t want to be anemic on a workout day, but I don’t mind letting you… um, take off the top? If that makes sense?”

Not at all.

Himiko opens and closes her mouth several times.

“Why?” she settles on at last. “Aren’t you—what if—what if I hurt you like I hurt Saito?” She shrinks in on herself further, trying to make herself as small as she feels. “I’ve… I’ve already drank from you once; I could do it again!”

“Why did you do it?” Midoriya says without judgement, only curiosity. “You, um, you said you wanted to be me, and you couldn’t help yourself. Is that what happened with Saito?”
“…because I liked him,” she says. “I liked him, and I wanted to have his blood, and I was thirsty, and I needed to hurt him to get it… so I did. I…” her voice shakes, and Midoriya pulls her in again. “…I took a knife, and I took a straw… and when I was done… I ran, and I ran…”

“Thirsty…?” Midoriya whispers. “Okay. I think I can guess from there. And that’s why you wanted my blood? Because you—because you like me?”

Himiko’s face heats up, but she nods. “You’re my friend,” she says, because she doesn’t have a crush on him. She remembers that feeling from Saito. That all-consuming need. This isn’t that.

“But you didn’t cut me,” he says, “You used your fangs. What was different?”

Himiko… stops.

What was the difference? True, she doesn’t feel the same way about Midoriya that she does Saito, but she still wanted his blood too much to ignore. So why did she limit herself? How did she restrain herself?

When she remains silent for a minute, Midoriya says, “I think I have a hypothesis.”

“Huh?”

“I think… I think it was because you have blood already. Like your, um, your cupcakes? So I think you weren’t, um, thirsty, so you didn’t need as much blood, so you weren’t so desperate to get it, so you, uh, you didn’t…”

“Didn’t go for a knife,” she finishes for him.

Midoriya rubs his arm idly. “I, uh, I’d still have, um, have preferred if you asked me first, but in the future, as long as it’s a rest day, I don’t mind you having a little of my blood.”

He said that.

He just said that.

Even after hearing about her, after hearing about Saito, he still said that she could have his blood.

Himiko sniffles, eyes wet again. Midoriya really is the greatest friend she could ask for.

They stay like that for several minutes, sharing each other’s space in a warm embrace, before Midoriya loosens himself.

“Come on,” he says. “It’s after midnight, and we’ve got an early morning for training today.”

Himiko groans, and Midoriya snickers, helping her to her feet.

“Easy for you to say,” she pouts. “You live so much closer to Takoba!”

“Well, at least this time, I’ll be sharing your pain,” he says. “Bed, Yagi.”

“Himiko.”

“Huh?” Midoriya stops, turning his head to look at her.

“Himiko. I said when we met that you could call me that. Well now I’m telling you. Call me Himiko.”

“O-oh. Okay, um, Himiko.” In the moonlight, she can barely see how red his face is. “Then you can, um, you can call me Izuku.”

“Sure thing, Izuku.”

“Go—go to bed, Himiko.”

She laughs.

When Himiko wakes up to her alarm several hours later, her first though is that she’s surprised she managed to fall asleep. Her conversation with Midoriya—with Izuku was pretty heavy. She guesses it wore her out.

Her second thought is the realization that she slept really well. Her sleeps in Might Tower have always been restful, but last night definitely took the cake. And considering how late she stayed up, that’s saying something.

Her third thought is remembering that she has to get ready so she can eat breakfast and head on over to Takoba.

Oh.

Himiko flings the covers off of herself and jumps out of bed, taking a moment to fix her sheets and turn off her alarm before she jogs down the stairs.

“Izuku!” she says, ignoring how much she likes using his first name, and instead focusing on shaking her friend awake. “Izuku!”

He groans, but opens his eyes. “Yagi—Himiko…? What—” His eyes go wide. “The beach!”

“The beach!” she agrees.

He rolls off the sofa and pushes against the floor, scrambling away to the bathroom. Himiko herself rushes back up the stairs to her wardrobe, grateful to Mrs. Fujimori for having the foresight to tell her to pull out clothes ahead of time. A fresh set of training clothes are out and waiting for her.

She changes as quickly as possible, managing to finish tying her shoelaces right as Izuku hops back into the room, tying his own shoes as he goes.

They’re just in time for Dad to knock on her door. Himiko opens it for him.

“Ah, Himiko, Young Midoriya!” he says. “I’m glad to see you’re both ready to go! Or, erm… Young Midoriya, your shirt is backwards.”

Oh, so it is.

Izuku looks down, groans in annoyance, and pulls his arms out of his sleeves so he can turn it around.

Now that they’re all presentable, they swing down to the café for a quick breakfast. (Though Himiko’s noticed that for her, a quick breakfast is now several times larger than what she used to consider to be a normal one.) And then they’re off for the beach.

Normally, Himiko would nap on the train, but now that she’s awake, she too wound up from last night.

Izuku wants her to call him Izuku.

He’s letting her take his blood sometimes!

He… he doesn’t think she’s a monster.

Like Dad said.

She’s been trying to believe it, she’s been trying so hard. But she’s always felt it beneath her skin. That she would go for someone again like she did Saito. And she did.

But Izuku said that he didn’t care.

So maybe… maybe Dad was right. Maybe she really isn’t a monster.

The train eventually arrives in Mustafu, and the three of them make their way to Takoba.

“Alright you two,” Dad says. “Time for another day’s hard work! Let’s hop to it!”

It is, as always, brutal.

Izuku pulls a set of filing cabinets along towards the truck, leaving heavy tracks in the sand as he fights for every centimeter of progress. Himiko walks by as she hauls a set of large tires. The smell from the sun rotted rubber is horrible.

The worst stuff isn’t just heavy, but bulky. Unwieldy.

Too wide to hold comfortably as they carry it.

And Takoba is covered in the wildest garbage possible.

“Who...on Earth…” she huffs, “…threw out… a steel girder?”

“A lunatic!” Izuku says, holding up the back of it while she carries the front.

Her muscles ache in ways she doesn’t think they ever have before, which is impressive considering how frequently that happens to her during training. You’d think she would run out of new ways to exert herself, and yet.

“Personally, I’m more confused by how many stepladders there are,” Mr. Yagi says, walking along beside them.

“And what’s with some of the electronics?” Izuku says. “Can’t you recycle TVs for cash? Why just toss it out?”

Himiko groans. “Don’t remind me! I’m still not ready to think about us moving that truck!”

The flatbed truck—which resembles Dad’s an awful lot—is something they managed to find buried under a pile of trash. She doesn’t know much about cars, but either it’s been here a long time, or someone managed to get a car here while it was completely rusted over and had a single intact tire.

They will, of course, be clearing that off the beach as well for this training.

But Himiko can already feel the difference. Compared to a few weeks ago, some of this stuff already feels lighter, and she’s starting to see some muscle in her mirror.

The thought brings a smile to her lips.

She… she really is going to be a Hero, isn’t she?

The two of them reach the truck, and carefully position the girder on the back of the flatbed. Mr. Yagi stands ready to assist if they slip, but otherwise lets them do it themselves. Slowly, they slide it along and up, until it’s secure.

“Well done!” says Mr. Yagi. Himiko wipes off her hand on her pants, while Izuku swipes his together. “Look at all the progress you’re making! And you haven’t even thrown up yet today, Young Midoriya!”

Izuku groans.

“C’mon,” Himiko says. “There’s still… way too much left.”

“Nonsense!” Mr. Yagi says, wiping away a trickle of blood. “The two of you have made remarkable progress these past five weeks! At this rate, you’ll have finished the whole beach in time for the Entrance Exam!”

“Plus Ultra,” Izuku murmurs.

“That’s the spirit! Now then, I spotted some oil drums back that way!”

“Are you going to make us carry you this time?” says Himiko.

Mr. Yagi laughs, and she is not reassured.

Midoriya Izuku is in a world of trouble.

Not because his friend will be drinking his blood once a week, that’s fine. No, he’s more worried about the beach.

There isn’t going to be enough time.

At their current rate of progress, accounting for the rest days necessary for muscle recovery, there isn’t enough time. The entrance exam is coming up fast, and he needs to be able to excel if he’s going to stand a chance in hell at getting into UA Quirkless.

If he’s going to be ready, he needs more time.

He’ll have to find a way to implement more self-training. And it’ll have to be whole-body as well if he’s going to get anything meaningful out of the experience. Shaving off sleeping hours runs some serious risks when it comes to making himself too exhausted to work, or not giving himself time to recover.

Not to mention time for studying. The written exam is probably going to be just as brutal as the practical.

Izuku takes a deep breath. He’ll do this.

He has to do this.

Plus Ultra.

Time Remaining Until UA Entrance Exam: 279 Days

Chapter Text

Yagi Himiko hums a tune under her breath. Really, she doesn’t know what took her so long. She should’ve come here a long time ago.

The public gyms in Might Tower are… big. Which is of course true of basically everything in the tower, but the gym stands out to her for some reason.

There is a lot of exercise equipment. She barely recognizes any of it. And a lot of it looks complicated. They’ve got rows of treadmills, stations for bench pressing, a stand filled with dumbbells, punching bags, and so much more stretching out before her.

The center of the room has a kiosk handing out water bottles and some other drinks that Himiko can’t make out from all the way over here.

And the people here are super diverse!

There are a lot of people with weird mutations Quirks. Most of them are doing the kind of exercises Himiko pictured in her head when she first heard about the gyms. Other are using what she assumes to be specialized machines, like that guy with arms that remind her of octopus tentacles. The way Izuku talks about Heroes with mutations would suggest they need stuff like that.

But over there is a guy with horns! There’s someone lifting weights with two doggy tails, oh that’s so cute! Someone on the pull up bar has metal coils wrapped around his arms. Izuku would have a field day in a place like this!

Is that what it’s going to be like when the two of them get into UA? She hopes so.

But it’s not just the Quirks here that are diverse. There are a bunch of different body types too! Himiko doesn’t really pay attention to crowds very often, so she’s blown away by how different everyone is!

If… if she’s going to use her Quirk to be a Hero, then she’ll need to keep in mind how many kinds of people there are so she can blend into crowds better.

“You have a reservation?”

Himiko jumps. She hadn’t noticed herself wandering into the gym itself, and now she’s under the disinterested stare of the guy running the desk.

“Um,” she says.

“Gotta have a reservation to use the gym,” he says. “You can look around if you want, but to use the equipment…wait, Yagi—?"

His moment of recognition is interrupted by a cheerful, “I’ll take her!” Himiko feels someone loosely grab her arm, but doesn’t see anyone standing beside her. “I needed a spotter anyway!”

“Uh,” says Himiko.

The guy at the desk blinks slowly and shrugs. “Sure, whatever. But you don’t get to use any the equipment yourself, got it?” he points at Himiko, and she nods rapidly.

“Great! Thanks!” The tug on Himiko’s arm sends her of balance and she scrambles to keep up with… a floating tank top and cargo shorts? And a set of shoes with socks coming out of them?

That same voice giggles. “Sorry about kidnapping you, but you looked like you didn’t know what to do, and I could use a spotter. I’m Hagakure! Hagakure Toru! I didn’t drag you away from anything did I?”

“…Yagi Himiko,” she says absently. “No, I’ve uh, got the day to myself. Um, are you…?”

“Yup! As you can’t see, I’m invisible!” She laughs. “That’s my Quirk!”

Oh, huh, that’s pretty cute. Himiko wonders if that’s more effective than that thing she does where she hides her presence.

Hagakure drags her over to a strange square rack that holds a horizontal metal bar. Himiko stares at it blankly.

“Oh, is this your first time? You kinda look like you work out, so I assumed…”

“I do,” Himiko says, “But my workout routine is, uh, I haul stuff off of Takoba beach.”

“Oh wow, community service? That’s intense! You got a coach?”

Himiko nods. “The best.”

“Sweet! Safety’s super important with this stuff. Can you grab me two of the twenty-kilo weights?”

Himiko nods again and turns to the rack loaded with metal discs of various sizes. She hums under her breath as her eyes scan over the rows and rows. Her attention is grabbed by one of the discs moving on its own. It’s a twenty. She looks up in confusion at where she suspects Hagakure’s face is.

“I need four of these,” Hagakure explains, “But I figure it’s better for both of us to grab two each.”

“You’re going for eighty kilos?”

The shoulders on Hagakure’s tank top shrug.

“It’s actually a bit more than that, since the bar adds another twenty, so it’s one-hundred in total. I was going ninety for a while, but that’s not heavy enough for me anymore. Switched over to one-hundred last week.”

“That’s incredible, Hagakure!”

Hagakure giggles, “Thanks, Yagi! But this is all the basic stuff! I gotta be ready for anything!” She grabs the second twenty-kilo weight and Himiko picks up her own pair.

“Oh, are you training for something?” says Himiko.

“Yeah,” Hagakure secures the first weight onto the bar and gestures, so Himiko cautiously passes her another one. “Getting ready for the UA Entrance Exams.”

“Oh! Me too!”

“Really? What’re the odds! Maybe we’ll even be in the same class,” Hagakure says, and while Himiko can’t see her, she can practically hear her beaming. She returns her own fanged grin.

And with that she’s fully loaded up her bar with weights. Hagakure steps around and under it so that it’s just above her shoulders.

“You know how to spot, right?” says Hagakure.

“Um,” Himiko bites her lip.

“Okay, don’t worry! It’s really simple. If I start to struggle, I’ll let you know. And then you grab the bar underhand and help me stand up!”

“Like this?” Himiko grabs the bar from below.

“Yup! Try to grab it wide though so you don’t accidentally bump into my hands.”

Himiko nods before remembering that she’s standing behind Hagakure, so she says, “Alright!”

“Okay, I’m gonna pick up the bar and back up a few steps. Be ready to follow me!”

Himiko shifts back to give Hagakure her space. Watching the floating clothes straighten slightly and the bar start to float off of the rack is a strange experience but exciting all the same.

Is she making another new friend? Already?

“Here we go,” Hagakure says. “Six reps.”

Himiko keeps pace with her, but Hagakure barely wavers through any of her squats with the weights on her shoulders. She goes down carefully, then slowly raises herself back up. Once, twice with no trouble. One her third she starts to shake a little. By the fifth, she’s going down faster but still standing back up without needing Himiko’s help. But after her sixth squat, Hagakure steps back forward and slides the bar back onto the rack.

She lets out a large huff as she lets go of the weight.

“Whoo. That’s more like it,” she says. “Looks like I’m sticking with one-hundred kilo for the time being.”

“Whoa…” Himiko has never actually watched someone exercise before, but she has to admit she kind of likes it! Watching someone get all heated and passionate is always cute! She wonders to herself how much cuter it would be if she could see how Hagakure looks after that set, but she keeps it to herself.

“I know, right?” Hagakure says. “My Quirk may just be invisibility, but who needs a big flashy Quirk when you got guns like these?”

Himiko stares at Hagakure for several seconds. “Are… are you flexing right now?”

“You’ll never know,” Hagakure chuckles. “Now c’mon, I’m gonna grab a water before I move on to the next thing.”

“There’s more?” says Himiko with no small amount of awe.

“Yup! That’s one of my high-weight-low-rep exercises, but I’ve also got some low-weight-high-rep stuff, and some endurance stuff.”

Himiko only knows the meaning of about half the words in that sentence, but she’s still impressed.

“So,” Hagakure says, “What were you doing at the Might Tower gyms without a reservation? Just touring?”

“Uh, yeah,” says Himiko. “I’ve been meaning to check this place out for a while, but I only just got around to it. I actually live here, you know.”

“What, in the gym?”

“No, my dad works in the tower as a secretary, and there’s housing for staff on the upper floors. But I never actually came down to the gyms before. I wanted to see what they’re like.”

And so far Himiko has not been disappointed.

Not only is the gym surpassing everything that she imagined, she’s also made another cute friend!

“Cool!” Hagakure says as they arrive at the central kiosk. The woman at the bar hands her a water bottle and Hagakure takes a long swig. “I live here in Tokyo, actually, and I’m willing to make the commute to get my reps in at Might Tower. And I thought it was nice that I could come use the gyms, but you live here? That’s awesome!”

Himiko giggles. “Yeah it’s, uh, it’s been weird to get used to.”

“I’ll bet!” Hagakure takes another drink from her water. “Come on, I’ve still got more exercises to do!”

Himiko sets the dumbbell back on the rack, giggling softly to herself.

“Are you good over there?” she says over her shoulder. From where she’s lying on the floor, Hagakure groans. One of the straps on her shirt moves, being pinched by her shoulder.

“…I’m giving a thumbs up,” Hagakure says.

Himiko snorts and slides the other dumbbell back into place. “Should you be on the floor like that?”

“No…”

Hagakure drags herself up to a sitting position with the grace and elegance of an elephant tripping down an escalator. Himiko doesn’t bother to stifle her laughter.

“Yeah, yeah,” Hagakure says with a yawn. “Laugh it up.”

“What?” Himiko says innocently. “Usually when I see someone so tired, it’s Izuku, and I’m just as tired as he is.”

“Izuku?”

Himiko holds a hand out, and a few seconds later feels Hagakure’s iron grip. She pulls her to her feet.

“Yeah! Midoriya Izuku, he’s a friend of mine!” Himiko’s smile softens. “He wants to go to UA too, and he’s helping me with the whole beach thing.”

“Does he live here too? Maybe I’ve seen him.”

“Nah, he lives in Shizuoka. He only ever comes to the Tower if he’s visiting me.”

“Is that right?” Something about Hagakure’s tone of voice makes a jolt go down Himiko’s spine.

“Yup!” Himiko feels her blush deepening. “Sometimes we do sleepovers. He’s really nice!”

“Well, I wish you luck with him,” says Hagakure, lightly bumping a fist into Himiko’s shoulder. “But I’m all done for today.” Hagakure pauses. “Oh! Want a caramel? I bring some with me as a post-workout treat.”

“You have sweets?” Himiko says, eyes wide.

Hagakure laughs. “I’ll take that as a yes! You’ll have to give me a minute though, I have to shower and change and all that.”

Well Himiko’s not one to turn down food, especially not something sweet.

“Sure thing! I’ll go grab some cute drinks from the vending machine while I wait. Do you want anything?”

“Uh… yeah! I’ll take a ramune if they have any!”

“What flavor?”

“Uh… cherry, or watermelon if they don’t have it.”

“Alright!” Himiko gives a small wave as Hagakure jogs off to the showers. Presumably, they’re as larger-than-life as the rest of Might Tower. Himiko turns and walks off with a song in her step.

“Ramune, ramune, ram-un-e!” she sings to herself as she scans over the vending machine options. Some sodas of various brands, some cartons she doesn’t care about, some juice flavors—oh, she’ll have to try that one later! –and… ah, there it is!

Himiko puts in the change and hits the buttons. The cherry ramune drops down into the bin, followed shortly by a another ramune, this one pomegranate. She grabs them both with a giggle.

Hagakure is still in the showers when Himiko returns, so she finds a nearby bench ad waits. She swings her legs idly, fiddling with the marble seal. It finally pops up out of the neck of the bottle right as Hagakure reappears, now wearing an adorable pink shirt and a long skirt, with tight leggings underneath so Himiko can properly see how her legs move. And get a better idea of how fit she is.

Hagakure tosses Himiko a wrapped caramel square, and she scrambles a bit to catch it. Hagakure laughs, her own caramel square suddenly vanishing.

“I didn’t keep you waiting long, did I?” Hagakure says, dropping down onto the bench besides Himiko, limbs fanning out.

Himiko passes Hagakure her ramune. “Nope! I just got mine open!” She holds it up so Hagakure can see the loose marble.

“Nice!” Hagakure taps her bottle against Himiko’s with a clink.

Himiko smiles, showing her fangs, and takes a drink. She really should have this more often. Hagakure takes a big gulp of her own and lets out a contented sigh.

“Oh, before I forget,” Hagakure’s purse opens and some loose change flies out. “Here! I think this covers what I owe you?”

“Um,” says Himiko. She holds her hand out and lets the money drop into her palm because what else is she supposed to do? But she hadn’t really thought about being paid back. Dad generally gives her enough of an allowance that she can afford something as simple as a drink for a friend.

Do friends pay each other back? Is that a thing? She tries to remember if she ever saw Kei or Maekawa or Oshiro pay each other back when she was around them, being Normal.

(She had never asked for any drinks from them.)

(It wouldn’t have satisfied her thirst anyway.)

Hagakure laughs, bright and kind. “Do you not get paid back often?”

“Not really? I don’t really buy things for people.”

Hagakure shrugs, and it looks so different with the addition of sleeves and more fabric on her shoulders. They sit in comfortable silence for a minute or two, until Hagakure finishes her drink. She stands up with a wide stretch.

“It was nice meeting you, Yagi!” she says.

Himiko beams at her. “You too! Wanna trade numbers?”

“Sure!”

Hagakure reads out her number to Himiko, and she shoots a quick text to her to confirm.

Yagi: ( •̀ ω •́ )✧

She looks up at the whistle from Hagakure’s phone. Hagakure laughs.

“That’s not fair! Emoticons are my thing!”

“They were your thing,” Himiko says. “But you took too long in the shower so I stole them from you!”

“Gasp!” Hagakure says, the fabric over her chest balling up. “Betrayal! Betrayed by new friend! And I paid you back and everything! How could you!”

“Easily,” Himiko says, and sticks her tongue out for good measure. Both of them descend into giggling fits.

“See you around, Yagi!” Hagakure says, her short sleeve waving.

“Later!”

Himiko stays on the bench until Hagakure is out of sight.

Once she’s gone, Himiko yawns, stretching out her arms behind her. She didn’t even do Hagakure’s workout and she’s tired!

Ah well.

If she’s gonna be lounging around, she can take another shot at that boss fight she’s stuck on.

“Wow, really?” Izuku says as he picks up a radiator. “No shimmer or anything? Completely invisible?”

“Yup!” She hefts up the mangled pieces of scrap that was once some kind of appliance, probably.

“Even the eyes?”

Himiko nods, too breathless to give a verbal response. Instead she listens to Izuku as he talks about various Heroes who have had variations of light manipulating Quirks, and a lengthy side tangent about how making the eyes completely transparent should make it impossible to see.

Himiko would giggle to herself if she could. Hagakure is not at all going to be prepared for when Izuku meets her.

Himiko sets her whatever-it-is down on Dad’s truck while Izuku struggles with his radiator. The moment he finally lets go of it, he pants hard, bracing his arms on his legs. Himiko blinks at him and tilts her head.

“Izuku? You seem pretty tired.” And working up a sweat. More of a sweat than usual, too.

“I’m fine, Himiko,” he says, beaming at her.

Himiko considers herself pretty good at reading people. It was necessary around—around the Togas. It was a good way to measure reactions of how Normal she was being. And while she hasn’t had to be Normal in months, she’s never quite stopped watching the people around her.

Izuku’s smile doesn’t quite reach his eyes, but he’s looking directly at her. Izuku never looks directly at people. He’s either too flustered to try or too comfortable to bother.

Himiko is certain beyond a shadow of a doubt that he’s lying to her. Which isn’t very cute at all.

But she can put that out of her mind for the time being. She knows Izuku. She’s met his mom. Whatever it is, it’s not an immediate problem.

Though she is a bit surprised by how fast he’s tiring. He looks like Hagakure did halfway through her workout yesterday but the two of them only started an hour ago. He doesn’t usually get this tired for another few hours.

She instead says, “So what’s going on with you?”

Izuku’s smile softens into something much more real. “My birthday is almost a month away.”

Himiko’s eyes widen. A birthday! His birthday! “Awesome!”

And then she turns back to the beach, and the monumentous task ahead of them both. Himiko lets out a long sigh. At the sound, Dad looks up from where he’s been watching at the side of the truck.

“What’s the matter, Himiko?” he says.

“Nothing’s wrong,” she says, “But—”

“Ah, don’t tell me! Let me guess: you’re so excited that the two of you finally managed to excavate the truck so you can haul it up here that you can’t contain it!”

Himiko levels him a dead-eyed stare, and Dad laughs so hard he coughs up a little blood.

“Plus Ultra,” Izuku murmurs.

Apparently, they’re lucky that the car isn’t stuck in park, so there’s nothing stopping the two of them from pushing it from behind. Other than how much the thing weighs, how the tires are busted up and at odd angles, and the fact that they have to move it across sand.

It’s exhausting work as always, but Himiko can’t bring herself to mind. Not when she gets to spend so much time with Dad and Izuku!

Time Remaining Until UA Entrance Exams: 258 Days

Chapter Text

Yagi Himiko doesn’t even notice that her tongue is sticking out slightly, she’s so focused in her work. She’s on a deadline, and meeting that in between her training and the time she spends with her friends—friends, plural! Something she didn’t think she’d have only months ago! –she’s going to be cutting it close.

Himiko gently tugs the needle up, feeling the fabric pull together.

She smiles.

“What do you think, Mr. Frog?” she says to the plush frog in a dapper hat sitting on her desk. Mr. Frog is a bit misshapen and doesn’t sit quite right, but she loves him anyway. “I agree! She’s coming along great!”

Himiko has really good taste in horror movies, as it turns out.

Midoriya Izuku is not at all surprised by this, having personally seen some of her collection back at her place.

This time, she’s staying at his apartment. Mom’s cooking dinner for them

(He’s still not over the fact that she does in fact have an entire studio flat for a bedroom.)

“It’s a remake,” she says at the start. “The original was really bad. It came out back before the Dawn of Quirks. After watching this version, I watched the original online.” Her face becomes slightly more strained. “Don’t.”

“Oh, one of those old B-movies?”

“I guess,” Himiko shrugs. “It didn’t have much of a budget, I think, but the kills were…” Himiko fights down a snicker with limited success. “The monster tickled a man to death!”

“You’re kidding.”

“Am not!” she says. “I’m still not sure what he was supposed to have been doing to the guy, but it looks like he tickled him! And there wasn’t even any cute blood!”

“Oh, wow, that is early for horror.”

Himiko laughs. “This version is so much better. They replaced the rubber suit with some crazy puppetry to make the practical effects work!”

“Not CGI?” Izuku says. He’s not judging. Practical effects work! But CGI is way more common, so he’s a bit surprised about it.

“Oh! Oh! The original monster design was way too spindly to fit the actor, so they made something bigger but less cute! So the new guys wanted to use the original design! And because of the scene—ooh I can’t spoil it! But they wanted the lighting to be perfect and were worried about being able to CG it well enough to hold up!”

When the film starts, Izuku is mildly but pleasantly surprised to see that the characters are all Quirkless. The movie takes place in what he guesses is the same time period the original was set, but he’s still disappointed by how many films forget when exactly Quirks first emerged. It’s not that hard to pretend not to notice that some of the actors have an occasional minor mutation.

It starts off as a cultural drama over the presence of international aid to treat a local virus, and if Izuku didn’t know what movie he was watching he wouldn’t have seen the sudden genre shift coming.

“Oh, that’s what you meant,” Izuku says, when one of the trees in the background of the shot suddenly starts moving while no one is looking.

Himiko giggles. “Oh you spotted it already? Boo!”

“Already? So it’s going to keep that up?”

She doesn’t answer, so Izuku lets himself sink into the couch a bit.

The monster stays in the background for most of the film. Izuku eventually starts recognizing it even in scenes where it doesn’t do anything. Those scenes are always so much creepier. Especially as the cast starts getting picked off one by one, occasionally being killed because they were unlucky enough to be too close to the monster right as someone looks away.

The fact that the movie deliberately never calls attention to it is what really gets to Izuku.

He shivers as the credits roll. “That was good, Himiko!”

“Thanks!” she says, leaning against him. She smiles up at him, fangs displayed proudly. “Aren’t you glad you agreed to it?”

“Okay, you were right.”

She giggles. “Glad to hear you admit it!” She hops up off the sofa. Izuku points up with the remote and ejects the disc from the player for her. She packs the movie away again in her duffel bag as Izuku turns off the TV.

“You know,” she says. “You got to see my room, but I haven’t seen yours yet.”

“Oh, um, it’s right there,” he points, “The one with the nameplate.”

Himiko smiles and Izuku feels the back of his neck burn as she pads off.

“Oh wow!”

Oh no.

Izuku forgot to put all his merch away.

Izuku forgot to put all his merch away!

All of his All Might posters, his figurines, his face-shaped mugs, the curtains oh God the sheets.

She is going to think he is such a loser. Why did he tell her where his room is?

“I—I—” he says, stepping into his room. Himiko turns, eyes wide.

“I didn’t know you liked Dad so much,” she says. Izuku lets out a low whine.

“I’m so sorry!” he says. “Seeing—seeing him like this must be so weird for you!”

“Yeah,” she says slowly. “It’s… I got to know him as Mr. Yagi, y’know? So being reminded how everyone else sees him… it’s always kind of a shock. But you’ve seen my room, and I think I’ve got you beat!” She beams at him.

Izuku scratches the back of his neck and returns a shaky smile of his own. “Yeah, I think you do.”

“Ooh, what’s that?” she points to his desk.

“Oh this?” Izuku picks it up and shows it to her. “It’s a grip weight.”

“…A weight…?” Himiko’s eyes flick down to a set of dumbbells sitting in the corner. “Izuku… are you… are you going off Dad’s schedule?”

“Um.” he looks away. “I… maybe?”

“Izuku you dummy!”

Himiko is suddenly in front of him, grabbing him by the shoulders. “Is this why you’ve been so tired in training?! I watched him make those schedules! They’re tailored to us specifically so that we wouldn’t overwork ourselves!”

“Himiko—”

“He—he said—Izuku, you’re gonna hurt yourself!”

Izuku clenches his fists at his side.

“I… I need to be stronger,” he says softly. “I need to work so much harder than everyone else. That’s what it means to be Quirkless. I can’t be as good as everyone else. I have to be better.”

UA only lets in the best and brightest to their prestigious Hero Course. If Izuku intends to be one of those people, then he can’t only be good. He has to be one of the best. Even that might not be good enough. So he’ll go above and beyond, further and further. Plus Ultra.

“This isn’t the way!” Himiko buries her face in his shirt. “He said so! He said so. That—that you can’t just put more work in and expect more results. If you go past your limit, you only end up hurting yourself, and then you’ll have to spend time healing, and… I don’t want to see you hurt, Izuku.”

Izuku sucks air in through his teeth. “Himiko…”

“This is a rest day. You’re supposed to rest. Have you been resting at all?”

“Yes!” Izuku says, then pauses and backs down. The tension bleeds out of his body. “But maybe… not as much as I should be…?”

“Izuku.”

“The… the entrance exams are only months away… and I don’t want to just pass,” Izuku says quietly. “I—I can’t settle. I can’t. I want to be a Hero who can help everyone.”

Himiko pushes herself off of him and says, “How are you going to do that if you have to spend all your time healing?”

“I…” Izuku trails off, unable to muster any words. Himiko stares up at him, her golden eyes piercing deep into him, and he looks away. “There’s no other way. Being Quirkless. I—I have to be strong enough to stand alongside everyone else. And they’ll all be so far ahead of me. I don’t have a choice. If I’m going to be a Hero, be a Hero that can help everyone, I have to give everything I can. That’s… that’s what being a Hero is—”

Himiko lightly chops down on his head.

Izuku blinks once, twice. He raises his head to look at Himiko. She looks just as surprised as he does, but her expression quickly shifts to something else. She lowers her head.

“…you idiot,” she says. “That’s—that’s not what being a Hero is at all…” Himiko sniffles. “Being a Hero is giving a hand to someone you’ve just met because you think they need it. Being a Hero is making sure they have somewhere safe to stay. That they can eat all they want without worrying. That they don’t have to lie to survive. That I—that they’re happy.” She rubs her arm against her eyes, sniffling again. “Dad didn’t save me because he’s strong, but because that’s who he is.”

Oh.

Slowly, Izuku reaches up and pulls Himiko into a hug.

She sniffles. “Dummy. You’re—you’re supposed to get into UA with me. You—you aren’t giving it your all, you’re giving too much. How are you gonna pass if you can’t even lift the stuff at Takoba? How are you going to train if you’re too tired to stand?”

A shiver creeps down Izuku’s spine.

“I’ll stick to the schedule,” he whispers, since he’s right next to her ear. She nods against his shoulder. Gingerly, Izuku rubs his hand against her back. At the touch, Himiko seems to melt.

When was the last time someone other than his mother was so concerned for him? Izuku doesn’t remember. Kacchan never was, he knows that for sure. Even back when they were kids, Kacchan wasn’t the type to act like this. So maybe Himiko is the first.

Izuku doesn’t know what to call the emotion roiling around in his blood, but he thinks he likes it.

“I’m sorry, Himiko,” Izuku says. “I didn’t mean to make you worry.”

“…Thank you.”

After a moment, she pulls away from him and takes another slow look around the room. Her smile is soft and warm, unlike the faint tearstains on her face.

“It’s… it’s nice to be reminded,” she says, barely a whisper, “that Dad has saved so many people. That in his life he’s been able to make people happier. That there was never any other way it could have gone. In the alley, I mean. He would always have helped me.”

She slides out of Izuku’s arms and he finds his skin longing for her warmth. He slips his hands into his pockets.

“He’s an inspiration,” says Izuku. “Not just to me, I mean. So many Heroes have talked about how they want to live up to All Might’s example. I think Star and Stripe is the most blatant about it though.”

Himiko laughs. “Her costume is basically the same as his!”

“You’re the one who got them mixed up once,” says Izuku, unable to fight back his own grin.

Himiko sticks her tongue out at him. “You’re just jealous that I have the special moon thingy poster!”

“It’s true but you don’t have to say it.” Izuku rolls his eyes fondly. “But it really is amazing what he’s been able to do in his career. Mom told me about it once, what it was like when she was a kid? Back when All Might was in America? Her parents were scared all the time. And then he came, and suddenly everything was better.”

“I kinda remember that from school. The Era of Darkness or something like that.”

“Yeah, it started with the Era of Chaos when Quirks first started appearing, and once that stabilized a bunch of Villains ran rampant everywhere. And then All Might dealt with them.”

“It’s almost like one of those cute old legends, y’know? A champion facing off against a horde of monsters and saving the day?”

She picks up a Silver Age All Might figurine and slowly turns it over in her hands.

“I guess that depends on the legend,” Izuku says. “A lot of the Greek ones tended to go badly.”

Himiko shoots him a look. “You know what I mean!”

“Yeah, yeah, less Heracles and more Momotaro. I know.”

Himiko holds the figure with both hands as she slowly sets it down with the caution of a surgeon. She chuckles nervously at Izuku, and he shakes his head with a smile. None of the merchandise he has sitting around is really valuable. He keeps those packaged away for safe keeping. That figurine is a solid plastic; her dropping it probably wouldn’t even chip the paint.

Her gaze stops on his desk again. “Oh, were you doing homework?”

“Huh?” Izuku looks over, but doesn’t see anything.

“You know, the notebook? I hope I didn’t interrupt.”

“Oh, oh!” He shakes his head. “No, that’s, um, not homework. That’s my…” his voice drops a few dozen decibels, “that’s my Hero Analysis notebook.”

“Your what?” Himiko picks it up. “Oh, Hero Analysis for the Future. Do you mind if I take a look?”

Only his mom has ever actually cared about the things he writes in those books. Kacchan calls them ‘stalker notes,’ but he’s never even opened one.

“Go ahead,” Izuku says, sitting down on the edge of his bed. Himiko sits down next to him. Huh. Maybe he should put the fan on. He’s getting a bit warm.

Though he has to admit to himself he’s flattered that she wants to read his notes. It’s nothing impressive, really. They’re just obvious observations about Heroes and their fighting styles.

Himiko hums a quiet tun to herself as she reads, her legs swinging.

“Your art’s really good,” she says.

“My—oh, you mean the Hero sketches.” Izuku rubs the back of his neck. “I, well, their costumes are so cool, and sometimes they have really clever Support Gear so I want to make a note about it, or about the aesthetics they chose because that can be a big part of their persona or branding.”

“Oh, wow!” she says. Izuku glances over to see Himiko has open the entry on Mount Lady. “I remember you telling me about her! She debuted a few months back, right?”

“Yeah,” he says, “It was the day I met All Might, actually.”

“Ooh! What a coincidence!” Himiko beams. Gingerly, she traces a finger over the lines in the notebook. “I wonder what it’s like to get so big… It must be a whole different perspective. Imagine how cute the little city would be!”

“She’s pretty young to have her own Agency,” Izuku says. “She was only a sidekick for a few years, and never got much attention back then. But she’s really good!”

“Really?”

Izuku scratches his cheek. “Well… she’s kinda bad about property damage… but her civilian care is considered on par with much more experienced Heroes! There are some estimates that she’ll be top 50 by the end of the year.”

“Wow, that soon?”

“Well her popularity is nothing to scoff at.”

Mount Lady is the last entry in that particular notebook, since it’s mostly notes he’s transferred from Notebook 13 after Kacchan blew it up and threw it in the fishpond. Now that he’s had the time, he’s fleshed out her entry some more. Himiko turns to the blank pages and closes the book.

“Izuku, you’re kinda scary,” she says with a giggle.

“Wh—scary?!”

“Yeah,” she says with a nod, still smiling. “I’d never think of half that stuff. And your sidebar about how Mount Lady’s Quirk can’t be size changing was all cute and gruesome!”

“She has to be following Square Cube Law somehow,” Izuku mutters automatically.

“Thanks for including the bit about what would happen if it was size changing,” Himiko says, nudging him with her shoulder.

Izuku doesn’t know how to respond to that, given how that section included a list of ways her body would fail horribly and kill her. He elects to simply nod.

“Do you have any art of Miruko?” she says with a laugh.

“Yeah, in Number 11,” Izuku says. He opens the drawer in his desk and retrieves that book. “Let’s see, she was page… 34, that’s right.” He flips open to her entry and hands the book to Himiko.

She coos. “Oh, you made her ears so fluffy! And look at the detail in those legs! She could crush a skull with those!”

“She can actually use her legs to decapitate someone,” Izuku says. “She showed it off on a dummy once at… oh what was it, I think it was her first interview after hitting the Top Ten?”

Himiko stares up at him with gleaming eyes. He doesn’t think he’s ever seen her so excited. “She can do what?”

In the end, Izuku has to pull up the interview online for Himiko to watch. She’s enraptured by the screen as Miruko tears the dummy’s head clean off and slams it into the ground. And then text a link to her so she can rewatch it on her own whenever she wants.

Himiko falls backwards on the bed, leaving her legs to flail wildly. “I can’t believe I didn’t know how cute Heroes can be!” She sighs.

Izuku pats her reassuring on the shoulder, as awkward as that is with her position. She appreciates his struggles to comfort her by snorting.

“Kids!” Mom’s call makes them both jump. “Dinner’s almost ready!”

Izuku isn’t surprised to find that Mom once again went overboard on dinner.

She must’ve remembered Himiko’s appetite, because she made way more than she usually makes, and that alone is enough for four people.

(Of course, the two of them live alone, so they always have quite a bit when they’re done.)

“I see that we’ve got a bit of a chicken theme today,” Izuku says, glancing between the karaage and the bowls of oyakodon.

Mom snorts. “Are you complaining?”

“I never said that.”

Himiko practically dives into her bowl of oyakodon. Izuku grins as he takes a bit of his own. As always, Mom sautéed the chicken perfectly, and the broth is wonderful.

And if the karaage tastes half as good as it looks, then Izuku will be in heaven.

Judging by how Himiko lights up as she bites into the coating, it might even be better.

Time Util UA Entrance Exams: 238 Days

Chapter Text

The difference is obvious, at least to Yagi Himiko. Izuku is no longer tiring out nearly as fast as he had been these past few weeks. She smiles to herself. It’s reassuring that Izuku took their conversation to heart and stopped overworking himself.

It’s not as cute watching him get all sweaty and exhausted if he’s hurting himself to do it.

Speaking of getting all sweaty and exhausted, it’s actually taking them longer now. The work hasn’t let up at all; Himiko’s already carried two whole armoires over to the truck today alone, not to mention a pool chair, a couch, and a small filing cabinet. But what usually had them lying face-down in the sand in an hour they now do a few times a day.

They must really be getting stronger.

Getting ready for the UA Entrance Exams.

There are only seven months left, after all. And given how the past three months have flown by, that’s hardly any time at all!

Izuku jogs past her with a floor lamp under one arm and a wooden chair in the other, panting. Himiko grins. She’s gotta pick up the pace!

She scoops up two oil drums under her arms and jogs after him.

Although fitting it onto the flatbed is a challenge in and of itself. They frequently have to rearrange the things they bring up from the beach to make enough space for everything. Though Himiko is pretty sure that’s also part of Dad’s training plan.

It takes a bit of effort on both of their parts, but they manage to finish off this load.

“Doesn’t look like anything else will fit,” Dad says. “You know what that means!”

“Water break!” Himiko and Izuku say in unison. Dad laughs and ruffles her hair.

“That’s right! I’ll be back in a flash.”

Whenever the two of them fill that flatbed of the truck, Dad drives it off to be legally disposed of or recycled. It usually takes him about half an hour to make the full round trip. And with nowhere to safely put any of the things that they bring off the beach, there’s no reason for either of them to go around hefting the junk.

Which means they both get to sit and rest and drink water!

As the truck rolls away, Himiko and Izuku both flop down on the overlook. Izuku leans back against the ‘No Dumping!’ sign with a sigh.

“Phew!” Himiko says, wiping sweat from her brow.

“I can’t believe we’ve done so much,” Izuku says, looking out over the beach. His blood’s really been pumping with how delightfully red his face is.

“I know,” she says. “This place was covered when we got here!”

But in the past three months, they’ve managed to clear out a not inconsiderable area. It’s actually starting to look like a real beach again, and not just a trash dump.

“Dad says it’s ‘cuz there’s two of us,” she says. “So we’re going twice as fast.” She giggles. “Can you imagine one of us doing all this alone?”

“We’d barely finish by the day of the exam!” Izuku laughs, and Himiko can’t help but join in.

“Do you think we’re halfway yet?”

Izuku hums. “I think… I think we’re a little over that.”

“Wow…”

They sit in a comfortable silence for a minute or so, listening to the distant waves splashing against the shore.

“I forgot…” Himiko says. “When’s our next swimming day?”

“It’s, uh, it’s this upcoming Saturday.”

Dad has them doing the occasional other exercises in addition to their clean up efforts. Usually to make sure that they’re properly using all their muscles, if their specific daily haul doesn’t end up getting them all. And he also has them go swimming in the ocean from time to time.

Himiko prefers her bath salts to the salt water.

At least her tub back at the penthouse has all of her products so she can really feel clean, cute, and refreshed after a hard days’ work.

“Your hair’s getting kind of long,” Izuku says, reaching up to touch some of his own wild curls.

Himiko giggles. “Yup! I’m letting it grow out for once! I wanna see what I’ll look like with long hair! Especially since I don’t have to straighten it anymore!”

“Huh?”

“My—the people who… who raised me, they wanted me to keep my hair straight, and never past my shoulders” Himiko says slowly. “But my hair’s naturally pretty wavy. So I’d always have loose strands sticking up if I tried to do anything with it. In the end, I kept it down and plain. But now I can do whatever I want with it! By the time we get to UA, I want it down to my waist!” She bounces some of her hair against her palm.

“It looks pretty,” Izuku says with a weird smile. He blushes and looks away. “I, um, I can’t wait to see it when you’re done.”

“Me either!”

They sit in comfortable silence refreshing themselves with their water. Eventually, both of them feel the ground rumbling and look up in time to hear Dad’s car pull into the lot.

Himiko and Izuku share a look and sigh fondly.

Back to work!

Himiko knocks on the door and steps back beside her dad. After a moment, Mrs. Midoriya opens the door to the apartment. She smiles warmly at Himiko, reminding her of Izuku.

“I’m glad you both could make it,” Mrs. Midoriya says, ushering them inside.

Himiko adjusts her grip on the small box she’s carrying. It’s not heavy at all—it’s pretty light, actually—but she doesn’t want to drop it. She sets it down on the coffee table in front of the TV, and Dad sets his own box down beside it.

“Izuku!” Mrs. Midoriya calls. “They’re here!”

“I’ll be right there!” Izuku says from his room. A few seconds later, the door opens, and Izuku stumbles out into the hall.

“Happy birthday!” Himiko says, stretching her arms wide.

Izuku immediately starts to tear up, and she freezes.

“Sorry,” Izuku says, wiping his palm against his face. “It’s—it’s—thank you!”

“Well you’re gonna hear it a lot!” Himiko declares. “So you better get used to it!”

Dad puts a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Let’s keep in mind that there are neighbors.”

“Yeah. Sorry.”

“You two are right on time,” Mrs. Midoriya says. “The katsudon is almost done. Izuku, would you set the table please?”

In minutes they’re all seated for another one of Mrs. Midoriya’s wonderful meals. Himiko really is lucky to have such delicious food available to her all the time. She remembers how much she loved it the last time Mrs. Midoriya made katsudon, and her mouth waters.

Himiko sets about devouring her food, Izuku not that far behind her. Dad and Mrs. Midoriya both chuckle, but she doesn’t mind. Which is something she’s still getting used to.

Once they’ve all eaten their fill, Mrs. Midoriya suggests giving Izuku his presents and Himiko nearly vibrates out of her chair.

“Okay Himiko,” Izuku says, barely containing his laughter, “You can go first.”

“Yes!” She darts off, swipes her gift off the coffee table, and is back in her seat within seconds. She slides it forward with a wide grin, showing off her fangs.

Izuku unwraps the paper packaging with far more care than Himiko expects. He opens the box itself and gasps.

“Where did you—did you make these?” he says.

“Yup! It took some practice, but I like working with my hands!”

Though Dad had to convince her to get a thimble instead of letting her accidentally poke herself and draw pretty blood. In the end he had to explain that it might rust the needle to convince her.

Izuku pulls out the first plush, a white rabbit doll dressed in a white and purple leotard like Miruko. He set the doll down on the table and retrieves the other two: a red bird plush in a brown coat and a whale plush in a white suit.

“One-of-a-kind Hero dolls!” Himiko says.

“I love them,” Izuku says seriously.

Dada laughs, having returned from retrieving his own gift. “I can’t say that mine looks as good as Himiko’s, but it’s got a bit of history to it.” He hands it to Izuku, who is much less careful with the wrapping paper this time.

Izuku stares down at the somewhat misshapen figure in his hand. “What’s this? It almost looks like your—like the All Might Anniversary figure from a few years back.”

“And it is!” Dad says. He rubs the back of his neck. “Or at least, it’s a failed prototype of that figure. Destined never to see the light of day. Unless…”

“Whoa…” Izuku murmurs.

Himiko blinks at it a few times. Mrs. Midoriya must see her confusion, because she leans over. “The mistakes mean that there are fewer of it. That makes it rare, and by extension, valuable.”

“Ohh…”

Mrs. Midoriya smiles and sets a set of five notebooks down on the table.

“I hope you don’t mind if I don’t wrap them,” she says.

“Not at all, Mom!” Izuku says. He picks on up and runs a thumb across the pages. “Thank you so much!”

“So Izuku,” Mrs. Midoriya says. “Do you feel fifteen yet?”

Izuku chuckles nervously, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Come on you two! Don’t give up on me yet! We’ve got another two hours to go! Now haul those lockers!”

“Yes, sir!” Himiko and Izuku gasp out, forcing themselves up from the beach sand.

Despite being invited to Izuku’s own birthday a little over three weeks before, it’s still surreal to Himiko to be holding a birthday party of her own.

They aren’t usually considered that big of a deal, so back before—back when she was Normal—it wasn’t that unusual. She only remembers a handful of occasions where anyone back then did anything special for theirs.

But now it’s different.

Now she’s a Yagi in a new home. A home. And she has friends who have seen her underneath her Normal. Izuku even lets her take his blood! And sometimes she entertains the idea of talking to Hagakure about it.

(She always backs down in the end.)

And all of those new changes in her life means she gets to live a little!

Izuku and Hagakure are both already in the lobby when she gets down there.

While Himiko is good at reading people, Hagakure is, for obvious reasons, tricky. That being said, it’s hard to mistake the stunned expressions that leaves her completely still, arms loose and dangling at her sides. Himiko giggles to herself, imagining what Hagakure’s gawking face could look like.

“—there is no visible trace of the eyes. Conclusion: subject cannot be invisible,” Izuku is saying as she approaches. Himiko’s gotten used to making sense of him when he gets like this. Back when they first met, he was barely audible to her. When he gets excited about a Quirk, he goes quiet and fast.

“Um,” says Hagakure. Himiko slings an arm around Izuku’s shoulder, startling him out of his thoughts.

“Izuku! Hagakure!”

“Hiya, Yagi!” Hagakure says.

“H-Himiko,” says Izuku, blushing. “Happy birthday…”

“Midoriya was talking about my Quirk!” Hagakure says as Himiko leads them towards the elevator. “I couldn’t really make it out after a bit, though…”

“Sorry…”

Himiko giggles. “He was saying that you can’t be invisible because of your eyes!”

“Yeah, my grandpa had vision problems when his Quirk came in,” Hagakure says. “We’re not really sure how mine works. Both Mom and Dad are invisible, so figuring out how I got their Quirks is kinda weird.”

“Oh, yeah, convergent relations were really popular around twenty or thirty years back,” Izuku says. “But then that starts getting into Quirk Marriages and it can be a whole mess, so people don’t really talk about it.”

“You really know your stuff, huh? Maybe you could help me study sometime?”

“Uh,” Izuku says as the elevator doors close behind them. “Oh, you should, ah, brace yourself.”

“I should wha—aaaah!!” Hagakure cuts herself off by screaming as the elevator rockets off to the upper floors. The doors slide open again, and she falls down on her hands and knees in the hallway, wheezing.

“You get used to it,” Himiko says.

“…allegedly,” Izuku adds, though he’s looking much better than his first trip on the elevator.

Mite’s Café provided the food for her today. No need to go down to the Café in person, so they can spend the whole time in her room! Is Hagakure any good at Super Hero Smash Unlimited? She’ll have to find out!

But those covered trays of food in her kitchen smell really tempting.

Especially that cake…

Himiko quickly licks her lips to stop herself from drooling.

“Oh…” Hagakure says, looking around the room. “Oh wow.” She sets her box down on the table by the sofas.

Izuku nods slowly, setting his box and tube down beside Hagakure’s. “Yeah it’s…”

“It’s a lot,” Himiko says. “It took me a while to get used to it. I have so much space!” She does a little twirl to the center of the room, gesturing widely. “So! What do you guys wanna do? Three player Smash?”

“Three—wait.” Hagakure gasps. “Do you have Smash Unlimited?”

“Yup!”

“Oh, you’re on!” Hagakure cheers, shirt sleeve pumping into the air. “Dibs on Edgeshot!”

“I’ve been meaning to try Snatch,” Izuku says with a shrug. Himiko grins wide, showing off her fangs, and leads them to the TV.

“You ready to get your butt whooped?” she says, picking Miruko.

“No but it’s going to happen anyway,” Izuku says. Himiko and Hagakure laugh.

Hagakure isn’t laughing when Himiko punts her off the stage.

Izuku is, though, and hearing him laugh makes her feel all warm and tingly.

After about an hour of having virtual Pro Heroes fling each other around, Hagakure leans back in her seat. “Ughhh, how are you so good at this?”

“I play a lot,” she says. Her stomach rumbles, and she smiles sheepishly. “I guess we should eat!”

As usual, Mite Tower outdoes themselves. The food is wonderful, and all three of them scarf it down. They’re just about to break into the cake when Dad shows up.

“I hope I haven’t missed much,” he says, adjusting a camera. “I got a bit busy with work.”

“Not at all!” Himiko says. “You’re in time for cake!”

“Perfect!”

It’s really good cake. Triple-layered chocolate with a cute raspberry frosting. Himiko lets out a soft hum as it hits her tongue.

“So,” Hagakure says. “Presents?”

Himiko scratches her cheek. “I got what I wanted already,” she says, glancing at Izuku. Something about spending time with Izuku makes her happy. It’s a lot like how spending time with Dad makes her happy, but it’s different too. She doesn’t know how to describe it. They make her feel warm differently. And Hagakure does too, but not the same way.

Having him—them—choose to spend today with her because it happens to be the day she was born is honestly one of the nicest things that anyone her age has done for her.

She wonders, sometimes, if she should have asked her old friends to hang out with her more. If that would have changed anything.

She doubts it could be any better than this.

Hagakure sighs fondly, giving her a light swat on the arm. “Sap.”

Izuku wordlessly hands her his box. She pulls of the wrapping to find a reused cardboard box, which she opens. Her eyes widen.

“Um,” Izuku says wringing his hands, “I know it’s not as good as yours, but I wanted to try it myself.”

Himiko stares down at the plush in her hands. It’s a bit lumpy in places—the stuffing isn’t that even—but the stitching is solid, if visible in places. It’s a black bat plush with big uneven yellow eyes. But what really strikes her is the red fabric around the middle, with silver rings at the bottom, and black detailing around the neck.

“Bat King,” Himiko whispers. “I love him.”

“And I, um, I also got you this.” Izuku slides her a cardboard tube she recognizes from her own poster purchases, and she quickly pops off the top and unfurls the contents.

Himiko gasps.

It’s a large illustration of Miruko in the middle of her Luna Tijeras—the move where she uses her legs to tear off someone’s head. It’s a print of an uncolored pencil drawing, but the detail is incredible.

And Himiko knows this linework.

Slowly, she looks up at Izuku.

“Did you draw this…?”

He nods, looking at the floor. “I remember how much you liked the sketch of her in my notebook, so…”

“Wow, really?” Hagakure says. “That’s really good, Midoriya!”

Himiko carefully sets down Bat King and the new Miruko poster and pulls Izuku into a hug.

“Thank you!” she says.

“Happy birthday,” Izuku says.

“And I got you this!” Hagakure says.

The gift she hands Himiko feels familiar. It’s the exact size of a physical Shift game box. Himiko grins and tears it open.

“Soul Raiser Revival,” she says. “Oh, isn’t this that remake?”

“Yup!” Hagakure says. “I remember hearing you talk about some of the classics occasionally, so I figured you’d like it! Happy birthday!”

“Thank you so much!”

“Ah, Young Midoriya, could you hold this please?” He hands his camera to Izuku, who blinks at it. “I couldn’t figure out how to wrap my gift, so I’ll need you to take pictures of her reaction for me.”

“Of course!” Izuku says, like he’s taking orders.

“Then I will be right back.”

Dad leaves down the hall, returning a few moments later, holding something behind his back. Himiko cocks her head. Dad smiles at her, his wide grin always seeming more genuine in his real form than when he’s All Might, and she can’t help but match him.

He swings and arm around, holding out something Himiko recognizes near-instantly. It’s a prop sword modeled after the sword from her Last Horizon games.

“Oh!” she says. “Oh wow!”

“Happy birthday, Himiko.”

She smiles at her friends, and for Dad, and for the pictures Izuku is taking. She’ll have to ask Dad to show her those sometime. She wonders how many of them are cute.

There are many things that scare Yagi Toshinori.

Part of being the Symbol of Peace means that he can’t ever let any of them show. No one is allowed to know that he’s afraid. He has to maintain that façade so that he can reassure people.

But when he sees the caller ID on his phone, all of his practice goes out the window, and he trembles.

Toshinori swallows and picks up the phone. “H—"

“Toshinori,” says Torino. “I have to admit, it’s good to hear from you. But I have to ask why you’ve been blowing up my phone with pictures of that girl.” He pauses. “And her friends, I guess.”

Toshinori feels the sweat start to drip down his face. “…Did—did I never tell you?”

“No. You’re bad about that.” Another pause. “So it’s her, then? She’s your successor?”

“I hope so,” Toshinori says, “But she hasn’t agreed yet.”

“So you’ve offered, then.”

“I have,” Toshinori nods. He tries his best to calm his heart rate.

“And who is she, exactly?”

“Um.” Toshinori is not a religious man, but he silently sends off a quick prayer. “As of April… she’s… my daughter.”

There’s silence on the phone for just long enough for Toshinori to worry that he’s lost connection when Torino yells, “What!?”

Time Remaining Until UA Entrance Exams: 203 Days

Chapter Text

The September sun beats down on them. Izuku’s shirt is practically fused to his body from sweat. The only reason he hasn’t gotten rid of it entirely is because Dad warned him not to, since it’s the only thing between his exposed skin and some of the garbage the two of them are hauling.

Yagi Himiko wipes another bucket’s worth of sweat from her forehead. Honestly they’re lucky it isn’t raining, given the time of year. Though Dad is always around during those showers to make sure they don’t get pneumonia or anything uncute like that.

Himiko shoves against the set of lockers, sending it forward a good fifteen centimeters. Getting traction underfoot in the sand is always such a hassle, but she and Izuku are really starting to show the fruits of their training!

She doubts she would have noticed it if it had only been herself, but she’s been able to keep a close eye on Izuku while they’ve worked here together, and his form has slowly started to fill out. He’s still as soft and cute as ever, but his limbs are starting to bulk up, and with his shirt to tight she can see his abs as well.

Oh, wow, it really is hot today.

But their growth is much easier to see when she looks back through Dad’s extensive photo galleries of her. They were both soft little twigs back in the spring! And while there’s definitely something to be said about soft twigs, she much prefers their current look. Different kinds of cute are still cute, but she’s a girl with preferences. And if Miruko and Star and Stripe aren’t the ideal she doesn’t know what is.

They’re both gonna be so adorable by the entrance exams!

Izuku huffs as he jogs past her down the beach, Dad sitting on his shoulders in his larger form, laughing with his deep booming laugh. Himiko can’t help but giggle at the sight. She knows firsthand that it doesn’t seem as funny when she’s the one carrying All Might, but from an outside perspective it’s too amusing for her not to laugh.

She knows she’ll be paying for it later. Maybe he’ll make her run that hike to the drop-off point holding a safe again. But she can’t help the big beaming smile on her face.

They’ve made good progress since they started back in April. Not just in how far the two of them have come since then, but with the beach itself. Himiko can hardly believe the difference the two of them have made in only six months. What had once been only a monumental pile of disgusting trash is now recognizably a beach!

No, more than that! Most of the beach is usable again!

Himiko and Izuku have hauled so much space clean of the trash, piling up what they couldn’t yet get off the beach as close as they could. Now most of the sand is pristine once again.

But Himiko won’t be satisfied until the view is back.

Not until every piece of scrap is gone. When you can see where the sky meets the sea forever in both directions.

As Himiko loads her set of lockers onto the flatbed of the truck, Izuku and Dad return. She moves aside so that Izuku can find a way to fit in his wooden armoire that he found somewhere.

“Hey, hey, hey…” says Dad. They both pause and turn to look at him. He’s standing at the end of the overlook, slowly scanning the beach. “Have you been cleaning outside of the area I told you to?”

Himiko and Izuku look at each other and grin. In unison, they say, “Plus Ultra!”

“We stuck to the schedule!” Himiko says quickly.

“But, uh,” Izuku rubs the back of his head. “We’ve been getting faster at moving stuff… so we ran out of stuff to move, so…”

“Seriously?” Dad says. He gestures out and around. “There’s not even a speck of dust left! You’ve piled everything we haven’t gotten to yet in one spot! Seriously!? You’ll have this entire beach cleaned within a week! And we’ve still got another five months to go!”

Himiko and Izuku shoot each other a glace and quickly descend into hysterics. There’s something so releasing about hearing that. About hearing how much progress they’ve made.

About hearing how close they are to this goal.

“I’ll have to rework the schedule,” Dad says slowly. “I guess we’ll be moving things to the Might Tower gyms.”

Izuku starts vibrating in place. Himiko snorts. Dad really means a lot to him, doesn’t he? She doesn’t think she’ll ever know quite how much. But she’s fine with that.

“You’re in the home stretch now,” Dad says, turning to them both. “Don’t let that get to your heads! Keep to the schedule and don’t burn yourselves out! We don’t have the time to wait to recover, so pace yourselves!”

“Okay!” Himiko cheers at the same time Izuku says, “Right!”

Dad’s estimate turns out to be spot on.

It’s a little over a week later, early in the morning, when the two of them set down the last piece of garbage on the overlook.

They’re both panting hard, sweat pouring off of them. There are barely any clouds in the sky, but the sun hasn’t yet peeked out over the horizon, so it’s not nearly as hot as it would be in the afternoon or evening. Even so, the work is as hard as it’s ever been, pushing both of them past their limits until their bodies scream in protest. Even though Himiko knows that’s her body getting stronger, the aching never feels pleasant.

But when that last thing hits the ground with a clunk, they both look up at each other and beam.

They did it.

They really did it!

Weeks—no, months of labor, finally finished!

It had looked impossible when Himiko first saw the beach, and Izuku clearly thought similarly early on, but together… the two of them together actually managed to do it!

The laugh that escapes Himiko’s throat isn’t humorous. It’s more of a rasped vocalization for an emotion she can’t put into words. But it’s followed by another. And Izuku joins in. And soon the two of them are laughing so hard they can’t stand, tears streaming down their grim-covered faces.

And then the rising sun hits the beach.

The light sparkles off the ocean like diamonds, the sand glittering like stars. The soft waves lick the shore, each wave like a quiet exhale. From where the trees come out of the rocks to the north end of the beach at the bottom of the ridge to the pier at the south, the pale white sand stretches free of any scrap.

The clear blue ocean reflects in her widening golden eyes as such she sucks in a quiet gasp.

It’s one of the most beautiful things that Himiko has ever seen.

Kei would love it.

“Oh… oh my goodness!” Dad calls out, puffing up into his larger form.

“Dad,” Himiko manages over her uneven breathes. “Dad, we did it!”

Dad reaches down and ruffles her hair, even though it’s matted with sweat and covered in sand and dirt. She leans into his touch with a quiet hum.

“You certainly did!” He pauses. “…did you call me ‘Dad?’”

Oh. She had done that, hadn’t she?

She’d gotten so used to calling him that to other people that she forgot. Hesitantly, she raises her head to meet his eyes, teeth sinking into her lower lip.

“Is… is that alright—?" Himiko doesn’t manage to finish her question before he wraps her in his arms.

“Of course that’s alright, Himiko,” he says.

She melts into him at first, nuzzling her cheek against his sleeve when she remembers the state of herself. She squirms. “Dad! I’m all gross! It’s on your coat!”

“It’ll come out in the wash!”

Izuku starts laughing all over again, a quiet warm laughter. He laughs louder, throwing his head back, face bright and beaming, and Himiko feels herself being pulled into his joy. Her giggling gives way to laughter of her own, and it doesn’t take Dad long to start bellowing with laughter either, hard enough that he loses his larger form.

The three of them stay like that, basking in the first rays of the morning sun and laughing their hearts out for a good while. Every time Himiko thinks she’s done, she meets Izuku’s eyes or sees Dad’s grin and loses herself all over again.

She really did it!

After everything, she did it. She cleaned the whole beach! She helped out everyone who wants to use this space in the future! And it feels so good! Like her heart is singing! In her own way, Himiko is a Hero. Her and Izuku both.

Even with a Quirk like hers.

Dad was really onto something, wasn’t he? When he called her heroic. She doesn’t think she’s ever felt so alive—so free.

Finally, the three of them wheeze through the last of their laughter and manage to pull themselves together. Himiko goes to wipe a tear from her eye but blinks it out instead. She doesn’t want this dirt anywhere near her face.

“Congratulations, you two,” Dad says. “You’ve taken the first step on your journeys towards becoming Heroes, and in the process, that potential deep within you has started to grow. Not only your physical abilities, but your resolve has become stronger than ever. If the two of you can do this…” Dad waves his arm all the way along the beach, “Then there is nothing you cannot accomplish. The path forward has become ever so slightly clearer!” He grins as wide as he can. “And I think that calls for a celebration!”

Himiko blinks. “Huh?”

“Cele…bration?” manages Izuku.

“Of course!” Dad says. “While it is true that Heroes should strive to help others because it is right and not because of an expectation of reward, that does not mean a reward is not earned! Your labor is nothing to scoff at, and to pretend that all you have to show for it is your newfound muscles would be cruel! So for today only, we’ll end your scheduled workout early and honor your success!”

“What kind of celebration?” Himiko says.

“What do you think?” Dad says, his wide smile turning sly. “We have a whole pristine beach right here! It would be a shame not to use it, would it not?”

Oh!

Himiko and Izuku have both actually swam in the ocean here as part of their training. But never for fun. Never without being able to see the mounds of garbage out of the corner of their eyes. Never for themselves.

They’ve ever been able to run up and down the beach with the sun-warmed sand burning at their feet. Or splash each other in the water. Or set up volleyball, or play with one of those cute inflatable beach balls.

When was the last time Himiko went to the beach at all? Except for training, she must’ve gone at least once with Kei, right? So much from before... before her graduation ceremony is so hazy from thirst. She’s certain that she did, but she can’t quite recall. Like smoke slipping through her grasp.

But looking at Izuku’s beaming face, Himiko finds that she doesn’t mind. She has all the time in the world to make new memories.

“Izuku, do you know how to make a sandcastle?” she asks. “I think that’d be cute!” Oh, and hunting for seashells! She’d love to have a few on her desk, a memento of what they did here. And maybe have ice cream with Izuku watching the sunset? Or play frisbee or something?

“Not a clue,” Izuku says cheerfully. “I think you pack the sand really tight with like a bucket or something?”

“Don’t start planning just yet,” Dad says with a raised eyebrow. “First, both of you are in desperate need of a bath. And I believe you still have school, Young Midoriya.”

Himiko lets out a weak giggle.

Both of them would have ended up going back home first anyway, not only to bathe but to pick up their supplies for the beach. After all, they’d both been dressed for their workout of hauling junk around, not playing in the ocean. Luckily, Dad bought her a cute swimsuit for her swimming days already. So Himiko has no problem lounging around her room for several hours and letting her weary body rest while Izuku is in class.

She makes her bath quick. After all, she’ll be having another one later once their beach day is over. She just needs to clear all of the grime off of her skin first. Though cleaning her hair is starting to get tricky as it gets longer.

But before too long, she’s back on Takoba beach, scrunching the soft sand between her toes. It’s so nice to be able to run around without tripping over rusted metal or rotted wood or plastic!

“Himiko!”

The call is a bit distant, but without any massive piles of junk to block the sound, it carries out over the beach. It’s Izuku, waving to her from the lookout. She jogs across the sand to him as he descends the stairs to the beach.

“Izuku! I can finally wear this without it getting gross!” Himiko says with a laugh. She twirls around, showing off her adorable crimson two-piece swimsuit. It’s not the first time Izuku’s seen it, but it is the first time she’s worn it for leisure.

Izuku laughs. “I know! It’s gonna be nice not having them coated in stains!” He gestures to his simple green swimming trunks. “Is your—oh, there he is!” Izuku looks past her to the umbrella and beach towel set up where Dad is lounging. He even brought a cooler with him, though she doesn’t know what’s in there. She knows he can’t handle alcohol in his condition. “Wait, is he doing paperwork?”

“Yup!” Himiko snickers. “He can’t escape it!”

At the very least he’s set up at the base of the overlook, so it’s not like he’s about to take an ocean wave to the face or anything.

Himiko bounces in place, leaving small craters in the sand where her feet land. “Come on! What d’you wanna do?”

In response, Izuku holds up a bucket and a small plastic shovel and grins.

Constructing their sand empire takes them an hour or so as they pack sand together into walls and towers. The first few structures aren’t packed well enough and crumple into nondescript piles, much to their disappointment. But once they get the hang of it, they’re off, laughing and hollering the whole time.

“Behold! The royal palace of Queen Himiko and King Izuku!” Himiko cheers with both hands in the air.

“Long may they reign!” Izuku adds. She wraps an arm around his shoulder.

“We really did it…” she says. Izuku nods.

“…Yeah.”

They stand there quietly for a moment, absorbing each other’s warmth.

“Oh, I found this when we were digging up sand for the castle,” Izuku says. He holds out his hand and carefully drops something into her palm.

She looks down at it, running a finger over the smooth surface. It’s a shell, round like a paper fan and covered in evenly spaced ridges. The tips are a bright orange with the base being almost the same color as the pale sand.

Himiko’s eyes widen and she grins. “Thank you! But you know what else?”

“Hm?”

Himiko turns and sprints to the water. “Last one in the ocean is a rotten egg!”

“Wh—Himiko! That’s not fair!” she hears Izuku sputter as he takes off after her.

Long after the sun goes down, and she and Izuku go their separate ways, Himiko sits in her room at Might Tower, thinking.

It’s something she does a lot, lately. Ever since she was adopted.

“What do you think, Mr. Frog?” she says slowly, stroking the felt frog with a single fingertip. She glances over at where the shell Izuku gave her sits on her desk, adding a small splash of color.

Dad is… different.

Unlike any adult she’s ever met, with the sole exception of Mrs. Midoriya.

He talks to her. He asks her how she’s doing. Asks her what she wants. What kind of food she wants. What she wants to do. What she wants to watch. To play.

And then he listens.

That’s the part that’s really left Himiko confused. He listens to what she says when he asks her things, and he remembers. And he—he says yes.

When Himiko said she wanted to let her hair grow out and keep it way, he told her that he thought it would look good! That she could go ahead and do it! All he did was remind her that longer hair was more effort to take care of.

When she got food from Mite’s Café that she didn’t like, he nodded and didn’t force her to eat it. He let her decorate her own room without paying attention to what she was getting to decorate it with. He trusted her to do it herself, and gave her the freedom to do so.

Which has led Himiko to her current problem.

Dad really doesn’t expect anything of her, except that she be herself. Or the best her that she can be, anyway. And when she says she wants to do something, he supports her but he’s never ordered her. Everything he’s said has been a suggestion or a question.

But she’s taken them all as orders anyway.

She’s been afraid of disappointing him like she did the Togas, and of what consequences there would be to her failures, but… but Dad isn’t like that at all. He’s never minded her blood, he’s even made sure to get her a steady supply. And he’s always made it clear that he doesn’t want her to do anything because it was his idea.

She nods at the plush frog. “You’re right.”

Himiko steps out into the hallway. Everything in the penthouse is so large, but despite the size, it’s never felt empty to her. The hallway has a bright floor and splashes of color on the walls, with the occasionally framed picture. This one room feels more like a home than the entire Toga manor. And the actual rooms it leads to are even more alive.

She pauses for only a moment before rapping her knuckles against the wooden door to Dad’s office. She knows that he won’t be going to bed for at least another two hours, no matter how much work he has to get through.

“Come in!” Dad says brightly.

Himiko closes her eyes and takes a breath to steady herself before she enters.

“Can I help you?” says Dad. Himiko shakes her head.

“I… I accept,” she says haltingly over each word, “I accept One For All.”

Time Until UA Entrance Exams: 149 Days

Chapter Text

This is it.

Yagi Himiko’s breath quakes in her chest as her arms tremble. She tightens her hands, her fingernails digging into her skin. It does nothing to stop the shaking.

She doesn’t know why she’s so anxious about this. She had decided to do this months ago, when he first asked. Why is it suddenly so hard? Why is it scaring her so much? Before, she was going to do this because—because it was what Dad has said, and she couldn’t bring herself to disagree with him. Why is wanting it for herself so much harder?

That’s what this is. She does want this.

Cleaning the beach with Izuku has been such a strange and wonderful experience. She has spent so much time helping people she will never meet, and it made her feel like she’s never felt before. It might even be better than blood.

This is what Dad meant when he told her about Heroics. When he said that she had a Heroic spirit. She knows that now, even if she forgets sometimes when the fears creep in. And it’s what she wants to do with her life. And she wants to live up to her dad’s example. She wants to be a Hero for everyone, like Izuku.

And maybe it’s selfish of her, but she wants to be the greatest Hero. She wants to be a Hero that everyone, everywhere can turn to. A Hero that proves people like the Togas wrong. A Hero that can make things better by existing.

She wants to be a Hero with One For All.

But even so.

Even so, the doubts still whisper at her from the corner of her vision. Demanding that she prove that she isn’t a monster. Demeaning her for her love of blood, and telling her that Dad—Izuku—Hagakure—can’t truly care about her because she is inherently something abnormal.

But those doubts are liars, and she knows it. Izuku saw her steal his blood and instead of hating her he comforted her. Because Dad could never lie—not about how much he cares for all people, even the Villains she’s watched him fight on TV. Because Hagakure is the one who sought her out, while her guard was down, while she was out of practice with Normal.

Himiko knows the truth now. She has for some time. She isn’t normal, and she’ll never be normal. And that’s fine. Because no one expects that from her. The people who care about her, who she cares about, all want her to be herself.

And who she is is a Hero. The kind of Hero who spends six months hauling trash off of a beach. The kind of Hero who can show people that there’s more to Quirks than how Normal they are. What is it Izuku says? A cool, dependable Hero who saves everyone with a smile. That will be her someday, too.

She forces down her racing heart and meets her dad’s gaze. The words don’t come easy, but the conviction does.

“I… I accept,” she says. “I accept One For All.”

Dad straightens in his chair, looking at her with something akin to wonder.

“You—you do? I mean,” he coughs into his fist. “Yes, of course! A decisive answer! And, after all that work you’ve put into cleaning the beach, you might be able to hold it.”

“Hold it?”

“Well…” Dad ribs the back of his neck and looks sheepish. “One For All is the combined might of eight people, cultivated since the Dawn of Quirks. If your body isn’t ready for that power… it might… blow your limbs off?”

Himiko blinks a few times. “Oh.”

“However,” Dad says, “I think… I think you could safely hold onto the Quirk now, as long as you don’t use it. It’s up to you. Do you want it now, to give it time to acclimate, or do you want to wait a few more months of training until it’s safer?”

Now that’s a bit more complicated. Himiko bites her lip, rolling it over in her mind.

“I think I want it now,” she says. “As long as I don’t use it, right? I want…” she rubs her toes against the floor. “I want it to be a part of me…”

Dad nods. “Very well. However, if at any moment you feel even the slightest discomfort from it, you are to give One For All back to me until you’re ready. Understood?”

“Of course!” says Himiko. As cute as it would be to see all that blood, she likes her limbs where they are, thank you very much.

“Then you’ll have plenty of time for it to acclimate to your body by the time of the UA Entrance Exams,” Dad says, standing to his full height. He suddenly pops into his larger form with a wide grin and plucks a hair off of his head. “There is a difference between being born with or given something, and earning it through hard work. Take this to heart, Himiko. This is something that you’ve earned through your own dedication.”

Himiko nods, feeling tears welling up in the corners of her eyes, but she ignores them.

He holds up the hair. “Now… eat this.”

“…eh?”

“One For All is passed through DNA,” Dad says. “The exact method doesn’t matter how—”

“Dad,” Himiko says, “I drink blood.”

Dad laughs heartily. “I know! I know! But this is how my master gave it to me, and I’ve always wanted to see my own successor’s reaction.” He lets out a low wheeze. “Was that what my face looked like? Incredible!”

“Dad…”

“Sorry, Himiko, but I’ve been waiting decades for that.” Dad clears his throat, deflating to his real self. “Anyway. Here.” He holds out his arm for her. “My circulatory system is just fine, but try to avoid taking too much. After all, I’m still missing a few organs. I can use all the blood I can get!”

Himiko nods, resolving to take even less than she takes from Izuku.

The delicious blood fills her mouth and she lets go. Dad cleans off his arm as Himiko swallows. It hadn’t tasted as good as Izuku’s, but it’s pretty good. Way better than her daily bags. And there’s almost a weight to it, as though the blood is settling inside her.

She doesn’t really know why people’s blood tastes so different to her. Another way her Quirk is delightfully weird.

Himiko pauses.

Her Quirk.

“I never told you what my Quirk is,” she says.

“Do you want to?” says Dad without hesitation. And there it is again. Him asking her to decide things for herself.

Himiko nods.

She takes a deep breath and calls on her Quirk. It stirs within her, and Himiko smiles as the familiar clay swirls around her and remolds over her. She’s never used her Quirk on an adult before, and she’s not expecting the sudden increase in height and her body and limbs lengthen. She blinks, adjusting to her new, taller perspective.

And then she smiles, putting her arms on her hips. In his voice, she says, “I am here! As somebody else!”

It occurs to her that she never checked to see whether she had imitated her dad or his more muscular form. She quickly glances down and, yep, that’s her dad alright. He compared his muscle form to flexing his muscles or something, right? She tightens as much of her body as she can, suddenly popping into his larger appearance. Punchline salvaged!

Dad stares at her for a good long while. Long enough that she’s about to ask him if something is wrong when he starts chuckling, giving way to more genuine laughter.

“Do I really sound like that?” Dad says.

Himiko literally deflates. “Only when you’re trying to be corny,” she says. She can already feel the transformation straining, so she lets it drop. It’s not like she had that much blood to work with. Her dad’s form melts off of her, dissolving on the ground.

“What a wonderful Quirk,” Dad says, reaching over and ruffling her hair. She beams. “A Quirk like that will be excellent for Heroics!”

Himiko sucks in air. “Really…?”

“Would I lie about something like that?” says Dad, winking. “I will admit that those uses are somewhat specific, but an Underground Hero with a quirk like that could perform reconnaissance or infiltration with ease! Any Hero planning a raid against a group of Villains would count themselves lucky to have you.”

“Underground Hero?” Himiko says, before a flash of a conversation with Izuku hits her. “Oh, those Heroes who don’t do much with publicity, the ambush-y ones!”

“That’s them!”

Himiko nods slowly, biting her lip. “What if… what if I wanted to be big and public like you?”

“I assume you mean if you hadn’t accepted One For All,” says Dad. “It would be harder. A Quirk like that is most useful in a situation where you’re against someone who doesn’t know what you’re capable of. And part of it would depend on the specifics of your transformation. It would be substantially more difficult, but yes, it would be possible.”

Himiko darts in and hugs him. Dad squawks in surprise but quickly returns the gesture.

“I told you, with or without One For All, you will make a splendid Hero.”

Himiko can’t remember her dreams that night, but she wakes up in the morning smiling.

She slowly sits up in bed, feeling… heavier. Her Quirk pulses within her body, almost like it’s calling to her. She recognizes the feeling at once, even though she’s never felt it before. Usually, it’s her Quirk that responds to her.

Not only that, but the sensation is warmer somehow. Usually the feeling of her Quirk is the physical sensation of her being covered up, blanketed in someone else’s identity, and the liberation that comes with it. Of not having to be herself for however long it takes until she runs out of blood.

This feeling is so much warmer.

And the weight in her chest is new. It sits comfortably in the center of her rib cage, and if she concentrates, she can feel it thrumming along to the beat of her heart. Himiko hums, feeling the thrums throughout her body as they ripple out from her chest and race through her nerves all the way out to the tips of her fingers and toes.

This sensation… could it be One For All?

Her smile—still present from when she woke—spreads across her face until her fangs are exposed.

The connection to Dad, the ultimate symbol of his faith in her and her future… she can feel it! It’s there inside her, always reminding her of who she is and who she’s become. The monster the Togas always feared would never have been able to feel this wonderful weight.

Himiko curls her body in, pulling herself as close as she can, as if the proximity will make it easier for the warmth of One For All to spread throughout her body. She wants so badly to call to it like she does her own Transform, to hear if it will sing for her, but she pauses. Her dad’s warnings are still there in her mind, reminding her of the great danger that comes with this beautiful weight inside her.

It would be hard to get things done if her arms and legs popped off.

Speaking of getting things done, she would actually like to eat breakfast at some point. It’s a rest day today, which gives her a bit more leeway to sleeping in, and she takes full advantage of it.

(At the very least she doesn’t have to worry too much about accidentally using One For All while she’s doing her training. She gets the feeling that Izuku isn’t quite as into blood as she is.)

She finally clamors out of bed somewhere around 10, and it takes her another twenty minutes to get herself dressed. This is admittedly mostly time spent brushing her hair, which has taken really well to growing out.

The scent of blood hits Himiko and she nearly drops her hairbrush. It’s her dad’s blood—even though she only tasted it for the first time last night, she doubts she’ll ever forget what that smells like.

Himiko practically slams the brush down on her desk and runs down the stairs from her bed to the door. She throws it open to find Dad blinking at her in surprise.

Dad reaches up and ruffles her hair a little, and Himiko fights back the urge to lean into his touch the way she always does.

“Are you alright?” she says instead.

Dad is taken aback for a moment, but recovers quickly. “Of course I am,” he says.

Himiko shakes her head. “You’re bleeding! I can smell your blood!”

“Then it’s news to me,” says Dad, checking himself over. “I don’t see any bleeding.”

“But the scent is so strong,” Himiko says.

Dad hesitates for a moment before his posture loosens and he turns back to her with a wide grin. “Himiko, do you think perhaps that One For All is affecting your other Quirk?”

It takes her a moment to realize what he’s asking. “Is that possible?”

“My master claimed that it made her Quirk much more powerful,” he says, cupping his chin, “So it stands to reason that it would do the same to yours. You’ve always had a nose for blood. Perhaps One For All has enhanced that.”

“Are you saying that I can smell people?” Himiko asks, eyes bright, bouncing on her feet. “Wait—why can’t I smell my blood?” She sniffs again and freezes, smiling sheepishly. Right there is the faint tang of blood coming from her. She must’ve been too distracted by the weight of One For All to notice. Still, it’s far less noticeable to her than Dad’s.

Dad laughs, and it’s such a comforting sound that she can’t help but join in.

“If I had to guess, it’s likely because you’re so accustomed to yourself that you didn’t even notice. But this does mean I have an important question to ask you,” says Dad. Himiko perks up at that. “Are you willing to come with me to Mite Café for breakfast? If One For All has truly enhanced your sense of smell to such a degree, you will likely be able to smell the blood of everyone there. Do you think you can handle that?”

Himiko bites her lip ad looks away. “I don’t know…” she says. “Maybe if I got a blood pack first?”

Dad hums to himself with a nod. “Yes, that seems wise. Let’s get you one, shall we?”

As always, his bright smiles are infectious, and Himiko finds herself beaming.

Himiko actually has her own stockpile of blood packs in the kitchen in her room—a concept that she’s finally starting to get used to—so that’s where they go. She actually staggers when she opens the door, the scent from the packs flooding her. She blinks away the haze from the sudden strong scent. Dad grabs one of the packs for her, closing the door again and helping her regain her bearings. The new heightened smell thing is going to take some getting used to.

Himiko opens the blood pack and the scent hits her like a train. With nothing stopping the scent, it’s so much more intense than anything she’s used to, and if there wasn’t still blood in her system from last night, she might’ve gone rabid on the plastic bag in her hand. As it is she barely keeps her hands for shaking too hard as she downs the artificial blood like a shot.

“Wow,” she says, nursing her forehead. “Ugh.”

Dad pats her on the back reassuringly. “Are you sure you want to go to Mite’s Café?”

“I’ll never get used to it if I stay here,” she says.

Dad’s face shines with pride and Himiko’s heart skips.

While they’re boarding the elevator, Dad says, “You know, that new ability of yours will be quite useful for rescue operations.”

“Oh!” Himiko’s eyes widen. “I hadn’t even though about that!”

But it’s true! The ability to track any wounded civilians would be invaluable in a crisis. Her Quirk, Himiko’s own Quirk, the Quirk that the Togas hated, can be used to save people. She can’t keep the grin off her face.

There are only a few people in Mite’s Café when they arrive, with the breakfast crowd having already come and gone. Even so, Himiko finds herself stumbling around the strong scent of blood from everyone in the room. She keeps checking and rechecking the other people for open wounds, because if their blood smells so strongly they have to be bleeding, right?

But in the end, she’s able to power through long enough for her food to arrive, and the wonderful aroma from the chefs drowns out the blood. Dad watches with some amusement as she dives right in.

“I think that’s more than you usually get,” he says. Himiko looks up from her third plate of French toast.

“Is it?” she says, barely remembering to swallow first. She’s always ordered a fair amount of food since she’s arrived at the Tower.

“Mm,” says Dad. “I’ve been keeping an eye on your intake, since it’s important to your training. And I must admit, I’m familiar with the urge.” Himiko tilts her head. “Back in my prime, I ate substantially more than I do now. A stockpile Quirk like ours means that you have to eat to feed it as well as yourself.”

“You mean I get to have more food?” Himiko says.

For some reason, Dad finds that question to be absolutely hysterical. “You do! You’ll need it! Especially once you get into UA!”

UA.

Himiko’s grin falters for a moment as the realization sets in.

She’s going to attend UA with Dad’s Quirk! She’s going to become such a strong, cute Hero! She can hardly wait!

Sasaki Mirai stared over his folded hands at the computer screen.

A news outlet local to Mustafu had picked up the story about the beach being cleaned.

That meant that she would be somewhere else.

Somewhere less… public.

He sits up in his chair. The time had come to correct a mistake.

Time Until UA Entrance Exams: 148 Days

Chapter Text

Yagi Himiko catches his scent before she hears him. It’s exactly like it tastes, the memory of the last time he let her take his blood still on her tongue.

“Oh, Himiko!”

She looks up at the sound of Izuku’s voice, her face splitting into a wide, fanged grin. Himiko hops up off the bench she was sitting on.

“Hey, Izuku!” she says. “Ready for another day of training?”

It’s only been about two weeks since they finished cleaning Takoba Beach. They’d been lucky to finish when they had. October’s in full swing and the fall chill has set in. It wouldn’t have been nearly as fun to celebrate their success at the beach if it was too cold to actually enjoy it.

With no more trash to move, Dad relocated their training to the private gyms at Might Tower, the ones right below the penthouse floors. They look exactly like the publicly accessible ones where she met Hagakure, but restricted to the Might Tower staff or their families, like her, and special guests, like Izuku.

“You bet!” Izuku says with a laugh. “I still can’t believe we’re here, you know?”

“I can,” Himiko says with a smile, bumping her shoulder against his. “I live here.”

“I know! It’s so cool!”

The two of them slip into their new routine, setting up the equipment for their next few hours of exercise.

“By the way, where’s Mr. Yagi?” Izuku asks.

Himiko opens her mouth to respond, when someone else interject. A cold, quiet voice. “Yes. Where is he?”

The barely concealed venom in the man’s voice sends daggers into Himiko’s lungs. She hadn’t heard him approach—hadn’t even smelled him.

She’s standing in the hallway, her back to the wall, as her father rants about her to her mother and her mother does nothing to stop him.

She’s in the gym, and Izuku puts a reassuring hand on her shoulder, keeping his eyes focused on something behind them.

Himiko raises her head to look at the newcomer. He has a square face, somehow even colder than his voice. He wears a simple white suit with a red tie covered in polka-dots, the juxtaposition only making him seem more scornful of her. Mocking.

Behind him, Mrs. Fujimori bristles at the man.

“Look here,” she says, keeping her voice even. “I told you that if you wanted to speak with Yagi you could leave a message with me. Where do you get off barging into the private gyms?”

“I,” he says, “Am a close friend of All Might. I have full access to Might Tower, as well you know, or the elevator would never have let me up here.”

“There is a difference between access and permission—”

The man ignores Mrs. Fujimori, striding forwards until he is towering over her and Izuku.

His eyes bore into her, and Himiko can’t help but flinch under the weight of the man’s quiet fury.

He’s good at hiding it, much better than the Togas ever were, but it’s still there roiling beneath his skin. Himiko can see it in the tension in his shoulders, the way he fidgets with his hands, and the ice of his face. She’s never met this man before, but he already seems to despise her.

“Where,” he says, “Is Yagi.”

Himiko can’t find her voice.

“He’ll be here soon,” says Izuku.

“That is not what you said a moment ago. You asked where he is yourself. Do not lie to me, boy.”

“I’m not,” Izuku says. “But he said he would be here, and I believe in him.”

The man takes a loud breath through his nose.

“And what do you know of Yagi, hm? How well can you really claim to know him? I doubt you know the first thing about the man.”

“I know more than you think, Sir Nighteye,” Izuku says.

Himiko barely hides her gasp. That name is a name she knows. It’s the name of a Pro Hero, the only Hero to ever work as All Might’s sidekick. Izuku mentioned him once, while talking about Dad’s history. He’d also gone on a tangent about how everyone seemed to forget about David Shield after Nighteye took the job. Despite their successes as a duo, Dad and Nighteye had stopped working together about five years ago.

Dad had gotten all funny when they were talking about him, and Himiko made a note to not bring him up again.

And now the man was here in Might Tower.

“Is that right,” Nighteye says. “Another mistake to correct, then.”

“I think you should leave,” Mrs. Fujimori says, eyes narrowing.

“I have more right to be here than they do.”

Mrs. Fujimori is taken aback, before she scowls. “You should leave.”

“I do not take orders from mere secretaries. I have worked with Yagi for years. I know what is best for him.”

Nighteye turns back to them, ignoring Mrs. Fujimori’s growing irritation.

“I do not acknowledge you,” he sneers at Himiko. “He made a mistake choosing you.”

“W-what?” Himiko gasps.

“Everything about you makes me sick,” Nighteye continues. “You are subpar in every way. You lack in any skills. You have no presence to you. And worst of all, you are a Villain. You could never become the symbol that Yagi— that he thinks you could be. I respect him greatly, but I cannot fathom why he chose to take you in, and worse, to entrust you with—with his legacy. Yagi frequently has such meaningless whims. To make you his daughter,” Nighteye spits, “was the most foolhardy of his many idiotic impulses. You do not deserve the name Yagi. You deserve to be in Tartarus.” Nighteye breathes sharply through his nose. “When I looked into his future, I did not see you as part of it. So I am at least fortunate that your stint here will be mercifully brief.”

Himiko

Shatters

Her legs shake and give out under her. The only reason she doesn’t completely collapse is Izuku catching her. Himiko’s eyes lose focus as the room fades away from around her.

Toga Himiko is four years old. It’s springtime, and she’s sitting on the deck, her legs swinging aimlessly. She’s wearing her favorite little outfit, with her skirt and booties, and her jacket with a little bow. In her hands is a bird. She found it in the yard when she came home from school. It must have crashed or something, because its feathers are stained.

She gives the bird a light chomp and drinks some of its blood, just in time for her parents to appear. And then the screaming starts. Demands to know what she’s doing. Yelling at her for smiling, telling her she looks like a freak.

It is the first time she is called a monster. It is the first time her parents lament that she cannot be normal, no matter what they try.

It is not the last.

“Shut the fuck up!!”

Yagi Himiko blinks, and the shadows are gone. One For All’s thrumming in her chest crescendos with her heartbeat. She’s staring blearily at the floor of the Might Tower gyms—or at least, she thinks she is. Her vision is so blurry she can’t be sure. She blinks again, wiping the tears away.

Izuku radiates fury in a way that Himiko has never seen before. Her heart skips a beat at the fire roaring behind his eyes. Fire that is not aimed at her, but for her. A fire that threatens to leave Nighteye nothing but ash.

A fire that makes her own cheeks warm and her heart beat faster.

“Excuse me—?"

“Fuck you!” Izuku swipes an arm to the side in dismissal. “Who the hell do you think you are!?” He pauses to take an audible breath, straightening out to full height as his tension shifts from aggression to defensive. “I always wondered why you and All Might split several years back, but you’ve made that pretty clear. For someone who claims to respect Mr. Yagi, you sure as hell don’t act like it. And if you didn’t see Himiko in Mr. Yagi’s future, then maybe your Quirk isn’t all that great in the first place.” Izuku’s eyes don’t so much as waver, boring into Nighteye’s own. “Now if you’ll excuse us, you’re interrupting our training time.”

“I—” Whatever Nighteye is about to say is cut off by Mrs. Fujimori.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” she snarls, suddenly in Nighteye’s face. “Storming in here like you own the place so you can rant at children? Are you insane?”

Izuku helps Himiko stand on her still shaking legs. His soft smile warms some of the ice that formed in her heart. She can still see the fire burning behind his eyes, but it’s been tempered down.

Within her chest, One For All sizzles and burns. Himiko winces slightly as she feels the comforting weight in her chest threatening to tear itself free and rocket around her body. She forces herself to even out her breathing, concentrating on keeping One For All from activating.

Abruptly, the surging fades, and One For All’s thrums calm back down to their normal pattern. It happens so fast it’s almost like the Quirk is sheepish.

She needs to have better control than that. Dad already warned her about the dangers of activating it, but she let her emotions get away from her.

Izuku guides her away from Nighteye and towards their equipment for the day. She says nothing, but leans into the warmth of his touch.

She’s never seen Izuku angry before.

Even when she took his blood and broke down in front of him, he was never anything but worried or reassuring. Izuku has rolled with every punch she’s seen him take from their training plan

And Himiko knows anger. Her father—Mr. Toga was always furious with her and her existence. An intense fury forged into a weapon by focusing it on her. She’s lived around anger her whole life. But Izuku’s anger was nothing like that at all. It was raw and burning and beautiful. Not a weapon but a shield, a cloak, a promise.

And he was angry on behalf of her…

Her cheeks warm up as she thinks about it. That may have been the cutest thing she’s ever seen.

Distantly, Himiko is aware that Mrs. Fujimori and Nighteye are still arguing— Mrs. Fujimori pulling no punches as she makes her displeasure with Nighteye known, and Nighteye’s voice remaining placid but frozen. What they’re saying, she has no idea. She focuses instead on the feeling of Izuku’s hand rubbing circles on her back, on the whispers in his voice. Meaningless sounds, but their tone is soft and comforting and she happily surrenders herself to them.

Slowly, the sounds pull her out of her mind and back into the gym. She blinks the shadows out of her head and takes a few deep breaths.

Izuku’s words reach her now, promising her that Nighteye is wrong, that Dad loves her, and that Izuku is her friend. She nods in response, her ears burning as she realizes that in their workout clothes, Izuku is pressing his skin against hers.

“Izuku,” she croaks. He trails off. “Thank you so much.”

“You’re my friend, Himiko,” Izuku says. “I’m not going to stand there and let a—a—let a bastard like that talk to you that way.”

Himiko smiles. “You didn’t even stutter.”

“Uh,” says Izuku, turning red himself. “Well…”

As Izuku struggles to think of a response, Himiko nuzzles her cheek closer to his face, held close to hers because of his whispering. She hums contently as Izuku continues to sputter.

Himiko really is lucky to have such a cute friend who cares about her so much.

Behind them, she hears the argument between Mrs. Fujimori and Nighteye. Neither side has given an inch as Mrs. Fujimori continues to rant.

“You’d better believe I’ll be telling All Might about this!”

A familiar scent slams into Himiko. She sucks in air as she turns to look over her shoulder.

“There’s no need for that.” The voice —one usually so warm now frigid, but now as tense as a rubber band about to snap—stops Izuku and Himiko in their tracks.

Dad steps through the door in his All Might form, familiar smile twisted in protective rage.

“As you can see, Fujimori, I am already here.”

“Leave us, Fujimori.”

Yagi Toshinori doesn’t need to tell her to revoke Mirai’s access to Might Tower. Fujimori has the sense and the proactivity to do it on her own. It’s one of the reasons he likes her so much.

She shoots Mirai one last glare and is gone.

Toshinori does not often feel Wrath.

Anger is an emotion like any other, for good or ill. It can be used as a motivation, a reason to push yourself further, and go beyond. Righteous Anger encourages the defense of the innocent and the defeat of those who would do harm.

But Wrath is different.

Wrath is an ocean before a storm.

Wrath is the first rocks of the avalanche.

Wrath is the sparks that sets the inferno.

Wrath damns men and empires to ruin, blinds the seers and strikes mad the wise.

Gran Torino taught him all this and more when he had to drag Toshinori away from Nana’s final battle. Had to drill it into his head to keep him from getting himself killed and losing One For All forever.

Wrath is what All For One exploited to shatter half his body.

But there is no other word for what Toshinori feels at this moment than Wrath.

“Mirai.”

Mirai flinches under the weight of his tone, but does not look away.

“She’s not the one,” he says. “She can’t replace you! She never will! And after what she did to that boy—”

“Mirai.”

Mirai wisely shuts up.

“That girl is my daughter,” Toshinori says. “That girl has been through hardships that I would never wish upon anyone, the kind of injustices I became the Symbol of Peace to prevent. And through it all, she’s only ever wanted what everyone wants: to live in peace. And still she strives to help others even at risk to herself.”

“I’ve found a candidate—a boy—if you’d just meet him—”

“Why?” Toshinori cuts him off.

“Because, if you meet him, you’ll understand that he should have One For—”

“I meant,” says Toshinori, and Mirai chokes on the last word, “Why did you do this? Why are you so determined to micromanage my life? Why do you believe I am incapable of making my own decisions?” Toshinori pauses. “Why did you ignore my wishes and use your Quirk on me after I explicitly told you not to?”

“Are you still upset about that? You needed to be convinced. You weren’t listening to reason—”

“My reason was sound, even if my body was not,” Toshinori says. “What you mean is that I was not listening to you.”

Mirai gapes like a fish.

“What are you doing here, Mirai? How did you even know that they were here?”

Toshinori already knows the answer to that, though he doesn’t want to admit it. While he’s been sending his photo collection of Himiko to his friends and confidants, he hasn’t said anything about their training. Not that they’re training together. Not where they’re training.

(Though the pictures at the beach aren’t exactly subtle.)

The only way that he could have known that they would be here is if he was staking out Might Tower for Young Midoriya to arrive.

But he doesn’t want that to be true. Doesn’t want his once-friend to have stooped so low. Even so, he knows in his heart of hearts that it would not be that far outside of Mirai’s usual behaviors.

Perhaps Mirai has realized exactly how much shit he is in, as he chooses not to answer Toshinori’s question. Unfortunately for him, that only makes Toshinori angrier. His lips pull back to expose more of his teeth. How dare Mirai come here to do this when he knows that he would not—could not approve of this.

“I remember how you became my sidekick. Do you? Do you remember badgering me for days on end until I caved despite my policy of not having sidekicks? I am grateful for the support you have given me throughout those years, and for your help with the planning of countless operations. But even after you met me, after all this time, you still don’t know me.”

“I know you better than anyone,” Mirai responds. “Better than you know yourself!”

“Is that so?” says Toshinori. “Tell me something. When you think of me, do you think of Yagi Toshinori, or do you think of All Might?”

“There is no difference,” says Sasaki.

“…get out.”

“What?”

“I told you to leave, Sasaki.” The other man gasps at the use of his family name. “Or I will remove you myself as efficiently as possible. And from this height, I doubt you will enjoy that very much.”

“This—this isn’t over,” Sasaki says, stumbling away, face a mixture between rage, confusion, and sorrow.

“Never speak to us again,” says Toshinori.

He turns his back on Sasaki to focus on more important matters.

Himiko needs some cheering up.

Torino Sorahiko sets down the phone, his face pulled back in disgust. He has to admit that he isn’t exactly surprised by Sasaki’s behavior, but he expected the bastard to have some tact.

From Toshinori’s report of the situation, their separation didn’t lead to Sasaki doing any amount of self-reflecting. Not that Sorahiko ever expected otherwise. He shakes his head. Sasaki was always too stuck on the future—on the what-ifs and the uncontrolled variables. They say that one can never be too careful, but those people had never met Sasaki.

Sorahiko runs a hand down his face and recollects himself.

“What a mess,” he murmurs, glancing at a picture of Nana. “Your boy never learns, does he?” He sighs. “Then again, neither do I. What a pair of fools we make.”

After all, in the wake of Sasaki’s stunt, Sorahiko had agreed to Toshinori’s request.

Time Remaining Until UA Entrance Exams: 136 Days

Chapter Text

“Whoa…”

Yagi Himiko giggles, wrapping her arm around Izuku’s shoulder to pull him in. “What? Never been here before?”

Izuku blushes bright red. “It’s—it’s been a while!” he says. Hagakure audibly forces down a snort with limited success, and he whirls at her, betrayed.

The Kiyashi Ward Shopping Mall is one of the biggest malls in the whole Tokyo prefecture, but even Himiko has to admit that knowing that is a lot different from seeing it. The actual complex is frankly massive, two long stretches of building, three stories tall and lined with shops crammed together to fit in as many as possible. The two buildings are connected on the second floor by a series of regularly placed bridges. On the ground floor, in between the bridges, benches serve as the perimeter to a tree and some shrubbery around it, adding some greenery to break up the monotony of the massive floorspace. The mall also curves as though it had once been a road before being converted into a buildings, but it’s far too wide for that to be the case.

Around the outside are a few more associated buildings, like the two multi-level garages, a few restaurants and a food court, that sort of thing. There’s even a large pond on the inside of the curve, right in front of the plaza.

Beyond the plaza is a large walkway, with information tents and a few independent shops, as well as pop-ups that switch out periodically.

The Kiyashi Ward Shopping Mall pretty consistently gets thousands of people visiting the mall at once, and it can more than handle the occupancy.

“Well are you gonna stand there gawking?” Hagakure says, spinning around on one heel and leaning in towards Izuku and Himiko. Thanks to the chill, she’s wearing her own coat, a very puffy hoodie with two balls of fluff hanging from the hood strings. Himiko’s pretty sure she could shove her arm halfway into the cloud-like fluff of the coat, and she kind of wants to let it consume her. “Or are we gonna go shopping!”

“Shopping!” Himiko cheers, pumping a fist in the air.

“Then c’mon, slowpokes!”

Himiko and Izuku share a glance before jogging after their friend. Hagakure is in high spirits it seems, and Himiko will freely admit that she’s grateful for that.

“So what should we do first? Clothes?” Hagakure says as the three of them reach the staircase to the main stretch of the mall. “It’s still pretty early; I don’t think I’ll need lunch for a while.”

“You know me, I can always eat!” Himiko says. “But yeah, I’ll be fine for now!”

“That’ll give them plenty of time to start cooking for you,” Izuku jokes. Himiko tries to glare at him, but it would have looked more like a pout even if she wasn’t smiling. She sticks her tongue at out him instead. Izuku just laughs.

“Bet you’ll want to look at games, too,” Hagakure says.

“Window shopping isn’t a crime!” says Himiko, ignoring how much Dad gave her to spend on this little excursion, and how she’s at least decently sure she’ll be getting something.

“But Midoriya’s fashion sense is.”

They both ignore Izuku’s indignant squawk at that. In truth, Himiko thinks it’s pretty cute that Izuku likes those dumb shirts that have descriptions written on them, but she has found herself wondering what he’d look like if he put some effort into it.

Though with the autumn chill having well and truly set in, she wouldn’t really be able to see it very well under his coat.

Himiko hasn’t been shopping like this in a while. Not since Mrs. Fujimori took her to get some more outfits, and that was before she’d moved into the penthouse properly. She’s bought things since then of course, but most of what she gets are either online or from the store in Might Tower itself.

But going to a big mall like this with two of her friends? That’s a brand new experience for her.

She’s been to the mall before, or course. Even been to this mall before with friends. But those friends didn’t know her. Not really. They only knew the mask she wore.

Sometimes she still misses the three of them—Kei, Maekawa, and Oshiro. But…

Himiko shakes her head. There’s no point to wondering about something like that.

They pass under the shadow of the first bridge connecting the two buildings. The crowd is out and bustling, like they always are at this mall. Fragments of conversations echo around the open floorspace, Himiko catching mere pieces of the everyday lives of hundreds.

That, and all the vendors calling out adverts.

“Extra tall? More than 300cm? We’ve got the clothes for you!”

“Make up and cosmetics for any and all kinds of skin!”

Unique apparel for anyone with a tail!”

The whole mall is practically bombarded with sound from the greeters in every shop. If it wasn’t so wide and open between the two buildings, Himiko thinks her head would spin from all the shouting.

Izuku chuckles quietly to himself. “I didn’t really think about how much work it must be to buy clothes that work with a Quirk…”

“Oh!” Himiko says, stopping mid-step. The others turn to look at her, and she points at a mannequin display in the window of a department store. “Look at how cute that is!”

The mannequin’s outfit is simple, but there is elegance in the simplicity. A black long-sleeved turtleneck with a pink-plaid skirt. And some genius paired that with a set of black leggings and some nice brown shoes to complete the ensemble.

“Oooh,” Hagakure says.

“It’s very ‘you,’” says Izuku with a smile. “Wanna check it out?”

Himiko nods, her eyes locked onto the mannequin.

She ends up finding several equally adorable outfits inside, like sweaters with sleeves just log enough to cover the hand up to the knuckles, and some stunning jewelry. All of it ends up in the cart.

“What did you find, Midoriya?” Himiko hears while browsing skirts. She leans around the display to see Izuku holding up some clothes of his own for Hagakure to see. A simple white-checkered polo shirt, with a black vest jacket and some nice pants. He smiles sheepishly.

“It’s been a while since I did anything fancy,” Izuku says.

Himiko beams. “We’ll have to fix that at some point! I wanna see you in a tux!”

Izuku actually laughs at that, placing his selection in his basket. “You’ll have to mention that to Mom sometime. She’s got pictures of everything Aunt Mitsuki ever got me to wear.”

“What’s this?” Hagakure says, and Himiko can’t see the grin but she can hear it. “Your aunt put you in a tux?”

“Among other things,” Izuku says. “She’s a fashion designer, and she’s really good at it. I occasionally modeled for her. Nothing official, just so she could see a piece in motion. Kacchan too.”

Himiko feels a twinge in her heart. “Kacchan?”

“My—um, my friend. Her son. We practically grew up together. His mom and mine are pretty close, so we met basically out of the crib. That’s why I call her ‘aunt.’”

“Wow…!” Hagakure pulls her arms in front of her, so that her fists would be at the base of her neck. “That’s so cool! Do you have any favorites?”

Izuku shrugs. “Nah, they were all the same to me, you know? I know Mom really likes some of them, but to me at the time they were just clothes I’d wear for a bit for Aunt Mitsuki to take some notes. Sometimes I got to keep them, though. That was always exciting.”

“I’ll bet you looked cute in everything,” says Himiko, and Izuku blushes. “Does she still do that?”

“Occasionally,” Izuku says. “But I think she mostly has Kacchan do it now. I—I’m not over very often anymore.”

There’s something there, a weight to Izuku that Himiko doesn’t like. She files that away for later.

“Well if we really wanted, I could always become Izuku and do some dress up,” Himiko says. It takes her a moment to process what she’s just said, but the words are already out of her mouth.

“Huh?” Hagakure says. “You can become people? What, like possession?”

“I, um,” Himiko’s throat goes bone dry. “I can turn into other people if I, uh…” She closes her eyes. There’s never been a better time to tell Hagakure about her Quirk. She’s sure that Hagakure won’t—won’t hate her. But the fear is still there. “If I drink their blood.”

“Oh cool,” Hagakure says. She holds up the two dresses in her hands, one purple and one pink. “Which of these do you guys like more?”

Izuku glances over, humming for a moment. “They’re both nice, but I think the pink is more your style, you know?”

“That’s what I was thinking!”

Himiko stands there quietly, mouth slightly open. She had faith that Hagakure wouldn’t turn against her like—like the Togas had, but to have no reaction at all?

Hagakure gasps. “Wait! If you can turn into people, and you turn into me, would you be invisible?”

Okay, so there was a reaction.

“Um,” Himiko says.

“I think that depends,” says Izuku. “I don’t know if Himiko can replicate Quirks, or…” Izuku trails off into one of his analytical muttering sessions, and Himiko smiles. She closes her eyes and lets the sound wash over her. “—transforms through outer coating of Quirk-produced substance, potentially only exterior form is altered. In that case, highly probably that mutation Quirks would carry over, regardless of subject’s ability to replicate Emitter or Transformation class Quirks. However, nature of Invisibility remains unknown, potentially inherited mutation of Emitter or Transformation Quirk, or side affect of that Quirk’s actual functionality.”

“Guess we’ll just have to test it,” Hagakure says with a shrug, interrupting Izuku’s musings. “Not here though, public Quirk use laws and all that.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me,” Himiko pouts. “Can’t even drink any of Izuku’s blood in public.”

“Did you want to?” says Hagakure, her tone containing no judgement, only curiosity.

Himiko’s blush deepens for a moment, and she looks away. “A bit. I gotta have some blood every day, and Izuku’s tastes good.”

“Still haven’t figured out why,” Izuku adds, looking over some other nice shirts.

“Ohh… that’s what the fangs are for!” Hagakure says, the neck of her fluffy hoodie bobbing like she’s nodding.

“Mhmm!” says Himiko, showing them off. “So what do you guys thinks about these?” She holds up a few skirts that have caught her eyes, in varying colors and levels of poofyness.

Izuku looks them over and bites his lip. One of Hagakure’s sleeves wraps around her chest so that the wrist is about right under where Himiko assumes her chin is.

“Those are all really good,” Hagakure says, and Izuku nods.

“Guess I’ll have to get them all then!”

It takes another hour before they finish looking at and buying new outfits. While Himiko had anticipated Hagakure selecting a wide assortment of adorable attires, Izuku going for nicer clothes is still a bit of a surprise to her, even after hearing about his aunt. But they eventually wander out of the store and back into the main area, each hefting several bags on their arms.

They get some odd looks from the other mall-goers, mostly looks of awe. Himiko giggles and holds the bags up higher, showing off how much she can lift.

“You two caught up quick,” Hagakure says. “Might have to start training harder or you’ll leave me behind!”

“No chance of that!” Himiko says. “Not that we’d know!”

She opens her mouth to say something else, but is interrupted by a grumbling from her stomach. She smiles sheepishly as Izuku and Hagakure shoot her a glance. There’s an unspoken but obvious agreement that it’s time for lunch.

The food court is located on the inside of the curve formed by the main structure, across from the pond and overlooking the plaza. Making their way over to it is no small feat, between the size of the mall and the crowd. Especially as the lunch rush is forming.

Izuku offers to hold down a table for them while Hagakure and Himiko go order, which they graciously accept. It’s a close thing, but the two of them manage to beat the lines.

Hagakure snickers beside her as she orders her own lunch, the poor cashier looking more and more alarmed as she continues. Luckily, they have trays here so it’s not hard at all for her to carry any of it.

“I take it the food’s good?” Izuku says, setting down his own tray a few minutes later. Himiko looks up from her third bowl of noodles and nods.

“Geez, Yagi,” Hagakure laughs. “I think I saw that guy’s life flash before his eyes!”

“I’m not surprised,” Izuku says, taking a bite of rice. “You got what, six—eight bowls of noodles? Three different sushi platters, and five onigiri.”

Himiko shrugs unapologetically.

“I’m kinda intimidated,” Hagakure says. “Where does it all go?”

Himiko opens her mouth to answer, but hesitates. “My Quirk,” she says. “It’s a stockpile, so I gotta eat more.”

Which is technically true. Dad had told her that having One For All means she needs more calories. And considering the extensive training program she and Izuku are doing, she’s not exactly in a place to skip out on food.

Izuku and Hagakure aren’t skimping out either—both have quite a bit of food apiece, though neither have nearly as much as her.

At the words ‘my Quirk,’ Izuku’s eyes practically sparkle, and the only reason he doesn’t start mumbling again is that he’s busy eating. Himiko smiles into her meal.

“Thanks…”

Izuku and Hagakure look up, blinking at her.

“For all this, I mean,” Himiko says. “I… I really needed today.”

Her friends soften, and Izuku puts a comforting hand on her arm that sends a jolt of electricity through her body.

“We’re your friends, Himiko. Of course we’re gonna be there for you,” he says.

“Still… thanks. I know this was kind of a last-minute thing.”

“Like you said,” Hagakure says, “You needed this. Besides, I wanted some new clothes anyway. I’m outgrowing some stuff.”

Himiko wipes at the corner of her eyes. It’s cute how much they care about her.

The rest of the meal passes in comfortable silence. When they’re done, they throw away the trash and deposit the trays at the basket where they’ll be collected later.

Hagakure pats her stomach. “That hit the spot. So! Anywhere else in the mall you guys wanna hit up?”

Himiko smiles bashfully, rubbing the toe of her shoes against the floor.

“Well we already knew that we were gonna hit up the games at some point,” says Izuku. “I’d kind of like to see what Hero Merch they’ve got here.”

“Of course you do, nerd,” says Hagakure good naturedly. “I think I’m good on everything.”

The game store isn’t exactly packed, but it’s been a slow year for releases anyway. Even that Last Horizon Origin didn’t make much of a splash, even with the franchise recognition. Though Himiko is still very hyped for Last Horizon Chronicles.

“Oh,” she says, “They’ve got Live Life Alive!”

“They have what?” Hagakure says.

“It’s an older RPG,” Himiko says, picking up the case for the game. “They remade it earlier this year!”

“Oh yeah, now I remember,” Izuku says. “Isn’t that the one that wasn’t released anywhere else?”

“Yup!”

“Huh,” Hagakure says, a second case floating off the shelf. “So why’s it called that?”

“Dunno!”

Himiko glances down at the bags and bags of clothes on her arms and grimaces. With how much Dad had given her for the trip, she had let herself go a little, and now it was coming back to haunt her. She only has enough money left for a single game, and she’s been itching for the newest Godslayer game after that recent blood-themed spin-off. It’s like the developers knew exactly what kind of cute game would appeal to her.

She puts Live Life Alive back with a long sigh, grabbing Godslayer 3 instead.

“Not gonna window shop?” says Hagakure as Himiko gets into line.

Himiko beams at her. “Of course I am! But I also know what I’m getting already.”

While she checks out, Izuku takes another look at Live Life Alive before wandering off again. Himiko finds him exactly where she expects to: the Licensed Hero Games aisle. He’s scanning over the shelves, filled with titles like Hawks Dogfighter, Airjet Shooting Gallery, Uwabami’s Runway, and so many All Might games.

“Where’s Hagakure?” she says.

“Playing the demo for Lunch Rush’s Cooking Kitchen,” Izuku says, pointing to a display.

“I’m baking a cake!” Hagakure calls back.

Himiko snorts. Of course she is. Though actually she wouldn’t mind a cooking game either, honestly. Maybe she could learn a few more recipies for back at the flat? As cute as her chocolate cake is and as much as Izuku loves Katsudon, she’d like to diversify a little.

“I never knew there were so many games,” Izuku says. “Or, well, I knew, but…”

“It’s different seeing a big store like this?”

“Mhmm.”

“Thinking about becoming a gamer?”

“Like you?” Izuku laughs. “No thanks. I think it’d be fun, but I don’t have the time. With training and studying and school and everything.”

“Boo. You have school.” Himiko sticks her tongue out at him.

“Not all of us can be a year ahead,” he shoots back, lightly bumping a fist into her shoulder and sending her into a fit of giggles.

They don’t spend much longer there before they move on to the other sights and sounds of the mall. Looking around at the fancy displays of upcoming fall and winter advertised events.

In the end, Hagakure has to physically drag Himiko and Izuku away from the Hero Merch shop.

Time Remaining Until UA Entrance Exams: 133 Days

Chapter Text

Yagi Himiko blinks at the old man lying face down on the gym floor.

His arms are out past his head, with his hands on the floor palms-down, reminding her almost of a cat, if it weren’t for the way his legs are together underneath his cape. Oh, he’s wearing something that looks like a Hero costume. A white jumpsuit with a yellow cape and round gloves. Maybe he’s a Hero? Himiko doesn’t remember Izuku telling her about any Pro Heroes his age who are still active though.

A string of sausage links curls out from underneath his chest, and the floor underneath him is stained by a splatter of red paste.

“Gyaagh!” Izuku cries, taking a step back. He shoots a panicked look at Himiko, but seems taken aback by her own confusion. Yeah, it’s a shame about the sausage, but it’s not that bad. It’s nothing worth screaming about.

“Are you alright?” she asks him.

“Wh—but…” Izuku’s eyes widen, and his posture relaxes. “Oh, I thought it was blood.”

Himiko can’t help but laugh. “It doesn’t look anything like blood!”

“I’m alive!” says the old man, popping his head up off the floor, revealing a large black mask on his face and startling both her and Izuku.

Izuku even shrieks again.

“Dangnabbit,” says the man. Himiko didn’t even know people actually said that. The man picks up a cane from beside him and uses it to stand up. “I was carrying all these sausage links when I tripped! Now I’ve got ketchup everywhere.”

“Wait,” Izuku says, lips pursed in thought. “I didn’t think food was allowed in the—”

The words aren’t even out of Izuku’s mouth before the man vanishes in a rush of wind, darting around from wall to wall before landing behind them.

“—gyms.” Izuku yelps again as they process the man’s speed.

They spin on the spot to see the old man’s confidant smirk before he darts between them, making Himiko blink from the breeze.

“What the—?” she says blocking the draft with her arm. Who is this guy?

“You hesitate too much! Even after your observations, you stood there gawking! If I was a Villain, you’d both be dead!” says the man, bouncing off of every surface, leaving nothing but a blurred trail in his wake. “I can see the two of you have been gaining muscle! But that’s not enough! Two inexperienced zygotes like you won’t cut it!”

“Where is he!?” says Himiko.

“Everywhere!” Izuku says, eyes scanning the room.

“Wrong!” the man says from behind them, barreling through Izuku and sending him staggering.

“Izuku!”

“I’m fine,” he says, nursing the back of his head, “but—”

Himiko doesn’t get to hear what he says next because something smashes into her stomach and sends her reeling back several steps.

“So this is what I’m dealing with,” the old man says, reappearing a few meters away. “And not a whole lotta time either. Only four months to get the two of you ready.”

Himiko rubs her chest where she was hit, eyeing the man warily. She doesn’t know who this guy is, or what he’s doing here.

“Four months…” Izuku says. “You mean you’re here to help us with the Entrance Exam?”

“That about sums it up,” the man says. “Call me Gran Torino. I was All Might’s teacher back in the day.”

In unison, Himiko and Izuku say, “You were?”

“Yeah. Right in the early years before he went to America.” Gran Torino leans his weight back onto his cane. His eyes scan over her and Izuku carefully, and Himiko resists the urge to shudder. Something about how he’s looking at her feels so personal. “From the looks of you, your physical training is going well. That’s good. You’re gonna need every damn advantage you can get. But those muscles aren’t going to mean jack if you don’t know how to use ‘em.” He grins sharply. “That’s where I come in.”

Himiko and Izuku send each other a nervous glance. This Gran Torino is good, she can admit that. His speed was incredible to see in person! She can completely understand how he’s a Pro Hero. But his attitude is… not that cute, something the soreness in her stomach makes sure she won’t forget anytime soon.

At that moment, the door to the gym opens, and Dad walks in, looking perplexed.

“Ah, Himiko, Young Midoriya,” he says. “You wouldn’t happened to have seen—”

Dad’s eyes land on Gran Torino, and he freezes. Himiko can’t even tell if he’s breathing—and that worries her. Dad only has the one lung.

“Gran—Gran Torino! Sir!” Dad says. “I was—I thought you would—the lobby—”

“I let myself in,” Gran says, waving dismissively. “Wanted to have something to eat before I introduced myself to these zygotes.”

“You didn’t…” Dad says. He flicks his gaze over to the splatter of red paste on the floor and groans.

“He’s done that before?” Izuku murmurs. Himiko simply shrugs.

Dad clears his throat and the two of them turn their attention back to him. “Himiko, Young Midoriya, this is Torino Sorahiko, or Gran Torino. He was my teacher some years ago.”

“Ha!” Gran barks out a laugh. “‘Some years ago,’ eh? Try forty. And what do I have to show for being your old teacher, huh? You didn’t even tell me you went and adopted your own little brat.”

“I thought I had,” Dad protests weakly.

“Well you didn’t! And we’ve only got a few months to get them ready for the exams!”

“And they’ve been making remarkable progress.”

“They’ve bulked up a little, that’s all. No experience to ‘em. They’re still hesitating. You know damn well that they need to be better than that for the expectations at UA.”

Dad cringes.

“And the only way to get that experience is by doing. So congrats, kids. I’m officially training you to be more than the disasters you are now. I’ll be changing up your schedule a bit to add some new material. In the meantime, those weights ain’t gonna lift themselves! Chop, chop!”

Himiko and Izuku blink at each other. Gran Torino scoffs and crouches down like he did before he attacked them earlier. Izuku lets out an “eep!” and quickly powerwalks to the equipment, Himiko close behind.

Other than Gran hovering nearby, it’s not all that different from their normal routine at the Might Tower gyms. He stays quiet for the most part, but occasional critiques their form as they use the various strength machines scattered throughout the gym.

Himiko keeps an eye on Gran whenever she can. She’s still not totally sure how she feels about him. He knows what he’s talking about and Dad seems to be vouching for him, but he’s eyeing here with the same wariness that she gives him and she has no idea why.

A few hours in, Gran suddenly pipes up.

“Break time, kids.”

Izuku helps Himiko reset the barbell and she melts down against the bench she’s lying on, gasping down air. Bench pressing is still so different to her from what the two of them did on the beach, and it’s the exercise she struggles with the most.

Slowly, Himiko sits up. Gran Torino stands there, staring impassively at her and Izuku.

“Midoriya, right? Get some water. I need to talk to her about something private. Shouldn’t take too long.”

Izuku nods, breathing heavily himself, and starts his way over to the water station.

“Listen up. There’s something you should know.”

Himiko calms her breathing, eyeing Gran expectantly. He sighs, his uptight posture falling apart. He slowly hunches over until he looks his age, like the weight of it all is pressing into his back. His cane seems to be the only thing keeping him from falling straight through Might Tower and sinking into the earth. His eyes are lost in distant memories, and from his expression, they aren’t happy ones.

Himiko swallows.

“Your old man… has he ever told you about his master? The one who gave him One For All?” Himiko sputters, staring at him in surprise. “Yeah, I know about One For All. I worked with your old man’s predecessor, and I’m the one who taught him how to use it. I probably know more about it than anyone else—possibly even Toshinori.”

Himiko takes a moment to process that fact before she answers his question. “No,” she says slowly. “He hasn’t told me about them.”

“Hm. She was… she was really something.” The way Gran talks makes Himiko wonder about how close the two of them were. “Her name was Nana. Shimura Nana.”

“Oh! Yeah, he’s…” Himiko trails off. “He’s mentioned her. A few times. He gets all…”

“Melancholy?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m not surprised. Toshinori wears his heart on his sleeve—when he doesn’t have that smile on, anyway. She was his master, and I don’t think I’ll ever quite be able to know how much they meant to each other. But I get the feeling the two of them saw each other as family. Which—which is why I think that this is a bad idea.”

Himiko’s blood freezes over.

Gran must pick up on her reaction, because he shakes his head and says, “It’s not you, kid. You’re fine. Trust me, you’re fine. It’s not you. It’s this whole… thing.” Gran takes a harsh breath and steadies himself on his cane. “You see, Nana… Nana had a husband, and a kid. And someone killed her husband to hurt her.” Himiko can’t stop herself from gasping. “Yeah. Real piece of—piece of work. He had a personal grudge with Nana, and there was no low he wouldn’t stoop to if it meant hurting her. Nana ended up… giving up the kid. Put him into foster care to keep him safe. But she couldn’t do the same to herself. Eventually that Villain caught up to her, too.”

Himiko swallows. “You think… you’re afraid of something like that happening here? To me?”

“Toshinori lost his family once and it damn near killed him. I think if it happened a second time… I don’t think he could survive that. And giving you One For All…” Gran sighs, meeting her shocked eyes. “All Might has his fair share of enemies, and not all of them are capital-V Villains if you get what I mean. And with that kind of power under your belt, you’ll have them too.”

“I thought everybody loved Dad,” she says, ignoring her previous encounter with his old sidekick, and how the man claimed to care about him.

“Sometimes,” Gran says, “Sometimes, people want to climb mountains for no other reason than because they’re there. All Might’s been the undisputed Number One Hero for forty years now. That makes him one hell of a mountain.”

That still doesn’t explain who these enemies of Dad’s are. Himiko furrows her brow. Enemies that aren’t Villains? What could Gran mean? Unless—

Her skins crawls as a flash of horror strikes her.

The Togas were arrested and charged, but not with Villainy. Everyone says that the things they did to her were awful, and now that she’s seen how Dad and Mrs. Midoriya treat her, she understands that. But their crimes weren’t considered Villainy.

Villains have to use their Quirks.

But how could any criminal stand against Dad without their Quirk?

“Wh-What do you mean?” says Himiko.

“Like I said, he’s the undisputed Number One. That means that we all know who the Number One Hero is every time those rankings come around. They do those rankings twice a year, so he’s gotten that Number One spot almost 80 times now. No one’s ever come close to taking that spot.”

“You mean, you mean other Heroes?”

Himiko knew it was too good to be true. Heroes… only interested in surpassing Dad? She should’ve known. Dad warned her, too. That there are Heroes who are only interested in fame and fortune. But still—she wanted to believe that all Heroes would give a hand to a child on the streets, who had finally stopped lying for the first time.

“Heroics is an ugly business, kid,” Gran continues. “The Commission wants to be up in everyone’s business, the politicians get pissy about how who gets to govern what, and the public can go from loving you to hating you in moments. Not to mention how damned cutthroat you have to be to make a profit off it.”

“That’s horrible…”

“That’s how it is,” Gran shrugs. “But for the record, you’re right. The problem is, the people in charge are the ones who get the most out of the system’s shittiest parts, so they’re in no hurry to fix it. Do you understand what I’m getting at? The moment anyone catches a whiff of who you are and your connection to Toshinori, you’ll be turned into a spectacle. Reduced to a show pony for everyone to admire. Or more likely, for everyone to scrutinize. You’ll be ripped to shreds by the public for failing to hit their arbitrary idea of you. People will try and use you as leverage against All Might. You won’t be able to sneeze without camera crews getting every second of it on film. And then there’s the Villains. They’ll crawl out of every wall, stalk your every move, and then the moment they can, they’ll kill you to get to him. That’s what it means to be the daughter of All Might.”

Himiko balls her hands into fists.

“I don’t care,” she says. “I’m not gonna let something happen to me or Dad. I’m going to help people.”

Gran blinks at her a few times. He huffs quietly, and smiles. “Alright then. Guess that means I have to whip you and your friend there into shape.”

It turns out that Gran Torino’s plan to get her and Izuku more experience is to add a weekly sparring session, as well as a handful of lessons once a day or so about proper stance, how to use their weight properly when they attack, how to feint, and other basics of fighting.

“In our society, nothing is impossible,” says Gran. “If you can imagine it, someone can do it. And that means being ready to understand what your enemy’s Quirk is, and more importantly, its limits. We’ll start with something simple. What’s my Quirk? You saw in action the other day.”

“Propulsion,” Izuku says instantly. He starts muttering to himself, and Himiko closes her eyes and tunes herself in to his thoughts. “Mechanism unclear. User prefers to launch themselves from surfaces but is clearly capable of altering direction in mid-air. Likely because of the difficulty of canceling inertia. User wears a cape around their body while in motion to obscure their movements from their opponent making it difficult to know when they intend to change direction or how they plan to attack. Costume includes oversized boots and gloves, implying some level of utility built into the design that necessitated the additional space.”

“Care to share your thoughts so I can hear them?” Gran says, looking more amused than anything.

Izuku flushes. “Um… your Quirk lets you produce some kind of force out of your hands and/or feet that you use as propellant.”

“Just the feet, and you’re correct,” Gran says, smile turning sharp. “I turn the air I breath into enough air to launch me anywhere I wanna go. So!” he claps his hands together. “How would you fight me?”

“Target the legs,” says Himiko at the same time Izuku says, “Poison gas.”

“Interesting…” Gran says, stroking his chin. “You’re both right, by the way, just like you’re both wrong.” He points at Himiko. “How are you gonna land a hit on my legs when they’re how I get around?” He shifts to point at Izuku instead. “What if I just rush through your gas from outside? And how are you gonna make sure you don’t breath it in?”

“If I, um, if I was going to use—use poison gas, I’d, uh, I would have a respirator and, and an antidote on me,” says Izuku.

“Smart. But only if you knew you were fighting me ahead of time. But I find it interesting that your first response was to turn my own Quirk against me.”

Izuku shrinks on himself. “I’m sorry—”

“Don’t be! I’m damn impressed, kid. Not many adults would jump straight to tactics like that, and let me tell you, if you have the chance to prep for a fight, you take it. Every damn time, you take it.” Gran snorts. “But kid? You’ve got a good eye for assassination.”

“Eh!? I don’t want to kill anyone!” Izuku waves his hands in front of his face defensively.

“Then find a new job.”

Izuku and Himiko stiffen under Gran’s cold voice.

“Two years. Do you know what that is? That’s how long the average Pro Hero has between getting their license and the first time they take a life on the job. Admittedly, some of the lucky ones only cause permanent damage instead.”

“…what…?” Izuku manages.

“There’s no such thing as a clean fight on the streets, kid. It only takes one wrong move from either party for a hit to land much, much worse than anyone expected. And that’s before you get to a situation where the Hero has to chose between the lives of themselves and civilians or the Villain.” Gran shrugs. “That’s the reality you’re signing up for. It sucks, and you absolutely shouldn’t be looking forward to it, but it is what it is.”

“…what about Dad?” Himiko says faintly.

Gran nods slowly. “He’s one of the lucky ones. All Might is so overwhelmingly powerful that most chumps give up the second he turns up. And I taught him enough control that he can pull his punches for the ones that don’t. But yeah, he’s had some Villains who didn’t survive.”

“…oh.”

“Remember, zygote. They’re the ones who chose to be out there. Villains always have the option to stay home, to retreat, or to surrender instead of fighting on. Heroes don’t have that luxury. But just because it happens doesn’t mean that Heroes should take lives. That’s why I’m training you brats.”

Himiko doesn’t trust herself to speak, so she simply nods instead. Beside her, Izuku does the same.

After a few seconds, Gran says, “That’s not a bad thing, by the way. Thinking like an assassin. Toshinori tells me you’re Quirkless. You know what that means, yeah?”

“…I’m planning on going Underground or Investigation,” Izuku says. “I’ll be able to help people that way, but I know I’m not ever gonna get the limelight like All Might.”

“Good attitude to have,” Gran says. “And you’re gonna need a way to even the odds against whatever bastard you’re fighting. That’s where thinking like an assassin comes in. Let’s say you’re called in as part of a raid team, and I’m one of the Villain reported to be at the place you’re raiding.”

Izuku’s face lights up, and Gran snickers.

“I see you’re getting it! If that’s how you think about taking people down, lean into that. Use whatever gear and dirty tricks you can and turn the situation on its head. That’s being a Heroic Assassin. You got that?”

Izuku beams. “Yes sir!”

“Good. Now that you’ve both got an idea of how to stop me from using my Quirk, how about you try it?”

Himiko whimpers to herself as Gran suddenly shoots off the ground and pinballs around the gym.

Time Remaining Until UA Entrance Exams: 128 Days

Chapter Text

“Saddle up, brats,” Gran says as Yagi Himiko walks into the Might Tower Gym, Izuku right beside her. “We’re going on a field trip.”

She blinks at him, quickly shooting a glance at Izuku, who seems equally as taken aback as she is. After the two of them finished cleaning the beach, they moved to the Might Tower private gyms. They’ve only ever trained in these two places before. Even with Gran Torino’s training these past few weeks that hasn’t changed.

Dad however, does not look confused—he looks terrified. His skin pales dramatically and his legs tremble to the point Himiko is afraid that he’ll fall.

“You don’t mean to do that training, do you?” he says.

Gran guffaws, waving a hand. “Nah,” he says. “Wouldn’t help ‘em yet. Besides, that island’s way too small for the kind of training we’re doing today.”

The sudden shift in Dad’s posture is almost as dramatic as whenever he swells up to his muscle-y Hero from, as he straightens back out and the color returns to him. What island could have scared Dad so badly?

“Nah, we’re going on a hike today,” Gran says. “One of the most important things you’ll both need to know is how to get around in a hurry, and that’s not the kind of thing we can get done in a place like this. So c’mon zygotes, the day’s a-wasting!”

Before long all four of them are on the train and heading to Shizuoka again. Gran refuses to say where exactly they’re going, and Himiko is vibrating with anticipation. He’s a very different teacher from Dad, and she’s still not totally sure how she feels about him, but she can’t deny that Gran always knows what he’s talking about.

She wonders if that’s what it’ll be like at UA, too. If the teachers there are just as eccentric.

Himiko snorts into her hand. She doubts any of the UA teachers are going to introduce themselves by lying face-down in a puddle of ketchup with sausages lying around. They’ll probably be more like Dad.

The train comes to a stop and Gran shuttles them off.

“I hope you two are up for a bit of a walk,” he says. “Good for your endurance.”

Himiko gulps, shooting a glance at Izuku who looks about as intimidated as she does. If Gran says it’s a ‘bit of a walk,’ then there’s a good chance they’ll actually be going for full marathon distance.

“Hey, Himiko,” Izuku says a minute or so into their journey, as they follow a lonely road out of the city. “How do you do that thing where I can’t see you anymore? That’s not part of your Quirk, right?”

“Nuh uh,” Himiko shakes her head. “That’s all technique!”

“Oh?” says Gran. “Have you been holding out on me?”

“You’re too fast! I’m not Hagakure; I can’t be invisible, but if I control my breathing and clear my mind, people don’t notice me.” She shrugs. “I blend into the background, I guess.”

“Ahh… I’ve seen people do similar in my time,” Gran says. “Never quite worked out how they did it. How’d you?”

Because it was easier to fade away then interact with the Togas. Because sometimes the thirst was too strong to ignore so she hid herself away from everyone until it passed. Because sometimes she didn’t want to be around anyone else.

Because sometimes she needed the quiet.

“Practice.”

“Uh,” Izuku says, “Your Quirk affects your respiratory system, so maybe you can’t do it? Or not the same way?”

“That’d make sense,” Gran says. “Not a bad thought, kid.”

“Can you teach me?” Izuku says to her.

Himiko nods rapidly, beaming. “I’d love to!”

“Save it for another date, you two,” says Gran. “We’re here.”

Himiko looks around, but they’re basically in the middle of nowhere. She doesn’t see any kind of training facility or gym, so this has to be like when they trained on the beach. Some kind of natural environment? But that would mean—

“We’re training on Mount Tekari?” Izuku says, slowly following the wooded greenery with his eyes, all the way to the peak.

“This place went and got overgrown with those pine trees during the chaos from the Dawn of Quirks,” Gran says. “Now it’s nature’s perfect obstacle course. It’s a pretty simple lesson in parkour you two are getting today: outrun me.”

“Um—”

“Obviously,” Gran continues, “I’ll be holding back. This time. So the two of you better get moving! You’ve got a head start of one minute, then you have to avoid getting tagged by me for another fifteen. Toshinori here will hold down the fort as our ‘rest spot.’ When you’re getting water and taking a break, you’ll do it here. Got it?”

Himiko and Izuku glance at each other before turning back to Gran and nodding.

“Good. Better get running. 59—”

Gran Torino has barely started his countdown when Himiko turns and bolts into the woods, Izuku at her side.

They’ve done some agility training with Gran before, but nothing like this. A few rock walls and the occasional lecture about movements. As such, when Himiko clambers over a rock in her way, she’s not nearly as graceful as she would like.

A few feet away, Izuku nearly trips over a tree root and only barely catches himself.

“We’re screwed, huh?” she says.

“Oh yeah.”

The tension is the worst part. She isn’t bothering to count the seconds like Gran is, so she has no idea how long she has until he’s after the two of them. Even without him using his Quirk, even with his shorter legs, she knows he’s much faster than either of them.

They are very much being hunted.

She leaps over a small gully in the hillside, stumbling as she lands again. Izuku’s landing is about as graceful as her own, but they don’t have time to stop. The two of them scramble back to their feet and keep running.

Their one major advantage is their endurance training that they’ve been doing since the start. Himiko knows from experience that she and Izuku can both run several kilometers without stopping at a pretty decent pace. They’re hardly going to sprint across any prefectures, but even with the added difficulty of the terrain neither of them are going to drop from exhaustion anytime soon.

That’s what they’ll have to leverage against Gran Torino in this chase: their head start.

In a footrace on even ground, Himiko knows neither of them stand a chance against him. But out here they have cover in the form of foliage, limiting what Gran can see, an as long as they don’t stop moving, if he takes a wrong path at any point they’ll get further and further away.

Something lightly smacks against Himiko’s back and she gasps. A yellow blur hops past her, tagging Izuku as well.

“You’re out,” Gran says, landing at last on a downed log. “Total time: seven minutes, twelve seconds. Not a bad first run.”

Izuku and Himiko slow to a stop, staring at Gran.

“…how did you…?” Himiko says.

Gran huffs. “Bah. You zygotes spent the whole time fighting the mountain instead of using it.”

“We never stood a chance, did we,” says Izuku. Gran grins wide, showing off his teeth.

“You two were up against a Pro—a seasoned one at that. I’ve seen more action in a week than either of you brats have seen in your entire lives. Of course you never had a chance.”

“So what was the point then?” Himiko says, tilting her head.

“Wanted to see what I’m dealing with here. Get an idea of your baseline. The two of you are only going to improve from here, but I can’t teach you if I don’t know what you don’t know.”

Himiko guesses that makes sense. She thinks.

“I’ve dealt with worse,” Gran says, hopping down from the log. “Alright. First thing you have to know is that you’re looking at your surroundings wrong.”

Gran whips his can out to point at a tree growing at an angle thanks to the slope of the mountainside.

“What do you see?”

“A weird tree?” Himiko says.

“I see a ramp. You can run up from there to jump off and grab at a handhold,” Gran traces the motion with his cane, “So that you can swing off that branch there and over that ditch. Easier than struggling with the sharp incline.”

Himiko nods. It’s a couple meters across, and pretty deep, with a stream at the bottom. Trying to clear that ditch with only a running jump would’ve been a nightmare, which is why she and Izuku hadn’t gone that way.

Gran doesn’t stick to only lectures.

Once he’s walked them back to the rest area and gotten them some basic safety gear—gloves, elbow and knee pads—he starts having them follow him across the mountain, with the goal of replicating his movements as best they can.

If he jumps, they jump.

If he vaults a rock, they vault it.

If he kicks off from the side of a tree like a ladder to get to a ridge a meter or two tall? So do they.

They’re out on the mountain for hours, running across uneven dirt and around just about everything that could possibly block someone’s path. It’s some of the most grueling work she’s ever done, and that includes all the stuff she hauled off that beach. Each step is precarious, and she constantly worries that she’ll put her weight on her leg wrong and roll her ankle.

On a mountain like this, she doesn’t know when she’d stop rolling. When she got all the way to the bottom, presumably.

The mental image of herself falling down a mountain, hitting the rocks and trees like a ball in a plinko machine makes her snort.

Finally, after what feels like way too long, Gran tells them that they’re done here for the day.

Himiko and Izuku flop down, huffing and panting. She barely processes that somehow Gran has looped them back around and they’re right where they started—the rest area, with Dad.

“We’ll be out here once, maybe twice a week,” Gran says. “Mobility is one of the most important parts of Heroism. If you can’t get where you’re going, you’ll never get to anybody in time. Turning your environment from an obstacle into a tool is the first step of that.” Gran’s signature wide grin returns. “And if you can run this mountain like it’s a track field, you’ll do just fine in a cityscape.” Gran waves a hand. “Besides. UA’s gonna cover all that urban jungle junk. Rockslides and mountain rescue doesn’t get as much focus as the city stuff.”

“Makes sense,” Izuku says between breaths. “They’re expecting us to deal with more urban situations.”

“Alright. You’re doing cooldowns with yoga today. I’m sure you remember your poses.”

Himiko nods, too out of breath to respond verbally. Yoga is how she and Izuku have been training their flexibility, and even on days that aren’t dedicated to that alone they usually do at least one or two movements with it. Honestly she likes how it feels to stretch her back in a lot of them, something that’s gotten Hagakure to joke about her being a kitten before.

The hardest part of yoga is focusing on only her own movements; her eyes keep flicking over to trace Izuku’s instead. It’s not like he’s doing anything that different from her, so she doesn’t know why it keeps happening.

Izuku extends one knee out on front of him, planting the other knee behind him on the mat, so that the foot extends upwards. He slowly leans his torso back until his head reaches his extended foot, his hands up and against his temple

Shoot! She’s doing it again!

Himiko forces herself back to her own movements, holding the same one-legged king pigeon pose as Izuku.

After about twenty minutes of yoga that leave Himiko’s joints feeling both wonderful and agonizing, they finally wrap up for the day.

As their small group makes their way back into the city, Himiko turns to her dad.

“Hey Dad, can I stay out here for a bit? I wanna show Izuku that hiding technique like he asked!”

Dad chuckles. “Are you sure you’re up for it? You both worked hard today.”

“I’d, um, I’m up for it,” Izuku says as Himiko pouts.

“See, Dad? We can handle it!”

“Alright!” Dad raises a hand placatingly. “I see you’re both fired up. What do you think, sir?”

Gran shrugs. “If they say they can do it, then they can do it. But!” He points his can at them both. “You make sure you get plenty of rest! That’s practically the most important part of all this!”

Himiko shoots Izuku a sly look, and he flushes.

“So don’t stay out too late canoodling. Make sure you’re both in bed at a reasonable time. I’m not the one who might fail the exam because I didn’t let my body recover properly.”

Himiko blinks at his word choice.

“I’ll tell Mom that you’ll be here for dinner,” Izuku says, pulling his phone out of his gym bag.

“Oh yeah, we should probably change, too,” says Himiko.

“We can do that at my place, I guess. We can shower there too.”

Alright then,” Dad says, smiling. “Have fun, you two! Don’t stay out too late, Himiko, you know how long the train ride is.”

“See you tonight, Dad!” says Himiko.

Mrs. Midoriya is delighted to see her, which leaves Himiko feeling nice and warm, and not just because of how much she got her blood pumping in training today. Mrs. Midoriya pulls her in for a hug, ignoring how uncute Himiko is right now—covered in dirt and sweat—before hugging Izuku too.

Izuku lets Himiko shower first. As she makes her way to the bathroom, Mrs. Midoriya stops her.

“I asked Izuku about the products you use,” she says. “I can’t find everything you have, but your shampoo and conditioner is in there for you under the sink.”

“Thank you!” Himiko beams. She hadn’t even thought about it, but she’ll have to really put some work in to cleaning her hair today.

Stripping out of her icky clothes is a relief to her skin, as is the warm water pouring over her and rinsing away the muck from the mountain. It’s not as nice as her tub back in her penthouse, but that’s already a higher bar than she ever thought she’d be able to set.

She’d love to stay here for a while, letting the heat soak through her, but Izuku also needs a turn, so she works as fast as she can. As much as she enjoys having her hair longer, it can be a hassle to clean. She wonders how Miruko handles hers.

“Finished!” Himiko calls out in a singsong through the apartment, even though the sound of the water shutting off should have told them that already.

She adjusts the strap of her gym bag and steps out into the hallway for Izuku. As he gets ready for his shower, Himiko sets her bag down by the couch for lack of a better place. Luckily the bag is blocking the smell.

“So, what’s the occasion?” Mrs. Midoriya asks as Himiko joins her in the kitchen.

“Izuku wants to learn how I do my disappear-y thing!” she says. “I can hide my presence and people won’t notice me, and he wants me to show him how!”

“Is that right?” Mrs. Midoriya says, looking up. She pauses, looking around the room. Himiko smiles. It’s a simple trick once you get the hang of it, and she’s proud of how quickly she can make herself disappear.

“Boo.”

Mrs. Midoriya jumps about a foot in the air, then laughs.

“Oh my, you weren’t kidding!” she says. “That’s quite impressive, dear.”

“Thank you!”

“I’m making katsudon tonight,” Mrs. Midoriya says with a smile. “Would you like to help?”

Himiko nods so fast her head nearly falls off.

It’s nice.

She’s still working on her own katsudon, so the chance to practice with the master is something she wouldn’t dream of turning down. But it’s not just that—cooking is something Himiko really likes. There’s something meditative about going through all the motions. Chopping the vegetables, mixing seasonings for the breading of the pork, cooking everything—it’s just nice.

Not to mention the smell of the food and the sounds of the sizzling meat or the knife on the cutting board.

Especially the knife on the cutting board.

Izuku finishes his shower with plenty of time to spare before the food is ready, so he joins them in the kitchen, making small talk with her and Mrs. Midoriya.

Himiko smiles to herself, humming a tune under her breath. There’s something about being around Izuku and his mother that makes it impossible for her to be sad. Everything in this small apartment screams out that this place is a home, and she loves it.

“Are you sure you made enough?” Izuku says with a smug grin as the three of them get out the dishware. Himiko swats him lightly on the shoulder and sticks her tongue out at him. Izuku returns the gesture.

“You don’t have to worry, we made plenty,” Mrs. Midoriya says.

They really did, and Himiko’s mouth is already watering. She swallows to make sure she isn’t drooling.

The three of them say their thanks and sit down to eat. Himiko dives straight into her food, devouring it heartily. Izuku isn’t that far behind her either; he must’ve worked up an appetite on the mountain today.

Mrs. Midoriya eats calmly, like an anchor surrounded by a storm, smiling softly, completely unbothered by the two of them more or less refusing to eat like civilized people.

As Himiko lets out a content sigh, she idly wishes that every day could be like this.

Time Remaining Until UA Entrance Exams: 107 Days

Chapter Text

Yagi Himiko creeps up behind where Izuku sits on her couch and drapes herself over him.

It’s another slow rest day, welcome after Gran Torino chased both of them around the mountain again the day before. They’ve just come back from Mite’s Café after Himiko finished eating her own body weight in various meals.

Izuku’s been watching an old Hero cartoon from a few decades back. Himiko has to admit that it’s a good show, but she doesn’t recognize any of the featured Heroes from it.

Sunlight streams in through the large windows. Himiko has her curtains up for that specific purpose. There aren’t any clouds out today, though the glass is cool from the November air.

“Izuku…” she whines playfully. “I’m thirsty…”

Izuku snorts, tilting his head slightly so he can look up at her without dislodging her. “Well, here you go.” He pulls up his sleeve and gestures for her.

Himiko pulls herself off of him and pads around the sofa, eyes locked on his exposed flesh. But when she actually gets there and has the opportunity, she pauses.

“Izuku,” she says slowly, blush deepening as she looks away. “Can I… can I drink from your neck? I’ll be careful!”

She risks a glance at Izuku’s face. He looks more confused than anything, blinking at her a few times.

“Um,” he says. “Is something wrong with my arm? I promise it’s clean!”

“No, nothing’s wrong,” she says. “I just… I wanna try it, you know? I think it would be cute… like a real vampire?”

Izuku smiles. “You mean like the ‘Kiss of the Vampire?’ Alright, you horror nerd.”

Himiko’s heart roars at Izuku’s words.

She lightly swats him on the shoulder. “You have no room to talk, Hero nerd!”

“I never said I did,” Izuku says. “Besides, you’re the one with that Limited Edition Star and Stripe poster. I think that makes you the nerd.”

“You recognized it on sight!”

Izuku laughs, warm and bright. The sound leaves a buzzing sensation in her stomach that she can’t place.

“Alright,” he says. Izuku rolls his sleeve back down and adjusts his collar, tilting his head to expose his neck. “Here you go. Try not to hit an artery.”

Himiko nods, eyes transfixed on his throat. On the veins and the delicious blood they carry.

She lowers herself down onto the sofa next to him, her heart beating faster and faster as she slowly leans in. Her wavy hair—now down past her shoulder blades—softly brushes against Izuku’s face. She feels her breathing rolling against Izuku’s neck as she opens her mouth and carefully presses her fangs through his skin.

“Oh…” escapes Izuku’s lips, and Himiko finds herself in agreement. The moment her fangs broke skin, the scent of his blood hit her full force, and she nearly melted into him. His blood is as sweet as always, and she quietly drinks, each drop that pours from him and into her waiting mouth lighting her tongue on fire. But more than that, this act of drinking from him fills her with a profound sense of ecstasy—of fulfillment. Like something missing is being filled. She closes her eyes and hums, perfectly content to stay here forever.

Finally, Himiko has her fill, and she unhooks her fangs from Izuku. Before she leaves him, she drags her tongue carefully over the pinpricks she left in his flesh, making Izuku shiver.

She presses her arms against the sofa to support herself as she shifts around to sit next to Izuku.

“You know,” she says breathlessly, as Izuku idly rubs as where she had bit him. “I think it tastes better from your neck.”

“I… I wouldn’t mind if you, uh, if you kept drinking from the neck then,” Izuku says, blushing scarlet. He beams at her with a shaky but radiant smile and Himiko’s heart skips a beat.

No one has ever looked at her the way that he does. Even when he saw her using her Quirk to be him, he always looks at her. Like he knows her.

She wipes her hands on her skirt and scoots closer to him, until their arms are almost touching, and rests her head on his shoulder.

Izuku makes her feel seen in a way that she never was before she met Dad in that alley. Cared for and appreciated. And while Dad makes her feel like that, it’s not the same. For Dad, caring for her is a duty and responsibility he’s more than happy to take on—she can see it all in his face, his posture.

But Izuku?

It’s different from him. It’s almost a longing. It isn’t, not at all, but it’s the only way she can describe how she reads his behavior. Like he wants what he gives to her.

And Himiko does her best to give that back to him! She doesn’t know if she’s doing it right. Not when all of her previous friendships had her Normal mask between her and the others. But it’s the least she can do for someone she loves. Izuku has so much passion in him for Heroes and Quirks, even though he doesn’t have one of his own. He’s smart, and kind, and honest. Why wouldn’t she compliment his notes and his art and his—

Wait, loves?

She does a mental double-take of her train of thought, completely derailing it in the process.

Obviously she loves Izuku.

She loves Izuku and Hagakure. She loves Dad and Mrs. Midoriya and Mrs. Fujimori and Mr. Amano and Dr. Maki and everyone else at Might Tower.

But… but she doesn’t love Hagakure the same way she loves Izuku. Hagakure is bright and cheerful and it’s always great to hang out with her, but it’s not the same. She doesn’t love Dad or the adults in the same way, either. They’re like family to her, and so is Izuku, but not quite.

Loves.

Himiko straightens in her seat, earning a worried look from Izuku that doesn’t help her right now. She smiles weakly.

“Sorry,” she says, “Lost in thought.”

Izuku hums and nudges her shoulder with his. “Anything you need to talk about?”

“Nope!” she says quickly. Maybe too quickly. He doesn’t say anything.

Loves.

Himiko’s mind races, replaying every one of their interactions. She thinks about the poster print he made for her and the plush toy he tried because she made some for him. Both of her two favorite Heroes. She thinks of the way he looks at her when she dresses up, and how she likes the attention from him. How giddy she feels whenever he likes something she makes, both her crafts and her cooking.

Loves.

She’s always thought of him as cute, yes, especially now that he’s been working out and filling out with muscle. And he’s been nothing but supportive of her—even when she stole his blood, but love?

It’s not at all like Saito, when her body screamed and roared at her to just take him already and drain him dry—

Oh no. Oh that wasn’t a crush at all was it.

That was—Izuku said that was because of how thirsty she was. And didn’t Dr. Maki mention something like that once, during one of her examinations? And Dad too. They told her that blood is a physical need, so if she goes without it…

Oh.

Oh.

Oh she’s fucked.

The realization may as well have kicked down the door and slapped her in the face.

Himiko is in love with Izuku.

Himiko is in love with Izuku.

How?

No, she knows how. She can’t possibly not know how. Not when Izuku is the single most wonderful person she’s ever met. Not when he’s bared his heart to make her feel better after she hurt him. She knows exactly how it happened.

When?!

How long has she had these feelings without noticing? How long has her heart been screaming at her and she remained oblivious? How had she failed to notice for so long?

Himiko only barely manages to choke down a groan when she remembers that she basically told him that she wanted him for her birthday.

Knowing makes it worse, she thinks, because now she can’t even look over at him without seeing how the light catches on his wild curls, or how bright his eyes are.

She’s so fucked.

Himiko stares up at the ceiling. Her entire world has completely shifted and yet remained exactly the same and she has no idea what to do about it.

She can feel it in her Quirk. Izuku’s blood, freely given. She considers turning into him again. It’s something she does sometimes, alone in her room. She can’t help but want to be him from time to time. Someone like him… she wants that. She wants to be that.

But the way Izuku looks at her… he makes her feel like she, Himiko, can be that.

It’s not always enough.

Usually it is—usually the faith that Izuku seems to have in her makes her want to believe in herself, too. Makes her think that being a Hero like Dad is an inevitability and not some hopeless dream she’s chasing.

But not always. And in those moments of doubt and fear… that’s when she becomes him for a while.

But tonight she doesn’t think that’s going to help her.

Eventually she accepts that sleep isn’t coming and grabs her phone.

Yagi: SOS

Yagi: Emergency

Yagi: w(ﾟДﾟ)w

She’s lucky that she doesn’t have to wait long for Hagakure to respond. She must not be the only one staying up late tonight. If she’d woken up Hagakure on accident, it would’ve taken her longer to respond.

Hagakure: (⊙o⊙)

Hagakure: What’s wrong?

Himiko’s fingers fly across the screen.

Yagi: I’m in love with Izuku.

Several seconds pass without a response. Himiko is starting to worry when the dots appear at the bottom of the app, showing that Hagakure is typing.

Hagakure: Okay?

There’s another pause before a new text appears.

Hagakure: Yagi did you not know

Himiko takes a deep breath in through her nose.

Yagi: No I did not! Call me osmium because I’m dense baby!

Hagakure: You’re osmium

Hagakure: :P

Okay, Himiko has no one to blame for that but herself, honestly. That doesn’t mean she has to like it.

Yagi: Not

Yagi: Helping

Hagakure: (〜￣▽￣)〜

Himiko grumbles to herself, trying to think of a good comeback when her phone vibrates. The text app disappears, replaced with the Incoming Call notification. She’s not terribly surprised that the Caller ID identifies them as Hagakure.

Himiko taps her thumb against the Answer icon and holds the phone up to her ear.

“You didn’t know?” Hagakure says immediately.

Himiko lets out a long noise somewhere between a wheeze and a sigh.

“No!” she says. “I had no idea!”

“When you first told me about him, I kinda thought you were already dating,” Hagakure says. “You lit up when you mentioned him, and you got this tone of voice…”

Himiko lets out a low groan that sends Hagakure into a giggling fit. She drags a hand down her face.

“I know!” says Himiko. “I was with him earlier and it… clicked, you know? And then in hindsight everything made sense.”

“This has really gotten to you, huh?” Hagakure says. “I mean you’re calling pretty late. It’s… what do you mean it’s 1 am.”

“Hagakure,” Himiko says slowly.

“I was studying and lost track of time! Sue me!” On the other end of the line, Hagakure huffs lightly. “Well, I’m probably not gonna sleep well tonight anyway, so I can try to help you out. So you’re hopelessly in love—”

“Hagakure.”

“—head over heels—”

“Hagakure.”

“—but what’s the issue?”

Himiko sighs. “What do I do?”

There’s a pause where she can hear Hagakure humming. “Well, I’ve never really dated anyone, but I’m pretty sure the next thing to do is ask him out.”

“But what if he doesn’t like me that way? What if I make it weird?” Himiko runs a hand through her wavy hair. “What we have going is so cute I don’t want to ruin it!”

“…you’re osmium.”

The simple deadpan response from Hagakure kills Himiko’s rambling before it has the chance to leave her throat.

“Eh?”

“Yagi,” Hagakure says. “There is no way in hell that Midoriya is not crushing on you super hard. Like, I cannot overstate enough how much I thought you and Midoriya were already dating.”

“No, that’s…” Himiko’s denial is there in her mind but she can’t figure out how to put it into words.

“Yagi, I have seen the way you two look at each other. Trust me when I tell you that he’s super into you.”

“…I’ll think about it,” she manages.

“You do that. And keep me in the loop!” Hagakure says. “I wanna hear all the gossip about this, you hear? But I’m going to at least try to get some sleep.”

“Goodnight, Hagakure.”

“’night, Yagi.”

The line goes dead.

Slowly, Himiko reaches out and sets her phone back down on the bedside table.

She rolls over, staring out the large windows and into the city.

“Goodnight, Izuku.”

It’s surprising how soon Himiko understands what Hagakure meant.

After managing to get something resembling sleep, it’s another day full of training at the Might Tower gyms. And even better, it’s a day without Gran Torino!

(Not that Himiko doesn’t like Gran, but he can be kind of intense.)

But today is more of their usual stuff! Lifting weights, flexibility and mobility training, meditation, the works! It was pretty brutal at the start—still is, if she’s being honest—but now that she’s had enough time for it to become part of her routine, Himiko really likes her work outs.

And then, while she’s setting up, Izuku joins her.

From the moment Izuku arrives, Himiko can’t keep her eyes off of him. It’s weird. She’s had these feeling for a while without knowing it, so why has recognizing them only made them more intense? Shouldn’t they have stayed the same?

Or maybe Izuku’s gotten cuter. Yeah, that makes sense.

And because Himiko can’t keep her eyes off Izuku, it doesn’t take her long to realize that he’s looking at her just as intently. Whenever she turns her back, Izuku pauses for a split second, eyes scanning over her legs. And she knows he’s been looking at her muscles whenever she’s using the equipment.

A smile creeps across Himiko’s face, revealing her fangs.

As she walks, Himiko swings her hips, putting a small bounce into her step. She pours as much confidence as she can into her movements. It’s easier than she expects. With each passing moment, her belief that Hagakure was right increases, and it raises her confidence with it.

She feels cute in a way she never has before, like a runway model, and her audience certainly seems to be soaking it up.

Izuku’s face turns bright red and her smile sharpens.

Oh he’s so damn cute!

Himiko takes a deep breath.

She wants him. She doesn’t know how it’s taken her so long to realize that she loves him when she wants him so badly!

Hagakure was right; she’s got to ask him. She’s going to ask him out!

Izuku glances away for a moment and Himiko takes her chance. Her practice with showing Izuku how the technique is done pays off. She shifts her weight, holding her breath. Himiko clears her mind and lets her presence vanish.

Izuku looks up and sees that she’s missing right away, glancing around for her.

“Himiko?”

She purrs from behind him, draping her arms over his shoulders. “Right here.”

Himiko feels his skin warming up beneath hers and her smile widens. She slips around to the seat beside him on the bench, keeping her arms around him. She turns her head enough for him to see her grin.

Oh he’s turned such a cute shade of red!

“Did you see something you like?” she breathes into his ear. She can practically feel the steam pouring out of him. He flusters so easily! Oh she has to do this more!

…if Izuku says yes, of course. That’s what this all depends on.

Izuku stammers incoherently, each syllable making her grin wider, which in turn makes Izuku blush more fiercely.

She runs her tongue under her top row of teeth. “Because I did.”

Himiko tries her best to ignore the pounding of her heart in her throat. This is it: the make-or-break moment.

Please say yes.

“H—wha—Himiko?”

“Izuku,” she says, “I realized something yesterday.”

“O-oh?”

“Mhmm.” She leans in close to his ear and says, “I love you.”

Izuku seems to shut down, the blood draining from his face as he goes completely still. Himiko waits patiently, knowing he’ll respond soon. She giggles quietly to herself. Maybe she was a little too forward? She doesn’t know, and she doesn’t think she cares all that much either. It’s Izuku, he’s used to her.

At last, Izuku reboots. He blinks at her, shock still clear in his eyes. “You mean…?”

Himiko nods. “I want you to be my boyfriend!” Izuku sputters again, so Himiko keeps talking. It’ll give him time to think. “I don’t know how long it’s been since I started loving you,” she giggles. “Turns out I’m kinda dense. But that’s okay! Because I figured it out in the end! I love you! I love the way you look! I love how you’re always so kind to me! I love that you don’t mind that I take your blood! That sometimes I am you!” She pauses to take in his expression—still shock, mixed with confusion and wonder. “So please… go out with me?”

“Boyfriend…?” Izuku says slowly. “You—you mean a guy you take to an amusement park on a date? Who you hold hands with? Share crepes with?!”

Himiko gasps. “Can we hold hands?”

“No—yes—I mean,” Izuku fumbles over his words, eyes wide but his brow furrowed. “I mean, yes you can, um, you can hold my hand.” Himiko doesn’t hesitate to grab it. It’s so warm! “But uh, Himiko… are you sure? I mean… I’m just…” he says the final words so quietly she can barely hear them. “I’m just Deku.”

“Huh?”

“You can do so much better than me!” Izuku says, waving his free hand in front of his face but making no effort to free the hand she’s holding. Himiko presses that hand over her heart, but Izuku keeps going. “Just because I—um, I-I, uh, I mean… I couldn’t…” Izuku bites his lip. “You’re… You’re so good, Himiko. And I’m… not.”

“Izuku?” she slowly.

Izuku lowers his head in an approximation of a bow. “Thank you, uh, for telling me, Himiko. But please, you, um, you shouldn’t settle for me. Find someone who can make you happy.”

Himiko sits there, stunned, as Izuku politely excuses himself at the end of their training time.

That was…

That wasn’t what she thought would happen at all.

She feels wetness in her eyes. Her throat begins making choking sobs against her will, so she covers her mouth with her hands.

How could Izuku think that way about himself!?

How could he say things like that about himself!?

Himiko takes a shuddering breath that does little to help with her tears.

Those things he said… the way he thinks about himself… it’s all painfully familiar in a way that Himiko never wanted to think about again. But she has to be wrong. She has to be. How could—how could anyone treat Izuku that way?

“Himiko!”

She looks up to see Dad rushing towards her, and he quickly wraps her in his arms. She sobs, returning the hug and burying her face in his oversized suit.

“Are you alright? What happened?”

“Dad,” she rasps. “I think—I think someone’s hurting Izuku… like me.”

Time Remaining Until UA Entrance Exams: 90 Days

Chapter Text

Yagi Himiko puffs out air through her lips. She leans back in her chair until it creaks, stretching her arms.

The desk in front of her is covered in her notes from the past year—the homework her dad’s been having her do to make sure that she’s not out of practice with anything by the time of the Entrance Exams. Her papers and notebooks on every subject—from math to history to literature—are scattered without rhyme or reason. The words have long since turned to meaningless squiggles.

While Himiko can understand Dad’s insistence on preparing, and how difficult those exams are supposed to be, she can’t bring herself to focus at the moment. All of her thoughts are consumed by one thing and one thing alone.

Izuku.

It’s only been a few days since she confessed to him.

A few days since Izuku told her that he couldn’t accept her feelings, because he didn’t think he deserves them.

And Himiko can’t understand that.

How could Izuku believe that he’s not good enough for her? How could someone so cute and kind and wonderful think that he’s not?

Not to mention that strange word he said—the one he used to refer to himself under his breath. Decca or something like that? Himiko doesn’t want to imagine what that word means. The way he said it, it clearly isn’t anything good.

And she worries, because the way he used it reminds her of the whispers of ‘monster’ that she hears from time to time.

Himiko swallows.

Ever since she told Izuku how she feels, he’s been… off. He’s not avoiding her, and in fact he still talks to her like normal when they’re training! But she doesn’t catch him staring anymore. Or, more accurately, whenever Izuku realizes that he’s watching her, he looks away. He trails off in conversations when he realizes that he’s looking at her. His adorable bright blushing has been replaced in favor of his face losing all blood. There are times that she worries he might be sick.

It’s getting under Himiko’s skin.

(That, and Gran Torino, who smacked them both black and blue because they were too distracted to react, and loudly chewed them out for not paying enough attention. Which, fair, but she doesn’t have to like it.)

Izuku shouldn’t be like this! He’s like the sun, warm and bright and there and makes everything better by being there…

So why does he act like he’s worth so little?

Himiko leans forwards, planting her head face-down directly into the papers on her desk and groans. She’s good at reading people, she thinks. It was an important skill for her to have when she was Normal. But right now, all it’s good for is telling her that her friend—the friend she is in love with—is hurting. Not something helpful like how to fix it.

Himiko has felt terrible before. She’s spent most of her life in some form of misery before Dad found her. But this is the first time she’s ever felt completely useless like this.

One For All thrums in her chest, sending a pulse throughout her body. It’s a warm sensation, like Dad draping a blanket over her, and it brings a soft smile to Himiko’s face. One For All’s presence never fails to cheer her up. She brings up a gentle hand to where she feels the weight of One For All and lifts her face off the desk.

“…Yeah,” she says quietly. “I think… I think it’s time to be a Hero.”

Midoriya Izuku winces, rubbing a hand on his side where Gran had kicked him a day or two ago. Luckily, no one else seems to be looking at him. He doesn’t know what kinds of rumors the other kids would start spreading if they saw how many bruises he has from training nowadays.

Well he knows what Kacchan would say. He’d find some way to make it about how Izuku is trying to show him up the way he always does. He doesn’t understand why Kacchan thinks he’s trying to upstage him. All he’s ever wanted was to help people.

Though actually, Kacchan has mostly left him alone since the day with that Villain and All Might. Izuku doesn’t know why, but he’s not about to look a gift horse in the mouth. He can tell from Kacchan’s glares that he’s not about to apologize for anything he’s done, but at least he seems to have calmed down a little.

The real thing that has Izuku distracted is Himiko.

He bites down a sigh before it can escape, knowing better than to draw attention to himself.

She… likes him.

Like, really likes him.

And that doesn’t make any sense!

Himiko is so good and kind. Despite everything she’s been through, she’s still so sweet, and her positivity is infectious. Her laugh never fails to make him smile. And there’s a part of Izuku that knows that Himiko is cute. With the slight roundness of her jaw, and how bright her eyes are. That permanent blush the graces her cheeks.

Not to mention her body. Himiko’s bulked up and filled out with lean but fit muscle. She reminds him of a professional athlete, but without any of the phot edits for magazine shoots. Izuku is mature enough to admit to himself that he really likes watching her hips and legs sway.

And her smile…

When Himiko is happy, truly happy, she’s damn near radiant. Izuku doesn’t understand how it could be possible for one person to be so bright.

When she’s a Hero, she’s going to take after her father. Of that, Izuku is certain. Everyone is going to bask in her presence and love her.

Izuku knows that he does.

And that right there is the problem.

It didn’t really click with him until after Himiko had spelled out for him how she really feels, but now he can’t ignore it, no matter how hard he tries.

Izuku is in love with Himiko.

He wishes he knew when he developed these damn feelings.

Was it when he first saw her, when the morning sun hit her from the back and made her hair sparkle like gold? Was it when she came over to his house that first time with her dad? When she nearly broke down because she was worried about him, when she made him swear not to overdo it? Or when she complimented his analysis notebooks and art? Was it when they were on the beach, exhausted and drenched in sweat as they worked, or maybe when they spent the afternoon together celebrating having cleaned it? When she hand-sewed him several Pro Hero plush toys, now proudly sitting in his room?

Izuku doesn’t know. He doesn’t know and he wishes that he did. Because then he could go back in time to that moment and strangle himself for tricking her into falling in love with a Deku like him, when Himiko deserves someone so much better than him.

Himiko is everything that Izuku isn’t: confident, assured, and Heroic. She even saved All Might!

Izuku… can’t compare.

She deserves someone who can make her happy. Someone that can give her the kind of love that Himiko is always giving out to everyone else.

And that’s not Izuku.

At some point, Izuku has to be realistic. And he knows full well that someone like him doesn’t get a story like that. The best he can hope for is the have one or two friends and not drag them down with him.

Izuku shakes his head. He can’t think like that. All Might believes in him, and so does Himiko, and they both know that he’s a Quirkless. Beneath his desk, he balls his hands into fists. Gran Torino says that he can do it, even gave him advice about how to best lean into his skills.

He promised himself all those years ago that he wouldn’t care what anyone else says: he will be a Hero, dammit! And no one can stop him.

He won’t be a Hero like All Might or Endeavor or Ryukyu. He won’t even be a Hero like Yoroi Musha. But he’ll be a Hero all the same. He’ll help people and reassure them with a smile. Be the cool, dependable Hero that people can count on.

Izuku will become an Underground Hero and save people without much public attention while Himiko will go on to easily reach the Top Ten. They’ll be completely different kinds of Heroes, running in their own circles. Eventually they’ll both move on and Himiko will get the happy ending she deserves, and Izuku will get the one thing he wants: to be a Hero.

It’s selfish of him to want more than this.

It’s selfish of him to want to tell Himiko that he loves her too, that the moment the words were out of her mouth he suddenly realized what his heart has been screaming at him. Not when she’ll have so many better people at UA that she could end up with.

Izuku is happy to be her friend, and he hopes that he can be her friend for the rest of her life, but someone like her is out of a Deku’s reach.

And that’s fine.

That’s fine.

It’s fine.

It’s…

Izuku looks up, blinking blearily. Everyone chats amicably with each other, shoveling their belongings into their backpacks and meandering out the door. The teacher is nowhere to be found.

Izuku blinks again.

Oh. The bell rang.

Izuku sighs under his breath, shaking the thoughts out of his head. He can’t let himself be so distracted like this! It’s already costing him against Gran Torino, he can’t let his grades slip too! Izuku lightly slaps his cheeks for good measure and starts packing away his class notes. He doesn’t think he even opened a notebook all day.

He massages the back of his neck as he makes his way through the winding halls of Aldera. The hallways stretch out for forever, bathed evenly in the overhead lighting. Sometimes Izuku wonders if the school was deliberately designed to avoid letting in any sunlight. It leaves the entire school feeling artificial—like its own little world far away from reality.

Izuku weaves around the crowds, keeping his head down. The less attention he gets, the better. Nobody is paying him any mind right now, though. There’s only three weeks left until Winter Break, and it’s clear that most of the other students are already checking out of their lessons. Even with the End of Terms coming up, nobody in Aldera is passionate about their work. It wouldn’t surprise Midoriya if he and Kacchan are the only ones who ever study.

Well, a Deku like him has to study. Kacchan’s just a perfectionist.

Izuku slides his shoes off, retrieving his trusty red outdoor pair from his locker. He casually tosses his gray indoor shoes into the locker and stands, tapping his toes against the floor to test the fit.

No sooner has he taken a step through the school gates than he hears, “Oi, Deku.”

Izuku cringes and nervously turns his head to look at the source of the voice. He recognizes them instantly. Hashimoto and Kawaguchi, two of Kachan’s friends, though they’re hardly what Izuku would call friendly. The faint stench of tobacco clings to both of their uniforms. The two of them are roughly the same height and honestly pretty similar in personality. While in their uniforms their only real differences are that Hashimoto has a narrow chin and hair that goes down past his ears before it spikes out while Kawaguchi has a fairly square jaw, and keeps his hair in short curls with an undercut.

And they have different Quirks, obviously. Izuku still remembers them well.

Hashimoto possesses a transformation-type Quirk. Subject can elongate his fingers, notable in that they either develop multiple joints during their expansion or otherwise become more elastic. Depending on the specifics, useful in a variety of specialized circumstances, numerous implications for hand-to-hand combat and martial arts.

Kawaguchi has a mutation Quirk replacing standard teeth with a small number of large shark-like fangs. These teeth can even regrow like a shark’s, though subject lacks multiple rows of redundant teeth. Mouth capable of opening beyond average human range to allow for easy access. Subject is incapable of chewing non-meat foods, reducing him to a largely carnivorous diet.

Conclusion: contact-based poisons or adhesives to disable or restrain transformation—alternative solution: break hands. Mutation vulnerable to hand-to-hand combat. Avoid grappling. Using viscous substances or rods to wedge jaws would completely disable Quirk. Alternative solution: blunt force to remove teeth, exploit lengthy regrowth period.

Izuku blinks a few times. His lessons with Gran Torino are having more of an effect than he’d thought. That’s the first time he’d considered something like that about anyone except that Villain all those months ago. Instantly knowing how to disable his classmates is a strange sensation.

Izuku isn’t sure if he likes it.

Hashimoto continues. “You know the exams are coming up. What’re you gonna get this time, huh Deku? Bet it’s a 50 at best.”

Izuku is fairly certain he scores better than both of them fairly consistently, but whatever.

“Please,” Kawaguchi rolls his eyes. “He’s totally gonna bomb it. You got your backup school picked out yet, ‘cuz we all know you ain’t getting into UA.”

Neither of them are even applying for UA, so it’s a bit hypocritical of them to tell him that he won’t get in, but hey, what does Izuku know?

Regardless, Izuku doesn’t say anything. He knows these two. They aren’t like Kacchan. They won’t need to be appeased, and he doesn’t have to worry about them hurting him. Hashimoto and Kawaguchi will stick to mocking him, especially somewhere as public as right in front of the school gates. Both of them could be dangerous if they wanted to be, but they aren’t.

“Well duh he’ll fuck the whole test up,” Hashimoto says. Oh, they’re still talking? Izuku figures they’d have gotten bored by now. “But I want to make sure he doesn’t think about cheating again.”

Izuku resists the urge to roll his eyes. Every time the school shows off the results from a big exam, the rumors start circulating that he must’ve cheated to do better than anyone else because he’s Deku, and therefore he couldn’t possibly have studied. They’re probably projecting because Izuku knows for a fact they’re going to go do karaoke tonight. If the smell is any indication, they’ll go to one that allows for smoking, too.

Hashimoto shoves Izuku, or he tries. Normally that would’ve sent Izuku stumbling back, but after all his training these past months it barely makes him shift. Hashimoto clicks his tongue with a sneer.

“Hey Izuku!”

Izuku freezes as the familiar weight of Himiko’s arm loops around his shoulder.

“H-Himiko?”

He turns his head to see her smiling widely at him, fangs on full display as she beams. Both Hashimoto and Kawaguchi are blushing so hard Izuku is actually starting to worry about their blood flow.

“What—what’re you doing here?” Izuku says. “Not, um, not that I mind, I—um, but…”

“I was in the neighborhood, so I thought I’d swing by! I knew your school gets out around now,” Himiko says. That has to be a lie. Himiko lives over in Roppongi, and with the beach cleaned there isn’t much reason for her to come out here. Should he call her on it? Why is she really here? Is everything alright?

Hashimoto lets out a low whistle. “Damn, Deku, how’d you convince a babe to call you by your first name? Or does she not know?”

Izuku feels Himiko tense. “Know what?” she says, with a sharpness hidden under her sweet tone.

“Deku’s Quirkless,” Kawaguchi says.

“Oh, yeah.” Himiko shrugs. “Don’t care.”

Even though he already knew that, Izuku can’t stop himself from smiling softly. Hashimoto and Kawaguchi on the other hand look completely stunned. Given that no one has ever said that at Aldera, Izuku doesn’t exactly blame either of them.

Hashimoto recovers first, smoothing back his hair like he thinks he’s a Shojo male lead, stepping forward.

“Well, Himiko, was it? I can show you a better time than Deku can—”

“No thanks!” she says with a smile. “I think Izuku’s the best!” Izuku stares at her incredulously. Himiko, meanwhile, lets her façade slip, the sharpness creeping into her eyes and tone. “Anyway, I think the two of you should back off now.”

“We’re just having a little fun,” Hashimoto says. “The fuck do you know?”

He goes to shove Himiko—not enough to even knock her down, he’s clearly just trying to intimidate her.

If Izuku hadn’t been doing the same training right alongside her, he wouldn’t have been able to see her move.

Himiko slips to the side, grabbing Hashimoto by the wrist, and wrenches his arm behind his back, pinning him to the ground.

“Warned you,” Himiko sings. After a moment, she lets go, practically throwing his arm back at him as she stands up.

“What the fuck is your problem?” Hashimoto says, nursing his new bruises.

“I could ask you guys the same thing! It’s not that cute to go around making fun of people.”

“Oh come on,” Kawaguchi says with a scoff. “Like a shitty Deku could be better than us!”

Himiko’s eyes gleam at that, and Izuku feels the dread running down his spine. He knows that look from Himiko. It’s the same one she gives him whenever he challenges her in one of her games, right before she absolutely annihilates him. He has absolutely no idea what she’s about to do, but he knows beyond a shadow of a doubt she intends on utterly humiliating them.

“Oh? Is that right? You’re sure you’re better than Izuku here?” Himiko’s grin widens until it stretches all the way from ear to ear. “Then why didn’t I fall in love with you?”

Izuku has no time to process what Himiko said before she turns to him and presses her lips into his.

Time Remaining Until UA Entrance Exams: 86 Days

Chapter Text

Fireworks burst all around them, showering the two of them in sparkling light. Izuku’s lips are warmer than Yagi Himiko thought they would be, and she greedily drinks in his heat like she hasn’t tasted blood in years. She presses herself closer to him, steadily blurring the line between them.

Light and love and shared warmth set her nerves on fire, racing through her entire body. In her chest, One For All sings, its sweet melody carrying over the buildings and trees.

Izuku’s surprised stupor slowly melts away as he joins in, his passion chorusing with her own. She reaches her hands around and kneads her fingers into his back. In turn, Izuku rubs circles on her spine, electrifying her.

The scent of his blood—the scent of him—is all around her, intoxicating her further as the world falls away around them. Her body relaxes, simply unable to bear the weight of tension when filled with Izuku’s presence like this.

Himiko moans in ecstasy. There is no other word that could encapsulate the sheer joy she feels here in this moment. Izuku burns like a star beneath her touch, and her body can’t stop consuming his roaring flame as it seeps into her cells, into the very core of her being.

She loves him. She loves him so damn much and she needs him to understand that.

She feels Izuku succumb, his legs nearly giving out beneath him. She barely catches him before they both topple to the ground, not allowing anything to interrupt their moment of passionate bliss.

The two of them are alone in the world, in an endless sea of blue skies and shining stars, unable and unwilling to speak. Words are unnecessary; this kiss contains all of her feelings as they pour into Izuku.

A new understanding bubbles within her as she absorbs the sweet scent of Izuku’s blood. Izuku loves her. Her. Not the her that is him, or the her that he could try to be, but the her that she is.

She loves him so much.

Izuku’s own passion races within him, joining hers as they crescendo to a fever pitch. For a moment Himiko fears her very heart will burst—but the fears pass for even if that happens, she knows that she will die more than content.

She presses harder into Izuku’s lips, feeling how they move and caress her own. It pulls her in deeper, deeper, and she lets all that she is sink into Izuku.

They are the sun, blazing with brilliance and heat. Their passion pours from them into each other endlessly, like a snake devouring its own tail.

Himiko could spend an eternity in this one single moment, a snapshot in time of perfect bliss. But the world freezes for no one, and the two of them break away, gasping for air. Himiko smiles breathlessly, and presses her forehead into his. Izuku returns the gesture, letting her take on some of his weight as the bask in each other’s presence.

“That was…” Himiko gasps.

“…Wow.”

She wants to do it again. Seize Izuku and plant her lips against his and recreate the most wonderful duet to ever grace the Earth. But then she remembers that they aren’t as alone as she would like.

Himiko rolls her eyes, shooting a glance at the two jerks that had been bothering Izuku.

“If you excuse us,” she says sharply, taking Izuku by the arm and walking off with him. Izuku doesn’t protest or resist, his face a blushing mess. But most of all he’s grinning like an idiot.

Himiko practically skips down the sidewalk. She feels like she’s walking on air.

She kissed Izuku… and he kissed back! He kissed her back!

She barely remembers the rest of the walk back to the Midoriya apartment. Neither she nor Izuku had said anything about where they were going, but Himiko couldn’t think of anywhere better than this. Izuku unlocks the door for her and let them in. She wastes no time in grabbing Izuku and pulling him down onto the couch.

That, at last, seems to snap Izuku out of his own head.

“Wha—Himiko?”

The two of them end up a pile of tangled limbs. Instead of making any move to detach herself from Izuku, Himiko nestles closer to him, rubbing her cheek against his.

“Hm?”

“What are you doing?” Izuku hisses.

She looks up at him. “Advanced Cuddling.”

Izuku lets out a whine like a teakettle. “No! I mean—you—I –but—” Izuku lets out a long sigh.

Himiko grins wide, her fangs on full display. “You’re a great kisser, Izuku.”

“I… Himiko…” Izuku says slowly. She can see the tears starting to form in his eyes. “Please don’t do this. I’m—there are people out there who are better than me, people who will make you happy—”

Himiko grabs Izuku by the face and presses her lips against his again, shutting him up before he can say anything stupid. They melt into each other, Himiko stroking the back of Izuku’s head. This time, though, Izuku pulls away after a few seconds.

“Himiko I—”

“Stop!”

She doesn’t mean to call out like that, but the objection tears itself from her throat. Himiko takes a moment to calm her breathing. He heart is already a lost cause—beating so loud in her chest that she feels it across her entire body.

“Stop telling me that you aren’t good enough!” she says. “Stop telling me there are people who are better than you! Stop telling me that you’re not good! Stop telling me that I’m settling by picking you! Stop calling yourself a Deku!”

“…I…” Izuku’s mouth hangs open, his eyes blown wide. Himiko sees the surprise and reigns herself in, shrinking against his side.

“Stop it…” she says, much weaker. “Please. It’s not cute to have to listen to you say that. To see you acting like—like me.” Himiko closes her eyes. “I love you, Izuku. And I can see it—I know you feel the same way. You—you wouldn’t have kissed me back like that if you didn’t. Please don’t say those things.”

Izuku stays silent. After a moment, he hesitantly reaches out and gingerly run a hand down the back of Himiko’s head. She nuzzles in closer to him.

“There… there are no better options,” she says. “No matter what you say. And even if they did exist, none of them are you. And… and you’re the one I want. I love you, Izuku. I want to give myself to you. So please…” she raises her head slightly so she can look him in the eyes. “Please stop trying to protect me from something that isn’t there!”

Izuku stared at her, eyes scanning over her—into her in that way only Izuku seems to be able to do. “…Himiko…”

“I… I was attracted to you from the moment I saw you,” Himiko says slowly. “How could I not be? With the sun hitting you so your eyes sparkled, seeing your cute face, and you were so surprised when you saw me.” She sniffles. “But I—I fell in love with you because you’re so good, Izuku! You care so much, and you wear your heart on your sleeve, and even when I took your blood you didn’t care! How could I ever not love you?”

“I was surprised…” Izuku says slowly, “because I’d never seen such a cute girl before. When—when we first met that day. And my brain kinda shut down. You stayed there by my side while we worked and you always believed me. Even when you—when you learned I’m Quirkless… you never once doubted me.”

Something drips against Himiko’s hair. She adjusts herself and sees silent tears pouring down Izuku’s cheeks. She smiles gently.

“I… I don’t know when I fell in love with you,” he says, and Himiko’s breath hitches. “But when you confessed—when you told me that you—that you love me… it clicked. But I—I don’t want to hurt you, Himiko! I—I care about you too much—”

“You aren’t going to hurt me,” she says, leaving no room for argument. “Because I know you, Izuku. You would never hurt someone you love.” She adjusts her arms, pulling Izuku in slightly closer. “That’s one of the things I love about you, how you care about everybody and want to help everyone.”

“I’m sorry…” Izuku whispers. “I’m sorry…”

Himiko shakes her head into his side. “Don’t be sorry! When you—when you turned me down, all I could think was, ‘why did he say that about himself?’ I was so worried about you because I love you.”

“I…”

“I guess we should talk about it,” Himiko says. “About us, I mean. You’re my boyfriend, alright?”

Izuku pauses for half a second, then smiles softly. “Only if—if you’re, um, if, only if you’re my girlfriend.”

Himiko smiles brighter than she ever has in her life. “Deal!”

She shifts around, eventually reaching the pocket in her skirt and pulling out her phone. With one of her arms pinned under her boyfriend, she had to unlock it and open the camera app with one hand.

“What are you--?”

“Hagakure,” Himiko explains. “You should thank her sometime! She’s the one who encouraged me to take my shot.” Himiko laughs, brighter and clearer than she has in a long time. “Otherwise I’d be a pining mess!”

Izuku tilts his neck so that his head can rest on hers. “Thank God for Hagakure, then.”

“But…” Himiko draws out, “she also wanted me to give her any updates!”

Izuku laughs, and Himiko takes the opportunity to peck him on the cheek. She takes a picture of that exact moment and sends it to Hagakure with a follow-up message, captioning it ‘Me and my boyfriend.’

“We’re… we’re really doing this?” Izuku whispers, more to the open air than to her. “We’re dating…? I—I never thought that someone would… like me that way…”

Himiko frowns at that.

“Midoriya Izuku,” she says quietly but passionately. “You are one the kindest, sweetest, cutest people I’ve ever met! Of course people are going to fall in love with you!” Izuku looks away, and Himiko sighs. “I know what you need.”

“What I—huh?”

“You,” Himiko reaches up with her free arm and pokes him in the chest, “need some extra special training. Confidence training.”

“Confidence…? Himiko, what does that—”

Himiko shuts him up by kissing him. And then kissing him again. And a third time. She breathes softly, letting the warm air brush against Izuku’s skin, and lowers her face down to the side of Izuku’s exposed neck.

“You said that I can take blood on our off days,” she whispers, and feels Izuku nod in confirmation. His skin warms beneath her touch.

Himiko smiles and opens her jaw wide. Gently, she pierces his skin, her fangs sinking into his flesh. Izuku’s scent rams her stronger than it ever has before and Himiko can’t help but moan as his blood starts to drip onto her tongue. Izuku himself lets out a delighted sigh as she drinks.

Finally, she releases her jaws, dragging her tongue across the puncture marks. She can feel Izuku shiver as she licks each of the pinpricks.

“Confidence training,” she exhales into his ear. “I’m going to make sure you know exactly how cute you are… got it?”

Izuku’s skin gets even warmer, but she can see the smile slowly growing across his face. Satisfied that he understands, Himiko nestles her face into the crook of his neck. Izuku settles his head against her with a hum, lightly stroking Himiko’s long hair. She lets out a content sigh, letting her weight sink into Izuku.

“I don’t want to hear any more of your uncute… nonsense about how you don’t deserve me,” she says. “I’m yours, Izuku.”

He sucks in air. “Oh my gosh I’m dating All Might’s daughter.”

Himiko giggles, nuzzling her nose into his neck. “Don’t worry. Daddy’s not gonna Detroit Smash you into next week if we don’t work out. You know that.”

“No, but he’ll give me this disappointed look and I’ll want to bury myself alive,” Izuku says, putting a hand over his face.

“Then it’s a good thing you aren’t gonna do anything like that. But if Dad gives you a shovel talk, could you… could you let him? It’s nice that he cares…”

“Himiko…” Izuku shifts around slightly, doing his best not to jostle her. And then she feels it—the faint pressure as Izuku kisses to top of her head. “So many people care about you.”

“I know,” she says, tears pricking at the corners of her eyelids. “Trust me, I know.”

Izuku doesn’t say anything, but reaches around and strokes the back of her head. Her long waves of hair, draped over her, shudder at his touch, tickling at wherever it brushes against her skin.

Her pinned arm starts to tingle and Himiko realizes that it’s falling asleep on her, but she can’t bring herself to mind. Not when that means that either she or Izuku would have to move. This is one of the happiest times of Himiko’s entire life, and she isn’t about to end that before it’s absolutely necessary.

Himiko yawns quietly.

“…Ku?” she says. “I’m sleepy… Can you… can you tell me about a Quirk? I really like the sound of your voice when you’re excited…”

“Um, sure, I guess,” Izuku says. “Is there a Quirk you want me to talk about…?”

“Mm… Uwabami…”

Izuku shuffles a little, helping her melt own between him and the side of the couch.

“Uwabami, huh?” Himiko can practically feel the shift as Izuku switches to his analysis mode. “Subject has a mutation Quirk that makes three living snakes grow from their head, like the mythological gorgon, Medusa. These snakes have heightened senses compared to other snakes, notably their sense of smell which the Subject shares through their connection to her main body. Subject primarily uses these snakes to locate persons in disaster or rescue situations, but also to identify hidden hostiles. Subject can likely regrow these snakes if one is removed. Evidence: the leftmost snake changed color when she returned to work after the fire in downtown Yokohama three years ago…”

Anything else Izuku has to say on the subject falls on deaf ears, as Himiko lets his mumbling lull her softly to sleep.

Himiko’s return to awareness is not instant, but still too fast for her liking. She refuses to open her eyes, instead adjusting herself to maximize her exposure to the warm object beside her. It takes her nap-addled brain a moment to remember that the object in question is Izuku.

Her boyfriend.

She cracks open an eye at him and smiles.

“Did you sleep well?” Izuku says.

“Mhmm.” Himiko stretches out a bit on the couch, her back giving her a few satisfying pops. “How long—” she pauses to yawn, her fangs completely exposed, “—how long was I out?”

“Long enough for Mom to come home.”

Ah.

Now that he says it, Himiko catches the second scent in the apartment, one she recognizes easily. She’s… in the kitchen, judging by the distance. Probably making tea, if Himiko had to guess. Himiko wonders if she’s making a cup for her, too.

Well, Himiko was going to have to talk to Mrs. Midoriya about dating her son at some point. May as well be now. She moves to push up off the couch, but the moment her skin breaks contact with Izuku, she thinks better of it and settles back down. She can talk with Mrs. Midoriya later.

“Earlier… did you call me ‘Ku?’” Izuku says.

Himiko nods against his shoulder. “Mhmm.  Thought it’d be cute. Gotta give my boyfriend a nickname, right?”

“So you went with the last kanji in my name?”

“Ku’s cute,” Himiko says defensively.

“Okay, Miko.”

“Oh, when I take off the first kanji it’s lazy, but when you do it—"

Izuku kisses her and Himiko’s brain shuts off for a moment.

“Miko as in princess,” Izuku says with a grin not nearly as confident as his voice. “Like Himemiko.”

Himiko gapes as a low whine escapes her throat. Her cheeks turn a bright red, and her face steams.

“Ku!” she manages. “You’ve been holding out on me!”

Izuku giggles, his joy undercut by his anxiety. “Sorry, Miko. But, um, I did have plenty of time to think of something while you were out.”

“Mm. I like it. Miko, Himemiko,” she shivers, grinning widely. “I love it! It’s so cute!”

She perks up at the scent of Mrs. Midoriya getting closer. The woman makes her way around the couch, setting down two cups of tea, with faint wisps of steam drifting off the surface. With her arm still pinned under her boyfriend and no real hurry to change that, Himiko can’t reach her tea. She wonders if Izuku will hold it for her if she asks.

“Careful,” Mrs. Midoriya says, “They’re still hot.”

“Thanks, Mom,” Izuku says, beaming.

“Thank you!” says Himiko.

Mrs. Midoriya shakes her head fondly. “Honestly, the two of you… thank goodness you managed to pull yourselves together. I was beginning to worry that I’d have to take drastic measures myself.”

Himiko blinks. “Um… eh?”

“Neither of you is particularly subtle,” Mrs. Midoriya says with a gentle smile. “I could tell the first time you came over with your father that the two of you had it bad for each other.”

Himiko brain skips like a record. That had been months ago, right after Izuku had joined her with cleaning Takoba Beach. They had already been that obvious all the way back then?

Judging by how red Izuku’s face is, he’s having similar thoughts himself.

“Hagakure’s already told me I’m dense,” Himiko says, “You don’t have to rub it in…”

Izuku smiles at her, lifting up one of the cups of tea and holding it in front of her face, letting her sip some of it. The tea is still very warm, but not enough to burn as long as she takes it slow. Like all of Mrs. Midoriya’s tea, it tastes fantastic.

“You aren’t dense, dear,” Mrs. Midoriya says. “You’re young and you’re confused. Emotions are complicated and you needed time to work them out.”

Izuku scrunches up his face as he sets Himiko’s tea back down. “But you just said—”

“Sunshine,” she says, “I also want you to be happy. Both of you. And it’s clear that you two make each other happy.” She sniffs loudly, large Midoriya tears welling up in her eyes, though her smile never wavers. “And I—watching you both interact…” She sniffs again. “I can tell how much you care.”

“Mom…”

Whatever he’s about to say is stopped when his mom bows deeply. “Yagi. Please take care of my son.”

“Of course!” Himiko replies without hesitation. “I love him!”

Izuku gives her a gentle squeeze with the arm wrapped around her, pulling her in closer for a moment. She giggles and kisses him on the neck.

“Thank you,” Mrs. Midoriya says as she straightens again. “That’s all I can ask for.”

Time Remaining Until UA Entrance Exams: 86 Days

Chapter Text

Midoriya Izuku walks to school on sunshine. There’s a bounce in his step and a song in his heart—a song that sounds suspiciously like Himiko.

He doesn’t remember the last time he was this happy.

Himiko loves him.

Today could be pouring gallons of rain from skies dark as night as lighting cracks and thunder howls and his good mood still wouldn’t waver.

But today is practically picturesque, with only lazy white clouds sailing across a clear blue sky, with a pleasant temperature for the season. There might even be some light snow on Christmas, just to really set the mood.

Izuku’s eyes widen slightly.

Christmas is only a few weeks away!

He hadn’t forgotten—of course he hadn’t forgotten with every candy company in Japan desperately throwing ads around, pretending they aren’t inventing their own holidays to encourage more sales—but Christmas is the most romantic time of the year! And this is his first time really celebrating that with someone, instead of staying home with Mom.

This is his first Christmas with Himiko!

Izuku’s dopey grin widens as he thinks about it.

The lightshows, the sounds… he’s never done anything at all like it before, and he’s excited for this first time. It’s going to be something special, if only to him.

Unless of course he manages to screw it up and Himiko realizes that he’s not and was never good enough—

He shakes his head, remembering the moment when her lips met his for the first time. The thoughts keep coming back and haunting him.

Maybe Himiko had a point about confidence training.

Maybe she’s wasting her time.

Izuku is too lost in thought to hear the other kids whispering as he passes through the halls. Not that he pays much attention to any rumors in Aldera anyway; they’re all some new way to dismiss him because of a joint in his toe so there’s never been a point.

For once, though, the rumors about him have nothing to do with his lack of a Quirk.

Izuku opens the door to his homeroom quietly and makes his way to his seat without a word, trying to avoid drawing any attention to himself. Despite his best efforts, he feels everyone’s eyes following him. He swallows.

Nobody says a word. Not even Kacchan—and for once, Kacchan’s expression is unreadable.

Izuku bites his lip and retrieves his classwork from his bag, watching the door for the teacher.

Their teacher arrives right before the bell and jumps into the daily announcements, leaving no one with a chance to say anything to him if they were going to.

Izuku doesn’t know what he did to get everyone’s attention, but he hopes that they get bored of him by the end of the day.

They have not gotten bored of staring at him by the end of the day.

Izuku fidgets under the incredibly unsubtle glances thrown his way through the entire day. At lunch, several people clearly started approaching him only to think better of it and turn back.

And he has no idea why.

The Aldera rumor mill is always running, but there’s an unspoken rule—one among many—that Izuku doesn’t get to hear any of it. He could eavesdrop, he supposes, it would be good practice hiding his presence, but he’s not going to be able to if everyone keeps watching him.

By the time the bell rings at the end of the day, Izuku’s anxiety is through the roof and he’s no closer to knowing what has everyone so interested.

Looking up, he gets the feeling he’s about to find out whether he likes it or not.

Hashimoto slams a palm down on Izuku’s desk, crushing his last hopes of sneaking out of here. Too much attention to hide his presence now, especially with Kawaguchi standing behind him, looking pissed.

Well, shit.

“Alright, Deku, spill it,” Hashimoto says.

“Um,” says Izuku.

Hashimoto rolls his eyes, pulling back his lips enough to show off his sneer. “The girl, genius. How’d a loser like you score a cutie like her?”

Kawaguchi rolls his eyes with a scoff. “’Cutie?’ Sure she looks fine but she’s a total animal.”

Izuku wonders for a moment, only for a moment, how the two of them would react if he told them about Himiko’s Quirk. They clearly hate him for his lack of a Quirk, but they don’t seem bothered by Kacchan being a walking artillery, so they might not care all that much about Himiko’s dietary requirements.

The moment passes.

Izuku doesn’t trust either of them. Hasn’t in about a decade. If he wouldn’t tell them anything about himself, he sure as hell isn’t going to tell them anything about Himiko.

Especially not with the way they talk about her.

“I, uh, don’t know that you mean,” Izuku says, putting his notes into his bag to hide that he’s controlling his breathing. “We met, um, we became friends, and she asked me out—”

“She asked you?” says Kawaguchi. Izuku stands up with a shrug.

“I didn’t really believe it either,” he says, “But she did.”

“What, did you pay her or something?” says Hashimoto.

Izuku freezes before he can take the first step away from his desk. Blood roars in his veins.

“Excuse me?” he says quietly.

“Yeah, that makes way more sense,” Kawaguchi says. “Deku would be desperate enough to buy a chick to look cool. It would explain why a babe like her is totally psycho, too. Attacking people like that.”

Izuku’s hand twitches at his side, remembering the training he’s had with Gran Torino. He manages to hold himself still, thankfully for everyone in the room.

The audacity, complaining about Himiko pinning them to the ground after they made the first move. Izuku’s hands tremble at his sides, but he manages to keep himself in check if for no other reason than that he knows he wouldn’t be able to get away with it.

“You can say what you like about me,” Izuku says, gaze firm. “But you leave her out of this.”

Hashimoto whistles as Izuku strides off. “Did Deku finally grow a spine?”

“Shut it!” Kacchan says. “You’re all pissing me off! Can’t fucking put my shit away with you all yakking it up about Deku’s love life! Who gives a shit about what you two saw?”

Is that what the gossip today has been about?

Izuku closes the classroom door behind him and takes a deep breath. And another.

He slides seamlessly into the crowd, letting a gentle quiet cover him, just like Himiko taught him. He’s not sure if it’s working, but doesn’t have any eyes on him on the way out of the building as he did going in this morning.

Crowds, Himiko told him, are tricky. People tend to glance over them without really seeing any of the people, only the whole mass. Anyone following him would struggle to make him out amongst the other dozens of Aldera students happy to go home for the day. But to the other people in the crowd around him? A single slip, a gentle bump, and they’d all know. It’s for that reason that Himiko prefers to use the technique in open spaces or around the edges like a wallflower.

But Izuku has a lot of practice with not bumping into people—with not having other people bump into him. He has no issues making it all the way out of the building without anyone whispering about him.

He lets out a sigh as he climbs down the steps from the main building. Unfortunately, he let his guard down too soon.

“There you are!” says Kawaguchi, and Izuku has to force down a groan. He keeps walking, hoping that the two of them will get the hint.

Hashimoto’s long fingers wrap around his shoulder, and he knows that it won’t happen.

“Can I help you?” Izuku says darkly, eyes focused.

The two of them stumble for a moment under the weight of his gaze, but recover quickly.

“The hell do you get off, Deku? Walking off on us?”

“I answered your questions,” Izuku says. “I, um, have studying to do.” And training. And possibly cuddling Himiko. But they don’t need to know about that.

Izuku scans over the dwindling crowd of other kids leaving school. Few of them pay him any mind, and the ones that do have no reaction more serious than a huff of air or a roll of the eyes. Not that he’s surprised, but it doesn’t look like any of them are that bothered about Deku being shown his place.

“—are you even listening?” says Hashimoto.

Izuku starts. He hadn’t been, and they always hate when he isn’t paying attention.

“Sorry.”

“Arrogant prick,” Kawaguchi says, dragging Izuku out through the gate. Or at least trying to. It’s more like Izuku awkwardly follows him to keep him from tearing his uniform under Kawaguchi’s grip. Apparently the muscle he’s been building isn’t just for show. “Christ, are you sewing bricks into your shit?”

Izuku doubts either of them have ever so much as stepped foot in a gym. He turns his head to the side and hacks out the reek of tobacco. If the two of them have to smoke like some kind of stereotypical delinquents, he could at least ask they change out of their uniform first!

It’s a good thing he looked aside, too, as when he raises his head again, he sees Himiko even through the faint tears in his eyes.

Ah. This is about to get… interesting…

“Ku!”

Izuku can’t help but smile at the sound of her voice. “Hey, Miko!”

Himiko trots over happily like a cat presenting him with something that it caught. “Oh, and these two are here.” She grins, showing off her fangs. “Sorry, but I gotta take my adorable boyfriend. We’ve got plans.”

“Oh yeah… sure you do,” Kawaguchi says slowly with an obnoxious grin. “Have fun with your Rent-A-Girlfriend, Deku—”

There’s a flash of silver as Himiko closes the distance.

Izuku can’t look away from the knife in her hand.

“Miko…” he says, as Kawaguchi and Hashimoto stand frozen in fear. “Where did you get that?”

Himiko twirls the knife around before slipping it… somewhere. “Oh, Ku, I always have a knife on me!”

Huh.

Izuku’s face heats up.

Unfortunately, however much it makes his heart flutter to see his girlfriend wielding deadly weapons in his defense, that’s still very much A Crime. He doubts either Kawaguchi or Hashimoto will report them, given their own activities (and pride), but he’d prefer it if no one saw and got them in trouble.

“That’s quite enough, Himiko.”

Izuku and Himiko both stiffen as the blood drains from their faces, looking at each other with matching panicked expressions.

There is no way either of them would ever fail to recognize the voice of All Might, even in his smaller form.

“Oh, uh, hi, Dad…” Himiko says, her smile shaky and sheepish. All Might walks over, sparing a quick glance at her before turning his attention to Izuku.

“These two aren’t bothering you are they, Young Midoriya?”

“Um.” Izuku doesn’t want to lie to All Might. “A little?”

“Hm.”

“Wow, this guy is your dad? Talk about apples falling far from the tree,” Hashimoto says. “Did you get lost on the way to a stick figure convention?”

All Might chuckles heartily. “Not bad! Far more creative than the things I heard when I was your age.”

Even in his smaller form, All Might still cuts an intimidating figure. He’s lanky, but he’s tall, and there’s a quiet confidence that makes him seem unshakable. His gaze is intense, sweeping over the boys and quietly soaking in every detail. Pulling them apart. The two finally shrink under the intensity.

“I think the two of you have done enough here,” All Might says sternly. “Run along home now. You have exams coming up.” He turns to Himiko. “And Himiko, you can’t go around pointing knives at people just because they’re being obnoxious.”

Himiko pouts, and Izuku bites his lip before he can accidentally say something about how cute it is.

“Whatever,” Kawaguchi says, rolling his eyes. “It’s just Deku. Nobody gives a shit about putting him in his place.”

“Is that right?” says All Might.

“Yeah. We’re practically doing you a favor keeping him away from your girl.”

“Idiot thinks he can be a Hero,” Hashimoto scoffs. “He doesn’t even have a Quirk! He’s delusional.”

“And I suppose you two know what it means to be a Hero, then?” All Might reaches into his pocket and pulls out his business card, showing it to them. Their eyes boggle. “You see, I happen to work at Might Tower as a secretary. I’ve done quite a lot of personal work for All Might himself, as well as collaborations between various Heroic institutions across Japan. Please, enlighten me on your views about Heroes.”

 It's embarrassing to listen to. Izuku physically cringes at various points as the two of them introduce themselves and gush about how awesome their Quirks are and how they’re going to be ‘total badasses’ who get rich and get lots of girls.

Then again, Kacchan once mentioned that his goal of surpassing All Might would make him one of the richest people on earth, so being completely honest Izuku should have been expecting this.

All Might’s features darken with each passing moment, until at last the two wear themselves out from all the hyping themselves up that they did.

“It seems I have no choice,” All Might says sternly. “Hashimoto and Kawaguchi, was it? Under my authority as a member of Might Tower’s staff, for reasons of Unheroic Conduct and Pointless Acts of Cruelty, I will be blacklisting you both from every Hero Course in Japan.”

There’s a momentary pause as the two process the words.

“What?” Kawaguchi says.

“You haven’t even let go of Young Midoriya and you have the audacity to ask me that?” All Might points to where Kawaguchi’s balled fist clutches the fabric of Izuku’s uniform from when he tried to drag Izuku out here and shove him against the wall. Kawaguchi stares at his hand like he’s only just now realized he had one.

“You—you can’t!” Hashimoto says.

“I can and will. As a matter of fact I can have the paperwork completed within the hour. Not to mention that I happen to have the personal number of Principal Nedzu of UA. By the end of the day no Hero School will want to so much as look at you.”

The two boys shatter to pieces in front of them, staring with wide, blank eyes for several moments, their mouths hanging open.

All Might clears his throat. “…is what I will say if I catch you two bothering your classmates like this again. This behavior is unacceptable, not only for an aspiring Hero, but for a good citizen. Remember, Heroes are not Heroes because of what they can do, but because of what they won’t. And no Hero I know would stand here and allow you to continue harassing others. Run along home and think about that.”

Neither of them needs to be told twice, sprinting off towards the train station like a Villain was after them.

All Might watches them run, shaking his head.

With a sigh, he says, “Are you alright?”

“Uh, yeah,” says Izuku, smoothing the wrinkles in his uniform from where he was grabbed. Himiko nods with a wide grin, and All Might pats her on the back.

“Then I believe it is time we head home. I need to talk with this one—” he ruffles Himiko’s long hair, “—about the appropriate way to deescalate a situation like that.”

“Boo!” Himiko says, smiling. “I didn’t even stab them!”

“That is not as reassuring as you think, Himiko. I’ll see you later, Young Midoriya.”

“I’ll, um, see you later!”

“See ya, Ku!”

“Oh,” All Might stops. “One more thing. Midoriya, if you hurt her, I’ll… um, I’ll make you file my paperwork for—for a whole day!”

Izuku manages to avoid snickering solely by focusing on the pleading expression on Himiko’s face. He nods rapidly. Satisfied, All Might turns to go. Izuku watches Himiko as she leaves, waving back at her when she pauses for a moment to wave before they round the corner and disappear from sight.

Izuku smiles to himself as he turns and jogs off in the direction of his apartment.

Around the corner, still inside the main gates of Aldera, Bakugou Katsuki scoffs.

He’s done way worse than those Extras and nobody gave a shit about that.

“Wonder what fucking stick is up his ass,” he mutters. “Overreacting bastard. Take the hint.”

He jams his hands into his pockets and storms off home.

“I’m sorry about the knife thing,” Yagi Himiko says, fidgeting with her skirt. Dad sighs.

“I’m… I’m proud of you for standing up for Young Midoriya,” he says. “But that was not the way to do it. Someone could have been hurt, possibly even you, and there would have been no need for it. The situation was not yet at a place where violence was necessary.”

Himiko nods. “I was just so mad.”

“I can understand that well. I’m sure Torino has told you about the dangers of letting anger blind you.”

“…yeah.”

“In any case,” dad says, ruffling her hair again, “it seems you are correct that Young Midoriya’s school is mistreating him. For them to do so blatantly in front of the building speaks volumes.”

“What’re we going to do?”

“You’re already doing the right thing by being there for Young Midoriya,” he says. Himiko opens her mouth to disagree, but Dad cuts her off. “I know it feels like you aren’t doing enough, but you’re doing more good than you think. Trust me, I’ve seen situations like this before.” He sighs. “The real issue is how late in the year it is. It will prove difficult to do much without interrupting his education—and potentially his ability to take the Entrance Exam.”

“So we can’t do anything?” Himiko says.

Dad glances aside at her, smile sharp. “I never said that.”

Time Remaining Until UA Entrance Exams: 85 Days

Chapter Text

Yagi Himiko steps into the lobby at Might Tower, not in any way surprised to see Mrs. Midoriya loudly sobbing as she hugs Izuku tightly.

“My baby’s first Christmas with his girlfriend!” she says. “Kids grow up so fast!”

“Mom…” Says Izuku, patting her on the back. “I’m always gonna be your kid, you know that right?”

“Of course I do!” She sniffs. “But this is such a momentous occasion! This is something that only happens once!” She pulls herself back a bit so that she can look Izuku in the face. “But you know you have to graduate High School before you can give me grandkids, right?”

Izuku turns a brighter red than she’s ever seen from him and sputters defensively. “Mom!” We’re—this is—”

Himiko giggles as she skips over to them. “Hi, Ku! Hi, Mrs. Midoriya! Merry Christmas!”

Mrs. Midoriya smiles gently at her as Izuku’s blush fades. “Merry Christmas, Yagi. The two of you are having dinner here, yes?”

“Mhmm!” Himiko says, beaming. “Don’t worry, I’ll be sure to return Ku before it gets too late out.”

“Thank you, dear. Where’s your father?”

Himiko opens her mouth to say, “He’s doing paperwork up in his office,” but doesn’t get the chance before she’s cut off by his booming voice.

“Right here!” Dad says, walking over. He’s not out of breath, but only just. Himiko keeps track of his exploits on the news; All Might made a lot of appearances around Japan for the holiday. She’s not at all surprised that he used up all his time, and that always leaves him breathless. She leans against him, closing her eyes, and Dad rubs circles into her back. “I didn’t want to miss you to leave! Oh, and Merry Christmas to the both of you.”

“Merry Christmas,” Mrs. Midoriya returns.

Dad chuckles heartily. “Sadly, I’m behind on some of my paperwork, so my holiday is… not exactly much of one.”

Behind the reception desk, Mrs. Fujimori cups her hands and calls, “Take a break, Yagi!” Dad smiles sheepishly at her.

“Then I suppose I can’t take up too much of your time,” Mrs. Midoriya says. She turns back to Himiko an Izuku. “I do hope the two of you have fun!”

“We will!” Izuku says. Himiko nods, wrapping an arm around his shoulder.

“I guess we’re off then,” Himiko says. “See you later!”

Dad and Mrs. Midoriya wave at them. Himiko is stopped from waving back as she’s slipping on her poofy pink coat; Izuku never took his own coat off when he came in, so he waves back for her.

The sun has finally begun to dip below the horizon, leaving the city dark enough for the holiday illuminations. Roppongi is bathed in the white lights of Christmas. Almost every surface has been covered in twinkling strands of lights, and the bigger shops and businesses have gone even bigger, with large festive displays.

“Oh,” Izuku says, Himiko glances over in time to see a single snowflake melt against the tip of his nose.

“It’s snowing!” She flashes him a grin, and Izuku matches it.

“So, I, uh, don’t know Roppongi very well,” Izuku says. “Is there anything you wanted to see?”

Himiko hums, thinking. She also isn’t super familiar with the light displays of the area. They’ve both seen Might Tower, obviously, and how the windows have been lined with lights to create a large picture of a pine tree.

“I think there’s a Christmas market not that far from here,” she says.

There is, in fact, a street full of carts and vendors only a few streets away, selling everything from beautiful glass ornaments, so delicate she’s afraid to touch them, to cute bears and other stuffed or wooden decorations, to hot spiced ciders.

Himiko buys an apple cider with pomegranate juice for both of them.

The cider warms her hands and stomach, but Izuku’s grateful smile warms her heart. She giggles to herself. When did she get so cheesy? Oh well. It’s not that big of a deal.

They make light conversation as they bounce from vendor to vendor, looking over all the various crafts and goodies for sale. Slowly they make their way down the entire street, taking the time to look at each pop-up shop in turn. Neither of them buy anything after the cider—not even that adorable strawberry shortcake that was oh so tempting—but the various holiday delights are fun to look at.

“So what do we want to do next?” Izuku says.

Himiko gasps. “The Sakuraza! I almost forgot!” It’s not far from Might Tower, luckily, but she can’t believe that it slipped her mind. “C’mon!”

“Miko, wait, my cider!” Izuku says, keeping careful hold of his paper cup as she grabs his hand and takes off with him.

The Sakuraza had to be redone following the Dawn of Quirks—Himiko’s latest history homework from Dad has that information fresh in her mind. The original long lane of sakura trees had to be replanted after the chaos settled. Only a single tree had survived the chaos, and as it had continued to grow over the years, that giant, ancient tree is now the centerpiece of the Sakuraza.

The lane is beautiful in the springtime, when all the blossoms are in bloom and floating on the wind like a shojo manga, but for Christmas, the trees are lit up in a brilliant star white.

Himiko knows they’ve gotten close to the display by the crowd. She and Izuku are far from the only couple out and about on the single most romantic day of the year, and the Sakuraza is a popular destination.

“Excuse us!” she says cheerfully as she and Izuku navigate between the couples coming in and out of the Sakuraza.

“Oh, um, sorry, excuse me,” Izuku adds, squeezing away from people. They’re so close that the light is visibly pouring around the corner ahead of them, but it’s hard to see through all the people.

It’s a lot of work but eventually they manage to worm their way around and through the people and into the Sakuraza.

Himiko’s breath hitches in her throat, and she feels Izuku’s hand stiffen in her grip. Her eyes widen, better reflecting all the twinkling light shining off of the trees.

“Whoa…” she says.

“Incredible…”

The trees are breathtaking. Each one has been carefully wrapped in a strand of blue-white lights, covering the entire street in a silver glow. And of course, the tallest tree Himiko’s ever seen stretches up overhead, covered in the same lights as all the others, as if it’s watching over the entire Sakuraza.

In the distance, the buildings tall enough for it are lit up in their own Christmas illuminations, contrasting the soft silver light bathing her and Izuku, leaving the entire city feeling like something out of a fairy tale.

As the soft snow lazily falls, drifting down on top of the arious couple enjoying the sights, Himiko leans her head on Izuku shoulders.

“I love you,” she says.

“I love you too, Himemiko.”

They stay there together, huddled together, hand in hand, in a moment that stretches for eternity.

“Oh, Himiko,” says Mrs. Fujimori as the two of them walk into the lobby. “Mr. Amano called; everything is set up for you two.” She smiles kindly at her and Izuku.

“Thank you!” Himiko says, beaming, as she and Izuku slip their coats off and knock the snow from their boots. Himiko practically skips towards the elevators, Izuku close behind.

“So what’s this about getting set up?”

Himiko giggles. “Dad and I got Mite’s Café to whip us up a cute traditional dinner!”

“Wait, really?” Izuku says as the elevator doors close behind him. “It always takes Mom hours to get any fried chicken!”

Himiko doesn’t get the chance to respond before the elevator shoots off at Mach Twenty. They both lurch, taking a moment to regain their bearings. By the time Himiko opens her mouth to respond, they’ve arrived at her floor.

“Well,” she says with a grin, “Your mom doesn’t have whole café in the building or All Might’s funding.”

“That’s true!” laughs Izuku.

What she’d left out is what she had done to her dining area. Her hardwood table now has a fine tablecloth and a few unlit candles secured in small holders. The curtains on the neighboring windows have been pulled back so that they could see all of Roppongi lit up for the season, with the softly drifting snow silhouetted by the lights.

The room itself is dim now that the sun has long set, perfect for the candlelight.

Izuku slowly looks around the room as he follows her in. “Whoa…”

“There’s a coatrack over here,” Himiko says as she carefully puts up her own. Izuku follows suit.

Now that his hands are free, she takes one and leads him in, sitting him down at the dining table.

“Fried chicken,” Izuku says, looking at the candles. “The most romantic of dinners.”

“Ooh, sass!” Himiko giggles. “Don’t make me come over there and shush you!”

“Don’t—don’t threaten me with a good time!”

Himiko slips around and kisses his neck. “Close! You’re getting better!”

Izuku rubs the back of his neck. “That’s all thanks to you!”

Himiko runs her tongue over her fangs. She wants his blood so badly right now, but she’ll wait. Dinner first, then dessert.

“Wait right here!” she says, darting off to the kitchen.

As she thought, Mr. Amano saw her hot plate and set up the serving tray on it. Not hot enough to risk a fire, but enough to keep the heat in, especially when Mite’s Café uses metal serving trays with the cute domed lids like she sees in movies.

Himiko grabs her oven mitts so that she doesn’t burn herself carefully carries the platter out to the dining area.

“Don’t,” she says gently as Izuku moves to help her. “It’s hot!”

Despite her cheer, this is Himiko’s first time seeing the food herself, and even though she knows full well that the chefs at Might Tower are some of the best in Japan, a part of her is worried.

She places it down on a rack she’d set out to keep it off the tablecloth and removes the lid. Steam rolls out of the platter, and the scent of chicken washes over her, instantly evaporating the last of her lingering worries.

“Ta da!”

Mite’s Café have truly outdone themselves. Eight full meals of fried chicken, each looking tantalizingly good, the crust perfectly golden and the wonderful scent making her drool.

“Wow…” Izuku says, eyes shining. “All this?”

Himiko laughs. “Yeah, eight meals! You know, two for you and six for me!”

Izuku snorts before joining her in full-body laughter.

“Yeah, that sounds like my Himemiko,” he says, wiping a tear from his eye. “You really like food, huh?”

“Gotta feed my Quirk somehow,” she says unashamed. “Besides, it’s so yummy!”

“I can’t argue with that logic.”

Much like her, Izuku needs to eat more too thanks to the training they’re doing for UA. She didn’t get him a second meal for no reason.

The two of them descend on their food with ravenous ferocity, barely kept in check by their table manners. It doesn’t take them long at all to strip the 48 pieces of chicken to the bone, even with the sides Himiko made to slow them down. Some bread rolls and vegetables are no match for two teenagers.

Izuku leans back on his seat with a comfortable sigh, wiping his chin.

“Oh, Ku, you missed some,” Himiko says, coming around beside him.

“I did? Where?”

“Right here.”

Himiko pulls forward and kisses Izuku. Izuku sighs dreamily and gently pulls her in. After a few seconds, they part lips.

Himiko’s grin stretch wide as she nuzzles her face against his. Warmly, she breathes, “Blood?”

“I was wondering when you were gonna ask.”

Himiko slips around beside him. Izuku leans his head away, exposing his neck and all the delicious blood within. He slides his shirt to the side for her, and Himiko opens her jaws wide.

Her fangs sink carefully into his flesh, and Izuku moans softly; Himiko’s own satisfied sigh is absorbed by his skin. Drops of his blood dribble into her mouth, pooling on her tongue.

He tastes even better now that the two of them are together. It makes no sense to her, but she has no desire to question it. All she needs to know is that Izuku’s blood is the best thing she’s ever tasted, and she’s so happy that he loves her too.

Finally, she releases, pulling her fangs carefully back out of Izuku’s neck. As much as she longs for more, she doesn’t want to hurt him, and he needs his blood. Himiko swallows the last mouthful and runs her tongue gently over the pinpricks, eliciting a shiver from him.

“Like it?” she says.

“I, um, I understand why it’s called the ‘kiss of the vampire,’ yeah,” Izuku says, idly running a hand over where she bit him.

Himiko giggles, nudging him with her shoulders. “I’m glad you’re as sweet as you taste.” She giggles ever harder as Izuku turns bright red and sputters through his shaky smile. Himiko presses her lips against his neck, giving him a quick kiss.

“Well, um, I, uh, I like tasting you too,” Izuku says.

Himiko sputters, then guffaws, bending over and supporting herself with her knees as she howls with laughter.

“Ku!” she manages. “That was so bad!”

Izuku tries to defend himself, but he can’t form any coherent words even as Himiko continues to laugh.

“It’s alright,” she says, giving him another quick peck. “I thought it was cute.”

Izuku blushes fiercely. “Really…?”

“Uh huh. It was so… you. Like, it was super cheesy, but it was cute how much you meant it.”

“Then, uh, where did you learn how to flirt?”

“I read a whole bunch of romance books when I was a kid. They were… you know, Normal to like? Me and my… my friends would talk about them sometimes.”

Maekawa was always super excited to talk about those books. She would talk at length about them, no matter how cheesy Himiko thought they were—not that she’d ever bring herself to admit that. Liking them was Normal so she forced herself to be a fan. Admittedly, she’s still fond of some of them.

“It wasn’t like those books at all though,” Himiko says with a sigh. “In the books, falling in love was so sudden—you saw someone, and everything stops. There’s cherry blossoms, the light reflects like a halo, your hearts beat out of your chest. They took one look and that was it! Love! But… it wasn’t like that at all.” She sighs dreamily. “It was a million little moments. It was everything!”

“Yeah,” Izuku says softly. “Yeah. It’s—it’s like falling. Falling in love. The ground falls away and you just keep plummeting. It’s not a… it’s not like suddenly hitting the ground.”

Himiko hides a snicker at the fact that Izuku’s blush hasn’t receded yet. She wraps an arm around his shoulder and pulls him in closer, squeezing the two of them together gently.

After a moment, Izuku says, “I guess we should do the whole gift thing now.”

“Mm! I’ve been waiting!” Himiko springs up, bouncing on her heels. “Go get your thing! And meet me in the TV room!”

She darts off from the table, up the stairs to her loft area, grabs the wrapped box off her desk, and rushes back down the stairs without stopping. By the time Izuku’s come over hiding something behind his back, she’s turned the television on to a multi-hour looping fireplace.

“Ambience!” she says with a wide smile, which Izuku matches. “I have set the mood!”

He snorts. “You sure did. Well, can I, um, have a seat by the fire with my princess, my Himemiko?”

Himiko gives him a quick peck on the cheek. “That was better.”

She sits down beside him and they waste no time snuggling in closer to each other, sharing their body heat in front of the fake fire.

After a few minutes of comfortable silence, Izuku shifts, pulling the gift out and holding it for her to take. It’s a simple, thin box, and she recognizes the dimensions as a Shift game. It’s wrapped in cute crimson paper with a blood red bow.

He smiles brighter than any of the lights they’ve seen today. “Merry Christmas, Himemiko.”

Himiko squeals, snatching the game from him. In a single smooth movement, she pulls the wrapping paper off, revealing the cover of the game.

Himiko gasps. “Live Life Alive?” She knows she’s talked about it because she talks a lot of game stuff with Izuku, but she didn’t realize he knew she was interested in it.

“You, uh, you were looking at it back when we were at the mall with Hagakure that one time.” Izuku scratches the back of his neck.

Himiko snorts. “Ku, that was before we were dating! You were already looking for stuff for me then?”

“Well, uh.” Her boyfriend turns a delightfully cute shade of red and Himiko can’t resist leaning over and giving him a quick peck on the cheek.

“Thanks so much, Ku!” she says, grinning wide to show off her fangs. “I can’t wait to play it!”

“I see how it is,” Izuku says with a shaky smile. “I’m not as good as the games I give you.”

Himiko’s grin sharpens.

“Oh, Ku…” she purrs, “You know you’re better. In fact…”

Before he can react, Himiko grabs him and pulls him in for a kiss. Passion soars as they melt into each other’s embrace.

For once, she pulls away first, softly pressing her forehead against his.

“As much as I’d love to keep kissing you,” she says, “I haven’t given you your gift yet.”

“Was that not it?”

“Well… I could drink from your neck again. I know we both love that.”

Izuku blushes, but his smile never wavers.

Slowly, she pulls away, leaning over to grab her present from where she left it when she kissed Izuku. It’s larger than the one Izuku got, and a bit more awkward to hold, but she’s careful with it as she brings it around and hands it off to Izuku.

“Thank you!” he says, beaming, and sets to work methodically undoing the wrap job. Himiko snorts as he does his best to preserve the paper. Eventually he’s completely freed it from the paper bindings without tearing anything. Pulling the paper aside, Izuku gasps.

It’s a box of quality art supplies, mainly pencils and paper, as well as a handful of other tools and guides.

“Oh wow…” he says. “Thank you so much!”

Himiko giggles. She’d been a little worried about getting that for him. It’s silly, but she wasn’t sure how much he liked the drawing part of his analysis work even if he’d made her that Miruko poster. “I’m glad you liked it! Merry Christmas—”

Izuku darts forward and presses his lips against hers. Himiko’s eyes blow wide for a moment before she sags in relief, pouring herself into him.

“Merry Christmas, Miko.”

“Merry Christmas, Ku.”

Time Remaining Until UA Entrance Exams: 63 Days

Chapter Text

Gran Torino is kind enough to give them New Years as a holiday before he resumes his schedule of kicking their asses. And, of course, of honing their skills against someone more on their level.

Each other.

“Begin!”

Midoriya Izuku lunges forward, feinting Kacchan’s signature right hook. Himiko raises a hand to block. She sees through the feint at the last microsecond, sweeping her arm up to deflect. He bats away her counterstrike, shifting to the side and letting her other punch slide past his face by centimeters.

Their strikes are fast, fierce, and focused. Each strike is aimed to land a disabling blow—or at least a distracting one. Hard to recover from a decent hit to the face before the follow up.

Himiko slams a jab into Izuku’s chest. He grits his teeth, refusing to stagger, but his own punch is thrown off by the hit, and he only manage to graze her cheek with his knuckles. She steps back. Izuku presses the advantage, swinging in a kick at her side that Himiko barely ducks under.

He pivots, aiming another hit at her jaw. Himiko weaves aside and smashes her palm into the same place she’d hit him before. Izuku grunts, but he can’t recover before she grabs his extended arm and wrenches him to the mat.

“That’s the match,” Torino says, waving his cane down like a flag. “Excellent work, Yagi.” He walks over to them as Himiko helps him off the floor. “Midoriya, you’re mixing up your moves better, and you aren’t telegraphing as badly as you were at the start. Good work. I’m glad to see that you aren’t dumb enough to try and kick an opponent who’s ready for you. And both of you have gotten better about dodging.”

Izuku cringes at the reminder of the many, many lectures they’ve both heard about how you only need to avoid an attack by an inch, not a foot.

“Otherwise, the two of you wouldn’t be able to get in much practice,” Torino says, and Izuku belatedly realizes they might be getting another. “Every fight is an endurance battle. Your job is to take down the opponent as efficiently as possible, wasting as little of your own energy as you can.”

“Yes, sir,” Izuku and Himiko says at the same time.

“Cheeky brats.”

Izuku snorts, sparing a quick glance at Himiko. His brow furrows. Something on her cheek writhes and disappears.

“Um, Himiko?” he says. “You’ve, uh, got something on your—” he points to the spot, and she wipes a finger there.

“Oh,” she says, looking at her hand. “That’s my Quirk?”

Izuku leans in, peering closer. Her finger is stained gray like the sludge he saw from her before.

“That’s where I hit you, isn’t it?” he says. “How does it feel?”

“Great!” she says. “Doesn’t hurt at—” she blinks twice and raises her hand to rub her cheek. “Doesn’t hurt at all…”

She lifts her hand, revealing the unblemished skin beneath. There’s no sign of the bruise that should have been there.

“Well I’ll be damned,” Torino mutters, but Izuku isn’t paying any attention to that. This is the second large development with her Quirk in the past few months.

She introduced her Quirk as the ability to transform into someone via consumption of their blood, which is stockpiled and ‘burned’ out of the body through her Quirk, most likely related to the production of the strange liquid substance that coats her to mold around her body. Her upgraded sense of smell makes tracking blood sources considerably easier, but is largely unrelated to her Quirk, almost like a secondary mutation that suddenly strengthened dramatically.

This development suggests that she is now unconsciously repairing damage to her body through her Quirk, something that is in no way related to her previously established method of coating herself in a new form.

Further questions: does this mean her Quirk’s primary mechanism has changed? What are the limits of her regenerative abilities? Could she replace a missing limb?

Most pressingly: what has caused her Quirk to drastically change in such a short time?

Hypothesis one, regular access to blood previously denied. Unlikely, such development would suggest growing pains that do not appear to be present in the subject.

Hypothesis two, Quirk awakening. Unclear. Records of awakenings are scarce. However, all have the common thread of a fear of death or similar major stimuli. Surely she would have undergone awakening before she was adopted in that case.

Data inconclusive.

Izuku’s snapped out of his thoughts by Torino’s dry laughter.

“You look like you got some heavy thoughts there, kid.”

“Oh,” Izuku says, looking up, “I was just thinking about her Quirk, and why it’s so different all of a sudden.”

Torino grunts noncommittally. “Quirks are poorly understood at the best of times. Who knows?”

Himiko looks away.

“In any case, I think that’s enough hand-to-hand for today.” With a grin, Torino says, “What was the final score again?”

“Two all,” Izuku and Himiko say together.

“Heh. No wonder you brats fell head over heels.” Torino rolls his neck. “But now that you’ve both got your fundamentals down, we should talk about the Entrance Exam.”

Izuku nods, heart pounding in his ears. It’s a little less than two months away at this point, and he doesn’t feel ready. He doesn’t know if he’ll ever feel ready. Sure, he and Himiko have bulked up considerably over the past seven or eight months, and Torino’s taught them a lot about movement and throwing punches, but he still can’t help but compare himself to Kacchan.

Kacchan’s a natural-born. He’s confident, self-assured, and strong.

Everything Izuku isn’t.

And then there’s Himiko. She’s fast and wiry, and she can smell where people are. There is absolutely no way that she isn’t getting into UA, even without considering who her dad is.

He knows that those two will pass the entrance exams, but himself? That’s not something he’s sure about.

Izuku jumps as Himiko’s arms slide over his shoulders.

“Ku…” she says. “I can see you getting lost in your own head. My adorable boyfriend better not be thinking something dumb about how he’s not getting into UA.”

“But I—”

Himiko cuts him off with a quick kiss.

“Ah, ah, ah,” she says, tapping a finger against his lips. “No saying mean things about yourself!”

“I like your style, kid,” Torino says, tapping his cane against Himiko’s leg, “But you gotta reinforce it too.”

“Ooh!” She turns back to Izuku. “You mean I gotta tell him how cute and smart and awesome he is?”

Izuku’s face heat sup so much, he thinks he’s about to combust.

“Something like that. Now c’mon, we’ve got fighting styles to discuss.”

Torino wanders over the bench against the wall, flinging two water bottles over at them, which they catch easily.

“Fighting styles?” Izuku parrots. “I thought that was something we’d learn at UA.”

“That’s the tricky bit, you actually have to get in to UA.” He waves a hand. “I’m sure they’ve changed things up since I taught there—”

“You taught at UA?!”

Torino whacks him on the shin. “Yeah, I did, now don’t interrupt. It’s been decades since then, but I’ll bet the basics are still the same. They want to make sure you won’t die the moment they throw your ass to the wolves, and that means you’ll have to fight.”

That… doesn’t surprise Izuku all that much. The fact that he’s at a disadvantage because of his lack of a Quirk is nothing new; that’s the whole reason for the training he’s been doing. So that he can keep pace with and against the other 80%. Besides, Torino wouldn’t have been training them in how to fight if he didn’t think they would need to know that.

“You, kid,” Torino says, pointing at Izuku, “You’re going to need weapons.”

“Am I… can I do that? I mean, they’ll let me bring weapons to the Exam?”

“They sure do.” Torino grins. “Long as you make sure to register it at the door before you go in, they let you use just about anything, some questions asked.”

Himiko cocks her head like a cat. “Some?”

“If you get your hands on a gun, they’ll probably want to know how you did it, but a lot of Quirks out there need something to work,” Torino says. “You got your Elemental Quirks that can’t generate, only manipulate. You got the unwieldy Quirks that need a focus. There’s all kinds. And speaking of guns, your biggest weakness is going to be ranged combat.”

Izuku nods. He’s been learning hand-to-hand combat, but he’s hardly going to menace someone at a distance with his Quirklessness. That being said…

“I don’t think a gun is a good idea,” Izuku says, voice shaking. “They’ve, uh, they have a reputation. Snipe has a Quirk that, um, gives him some leniency, but…”

“You’ve got a point,” Torino says. “That Snipe guy gets away with it thanks to his aesthetic, but you’re Quirkless. You’re gonna have people out for blood your whole damn career.” Izuku winces. “So you have to pick your battles carefully.”

Izuku hums.

Torino’s right. He does need some kind of Support equipment if he’s going to make up for what he lacks. He himself said so in their first training when he thought to use poison gas against Torino’s hypothetical.

There are a lot of Support items out there that could really help him out. Caltrops see plenty of use for a reason, and knives are versatile. But neither of those have the range he needs, and throwing knives are probably too… lethal. Torino might’ve said that they’ll have taken a life within two years of graduation, but that doesn’t mean he should run headfirst towards that idea.

Whips have some decent reach to them, and can be used for detaining someone. He’s seen a few Heroes use whips, most notably Midnight, but he’s not sure he can see himself using one. Throwing stars have the knife problem.

Maybe he’s thinking about this the wrong way. If it’s a Support Item, then it can be customized, or specifically designed to be safer to use. In that case, he might be able to use bombs, provided they’re flashbangs or release sedative gasses or something.

“Heroic… assassin…” he murmurs, thumb to his lip.

That was what Torino called him back then. Izuku’s never put much thought into what his Hero Costume or Persona will be; or at least not since he was six and coming up with names like ‘All Might Jr.’

Himiko can never find out about that.

But maybe he could lean into that description that Torino gave him.

“A crossbow,” he says. Torino looks up at him, and Izuku flushes. “I mean, um—well, a crossbow will do the same job as a gun, but it doesn’t seem like a gun, because it, uh, it’s a bow and arrow and even though those are still dangerous people don’t think of them as being as dangerous as guns and—"

“Breathe, kid.”

Izuku nods, taking in a quick lungful of air. “And I can get trick arrows, too.”

Torino snorts. “If you weren’t a zygote, I’d wonder if you were interested in those old Hero comic books from before Quirks.”

“Heroes before Quirks?”

“Long story,” Torino shakes his head. “Anyway. This idea of yours… I think it’s got some merit to it. Just one teensy issue.”

Himiko looks back and forth between Torino and Izuku. “Do you have a crossbow?”

Izuku sighs. “That’s the problem.”

“Now, I’m sure Toshinori can get you the fanciest damn crossbow the world’s ever seen,” Torino says. “But we’ve got about seven weeks, and I have no idea how long that’ll take to get here. Which means there’s a good chance you’ll have to figure out how to use it on your own.”

“Right.” Izuku forces down the urge to click his tongue in displeasure. This could be a serious issue, if he ends up needing it for the exam. He might be able to get some practice by trying out a local survival game, but he’s fairly confident that airsoft weapons will handle wildly differently from the weapon he’d be practicing for.

If he could get access to a shooting range, that’d be something at least, but that’s not easy for most Pro Heroes to do, so a Junior High kid wouldn’t even make it far enough to be turned away at the door.

“Toshinori might be able to arrange something for you,” Gran continues, “But I don’t know any Heroes with experience in that kind of weapon, so don’t expect a teacher.”

Presumably, a crossbow isn’t all the similar to Snipe’s guns either. There’s Airjet, that Hero who works in Mustafu, but his guns shoot blasts of air from his Quirk, which isn’t all that much like a real projectile either.

“Range… might be a problem for later,” Izuku says. “Oh! Um, don’t get me wrong, I’d love to have a crossbow, but, uh, not every Hero has ranged options. Like Miruko! So I don’t think range will be necessary for the exam! So, uh, maybe I should focus on a close-range weapon that I can learn…?”

Gran nods. “Alright. You got any ideas?” Himiko raises her hand. “That aren’t knives?” Himiko lowers her hand. “Knives are useful, yeah, but you already know all about that. Hell, you’re probably going to learn some knife combat at UA at some point, in case you need something to fall back on. But we’re not talking about that—I want to know if you have an idea for a weapon that will become your brand. A weapon you’ll have to be confident in because once you start using it, people will expect it from you. Learn to counter you.”

Izuku swallows.

“I… I think… I think I want to use tonfa.”

“Simple and concealable. Good pick to start with, but as I mentioned, you should pick up at least some other fighting skill in case people target you to exploit that one.”

“I was thinking explosives,” Izuku says. Huh, like Kacchan, that’s funny. “I could, uh, have trick bombs, like smoke or flashbangs or poison gas—”

“Clever. Easy to mix into a fighting style or to set up an ambush. I’d prefer another proper weapon, but we’re shooting for the Entrance Exam, not getting you fully licensed. I can live with that.”

“Does Might Tower have any, uh, weapon experts?” Izuku asks.

“Nah.” Gran Torino waves a hand dismissively, then pauses. “Or, I don’t think so. I guess it could.” He clears his throat. “But that’s not all that important. Remember what I said earlier? I used to teach at UA, and that was back before All Might went and ushered in his Era of Peace. I’m a bit rusty, but I still know my way around a lot of weapons.”

Gran’s signature smirk sharpens, and ice runs down Izuku’s spine. “You better get ready for hell, brat.”

Izuku matches his grin.

Mastering multiple weapons sounds like it’s going to be even harder than any of the training he’s done with Gran Torino up until this point, but at the same time, Izuku feels his excitement mounting. His identity as a Hero is already to starting to form, to take the shape that will define him for the rest of his life.

Even so, as caught up as he is in the rush, he doesn’t miss that Gran never once asks Himiko what kind of weapon she wants to use.

Yagi Himiko closes her eyes, a smile on her face, as she lets the wind brush over her skin. The local weather is fighting against the sea breeze from the ocean, weakening the smell of sea salt, but the ocean is winning. Her long hair flutters back behind her.

The waves lapping against the shore of Takoba Beach is such a cute, soothing sound, almost as relaxing as listening to Izuku ramble passionately about Quirks. The setting sun is warm on her face.

Maybe it would be smarter to do this somewhere else, like Might Tower, but she’s happy to indulge Dad’s sentimentality. She has to admit, she’s very fond of this beach herself. That day she and Izuku spent playing in the soft sands once they had finally cleared away all the garbage is one of her happiest memories.

She puts a hand over her chest and smiles at the warmth of One For All. The quiet presence is always there. Always grounding her. Reassuring her even at her lowest. She’s so happy that she accepted Dad’s offer and took the Quirk. This tangible connection to him, this representation of all that she’s accomplished and how far she’s come—she loves it!

“Well, Himiko,” Dad says. “This is it. I’m sure that you’re ready, but are you? If you wish to wait a little longer, I wouldn’t blame you.”

“I’m sure,” she says, giving a sharp nod. “There’s not a whole lot of time left to wait, you know?”

“Perhaps not, but there is still some. But if you are sure, then I won’t stop you,” says Dad.

“So… um… how do I use One For All?”

Dad hesitates for a moment. “First of all, don’t forget that you’re capable of holding One For All, but only just. There’s a reason I told you not to use it these past few months.”

“I remember,” Himiko says, reminding herself that having no limbs outweighs how cute it would be to see all that blood.

“What that means is that you’ll still likely take some backlash from using One For All. Hopefully, these months you’ve had it without using it have helped your body adapt to the immense power you now have, but to be honest, I can’t be certain that having it without using it has helped.”

It has. Himiko knows that beyond a shadow of a doubt, from all the times she’s felt it pulse within her body. Reassuring her.

As if on cue, One For All thrums in her chest, like someone massaging her shoulders and loosening the tension she hadn’t noticed.

“So how do I do the thing?”

“When you’re ready,” Dad says, “Take a deep breath, clench your buttcheeks, and from the bottom of your heart, yell, ‘Smash!!’”

Himiko blinks. “That’s it?”

“That’s it,” says Dad, scratching the back of his head.

“Okay then.”

She closes her eyes, leaning her head back as she breathes in deeply. Her heart is roaring in her chest from anticipation, but she tunes it out.

Himiko takes up a stance like Gran taught her and pauses. She can feel it, the torrent of power racing through her arm out from that warm core in her chest. Her body burns, her skin starting to glow orange.

Power, raw and wild, courses through her blood. Her body ignites like an inferno, blasting away a layer of sand beneath her feet. Her long untamed curls bluster behind her, buffeted by the sheer might of One For All.

She swings her fist forward like she’s sparring. “Smash!!”

The air explodes.

 Sand flies everywhere and the ocean in front of her parts, sending massive waves dozens of meters high crashing away from the shore.

The roaring winds shred the sleeve off of her jacket.

But Himiko can’t process anything—not the sounds, the familiar scents of blood, the power she released—through her pain.

Himiko screams.

Time Remaining Until UA Entrance Exams: 49 Days

Chapter Text

Himiko collapses onto her knees, sinking into the soft sand of Takoba Beach. Her arm hangs limp and discolored. From the shoulder down, her arm is twisted and mangled, covered in bruises.

She cries out again, her throat already raw from screaming.

Never in her life has Himiko felt so much pain. It’s agonizing, as if her arm itself is physically rejecting her. Every nerve is burning or stinging or aching, and every twinge sent through her arm from the pain sets it all off again.

“Himiko!” says Dad, dropping down beside her. She grits her teeth, looking up at him through teary eyes. She’s barely able to make out his concerned expression.

“Hurts…” she forces out. “Dad…”

Her weight gives out, and even crouching on the sand, she goes limp, falling against Dad’s chest with a quiet whimper.

“Miko!”

Himiko twitches at the familiar call, cracking open an eye. She catches it—a faint scent that had been upwind of her.

“…Ku?” she says. “Is that you?”

“Young Midoriya?” Dad says.

Himko grimaces. The pain in her arm has changed into something else. Not pain, but it’s still really uncomfortable.

“Himiko, what happened?” Izuku says, crouching beside her, brushing a hand against her check.

“I… I…” she squeezes her eyes shut, feeling the tears sliding down her cheeks.

“I’ll explain later,” Dad says, scooping her up in his arms. “First, Himiko needs medical attention. UA isn’t far; Recovery Girl can help with this.” He stands, cradling her carefully, Izuku following close behind him.

Himiko bites her lip, feeling something crawling on her skin. She risks another glance at her busted limb. Her eyes widen.

“Dad—wait.”

“What?” Dad pauses for a moment before continuing his long strides. “Himiko, right now you need help—"

“Look,” she says.

He does.

The familiar clay of her Quirk writhes and twists around her arm, coating it like a cast.

She can feel Dad tense, hear his sharp intake of breath. “Himiko, what—”

Izuku gasps. “Are you—like earlier—but then—a whole arm?”

“Slow down, Young Midoriya, do you know what’s happening?”

Izuku nods. “Yeah… Himiko’s Quirk started healing her recently. Or, I think it was recently, I wasn’t really paying much attention, it could’ve been because she’d been getting enough blood now and she could always have done this—"

“You’re saying that Himiko can regenerate?”

“I think?” Izuku says. “I, um, haven’t really tested that for obvious reasons…”

Himiko grunts, shifting her weight. “It doesn’t hurt anymore.”

“That could just mean that your nervous system is shot,” says Dad. “We should get you to… to…”

He trails off as Himiko’s Quirk recedes back into her skin, wriggling away and disappearing, revealing her arm.

Her perfect, unblemished arm.

She raises it experimentally, turning it over and looking at it.

“Wow…” she says, closing her hand.

The pain has completely vanished, and it’s like her arm was never hurt at all. She doesn’t even have so much as a chipped nail.

“Remarkable,” says Dad, eyes wide. He blinks a few times, recollecting himself, and clears his throat. “We’re still going to see Recovery Girl. I want a professional to examine you before we declare this to be completely healed.”

“Okay…” Himiko says, melting into his arms.

Dad shifts her and she jolts. Before she can ask what he’s doing, Dad shifts her up and over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry and grabs Izuku.

“Oh, we’re going the fast way,” Himiko says, glancing at where Izuku’s been slung over Dad’s other shoulder.

“That we are!” Dad says, suddenly bursting into his larger form. “Hold on tight! Close your eyes and mouth!”

She does, but that’s not enough to prevent her ears from popping when Dad launches himself up from the ground and high into the air.

(She assumes they’re high up, anyway. She doesn’t dare open her eyes to look, but she thinks she feels a cloud brushing her skin.)

After an eternal few seconds, they smack back down, sending out a burst of pressure as Dad lands.

“Here we are!” Dad says. “UA High School!”

Himiko slowly opens her eyes.

Towering above them is a massive building, consisting of four square towers, connected by bridges at the middle.

Dad shifts, lowering them both back to the ground.

“Whoa…” says Izuku. “It’s—it’s like I always dreamed.”

Himiko doesn’t think she’s ever seen UA before, now that she thinks about it. She doesn’t know what she expected. Maybe something like her old school building from before—from before. But UA is massive. She’s struck breathless by the sheer scale of the building. And then she realizes they aren’t even near it yet; they’re still outside the outer wall.

“Wow…”

A buzzing sound draw both of their attention. They look over to where Dad is, standing in front of the gate, pushing a button on a small box.

“Ah, Principal Nedzu, sir,” Dad says. “I need to escort this young woman with me to Recovery Girl. She broke her arm earlier, but her Quirk unexpectedly repaired the damage.”

There’s a pause, and then a voice comes out of the box, but Himiko is too far away to make out what they’re saying.

“Yes, sir.”

More talking. She takes a cautious step closer.

“How did you—never mind, I’m better off not knowing. Would you please let us in?”

There’s a short pause, followed by a buzzing sound. Dad turns back to Himiko and Izuku, smiling wide.

“Well then!” he says. “That’s been sorted! Come on, you two!”

“Oh,” Izuku breathes. “Oh. We’re—we’re going into UA.”

Himiko stiffens.

It hadn’t occurred to her, either, but this is the goal. This is where the two of them have spent all this time aiming for. Training for. This is where the two of them will be going to learn how to be Heroes. Everything the two of them have done since April has been building towards making it in here.

And now they’re going to just walk in. Like they already belong there.

UA is, in a word, gigantic.

The building stretches up and up and up overhead into the sky. Himiko feels like she could climb forever and still not reach the top of the building.

The inside is no different. The rooms are several times even Dad’s height, leaving her feeling miniscule in comparison. Like the building is gaping open to swallow her whole. She shudders, pressing closer to Dad’s side.

The hallways wind and twist, almost wrapping in on themselves as she follows close behind Dad, Izuku holding her hand. Her heart roars in her ears as she scans over each wall and surface. It’s clearly a school building, with classrooms and closets and supply rooms, but everything is exaggerated beyond belief.

She forces down a whimper, shrinking in on herself a little more.

She’s not supposed to be here yet—not for another few weeks.

Everything here is so much! So big!

Like it’s for someone more grown-up than her.

“We’re here,” says Dad, sliding open a door. Himiko cranes her neck to see the infirmary sign hanging high overhead.

She lets out a small noise, stepping into the room behind her dad.

It’s not a very large room, other than the dizzyingly high ceiling. The walls are a smooth gray, plastered with various medicinal posters and diagrams. Most of the room is taken up by the two beds with dividing curtains between them.

At the desk sits a small woman in a white coat over a red dress with a white stripe down the center. She has some kind of visor over her eyes, with a large pink section wrapping around the sides of her head.

“Yagi,” the woman says threateningly.

Dad raises his hands defensively. “Now, Recovery Girl—”

“Don’t you ‘now Recovery Girl’ me, Yagi!” She waves a needle-shaped cane at him. “It’s bad enough that you refused to rest after those surgeries, but now you’re teaching your successor to be as idiotically reckless as you! The way I hear it, she’s lucky to be a regenerator because your methods didn’t work!”

“Can this wait until after you’ve examined her?” Dad pleads.

The woman—Recovery Girl, apparently—harumphs.

“You’re right. Well, come on then, get on the bed!” She gestures to the nearby cot, and Himiko hurries over to it, not wanting to risk getting her own scolding. She shoots a nervous glance over at Izuku, and he smiles shakily at her.

Silently, Himiko mouths, “Who is she?” and gestures at where Recovery Girl is careful examining her arm.

“Oh!” Izuku lights up. “That’s Recovery Girl, the Youthful Heroine! She’s been at UA for, um… a while? And she’s the nurse here! Her Quirk lets her speed up her patients’ healing process!”

“But doing so drains their stamina,” Recovery Girl says.

“Yeah, if someone doesn’t have the stamina, her Quirk can take too much from them and kill them.”

Himiko pales. To think such a useful, kind Quirk could be so dangerous.

“Hm.” Recovery Girl strokes her chin. She hops down from the bed. “Are you in any pain?”

“Not anymore,” says Himiko.

Recovery Girl opens a cupboard and retrieves a grey vest that Himiko recognizes from trips to the dentist as a child. She passes it over to her and Himiko dutifully puts it on. Dad and Izuku step back to hallway as Recovery Girl slides open a panel in the wall and extends out an x-ray machine. She has Himiko lie down on the bed and adjusts the head of the device.

There’s a sort of pause as Recovery Girl moves to the hallway, then a beeping sound from the mechanical arm. Recovery Girl scans over the screen of her computer at her desk.

“Hm.”

That sound spikes Himiko’s anxiety. She has no idea what to expect from this meeting, no idea why her Quirk could be suddenly healing her, and no idea what’s happening to her.

Or. Well.

She has one idea.

She places a hand over her chest, where she can feel the immense weight of One For All.

That’s the biggest change to her Quirk that she can think of. Dad told her that it would supercharge her Quirk like it did for the previous holder of One For All, but she still never expected this.

“What is it?” she says.

“Nothing.” Recovery Girl drums her finger on her cane. “I don’t see anything. No signs of stress, no evidence of a healed break. It’s as if your arm was never broken at all.”

“That’s…”

Himiko doesn’t know what to say. Everything suddenly feels so far away. How could she have healed so completely so fast? Even boosted, her Quirk is shapeshifting, right?

Slowly she lifts her head to look at Izuku. He isn’t looking at her, but off to the side, conflict carved into his features.

“…Ku?”

Izuku snaps to attention with a smile the sends shiver down her spine. “That’s great, Himiko! I’m glad there weren’t any complications!”

His feigned cheer falls.

“…but could you explain now? About—about what’s been happening to you lately?”

Izuku sniffs, and Himiko realizes he’s starting to tear up. “Himiko, I’m scared. Quirks don’t just—just completely change like this. And when I saw you and—and Mr. Yagi going to Takoba Beach, I thought—I don’t know what I thought but something was up and then your arm glowed and you blew the ocean away and… and…”

Izuku wipes his arm across his face with another sniffle.

Dad is beside her in an instant, rubbing her shoulders reassuringly, and Himiko leans into the touch.

“It’s your secret now,” he whispers. “It’s up to you if you should tell him. Recovery Girl already know, as she’s been my personal doctor for many years.”

Himiko nods slowly.

“Dad gave me his Quirk,” she says.

Dad coughs hard enough that she the already strong scent of his blood flares up and she knows he’s spit some of it out. Recovery Girl does a double take.

Izuku blinks once.

“Okay,” he says.

“…okay?”

Izuku shrugs. “It makes as much sense as anything else. Quirks don’t dramatically change like that—not outside of a Quirk awakening, but those all have some kind of major stimuli and doesn’t fit. Besides, All Might’s always been—um, no offense, sir—he’s always been cagey about how his Quirk works, making jokes and changing the subject in interviews. It’s actually one of the Seven Great Mysteries of the world. It’s, uh, well, it’s like nothing I’ve ever heard of in real life, but, um… you—I trust you, Himiko.”

Those four words slam into her with the force of a freight train, filling her with so much warmth that One For All thrums in response.

“You—uh, you don’t mind?”

“Mind what?” He tilts his head like a cute, confused puppy.

Himiko swallows. “That—that Dad gave me a Quirk when you don’t have one?”

“Why would I? …I won’t lie, I’m a bit jealous, but, well, it’s not like I ever really thought I was going to magically get a Quirk somehow. And you’re his daughter—you were already his daughter when we met.” Izuku smiles like the sun in that cute way that he does. “If there’s anyone who deserves All Might’s Quirk, it’s you. I’ll just have to settle for being a Hero Quirkless like I was already going to do.”

She lets out a breath she didn’t know she had been holding, smiling at her wonderful, understanding boyfriend whose eyes are gleaming—

Uh oh.

Izuku is suddenly right in front of her, face bright. “So your Quirk is transferable? How does the transfer work? Can it be stolen? What’s the correlation between the transferable properties and the super strength? Is that why you hurt yourself? If the Quirk was transferred, why can Mr. Yagi still use it? Can you transfer the Quirk if you wanted? Wait, if it’s super strength, then why did it change your other Quirk so much?”

The only thing keeping Himiko’s head from spinning under the barrage of questions is her experience with Izuku when he’s excited about a new Quirk.

Dad cuts Izuku off with boisterous laughter.

“All excellent questions, Young Midoriya! …I think. I must admit I wasn’t able to catch all of them, but the ones I heard were quite well thought out!” Dad clears his throat, standing up and placing a hand on Izuku’s shoulder. “This does not leave this room, you understand?” Izuku nods, and he continues. “I’ll give you the quick version for now. My Quirk has been passed down through the generations since the Dawn of Quirks. I am the eighth holder, and Himiko here is the ninth. This Quirk, this sacred torch, is known as One For All. It is not strictly a physical enhancer, but an energy stockpile. I am able to use the Quirk as not all of that vast stockpile has finished transferring from me to her. I still have ‘embers,’ so to speak. And what was… oh yes! The Quirk can only be transferred willingly by the current holder. It cannot be stolen.”

“Whoa…”

“Um,” Himiko says, raising a hand. “So how do I do the whole ‘super strong’ thing without breaking my arm? It’s all healed up, but that, uh, hurt.”

Dad looks so sheepish that if Himiko didn’t know better she’d think he had a lamb Quirk.

“Well, you see, Himiko…”

Recovery Girl whacks Dad’s shins with her cane hard enough that he nearly tumbles over before catching himself.

“What the big lug is trying to say is that he was a natural with that Quirk. He used it more or less perfectly from the moment he got it.”

“Mm.” Dad nods, shifting weight to his other leg. “Torino mostly focused on teaching me to use it in a fight; the actual mechanics came instinctively to me. And I owe you an apology… I assumed the same would be true for you as well, and I did not take the precautions I should have.”

Himiko opens her mouth to defend him but can’t think of anything to say.

“You didn’t know,” she settles on.

“But I should have, or at least been prepared in case I was wrong.”

“You got that right,” says Recovery Girl. “You’ve only got seven weeks to figure it out before the Entrance Exam.”

 “What about Gran?” says Himiko. “Can he help?”

Izuku and Recovery Girl slowly turn to look at Dad, who shakes harder than a leaf in a hurricane.

“Well,” Dad says. “Yes.”

Recovery Girl pinches her nose. “Honestly, Yagi. It’s not like you have to train with him again.”

“He’s been a big help,” Izuku says. “Wait, he taught you, right? He knows about One For All?”

All the color fades from Izuku’s skin as his eyes widen.

“Young Midoriya? Are you alright?” says Dad.

“Nighteye…”

Himiko shivers from the sudden cold in the room.

“Yes.” Dad says. “Sir Nighteye knows about One For All. And he has taken it upon himself to… help me find a successor. That was what we, ah, discussed that day at Might Tower, and why he approached Himiko.”

“I see.”

There’s something about Izuku’s voice that sets Himiko’s nerves on edge. It sounds nothing like him—all the emotion, all the passion that makes Izuku so cute is gone.

Her skin crawls.

“You are correct, my girl.” Dad sighs. “Gran Torino worked alongside my predecessor, and is the one who taught me. He’s probably the most knowledgeable about One For All. If anyone can help you master your power safely, it’s him.

Himiko places a hand over her chest, feeling the thrumming of One For All. The warmth echoing out through her body eases her tension.

“I guess that means I’ve got something new to do in training!” she says.

“You better work hard, Miko,” Izuku says. “While you’re off training your fancy Quirk, I’ll be learning my weapons. If you slack off, I’m gonna leave you in the dust.”

“If you say so, Ku. I think the Entrance Exam will speak for itself.”

Izuku grins sharply. “Is that a challenge?”

Himiko returns one of her own. “Loser has to treat the winner to a date?”

“You’re on!”

“Both of you, please,” says Recovery Girl. “Keep the flirting out of the infirmary.”

Himiko and Izuku turn bright red.

Time Remaining Until UA Entrance Exams: 49 Days

Chapter Text

Gran Torino doesn’t look very impressed with her when Yagi Himiko arrives for her scheduled training. He isn’t too pleased with Izuku either, though Gran’s face remains carefully impassive.

“It was pretty dumb of Toshinori to go and have you use One For All unsupervised like that,” he says. “And you! You went and followed them! You’ve stumbled on one of the biggest secrets in history! I hope you’re taking that responsibility seriously.”

“I am,” Izuku says with a sharp nod. He clenches his fists by his sides hard enough that Himiko is compelled to put a hand on his shoulder to reassure him. “I know exactly what’s at stake if the truth of One For All comes out.”

Gran eyes him closely, silently, for several seconds.

Finally, he relents.

“Good. I’m glad you get it. Here.”

He reaches behind himself, retrieving something hidden under his cape. Without warning, he swipes his hand fast enough to blur, flinging it at Izuku’s head. Izuku snatches it out of the air without so much as a flinch. He looks down at his hand, and Himiko peers over his shoulder to look.

“Tonfa…? You got them already?” Izuku says.

“Sure did. These ones aren’t anything special, though. Wooden. Durable. Good for training. You’ll want something fancier once you’ve made it through the exams.”

“Uh,” Himiko says. “I’m not gonna be learning tonfa, so what will I be doing?”

“You’ll be figuring out how not to break yourself!” Gran says. “I’ve seen you fight; you already know everything you need to figure it out.”

Himiko blinks twice. “Do you mean you just want me to… experiment? Because I don’t really wanna hurt myself like that again.”

“Nor should you,” says Gran. “I want you to sit and meditate while I give him a crash-course in his weapon of choice. By the time we’re at the entrance exams, I want you using One For All as easily as breathing.”

Gran turns to Midoriya and starts explaining how to hold his new weapons. Himiko doesn’t pay much attention to it, mulling around in her own head. She moves out of the way, off the training mats, and flops down on the floor. Pulling her legs in, Himiko lets her head fall back and she puffs out air.

“‘As easy as breathing,’ huh…?”

That’s a long way from where she is now. Back then, at the beach, she had no control. The power went completely wild, barely focused by her punch. She had become a wildfire, a force of nature directed out, not harnessed but pointed. There had been so much power flowing through her, channeled into her arm, it felt like her body might burst.

She clicks her tongue. In a sense, it did.

So that’s the first issue she needs to sort. Too much power—far too much for her to wield. If she does anything like that again, she’d tear herself apart. She needs to find a way to use less power. Like casting a lower-tier Fire spell in Last Horizon to save on her Mana.

Climbing her way up from the bottom of One For All makes the most sense to her, but can she do that in time?

She looks up at Gran and Izuku. Gran is walking him through some basic katas with the tonfa, and Izuku is carefully repeating them, with minor corrections from Gran. Neither of them is paying her much mind.

Himiko closes her mind and focuses on the weight in her chest. One For All pulses through her. She guides a thin strand of power down into her arm. Like that night on the beach, her skin glows orange, but much fainter this time.

She bites her lip.

That took too long. A whole second, maybe two, to charge up her arm. If she has to do that every time she punches someone, she’ll never be able to land a hit. She sighs, the power fading from her once again.

As easy as breathing.

Himiko inhales deeply, holds it for a moment, and lets it out.

If she’s going to keep up with Izuku, keep up with Hagakure, with the other kids at the Entrance Exams, she needs to be able to do this like second nature.

One For All thrums in tune with her heartbeat, sending warmth throughout her body. She smiles at the gentle sensation, bringing a hand up to her chest. There’s always been something so comforting about One For All. This tangible connection with Dad, the proof that she’s not the monster the Togas wanted her to think she is. It’s a comforting presence that helps her keep some of her darker thoughts at bay.

And Izuku told her that she deserved it! What did she do to get such a wonderful boyfriend?

“If only you came with an instruction manual,” Himiko says.

She doesn’t regret accepting One For All. She’ll never regret accepting One For All. But if she can’t figure out how to use it, then she doesn’t stand a chance of getting into UA.

Starting from the bottom, turning down her power…

That’s a good starting point, but still too slow. Her body needs to be able to instantly adjust to whatever her output is, but the delay here makes that impossible.

But letting all that power rush into her arm is what destroyed it. Like a bomb went off inside her arm. Neither of these methods are going to work for her, not before the Entrance Exams. There has to be some trick to it that’s missing. That thing that Dad grasped instinctively that he can’t figure out how to say to her.

Then again, her own Quirk comes pretty naturally to her, too. It’s not like she could explain how she knows how to produce that gray stuff across her whole body when she transforms. Izuku’s asked her before how she knows what clothes to use when she transforms, since she’s only getting her genetic data from blood, and she can’t answer that, either. She fully understands not knowing how to vocalize a natural part of herself.

Himiko lets out a sigh, unfolding her legs and leaning back, using her arms as supports.

If she uses it in a fight as she is now, she’d be slaughtered, and not in the cute way. If she needed to dodge, it would take her too long to charge her legs with One For All. Forget dodging, all of her footwork would fall apart. Her strikes and defenses are out too. There’s too much of a delay if she has to keep—

Has to keep…

As easy as breathing…

Himiko straightens.

Why does she need to charge up her limbs right before using it? She transforms by changing her entire body, right? It’s not like she bothers changing her legs to be Izuku’s only when she runs with them; that’s silly. So why has she been thinking about One For All the same way? Isn’t that just as silly? Dad doesn’t only bulk up specific limbs!

Himiko springs up, bouncing on her heels.

“Gran!” she says. “Gran!”

Gran glances over his shoulder at her before turning back to Izuku, who is slowly going through a series of motions, mostly punches that keep his arms poised with the tonfa below them, but also spinning the tonfa to extend out past his fist.

“Keep that up, zygote. I’ll be back once I’ve checked in with her. Remember, tonfa have very short range to them, so you’ll need to rely on speed. If you can’t dictate the pace of the fight, you’ll lose to someone with a longer stick.”

“Yes, sir!”

Gran turns to face her, rolling his neck with his hand. He sizes her up like he does before one of their sparring matches.

“So, you think you got it figured out?”

“Mhmm! It’s just like my other Quirk!” she says. “It’s not enough to tone down my power, I gotta use it everywhere!”

Gran’s cane whacks against the back of her legs. With how solid she is, it’s not enough to stagger her, but she jumps a bit.

“What was that for?”

“Did you think I didn’t see your arm glowing earlier?” says Gran. “I told you not to experiment.”

Himiko bites her lip but doesn’t bother trying to argue her case. She knew at the time he wouldn’t like it, but she did it anyway.

“You’re lucky you’re not so half-witted that you actually went and broke something this time, but only just. Thought I was going to have to tackle you for a moment. Don’t be so reckless.” Gran sighs. “Anyway. Your new thing. Show me what you can do.”

Himiko nods, taking a deep breath. She holds it for a moment, and lets go.

One For All thrums with the beat of her heart. She lets the wellspring of power loose, energy charging through her veins, across her entire body. Her body beings to glow with awesome might—too much—she forces it back down, keeping it within what she can hold. Starting from the bottom.

Himiko focuses on the power, letting it weave through her. The faintest sparks of her limitless strength. The glow returns, crimson—

No, it’s not glowing.

A faint mist drifts off of her skin, catching the light like an aurora. Himiko nearly breaks her focus from how cute it is. The power seeps into her muscles, and she feels them tense, filling to burst even with this smallest fraction of her power.

Himiko stands tensed as the red mist continues to drift from her. She raises her head to meet Gran’s gaze.

He’s smiling wide.

“Well done, brat. Do you think you can move like that?”

“I… I don’t know,” Himiko says honestly, but there’s something about this that feels right. Like the reassuring warmth that One For All has given her before is now seeped in her, down to her cells.

“Then let’s find out.”

Gran vanishes, darting from wall to wall. Himiko braces herself, trying her best to watch his movements. There to there to there to there to—duck!

Himiko drops, Gran sailing clean over her head. From experience, she shoves off from the ground, but not fast enough. Gran kicks off of the air with a burst of his Quirk, landing a solid kick to her shoulder, and the red mist evaporates as she drops her grip on One For All.

“Not bad,” says Gran, appearing from a blur beside her. “You’ve figured out the very basics. Congrats. You’re at your starting line. Now you gotta get used to keeping that up so it doesn’t drop the moment I hit ya.”

“Yeah,” Himiko says, wiping sweat from her brow. “This is what Dad does every day? I can see why he can only keep it up for a few hours…”

“So how much do you think you were using?”

“Um…” Mentally, she prods at the weight of One For All, feeling it’s thrumming. “I think that was… uh…”

“In percentages?”

“Oh, uh, I think about two percent?”

Internally she winces. That’s so little of the power she was entrusted with. How is she going to be a Hero for everyone with a measly two percent?

“Not bad,” says Gran. Himiko’s head snaps around to look at him. “Two percent… let’s see… if a 100% Smash from your old man would level a city… two percent should be pushing into superhuman territory. Probably around the point where you can start tearing into your surrounding with your bare hands if you wanted.”

“But isn’t two percent… really small?”

“Percentages are relative, you know that,” Gran says, giving her a light smack with his cane. “Sure you’re no match for any of the Heroes out right now with any kind of strength boost to their Quirks, and I’m sure some people can beat that with the right training, you’re not even in UA yet. Don’t be so impatient, brat. You have three whole years ahead of you to train and get stronger, and even once you’ve graduated you won’t be done mastering that power of yours. It’s a stockpile, remember? You’re going to get stronger all the time.”

“Oh.”

The implications of One For All being a stockpile had not occurred to her.

“So here’s what you’re gonna do,” says Gran. “You’re going to do your katas, your stretches, and yeah, even your workout routines, and you’re gonna do it with One For All one like you just had it.”

“And in spars?”

“There too. Focusing while you’re exerting effort is one thing, but you dropped it from a single hit, and that’s not acceptable. One For All shouldn’t take any focus at all by the time you’re done. And trying to avoid flattening your loverboy should encourage you to be careful with how much you’re using.” Gran’s face stretches into his mischievous wide grin. “I hope you’re ready for hell, kid, because that’s what you’re in for.”

Himiko gulps.

Gran was not exaggerating. As the weeks crawl by, he pushes Himiko and Izuku to the brink as their training time dwindles.

It doesn’t take her very long to keep up her One For All use, even under pressure, but Gran insists on continuing to use it to ensure her body adjusts to having the Quirk—and that she adjusts to using it.

The difference in training is amazing.

She’s so much faster, even with only two percent, and so much stronger. Izuku pouts the first time she has to add another 25 kg to her deadlift. In fact, she needs more weight on all the machines they have at the Might Tower gym. This isn’t exactly a surprise to either of them, but she and Izuku weren’t expecting it so soon.

Parkour training is suddenly so much more fun than it already was. Vaulting over obstacles, leaping through the air, darting across uneven terrain, it’s all so much better with super speed. It almost feels like she can fly. It’s such a freeing feeling, like a leaf riding the wind across the mountainside, completely unbothered by the ground.

But as strong as she is, as fast as she is, Izuku manages to keep pace with her in a fight.

Izuku stares her down from the other end of the mat, both of them in their starting positions. Gran stands off to the side, eyeing them both.

“Begin!”

Himiko moves first, charging forward, aiming a strike at Izuku’s chest.

Her fist meets wood, Izuku’s tonfa, sturdied by his arm, absorbing the blow easily. He swings the other tonfa around and drives the long end into Himiko’s stomach. His follow up strike is caught, so he brings the extended tonfa down on her.

Himiko lets it connect, smacking harshly into her shoulder. She drops Izuku’s arm, landing a quick strike across his cheek that sends him staggering.

She pounces, aiming to pin, but Izuku’s already recovered. He swings both tonfa out and with the longer ends shoves her arms aside, leaving her chest wide open. The first jab robs her of her air, and second slams into that same spot.

Himiko coughs and wheezes, gasping for air.

Sadly, she’s pulled the ‘pretend to be hurt and then regenerate’ trick one too many times. Izuku doesn’t hesitate to bring his tonfa down on her again, and her legs buckle. She hits the mat with a thud, Izuku’s knee pinning her down a moment later.

“That’s the match!” Gran calls, swiping his arms in an X shape.

Himiko giggles on the floor. “You’re so cute with those things, Ku!”

“You aren’t bad yourself!” Izuku passes his tonfa to one hand, extending his free hand to help her off the floor. “It’s actually kinda hard to focus on you with that eye glow of yours.”

That had come as a surprise back when she’d first figured out how to use One For All. Even now she can’t see it herself—Izuku had to show her video of it on his phone. But while she has One For All pumped through her whole body, her eyes glow that same crimson color as the mist that comes from her skin, leaving trails of light as she moves.

“That’s all skill!” she says, taking Izuku’s hand and rising to her feet. “Shame you can’t use your cute little bombs in our spars.”

Gran whaps her on the back with his cane. “You want him releasing weird gas and flashbangs in the middle of a training gym? The whole place will reek for months. Besides, he’s only got so many for the exam anyway.”

“I know…”

“It’s still a shame,” Izuku says. “I’ve barely gotten any practice with them.”

Gran huffs. “What, are my marbles too good for you all of a sudden?”

“No sir!”

Honestly Himiko doesn’t understand why Gran has been teaching Izuku to throw marbles. There’s no way his bombs are actually going to be that small, right?

But in the face of Gran shaking his cane at a spooked Izuku, she can’t help herself. She laughs. A full laugh from deep in her chest, to the point that she doubles over.

It’s not even that funny, but with so little time until the exams, the tension is starting to get to her.

Izuku cracks a smile, letting out a few giggles before he too succumbs to a laughing fit. His laughter feeds into hers, and Himiko starts laughing harder, which restarts Izuku’s own laughing.

It’s not even that funny.

They can’t stop laughing.

Finally, after what may perhaps be an embarrassingly long time, the two of them wheeze to a stop as Gran looks on, unimpressed.

Gran sighs, running a hand down his face. “Alright. We’re just about done for today. I’m pretty sure that I’ve taught you everything the two of you are gonna learn before the exams start. Anything past this point isn’t gonna stick; not with how tense the two of you zygotes are. So for the rest of the time until the exam, you’re gonna do your normal routines. Nothing new. No lessons.”

That instantly quiets the last of Himiko’s humor. She bows politely for Gran.

“Thank you for teaching us!”

“Thank you!” Izuku says, bowing as well.

“Peh. Thank me by passing,” Gran says, but his smile is fond. “Buncha brats.”

Time Remaining Until UA Entrance Exams: 8 Days

Chapter Text

Time waits for no one. No matter how anxious she is, Yagi Himiko cannot slow the passing of days.

She tries to make the most of it. Without anything new added to their training for the final week, she doesn’t have to think too hard as she goes through all the motions—lifting weight and working out, yoga, sparring, parkour, and practicing her control over One For All.

She can leave her mind wandering about the time she’s spending with Izuku.

If—

When they get into UA, they won’t be able to train like this anymore. Even if they’re in the same class, they’ll be, well, in a class. They won’t be able to work alone together anymore. Their classmates and the other students at UA will all be using the same spaces they are. It’s a strange feeling, mourning a time she’s currently experiencing.

Gran eases up for the last days. Says that he wants them all to be well-rested for the Exams, and that going Plus Ultra right now will do them both more harm than good. Himiko makes sure to shoot Izuku a knowing look when Gran’s back is turned, and he turns bright crimson in an instant.

All this, this training with Izuku and Gran and Dad, this has been her life for almost a year now. They’re coming up on the anniversary of the day she met Dad, in fact. She has it marked on her calendar.

Once the exams are over, Himiko doesn’t know what she’s going to do with herself.

That’s probably typical for the start of a new school year.

“Ku… what’re we gonna do all day once we’re at UA?” she says, sitting beside him at the dining table in her loft room at Might Tower.

Izuku puts his thumb to his chin in that cute way he does when he’s thinking.

“Well, UA is a school, so we’ll have our normal classes, like English and Math, I guess. I know Hero Schools tend to employ Pro Heroes as teachers—”

Himiko cuts him off by giggling. “Bet you’ll get a whole bunch of autographs!”

“I hope so!” Izuku sighs. “I can’t believe that it’s already so soon.”

“Yeah. We’ve been preparing for so long and now…”

“It’s tomorrow.”

“It’s tomorrow,” she agrees. “I’ve been counting down the days and it still feels like it snuck up on me somehow!”

“Yeah. The last ten months have really flown by, haven’t they?”

He’s right. So much has happened, and it hasn’t even been a year. She was saved, adopted. She was offered One For All and started training for it. She met Izuku, her wonderful, cute boyfriend. She met Hagakure, their friend. Gran Torino.

Nighteye.

She shudders, and Izuku leans closer to her, letting his bodyheat comfort her. Well, he probably thinks she’s cold, but Himiko isn’t going to complain.

Himiko stabs her fork into a square of her strawberry crepe. “Hey, Ku, say ‘ahh.’”

“Say—” The moment Izuku opens his mouth, Himiko slips the crepe into his mouth with a grin. Izuku blinks a few times in surprise, but Himiko was careful enough to avoid choking her cute boyfriend, so he accepts the crepe easily. “…Mm.”

“There you go.” She runs a hand down his cheek.

Izuku slowly reaches up and takes the fork from her, moving it off to the side as he leans in. They close their eyes and let their lips meet.

Izuku and Himiko melt into each other as their passion soars until they’re forced to break for air. Instead, Himiko lets her forehead rest against Izuku’s so she can feel the heat from his skin.

“It’s so soon,” says Izuku.

“Yeah.”

“It’s… I’ve wanted this my entire life.”

Himiko can’t say the same. She had no plans for the future back in Junior High that didn’t involve hiding her love of blood. It’s not a time she likes to think back to, not after all this past year with Dad and Mrs. Midoriya and Mrs. Fujimori and everyone.

“…Izuku? Can I… can I talk to you about Junior High?”

Izuku leans back so that he can look at her properly. “You’ve never told me about back then. Or, not in detail. That was over a year ago for you, right? You’re a year ahead of me?”

Himiko nods. “I—I wasn’t always… there back then. I just wanted to be Normal, so everything cute had to go. I couldn’t let anyone know. But I— there were girls who hung out with me. With my… with how I acted.”

“It sounds like you still think about them.”

“Yeah.” Her voice cracks. “It’s funny; two of them had mutation Quirks. They weren’t… Normal either… but I never had the courage to tell them. None of them ever really met me.”

“I don’t know about that. I don’t think it’s possible to hide you, Himemiko. You’re so… passionate about everything!” Izuku brushes some of her long hair out of her face. “I think they knew you more than you think. Do you… want to tell me about them?”

“Oshiro was cute. She had this mouse mutation, gave her thin fur. We always played with it; it was so soft. She was nice enough to let us.” Himiko had only done so once. She hadn’t been able to resist. But Normal girls don’t go around petting animals or playing with Quirks when they had the family image to maintain. “She wanted to make mascot characters. Most of them were inspired by herself, though.”

Izuku snickers, and Himiko feels herself smiling.

“Kei—she had, I think it was a sheep Quirk, but I never really asked. Her hair was all cute and fluffy, and she had these ears—or maybe they were antenna? I dunno. She loved going to the beach. She was always so energetic. Wanted to be a journalist. She had big dreams about it, plans for high school and beyond. She was… kinda awe-inspiring, you know?” He must, because Izuku nods as if he knows exactly what Himiko is talking about. “And Maekawa—she was really pretty. She wanted to go into fashion.”

“Huh,” Izuku says. “One of my classmates—his parents are fashion designers.”

“Oh!” For a brief moment, Himiko forgets that she hasn’t seen Maekawa since what should have been graduation day, and she thinks about introducing them. And then she remembers.

The sorrow hits her, knocking the air from her lungs, and she takes a moment to recover, wiping her eyes.

“There was another one. Yoshino.” Himiko blushes thinking about her. “She hung out with the others more than me. She was… quiet, but happy.”

“You think she’s cute, don’t you?” Izuku says, grinning at her. Himiko gives him a playful shove.

“Maybe I had a crush, what’re you gonna do about it?”

“This.”

Izuku kisses her, short circuiting her brain. He snorts at the dazed expression on her face, pulling her head out of her fluttering heart. She kisses him back in revenge.

“I didn’t think you were the jealous type,” says Himiko. “’Cuz I, um, I tend to love pretty easily.”

By which she means she at one point had a crush on all four of those girls, but something about Yoshino made it last longer. Himiko isn’t sure if that’s because she didn’t know her as well of it was that she found her more attractive somehow, and she’s not all that concerned with figuring it out.

Especially considering that none of those girls will ever want anything to do with her again.

“I know,” Izuku says. “You, I mean, you fell for me—”

Himiko bonks him on the head and kisses him before he can recover, a personal favorite technique of her patent-pending Confidence Training.

“Ku,” she says. “You are cute, and kind, and smart, and I love you.”

“I—I love you too, Miko. It’s just—sometimes it’s hard.”

“I know.” She knows all too well how hard it is to stop thinking of yourself like that. She still sometimes hears the whispers in her head telling her that she’s a monster and a freak.

Izuku had made those whispers much quieter. She’ll do the same for him.

She nuzzles her face into his neck, letting her breath roll over his skin. Izuku shivers, leaning his head for her, and she happily lets her fangs sink into his skin. Izuku gasps softly, rubbing Himiko’s back as she lets the blood pool on her tongue.

Once she’s had her fill, she makes sure to drag her tongue over the pinpricks that cute way both of them love.

“You see?” she says.

“Mm.”

She’ll take that as a yes.

Satisfied, she straightens out, taking another bite of the crepe. The strawberries are delightfully sweet with the sugar and cream and chocolate.

“I love how you love,” Izuku says before putting another forkful of crepe into his mouth. Himiko blinks at him a few times while he chews. “I love that you—that you care so much so easily. I mean, I want to help people, as many people as I can. But you… you’re so passionate about so many things, and I love that about you.”

“You’re pretty passionate too, you know,” Himiko says. “I’ve seen how you are in training; how you get around Quirks.”

“That’s… not the same. What I mean is, I know you love easily, and I love that about you. And because you love easily, if you fall in love again, then, um, I wouldn’t mind, uh… if you…”

“I’m not leaving you,” Himiko says with certainty.

“That’s not what I mean!” Izuku’s face is bright red, and he flails his hands defensively in front of his face that way he does when he’s really flustered. “Ugh! This is so hard to say…”

While he struggles to get his thoughts in order, Himiko reaches around and pulls him in close so that their shoulders are smooshed together. Pressed as close as they are, it’s easy for her to turn her head and give him a quick peck on the cheek, so she does. Izuku cracks a smile at the feeling of her lips.

“I… if you fell in love with someone else…” Izuku starts, “I know you wouldn’t love me any less. So if you want to see about, um, if you wanted to, uh, if you wanted to date them too…”

“What about you?”

“I know you’d still love me—”

“No,” Himiko shakes her head. Sometimes Izuku can be really dense when he wants to be. Not that she has any room to talk. She still remembers Hagakure calling her osmium that night. “I mean, what if you fall in love with someone else?”

Izuku’s eye go as wide as her owl plushy up on her bed right now. Wordlessly, he opens his mouth and closes it several times.

“I, um, I hadn’t thought about that,” he says. “But, uh… I don’t know.”

Himiko gives him another peck on the cheek. “I think that anyone you fall for is someone cute enough that I’d love them too. So I guess that means we’re stuck together if anyone else wants us.”

“I—I guess so.” Izuku waits for a moment, and Himiko listens to the pattern of his breathing. “So… Junior High?”

Himiko had almost forgotten that was how they’d ended up talking about this. She nods slowly, collecting her thoughts.

“Junior High was… my cravings were the worst then. I’d—I’d put a lid on them for so long that if anything made them boil over, it was almost impossible to control myself. And eventually… I couldn’t do it anymore.”

“Saito.”

“Saito,” she agrees. “You know, he actually looked—looks a lot like you.”

Izuku scratches at his cheek. “Really?”

“Maybe I’ve got a type.”

“Nah,” says Izuku. “I don’t look anything like Miruko.”

Himiko sputters as he chuckles at her inability to form words.

“Drag me for filth why don’t you?”

“Sorry, Miko. I’ll behave.”

“You’d better.” Himiko takes his hand and squeezes it. “The school itself was… fine. But only fine. I… I overheard the nurse talking to the principal. He…” She has to stop to swallow her emotions. “He realized something was… wrong at home. That I wasn’t really happy there, and the principal made him drop it. That was one of the reasons I didn’t leave Dad to get mugged that night when I met him.”

“I’m sorry.” Izuku’s voice breaks. He’s not crying, surprisingly, but there’s a rawness to his emotions.

“Don’t be; you didn’t do anything. You couldn’t have done anything. You were in another prefecture and, well, you can’t exactly place a phone call and make teachers pay more attention, Ku.”

“Still…” Izuku gently rubs his fingers across the back of her hand. “I’m sorry that you had to experience that.”

“Well every time I swing by your Junior High I find you getting picked on,” Himiko says. Izuku winces, but doesn’t say anything, so she carries on. “So yeah. It was… fine. I liked my classmates, but…”

She doesn’t know how to verbalize the What Ifs. The lingering questions of if those girls would’ve accepted her if she’d told them about her Quirk. If, like Izuku, they would have given her blood. Or if she had kept quiet and kept her instincts in check around Saito. Would she still be pretending to be Normal in some random high school right now? About to start her second year without the slightest idea of what she was going to do with her life? Or maybe they would’ve acted like her parents and shunned her in fear.

And there are the What Ifs she’s afraid to ask. Like, ‘what would’ve happened if Dad never found her that night in the alley?’

Himiko switches gears. “So what do you think UA’s gonna be like?”

“It’s the best Hero School in Japan, and even their General Education program is competitive. It’s going to be hard, but I think—I think we’re going to learn a lot. What about you? You haven’t been to school in a while, are you feeling okay?”

“Nope!” she smiles. “But I’ll be okay! Once we’ve passed that test, we’ll take UA by storm!”

Even so, she can’t get the clammy feeling off of her hands. Her last experience with a school didn’t exactly end well, and even with her adorable boyfriend Izuku and her good friend Hagakure, she’s still worried about how the other kids are going to treat her.

“So if all the UA teachers are Pro Heroes, then who do you think works there?” Himiko says.

“Well, I know that Nedzu is the principal,” Izuku says. “He’s one of the few animals with Quirks, and his Quirk, High Specs, makes him incredibly intelligent! But as for teachers, hmm…”

“I hope Miruko works there! That’d be so cute to learn from her!”

Izuku laughs. “I don’t think that’s her style. She’s not big on teams.”

“I know! Let me dream!”

“I know there are rumors that Blazehart works there after Saberleaf retired a year or so ago.” Izuku puts his thumb to his lip. “I wonder—I think they’d want high-ranked Heroes as members of staff because they’re the best, but they wouldn’t be high-ranking if they had to spend so much time every day teaching.”

Himiko hides a smile. She needs to remember to ask Dad how he’s going to be publicly announcing his new teaching job there so that she’ll be around to see Izuku’s reaction. There’s no way that he won’t have an adorable freak-out session about it.

“Maybe Vlad King?” she suggests instead. It’s wishful thinking, but an actual blood-based Hero being at UA would make her feel so much better about actually attending. And she might be able to get his autograph for her Bat King plushie. “They gotta have different kinds of Heroes there, right? Some Underground, some Rescue?”

“Oh definitely! There’s no way they’re the best if they only had the big public Heroes. Not everyone can be the next All Might.” Izuku’s smile turs into a sly grin, and he quickly darts in and kisses Himiko on the forehead, earning a startled squeak from her. “Unlike some people I know.”

Himiko’s blush spreads across her face. “Ahh! That’s not fair!”

“Oh, is my Himemiko embarrassed that she’s going to be the greatest Hero ever?”

“Maybe a little!”

“Well that’s too bad!” Izuku says, whispering by her ear. “Because I’m gonna keep reminding you how cool you are, Miko.”

“Stop…” she groans without any real heat behind her words—unlike her face which is steadily growing warmer.

“If you can’t handle this, then I’m scared of what you’re going to do when you’re announced as the next Number One Hero.”

“I’ll just die. Melt into a puddle like my Quirk right there in front of the microphone. At least then I’ll still have some dignity!”

“Not if you go out that way!”

“It’ll be less embarrassing than what I’d say to the press!” Ugh. She wonders if UA has any classes for media relations. As it is, the idea of giving an interview makes her want to lie on the floor and not move. She has no idea how Dad manages to do it all the time—especially with his time limit. Three hours a day and he still finds the time to answer all those questions.

Himiko likes talking to people, or at least she thinks she does. She enjoys hanging out with Izuku and Hagakure at least. But there’s something about reporters that makes her feel like they’re looking for a weakness to pounce on and never let go.

Himiko has a lot of skeletons in her closet.

“And it all comes down to tomorrow,” she says.

“Mm. I wonder what the actual test is going to be like. Gran Torino said we’d be fighting—that was the whole point of most of our training, but…”

“Yeah. Could be anything.” Himiko smiles. “Maybe we’ll have to fight dinosaurs.”

Some of the tension leaves Izuku. “They’ll make us all fight All Might, and whoever lasts the longest gets in.”

“They take us on a boat and leave us in the middle of the ocean.”

“They make us escape a death trap.”

“What if we have to win a debate panel?”

“Maybe we’ll solve a locked room murder whodunit.”

Himiko gasps. “They better have a body! Otherwise it’s not cute!”

Time Remaining Until UA Entrance Exams: 13 Hours, 22 Minutes

Chapter Text

“Ugh,” Yagi Himiko says, lying face down on the floor.

Izuku looks up from the notebook he’s writing in. “Are you good?”

Himiko peels her head off the ground. “What if I don’t pass? I haven’t been in school in a year! The written exam is gonna eat me alive!”

Admittedly, she’s not exactly in a position to judge anyone eating people alive considering her own diet consists in no small part of human blood.

“Miko, please. You’ve been studying all of this stuff for the past year, and you already learned all this when you were in Junior High. You’re going to do great.”

“But this is UA we’re talking about! They’re the school! If anywhere in Japan has a brutally hard written exam, it’ll be UA ! And, and, if I don’t pass…”

She wouldn’t only be disappointing herself, but Dad and Izuku and Gran and everyone at Might Tower. Himiko doesn’t think she would be able to handle that. Not after everything they’ve all done for her.

Izuku sighs lightly, sets his notebook down on his desk and slips off his chair so that he can sit next to her on the floor. He sets a reassuring hand on her back, and Himiko can feel his warmth even through her shirt.

“You sound pretty nervous from someone who’s been trying to kiss the confidence into me.”

She points at him. “Hey now! That’s working!”

“Okay, yeah, it is, but my point stands. You’re freaking out over nothing, Himiko. You are going to destroy this exam, and I know that, because I’ve watched you study. We’ve been reading up on all the material, doing the practice exams, everything. You’re going to be fine.”

Himiko lowers her head back to the floor and groans.

After a moment, she hears shuffling beside her, and turns her head to get a better look at Izuku. He unfurls himself from the ground and lies down beside her, pressing gently against her side. Himiko nuzzles closer to him.

“Mm. We should probably get off the floor,” Izuku says softly, warmly.

“Boo. Floor’s comfy.”

“You can be such a cat, Miko.”

“Good. Cats are cute.”

That gets a laugh from Izuku, and Himiko can’t help but smile herself. She lets out a silent, content sigh. She’s far from her dream of being a Pro Hero for everyone like Dad, but sometimes she wants moments like this, moments with Izuku to last forever.

“I can’t believe that it’s today,” says Izuku.

Himiko has been trying and failing not to think about that fact. About how little time there actually is left. She and Izuku have both gotten used to waking up early every morning as part of their workout—even on their rest days, they tend to get up at the same time anyway out of habit. Which is how Himiko found herself hanging out at the Midoriya apartment at six in the morning with nothing to do but kill time until the exam.

Three hours to go.

The train ride from here to UA is only 40 minutes; Izuku checked a while ago. It’s either be anxious here for two hours or be anxious at UA for two hours, and of those choices, Himiko knows which one she’d rather do.

Himiko groans. “I know cramming isn’t gonna help—” Dad made sure to drill that into her head, among other helpful study habits now that she wasn’t distracted by the constant need for blood, “—but I still wanna go over everything again.”

“Did you bring your Shift? I know you’re only halfway through Live Life Alive.”

“Mm. Didn’t want to bring it to UA, and we’re going straight there from here, so I didn’t think to put it in my bag.”

She’s regretting that decision now. Izuku’s right; having a game to focus on instead of her nerves would do her wonders. Unfortunately, she won’t be seeing how the cowboy chapter ends until tonight. It’ll at least be a good way to cool down after all the exams.

Actually, come to think of it…

“Hey, Ku? How long do you think the exams are? It’s gotta be a couple hours, right?”

“Probably,” Izuku says. “I mean, the written exam alone is probably two or three hours, timed, so that we can break for lunch before the practical exam.”

“And still no idea what kind of exam it’ll be!” Himiko rolls over onto her back so that she can flop out her arms.

“Nope.” Izuku scooches closer to her so that he’s lying beside her again. “We’re going in completely blind.”

“Well, not completely. Gran gave us some head-up.”

Izuku shoots a glance over at his backpack, where Himiko knows he has his tonfa and his bombs—flashbangs, smoke grenades, and some concussive. Himiko thinks it might be better if he had some of the typical boom-bang-bam kind, but she also doesn’t want him actually blowing people up, so she understands. Izuku hasn’t used any of those yet, but Gran claims that he’s trained enough to use them correctly.

Himiko has her favorite shiv on her, but she intends to primarily use One For All. Even with her current percentage, that should be enough to get her through any kind of fight exam. Hopefully she’ll be able to get to much higher percentages if—when she gets into UA.

“Gonna have to fight,” Izuku sighs, letting his head fall back against the floor. “Why couldn’t we have gotten an exam about saving people? That’s what Heroes do!”

“Yeah…”

She understands why though, and she knows that Izuku does too. He’s told her about too many Heroes not to know how much Heroes are expected to engage in combat over any other function. Still, it’s disappointing that she won’t get to show off in the cute way she actually wants to be a Hero.

“Who do you think we’re fighting? The other applicants?” she asks instead of voicing any of those thoughts.

“Probably not. They get something like 10,000 or 12,000 applicants a year; setting up ay kind of formal fighting bracket with that many people would be impossible to manage.”

“Well, it’s not gonna be the teachers.” There’s no way any of them would stand a chance against an actual Pro Hero with years or even decades of experience on them. Also, they’ve only got so many teachers, and she doubts UA would throw hundreds of kids a single opponent. That would end up turning into a giant mess.

“I don’t know,” says Izuku. “Honestly it could be anything. Maybe they’ve got someone with a Quirk that makes minions for us to fight? But that’d have to make a whole lot of minions.” He sighs. “There’s so many applicants every year, I don’t even know where to start at guessing how they test all of us.”

“Ugh… I hate just sitting here and guessing! Why’d Gran have to go and tell us? We’re never gonna figure it out in time for the exam!”

Himiko knows that One For All is enough to get her through this exam, but that doesn’t mean that she wouldn’t love to know what exactly the exam is. Having any kind of plan going into it would do wonders for her nerves.

Of course, that’s probably the point. To see what they’re capable of when thrown into a situation without having any time to come up with anything. Force them to improvise and adapt.

That doesn’t mean she has to like it.

Himiko sits up, brushing away any of her hair that dangles in front of her face. It’s finally grown out as long as she wanted it, leaving it in messy waves all the way down her back. It’s not only cute, but pretty, like some kind of princess. Like a Himemiko. She giggles to herself.

Izuku suddenly wraps himself around her, and Himiko squeals in surprised delight as he lightly pecks her cheek. She brings a hand up, gently stroking the side of Izuku’s face as she leans back and nuzzles against him.

“We—we are going to do fine,” Izuku says, not sounds all that confident. “We will pass the exam. We will get into UA.”

“Mhmm.”

Both of them look up at the call of “Kids!” from outside.

“Breakfast is ready!” Inko says.

“We’ll be right there!” Izuku calls back.

Mrs. Inko had once again cooked up a veritable feast for the two of them, not that Himiko is complaining. The table is covered in eggs and rolled omelets, short-grained rice and rice pudding topped with seaweed, bowls of pickled vegetables, steamed vegetables, grilled mackerel, miso soup, and onigiri.

There’s even some natto. While Himiko doesn’t mind the texture, she knows Izuku does, but it’s probably not a bad idea for him to have some today.

“Wow…” Himiko whispers, eyes sparkling. “It all smells so good!”

“Thank you, dear,” Mrs. Midoriya says. “I thought it would be a good idea for you two to eat up before the big day. Please, dig in!”

They do. She and Izuku barely wait long enough to say a quick “thank you for the meal” before descending on it ravenously. As usual, One For All needs more food than Izuku does, but even he goes through several bowls of several dishes. Maybe some of it is from the stress, but savoring the different flavors on her tongue is honestly a big help for Himiko’s nerves.

The only time they slow down is when Izuku tries to find other foods he can use to help with the natto.

“So…” Mrs. Midoriya leans forward with interest flashing in her eyes. “How are you both feeling?”

Instead of saying anything, they both groan, sinking in their chairs. Mrs. Midoriya laughs.

“That nervous, huh?”

“It’s—” Izuku swallows. “It’s everything. I’ve been dreaming about today for… for my whole life. Going to UA, being a Hero, that’s been my dream for as long as I can remember.”

Himiko nods. “It’s not my dream for as long as Izuku, but I’ve been working towards this for the past year. Basically everything I did was preparing for this. Even when I was goofing off or playing games, I did that during my rest periods on the training schedule.”

“I understand,” Mrs. Inko says. “I know that this is an important day for you both. And I want you to know that I’m so proud of both of you—of the work you’ve put it to get this far. No matter what happens today, I know that the two of you will have done your best, and no one can ask for any more than that.”

Izuku smiles so brightly that Himiko is afraid he’ll blind her. Tears are already forming in his eyes that cute way that he cries about everything.

“Thank you, Mom,” he says.

“Thank you so much, Mrs. Midoriya,” says Himiko, bowing as best she can while sitting down.

Mrs. Midoriya sniffles, covering her hand with her mouth. “You two are going to be wonderful Heroes.”

The train ride to UA is a solemn affair. Both of them sit in silence—a different kind of silence from the usual polite quiet they afford to the other passengers. This quiet is them steeling their nerves and preparing themselves for whatever they may face.

The forty-minute transit feels like four eternities, but before long the two of them have joined the crowd of people just like them filtering their way through the massive gates and making their way into UA.

Himiko gapes openly at the building. It almost feels even bigger than she remembers it from when Dad brought her here a few weeks before.

UA High School looms high above the both of them, like an imposing mountain that they have no way to scale. It’s almost as though the tops of the four towers could reach the very clouds overheard.

She and Izuku stand at the precipice of the main gate, on a perfectly lined brick road. Himiko shivers, and not from the February chill. The crowd of applicants is far larger than she’d anticipated, and many of the other testers are bigger than her. Burlier than her. More intimidating.

Beside her, Izuku shrinks a little.

“So many people,” he says.

“It’s scary,” she says. “I know we’ve been working so hard for this, but…”

“But they only take so many people… the odds of getting in are really low.”

Himiko reaches up and smacks her hands against her cheeks.

“Alright! None of that!” she says. “Gran wouldn’t want us insulting his training! Let’s go crush that test!”

“Yeah… yeah!”

Himiko takes a step forward, and then another.

She can talk a good game, but her hands are trembling even in her pockets. She reaches over, and Izuku grasps her hand, filling her with warmth.

Himiko takes a deep breath, keeping her gaze high. Looking at the crowd is only going to make her more nervous, and that’s the last thing she needs right now. She’s studied plenty for the Written Exam, and she has not only Transform, but One For All. She is going to nail the Entrance Exam, no question!

No question.

She keeps telling herself that.

In front of the gates to the campus is a funny looking man in a large trenchcoat that goes all the way to his… not shoes. Tips? Points? Himiko isn’t sure what they are. They look metal, though, maybe that’s his Quirk?

In any case, the man is clearly a Hero given the bodysuit that Himiko can see coming up around his neck from under the coat. Not to mention the weird helmet that makes his head look like a black skull. It’s almost a cute look, but something about it isn’t quite right for Himiko’s personal tastes.

He’s also probably a teacher given how he’s checking his clipboard before letting anyone past him.

“Name?” says the man.

“Yagi Himiko,” she says with a grin that shows off her fangs. Beside her, Izuku continues muttering. Himiko catches the words ‘ectoplasm’ and ‘expel’ and ‘lungs’ before she thinks to nudge him. Izuku jolts, snapping to attention.

“I—uhm?”

Himiko whispers “Name.”

“Midoriya Izuku!” he says, stuttering.

The man takes a moment to cross off on his clipboard twice, then reaches into his pocket ad retrieves two ID cards, handing one to each of them.

“Do either of you have any Support Equipment you need to declare?”

“I have this knife,” Himiko says, holding up her shiv.

“Oh, I, um, hold on,” Izuku quickly flips his bag around in front of him, scrambling through the contents. “I have these tonfa, and I’ve also got… here!” He holds up a pouch that looks like it clips onto a belt. “This has, uh, bombs…?”

The man raises an eyebrow. “And they’re in accordance with the regulations we have on the applications?”

“They, um, should be? I haven’t really… tested them. But, but, uh, I got them through a Pro Hero who knows about the regulations so they should be safe?”

“Well, if they aren’t, you’ll be removed from the exam and automatically failed. There’s a space you can get them looked over by Power Loader—” at the name of a Pro Hero, Izuku begins vibrating excitedly, “—before the exam begins. I suggest you do so.”

“Yes sir! Right away sir!” Izuku bows. “Um, where is that?”

“Follow the signs inside the main building. Next!”

Izuku jogs away quickly, flushing, and Himiko follows him.

“Oh my gosh I wasted so much of Ectoplasm’s time—”

Himiko pokes him in the shoulder, an he instinctively turns to look, opening him up to a quick kiss.

“Let’s go get your bombs tested, and then rock this exam!” Himiko says.

Well, she says that, but the truth is that her hands are still shaking, and her stomach plummets every time she catches a glimpse of all the other people who are here to take the same test as them.

To make sure she doesn’t pay the crowd any mind, she starts counting the windows of the massive towers above her, to see just how tall the building is. It can’t be taller than Might Tower, right?

Seven, eight, nine…

“Hm,” Izuku hums, gaze flicking across the cute abstract bust statues that line the path. Himiko assumes that they’re famous alumni, but looking at them means that she can see the crowd more and that’s no good.

Ten, eleven twelve—

Something smacks into her and Himiko yelps as she crashes into someone, her hand slipping out of Izuku’s grip. Both Himiko and the other person go down with a cry, landing in a heap of winter coats.

Himiko groans. She really should’ve been paying more attention, but with so many people, she hadn’t even smelled how close the other person was.

Shaking her head, Himiko manages to get onto her hands and knees.

“Are you—” she starts to say.

Lying under her is the cutest girl Himiko has ever seen.

Her short, brown, bobbed hair cups her round face with long bangs. Her eyes are large and bright, with thick eyelashes that help accentuate them. The girl’s blush deepens, reminding Himiko of her own.

She tries to finish her question, but no sound comes out, even as she keeps moving her mouth.

“Uh-um,” the other girl says. “Are you… are you okay?”

Himiko blinks three times before the words process in her mind.

“Am I—oh! Oh! Yes! Are you? Okay, that is?”

The girl nods slowly.

Himiko realizes she’s still practically pinning the girl to the bricks and scrambles back up to her feet. She extends a hand down, and the other girl takes it, but cutely leaves her pinky sticking out to the side.

“I—uh—well—” the other girl bows. “Good luck!” she squeaks, turning on her heel and running into the building.

Slowly, Himiko turns to face Izuku. They shoot a glance together at the fleeing girl before meeting each other’s eyes.

Izuku’s warm grin matches Himiko’s own.

A shiver runs down Uraraka Ochaco’s spine. She’s not sure if it’s from the cold or because she embarrassed herself in front of a pretty girl. Either way, she adjusts her coat.

Time Remaining Until UA Entrance Exams: 140 Minutes

Chapter Text

Watching the cute girl powerwalk away, Yagi Himiko feels her blush taking up her whole face. On the bright side, with how warm her skin feels now, she can barely feel the cool winds.

“I didn’t take you for a Shojo protagonist,” Izuku says, nudging her.

“Shush!” Himiko hisses back. She forces her legs to move, resuming her walk down the path. Izuku adjusts his grip on his bag and follows her.

It’s a painfully long wait for the exams to actually start, once Power Loader gives Izuku the all-clear about his bombs. Himiko amuses herself with Heraldic Blaze: Champions on her phone. The most recent expansion had finally added Prince Klaudius and Prince Vanad, but so far she’s had terrible luck with acquiring a high-ranked version of either of them. Dad made sure to tell her the importance of not throwing money at gacha games, so she’s been trying to grind for both of them the hard way.

Izuku quietly watches over her shoulder as Himiko changes her equipment. Farming for Crystals gives her an excuse to do their new story campaigns though. She giggles at the irony of playing Klaudius’ campaign with a 5-Star Pyre King in her party, but Himiko’s a sucker for the red armor. She wonders if she’ll get to make her Pyre King fight an enemy Pyre King unit.

Several maps later, Himiko is jolted out of her strategy thoughts by an “Attention examinees!” over the intercom.

“Hello and welcome to UA High School!” continues the voice—a strange, airy voice that seems oddly higher pitched for an adult. “I’m delighted to see so many aspiring students walking our halls for the first time! It’s time to begin the written exam! If you look at the ID Card you were provided at the gate, you will see an identification number at the bottom. The teachers are currently going around holding signs. Please follow the sign matching your ID Number.”

Himiko and Izuku pull out their ID Cards and compare their numbers. A quick glance at the signs confirms that they’re in different rooms.

“Ah well,” Izuku says. “We’re going to met up for lunch after this anyway.” Himiko hums in agreement.

The sign matching Himiko’s number is held by a woman with spiky, long black hair. Her costume is skintight almost to the point of being painted on, with straps going from her belt down her thighs to some kind of stockings. She has a single handcuff on each wrist for some reason. Meanwhile, Izuku’s matching sign is held by Ectoplasm, making him flush cutely.

“See you after the test!” Himiko says, quickly pecking Izuku on the cheek. “Good luck!”

“You too!” he says.

 The woman leads Himiko and the other hundred or so kids in her group to a lecture hall with seats and table forming a ring around the center of the room.

Himiko awkwardly sits down about halfway around the circle, watching everyone else filter in and take their own seats somewhere in the room. The woman stands in the center with a sultry smile, carefully assessing them all with her eyes.

“Alright kiddos,” the woman says. “I’m Kayama Nemuri, your proctor for this part of the exam.” She flicks her wrist and pulls a large stack of papers out of… somewhere. Hm.

Ms. Kayama is better than Himiko thought.

“These tests are divided into sections: Math, Social Studies, Japanese, and Science,” Ms. Kayama says, walking around the room and handing out packets to everyone. “You have three hours to answer every question as thoroughly as possible. Where possible, show your work. In essay questions, don’t be afraid to give more than single-sentence answers. Elaborate.”

Himiko nods to herself, retrieving her pencil from her bag.

“Well, ready or not,” Ms. Kayama says, hands on an electric timer, “Begin.”

Himiko throws the packet open and scans over the first page of questions. Math. Basic Algebra really, nowhere near as hard as what she’s been doing for the past year to keep herself familiar with the material she learned at the end of Junior High. It only takes her a few minutes to work her way through the page.

The second page is much, much harder Algebra. Himiko bites her lip. She’s beginning to suspect she understands how this test was designed.

Page after grueling page, Himiko forces herself on. The Social Studies questions are a sweet relief from crunching numbers, and she nearly sags in her seat when she sees her first question about history. But they’re more than just recalling facts and dates; many questions ask her about what could have led to a different outcome, or what a different outcome would have meant for a related event. Or to describe events in her own words. It’s a different kind of work than she’s used to, and it throws her for a loop for a few questions before she gets her footing.

She tears her way through the Japanese questions without much difficulty, only stumbling over the questions based on literary texts. Then comes the Science section, and with it, more number crunching and interpretation of factual date. Luckily, some of the questions are related to Quirks, and she’s absorbed enough of that from Izuku’s cute ramblings that she doesn’t have a problem with those questions, but the others take a lot out of her.

When she marks the end of her last sentence and closes the packet with fifteen minutes to spare, Himiko has to force down her relieved sigh for the sake of the other people in the room. She is not, however, able to stop herself from more or less melting in her chair. Which is appropriate, considering her brain feels like it melted somewhere in the last half of the exam.

Soon enough, Ms. Kayama’s timer buzzes, and she calls time. Himiko barely finds the strength to hold her arm out and give her the packet.

“With that out of the way,” Ms. Kayama says, tapping the papers against the podium to align them, “It’s now time for lunch, then the practical exam. Good luck!” She winks.

Everyone in the room lets out a loud breath, the stress evaporating from their bodies as they all go half-limp in their chairs. Himiko forces herself out of her chair and back onto her feet, shaking out her legs a bit from sitting still for three hours. The other kids do much the same, and there’s some quiet chatter between some of them, discussing the test and how hard certain questions or sections were.

Himiko manages to keep herself from staggering out of the room, but she still feels completely drained from the exam. Luckily, she knows exactly what will recharge her and get her ready for the practical, whatever it is.

Lunch.

Her mouth waters a little as she imagines what kinds of foods there must be at UA.

A passing whiff of a familiar blood cuts her fantasies short, and Himiko straightens, trying to peer over the crowd of other examinees without much success. It occurs to her a moment later that she wouldn’t be able to see anyway.

Himiko slips through the crowd towards the scent as politely as she can, weaving between and around the other hungry test takers.

“Look who it is!” Himiko says, wrapping an arm around Hagakure’s shoulder and making the other girl jump.

Hagakure giggles brightly. “Sorry, Yagi, but I can’t do that!”

“I’m glad to see—well, you know.” Himiko slips her phone out of her pocket and checks her texts. Sure enough, Izuku’s already in the cafeteria and waiting for her. “Izuku’s here too!”

“Sweet!”

Izuku spots them first. Himiko smells him approaching, but with the crowd it takes her a moment to see him.

“Miko! Hagakure!” he says. “How was it? I was so nervous the whole time.”

“Ugh, same,” says Hagakure, draping over herself. “Everything about that test was brutal! I thought for sure I wasn’t going to finish in time.”

“It was pretty rough,” Himiko says. “But you know what’ll make us feel better?”

“Try not to eat all the food, Yagi,” says Hagakure. “The other examinees gotta eat too you know.”

Himiko folds her arms and pretends to pout, which earns a laugh from Hagakure and Izuku.

As it turns out, UA made plenty of food, and even Himiko’s habit of consuming her own weight in various dishes each meal isn’t enough to put a dent in their supply. She’s proud of herself for being able to carry all of her trays piled high with bowls of food without even needing to tap into One For All.

Not long after she sits down and sets about devouring a bowl of trout on rice, Izuku and Hagakure join her on either side with their own meals, considerable in their own right but a fraction of what Himiko has.

Himiko’s conflicted—the food here at UA might actually taste better than what they serve at Mite’s Café, and that’s simply unacceptable. But at the same time she can’t stop herself from chowing down on her pile of delicious food. It’s so good! The fish is perfectly savory, the rice is exactly right, the seasonings accentuate the flavors in all the best ways without being overpowering. There’s nothing she could think of at all that could improve the food on her plate.

“Mm!” Izuku says. “This is really good!”

Himiko swallows a bit so she can say, “I know, right?”

“You know,” Hagakure says between bites, “I’m beginning to think that stockpile Quirks are some kind of cheat. I can’t imagine eating all of that every day without gaining any weight!”

“Gotta eat to your lifestyle,” Himiko replies, setting aside her fourth empty bowl and reaching for a plate of onigiri. “Trust me, I use these calories.”

“She does!” Izuku says. “You should see her in training!”

“Ohh?” Hagakure leans in close to Himiko, forcing her to lean towards Izuku. “And training’s the only thing you do that takes up calories?”

“Yeah?” Himiko says, slowly turning red.

“Interesting…” It’s incredible how easy it is to hear Hagakure’s smug expressions even when they can’t be seen.

“Eat your food,” Izuku says without any venom. Hagakure laughs.

The auditorium is packed full, rows and rows of people sitting in tight rows surrounding the main stage on three sides. There are so many different scents mixing together Himiko’s head spins a little. That’s something she’s going to have to get used to when she becomes a Hero; she can’t let herself get overwhelmed in a disaster and fail to find anyone.

At the front of the large stage is a booth with what Himiko thinks is a sound booth. A small hum of curiosity escapes her throat.

She doesn’t have to wonder long about what the presentation will be like. She’s only been seated for a few minutes at most when a man walks on stage. The first thing that catches Himiko’s attention is his hair, which is combed up into a point about a meter above the man’s scalp. He’s wearing a leather jacket and pants, with thicker boots and biker gloves, and what looks like a speaker around his neck.

The man walks up to the sound booth and calls out, “Welcome everybody to today’s live performance! Come on and give me a ‘Hey!!’”

No one makes a noise.

“Feeling nervous? Shy? That’s all cool!” he says.

Now that she’s heard his voice, Himiko does know this guy. He’s Present Mic, a Hero who has his own radio show every Friday night. She’s listened to him alongside Izuku from time to time. He’s pretty good!

“I’m your announcer today, here to present all the rules and guidelines for your practical exam! Are you ready?” Present Mic throws his arm in the air and says, “Yeahh!!” but not a single person in the audience responds. Himiko picks at her nails.

“So here’s how the test goes, my listeners! You’re gonna be doing a ten-minute ‘mock cityscape maneuver!’ You can bring whatever you want, as long as you got it all checked out! Once this presentation’s done, you’ll each head to your assigned testing location! Okay?!!”

A holographic display bursts to life behind him, showing an incredibly simplified diagram, showing off their Current Location and the seven different testing sites connected to it.

Himiko glances down at her ID card. Listed there, under her personal ID number is Ground Beta Site F. She wonders where Izuku’s test is. It’d be nice to see him during the exam, but if they’re in the same place, they’d likely end up competing, so she’s hoping he’s somewhere else.

“The test sites are crawling with our Faux Villains!” Present Mic says, regaining Himiko’s attention. “Defeating these Villains earns you points based on how tough they are! The weak ones are only one points, there are some medium ones worth two, and the really tricky ones give a whole three points! Take ‘em down and earn points! That’s your goal!! Oh, and obviously, attacking another examinee is strictly prohibited!”

That’s all pretty straightforward, not that Himiko was expecting anything tricky from a combat test.

A boy stands up a few rows away from Himiko, hand in the air, clutching the paper handout.

“Excuse me!” he says, “May I ask a question? This hand out lists no fewer than four Faux Villains, but you only listed three! Such a grievous oversite is unbecoming for Japan’s top Hero academy!”

Himiko glances down at her own handout. Like he said, there are four pictures at the bottom, each of a different robot. They’re a little hard to make out with the small pictures, but they’re all differently shaped, and a marker in the top corner of the images redirects her to a sidebar about each of them.

Huh. This one is worth no points at all? Maybe she spoke too soon about there not being any tricks. She’s played far too many video games to trust an enemy that seemingly serves no purpose.

“And you there, with the curly hair!” the boy continues, turning and pointing further up in the crowd. Himiko follows his arm and spots—Izuku? “You have been muttering the entire presentation. It’s distracting! If you can’t be bothered to pay attention, then please leave this to those of us who are serious”

Himiko moves to stand, her temper kept in check only by a reassuring pulse of energy from One For All, but Present Mic beats her to it.

“Alright, alright, calm down there, Examinee 7111. Nice catch with the fourth Faux Villain though! That one is unique compared to the others! You don’t get any points for beating that one—it’s more of an obstacle, really! You can think of it like a stage hazard; a ‘gimmick’ that rampages in close quarters! There’s only one of them at each site!”

“Thank you for clarifying!” says the rude boy who insulted Izuku’s cute mumbling, and bows at an almost perfect 90 degrees.

Himiko hears some of the other examinees whispering amongst each other about the last Faux Villain.

“Something you just gotta avoid, huh?”

“This whole test is just like a video game!”

Himiko wonders what kinds of games they play that they aren’t concerned about it having some kind of surprise to it.

“Well everyone that’s all from me! Remember, being a true Hero means going above and beyond the ills of life. Plus Ultra!! Break a leg, everyone!”

Unfortunately, they’re all shuffled away onto busses before Himiko can have a chance to wish Izuku luck one last time before the exam begins. Ah well. She knows he won’t need it. They were kind enough to give him a whole paper to work off of first.

Midoriya Izuku grins down at the handout. They were kind enough to give him a whole paper to analyze from, and he intends on making the most of it.

The Victory Model is worth one point. Possesses a humanoid torso with a tank-like lower body. Arms are replaced with fully-automatic weapons. Possible to scavenge weaponry? Fast moving, lightly armored. Like all armored foes, joints are weakest. ‘Spine’ equivalent well-articulated, making it the easiest weak point, as well as connecting the torso to the head and base. Target the exposed neck to disable.

Imperial Model—two points of value. Resembles a scorpion, complete with stinger. There seems to be an arm coming from the front with sensors resembling a head, and pincers replaced with shields. However, there are more, larger sensers on the front, and the shape on the stinger indicates scorpion comparison most accurate, indicating the head is there. Shields arms have a set length and no joint to pull in closer, meaning that if cleared, the head has no defense. Exclusive melee attacks mean scavenging is unnecessary; current gear will suffice.

Venator Model, worth three points, resembles a turtle—though the shell instead contains micro-rocket launchers. Despite their designation as the strongest enemies, these micro-rocket launchers provide a simple way to dispose of any of them. A single misfire would result in a catastrophic failure, taking the entire Venator with it.

Details regarding Executor Model are scarce, suggesting some level of deception. Caution advised.

Soon enough, the whole group is standing in awe of the fake city sprawling out before them on the other side of a wall that isn’t quite high enough to completely block their view of the taller buildings.

“Holy shit,” another kid says. “They’ve got a whole bunch of these?”

Himiko takes deep breathes, adjusting to the scents of everyone around her while she can. Her eyes scan over the crowd. Everyone here is confidant—no, arrogant. Almost everyone in the crowd keeps their posture loose, lazy, with lackadaisical expressions. All of them think that they’re a shoo-in for UA.

Ice runs down her spine. How many of them are like this because they’re actually as good as they think they are? How many of them are an actual threat? There are so many people at this testing site alone.

She swallows thickly.

Hopefully their arrogance is unearned, and they’ll all crash and burn in the face of the actual robots.

“And…” comes Present Mic’s voice, echoing out over the field, “Begin!”

Time Remaining Until UA Entrance Exams: 0 Minutes

Chapter Text

Present Mic’s voice rings out loud and clear from his vantage point overlooking the fake cities.

“And… begin!”

There’s a moment of confusion from everyone around her, but Yagi Himiko has spent far too much time training with Gran Torino to be taken by surprise by a lack of countdown. One For All floods through her, and she blurs ahead of the other examinees, leaving nothing but the last wisps of red mist and a streak of crimson light.

Stained Red: 4%

Izuku insisted that she name the technique, even if all she’s doing is not breaking herself with One For All. She quickly settled on calling it Stained Red, a name that’s just as cute as the actual technique.

Himiko spots a Three-Pointer hunkered down and locking onto her with its missile launchers. It doesn’t get the chance to fire before she raises her leg and brings it down in an axe-kick, flattening the head into the pavement.

Huh. Even accounting for One For All, these robots aren’t very durable Though, they are for testing purposes. It wouldn’t exactly make sense for UA to sick robots too strong to beat on a bunch of applicants.

“What’re you all standing around for?!” Present Mic calls. “The test’s started and only a few of you have the right idea! Run! Run!! The die is cast!!”

The cry of shock from the crowd is drowned out when Himiko rips the head off of a One-Point robot and throws it clean through a Two-Point robot, which explodes in a cute dramatic way, like the delay they’d add in a game for emphasis.

Himiko grins, baring her fangs.

This test is actually a lot of fun! And since the cute robots are so fragile, she’s willing to be that Izuku’s tonfa are enough to carry him through the exam.

Whoops! She’s lost in her own head there! Himiko leaps back several meters out of the way of a swipe from a Two-Pointer’s tail. While the robot is still off balance, Himiko dives in, grabbing it by the tail and swinging it around her head. For a moment, she strains herself up to Stained Red: 7%, her current absolute limit, to get the strength she needs to lift this thing.

With a cry, Himiko releases, sending the robot flying down the streets and bowling over another group of robots. She practically expects to hear the cartoon pin sound effect.

And then for some reason they all explode.

“Manly…”

Himiko glances over, wiping sweat form her brow to see a boy with spiky black hair and sharp teeth. She beams at him and kicks off the ground, sprinting off to find more robots. She knows that being a Hero is serious, hard work over years and years of service, but she can’t help hoping that all of her training is as fun as this.

With a hop, she spins around, kicking clean through the spine of a One-Pointer, knocking the torso away from the base. Gran would tell her that wasn’t necessary, a waste of energy, but she doesn’t care right now.

Midoriya Izuku drives his tonfa through the glass face of the Imperial. Like he thought, they can’t block attacks from close range. The robot sputters and dies, and Izuku hops up and jumps off from its shields to get clear before it detonates. The blasts are harmless, but from experience, it’s not pleasant to get caught in the cloud of dust they kick up.

A Venator drifts around the corner and Izuku scrambles out of the line of fire. As missile shoots past him, he snags a pebble off the ground and throws it into one of the holes in the missile launcher. He gets lucky; the rock jams something and the robot envelopes itself in an explosive flash. Another one down.

“This isn’t so hard,” he murmurs to himself. Definitely not worth any of the stress from the past week or so while he and Himiko catastrophized about the exam. Admittedly, he’d had a minor heart attack when he learned he’d have to fight robots. Metal generally beats fancy wooden sticks, as far as he’s aware. But these robots have been going down with barely any fight.

Speaking of which, three Victories race towards him. Izuku snort, shifting to the middle of the street and letting the two robots in the back shoot the one in front of them to pieces, and then crash into the rubble. The lead robot didn’t even aim its guns. They really are holding back on them, huh?

Well, Izuku isn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. It’s not like he has a Quirk he can use to fight these things with, so if UA’s going to make them so easily breakable, he’ll take it.

An Imperial charges him right on cue. Izuku dips under the tail swipe and vaults over the shields, driving his foot into the thing’s face. As the robot shuts downs, Izuku leaps off from its back before it can detonate, hitting the ground with a roll.

Izuku wipes sweat from his mouth. It’s only been a few minutes, and the sounds of battle are echoing across the fake city. At this rate, he might not be able to keep up with the other applicants, much less win his bet with Himiko.

Something catches Izuku’s eye in a nearby alleyway between two buildings. UA really went above and beyond with keeping the city realistic.

He sprints off, jumping up and springing against the walls to grab hold of the ladder of the fire escape. His hand nearly slips from the inertia, but Izuku rights himself and pulls himself up onto the actual walkway. From there it’s a simple sprint up to the roof, and he has the perfect vantage point for the exam.

Why bother with the streets when it’s faster to take the rooftops? It’s like Gran Torino kept telling him and Himiko: fights are a test of endurance and efficiency. Why waste time with crowds and rubble and sticking to the streets when he doesn’t have to? Leaping from building to building can’t be any harder than anything he did on the mountain with Gran and Himiko. Not to mention how much more visibility he gets from up here.

Nothing is getting away from him up here.

“Get down!” Yagi Himiko calls, forcing Stained Red back up to 7% and diving. She wraps her arms around the other girl just as a barrage of missiles fire right where the girl had been standing. Himiko hits the floor tumbling, absorbing the impact for the other girl.

Down the street, the missiles explode in a bright, loud flash.

“Are you alright?” Himiko says, getting to her feet and offering a hand.

“I am, thanks to you, kero,” ribbits the girl. Actually ribbits. It’s one of the cutest things Himiko’s ever heard. The girl takes Himiko’s hand while fixing the ribbon-like braid at the end of her long, green hair. Himiko reaches over and brushes some grit and dust out of her hair.

“Sorry about your hair.”

“Better that than exploding.” The girl nods politely and springs up over Himiko, driving her feet into the back of the Three-Pointer that shot at them, smashing clean through it. “Thank you, kero. Good luck.”

“You too!” Himiko waves as they part ways.

A sudden spike of pain in her side reminds Himiko to drop back down to 4% —she’d forgotten in the moment to regulate her output. Increasing her output by even 3% was nearly double what she could safely handle and lingering that high for more than a few seconds was liable to pull something at best.

She rubs the sore spot, pouting.

The sudden scent of blood slams into Himiko, nearly staggering her. She doesn’t hesitate, running towards what has to be a freshly opened wound.

Himiko rounds the corner and grimaces. Five of the robots have a small examinee pinned down, and their weapons are readying up. If she rushes in to grab him, she’ll get shot to pieces with him. An ambush like this isn’t cute at all.

Himiko rips a street sign free from the ground.

“Hey!” she yells, getting the attention of all five robots. Himiko rears back her arms, holding the metal post like a javelin. Knowing that she’s going to regret it, she jumps to 7% as she throws.

Her improvised spear tears clean through all five robots, pinning them together to the road like a kebob. Which explodes.

Himiko winces, rubbing her shoulder, aching from even that momentary use of 7%. She’s pushing herself too hard too often.

The boy looks at her like she’s hung the moon. She crouches beside him.

“You’re hurt, right? I can smell the blood.”

“You—” the boy swallows whatever thought he had and holds up his hand. “Just a scratch. I got nicked by a Victory bot and scraped my hand when I fell.”

“Thank goodness!” Himiko grins wide enough that her fangs are on full display. “I’m glad you’re alright!” The boy’s eyes widen further and he nods silently. Himiko stands up, brushing off her pants. “Be safe!”

“You’re—!” the boy says, making Himiko pause mid step. “You’re really cool!”

Himiko’s heart flutters. This is what she’s been dreaming about for months. She was somebody’s Hero. Her, Himiko, the blood-drinking weirdo, just saved someone. And he thinks she’s cool.

“Thanks!”

Midoriya Izuku flips his tonfa around the long way, and as the Victory robot rides close to him, he swings, batting its head clean off. The rest of the robot falls to the ground, too unbalanced to stay upright on its wheel.

“Are you alright?” he says to the boy behind him.

The boy blinks a few times, then rises to his feet. “Yeah. Caught me off guard is all. Appreciate the save.”

“Don’t mention it!”

Izuku flips his tonfa around again so that it’s reinforcing his arm and jogs off. Compared to keeping track of Gran Torino’s movements, keeping track of the robots in this arena is easy. But most people must not have had that kind of training, because he’s seen a lot of examinees nearly get hurt from a robot in their blind spot.

He knows that Kacchan won’t have that problem. For all his faults, he has the making of an incredible fighter—and situational awareness is part of that.

And he had been pissed when he saw Izuku at the auditorium earlier. It didn’t help matters that they were seated next to each other. At least they aren’t in the same testing site. Kacchan may not be allowed to attack him during this test, but he’d have made it a nightmare for him anyway.

Izuku shakes himself out of his thoughts. He needs to focus on fighting robots right now.

Izuku goes to take a step but stumbles as the ground shakes underfoot. The shaking only intensifies as he catches his footing, grateful to Gran Torino for training him on a mountainside.

The shaking intensifies as a loud boom screams across the fake city. Buildings crumple and collapse to the floor, the falling concrete crashing and metal frameworks screaming. Billowing plumes of dust rise into the air from the pulverized remains of office buildings and apartments.

And then Izuku sees it.

The towering metal monstrosity, easily larger than any of the multi-story buildings around it. Tank treads the size of trains connect to a massive humanoid shape with clamp-like arms large enough to tear car-sized chunks clean out of buildings, and a flat, square face. The body itself is articulated much like the Victory robots, giving it the impression of being made from an enormous human spine.

The obstacle; the stage hazard. A ‘gimmick’ that rampages in close quarters. The things tearing the fake city apart with ease, decimating half a city block with the swipe of a hand.

The Zero Point Robot.

The Executor.

That is a big robot.

Himiko wishes she had something smarter to say about it, but that is a giant robot! Dad or Gran or someone could’ve warned her about the giant murder bot! It doesn’t even have the decency to look cute while it kills her!

Himiko darts away from it with Stained Red, scooping up another examinee who was slightly too close to the impact of its giant fist and depositing them further down the street.

She knows she could beat it easily if she could use One For All properly. She’s not a super Hero fan like Izuku but she’s seen Dad in action enough to know what he’s capable of, and he could level that thing in one hit.

Himiko can only use 4%. And while her newfound regeneration is easing the burden of using higher percentages, she really, really, doesn’t want to shatter most of her body fighting something that isn’t worth any points.

Himiko keeps running. Fighting that thing is a waste of time and energy, so she’ll take advantage of the pandemonium to hunt down the last few robots worth some actual points. She hopes Izuku knows where he’s going to treat her to, because she’s not going to lose her bet with him!

Hopefully, Izuku’s doing alright in his own testing area.

Midoriya Izuku chuckles nervously to himself. What the actual fuck is that?

His mind stalls scanning over the giant metal form for any kind of weakness. It’s way too damn big!

The Executor brings down a hand, smashing clean through the road and throwing up a cloud of dust high above the neighboring roofs. Fragments of signs and streetlights rains down on the fleeing examinees, rocks and rubble clattering across the street.

It’s overwhelming.

That’s when the screaming starts.

“What even is that thing?”

“Get the hell out of here!”

“This—this is just a test, right? They wouldn’t kill us?”

“I’m gonna die!”

Izuku does his best to tune out the white noise. The panic isn’t going to help him right now. What he has to do is get the hell away from that thing and earn some more points. He’s decently confidant in his current point total, but he’s not going to get into UA by making assumptions and being complacent. He’s still got three bombs left, that’s plenty for these fragile robots.

Izuku refuses to let everything that Mr. Yagi and Himiko did for him be for nothing. He and Himiko are passing this test and getting into UA! And he’s not going to roll over and let Himiko win their bet, either.

Izuku moves to sprint, but the moment his foot touches down, he hears it.

“oww…”

Izuku freezes.

Lying at the edge of the destruction, right in front of the Executor, is the nice girl that Himiko had literally bumped into. The girl braces herself with her arms and tries to force herself to stand, but it’s a struggle. Her face is twisted into a grimace.

There is no hope in her eyes.

For the second time in his life, his body moves on its own.

Izuku won’t let her die. He won’t.

The ruined street may as well be perfectly even compared to the mountain where Gran taught him parkour. In only moments he’s at the girl’s side.

“Can you move?” he asks.

She hisses through her teeth. “Ankle hurts.” She looks like she could throw up at any minute.

Izuku spares a quick glance at the Executor, which has continued to lumber steadily closer. The metal colossus opens its hand and begins to reach for them.

Fuck.

“This might hurt,” Izuku says, and hoists the girl up onto his shoulder in a fireman’s carry. It’s not the most dignified way to hold someone, but it won’t exacerbate any injuries. The girl whimpers a little as he picks her up, but otherwise seems alright. “Okay. We’re moving.”

Izuku barely notices her weight compared to half the things he had to carry off of Takoba Beach, but even so, the Executor’s steady movements are catching up faster than he’d like. As it drives forward, the robot’s treads tear the street apart, sending rocks and debris flying as they’re grinded up in the wheels.

“You gotta be shittin’ me,” the girl murmurs. Frankly, Izuku agrees. What the hell kind of budget does UA have that they not only have multiple fake cities but sic giant robots on them?

Well at least they’ll have enough money to give Mom compensation when this robot squishes him.

The worst part is that the thing can tear through the buildings like tissue paper, so he can’t even try and use and alleyway or hide inside a building without getting both of them buried alive.

“I’m gonna go an’ use my Quirk on you!” the girl says. “You’re gonna be lighter!”

“Understood!”

He feels her press her hand into his back and the difference is immediately obvious. All the wear on his body vanishes in an instant as the hold of gravity releases him. The only thing keeping him on the ground is her weight.

Izuku grins. He can work with this. He kicks off the ground, leaping far ahead. For a moment, the two of them hang several meters in the air before the girl’s weight pulls him back down to the ground. He almost fumbles the landing, but Gran’s training comes through for him again and after staggering for a moment he leaps again. The rubble that litters the path no longer poses any kind of obstacle.

Izuku screeches to a stop at the end of the block, where the other fleeing examinees have gathered, just in time for the announcement.

“The exam is over!!!” cries Present Mic with no little enthusiasm.

“Release,” whispers the girl, and Izuku’s weight slams back into him.

Izuku helps set her down, and she sits on the ground, nursing her ankle. Izuku pants, supporting himself against his knees.

“Are you,” he says, “Are you okay?”

The girl smiles up at him, weary but bright. “I’m fine! Thanks to you, anyway. You saved me!”

Izuku chuckles. “Only because of your Quirk. Otherwise I wouldn’t have made it.”

“Uraraka Ochaco.”

“Hm? Oh! It’s nice to meet you, Uraraka! I’m Midoriya Izuku.” Izuku bows.

Behind him, Izuku hears the other examinees talking. They’re discussing him and how dumb it was of him to run towards the Executor when there was so little time left in the exam. He shakes his head. If they don’t get it, they won’t have passed anyway. Of that, he’s sure.

He catches a glimpse of the one boy with glasses and the square jaw—the one with a Quirk just like Ingenium—but doesn’t pay him any attention. If he has another problem with Izuku he’ll just have to deal with it.

“You can go home now, dears, I’ll take it from here.”

Izuku perks up. The newcomer has a very familiar voice, and it doesn’t take long for the crowd to part for Recovery Girl to make her way through.

“Any injuries?” she asks everyone as she walks by, handing out gummies. “Is anyone hurt?”

Izuku raises a hand. “Over here!”

Recovery Girl sighs. “I should’ve known.”

“Wh—not me!” It takes Izuku a moment to realize he’s just thrown Uraraka under the proverbial bus but it’s too late to take it back.

“My ankle,” Uraraka says. “I, well, I was right next to the Zero Pointer and when I fell, I think I twisted my ankle.”

So he hadn’t been imagining it just now. The accent that she had before has completely vanished. If he hadn’t heard it, he wouldn’t have known about it at all. That’s a shame; her accent had been cute.

Izuku blinks. Where had that thought come from? Maybe that talk with Himiko last night put some weird thoughts in his head. He can worry about that later.

Recovery Girl kisses Uraraka, and she sags with relief. “Thank you!”

“It’s nothing, dear. Now, are there any other injuries to take care of?”

Izuku straightens, rolling his shoulders, when Uraraka lightly tugs on his clothes.

“You, uh, you were with that girl, right? From the entrance?”

“Yup!” Izuku rubs the back of his neck. “I’m meeting up with her now, actually. Want to come with me?”

Uraraka’s eyes sparkle.

Chapter Text

Midoriya is confidant that the girl is waiting for him, and Uraraka Ochaco is inclined to believe him. He’s clearly close to her. Her chest tightens for a moment, and she takes a few deep breaths. Is she really that tired already? Then again, the exam was pretty exhausting.

She shouldn’t have doubted. Right outside the main building, leaning against a wall and playing on her phone, is the cute girl that bumped into Ochaco earlier. Her long blond curls are covered in dirt and debris, but the rosy blush on her cheeks—one not that different from Ochaco’s own permanent blush—looks just like she remembers.

The girl suddenly perks up, her head snapping towards them.

“Ku!” she says, smiling wide, revealing a pair of sharp fangs. “There you are! I was worried I’d have to find you in Recovery Girl’s place or something!”

Midoriya laughs. “Nothing like that, Miko. I just made a new friend is all.”

Miko’s eyes shift, landing on Ochaco. She lets out a small peep.

“Hi, Miko! I’m Uraraka Ochaco!” Ochaco bows, missing how fast Miko blushes.

“Oh, uh,” Miko says. “Hi! But my name’s Yagi. Yagi Himiko.”

Ochaco blinks. “Oh, but you just…”

“That’s Ku’s nickname for me!” Yagi(?) wraps a shoulder around Midoriya and gives him a quick peck on the cheek.

“O-oh…” Ochaco swallows. “So you two are dating?”

“Mhmm! For a few months now!” Yagi beams, and Midoriya leans in, returning her kiss.

“That’s… and the two of you are alright with that? I mean—” Ochaco waves her hands in front of her face, “Uh, won’t it get in the way of training?”

The two of them blink at her owlishly.

“…how?” Midoriya says.

“Well, you, uh, isn’t it distracting?”

Yagi blushes a deep red and looks away. “Only during Yoga.”

Midoriya jolts, looking over at her. “Is that why you keep slipping?”

“Ku, you’re flexible, have sculpted muscles, and I am a girl with needs! At least I’m not simping over your thighs while we’re sparring!”

“I hope not! Torino would kill you!”

Ochaco can’t help but sputter out a laugh, cutting them off and bringing both of their attention to her.

“Okay, okay,” she says between giggles. “I get it.”

“Oh, wait!” Yagi suddenly brightens. “Ku, Dad says that he’s gonna do a big celebration dinner back at the flat for us doing the Entrance Exams! He said your mom’s gonna be there too!”

“Mite’s Café?”

“Mite’s Café.”

“What might café?” Ochaco says, tilting her head.

Yagi grins at her, golden eyes flashing. “Mite’s Café! It’s the restaurant in Might Tower!”

“You get catering from Might Tower?”

“Well, yeah…” Yagi scratches the back of her head. “I… well I live there.”

Ochaco gapes like a fish. “Wha—buh—”

“Dad works at Might Tower, and they’ve got penthouses for any of the staff who wants to live there, so…”

“Miko, think they’d be able to handle one more?” Midoriya says.

It takes Ochaco an embarrassingly long time to realize what he’s saying. She raises a finger and points at herself.

“You’re inviting me?”

“Why not?” Midoriya shrugs. “Trust me; they’ve got the space. I mean—!” He flushes, waving his hands “Only if you want to! You’re probably going back home, right?”

“Uh, actually… I’m not going back home until tomorrow. I’ve got a hotel room here in Mustafu for tonight. I live in Mie, and it’s a bit of a long ride…” Especially after a day full of some of the hardest test questions she’s ever done followed by a robot throwdown.

“Dad says to bring as many friends as we want,” Yagi says, looking up from her phone.

“Actually, where’s Hagakure, now that I think about it?” says Midoriya.

“She went home already. She already had something planned.”

“Ah.”

“So you want me to come over for… dinner?” No sooner are the words out of Ochaco’s mouth than her stomach grumbles loudly. She grimaces. Lunch wasn’t that long ago, it was right before the Practical portion, it can’t have been more than 40 minutes!

“Yup!” says Yagi. “It’ll be fun! Besides, so far Ku here and Hagakure are the only friends I’ve had over!”

“You just want someone else you can school in Super Hero Smash Unlimited,” Midoriya says. Yagi sticks her tongue out at him.

Ochaco would be lying if she said she wasn’t interested in hanging out with them both some more. It’s actually a bit of a relief to make friends here at the exam. With any luck that means she’ll know some of her classmates if—when she’s accepted into UA.

“Sounds like fun!” she says, beaming at them.

Ochaco’s mouth drops open at the mere sight of Yagi’s bedroom. It could fit her apartment several times over.

Over in the dining room—what kind of bedroom has a dining room? –is a woman with green hair who looks too much like Midoriya to be anyone other than his mother. She’s speaking with a tall, gaunt man with unkempt blonde hair.

“Hi Dad! Hi Mrs. Midoriya!” Yagi says with a wave. “We’re here! And we brought a guest!”

“Congratulations, you three!” Mr. Yagi says, voice far more booming than Ochaco was expecting from him. “You’ve survived the starting line on your path to Heroics!”

Yagi bounces in place, hands clapping. “Did we pass? Did we pass?”

“Himiko… I’m not allowed to tell you that.” Mr. Yagi pats her gently on the head, and she leans into his touch. “Strictly speaking it would be best if I didn’t have any contact with any of you, but that’s rather impossible.” He and Yagi both laugh as Midoriya blushes.

“Why don’t you come in and introduce yourself?” he says. He must read something on her face, because he adds, “Yeah, this place takes a bit to get used to.”

“It’s so big…”

Midoriya pats her on the back, leading her into the room, not commenting on her slow steps as she absorbs how unbelievably massive this one room of the suite is.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, dear.”

Ochaco jumps. She hadn’t even noticed how close she’d gotten to Mrs. Midoriya.

“Oh, hello ma’am! My name is Uraraka Ochaco.” She bows.

“So polite! Dinner won’t be for a little while, but they have punch and hors d'oeuvres.” Mrs. Midoriya giggles. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think those two were fancy.”

Ochaco pointedly looks around the massive bedroom.

“Trust me,” Midoriya says as he walks past her, pouring himself a cup of fruit punch. “Himiko is a dork.”

A sudden weight lands on Ochaco, and she shrieks.

“Sorry about that!” Yagi says, her arms draped over Ochaco’s shoulders, letting Ochaco support her weight. She grins, showing off her fangs again. “But I don’t think you’re being fair, Ku!”

Midoriya stares at her with a deadpan expression for several seconds.

“You tried to make something based on a video of Lunch Rush’s Cooking Kitchen.”

“Those are based on real foods--!”

“It was a phone video!”

Yagi sticks her tongue out at Midoriya, and Ochaco is starting to understand what the Midoriyas mean. Yagi doesn’t act anything like what Ochaco expects from a rich girl.

“So, um,” Ochaco doesn’t want to begin trying to pronounce ‘hors d'oeuvre.’ “There’s food?”

“There is!” says Mr. Yagi. “We have crab cornbread muffins—”

“Ooh!” Yagi says, snatching one.

Mr. Yagi continues as if he wasn’t interrupted. “There are these wonderful sausages on toast with celery –I can never remember what they’re called—roasted grape crostini, and bacon-wrapped dates.”

Ochaco thinks she might faint. Those all sound so fancy! How much must this all cost? Her head is starting to spin.

“Is this what it’s like to work at Might Tower?” she murmurs. She hopes so. If this is the kind of money a Top Hero can rake in, then she’ll be able to support her family easily. But at the same time, she’s never been near anything half as expensive as any given object in this room.

“All Might earns a considerable amount from royalties and licensing, not to mention his actual Hero work,” Mr. Yagi says. “Far more than he needs to live a comfortable lifestyle for the next century or so. So a lot of his income instead goes to Might Tower and the services it provides!”

“You don’t live close to Tokyo, I take it?” Mrs. Midoriya says. “I know that if we did, well, Izuku’s always been a Hero fanboy so we’d have come here every day, but my point is that we wouldn’t have had trouble affording it.”

“Wow…”

To be able to give back to her community like that—to help out so many people, and not just her parents… that would be the dream! That’s the kind of money she never dared to believe she could earn!

“Oh, yeah, I’ve been meaning to ask,” Midoriya says. “What happened to your accent?”

Ochaco stiffens. “Oh… you heard that…”

Midoriya hums an affirmation, taking a drink. “Yeah, you just stopped using it once the exam was over.”

“Well…” Ochaco pushes the tips of her pointer fingers together, biting her lip. “I, well, I’ve got a Kansai accent… and, well… if people knew that’s how I usually talk, they’d think I sound dumb…”

“Dumb? I thought it sounded cute,” Midoriya says absently. Ochaco chokes on air. Before she can recover, Yagi is in her face.

“Can I hear it? Please, please, please?”

“Oh, uh, well,” Ochaco’s so surprised that slipping back into her accent is easy. “Well, I guess I could.” She fiddles with her hands. “What do ya think?”

Yagi squeals.

“You’re overwhelming her, dear,” Mrs. Midoriya says to Yagi. Turning to Ochaco, she says, “I don’t think you have anything to worry about. No one will think lesser of you because of your accent.”

“UA takes discrimination seriously,” says Mr. Yagi. “It wouldn’t do if the students discarded people or opinions because of personal biases. Especially in the Hero Course.”

Huh. That’s the second time he’s talked about UA as if he has some kind of personal experience.

“Mr. Yagi, do ya work for UA?” Ochaco says.

“That I do!” he says with a wide smile. “Mostly some minor administrative work; nothing fancy. And like I told Himiko, I can’t tell you about how the exams went, so don’t ask.”

“I wasn’t goin’ to go and ask that!” Ochaco waves her hands in front of herself defensively. “I heard what you said!”

Honestly, she doesn’t want to think about the exam right now. While she’s confident in her performance today, it was so exhausting that she just wants to lay somewhere and decompress for a while.

Mr. Yagi laughs. “Glad to hear it! I believe it’s about a week until the official results are released, so there’s no point in worrying until then. But we’re here to celebrate, are we not?” Mr. Yagi raises his own cup of the punch. “To the three of you who worked so hard and have come so far!”

Yagi cheers, and Midoriya lifts his own cup in toast.

“Have you had anything?” Mrs. Midoriya says with a small smile. “The appetizers are quite good.”

“I’m alright ma’am, I’m not that hungry.” The permanent blush on Ochaco’s cheeks turn an even deeper shade of red as her stomach growls. Mrs. Midoriya raises an eyebrow, but the genuinely kind smile never leaves her face.

“There’s enough for everyone.”

Ochaco nods, not trusting herself to speak without embarrassing herself again. She grabs a handful of the roasted grapes and the toasted bread they come with and pops them in her mouth so she can claim to have eaten.

Oh.

Oh those are really good.

She doesn’t even notice as she stacks a plate high with all the different appetizers, nor does she notice when she devours half the plate.

Yagi sits down next to her, making Ochaco jump when she leans against her shoulder.

“You ever play any video games?” she asks. Ochaco shakes her head, mouth still full of bacon and date. “I think you’d like Super Hero Smash.”

Ochaco swallows. “What’s that?”

“It’s kind of a fighting game, kind of a party game,” Midoriya says, walking up beside Yagi. “You play as a top Hero and try to launch the other person out of the arena.”

“Sounds fun!”

And it is, once she gets used to the giant TV that Yagi just has because here bedroom has an entertainment room in it for some reason. Rich people scare her.

Thirteen isn’t an option, sadly, so Ochaco chooses to play as Wash. Midoriya selects Shishido, and Yagi picks Ryukyu.

“Oh no,” Midoriya whispers, as Yagi confirms her selections. Ochaco looks at him, head tilted in confusion. Midoriya swallows. “You’re getting a trial by fire.”

“I’m gonna teach her how to play!” Yagi protests.

Yagi runs through what all the buttons on the controller do, even encouraging Ochaco to try out some of her moves. But Ochaco can’t help but notice that Midoriya keeps himself between her and Yagi the entire time, and a shiver of fear dances across her skin.

“I think I get it,” she says.

“Good!” That’s the only warning she gets before Yagi rushes them both. Midoriya matches her furious onslaught of attacks with some well-timed dodges and counters, but it’s clear Yagi has played much more than him.

While they’re distracted, Ochaco unleashes a barrage of bubbles at them both. Or, she thought they were distracted, because at that moment Yagi grabs Midoriya and flings him across the screen into Ochaco’s bubbles, launching him into orbit.

Yagi cackles as Midoriya explodes offscreen.

Ochaco belatedly realizes that there’s no one left to defend her, or carry her out of danger—where did that thought come from? –right as Yagi closes the distance and smacks her into a combo that bounces her across the stage before dribbling her into a pit.

So this is what video games are like! Ochaco smiles widely. “Well now I want to go an’ have a rematch.”

“This match isn’t over yet?” says Yagi. “You’ve still got two more lives!”

“I do?!”

“Kids, dinner!” calls Mrs. Midoriya. The three of them look up at once. They had moved on from Super Hero Smash Unlimited to some of the other games in Yagi’s frighteningly large collection of games, and were now desperately fighting off mutant vampires in Godslayer Zero.

“Be right there!” Yagi calls, pausing the game. “Ku, can I…” she shoots a quick glance at Ochaco with wariness in her eyes. “Can I have some blood with dinner?”

Ochaco blinks a few times. “Blood?”

Yagi nods, avoiding eye contact. “My Quirk needs blood to work, and I have to drink some regularly. I have some pouches of artificial blood in the fridge, but it tastes better from Ku.”

“That’s ‘cuz you love me,” Midoriya says, resting his head against her.

“Sap.”

“But I’m right!”

“You can have some of mine,” Ochaco says without thinking. Yagi looks at her with wide, shining eyes.

“Really?”

Ochaco doesn’t know what made her say it in the first place. She had just blurted it out before she could stop herself. But looking at how much hope there is in Yagi’s face, she can’t bring herself to back down now.

“Sure as sunshine.”

Yagi brightens, and Ochaco’s stomach feels weird. Maybe she ate too much? Before she can really process that though, Yagi gingerly takes her arm in her soft, warm hands, and raises it to her mouth.

Ochaco thought it would hurt more when the fangs broke her skin, but it’s more shock than pain that makes her gasp. There’s something about Yagi’s bite that lights her nerves on fire. A few moments later, Yagi releases her again, gently dragging her tongue across Ochaco’s skin and sending waves of energy down her arm. She has to resist the urge to shiver.

“Um,” says Ochaco, softly rubbing the skin where Yagi had bit her. “So what does your Quirk… do?”

Yagi grins. “How about I show you?”

“Is that okay?”

“I mean, this is my room. Here we—” Yagi pauses, brow furrowed. “Huh.” She glances over at Midoriya for a moment before turning back to Ochaco. “Here we go!”

Yagi’s skin bursts with a thin layer of gray slime, which molds into her, and in seconds, her entire body resculpts itself into a copy of Ochaco’s.

“Well what do ya know, you’re a little shorter than me,” Yagi says, then pauses. “Wait, did I go an’ get your accent?”

“Uh,” Ochaco says.

Yagi giggles. “Oh look at me, I’m Uraraka Ochaco an’ I reckon that if people know I really talk in the cutest darn way they’ll go an’ make fun of me!”

Ochaco’s blush intensifies. “Stop that!”

“I can keep this up ‘till the cows come home,” Yagi says. “What do ya think, Ku?”

She drapes herself over Midoriya’s shoulders—while still looking like Ochaco, making Ochaco blush even worse—with a lazy grin. And then her smile slips right off her face. Her eyes widen as Izuku slides out beneath her arms and floats up with a yelp. They’re both too stunned to grab him as Midoriya flails through the air.

Yagi stares up at where Midoriya bumps against the ceiling and then slowly lowers her gaze down to Ochaco.

“Uh.”

“Yagi? How’d you go an’ use my Quirk?”

“That was your Quirk?”

“A little help?” Midoriya calls from the ceiling.

Oh, right!

“You have to go an’ push your fingers together,” Ochaco says, demonstrating. Yagi mimics her, and Midoriya drops back to the floor, easily catching himself in a roll. He gets up to his feet, staring at Yagi.

“Ku,” she says, “I can copy Quirks!”

“3,000 yen on them getting her to join them.”

Mr. Yagi seems to startle at that, eyeing Midoriya Inko warily. She smiles at him.

“No bet,” he says. “I happened to overhear them last night. Both of them are open to having more people in their relationship.”

“Mm. Then 3,000 yen on it being before July.”

Mr. Yagi rolls his eyes. “Please, have you met Himiko? The end of May at the latest.”

They shake on it.

Chapter Text

Shouta Aizawa could admit that he was impressed, especially after the applicants from last year turned out to be such disappointments before they got their acts together.

(He wouldn’t take credit for that; all he did was give them all the kick in the ass they needed. They put in the work themselves.)

But this year, he’d seen quite a few candidates with decent showings at the practical exam.

“Kamakiri Togaru,” Nedzu says. “Thirteenth highest scorer at 55.”

“No Rescue Points,” Kan says.

“That’s not unusual,” says Shouta. That is, after all, the point of them being a secret. Though he can admit to himself that it’s somewhat unusual for two people in the upper half to have no Rescue Points. Then again, it’s also not unheard of.

Kamakiri showed off remarkable skill with his Quirk, slicing cleanly through the robots but with enough awareness that he never came close to endangering anyone else. The fact that he was only thirteenth says more about this years’ batch of students than about him.

“Make your cases,” says Nedzu.

Shouta shakes his head. “You can have him, Kan. His Quirk is basically just a weapon, and you’ve always handled those ones better.”

“Thank you for summarizing my pitch for me, Aizawa,” Kan scoffs, but he’s smiling.

“Very well, Kamakiri is approved for Class 1-B. You have fifteen students now, Kan, be careful you don’t fill up earlier than you’d like.” Nedzu switches out Kamakiri’s file for the next one in the list. “Awase Yosetsu. Twelfth highest scorer; 50 Villain Points, 6 Rescue. Make you cases.”

“He’ll be excellent at Apprehension and ambushes, and I can prevent Quirk accidents,” says Shouta. “Last thing we need is to fuse a student to a desk again.”

“You’re not the only one out there that knows how to work the night shift,” Kan says. “And besides, I usually take the less flashy Quirks.”

“Aizawa?” Nedzu says. “Rebuttal?” Shouta shrugs. He’s currently behind on students compared to Kan, but otherwise he’s ambivalent as to where Awase goes. Either of them could do a good job with him. “No? Then Awase is approved for 1-B.” Nedzu swaps in the next file. “Eleventh highest scorer, Tokoyami Fumikage and Dark Shadow. 47 Villain Points, 10 Rescue. Make your cases.”

“Nope,” says Kan. “Aizawa you’re better suited for handling a sentient Quirk if they lose control.”

That’s what Shouta had figured would happen, honestly.

“He’s the first applicant to the Hero Course we’ve ever had with a sentient Quirk, right?” he says.

“Indeed!” Nedzu’s grin widens. “I’m quite intrigued by what they’ll do! We’re in the Top Ten scorers now! Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu. 49 Villain Points, 10 Rescue.”

“His Quirk is similar to Kirishima Eijiro, isn’t it?” Shouta notes, reading over the file.

“There is more than a passing similarity, yes, but I find their differences to be far more interesting,” Nedzu replies. “Though, because of their similarities, I won’t allow them both to be in the same class.”

Kan looks up from scanning the file. “I’ll take Tetsutetsu then, if that’s fine with Aizawa.”

“It is.” It looks as if Kirishima’s Quirk also sharpens his body, which could be dangerous. Probably best for Shouta to have him then.

“Very well, Tetsutetsu is approved for 1-B, and Kirishima Eijiro is approved for 1-A. Next, the single digits! Iida Tenya, our ninth highest scorer at 61. 52 Villain, 9 Rescue.”

“I’ll take him,” says Shouta. “I’ve got Todoroki already,” and it went unspoken that he’d end up with the Yagi girl, “so there will be other Legacy students for him to interact with.”

Iida had done admirably in combat, but he’d also been overly stiff throughout the entire exam, starting from when he went off on Yamada for not having finished presenting and then yelling at another examinee a few rows behind him. Hopefully he would learn to loosen up before it caused a problem.

“I’m fine with that,” Kan says.

“In that case, Iida is approved for 1-A, bringing you up to fifteen students. Next, the eighth highest scorer, Kendo Itsuka. 25 Villain Points, 40 Rescue.”

Hm. Another unusual case of someone with more Rescue Points than Villain, and by a decent margin. Especially given her obvious martial arts training and physical Quirk. She could have easily taken down far more robots if she wanted to, but chose to prioritize keeping an eye on the others around her.

“You can have her,” Shouta says. “I’m not one for much martial arts.” Well, unarmed martial arts anyway. The Capture Scarf is another matter entirely. Kan on the other hand has to be able to function with a variety of blood constructs or even without if something goes wrong.

“Alright, Kendo is approved for 1-B. Next is our seventh highest, Shiozaki Ibara. 36 Villain Points and 32 Rescue.”

An even spread of both and a rather high score in each. Shiozaki shows a decent bit of potential already.

“Those vines of her can tear clear through concrete; she’d benefit from learning control,” says Shouta.

“She’s also got a Mutant Quirk,” says Kan. “You can’t erase it.”

Shouta clicks his tongue and looks away, unable to refute the point. Besides, he already has Asui, and it’s not as if he’s invested in any of them yet.

Nedzu nods. “Shiozaki is approved for 1-B. Remember Kan, you only have a single open space left. Our sixth highest score, Ashido Mina. 35 Villain and Rescue points.”

“She’s yours,” Kan says before Shouta can open his mouth.

“I’m fine with that as well,” he says instead of his planned pitch. Ashido is capable and confidant and clearly has a good head on her shoulders for field work, but she’s excitable and inexperienced. With a Quirk that can maim or kill as easily as hers, Shouta is the obvious choice.

“Ashido is approved for 1-A. Our fifth highest scorer, Midoriya Izuku. 26 Villain Points, 45 Rescue, putting him above Ashido by one. Make your cases.”

Shouta can’t quite hide a scoff, but he does his best. Midoriya’s skill with his weapons was admittedly impressive, but take those toys away from him and he’s dead in the water. He’d make a better cop than a Hero.

Now that he thinks about it, that would be great; a cop who could actually chase down Villains and petty criminals and do their actual job instead of expecting a Hero to always do it for them would be a massive relief, not just to Shouta but the entire Underground division of Heroes.

Nedzu’s eyes flick to Shouta for a moment before settling back on the file sitting in front of him.

“I’ll take him,” Kan says. “Weapons, martial arts, that’s my thing.”

“Then Midoriya is approved for 1-B, meaning the remaining students—Uraraka Ochaco, Bakugou Katsuki, and Yagi Himiko—all go to you, Aizawa, in 1-A.”

“That’s fine with me,” Shouta says. Uraraka clearly needs to learn how to keep to her limits better, and her Quirk is extremely dangerous if anything goes wrong; perfect for his class. They’ve already discussed Kirishima, leaving Bakugou—the other applicant without Rescue Points, and between him and Kamakiri the one that Shouta is most concerned about—and Yagi.

When he’d heard that not only was All Might going to be teaching here, but that his daughter was attending that same year, he’s not ashamed to admit that his first thought was nepotism. It was a little too much of a coincidence. Obviously, UA has policies to prevent that, like the one that means she couldn’t be recommended to the Hero Course, but it was still his first thought.

He still thinks it’s too much of a coincidence, but he’ll admit that Yagi more than proved she’s capable on her own. She effortlessly steamrolled the exam, earning 78 Villain Points from all the carnage she caused—impaling five robots at once is such an All Might move—and then earned another 77 Rescue Points by remembering to comfort the people she rescued and doing her best to minimize additional harm, like when she’d taken Asui’s inertia during that dive.

155 Points.

An impressive sum, and one of the highest anyone had ever scored at the Entrance Exams. Her father had blown that number out of the water, but few other examinees in UA’s history have ever come close to her own score.

Though Shouta still thinks that Nedzu deliberately gave her extra Rescue Points to make her match Bakugou’s score. For what purpose, he can’t imagine.

“And that’s the final class rosters!” Nedzu says, clapping his paws together and hopping up onto the table. “Now then, we must discuss our start-of-the-year activities. The USJ Field Trip. I assume you two will settle this the usual way?”

“Of course,” Shouta and Kan say simultaneously.

“Very well. Kan, for the past three years, you have won the right for your class to use the facility before Aizawa’s class.” Shouta already knows that; there’s no need to rub it in by reminding them both. “I expect you both to play fairly, and to win or lose with dignity and grace as befitting this institution.”

Nedzu’s beady eyes narrow.

“Let us begin. Three.”

Shouta eyes Kan warily. Three years is a hell of a streak.

“Two.”

He’s not going to let it be four.

“One.”

This time, the USJ is his.

“Shoot!”

Shouta’s arm darts out, his index and middle fingers extended in a V, while Kan reveals a perfectly flat hand.

“Scissors!”

“Paper—shit!”

Shouta grins a Cheshire smile, all teeth, ear to ear. “Sorry Kan, but your streak was bound to end eventually.”

“So it’s decided!” Nedzu cheers. “Aizawa and 1-A will be using the USJ first, and a week later, Kan and 1-B! Now, let’s move on to the next item on the agenda…”

Sunlight streams through the windows of her room, bathing it in a soft orange light. With her curtains pulled back wide, there’s no need to have the lights on to keep the room bright. For early March, the sky is remarkably clear. Spring is right around the corner, and the temperature outside is starting to climb. It won’t be long at all until the cherry blossoms start to fall, and Yagi Himiko can’t wait to see it.

She’s been at Might Tower for almost a year now, and she hopes they’ll be in full bloom for the anniversary of when Dad saved her. Once she and Izuku finish up, she’ll be going for a walk through the neighborhood. It’s too nice out for her to not spend some time out there!

But first she and Izuku have some questions to answer.

Himiko doesn’t think she’s ever experimented with her own Quirk this much in her life, though considering The Togas’ general opinion of her, that isn’t exactly saying much. But after the discovery that she could use the Quirk of the person she turns into, Izuku insisted on examining what else she could do. Himiko isn’t about to complain; she noticed some unusual things herself that night.

Izuku’s pencil scratches against the paper as he rapidly jots down notes in his notebook, face scrunched in concentration.  

“You said it felt different when you used Transform?” he says, looking up.

Himiko nods. It hadn’t just felt different, the whole experience had changed. Normally, the blood of the other person is converted into her familiar coating of sludge, forming around her like a cloak, a mold she can comfortably hide in. But that’s not what had happened. She hadn’t covered herself in her Quirk and had it take shape like it usually does; the gray substance she produces had reshaped her body itself. It’s never done that before, and she tells him that.

“…and there’s more,” she says. “When I used my Quirk… I felt more blood.”

“More blood…?”

“Mm. I don’t know how else to put it, but I felt your blood, Ku.”

It had been extremely surreal. She hadn’t gotten a good chance to drink from Izuku that whole testing day—she didn’t want to risk him being anemic before such an important exam. Ad yet, even though her body should have processed his blood already, should have completely emptied her stores, she could still feel him there. Not just him, either. Dad’s blood had been there too. She’d almost missed it at the time, so distracted by Uraraka’s and Izuku’s, but it was there.

“But your Quirk is dependent on how much blood you’ve had,” Izuku says slowly. “The drinks you have from me shouldn’t last you more than day—I think it’s only an hour if you actually Transform into me.”

“Yeah!” Himiko is excellent at gauging how long any amount of blood will last her. It was something of a necessity once. “But it was there!”

“Is it still there?” he says. She nods. “Can… can you still use it?”

Himiko bites her lip.

She closes her eyes, calling on her Quirk. There, in the depths of herself, she can feel it. Izuku’s blood. It’s warm and bright and comforting and familiar. And it’s not alone.

Uraraka’s blood, soft and small and gentle is there as well, even though Himiko should’ve burned through it during the celebratory party.

And Dad’s blood, sunny and loud and powerful.

And faintly, there’s something else even deeper than those three.

Himiko puts it out of her mind for now, calling on Izuku’s blood. She feels it welling up from within her, the sludge bursting out from her skin only to soak back in, twisting and warping her body. It’s a strange sensation, one completely different from before, when she was hidden away. It’s not painful, just… odd. Like she’s reforming herself, or like she’s made of clay.

“See?” she says in Izuku’s voice.

Izuku doesn’t bat an eye at seeing ‘himself’ in Himiko’s clothes. “Huh.”

“And Uraraka’s blood was still there; and so was Dad’s! And the only time I drank Dad’s blood was when he gave me One For All!” Had that really been five whole months ago?

“Still there—” Izuku’s eyes flash the cute way they do when he has an idea. “Miko, are you stockpiling blood?”

“Eh?”

“Think about it like this,” Izuku says, scribbling furiously. “Your Quirk is a stockpile Quirk; you consume blood, hold onto it, and use it. It’s never been very efficient, but that’s how it works, right?”

“Yeah?”

“Well One For All is also a stockpiling Quirk, and it enhances Transform, right? I think it’s making it so that once you’ve had someone’s blood, you don’t need to drink from them again to turn into them!”

Himiko’s eyes widen. She’s not the Quirk genius Izuku is, but even she can tell how useful that is for her—especially if she’s getting the Quirk of the body she’s mimicking.

“I still need blood,” she says. She can faintly feel her Quirk straining against her blood supply. She’s only had her daily blood pouch today, and it won’t be enough to hold her for more than an hour, and once that’s gone, she’ll be in desperate need of more blood. Luckily they thought ahead and several of her pouches are ready to go in her fridge.

(It’s shocking how quickly she got used to having an entire kitchen in her bedroom.)

Izuku taps the pencil against his lip. “So it’s… you’re still using blood to maintain your form, but it doesn’t have to be the blood of the specific person you’re using? Does that sound about right?”

“Yeah,” she says, nodding.

“Hm. Do you think… do you have to turn into someone when you use your Quirk?” he says. Himiko blinks, tilting her head, so he continues. “I mean! You said you can feel multiple blood sources in your Quirk, right? Can you, uh, mix and match? I guess? Like, can you have Uraraka’s hair and my eyes?”

“Can I—” The image of herself with Uraraka’s brown bobs and Izuku’s brilliant emerald eyes flashes in her mind for a moment and her Quirk responds. Her body shivers as the sludge in her skin bubbles and shapes itself over again, and Himiko is back in her own form. She staggers from the sudden shift in her center of gravity. “Uh…”

Izuku, eyes wide, wordlessly holds up his phone with the camera app open so that she can see herself. She tilts her head, looking at how Izuku’s wide eyes look on her own face, windowed by Uraraka’s bangs.

“Wow…” she says. Izuku nods slowly. She’s… never thought about using her Quirk like this before. Before Dad, her Quirk was a way to hide herself away from the world, to let someone better than her exist for a while in her place. Besides, she’s almost never had enough blood to use her Quirk in the first place.

But this? Combining features from multiple people? There’s so much she can do with that! It makes her look super cute, which is always a plus, but it also means that she can go undercover super easily, like how Dad looks much smaller than he does when he’s out Heroing.

“Are you ready for the next test?” Izuku says, startling her out of her thoughts. Himiko squeaks in surprise, jolting, and Izuku laughs. She beams at him, the sound of his laughter relaxing her tension.

“Sure! What’re we gonna do next?” This is already such a huge step for her Quirk, especially after learning she can copy Quirks.

“Well, uh, if you can copy Uraraka’s hair but not the rest of her, can you copy her hands?”

Hmiko nods, her Quirk responding to her desires, and her arms shift. Uraraka is ever so slightly shorter than she is, and Himiko’s arms shrink in a little accordingly.

She giggles to herself, looking at the soft pads on the tips of her fingers. They’re small, not much darker than the rest of Uraraka’s skin—or Himiko’s by extension—but they’re so cute!

“So now what?” Himiko says. “I already did the hair thing, so you knew I could do the hand thing…”

Izuku closes his notebook and hands it to her. “Hold this.”

She takes it from him, still not sure where he’s going with this. The moment her fingers make contact with the cover, they flash pink, and the book floats out of her hand. Himiko gawks, watching it drift away.

Izuku grins widely. “I think that’s a pretty conclusive test, don’t you?”

Chapter Text

Midoriya Izuku stares down at the texts from Himiko, from Uraraka, from Hagakure. He sighs, letting his head drop back onto his pillow, letting the phone fall against his chest.

It’s barely been a week since the entrance exams, but it feels like forever. Not even the sounds of spring outside his window is enough to get him out of his own head. At least he’s not the only one—only Himiko seems to be completely confident beyond a shadow of a doubt that she passed the exams.

They wouldn’t deny him because he’s Quirkless would he? That’s… that’s ridiculous, right? Having a Quirk has never been a rule for applying at UA High School, and Principal Nedzu’s past is—well, it’s not common knowledge, but it’s not exactly secret either. Pretty much every Hero fan knows the basics of it.

Nedzu wouldn’t discriminate like that, right?

Izuku sits up on his bed.

What about the board of directors? They’ve got influence over the school too, right? What if they block him? What about the HPSC?

And even if they don’t disqualify him for being Quirkless, he was still competing with all those other people. He has to have scored within the top 40 of several thousand applicants, the best and brightest from across all of Japan.

He’s confident that he passed the written portion of the exam, but that hardly matters. It’s not him being arrogant when he says that, either. He’s been studying for that exam for the past year, technically longer if you count his preparation for his normal classes. The questions were hard, brutally hard, but as long as you understood the material instead of memorizing it, you were fine. Hell, there were even a few questions in the science portion that related to Quirks!

Passing the written portion is to reach the starting line. Izuku just hopes that when they blew the whistle and everyone took off sprinting, he didn’t fall flat on his face. This metaphor is getting away from him a little.

Why is the test more nerve-wracking after he took it?

Izuku sighs again. He really should get up, but honestly lying around on his bed all day sounds great. He hasn’t even bothered to put the sheets over himself.

25 points. Is that enough? Is that close to enough? Kacchan didn’t say when they went back to school. He boasted about how many robots he blew up, people insinuated that Izuku ran away crying at the first one, etc. But Kacchan never gave an actual number for how many points he got.

Kacchan also did another round of the I-Told-You-Not-To-Apply-To-UA-You-Bastard routine. Honestly after how quiet he’s been for the past year, it’s a bit of a relief to see him back to normal. Though Izuku could have gone without having to sit next to him at the assembly. That would’ve been great.

At least they were in different testing zones. That would be a heart attack Izuku does not need, and he’s glad he didn’t have to deal with it.

Izuku closes his eyes and groans. Working up all of his courage, he rolls himself off the bed and stumbles out into the rest of the apartment.

Mom looks up from cooking as he meanders into the kitchen.

“Are you feeling alright?” she says. Izuku nods, humming. “Ah. Test anxiety?” He nods again. “Well, hopefully some fish and rice will help you feel better.”

It does, but not by much.

Mom looks up from her own meal to find him staring blankly at a fish, and has to snap him out of it. The rest of the meal goes by without incident, leaving Izuku to sit on the couch and stare into space until whatever will happen happens.

He keeps his phone on him, clutched tight in his hand, waiting in case Himiko or Uraraka text him.

“If I remember correctly, aren’t the results supposed to arrive today or tomorrow?” says Mom. Izuku makes some kind of affirming grunt. Mom sighs, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Honey, no matter what happens, I am proud of you, and I think that what you’ve accomplished so far is amazing.”

“…thank you.”

Mom nods as if knowing that he isn’t quite ready to believe her about what he’s accomplished, and she leaves him with his thoughts.

He wonders if Uraraka is as stressed as he is.

He wonders if Mr. Yagi is making Himiko wait for the letter to arrive or if he’ll just tell her himself once the letters go out.

“Izuku—Izuku!”

He snaps to attention, his lost focus returning.

“It’s here!” says mom, scrambling over herself to hand him the letter, nearly falling. “It came!”

She holds the letter up for him to see. It’s sealed with wax, the address neatly printed in the corner.

Izuku gingerly takes the envelope from Mom. It bulges around the center, as if the contents are thicker in the middle—or it has something else in addition to the flat paper letter. He drags his finger over it, not quite processing that it’s real yet.

“Izuku,” Mom says, “Do—do you want to open it here, or in your room?”

He bites his lip. “Here.”

Mom nods, sitting down beside him, a comforting hand on his back.

Izuku runs a thumb over the wax seal, feeling how secure it is. Satisfied, he pulls it sharply, breaking the seal and flipping open the envelope.

Inside, sitting on top of a folded paper document, is a small metal device. It looks like a small speaker—a curved disc with holes in the middle. He picks it up carefully, turning it over. As Izuku opens his mouth to wonder aloud what it could be, the raised outer ring lights up, projecting a screen in the air.

Izuku drops the projector with a yelp as he and Mom startle back.

“I am here!” says All Might. “As a hologram!”

Izuku gapes. “Wh—But isn’t this from UA?”

“That’s right!” says All Might. “It’s me, the newest member of the illustrious UA Faculty!”

All Might is going to teach at UA.

All Might is going to teach at UA.

Holy shit.

“Your score on the written exam… is a passing grade!” All Might continues. “But what about your performance on the practical? You earned 25 Villain Points from the robots you defeated, an admirable score! However, that alone isn’t enough to pass.”

Oh.

Izuku lowers his head, gripping the fabric of his pants tight.

Dammit, dammit, dammit.

Mom leans in, rubbing his back. She opens her mouth, but pauses.

“—However,” says All Might suddenly. “The judges were not merely appraising you for your ability to fight robots! This is the Heroics Course! Would we reject entrants for behaving like a real Hero? Of course not! And thus, your Rescue Points! For your efforts helping others, you’ve earned another 45 points, bringing your total up to 70!”

Izuku slowly looks up at the floating holographic screen. “…wait… are you saying…?”

“What I’m saying is that you’ve passed!” All Might extends his hand out to the camera. “Prepare yourself, Young Midoriya… This… is now your Hero academia!”

Izuku and his mother, naturally, burst into tears.

“Prepare yourself, Young Hagakure… This… is now your Hero academia!”

Hagakure Toru whoops, throwing her arms up in the air as she lets herself fall backwards onto her bed.

“I did it!” Her, the girl who is just invisible, passed the UA Entrance Exam.

Toru is going to be a Hero.

“Prepare yourself, Young Bakugou… This… is now your Hero academia!”

Bakugou Katsuki grits his teeth.

Second.

Place.

“Prepare yourself, Young Uraraka… This… is now your Hero academia!”

“Ma, Pa,” Uraraka Ochaco says, wiping the tears from her eyes. “Oh I’ve gone an’ done it! I’m gonna go an’ be a Hero!”

“Prepare yourself, Himiko… This… is now your Hero academia!”

Yagi Himiko laughs even as the tears stream down her face. She laughs and laughs and laughs, turning to her real Dad standing beside her as she watches his hologram, and presses her face into his chest.

“You—you could have,” she says between laughs and sobs, “You could—could have just—just told me!”

Dad brings his arms around, pulling her into a hug. “Where’s the fun in that? I’ve always been something of a showman.” He pats her gently on the back. “You have to have known there was never any doubt.”

Himiko sniffles. “I was so nervous! I was sure I screwed up the written exam!”

“You got one of the highest scores,” Dad says, ruffling her hair. “You’ve spent two years on that material, Himiko.”

“But the test was hard!”

“I’m sure Nedzu will love hearing that you said so.”

Himiko only laughs harder. She’s starting to have trouble getting enough air from how hard she’s laughing now. Dad joins her with his own booming laugh, and he rubs circles into her back.

“You know what this means, right Dad?” she says. Dad hums, indicating for her to continue. “I beat Ku! I won the bet! Ku’s gonna have to treat me to a date!”

Yagi Toshinori sits back in his chair with a smile. Himiko did as amazingly as he knew she would; saving lives and besting Villains left and right. When the time comes for him to retire, he knows the future will be in good hands.

A sudden bout of pain in his chest reminds him that his retirement will be coming sooner than he’d like. He wipes a few drops of blood from his chin.

In any case, there are other things for him to turn his attention to. Young Midoriya will be graduating in a few short weeks. Once that’s happened, once the ink is dry on the transcripts sent to UA, Toshinori can finally start asking some pointed questions about the behavior Aldera’s faculty seem to allow on campus.

Knowing how much joy Nedzu derives from destroying corrupt or discriminatory institutions, Toshinori wonders if bringing Aldera to his attention could be considered a bribe.

Fuck.

Midoriya Izuku was hoping to have a peaceful end of the year, take a few days to plan his date with Himiko. Unfortunately, his teachers had other plans.

This isn’t the first time Izuku has been called to the teachers’ lounge; not even the first time he and Kacchan have been sent there together. Though usually it’s so he can get some spiel about not provoking him and so Kacchan get a platitude about Quirk Use Laws and sent on his way.

That is not the case today.

The two of them getting summoned to the teachers’ lounge after school today is already a bad omen, but Izuku doesn’t realize quite how fucked he is until the talking starts.

“Two whole kids made it from our Junior High got into UA!” says their homeroom teacher, Mr. Dacho. That shouldn’t be a surprise; he’s the one who publicly told the whole class that’s where Izuku was planning on applying for, but whatever. Izuku is too tired for this. “And Midoriya, your acceptance in particular is truly miraculous!” Okay, asshole. “Remember to uphold the values that we taught you when you’re at UA; show your pride in your roots!”

The fact that Izuku doesn’t scoff or laugh himself sick is a feat of incredible willpower possible only through the meditation Gran taught him. He’d rather be with Himiko right now. Or Hagakure and Uraraka.

Not here.

Not next to a Kacchan who is definitely planning his murder with how tense he is and how hard he’s glaring at him.

As they leave the teacher’s office, Kacchan shoots “Behind the school,” under his breath at Izuku. He wills himself not to deflate. Ignoring him will be even worse. He’ll just get this over with.

The moment the two of them are out of sight, Kacchan grabs Izuku by the shirt, pulling him up to his face to scream at him.

“What the fuck did you do, you piece of shit!?” Kacchan slams his back against the wall. “How the fuck did you cheat your way in, you bastard?”

Izuku doesn’t respond. He doesn’t even bother raising his arms. It’s been months since the last time someone from this school could actually hurt him. Kacchan still can if he really wanted to put the effort in, but Izuku isn’t the Deku that Kacchan remembers from last April.

“I was supposed to be the first person from this piece of shit school to get to UA! Me! Alone! You fuckhead! You took my glory—my origin story and you fucking pissed on it! I told you to go somewhere the fuck else!”

“Yeah, I remember,” Izuku says quietly. “I think, specifically, you told me to go jump off the school roof.”

For a moment, Kacchan tenses.

Izuku brings his hand up and clenches it around Kacchan’s wrist.

And squeezes.

It would be easy. He could shatter Kacchan’s right wrist right now. The backlash of his Quirk would give him chronic pain for the rest of his life. He’d probably be in a cast during the start of UA, until Recovery Girl got to him.

It would be easy.

Izuku relaxes his grip ever so slightly.

With his other hand, he grabs Kacchan’s upper arm. “Someone… finally acknowledged me, Kacchan. Someone looked at me, at Quirkless me, and he told me that I could be a Hero. I have friends now; I have a girlfriend now.” People who don’t use their Quirks on him, don’t taunt him, don’t destroy his property, dismiss his interests. Kacchan’s eyes widen as he tugs against Izuku’s grip.

“I’m going to UA, Kacchan,” Izuku says. It’s so quiet he’s not sure Kacchan can hear him. He says it again, louder. “I’m going to UA, Kacchan! If you want to stop me… then take that Quirk you’re so proud of and blow my head off, and pray I don’t want to be a Hero in my next life.”

Kacchan is as stiff as a statue. He looks down at his left hand, where small explosions are popping off from his palm, as if he’s never seen it before, then looks back up at Izuku. His face is wracked with conflicting emotions, but Izuku already knows which one will win out in the end.

The same one that always does.

Anger.

Kacchan bares his teeth, dropping Izuku so he can rear back with his right hand. Always the right hand, even with Izuku holding it down. Izuku releases his grip, sending Kacchan stumbling, but he recovers instantly.

“Die!”

Himiko was faster before she started using Stained Red in their spars.

Izuku sidesteps the right hook, leaving a foot out for Kacchan to trip over. And since Kacchan insisted on pinning Izuku against the wall, there’s nowhere else for him to go but face-first into the concrete.

Izuku winces. Kacchan didn’t hit it hard, he barely had a few steps of momentum, but that has to sting.

“Are you okay—?”

“Fuck off!” Kacchan snarls, voice nasally. He swings his arm wildly behind him, cradling his nose with his other hand.

For the first time in his life, Izuku listens to Kacchan. He’s got plans to make. Izuku picks up his discarded schoolbag, slings it over his shoulder, and turns to leave.

He glances over his shoulder right before he turns the corner.

From behind the hand covering his face, Kacchan glares back ferociously.

Well.

With any luck, Kacchan won’t be in 1-B, and Izuku won’t have to deal with him anymore. That would be a nice change of pace for once, not having to be in the same class as Kacchan all the time.

He pulls out his phone, rereading his texts with Himiko, Uraraka, and Hagakure. All three of them are in 1-A. Izuku sighs. It would’ve been nice to have some friends already in his class, but it’s not like he’ll never see them again. They’re at the same school, they’ll share lunches, have clubs.

Does UA even have clubs? It has to, right? It’s a high school. Not everyone is in one of the career tracks, at minimum the General Education course has to have clubs available, right?

Well, that’s something he can worry about later, once he’s actually there at UA.

“Hey, Ku!”

Izuku snaps out of his thoughts and beams at Himiko. “Hey, Miko. Were you waiting for me?”

“Mhmm! I wanted to see if you had any ideas for that date. You know, since you lost and everything.”

“Sorry I took so long; Kacchan held me up a bit. Anyway, I’ve got a few ideas…”

Uraraka Ochaco stares up at her ceiling, a soft smile on her face. It had been wider until her cheeks started to ache.

She’s going to UA! She’s been dreaming about being a Hero for so long—helping her family, bringing joy to people. It’s all coming true.

UA High School is the best Hero School in all of Japan bar none. Only Shiketsu has close to their prestige, and she’s willing to bet that they don’t have the budget for all the fake cities like UA does.

She’s still wrapping her head around all the money that must’ve gone into the robot army she had to fight. The Zero-Point robot alone must cost more than her parents have ever seen. If anyone can make her into an incredible Hero, it’s UA.

But speaking of casual displays of fabulous wealth…

Ochaco sighs.

How much money do the Yagis have? Is working at Might Tower so lucrative? It’s a backup option if Heroing doesn’t work out, she supposes. And as an employee she apparently gets a penthouse like that? For free? What?

“Ugh…”

Her heart has been tight in her chest ever since the end of the exams, when she and Midoriya met Yagi. Thinking about them makes it twinge. There’s something about the two of them… she doesn’t understand it. They were both kind to her. Midoriya called her accent cute, Yagi kept draping herself over Ochaco. Hanging out with the two of them was so much fun, and she’s loved texting them in the week following the Entrance Exam.

So why does she feel like this? They didn’t bully her or anything. She shouldn’t be hurting like this.

It almost reminds her of how she felt when she saw one of her classmates showing off her cutting-edge phone; that envy, that longing. But it can’t be that. How can she be jealous of both of them?

Chapter Text

The cutest white clouds drift lazily overhead, the only spots in the clear blue sky. The gentle breeze carrying them brushes against Yagi Himiko’s skin, sending rippling waves through green grass. It feels wonderful, keeping her cool from the warm sun shining down on them.

It is the absolute perfect spring day, and Himiko could not be happier to be outside.

“It’s beautiful!” Himiko says, taking a deep breath of the fresh mountain air.

“Almost as beautiful as you,” says Izuku. Himiko giggles. His lines are so cheesy! But he means them wholeheartedly, and that makes them all the cuter.

“How’d you even think of this?” she says, turning so that she can see Izuku over her shoulder. He glances up from smoothing out the blanket, secure against the wind.

“We spent so much time here in training…” says Izuku. “Now that we’re… you know, actually in UA? It made sense to come back. See how far we’ve come.”

Himiko hums, looking out into the horizon where she can distantly see the tallest buildings of Mustafu sticking out beyond the trees. They really did spend a lot of time here on Mount Tekari. Not as much as Takoba Beach, or even the private gyms at Might Tower, but Mount Tekari was always Gran Torino’s go-to location for their endurance runs or parkour or wilderness training. After so long, the roots and sloughs of stone and dirt feel as natural to her as the streets or Roppongi.

The city seems so small now, so far away. They’re just above it in terms of elevation; the trek here having taken them up the shallow hills lining the mountain’s base. Himiko bets that if they were a little higher up, they’d be able to see all the way out to the ocean.

Himiko could spend an eternity here with Izuku.

But both of them have things they need to do; Heroes they need to become. Forever will have to wait.

“Thank you.”

She doesn’t need to look to know that Izuku is blinking, cute face pulled up in confusion.

“For what?”

“For… accepting me,” she says. “For letting me drink your blood. For being my friend. For training with me. For falling in love with me. For letting me love you.”

This time, she does look, giving her a perfect view of Izuku’s radiant smile.

“I can say the same thing about you, you know. Thank you, Miko.”

“Look at us: a couple of saps.”

“Yup. Like these trees.”

“Do you think of those yourself?” Himiko says, flashing her fangs as she grins. “They’re so bad!”

“They get you to laugh!”

“Yeah, at how bad they are!”

Izuku shrugs. “That’s still laughter! I’m still getting you to laugh!”

Himiko can’t really argue with that one, so she giggles instead. She practically skips over to the picnic blanket, dropping down beside him and giving him a quick peck on the cheek that even with her confidence training has him blushing bright red. Some things never change, and are better for it.

She leans against him, soaking in his presence for a minute or two.
“Hey, Ku?” she says. “Can I ask you something?”

“Hmm?”

“You’ve mentioned him a few times… Who’s ‘Kacchan?’”

Izuku stiffens beside her for a moment, hands clenching tight before releasing.

Himiko is not going to enjoy this.

“I don’t know if I can still say he’s my friend,” Izuku says slowly. “We don’t really hang out anymore… But when we were kids, the two of us were inseparable. Kacchan’s… he’s always had a strong personality. He likes being the center of attention.” Izuku laughs, but it’s fake. “His Quirk is really perfect for him. Explosion. He’s always wanted to be a Hero—as long as I have, even. When he got his Quirk, he was sure he would one day surpass—” Izuku swallows.

“Surpass…?”

“Surpass All Might. And become the undisputed Number One. He always idolized him, how he never loses.”

“Oh.” Himiko looks away. It sounds like something Gran told her once. That there were people out there interested in beating her dad just because he’s been the Number One for so long. She reaches a hand up to her chest where she can feel One For All. Dad’s always been the most powerful Hero in the world. To only want to be a Hero because of that…

“You said… you said that you aren’t friends anymore, right?”

“…yeah.”

“Good.” She bites her lip. “I… I don’t like how he talks about Dad. Like he’s some kind of obstacle. Dad’s a Hero because he—because he helped me.”

“Helped us,” says Izuku absently. “Because he’s saved so many people.”

She smiles. “And how many people has Kachan saved?”

It’s meant as a joke, a way to lighten the mood. Kacchan is in Junior High; there’s no way he’s saved anyone. Not unless he was super lucky like Izuku and happened to be on the scene of a Villain Attack where he could do something to help.

(For a given definition of ‘lucky.’)

It’s meant as a joke.

Izuku flinches.

She pulls back slightly, sucking air through her teeth.

“Ku, Izuku,” she says. “Does Kacchan… hurt you?”

The long silence that follows is answer enough, but Izuku speaks anyway.

“Not in a while…” he says. “He was mad about me getting into UA, but before that he hasn’t done anything since last April.”

Himiko puts a hand over the knife hidden in her shirt. She’s not going to stab him, as tempting as it is. Dad was very clear about not stabbing people, even if they deserve it. Deescalate. She breathes deeply, and lets her hand fall away.

“Kus,” she says. There’s one thing that she’s been wondering since the start of this conversation, and she needs to know. “Is Kacchan the one who came up with Deku?”

“…yes.”

“Why?”

“Because…” Izuku sighs. “I don’t know. Because I’m Quirkless? Because I want to be a Hero? Because I go to the same school as him? I don’t know why he hates—why he’s so angry.”

“At least we won’t have to deal with someone like that at UA,” Himiko says, eyeing the bento boxes. It might be time to eat—not only because she’s hungry but as a way to change topics. She’s starting to regret bringing it up.

“He passed the entrance exam.”

Himiko freezes.

“He what.”

“He got one of the top scores,” Izuku says, voice empty. “I always knew he was going to UA, but…”

“That’s not fair.” Himiko balls her hands into fists. “He hurt you for so long, and now he gets to get a Hero License?”

“Kacchan will be an incredible Hero one day,” Izuku says. “His Quirk is strong, and Kacchan’s crazy dedicated. He isn’t coasting on it; he’s trained for UA.”

“But will he help people? If it was Kacchan who—who found me in an alley… would he have taken me back to his agency? Given me shelter?”

Izuku doesn’t answer.

“Ku,” Himiko says quietly, gently. “I know Kacchan was your friend… but did he really idolize Dad? Or just how hard Dad can hit someone?”

Izuku sniffles, and she can see the tears forming in his eyes. He and his mom have always been emotional criers, so she’s heard. Himiko scoots in closer to him, wrapping herself around him.

“Oh, Ku…”

“I don’t understand…” Izuku rasps. “I… I wanted to be his friend…”

She gives him another squeeze.

“That’s his loss,” she says. “If he can’t see how wonderful you are, Ku, the that’s not your problem.”

Himiko is not going to stab Kacchan. She knows that will only get her in trouble and make Izuku sad. Of course, training in the Hero Course involves a whole lot of preparing to face off against Villains. She’ll have plenty of chances to take out her grievances on him in the coming years without having to worry about actually endangering him.

“I’m sorry I asked about it on our date.”

Izuku shakes his head, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand. “No… I think I needed this.” He smiles at her, shaky and frail, but real. “So, um, lunch?”

Himiko brightens. “I thought you’d never ask!”

The food is of course delicious. Mrs. Midoriya is an excellent chef so Himiko had no doubts that Izuku would be able to make something wonderful, and she’s been trying her best to practice with the kitchen in her room. From the way Izuku lights up as he eats, she must be doing something right.

It doesn’t take her long to down the entire meal that Izuku prepared for her, even considering that he prepared more for her appetite.

Himiko unfurls herself, standing up and stretching. It’s so nice that she can’t help but want to move around. Izuku seems to feel the same, because it barely takes him a minute to pack up the bentos and take a few steps from the blanket.

Mischief briefly flashes across Izuku’s face, and Himiko only has a moment to react before he darts in, trying to grab her. She laughs brightly, stepping to the side and darting away. Izuku follows close behind. Neither of them is putting their all into it. If they really tried, they’d be much faster, far more nimble, but that misses the point of taking a chance to goof around and enjoy each other’s company.

As Izuku’s outstretched hand comes close, Himiko twirls out of the way, leaving Izuku to stumble. He catches his footing almost instantly, as they were taught to, whirling around and making another grab for her.

Himiko beats him to it, pulling him into a tight embrace, and dragging him with her as she falls backwards into the grass. He lets out a small squawk of surprise before they both go down. They blink at each other a few times before bursting into laughter and rolling onto their backs.

Birds cheer as they cross the sky overhead.

“We really did it,” Izuku says. “We got into UA.”

“Yeah,” she breathes out. “We’re going to be Heroes.”

Nedzu hums cheerfully to himself. There’s no need to smile with no humans around to see it. Funny the overlap between such a threatening behavior in animals with joy in humans. It’s enough that they often forget that he may have more than one reason to emulate their behaviors the way that he does.

And looking over the files for the incoming First Year students, he indeed does have reason to be merry.

Yagi Himiko: adopted daughter of the Symbol of Peace. Not to mention his successor. Fascinating to see what exactly Yagi was looking for in the next inheritor of One For All. In some ways, she reminds him of the candidates he highlighted for Yagi’s attention, but in others she could not possibly be more different. Her past, for one. She is not so different from him in that regard. Nedzu feels exhilarated imagining what she will be like once she graduates.

Midoriya Izuku: the first Quirkless student of the Hero Course. That alone will have colossal ripples throughout Japan, regardless of what it is he intends. Should the HPSC catch wind of this, there are bound to be consequences. He’ll have to prepare for that inevitability. They can never resist the urge to meddle in affairs they have no place in.

Todoroki Shoto: son of Endeavor. The children of the top two Heroes in the same class. Nedzu wonders if they’ll develop a relationship like that of their fathers’, or something entirely new and different. He has some concerns about Todoroki, considering his performance on the Recommendation Exam. Of course, it’s possible he’s reading too much into things that are completely benign. A danger of not truly being human.

Yaoyorozu Momo. Speaking of recommendation students, there is someone who has a strong chance of truly surpassing All Might’s prime someday—her and Yagi, of course. The mental ability her Quirk requires is nothing short of extraordinary, and her Quirk itself is marvelous. Another worrying performance in the exam, but the children come to school to learn.

Monoma Neito. Nothing unusual about his past, but his Quirk makes him potentially the single most versatile student that UA has ever seen. He is certain to bring his classmates to new heights.

Hatsume Mei, self-proclaimed future CEO of Hatsume Industries. Nedzu believes her. Her performance in the Support Exams was one of the most amusing technological displays he has witnessed since his last foray to I-Island some years ago. She’ll revolutionize the field.

And they aren’t even the only standouts. Heroics, General Education, Management, Support, they all have incoming students sure to take their fields by storm.

Nedzu thinks he’ll have to put on the good tea. It’s a special occasion after all.

This year is promising to be interesting.

Chapter Text

Izuku grimaces as he pulls the laces on his shoes tight. He’s still got time, but not nearly as much as he would like to have.

It’s a perfect spring day, with the sun bright and only a few clouds in the sky, but he won’t be outside to enjoy it.

Today is the first day of UA High School. Orientation Day.

“Izuku, do you have your notebooks?” Mom asks.

“Yeah, I packed them.”

“Your folders?”

“Yes, Mom.”

“What about your pencils? Your phone?”

“Yes, Mom, I packed everything,” Izuku says. He’d actually gotten all of his school supplies together the night before. He didn’t want to have to throw everything together as he was running out the door, something that he still seems to be doing anyway.

He glances at the clock. “Is that the time? I’ve gotta hurry…”

“Izuku!” says Mom right as he stands up.

“What?”

Mom pauses, a soft smile on her face.

“I’m so proud of you.”

He softens. “Thank you. See you soon, Mom!”

And with that, he’s out the door.

UA High School is massive. Izuku already knows that, but he hadn’t been prepared for just how massive it is until he has to navigate it while on a time limit. He doesn’t even know why they need so much space; the classes aren’t much larger than a normal high school. Only 36 students pass the Heroics Exam, and there’s only eleven classes per year. There’s no way that 660 kids need quite this much space, right? He isn’t counting the extra training facilities, Izuku means the main campus—the four towers connected via bridges halfway up.

“1-B… where’s 1-B…” he murmurs to himself as he jogs down the hallway. There’s not a whole lot of other kids in the halls, weirdly enough. Possibly because of how excessively large the building is?

This would be easier if he was here with Himiko. Sadly, with her dad teaching here, it’s more convenient for her to arrive much earlier so that they can travel together. She’s already complained to him about having to leave so early in the morning.

Oh well. They’re meeting up after orientation today anyways.

Izuku stops in front of a door four times his size, with 1-B printed on it in giant blocky characters. Probably a form of inclusive design, if he had to guess.

Izuku takes hold of the handle, breathing deeply.

This is it.

In a moment, he’s going to be among those chosen few who passed the entrance exams—the best of the best in all of Japan.

He just hopes that the angry off-brand Ingenium isn’t in 1-B. Sure Himiko is probably going to stab him at some point, but he should have less of a problem with her than the grudge he already seems to have for Izuku.

Waiting isn’t going to do him any favors, so Izuku slides the door open and strides in with more confidence than he feels. The room’s mostly quiet—he’s far from the last one there—and Izuku takes a moment to scan the front row.

No obvious mutations on the first three. A boy his age with black hair held up in spikes by a headband, a girl that reminds him a bit of Uraraka but with black hair and sharper eyes, and a boy with round eyes and short brown hair. It’s the one at the far right that really captures Izuku’s interest.

Broad shoulders, enlarged hands—likely has enhanced physical ability. Skin a non-traditional shade. Possibility of internal alterations? Quirk resistance? Unclear. Primary mutation in head. Resembles the top of a bottle or dispenser. Seen holes in assumed face. Eyes?

Conclusion: Mutation Quirk with unknown secondary aspect, or a substance-generating Emitter Quirk.

Izuku recalls the seating chart included in his acceptance letter that came with the hologram projector. If he’s not mistaken, that’s the guy sitting directly in front of him.

“Oh, hey, it’s you!” says a boy in the second row, someone with short dark brown hair. The boy stands so suddenly that it startles the girl sitting beside him, and she buries her face in her bangs.

It takes Izuku a moment to place him. “Oh, you’re the guy from the exam!” he says.

“Yeah! You batted off a robot’s head for me. Thanks again for that. Glad to see you passed.” He bows lightly. “Kaibara Sen, nice to meet you.”

“Midoriya Izuku.” Izuku smiles at him, choosing to give the shy girl beside Kaibara her space. There’s not much time before the teacher shows up, so Izuku slides into his seat.

“Hey, hey, everyone!” comes a cheery voice as a girl saunters into the room. “Tokage Setsuna, good to be here!”

Ah. An extrovert. Izuku fears for her.

Tokage locks onto the shy girl in the second row almost instantly, and is at her side even sooner.

“Hey there,” she says. “You feeling alright?”

The girl nods. Tokage, evidently not discouraged by the waves of social anxiety rolling off the girl, grins.

“Well, you look a bit off, so how’s about I give you a hand?”

“Um—”

Tokage reaches over, pulls her left hand off, and sets it on the desk.

Detachable hand—entire body? What happens to detached segments? Can she continue to control them? How does this impact her circulatory/nervous/respiratory system(s)? Can the missing segments be replaced?

Izuku’s eyes gleam. UA has the best Quirks.

The shy girl doesn’t seem to agree, staring at the detached hand in awkward silence.

Then the hand flips itself over and starts breakdancing like a person, ring finger curled in to avoid becoming an extraneous limb.

One question answered, then.

Tokage’s plan seems to work, as the shy girl stifles in a laugh, finally smiling. Tokage beams, patting her on the shoulder.

“There we go! This is UA! You made it to UA! Be proud of that! So, who’re you?”

“…Komori Kinoko,” she says quietly.

“Looking forward to being your classmate, Komori,” Tokage says. She casually reattaches the hand to her wrist, sitting down diagonally behind a blushing Komori.

Not long after that, the rest of 1-B arrive and take their seats, leaving an air of anticipation. Izuku balls his hands under his desk. Whoever their homeroom teacher is, they’re a Pro Hero! He can hardly contain his excitement! What is it going to be like to learn from a real, live, Pro Hero?

“If you came here to socialize, you’re in the wrong place.”

Yagi Himiko purses her lips. She hasn’t seen Uraraka in person since the celebration dinner after the exams! Sure she has her number, but it’s nice to talk to a friend! It’s a shame she’s still hiding her accent in public.

But… who, exactly, is this? She smelled his blood as he slowly crawled his way down the hallway towards 1-A, but she still has no idea who he is.

“This,” says the strange man bound in a sleeping bag, one an uncute shade of yellow, “is the Heroics Course.” He pulls out a hand through the face hole, puts the straw of the pouch thing in his mouth, and downs its contents in one go.

Who is this guy?

He emerges from the bag, peeling it off of himself like the banana it resembles.

“Life is fleeting and you’re wasting time. Try to have more common sense.”

He’s scruffy, unkempt, and exhausted, like an old hound that doesn’t have the will to get up from in front of the fireplace.

“I’m your homeroom teacher, Aizawa Shouta,” he says. “Nice to meet you.”

This… is her homeroom teacher? Himiko blinks a few times. UA is already nothing like she expected.

If this guy is a teacher at UA, he has to be a Pro Hero, too. Himiko doesn’t recognize him at all, which isn’t a surprise. She’s way behind in knowing her Heroes, even with Izuku’s best efforts at educating her. Though it seems most of her classmates are in the same boat as she is, since they all seem as confused as she is.

Mr. Aizawa ruffles around inside his sleeping bag for a few seconds before pulling out a gym uniform with ‘UA’ emblazoned on it.

“This is sudden, but change into these immediately and meet me at the P.E. grounds.”

Himiko’s stomach rolls. Something about this fills her with a sense of dread, and she’s long learned to trust her readings of people and situations. She hopes that Izuku is having a better time.

Himiko is never going to believe that Vlad King is his teacher.

Midoriya Izuku makes a mental note to not be around when Himiko inevitably tells him that Izuku made a bat plushie based off of him. He’s pretty sure he would simply die on the spot.

“It’s a pleasure to meet all of you!” says the man in question. “My name is Kan Sekijiro, or Pro Hero Vlad King, and I’ll be your homeroom teacher. I’m looking forward to helping all of you become Heroes.” He’s large, with a build that almost rivals All Might. The way he speaks contrasting against his intimidating appearance reminds Izuku of a pit bull. “Follow me to the auditorium; Principal Nedzu has his orientation speech ready for you.”

There’s some quiet chattering amongst the class on the way to the auditorium. Tokage drags Komori into a conversation with a girl with gray hair over one eye. At least they talk quietly, for Komori’s sake if nothing else. A boy with messy silver hair and sharp teeth has a spirited conversation with another boy—someone with a sharp mutation.

Izuku charts the Quirks that interest him the most. Tokage’s, of course, followed by the ones with visual mutations. The boy with fur, the girl with horns and hooves, the boy whose teeth are exposed, the girl with plant hair, the boy with the snout and bladed jaw, the boy with actually pure black skin, the boy with the bottle-like head, and most notably the one with a comic speech bubble for a head. Izuku’s 90% sure that it’s based on perception, as it looks flat from every angle. There’s something weird going on there and he’s itching to figure it out.

“Quirk watching?”

Izuku jumps as one of his classmates speaks up from beside him—a blonde who walks with posture taller than he is.

“Yeah,” Izuku says, somewhat quietly. “I’ve always found Quirks fascinating.”

“Mm. It’s more of a necessity for me.” The boy cranes his neck to look over his shoulder at the students behind him. “Looks like we’ve got a pretty good group of ‘em, don’t you think? This is a class that’s gonna go far.”

Izuku smiles. “Midoriya Izuku.”

“Monoma Neito.” He returns the smile.

There’s no time for anything more than that before they reach the auditorium. The other First Year classes pour into the room alongside them, but Izuku doesn’t see Himiko’s golden hair anywhere, nor does he spot Uraraka, Kacchan, or the tall off-brand Ingenium. Izuku furrows his brow.

“Uh, Mr. Kan, where’s Class 1-A?”

Mr. Kan sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. Oh no.

“UA has something of a freeform style of education,” Mr. Kan says. “I’ll get into it a bit more after orientation, but we teachers have a lot of freedom in how we run our classrooms. Some of us take more advantage of this than others. Aizawa, the 1-A homeroom teacher, habitually skips orientation to run a physical exam. Something about wasting time.”

Izuku hums to himself. He’ll have to ask for the details about that when he and Himiko meet up again at the end of the day.

As the last kids take their seats, a small mammal in a suit pops up from the podium on the stage.

“Hello everyone! Am I a mouse, a dog, or a bear? It doesn’t matter; I’m the principal! I’m always happy to see so many new students in the crowd every year, why, it brings joy to my heart! So much promise, so much potential, all waiting to be nurtured into something beautiful! Take heart, children! This school is dedicated to refining your unique talents and abilities. You will leave this school as a shining beacon of your generation, taking your respective field by storm!”

There’s something reassuring to Izuku about how Nedzu doesn’t once mention a Quirk in his opening.

“A Quirk apprehension test?”

“But what about orientation?” Uraraka says. She must be out of it, since Yagi Himiko can pick up faint traces of her accent. “Guidance counselor?”

“You’re here to learn how to be Heroes,” Mr. Aizawa drawls. “We don’t have time to indulge schooltime fantasies or extraneous niceties.” He turns so that he can look at them over his shoulder. “UA has a freeform educational style. That goes for us teachers as well as for you students.” Mr. Aizawa counts off, “50-Meter Dash. Grip Strength. Standing Long Jump. Repeated Side Steps. Softball Throw. Distance Run. Seated-To Touch. Sit Ups. You should all be familiar with these physical tests from your time in middle school.”

Himiko does her best not to imagine Izuku doing those exercises and pay attention.

Mr. Aizawa continues, “These exams forbid you from using your Quirks. This country still hasn’t gotten around to standardizing tests for Quirks. Illogical. Yagi.” Himiko startles, not only at being called, but by the snarling from one of her classmates. “How far could you throw a softball in middle school?”

Not far.

“Uh, twenty meters?” It was somewhere around there, give or take. She doesn’t really remember her scores.

“Do it again, but with your Quirk this time. Stay in the circle, but otherwise anything goes.”

Himiko nods, catching the ball easily from Mr. Aizawa’s toss as she steps into the center of the pitching circle.

Hm… Stained Red 7% could get some good distance, and she doesn’t need to sustain it for a throw like this, so she probably won’t hurt herself. But there’s a cuter way to do this. Himiko grins, fangs flashing, as she calls on Transform.

She has plenty of blood to work with, and she feels Uraraka within her almost instantly. Her hands warp as her Quirk molds them for her. Himiko clutches the ball tightly so that when her new fingerpads flash pink, the ball doesn’t float away from her, even as the weight vanishes from her hand.

Winding up like a real pitcher, Himiko throws the ball with some decent force behind it, grinning even wider as it sails off into the distance, never descending. Several of her classmates cheer as the ball vanishes into the bright blue sky.

Mr. Aizawa glances at a beeping device in his hand. “Before anything else, you should know what you’re already capable of. That’s the logic that will be the foundation of your time at UA.”

He turns it around so that everyone can see the infinity symbol it displays.

“Awesome!” says a pink girl with cute horns. “That looks so fun!”

“Infinity!?” cries someone else.

“We can really use our Quirks?” says another voice from the crowd.

Himiko tenses. Her instincts are screaming at here that something is coming. Mr. Aizawa’s menacing posture at their words is a major red flag.

“‘It looks fun,’ you say?” Mr. Aizawa exhales. “Is that why you came here? To play games? Have a good time? I thought you were here to be Heroes. My mistake. Alright then. We’ll make it a game. And what’s a game without any stakes? So here’s the new rule: at the end of these tests, whichever of you ranks last will be deemed hopeless… and instantly expelled.”

The mood dies.

Mr. Aizawa pulls up his bangs from over his face. “Didn’t I tell you? We teachers are free to teach as we see fit. Welcome to the Heroics Course!”

“Welcome, students, to UA High School!” says Nedzu with a final flourish. Midoriya Izuku claps politely for him. The speech was informative, if rambling and long-winded in many places. The main thing that sticks out to Izuku is the announcement of the newest member of staff.

He already knew that Mr. Yagi would be working at UA, but that doesn’t change the excitement roaring in his chest at the thought of learning from All Might. UA really is the greatest school in Japan.

He’s not the only one who’s excited. It’s pretty much the only thing any of his classmates are talking about as they all make their way back to the 1-B classroom. Monoma’s frankly impressive (and equally alarming) cackling sets the tone pretty well for their enthusiasm.

“Take your seats, please,” Mr. Kan says as they arrive, and everyone scrambles to do so. “I know you’re all excited after hearing the news, but there are some things we need to cover that Nedzu didn’t. As I mentioned before, we here at UA have something of a freeform teaching style. Generally, each teacher runs their own homeroom their own way. I hope to be something more like what you’re used to from previous schools. If you need anything, let me know, and I’ll see what I can do. Training, equipment and Support Gear, or just help with the lessons that you aren’t getting. Speaking of which, I suggest you take your training seriously. The Sports Festival is only a few weeks away, and you’ll need to make a splash if you want significant attention. Finally, we’re electing the Class Representatives in two days, so it’s a good idea to get to know each other sooner rather than later. That being said, orientation day is officially over. Welcome to your Hero Academia!”

The class cheers, and even Izuku finds himself swept up in the emotions of his classmates. This is it; this is the dream. They’re really here! They’ve really made it!

“Alright!” Tokage cheers. “It’s great to meet everyone!”

Another girl snorts with a smile. “How about we go in seat order and tell everyone a bit about ourselves?”

Izuku settles in to listen to introductions. These are his classmates after all—they’ll be his coworkers one day, and he’ll spend the next three years with them.

“By the way,” says Mr. Aizawa, “The whole ‘expelling whoever comes in last’ thing? I lied.”

Yagi Himiko narrows her eyes as the rest of her classmates tense up.

“I needed you all to do your best, so I motivated you. A logical ruse.”

Her eyes narrow further. Many of her classmates scream in shock and disbelief—and relief, too, judging by how Hagakure crumples to the floor.

“Was that not obvious?” says Yaoyorozu—a girl who’d done particularly well throughout the tests. “Of course it was a lie.”

“But it wasn’t,” Himiko says before she can stop herself. Oh no. She flushes pale and everyone’s eyes snap to her.

She swallows.

“I, uh, I’m pretty good with body language. When you said that you were lying about expelling someone… that was the lie.”

Knowing what someone really means, what they really want from her—that was practically a survival skill for her for most of her life. Even now, over a year since her adoption, those skills haven’t faded. She’d bet her next date with Izuku on it; Mr. Aizawa was planning on expelling someone.

Mr. Aizawa calmly blinks once at her before turning and walking off towards the main building.

“Your syllabus is on your desks back at the classrooms. Read them over,” he says. “Every trial you face here are UA will be harder than the ones before, including tomorrow’s. Plus Ultra.”

Chapter Text

Introductions went pretty smoothly, as far as Midoriya Izuku is concerned. His classmates are certainly… spirited, but they all seem like good people, and he’s glad he’s getting to know them.

(It doesn’t hurt that for the first time basically ever, he’s not in the same class as Kacchan. It may be selfish of him, but he appreciates the distance.)

All in all, everyone managed to keep their introductions brief and polite, though it took a bit of doing on the part of him and one of his new classmates—Kendo. She was a big help with getting them through everything. There are several people in class now that Izuku hopes to get to know better, including her, but he’d love to pick Tsunotori’s brain about her Quirk, Kaibara seems nice, and he has a fellow Quirk nerd in Monoma.

Of course, not everything is perfect. Kamakiri’s behavior is worryingly familiar. Izuku hopes that his similarities with Kacchan ends with their hot-blooded passion for fighting. It would be just his luck to trade Kacchan for Kacchan But Spikier.

The best part is that Izuku isn’t even the only student who chose not to disclose his Quirk! Kodai, Komori, and Monoma had all chosen not to say anything about their own Quirks either, meaning that he isn’t weird for being the only one!

Well, Monoma declared his Quirk would be an incredible surprise and a perfect secret weapon that would make everyone incredible or something to that effect, but he hadn’t given any details.

Himiko has been a massive help for his confidence, but still. Izuku’s old classmates had been kind to him once. He thinks a little caution is well warranted in his situation—especially to a whole group like that. Maybe if he can tell them one at a time?

In any case, they spend about twenty minutes breaking the ice before everyone packs up to head home, syllabus in hand. He’ll make sure to memorize it later.

The awkwardness of unfamiliarity has lifted from the class, but it looks like it’s too early for anyone to have a friend group yet. Though Kamakiri and Tetsutetsu have already promised each other a no-holds-barred match first chance they get. Izuku hopes they know that there are facilities on campus to handle that, instead of just starting a brawl the moment they get outside.

Izuku adjusts the straps on his backpack and slips out of the classroom, turning down the hall away from the main entrance with everyone else.

“Going somewhere, Midoriya?” Monoma asks.

Izuku flashes a quick smile at him. “Yeah. My, uh, my girlfriend is in 1-A.”

Monoma’s eyes widen for a moment, and he smirks. “Congrats.”

UA has some big classrooms and long hallways. It takes him longer than he expects to reach the room to Class 1-A. It’s then when his luck finally breaks. Only feet away from the classroom, the door opens and Kacchan stalks out, sharp scowl etched into his face.

He pauses the moment his eyes land on Izuku.

“Deku.”

“Kacchan.”

No more words are exchanged.

Kacchan’s glare tightens, and his fingers twist. There are a few tiny pops in his palms. Miniature explosions. Izuku refuses to cower. Never again. The silence stretches on. Neither of them waver. The air is tense enough you could cut it.

At last, Kacchan lets out a small scoff and shoves past Izuku, storming away down the hallway. Izuku slips his hands into his pockets and balls them into fists for a few seconds before releasing.

He wonders what it was that pissed of Kacchan today. Presumably it’s related to those physical tests that Mr. Kan mentioned. Considering that UA is the best of the best, it stands to reason that Kacchan isn’t the top dog anymore. Especially with Himiko in his class. From the looks of it, he’s not exactly pleased to find out that he’s not all that big a fish.

Izuku lets out the breath he’s been holding and turns back towards Classroom 1-A.

Whatever those tests were, they must’ve been draining. Everyone looks exhausted, slumped in their seats. Only a few of them have the composure to read the provided syllabi, or to pack up and leave like Kacchan already did.

“Hey Miko,” Izuku says. Himiko snaps to attention from her handout all the way in the farthest corner from the door.

“Ku!”

“Hey Uraraka, Hagakure—” Izuku is cut off when Himiko slams into him and wraps him up in a tight hug, which he quickly returns. Faint wisps of red mist fade from her, and Izuku smiles.

A girl with pink skin and horns—Izuku wants to know her Quirk so bad—coos.

“Who’s this, Yagi? A friend of yours? A friend of yours?” she says, supporting her head in her arms and waggling her eyebrows.

“Nope,” says Izuku cheekily. “I’m her boyfriend.”

The girl practically slips out of her own hands and nearly faceplants into her desk, much to Hagakure’s amusement.

“Wow really?”

“Don’t get them started,” Hagakure says. “They’re in the ‘sickening sweethearts’ phase.”

Izuku rolls his eyes. They aren’t that bad. Sure they have nicknames for each other but they’re hardly the most over-the-top things in the world. Besides.

“It’s not my fault Himiko’s fantastic,” he says.

Himiko responds by going totally limp, draping herself on top of him. “And how am I to be judged for loving one as sweet and wonderful as he?”

Okay, now she’s laying it on a little thick, but he can’t tell her to knock it off because he’s laughing too hard.

“Anyway,” he says, managing to get some breath back, “I’m Midoriya Izuku, from 1-B. It’s nice to meet everyone!”

He smiles at the enthusiastic replies from the members in Class 1-A that still have energy left, but Izuku did come here for a reason.

“Uraraka, Hagakure, want to go get ice cream? There’s a place not far from here.”

It’s been far too long since he’s hung out with Hagakure, and truthfully, he wouldn’t mind having the chance to get to know Uraraka better. It’s such a relief to have friends already at the start of the school year. Izuku doesn’t remember the last time he’s had anyone other than Kacchan.

Uraraka lights up, her wide eyes brightening and some color returning to her face, while Hagakure pumps a fist in the air.

“Heck yeah!” she says. “I could use a de-stressor!”

“Oh, uh, sure!” says Uraraka.

“Oh ho? Bringing two more girls along? How scandalous.” The pink girl says with a shit-eating grin. As Hagakure passes by, she lightly swats the girl on the back of her head. “Wh—hey!”

Hagakure’s shirt twists, and from the sound of it, she sticks out her tongue.

“Sorry Ashido, but you have it coming,” Uraraka says as she makes her way to the front.

“You’re no fun.”

Himiko snorts. “So, Ku, where’d you hear about this place?”

“I’m a local,” he shrugs. “And, uh… I may have looked into what there was around UA…”

“Of course you did.”

“What about your dad?” Uraraka says as the four of them make their way down the hall. “Is he coming?”

“Nah, he’s got work to do prepping classes. He said he’d be here for another… hour? I think? So I’ll meet up with him at home.”

“Mr. Yagi works here?” Hagakure says. “I thought he worked at Might Tower.”

Himiko grins. “He does both!”

The ice cream place is only about a fifteen-minute walk, and they fill the time with some idle chatter. There’s an unspoken agreement to save the real discussion for when they’ve got ice cream in front of them.

It’s not a very large building, and they’re lucky enough that there’s not much of a line, with only a handful of patrons. Their UA Uniforms earn a few glances, but nothing more than passing curiosity.

They order quickly, Izuku getting chocolate, while Himiko gets strawberry. Hagakure gets vanilla practically soaked in caramel sauce, and Uraraka gets a platter of vibrantly colored mochi.

“What’s it like in 1-B?” Hagakure says, as the four of them take their seats around one of the tables.

Izuku shrugs. “It was actually pretty normal. We went to orientation, and then after that was done, Mr. Kan told us to introduce ourselves to each other, and that was it.”

“So who’s Mr. Kan?” Himiko says. “There’s no way you didn’t recognize every Hero in UA; who is he?”

Izuku can’t keep the grin off of his face. He’s been waiting for this exact moment.

“Vlad King.”

Himiko nearly chokes on her ice cream. “No. way.”

“Um, who is that?” Uraraka says.

“Vlad King! The Blood Hero!” Himiko says, hands pumping in front of her chest. “His Quirk lets him control his own blood! He uses it to make all kinds of stuff, like weapons or restraints!”

Uraraka blinks a few times before her eyes widen in understanding. She has after all seen Himiko’s own Quirk in action. Izuku’s not surprised she gets exactly why someone like him appeals to her.

“Mr. Kan tells me that Mr. Aizawa does these physical exams instead of orientation,” says Izuku. “What was that like?”

“It was the worst!” Hagakure moves her bowl aside so she can plant herself on the table, presumably face-down. “He scooted up to the class in a bag like a caterpillar, then told us we had to get changed into gym uniforms—which he had in the bag too for some reason. And then he told us he was gonna expel whoever came last!”

Izuku winces sympathetically.

“Hang on, I saw all twenty of you though.”

“Yeah,” Uraraka says. “At the end of it, he said that he was lying about expelling someone and that it was just to motivate us, but Yagi said that wasn’t true.”

Himiko blushes and looks away. “He was serious about the expulsion.”

Izuku trusts her judgement.

“And the tests?” he asks.

“The usual gym class stuff, but with Quirks,” Hagakure says. “You know, sit ups, ball throw, 50-meter sprint, that stuff.”

That would actually be really interesting to see with Quirks. After all, most Quirks don’t actually help with physical tests like that, so everyone would have to come up with something creative if they were going to get anything significant out of their own Quirk. What a great chance to see everyone’s Quirks in action!

“Yagi got first,” Hagakure says with audible smugness.

That doesn’t surprise Izuku in the slightest. Stained Red alone could’ve easily dominated those kinds of challenges, not to mention her newfound Quirk copying.

“Yup! It was me, a girl named Yaoyorozu with a cute Quirk that lets her make things—I think— an ice guy called Todoroki, and then this Bakugou guy with… explosions…”

Ah.

Shit.

Izuku had wondered when she’d put that one together.

Himiko makes eye contact with him and Izuku subtly shakes his head. He doesn’t want Hagakure or Uraraka to know about that yet, if ever. Besides it would ruin this fun outing.

“What about you, Uraraka? I know Hagakure is Miko’s gym buddy, but how did you do?”

“You are?” Uraraka says to Hagakure through a mouthful of mochi before swallowing. “Well, uh, I only really did well at the ball throw.”

“You tied with Yagi!” Hagakure says. Uraraka’s skin indents and she lets out a small ‘eep!’ “Both of you managed to send the ball into orbit!”

“Uh…” Himiko says, lowering her face into her ice cream. “It’s more that I tied with Uraraka…”

“What do you mean?” says Uraraka.

“You remember how I can copy your Quirk when I turn into you, right?”

“You what?” Hagakure says.

“We found out after the Entrance Exams, at the dinner thing at her place,” says Izuku.

“Ohh…”

“But I thought that needed my blood?” Uraraka says.

“It turns out I only need someone’s blood once and I can use their form whenever I want!”

“Awww… but if you copy Quirks then you can’t be me but visible!” Hagakure says.

“I’m not so sure about that,” says Izuku.

Himiko grins. “Mhmm! We found out that I can mix people’s appearances if I’ve had their blood before! So I might be able to use your features without using your Quirk!”

“Oh wow, really?” Hagakure leans forward over the table. “Sweet! Actually, take some of my blood now, before we forget again.”

Himiko opens and closes her mouth. “Maybe we should, uh… do it… somewhere else?” She gestures to the other customers. There’s only four other people in the store plus the two servers, but Himiko biting Hagakure would be sure to draw some attention.

“There’s a bathroom over there.”

“Perfect!”

They saunter off, Himiko’s eyes gleaming, leaving Izuku alone with Uraraka. Now that he thinks about it, he never really got the chance to properly break her Quirk down, since he was a bit distracted by flying off to the ceiling.

“So, uh, Uraraka,” he says. “How does your Quirk work?”

She holds up her hand so he can see the thin pads on her fingertips. “It’s called Zero Gravity. When I touch something with all five of my fingers, it loses its gravity and floats.”

False. Lack of gravity combined with centrifugal movement of the earth would result in target leaving the planet’s atmosphere. However, when subject used her Quirk on me, I had my weight reduced.

Possibilities: Subject’s Quirk affects the orbit of the target. Subject’s Quirk changes how the target is affected by gravity—see also the differences in the gravitational field of different celestial bodies by mass. Subject’s Quirk does not affect gravity, but has a different effect entirely.

Points of interest: what happens to the weight? Assuming conservation of energy is in effect, the force of gravity cannot be destroyed.

“Uh,” Uraraka says, dragging Izuku out of his own head. “Can you go an’ say that all again, but slower for me?”

Izuku pauses, blinking for a moment or two. He rubs the back of his neck.

“Oh, sorry about that, I tend to get lost in thought pretty easily. Especially about Quirks.” He smiles sheepishly. “I didn’t mean to scare the accent into you.”

Uraraka flushes, looking away.

At that moment, Hagakure steps out of the bathroom, followed by who has to be Himiko, judging by the UA uniform that no longer fits properly—loose in most places where Hagakure is shorter than Himiko, but tight in some others. Izuku feels his face heating up.

“Surprise!” Himiko says with Hagakure’s voice. Hagakure herself sits down without saying anything, taking a big bite of the ice cream she’d left behind. He can hear her sniffling.

“Are you okay?” he says.

Hagakure’s collar shakes up and down. “I—I haven’t seen my face in so long…”

Speaking of her face… from what he can see on Himiko, Hagakure has a narrower face than her or Uraraka, wide eyes with bushy lashes. Her eyes have rings in them, which could be related to some questions he has about how her Quirk works. What strikes him most is her absolute mess of loose curls and her eyes have the same incandescent sheen to them, resulting in a yellow-green with pink highlights. As far as secondary mutations go, it’s similar to many that Izuku has seen before, but he’s never seen traits shine like that.

Fascinating!

Himiko giggles, doing a small twirl that shows off the different build. “Look at all the neat new options I have for shapeshifting! And I can do this!” She flickers beneath her uniform before vanishing, still giggling.

Another interesting development. Perhaps it’s connected to the mechanism behind Hagakure’s Quirk? He’s itching to dissect it properly.

“You’ve already got ideas, don’t you?” Himiko says, sitting back down.

“Careful about the public Quirk use,” Izuku says. “But yes. I’ve got a few more ideas about how Hagakure’s Quirk works.”

“Please don’t bring up the blindness thing again,” Hagakure says. “I can only handle so many existential crises.”

“What about you, Midoriya?” Uraraka says. “You never told me what your Quirk is. You’ve got some kind of analyzing Quirk?”

Izuku stiffens.

Well.

Trial by fire then.

“No,” he says, shaking his head. “That’s all practice. Quirks have always fascinated me, even though I don’t have one.”

He doesn’t have to be Himiko to read the surprise from them as the words process. It takes all of self-control to keep his posture loose even as his grip tightens on the bowl.

“Oh, wow. And they let you into UA?” Uraraka says. Izuku hides his wince.

“Why wouldn’t they?” says Himiko sharply.

The blood drains from Uraraka’s face. “Wait, that’s not what I meant!” she waves her free hand in front of herself defensively before curling in on herself. “But, well… my dad’s friend is Quirkless, and he struggled to get into a good high school.”

Hagakure sucks in air through her teeth.

Izuku is disappointed to hear that, but not surprised. That would’ve only been around twenty years ago, give or take, and schools like advertising successful alumni. With the prominence of Quirks in the workforce, it can be rough for people like him.

Izuku gives a small smile. “I was worried about it too, while we were waiting for our exam results. I mean, I figured that Principal Nedzu wouldn’t discriminate, but, you know.”

The other three nod empathically.

“So what do you think we’re doing tomorrow?” says Hagakure.

“Hopefully not another ‘logical ruse’,” Uraraka groans. “I can’t take another expulsion threat like that! If I get booted from UA, there ain’t—” she coughs. “No school would take me! My life would be over!”

“When do you think we get our costumes?” Himiko asks, eyes gleaming even more with Hagakure’s appearance.

“Soon, I hope,” says Izuku. “I know Snipe has a range on campus; I’d love to get some practice in with my crossbow.”

Himiko perks up. “It came in?” she says, at the same time Uraraka and Hagakure both say, “Crossbow?”

“Yup,” he says to Himiko. To the others, he says, “Since I’m going to be relying a lot on Support weapons and martial arts, I wanted to have some kind of ranged weapon, but I can’t have a, you know, a gun.”

“Do you think we’re gonna start Hero Training on the first day?” says Hagakure. Izuku shrugs. From Orientation Day alone he can tell that UA isn’t exactly the most traditional school in Japan. There’s no way to know what kind of class they’re going to have on any given day.

 Yagi Toshinori rereads the lesson plan for the dozenth time.

“Sorry, my girl,” he murmurs, glancing over at a photo of Himiko. “We don’t have any time to relax. The real challenge starts tomorrow.”

Chapter Text

Yagi Himiko giggles quietly to herself, shooting a glance to her right, past the brooding bird and the bulky boy to where Uraraka is setting her bag beside her desk. She had so much fun hanging out with her and Hagakure yesterday! It’s not her fault that Uraraka is super cute in all the best ways! She’d had a brief scare when she thought Uraraka didn’t think Izuku should be in UA, but they cleared that up, so it’s all good!

Himiko wants her blood so bad.

No, she wants to drink her blood so bad. It’s an important distinction. Having Uraraka’s soft body pinned under her as she goes for her throat like she does with Izuku…

Mm.

She won’t though.

She only met Uraraka a few weeks ago, and they’ve only interacted in person a handful of times. Cute is cute, but she’ll hold off until she knows her a bit more. Izuku was thinking the same thing when he invited her out to ice cream, she’s sure of it.

Himiko lets out a small sigh. Uraraka isn’t the only cute person in class. Honestly pretty much everyone in class is attractive, even if they aren’t her taste.

Well, everyone that is but Bakugou. She’d already not liked his constant scowling and growling, like a wild dog ready to bite, but realizing that Bakugou Katsuki was Izuku’s Kacchan was the final nail in the coffin.

Himiko removes her hand from the shiv hidden in her uniform.

No stabbing.

As for the actual first day of school, it was surprisingly mundane. Some of the upperclassman stood outside the front gate advertising clubs. Mostly Gen-Ed stuff from what she could tell, but some of them seem decently cute. She’ll have to look into some of them if the Hero Course schedule allows it.

Would Baking Club mind if she made stuff with blood? Probably not. As long as she… told them.

Homeroom isn’t really notable. Mr. Aizawa walks in, notes how long it takes them to be quiet, declares he has no announcements, and, at the podium, practically faints from standing. Homeroom only lasts for ten minutes; is he actually getting any rest like that?

After that is some idle small talk. She keeps an ear out for names to put with faces. She hadn’t quite caught all of the ones that Mr. Aizawa had called out yesterday.

But then classes start and things really get crazy. They have Present Mic as an English teacher! The same Present Mic who hosts Put Your Hands Up Radio, one of Izuku’s favorite broadcasts! And yeah, she knew that he works here because he was there for the Entrance Exam, but still! It’s him! In person! And says to call him Mr. Yamada!

Himiko hides her giggling behind her hand. Izuku must’ve really rubbed off on her.

Ectoplasm is her math teacher! And apparently he’s always as intense as he was back at the gate during the Entrance Exam, which actually is something of a relief. It means he wasn’t all that bothered by her or Izuku back then.

She doesn’t recognize her Modern Literature teacher, Cementoss, but she definitely recognizes her Art History teacher. Midnight. She has some of her merch back in her room! Maybe she can get it signed?

Okay, Izuku definitely rubbed off on her. She doesn’t mind.

Even the chef making their lunches is a Pro Hero! Maybe she can ask him about that cooking game!

Finally, that afternoon, it’s time for her first Hero Class.

A familiar scent hits her and Himiko grins wide.

“I am here!” says Dad, bulked up and in what she recognizes as his Silver Age outfit, with a cape and slightly different jumpsuit design. “Coming through the door like a normal person!”

He says this while holding onto the doorframe so that he can lean into the room without actually stepping past the threshold.

The class instantly goes wild, cheering and hollering. Himiko makes out a few sentences, commenting on his costume, disbelief that he’s actually here, awe at his presence. Her smile widens.

Dad is so cool.

“Foundational Hero Studies!” says Dad with his typical dramatics, crossing in front of the blackboard. “The cornerstone of all Heroics; the basics that you will master and expand upon during your time here at UA! We will develop your skills through a variety of trials! Today is no exception!”

Dad whips around, holing up a large white card with the stylized world ‘Battle’ inscribed on it.

“Today will be a Battle Trial!”

Even behind him by two seats, Himiko can see how excited that makes Bakugou. Her smile twitches.

“And to go with this, your first ever trial as a student of UA, we’ve prepared something for you!” says Dad, gesturing to the wall. With the click of a button on a remote, the wall opens, sliding out a short rack, each shelf holding a numbered metal case.  01 through 20. “It’s the costumes you all requested alongside your Quirk information!”

That earns another round of cheers from everyone, Himiko included.

“Everyone get changed and we’ll be ready to begin! Once you’re ready, gather at Ground Beta! What you wear in the line of duty is vitally important, children. And don’t forget! From here on out, you’re all officially Heroes!”

Himiko is one of the first people to arrive at Ground Beta. Her costume is relatively simple, but she can’t help but love how cute it is. The company that made it did so perfectly.

She has a dress tunic that becomes a skirt at the bottom, all embellished to resemble something almost Medieval European. Her black boot stockings go up well past her thighs. White gloves cover her hands and go down almost to the elbow. Over the top of it all she wears a blue cloak, with a rose symbol printed on the shoulders.

Every single color from her costume was carefully chosen by referencing Dad’s costumes, both current and retired. From the mirthful look on his face, he’s recognized that. Himiko giggles, doing a small twirl that lets her cape billow.

“Quite stylish, Young Yagi.”

Yagi.

She doesn’t hear that often. She didn’t hang out with many people before UA, and most of them used her first name instead. It sucks that she and Dad have to pretend to not be related in school, but hearing her name, the name of her family, more than makes up for it.

“Ah, Yagi!”

Speaking of which.

Himiko turns around, meeting Uraraka with a smile. She’s wearing a pink and black jumpsuit with puffy boots and round wrist guards. Cute.

“I love your costume!” Himiko says. “It looks great!”

“You think so?” Uraraka rubs the back of her head. “I think it’s kinda tight…” Himiko had noticed. “Yours is so good! Very ‘vampire’!”

“What excellent styles!” Dad says as the last of her classmates emerges into Ground Beta. “You all look the image of Heroes!”

“Sir!” says Iida, dressed like a robot. “This is the same site used for the Entrance Exam! Will we be doing something similar?”

“Not exactly,” says Dad. “Today’s trial takes place indoors! It’s true that most of the publicized Villain fights occur outside, but it’s far more common for Heroes to work indoors! In a Hero-saturated society like ours, any smart Villain knows better than to work in the open!”

Dad turns to them all, fists pressed against his hips in the classic post. “For this lesson, you’ll be separated into groups, for a two-on-two team battle!”

Asui cocks her head. “What about basic training?”

“This is basic training!” says Dad. “But your foes today are not robots that can be smashed willy-nilly.”

“What are the rules? How do we determine the victor?” says Yaoyorozu.

Bakugou sneers into his collar. “Is it fine if we just blow them up?”

“If we don’t do well, are you going to expel us?” Uraraka says, wringing her hands.

Iida raises a hand. “What method are we using to determine groups?”

“Doesn’t my cape look magnificent?” says… Aoyama? She thinks?

Dad tilts his head back, smile almost turning into a grimace. “I can’t hear every question if you all speak at once!”

He pulls out a tiny notecard and holds it up to his face, reading aloud. “For this training, a Defender team will be guarding an objective—in this case, represented by a bomb! The Attacker team will have to infiltrate the building and reach the objective. If the Attackers succeed in touching the objective, or capturing the Defender team, they win! If the Defenders capture the Attackers, or last until time runs out, they win! And lastly, your teammates and opponents will be chosen by random lots!”

“Randomly…?” Iida says, more musing to himself than anything. “Is that truly the best way?”

“Some of the cutest fights happened because of random team ups!” Himiko says, partly because she’s still annoyed at him insulting Izuku at the Entrance Exam. Iida stares at her.

“In any case,” Dad says, “Let us begin!”

Team A winds up as Hagakure and Tokoyami. Team B is Bakugou and Ashido. Team C has Jiro and Sero. Himiko herself is on Team D, as well as a boy named Shoda. Iida is team up with Sato. On Team F is Todoroki and Kirishima. Uraraka is on Team G alongside Kaminari. Ojiro and Koda are together on Team H. Himiko thinks she knows the least about those two specifically. Team I is comprised of Aoyama and Yaoyorozu. And on the last team, Team J, is Asui and Shoji.

Once all of the pair are in place, Dad clears his throat, getting everyone’s attention.

“Our first matchup…” he says, shoving his hands into two different boxes, “…will be Team J as the Attackers and Team H as the Defenders!”

The two named teams look at each other intently.

“For the purposes of this scenario, the Defenders are inside the building first!” Dad says. “After five minutes, the Attackers are allowed to begin! Everyone else will be watching via cameras. Don’t be afraid to cut loose, but I will intervene if the situation should go too far.”

As a non-participant, Himiko follows Dad below the building with the rest of the class, where a series of monitors are already set up to show the building from various angles. Himiko gets comfortable, eyeing the screens. Izuku would never forgive her if she doesn’t pay attention.

The first match is over quickly. When the five minutes are up, Ojiro and Koda enter the building with purpose, as if they already know where the bomb is. But when they’re ambushed by the Defender Team out of nowhere, Koda barely puts up a fight, leaving Ojiro to be overwhelmed.

Himiko sighs under her breath. Team F as the Attackers and Team I as the Defenders are called to the field next, meaning both Todoroki and Yaoyorozu are in the field. Maybe this next fight will have some decent Quirk use?

The moment All Might announces the Attackers can go, the entire building shakes.

“Kero,” Asui—actually ribbits that’s adorable—shivers. A moment later, Himiko sees why. A quick glance at the screens confirms that Todoroki froze over the entire building.

“What kind of power does he have?” Kaminari murmurs.

Not enough.

Dad hasn’t called the match yet.

Himiko flicks her eyes across the screens until she finds the Defender team. Yaoyorozu’s skin is glowing around where her legs are encased in ice, and the ice recedes. From the camera view, she can’t tell what Yaoyorozu is making. Salt, maybe?

As soon as she’s free, she releases Aoyama as well. Todoroki meanwhile has entered the building, despite some kind of tension with Kirishima, who is following close behind.

Aoyama doesn’t let him take back the initiative, firing a laser down the hall. Todoroki’s hasty ice barrier caves in from the blast. Another shot pierces clean through the wall, slamming into Kirishima. Todoroki presses ahead but can’t muster any steam under the onslaught.

Something small and gray rolls to a stop by Todoroki’s foot. He pauses for a fraction of a second before the camera is flooded with bright light. From how Todoroki and Kirishima stumble around after it fades, it must’ve been even brighter in person. Despite Todoroki’s blind ice barrages, neither of them is able to stop Yaoyorozu and Aoyama from pouncing on them for a victory.

Even more amazing than that fight is Todoroki casually melting away all the ice in the building. His power’s incredible… Izuku would love it.

Uraraka is up next, as Team G as Attackers versus Team A as Defenders, and Himiko sits up a little straighter. Team A’s Defense Strategy is soon obvious, as Hagakure and Tokoyami go around disabling the lights. By the time Uraraka and Kaminari have permission to enter, the building is pitch black.

Kaminari takes point, coating himself in electricity so they can at least see a little ahead of them. Unfortunately for them, what’s ahead of them is a cute monstrous bird demon thing, but for some reason it ends up cowering from Kaminari, revealing an easily captured Tokoyami.

The bomb room is the only room in the building that still has any light in it for some reason, so it doesn’t take them too long to find. Right as they start to approach the bomb, Uraraka suddenly tackles the air, and Himiko sees a moment later the floating capture tape that clatters to the ground.

Uraraka spotted that? Wow…!

The following match is another short one, but at least this time Himiko can see the Quirks being used. Team C Attacking versus Team E Defending. From the looks of things, Iida is monologuing next to the bomb, which proves to be a mistake with Jiro. Especially when Sero pulls tape out of his arms and creates a net with it that Iida can’t stop in time to avoid. They struggle more with Sato, but not by much.

And by Himiko’s math that leaves her team and…

And…

Oh.

“For our final match, Team B will be the Attackers!” says Dad, “And Team D the Defenders!”

Himiko feels a soft smile slowly spread until her fangs are visible.

It looks like she’s getting a chance to play with Kacchan already!

As Himiko leaves Team B behind at the entrance to the building, she makes sure to wink at Bakugou.

“Do you have a plan?” Shoda says.

“Uh, kinda?” Himiko ratches at her cheek. “I’m pretty sure Bakugou’s gonna come for me because he doesn’t like my boyfriend, so I can keep him busy. Can you deal with Ashido?”

“I don’t know,” he says. “It depends on her Quirk. I’m pretty close-range, but I have a few tricks.” He looks at her. “You have a strength Quirk, right?”

“Yup!” she nods. “It stockpiles blood, and I can use it to enhance myself or shapeshift!”

“That’s pretty cool! I can tag something and hit it a second time from a distance.”

“Wow!”

“I’ll go on ahead to the bomb, if you want to stay here and intercept Bakugou?”

Himiko grins. “Sounds like a plan!”

A bit after Shoda leaves, Dad calls, “Preparation Time is over!” through their earpieces. Himiko presses against the wall, peering through the corner of the window. Form here she can barely make out what they’re saying.

“I don’t need an extra slowing me down,” Bakugou retorts to whatever it was Ashido said. “I’m showing up Deku’s bitch.”

Himiko narrows her eyes.

She’s going to enjoy this an Unheroic amount.

She takes her focus off of the stunned Ashido, listening for Bakugou’s explosions. As expected, it doesn’t take him long to reach her. He practically drifts out of the stairwell, vicious smile stretching across his face.

“Well?” says Himiko. “I’m right here, Kacchan.”

“No,” says Bakugou. “You’re dead!”

UA is nothing like Ashido Mina thought it would be like.

Expulsion scares? Okay, she can kinda get that one even if it was way overkill.

Classmates having grudge matches and slinging around insults and swears? Her partner really just left her in the dust because he’s mad about what? Yagi dating? Her boyfriend?

Mina lets out a long breath. It’s fine. She has other options if this doesn’t pan out. But she’s not going to lose this fight because her partner took ‘loose cannon’ as a personal challenge.

If he wants to be a lone wolf, then he’s free to get himself killed as one. Or, you know, captured. Class exercise.

Like, come on! They all saw how strong Yagi is yesterday! He wants to fight her alone? That’s his problem now. If she’s lucky then Yagi will be too busy with him to stop her, and she won’t have to fight someone who can pitch a ball into orbit.

At least her costume is right, with all of her fun toys, like her acid grenades, wrist jets, and the nozzles on the sides of her boots for even more acid access.

Mina reaches up and lightly smacks her hands against her cheeks. She’s not going to let one jerkface ruin her time here at the premier Hero School. Not when she has All Might as a teacher! This is a few road bumps in the dream come true, is all.

Mina creeps into the building on silent steps, grateful that she knows a little bit of sneakery. An explosion from the floor above her rocks the building, and she hears glass shattering and Bakugou screaming.

She’ll be staying away from that.

Now, if Mina were on the defense, she’d put the bomb on the top floor, because it’s the furthest from the entrance. Hopefully Shoda and Yagi had the same idea, because that’s where she’s going first. The real question is whether she wants to go through the interior or slip around and scale the walls with her Quirk.

Another explosion rocks the building, deciding for her.

It’s only a few seconds after she climbs the stairs to the top floor that she concludes she’s in the right place, largely because of the tiny metal ball that shoots past her head.

Instinctively, Mina coats her arms in acid, releasing some from her feet as well. She takes a defensive stance, eyeing the direction the ball had come from, when something slams into her back, and she staggers forward.

She glances over her shoulder. Another metal ball…?

There’s a faint footstep ahead, and Mina snaps to attention. The blur of Shoda’s black costume from around the corner is the only hint of him she gets before another ball bearing slings down the hallway. She sidesteps it, only for the ball to suddenly redirect mid-air and strike her in the side.

So that’s how she got hit before!

In that case…

Mina charges ahead. When Shoda fires again, she doesn’t bother to dodge, instead raising an acid-coated arm and swatting the attack aside, smiling as it sizzles.

Shoda yelps as she skids around the corner. She releases the acid from her arms, raising them to point with her wrist guards. The small nozzles inside blast him with her most viscous acid. About as corrosive as milk, but thicker than cement.

Shoda squirms from his prison, but can’t do anything to stop her from draping the capture tape over him. As All Might announces his capture, Shoda hangs his head.

“Good fight, Ashido.”

“You too!” she says. See? Bakugou’s an outlier. She’s going to have a great time at UA.

Before she can ask him where the bomb is, All Might suddenly cries out over the earpiece.

“Bakugou, stop! That’s an order!”

Yagi Himiko is having the time of her life.

Bakugou storms back up the stairs, breathing haggard, glare more intense than ever.

“I’m running out of windows,” Himiko says. “Do you want to move the fight somewhere else or are you okay with me reusing them?”

“Fuck. You.”

Himiko recoils. “Ew, hard pass.”

“That’s not what I fucking meant and you know it.”

She wonders how he’ll mix it up this time. After his first attempt to hit her—a right hook so telegraphed Gran Torino would’ve responded in Morse by the time it hit—resulted in her flinging him through a window and back outside, he started making an actual effort.

Himiko, admittedly, has not.

Bakugou grits his teeth, wiping his mouth with a balled fist.

“Alright, fucker. Let’s see you deal with this.” He raises his right arm, pointing it at her. “Did Deku tell you about my Quirk? He was always so fucking obsessed. See, my Quirk works by sparking the palms of my hands, igniting my sweat. It’s like nitroglycerin.”

Himiko narrows her eyes.

Bakugou reaches over, taking hold of the pin in the grenade-shaped gauntlet. “So if this thing works like I asked, then it stores all my sweat in here for a giant fucking bang!”

“Bakugou, stop! That’s an order!” calls All Might, “You’ll kill her!”

“Not if she dodges!”

The pin clicks as he pulls it.

Stained Red: 10%!

Himiko closes the distance between heartbeats, batting his extended right arm upwards. She’s heard about it from dad, the risk of powerful attacks indoors hitting load-bearing walls and bringing down the entire structure.

There’s no time to do anything other than redirect the blast away from the foundations and hope for the best.

White envelops her.

She’s thrown back by the force but barely feels it over her body screaming at her for pushing Stained Red so far.

Eventually, the white in her vision fades to spots and she can make out Bakugou. Himiko goes to take a step, but her whole body protests. It’s only when she steadies herself with her arm that she realizes she’s in a heap on the ground.

Himiko drags herself forward to the indented crater in the floor.

“Are you alright?” she manages. If Bakugou hears her, he doesn’t respond. She pulls herself further and sees why.

Bakugou lies in the hole, swearing quietly through clenched teeth, left arm tightly clutching his obviously broken right. She winces, remembering when her own arm looked that busted.

Speaking of which, she can feel her regeneration rippling through her body, mending her aches.

Himiko reaches for Bakugou when everything around her blurs. She blinks, suddenly staring at the pavement. She turns her head, looking for the source of the pull on her cloak.

Dad.

He sets her down gently, Bakugou across his other shoulder in a fireman’s carry.

“I will return shortly,” says Dad, voice serious. And then he’s gone.

“Yagi!”

“Ashido?” Oh shit, Ashido! She and Shoda were—

“You’re alright,” says Shoda from beside Ashido, “That’s a relief.”

Himiko grimaces, rising back to her feet. “Are you both okay? Did—Did All might pull you both out?”

Ashido nods. “Yeah. We heard him yelling over the coms when—” she mimics an explosion with her hands. “Boom!”

“And suddenly we were both outside,” Shoda says.

 “But still!” Ashido sighs. “What a first day!”

Chapter Text

For his entire life, Midoriya Izuku has imagined what it would feel like to be at UA, learning to be a Hero, and about to start his first ever Hero Training. He can say, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the real thing is better.

First of all, he gets to wear his costume—a loose black jumpsuit with deep green accents, with a hood that can obscure his face if so desired, and more than enough room to conceal all of his weapons—And there’s nothing on Earth that could possibly make him feel more like he’s really here and really doing this.

Second, he gets to fawn over the costumes of all his classmates which all look so cool!

Third, he gets to fawn over the Quirks of all his classmates some more.

And last but definitely not least, Pro Hero Vlad King is here!

Himiko is going to be so jealous when she hears he’s not only teaching Izuku for Homeroom.

“Alright, class!” Mr. Kan calls. “I see you’re all excited to wear your costumes! First off, before we begin, I want to say that I think you all look very Heroic, and you should be proud of making it farther than most people ever do.” He pauses to let that sink in. “Second, as you can see, I’m also your Heroics teacher. However, that will not always be the case. Our newest faculty member—yes, All Might—will alternate between 1-A and 1-B. If you aren’t with me, you’ll be with him.”

That earns more than small chatter from the class, even a few whoops and hollers.

“Sir!” Monoma says, raising his hand. “So he’s with 1-A right now?”

“Correct. However, our lesson plan is the same. 1-A is in fact currently in another site here at Ground Beta.”

Monoma nods, returning his hand to his side.

“Today we’ll be conducting a set of team battles: two-on-two,” says Mr. Kan. “One team will be defending a prop bomb and given a five-minute preparation time. The other team will be tasked with infiltrating the building and making contact with the bomb before time is up. And, of course, if either team manages to capture the opposition with this,” he holds up a roll of thick tape, “then the captured team is eliminated and lose.”

 “This is a bit much,” Kendo says thoughtfully. “What about basic training?”

“Think of this as serving three purposes: a test for your gear, an icebreaker, and a way to learn how dangerous your Quirks can be. Moving around in a simulation like this one will help you learn what you need to change about your costumes, which should be done sooner rather than later. I know you all introduced yourselves yesterday, but this will help you see each other in action. Lastly…”

Mr. Kan takes a deep breath before he continues.

“How many of you have used your Quirk on another person? Or, if applicable, your Support Gear?” A pause. “No one? Those of you who took the general admissions Entrance Exam are no doubt aware of what you can do to a robot. The damage you could do to a living person is much greater. This will give you a chance to see that first-hand. I will be monitoring the fights to ensure that no accidents occur, and Recovery Girl will be ready to treat any injuries. That said, use caution. There’s a limit to the miracles she can work.”

Kendo nods.

“Alright then! Let’s get started!”

Izuku happens to be up first, paired with Honenuki and against Tetsutetsu and, of all people, Monoma.

Not only that, he and Honenuki are on the defense.

Giving Izuku prep time before a fight?

He grins.

“So, Midoriya, right?” Honenuki says as they carry the large but near-weightless prop into the building. “I’m pretty sure we’ve got this in the bag.”

“Can you breathe while underground?”

Honenuki misses a step. “You already figured out my plan?”

“It wasn’t hard; it’s a solid strategy that’s hard to counter.”

Honenuki introduced himself yesterday; a recommendation student who can soften materials. Naturally, the first question regarding any property-altering Quirk is how far the effect can spread. Considering his status as a recommendation student, his range must be decent.

“You’re gonna sink the bomb into the ground so they can’t get it. That would be an automatic win, except that they can capture us. The easiest solution to that is to evade. I’m guessing that you’ve trained to move through softened ground, right?”

Honenuki shakes his head. “Damn, you read me like a book. This is our first time speaking, yeah?”

Izuku flashes a toothy grin. “Yup.”

“I can’t breathe down there; I hold my breath. But I can move around pretty easy so it’s a good escape trick.”

“I see.”

“What about the opposition? We know Tetsutetsu’s Quirk—” he, too, had enthusiastically shared his Quirk, a simple but fascinating full-body material transformation, “—but what about Monoma’s?”

“I have a few guesses, but nothing concrete.” Monoma mentioned that Quirk-watching was necessary for him, so his Quirk presumably works off of others, like Eraserhead. The question is how. “I can do some hit-and-run to misdirect them.”

“Is that what your Quirk is for?”

 “Something like that.”

While Honenuki gets to work securing their victory, Izuku moves into position at the front of the fourth floor, overlooking the Offense team. He cracks open the window.

“—Quirk is incredible!” he hears from Monoma, animated as always. “A duo like us will be unstoppable!”

“Hell yeah!” says Tetsutetsu. He smacks Monoma on the back hard enough to stagger him. “I love the confidence!”

Monoma grins and raises a fist which Tetsutetsu bumps with his own.

From his perch above them, Izuku adjusts his grip on his crossbow. The device is shaped almost like a gun, something he had not expected. Though in place of a barrel is a loading mechanism for the arrows, chambered from a large removeable cylinder on the underside. The limbs are simple but elegant, the string connected to an automatic mechanism. He only has to manually adjust it when switching out his… chamber? Quiver? Bolt canister? The bottom cylinder.

It's beautiful.

Speaking of which, he removes the blunted-tip rounds, swapping them for a different gimmick.

“Preparation Time is over!” Mr. Kan says through his earpiece. “Begin!”

Izuku doesn’t hesitate to draw a bead, but it’s harder than he expects. The weapon is still unfamiliar to his grip.

Tetsutetsu is faster on the draw, charging straight through the doors leaving Monoma visibly stunned. Izuku takes advantage of the distraction to pull the trigger.

Monoma must have heard or seen something because he yelps, even before the trick arrow releases its net. He slips aside, but not fast enough to avoid it getting caught around his arm. Izuku aims again but Monoma doesn’t give him another shot before taking off into the building.

He steps back, lowering the crossbow. Looks like it won’t be quite that easy.

Keeping them separated, on the other hand, is. Tetsutetsu blindly charges after him whenever Izuku lets himself be spotted—Himiko’s hiding trick working wonders—while Monoma desperately tries to find either him or the bomb.

In the end, time runs out without either of them coming close to finding the bomb.

“Damn it…” Tetsutetsu says as Izuku steps into the viewing room. “That was cowardly! What kinda Heroes don’t tackle everything head-on?”

“The kind of Heroes who win,” Izuku replies casually. “Good match.”

Tetsutetsu grits his teeth, but Monoma puts a hand on his should and whispers something mollifying. Izuku turns his attention to his teammate, Honenuki.

“Good work,” Honenuki says.

“You too.”

Mr. Kan clears his throat, getting everyone’s attention. “As you can see, sometimes the best way to win is not to fight. Our Defense used their resources well. But what could Monoma and Tetsutetsu done better?”

“I shouldn’t have run off,” Tetsutetsu says before anyone else can say anything. “They were waiting for me and I charged right in. We should’ve been a team.”

“We’ll win next time,” Monoma says.

“Monoma, you panicked under pressure,” says Kendo. “When you were left alone, you were slow to react to Midoriya, and you didn’t’ have a plan for searching the place.”

Tokage nods. “Yeah, you ran around like a headless chicken.”

“Very good,” says Mr. Kan. “I’ll be giving everyone more detailed notes tomorrow in homeroom. Next up, Team B will be our Offense, and Team G our Defense.”

Bondo and Yanagi on Offense… Izuku hums quietly to himself as he sits down. Kendo and Kaibara both have close-range Quirks, while Bondo can produce glue—Composition unknown, production method unknown, viscosity unknown, adhesiveness unknown—and Yanagi has some form of telekinesis that Izuku is excited to see in person. But he doesn’t think that the Defense Team is going to have an easy time of it.

And, as predicted, the match is short. He fills in his notebook on the four competitors while he watches, but there’s only so much information to be gained from this footage. Yanagi’s telekinesis makes the subject glow, which is fascinating and a potential clue to the mechanism by which it works, but both Kendo and Kaibara have limited Transformation-type Quirks. Kendo’s hands getting bigger is one thing but he can barely see Kaibara’s rotations from here.

He jots down a few notes about how the size expansion should be affecting Kendo’s hands to follow up on later while Mr. Kan discusses disadvantageous matchups with the class.

Next up is Team E on Offense against Team A.

Despite being on the Defense, Kamakiri clearly learned nothing from Tetsutetsu, running off after the Offense Team and leaving Awase behind with the bomb the moment he’s allowed to do so. But while Tetsutetsu only had to worry about Izuku hunting him as a distraction, Kamakiri runs right into an ambush when Tsunotori blocks his blades with her hoof and pins him to the wall with a horn. Before he can pull himself free, Fukidashi creates something from his face that flashes blinding light everywhere, leaving the camera a white screen for several seconds. By the time they can all see again, Tsunotori has Kamakiri captured.

Izuku smiles as Tsunotori launches horn after horn at Awase. Some level of control over their flight. Regrowth speed near-instant. Judging by her brief altercation earlier, her hooves are extremely durable. Possibility of strength-enhancement secondary effect of mutation. Presumably, horns are made from keratin. Dietary requirements?

Finally, a Quirk he can really sink his teeth into.

Awase is a troublesome opponent at close range. His Quirk combines things at an atomic level through physical contact, which has a number of applications-and leaves Izuku with questions like ‘can he completely fuse things together into something new’—but has the same drawback of all contact-based Quirks. The actual contact part. Tsunotori does not give him that needed opening. Her fearsome volley leaves her seemingly unable to move, but Awase can’t get close through the flying horns.

Izuku lets his eyes wander to a horn stuck into the wall. He slowly lowers his gaze to several of the discarded horns lying on the ground. If subject can control them remotely, why aren’t they still attacking? Conclusion: There must be a limit to the number that the subject can control at once. Three—no, two horns at once.

In the end, it’s anticlimactic. Fukidashi walks over and puts a hand on the bomb while Awase is unable to stop him.

Izuku pays the barest attention to the post-mortem, to see if there’s anything other than everyone asking what Kamakiri had been thinking. (He had wanted a good fight, apparently, and from the looks he sends to Tsunotori he seems to have been impressed, even if he’s clearly upset at his loss.)

The next round catches his interest, as the Defense, Team I, is Komori and Tokage. The two of them have to keep the bomb safe from Team F, Tsuburaba and Kurorio. That’s at least two Quirks he’s already noted as interesting.

Tokage is all smirks and laughs on the way to the starting positions, in contrast to Komori, right on her heels, hunching in on herself. The Offense Team on the other hand is quieter, more serious.

Izuku leans forward, eyes narrowed in focus. Komori sprays wildly into the air with the bottles she keeps on her belt. Izuku can’t tell what’s in them.

When the two of them reach the top floor, they set up with the bomb in a far corner. Komori takes a new bottle and spritzes it over the bomb and Tokage. Izuku can feel the gears turning in his head, but he simply lacks far too much information to have any idea what she’s doing.

Then something pops into existence in the corner, round and brown, the size of a fist. Damn these cameras. Another one appears.

Izuku’s eyes widen as his eyes land on the mushroom cap hat Komori wears and it all comes together.

Subject grows mushrooms within certain proximity. No, wait, faint haze isn’t from camera quality, but present in room. Spore cloud? Effects of humidity? Possibility of subject using water misters high. Mushrooms do not appear on subject’s ally or objective. Presumably subject pre-treated them. Control over spores? Insufficient data.

How much control does subject have over the mushrooms that appear? Their size? Species? Genus? Is subject capable of creating new or undiscovered breed of mushroom? Existing specimens appear to be a variety of types. What’s the scale of subject’s spore cloud—

Izuku’s mouth opens.

Mushrooms burst forth from the entire building. The walls. The floor. The ceiling. In only a minute, the mushrooms coat so much that it’s hard to see the structure underneath. It’s turned into a jungle of fungus.

Tsuburaba stares up at the building with apprehension clear on his face even through the cameras. Kuroriro on the other hand seems impressed, but unconcerned. The reason why becomes clear when Vlad King gives the order for the Offense Team to proceed, and he vanishes into the ground.

No, not the ground. Shadows. There, a faint black smear blurring from beneath one mushroom to another. A Quirk like that has some incredible versatility, and depending on the speed he can travel from one shadow to another, Kuroiro’s mobility could be unparalleled, even by All Might!

In only about a minute, he darts his way to the bomb room while Tsuburaba is still struggling at the entrance wading through the mushrooms. Why he doesn’t make a bridge out of his air platforms, Izuku doesn’t know. He hasn’t seen them in action yet to be sure.

Tokage, the recommendation student, spots him first, and cries out, launching an arm at the manifesting Kuroiro, already practically on top of the bomb.

And then Komori shrieks, a thick yellow cloud poofing into existence around her.

Mr. Kan stands fast enough to knock over his chair, hand to his earpiece. “This match is over!”

 Izuku bites his lip. He hears the confusion in the chatter around him. None of them must have guessed yet.

Kuroiro wasn’t treated like Tokage was.

Mr. Kan’s already out the door, but Izuku’s attention is squarely on the monitor, where the spore cloud has dissipated enough to show Kuroiro on the ground, Tokage and Komori crowding him. It doesn’t take long for him to arrive. Mr. Kan checks Kuroiro over, and Izuku finally relaxes as Kuroiro manages to get to his feet on his own.

“This is why,” Mr. Kan says, back in the observation room, “Controlling your Quirks is important. Imagine if you accidentally hit a civilian with your Quirk, or an ally. Or if you weren’t aware of a possible complication your Quirk could cause. Now, Kuroiro, are you certain you’re fine?”

Kuroiro nods, idly rubbing his throat. “It will take fiercer winds to snuff out my flame. Besides which, my windpipe was not blocked completely. I’m hoarse, nothing more.”

“I’m so sorry…” Komori says, head hanging as low as possible, hunching in on herself.

“Nonsense. Were I truly a threat to you, such measures could well have saved your life.” Kuroiro pauses. “Do try not to do that again, if you can help it.”

“Your strategy was well-thought,” says Mr. Kan, “And I’m impressed by how quickly you were able to respond to your mishap and handle the situation. You made a mistake, yes, but you did well, Komori.”

Tokage rests an arm on Komori’s shoulder, getting her to let out a small ‘eep!’

“Hear that? You’re going places.”

Komori doesn’t say anything, but she stops trembling as much.

Mr. Kan sighs. “Kuroiro, don’t try to tough it out. Go see Recovery Girl. I don’t want to find out that there was something we missed. Ideally that shouldn’t take long.” Kuroiro looks away with a grimace, but nods and makes his way out. “It’s almost the end of the day, so if it goes long, you might go home from her office. I’ll cover everything in homeroom, so don’t worry about missing out.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Next up is our final match. Team C on Offense and Team D on Defense.”

Two obvious Mutations then, with Shishida on Offense with Kodai, and Shiozaki on Defense with Rin. Shishida has an animal mutation, but Izuku’s hard pressed to narrow it down. It’s more like the idea of a beast than an actual animal, but that could simply be how it maps to a humanoid frame. Shiozaki on the other hand has plantlike hair. Up close it’s clearly thorny vines. Izuku needs to look into plant life some more, because he’s pretty sure that has some implications about her physiology.

Shiozaki and Rin talk for a bit before coming to some sort of agreement. Then Shiozaki’s hair raises like serpents before plunging into the ground and erupting outwards, completely covering the building, growing over the doors and windows into a solid mass of thick vines. Some of them even wrap across the ceiling of their observation room below her.

There are shocked gasps around Izuku, and his mind is already running fast.

Subject has total control of hair-vines. Furthermore, hair-vines are capable of astronomical growth. Where is the mass coming from? Potentially absorbing nutrients from surrounding soil at absurd rate of conversion. Unlikely, environment unsuitable for plant growth. Stockpile aspect?

Silently, Izuku raises his assessment of Shiozaki’s raw power. She’s easily one of the strongest students he’s seen today.

But does she have the skill to back it up?

Izuku hums to himself as Rin appears from the thick foliage, blasting reptilian scales at Kodai and Shishida before vanishing again without a trace. His Quirk is fascinating in its own right, clearly generating an extreme surplus of those razor-sharp scales, and he’ll be taking many notes on that later, but right now he’s more interested in how Shiozaki seems to be feeling the Offense Team’s movements through her vines.

Subject’s nerves extend through vines? Or, perhaps, like keratin, subject can feel even though the hair-vines is only alive at the roots.

He looks up from his writings in time to see Shishida snatch one of Rin’s scales and hand it to Kodai, who promptly expands it until it’s the size of a large shield. Shishida takes it back, and cleaves clean through the vine walls.

Huh.

Well then.

Conservation of matter must have given up while he wasn’t looking.

In any case, once the Offense Team has a counter to Shiozaki’s vines, it doesn’t take them much longer to secure the victory, with only seconds to spare.

Izuku smiles softly.

The Hero Course really is incredible.

Recovery Girl shakes her head with a sigh.

“That’s the best I can do for now,” she says. “He doesn’t have the energy for a complete healing.”

Yagi Toshinori stares silently at Young Bakugou’s sleeping form, still and peaceful on the infirmary cot. Perhaps it’s because he only met the boy today, but it’s the calmest he’s ever seen him. While he fought in class or against robots is one thing, but even in the lead-up to the start of the lesson, Young Bakugou had been practically itching to start.

And then there’s the language he used to refer to Himiko.

In the field, abandoning his teammate to settle a petty personal dispute could easily end with him lying in a body bag instead of an infirmary bed. He’ll need to speak with him as soon as he wakes up, to make sure that he understands exactly what he did wrong.

Though, considering the state of his arm, it’s possible that Young Bakugou already knows.

“How bad was it?” Toshinori says instead.

“It could’ve been worse, but not by much. You did a good job not aggravating the injury on the way here, as always. From what I can tell, the backlash from his gauntlets was meant to be absorbed by bracing his arms for the impact, but…”

“But Himiko—Young Yagi batted his arm aside to direct it away.”

“I think the best way I can get the point across here is ‘Fine China’, All Might. You need to keep your class on a tighter leash.”

Slowly, he nods.

Chapter Text

Bakugou arrives to homeroom with his arm bound in a bulky cast that a vindictive part of Yagi Himiko finds to be cute. He grunts at her as he takes his seat, but doesn’t say anything. Himiko lets some of that vindictiveness flash in her smile for a moment before her cheer replaces it.

She’ll let things slide for now. She knows Dad already raked him over the coals for what he did yesterday—it held him up even longer from coming home.

She has no intention of forgiving him, though. Not after what he did to Izuku. Idly, her hand stops scratching her arm and drifts down over the shiv hidden in her uniform.

“Hey, Yagi!” Ashido says, spotting Himiko instantly as she steps into the room. “That was a pretty sweet match we had, wasn’t it? Though, you were pretty brutal.”

Himiko gives a fanged smile. “I heard about your fight with Shoda. I’m kinda curious how we’d do if we threw down.”

“Same! Sucks that our match went so bad at the end there.”

Bakugou visibly tenses but says nothing.

“And what about Yaomomo?” says Ashido, turning to Yaoyorozu in the seat in front of Himiko.

“I—Yaomomo?”

“Yeah! Your last name is kinda a mouthful, so I thought a nickname would be fun!”

Yaoyorozu looks to the side, smiling softly, blushing. “I’ve never had a nickname before.”

Himiko can’t stop herself from saying, “What?”

Back in her old school, she’d had a nickname, as had her friends. Of course, they’d stopped using them after Elementary School, but it was still something that happened.

“I’m afraid that I’m not used to much public schooling,” Yaoyorozu says. “I was privately tutored from a young age.”

That would explain a lot. Sounds like she’s led something of a sheltered life, then. And Himiko has to admit that ‘Yaomomo’ is a pretty cute nickname.

“Privately?” says Kaminari, catching the tail of the conversation.

“Oh, hey Kaminari!” Ashido says. “Nice job yesterday!”

Kaminari shoots finger guns at Ashido with a lazy smile. “You know it!”

“In your seats,” says Mr. Aizawa. Kaminari rapidly pales as he darts into his chair besides Ashido. There is silence.

Mr. Aizawa nods slowly, eyes scanning over the room as he moves to the front.

“I hope you’ve all recovered from yesterday’s Battle Trial. I’ve taken the liberty of reviewing your performances.” He sets a packet of papers on his desk. “Todoroki, don’t underestimate your opponents. That costume of yours does you no favors either.” Himiko is glad that he said it so that she wouldn’t have to. “Yaoyorozu, be faster. If Aoyama hadn’t bought you that time, you would’ve been helpless. You won’t always be on a team.”

“I understand,” Yaomomo says. Todoroki merely nods.

“Iida, be more flexible.”

“Yes, sir,” says Iida. Serves him right for what he said to Izuku.

“Bakugou,” says Mr. Aizawa. “You have potential. But you’re wasting it by acting like a petulant child.”

“…I know.”

“And you,” Mr. Aizawa locks his eyes onto Himiko. “Don’t toy with your opponent like that. If you’d captured him the moment you had the chance, he wouldn’t have been able to use his Support Gear. Speaking of which, Bakugou, what did Recovery Girl say about your arm?”

Bakugou looks away, his cast resting on the desk. “It’ll be fucking fine by the end of school tomorrow.”

Mr. Aizawa purses his lip for a moment, pausing in thought. Whatever deliberation he makes, he does it quickly, before moving on to something else.

“Those are the big things, but I’ve got notes for everyone here. Right then. Let’s get on with the homeroom announcements. I know I’m springing this on you all suddenly, but… you need to pick a Class Representative.”

The mundanity of it takes Himiko aback.

There’s a moment of perfect peace and calm before madness descends on the class. It’s almost like her classmates become a human wall as they all stand, raising their hands, and shouting out.

“Oh, oh! Pick me!” says Kirishima as Jiro says, “I wanna do it.” At the same time, Aoyama says, “This position exists for me,” as Ashido pops up with an, “I’ll do it! I’ll be a leader!”

It’s a cacophony of noise from everywhere and everyone.

In any other school, being the Class Representative would largely involve some extra duties, maybe wrangling the class together or helping out some people with what they’re struggling on. But this isn’t an ordinary school. This is UA High School. The Hero Course. Something like this is probably more like being a team leader, or running an agency. It would be an incredible experience.

But does Himiko want it?

She already has One For All and her dad is All Might. Surely she won’t have any trouble with learning the ins and outs of group management if she really needs to know. Is it fair of her to be the Class Representative with so much power strumming in her veins? Would the others benefit from it more? Would it actually help her in the long run?

“Be quiet!”

The sudden call from Iida snaps her out of her thoughts and succeeds in stunning everyone into silence.

“This position… is one laden with responsibility. You are not only accepting the challenges that come with the rigors of the Hero Course, but that you must shoulder the weight of everyone else! Just because you would like to do it does not mean you are capable of the task! This sacred office is founded on the respect and trust of everyone around you. Therefore… the best way to determine our Class Representative is through a democratic vote!”

Saying this, Iida’s hand is as high in the air as anyone else—possibly more, considering Iida’s height. Himiko debates if it’s worth it to point this out, but she figures everyone else can see it for themselves.

“Kero, it’s only been a few days,” Asui says. “Isn’t that kind of trust a lot to ask?”

Kirishima nods. “Yeah, everyone’s just gonna vote for themselves.”

“Precisely!” says Iida. “Anyone who does earn more than a single vote is truly impressive!” Iida turns to Mr. Aizawa. “Is that all right, sir?”

Mr. Aizawa is finishing up zipping himself into his sleeping bag. “As long as you’ve picked someone by the end of Homeroom and you’re all still alive, anything’s fine.”

Oddly specific.

The voting process is relatively quick. Iida quickly makes everyone a small paper card to write a name on. After a few minutes to deliberate, he collects them to tally the scores up on the board. It’s a tough decision. Himiko knows Hagakure the best of anyone in class, and she’s sure she’d do a good job, and a part of her wants to vote for Uraraka, but she also knows that Yaomomo is probably the best choice of anyone in class.

Rather predictably, the vast majority of the class have a single vote by their name, presumably their own. But the top two do have more than one vote apiece.

“Congrats, Yaomomo!” Himiko says, trying out the nickname for the first time and taking advantage of the seating chart to pat her on the shoulder.

“Thank you, Yagi. I hope to live up to everyone’s expectations. Ashido?”

“Yup!” says Ashido, who placed second. “I guess that makes me the vice!”

Himiko tilts her head, looking at the single line by her name. Who could have voted for her?

There’s one other interesting thing to note about the tallied votes, but Iida draws attention to it before Himiko can.

“Zero votes…” he says, barely supporting himself against his desk. “I see how it is! I knew such an outcome could be possible, and yet…!”

“Iida, you voted for someone else?” Yaomomo says quietly. “Even though you wanted the role so badly?”

If Iida hears her, he does not respond.

“In any case,” says Mr. Aizawa, emerging from his sleeping bag, “Yaoyorozu is your Class Representative, and Ashido is your Vice Rep.” The two of them stand in front of the class.

“Happy to be here!” says Ashido.

“Midoriya.”

Himiko looks up at Iida at the same time as Izuku, bite of rice still in her mouth.

“I don’t believe I ever apologized for my actions during the Entrance Exam.”

Izuku blinks at him.

Lunch only started a few minutes ago, but Himiko and Izuku found each other quickly enough, bringing some friends along with them. Iida seems to have been looking for them, though.

Himiko sits next to Izuku, of course, and they’ve been joined by Uraraka and Hagakure, as well as some of Izuku’s friends from 1-B, who introduced themselves as Monoma, Tetsutetsu, and Kendo.

“Despite my comments about your intentions during the introduction to the exam, you realized the true nature of the exam!”

Izuku blinks at him again.

“You mean… the Rescue Points?” he says. “I didn’t know about those. I saw someone in trouble and helped. That’s all.”

Uraraka rolls her eyes. “That’s all,’ he says. You saved my life, Midoriya!”

Hagakure huffs without any bite. “Of course you did.”

Monoma leans in. “Now this I gotta hear.”

“Truly?” says Iida. He loses himself in thought as he sits down. Himiko purses her lips. She’ll take the apology, but she doesn’t like the way he’s acting. The way he assumed Midoriya acted for the sake of the test instead of the people.

“It’s nothing much,” Izuku says to Monoma, rubbing the back of his head. “Uraraka got her leg pinned under some rubble and couldn’t walk, and the Executor was close by, so I pulled her out. If she hadn’t used her Quirk on me, we wouldn’t have made it anyway.”

“Deadly and humble,” Monoma says. “Dangerous combination, Midoriya.”

Himiko grins wide. “Don’t I know it.”

Monoma matches her. “You must be the girlfriend.”

“Still, that’s pretty hardcore,” Tetsutetsu says, taking another bite of beef. “I know my Quirk isn’t enough to stand up to that thing; charging it to save someone is badass, Midoriya.”

“No one in my testing site came close to it,” Kendo says. "So, did you guys do your Class Representative?” Izuku turns red.

“Yup!” says Hagakure. “Iida here convinced everyone to do a vote!”

“We did something similar,” Monoma says.

“Yeah,” Kendo says. “It was Mr. Kan’s suggestion to vote, but Midoriya here volunteered to help. I bet that’s what won him the vote too.”

Izuku looks at her in betrayal.

“Ku, you’re the Class Rep?” Himiko gasps. “And you didn’t tell me?”

“I still don’t know how I won,” he says into his bowl. “Honenuki did all the work at the Battle Trial.”

“Oh you guys did that too?” Hagakure says.

“First of all, wrong,” says Monoma. “You were the one running around with a crossbow shooting at us. Second, Honenuki told us about how you worked out his entire strategy without him saying anything.”

“Ooh! Did he do his analysis thing?” Himiko says.

“Monoma asked to see his notebook,” Kendo says. “I think he started crying at one point.”

“Do you know how hard it is to find another Quirk nerd?” Monoma hisses.

“Nah, man, it’s cool that you’re comfortable with your emotions like that,” says Tetsutetsu.

“Thank you.”

“So I assume Midoriya’s team won?” Hagakure says.

“Yeah,” Tetsutetsu says. “My fault. I ran off and left Monoma behind, and Midoriya kept ambushing us while we were separated.”

“As someone who was spectating, it was like he just vanished,” adds Kendo. “What about you guys?”

“I was up against Bakugou and Ashido,” Himiko says. Izuku stiffens minutely. “I threw him out a few windows until he got mad enough to nearly bring down the building.” She shrugs. Izuku and his 1-B friends stare at her.

“She broke his arm,” Hagakure says.

“…rad,” says Tetsutetsu. “I think.”

“I was paired against Hagakure here,” says Uraraka. “She and Tokoyami turned off the lights in most of the building, but not the bomb room, and I caught a glance of her with the capture tape.”

“It was most impressive,” Iida says, nodding. “I cannot say the same for my own performance. I was baited into a tape net by my opposing team.”

Kendo sighs. “I had a poor matchup. Me and Kaibara against Bondo and Yanagi. They took us down hard.”

“Yanagi and Bondo have Quirks with range,” Izuku explains, “While Kendo and Kaibara are both hands-based Transformation-types.”

“See, this is why you got elected,” says Kendo. Izuku groans.

“I’m not sure I can handle it,” he says. “I’ve never come close to being the Class Representative before, much less at a Hero school.”

“You clearly pay attention to your fellows,” Iida says. “You seem well aware of their strengths and weaknesses. That, and what I witnessed from you at the Entrance Exam makes me confident in your class’s electoral process.”

“Oh, yeah,” Hagakure says, “Iida, you wanted to be the Rep so bad, but you didn’t vote for yourself?”

“As I said in class, my desire was not a factor in my decision. I voted for who I felt was most appropriate for the position.”

“Iida, this might be a bit forward,” says Uraraka, “But are you rich?”

Iida flushes under the weight of seven stares.

“I don’t want special treatment, but my family is rather well off, yes. Though ‘rich’ may be something of a stretch. My family has been in Heroics for generations, and my older brother is currently in charge of the agency. Are you familiar with the Turbo Hero: Ingenium?”

Himiko smirks to herself. She knows what’s coming.

“Of course!” Izuku says. “He’s that popular Hero based in Tokyo’s Hosu Ward! His agency has 65 sidekicks, more than twice as many as the Endeavor Agency! His Quirk gives him an engine mutation in his arms that he uses to reach high speeds for quick rescues and captures!”

“You’re quite knowledgeable,” Iida says, unknowingly cutting off Izuku’s spiel about his Quirk and the Quirks of all 65 sidekicks before it can start. There’s not a doubt in Himiko’s mind that he has that information memorized. “That is correct! And he’s my older brother!”

Himiko lets out a quiet snort at how excited Iida suddenly is. From his posture, she can assume that he views Ingenium like how she views Dad.

“He’s a much-loved Hero and a wonderful leader. If there is any Hero I aspire to be like, it’s him. And in that same way, I am not yet ready for such a leadership role.”

“Tokyo, huh?” Uraraka says. “That’s much closer than Mie. I had to get an apartment close by for the commute.”

“Me too,” Kendo says. “I’m from Chiba.”

“Saitama, and I’m just close enough to make the train,” says Tetsutetsu.

“Kanagawa,” says Monoma. “Barely a trip for me.”

“Yagi and I are also from Tokyo,” says Hagakure.

“I live here in Shizuoka,” says Izuku. “An apartment, huh? Is that hard?”

“It can be,” Uraraka says, while Kendo and Tetsutetsu nod.

Izuku opens his mouth, but whatever he says is drowned out by a shrill siren that makes everyone at the table jump.

“An alarm?!” Izuku says, standing.

The intercom buzzes, and a synthetic voice says, “Security Level 3 Breached. All Students, Please Evacuate Promptly And Safely.”

“This wasn’t on the syllabus,” Monoma murmurs, barely audible over the alarms and the panicking crowd.

“What’s Security level 3?” Iida says to a passing upperclassman.

“It means someone broke into campus!” he says. “I’ve never seen this happen! We gotta go!”

In under a minute, the entire cafeteria is swept away in a crowd, shoving and pressing everyone together.

Himiko winces, squinting under the weight of her headache as hundreds of scents slam into her, blending and burning together incomprehensibly. The pain is not helped by the shouting and screaming. At this rate, someone is going to get trampled, and she’s afraid that it’s going to end up being Hagakure.

“Damn it,” she spits.

Without warning, Iida rockets up, out of the crowd, hanging in midair. He pulls his pants legs up, revealing his engines, and launches forwards, slamming himself into the wall above the exit sign, drawing the attention of the entire stampede.

“Everyone!” he shouts. “Calm down! Everything is okay! It’s just the press! There is nothing to panic about! This is UA; try to conduct yourselves like students of such a prestigious academy!”

The shock of his actions, combined with his speech, quickly soothes the herd. Himiko lets out a small breath of relief as the pressure on all sides relents. The rest of the evacuation goes smoothly from there, and soon enough everyone is back in their seats in class, ready to continue the day.

Himiko leans back in her seat. She didn’t think that UA would be this stressful—at least, not for a reason outside the curriculum.

Himiko blinks wearily at the window in her bedroom. It’s too dark outside for her to see much of anything, especially with her curtains pulled tight. She scratches at her arm as she rolls over to glance at the clock closest to her bed.

2:43 am.

Ugh. She runs a hand down her face, feeling the thin layer of cold sweat on her forehead. Adjusting herself in bed hasn’t worked. She rolls out from under her cute covers and slowly, wearily, pads down the stairs to her kitchen.

Himiko groans. The dreams tonight have left her restless. But when she tries to remember why, it’s like grabbing at fog. It slips right through her fingers no matter how hard she tries. Even though it was just a dream, it’s going to bother her that she can’t remember now.

She opens the fridge and grabs one of her synthetic blood bags. With her throat so dry she has no trouble downing the whole thing, but even as she can feel the blood settling in her Quirk, and One For All thrumming reassuringly, she doesn’t think she’s going to get any more sleep tonight.

“Maybe we’ll take things easy tomorrow,” she murmurs to herself as she climbs back into bed.

She sighs, idly scratching her arm.

Chapter Text

It’s hard for even Yagi Himiko to spot, but Mr. Aizawa seems to be in a good mood when he steps in for their Foundational Hero Studies class. She’s surprised to see him here. He handled their class yesterday, so Dad should be their teacher again today.

 “It’s been decided that for today’s class, you’ll be taught by three members of staff, including myself. All Might and our third are already on site.”

Well that’s certainly interesting. She stifles a yawn as she focuses on Mr. Aizawa’s explanation.

“Sir, what’re we doing today?” Sero asks, raising a hand.

“Today, you’ll be facing a trial that you’ll see often after graduation. No matter the situation, a Hero should be ready to act.” Mr. Aizawa retrieves a card from his pocket, holding it up for the class to read. “It’s the Rescue Trial.”

“Eesh… another hard one then,” Kaminari says.

“Yeah, but that just means it’ll be way more rewarding when we’re done!” says Ashido.

“Who cares how hard it is?” says Kirishima. “This is what Heroics is all about!”

“Try not to get ahead of yourselves,” Mr. Aizawa says. “I wasn’t finished. As I was saying, whether or not you bring your costumes is up to you. Most of you designed your costumes with combat or style in mind; they may actively hinder you here. It’s a bit of a trip to the training site we’re using, so we’ll be taking the bus. That’s all. Get changed or whatever and meet me outside.”

Rescue…

It’s not the same as being saved. Dad didn’t save her from a disaster or a crisis. Even so, this is the kind of work that she wants to do: helping people who need it, bringing hope. It’s a step right below her goal of saving people. These are the fundamentals she’ll build on to that goal, like Dad said in the first class!

Himiko smiles wide. Today, she’s really going Plus Ultra!

In the end, she’s one of the first people down to the bus, after only Yaomomo and Ashido. She can’t help herself, she’s just so excited about today’s lesson! She catches a bit of light teasing from how fast she changes into her costume, but, well, she changes too fast to hear most of it if they keep talking about her after she leaves.

Everyone else trickles down over the next few minutes, easily faster than when they went to the Quirk Apprehension Test from Orientation Day. The rest of her classmates are all in costume, even Bakugou, who’s been forced to forgo the gauntlet on his right arm. While he doesn’t have the cast today, his arm is still in a sling.

“How are we boarding?” Iida asks. “Lining up by number?”

“That won’t be necessary,” Yaomomo says. “Ashido already looked, and—”

“Open seating,” says Ashido, nodding.

Iida pauses. “I see.”

With open seats, it doesn’t take them long at all for the entire class to board and get settled. Soon enough, they’re off.

Barely a minute into the trip, Asui turns to Himiko.

“Yagi,” she says. “I always say what’s on my mind.”

“What’s up?”

“Your Quirk, kero. It’s strange.”

Himiko blinks a few times, ignoring the sudden spike in her heart rate. “What do you mean?”

“When you saved me from the robot at the Entrance Exam, you had that red mist of yours, kero. But you didn’t use that to throw the ball into orbit at the Apprehension Test. And when you threw Bakugou out the window, he didn’t float away either.”

Bakugou audibly snarls at the mention but says nothing.

“Oh, yeah,” Himiko says, rubbing the back of her neck. “I kinda forgot I didn’t tell you guys ‘cuz Ku and Hagakure and Uraraka already know. Basically, my Quirk is a stockpile type! I stockpile blood, which I can use to enhance my body in various ways, like Stained Red! That’s my super strength technique! But I can also become people if I’ve had their blood before, and even use their Quirks!”

Himiko spent most of her life lying, and this one comes just as naturally to her. It’s the story she and Dad agreed on, and it has the benefit of being mostly true. It’s surreal, lying without having to wear a mask to sell it.

She holds her breath.

This is the moment. She’s told the whole class. If they’re going to hate her, it will be now. She knows the risk. She did it anyway.

“Blood?” says Kaminari, paling slightly.

“So the ball flew away like that because you were using the Quirk of someone else?” Yaomomo says, cupping her chin.

“Uh huh!” says Himiko. Her heart pounds. “That was Uraraka’s cute Zero Gravity that did that!” At her mention, Uraraka lets out a small peep and turns bright red.

Asui puts a finger to her lip. “If you stockpile blood, kero, then are your fangs for drinking someone’s blood?”

“Yup!”

“Damn, that’s awesome,” Kirishima says. “A Quirk like that’s perfect for Heroics. You can do pretty much whatever you want with that kind of power, and it’s flashy, too! Not like my Hardening.” He demonstrates, holding out an arm that turns rough and jagged, almost like stone. Izuku would have so many thoughts about it, but all Himiko can think is that it looks sharp.

 She giggles. “I dunno, I’m pretty sure Ku would say you’re perfect for Heroics! A Quirk like that is pretty simple, but lots of Heroes get by with simple Quirks used well!” She’s heard Izuku talk about so many Heroes like that, including some of their teachers.

“I must agree,” Yaomomo says. “Yagi and I have a great deal of versatility, but there is a downside to the jack of all trades, master of none.”

“Still better than the master of one,” finishes Ojiro. “But you’re probably talking about that one famous martial arts quote, ‘I fear not the man who has practiced ten thousand kicks once. But I fear the man who has practiced on kick ten thousand times.’ There’s more to the idea, of course. Practicing and mastering one skill leads to others, which I’d bet you two can capitalize on.”

“True, but it takes considerably more effort than something like your style of martial arts.”

Ojiro nods, conceding the point. “Hey Yagi, you’ve got some kind of formal training, right? But I don’t recognize any particular style.”

“I don’t think he had a style,” Himiko says, thinking back to Gran’s unpredictable movements, “But yeah, I had a teacher who taught me and Ku how to fight.”

“I think it’s got a similar philosophy to Krav Maga, taking anything useful, but Quirks have made any given school of martial arts hard to pin down.”

That does sound about right, considering the kinds of moves he would break out against the both of them and encouraged them to use. Gran was the one who told Izuku that he should lean into being a Heroic Assassin.

“While practicality is undeniably important,” says Aoyama, “Style must too be considered! Heroics is a popularity contest as well. My Naval Laser has both style and substance enough for any Pro Hero, no?”

“Doesn’t using it too much make your stomach collapse?” Ashido says.

Aoyama says nothing, but his pallor says everything.

“Well, if we’re talking about style and substance,” Kaminari says, “Other than Yagi, we can’t leave out Todoroki and Bakugou!”

Himiko hums. Todoroki has a lot of raw power, but Bakugou didn’t impress her that same way in their fight. It took everything he had and his support gear to make that one massive blast yesterday. Of course, she’s comparing him to her Dad, who can level cities, and Todoroki, who casually and instantly froze an entire building. Compared to most people, Bakugou does have some power behind him.

But there’s something about Todoroki. Something uncomfortable stifling about his presence. The closest comparison she can make is the mask she used to wear, but it’s not the same at all.

“Kero, Bakugou’s always so angry. He won’t be popular,” says Asui, snapping her out of her musings.

Bakugou stands, putting his good arm on the railing in front of him in the higher back section. “The hell did you just say?! I’ll be super fucking popular!”

“See?”

Kaminari leans back to the railing, so he can look across at Bakugou. “Buddy, chum, pal, friend, it has been but a short time since first our acquaintance was met, and yet, already it is abundantly clear beyond reasonable doubt to all present that you have a personality which resembles the effects of an inferno upon a garbage dump.”

Bakugou actually trembles with rage. “The fuck kinda talking is that? I’ll kill you!”

“My, how crass,” Yaomomo says, while Uraraka laughs beside her.

“That’s enough,” Mr. Aizawa calls out from the front. “We’re almost there. Settle down back there.”

“Yes, sir!”

Himiko leans back in her seat swallowing the relieved exhale she wants to give. No one said anything about her Quirk. She barely got any weird looks. Maybe… maybe UA is even better than she thought.

The building is as massive as Himiko has come to expect of UA, and she’s still gawking at the giant, domed arena as she’s shuffled inside along with the rest of the class. The interior only serves to reinforce the absurd scale of the structure, with multiple fake cities scattered around the wide-open space. Like if all of Ground Beta was inside a single superbuilding, and also one of the cities is on fire.

Himiko blinks. On fire?

Yes, one of the domed cities is visibly burning on the far side of the building. Another has been buried in a landslide. There’s a cruise liner on a lake, and a mountain in a different part. Even the entrance is extravagant, with them standing at the top of a gigantic flight of stairs leading down to the center of the building, where there’s a small fountain plaza. The stairs are wide enough that all twenty of them could go together and still leave plenty of space on either side.

Her classmates seem to be just as impressed as she is, with their loud cheers and general excitement.

“Floods. Landslides. Fires. There are many kinds of disasters that Heroes must deal with. This is the practical training area I designed to simulate those scenarios. This is the Unforeseen Simulation Joint!”

Himiko turns to the unfamiliar bloodscent as they finish speaking. They’re a Hero in a puffy spacesuit with a large helmet with a thick metal collar that has to cover half of their face.

“Thirteen!” Uraraka says and Himiko commits the name to memory. “You’re the Space Hero! I’ve been a fan for years!”

It’s like Izuku is here with her, minus a Quirk breakdown.

Himiko purses her lips. She doesn’t see or smell Dad anywhere, but Mr. Aizawa said he was supposed to be here. Speaking of, he approaches Thirteen. She can’t quite make out what he says, but Thirteen holds up three fingers in response.

“The height of irrationality,” Mr. Aizawa sighs loudly enough for her to make out. “Oh well. We can continue without him until he arrives.”

Three fingers.

Dad must’ve used up all his time. Himiko forces herself not to pout. She always looks forward to seeing him in action.

“Before we get started,” Thirteen says, “I’ve got a thing or two to go over. Or three. Maybe four.”

Himiko blinks a few times. Apparently, they hadn’t scripted this speech.

“I don’t know how many of you are familiar with my work,” says Thirteen. “My Quirk is called Black Hole. No matter what it is, no matter how big it is, anything that is pulled in by my Quirk is reduced to nothing.”

Uraraka starts vibrating in place. “You’ve used it to remove wreckage in disasters to save people!” She’s so excited that a hint of her accent leaks in.

“Indeed. But it can be used just as easily to kill.”

Uraraka freezes, along with the rest of the class.

Thirteen continues, “In that way, it’s exactly the same as the Quirks of everyone here. That’s why Quirks are strictly regulated, and why we enforce those regulations so strongly. You must keep in mind that the powers each of you possess can easily hurt someone. One mistake, one wrong step is all it takes to accidentally kill someone.”

The glances most of the class sends at Bakugou are not particularly subtle. He glares back with ferocity.

“Um,” Thirteen says, getting everyone’s attention once again. “As I was saying… during Mr. Aizawa’s Quirk Apprehension Test, you all pushed your Quirks to new heights, and saw their true potential. In All Might’s Battle Trial, you saw the dangers that come from using your Quirks on other people.”

There’s another round of glances shot at Bakugou.

He sneers. “You fuckers got something you want to say, huh?”

“That’s enough,” Mr. Aizawa says curtly. “Pay attention when a teacher is talking.”

“Yes, sir!” comes the chorus from the class.

“Uh,” Thirteen clears their throat, discomfort obvious. Himiko wonders if previous years have had students nearly drop a building on each other by this point or if their wake-up call about the dangers of Quirk use were tamer.

Then again, Himiko got her wake-up call from Gran’s refusal to give her anything that wasn’t the unvarnished truth. Two years. She still remembers. She doubts she’ll forget. Not with the power that roars in her veins.

“Your Quirks do not exist to hurt people,” says Thirteen. “Quirks are tools at your disposal, the abilities you have that make you unique! Like your hands or your senses, your Quirks do not have to cause harm. I hope that by the end of the day, you all understand that your Quirks exist so that you can help others!”

Thirteen bows with a flourish, and Uraraka and Iida cheer. While they aren’t the only ones to applaud Thirteen’s speech, they’re the loudest in their appreciation. Himiko snorts.

“Right then,” Mr. Aizawa says, “First thing’s first…”

A wall of bloodscents smashes into Himiko, sending her reeling.

“Yagi, are you alright?” says Yaomomo.

“Yeah,” she says, “But… Mr. Aizawa? Is this another trick thing?”

Mr. Aizawa is not looking at her. His gaze is locked on the plaza below.

“What do you mean?” asks Iida.

“I forgot to mention it on the bus, but I can smell blood,” she says, rubbing her temple and wincing. “And a whole crowd of people appeared all at once.”

Mr. Aizawa tenses, and Himiko follows his gaze.

Down at the plaza below is a dark spot, floating in the air. It hadn’t been there before, Himiko’s sure of it.

The spots swirls like a vortex, widening, and a hand appears from within the black, grabbing the edge as it continues to grow.

And then she sees the person’s face. Or, what’s visible behind the human hand attached to it.

Himiko considers herself well-versed in reading body language.

The only thing she can read from him is ‘Death.’

Her blood runs cold.

Mr. Aizawa whirls. “Everyone group together and don’t move!”

“Eh?” says Iida.

“Thirteen, protect the students!”

The black void stretches wider and wider as more people walk through. One covered in stiches with a cleaver. One made of rock, with two additional arms. A man with a venus flytrap for a head. Someone with eyestalks and large claws. A man with blue skin, horns, and a single eye. And they keep pouring through the black void without slowing down, passing by the man covered in hands.

“What is that?” Kirishima says, squinting at the growing crowd. “Is this part of the training? Like the Entrance Exam?”

“Don’t move!” Mr. Aizawa says, lowering his goggles. “Those are Villains!”

The last of them emerges, a bulky, beaked man with an exposed brain. Himiko furrows her brow. She can read the intent of the others easily from here, all of them confident and ready to hurt her. But that last one… it’s like it doesn’t have any body language at all.

The black void swirls in on itself, shrinking down to a more humanoid form.

“Eraserhead and Thirteen,” it—he? –says. “According to the schedule, All Might was meant to be here, and yet I do not see him.”

“I knew it,” Mr. Aizawa says. “That break-in yesterday, that was your handiwork.”

The first of the Villains, the one covered in hands, leans his head back. “Ahh… he was supposed to be here… where is he? We went through all this trouble and brought this whole party for the raid! And he isn’t even here? Then again… he’s one of those Hero types… so maybe he’ll show up if we start killing those kids.”

Himiko forces down bile, stumbling back.

Never in her life has she seen someone with so much pure, directed malice. He isn’t like the other Villains at all. She can see their excitement to kill her, but they aren’t the same. They’re arrogant thugs, ready to use force.

But him?

He wants her dead. He wants her to suffer the entire time she’s dying.

There’s nothing behind him but hatred.

“Villains?” Kaminari says. “You—you can’t be serious, right?”

“What kinda idiot waltzes into somewhere like UA?” says Sero.

“Thirteen, aren’t there intruder alarms?” Yaomomo says.

“They aren’t responding!”

Todoroki takes a single step forward for a better view. “We’re isolated here. We have no way of knowing if this is their only target, or if the rest of campus is under siege as well.” Himiko sucks in air. Dad. Izuku. “If the sensors aren’t working, they must have someone capable of jamming them. Attacking us as we arrive here, far from the main building… it may seem absurd, but they’ve planned this. And that means they have a goal here.”

“Thirteen,” Aizawa says. “Follow evacuation procedure and try to contact the main campus. Kaminari, you too! See if you can’t reach the school with your Quirk!”

Himiko never gets the chance to recompose herself. Mr. Aizawa’s scarf writhes like a serpent ready to strike as he rushes down the stairs, descending on the invaders.

The battle had already begun.

Mr. Aizawa hits them hard and fast, breaking through the front line in moments as the Villains’ Quirks fail them. Soon he vanishes into the crowd, sending Villains flying.

Himiko swallows, turns, and runs for the door with the rest of the class only to screech to a halt.

“I’m afraid I cannot allow that,” says the black void that erupts in front of the exit. It condenses back into a person, wearing a suit and a strange metal collar. “Greetings. We are the League of Villains. It may be presumptuous of us, but we have taken the opportunity to enter UA High School, this bastion of Heroics. A setting such as this is a fitting grave for the Symbol of Peace.”

Himiko feels the air leave her lungs and no matter how hard she tries it won’t come back.

They want to kill Dad.

They want to kill Dad.

“We were under the impression that he was meant to be here at this time. Perhaps something changed? Regardless, my role has not—”

Kirishima and Bakugou burst from the crowd, swiping at the Villain with their Quirks. The explosion form Bakugou’s left hand is as potent as the ones she’s seen from his right.

“Not if we stop you first!” Kirishima says.

“My, how dangerous.”

Kirishima steps back in shock as the Villain reforms, unharmed.

“I suppose it’s to be expected, considering. You may be mere children, but you are the ones who earned your places in this prestigious academy.”

“You two, run!” Thirteen calls, but it’s too late.

“It is my job to ensure that you are all scattered, tortured, and slain.”

The black mist bursts forth like a tidal wave, sweeping Himiko away as the dark fog swallows her.

Chapter Text

Asui Tsuyu plummets through nothingness.

Darkness envelops her on every side as she continues to fall.

Then, just as suddenly as it began, the fog dissipates, bursting like a bubble as Tsuyu lands, crouching on all fours, on… tiled floor?

“Kero?”

She rises to her feet slowly, taking stock of her surroundings. The building she’s in is in bad shape, with the wallpaper practically nonexistent, and the wall underneath cracked in the places where it isn’t gone entirely. Light fixtures dangle from the ceiling where their supports have given way, leaving the sun pouring in through smashed windows.

Is this still the Unforeseen Simulation Joint? She saw a ruined cityscape as one of the six main areas of the complex back during the introductory speech. In that case, it seems likely that everyone else is still inside the building, too.

But this is a big facility. Finding everyone and regrouping may not even be possible without outside help, and if the sensors are jammed…

Tsuyu closes her eyes for a moment. She can’t worry about whether or not reinforcements are coming or not. If what that Villain said was true, then she’s not safe here.

“Well looky here!”

Tsuyu whirls, crouching low. At the door is a tall man with gray skin and a golden spiked helmet.

“Gotta admit, I’m not super keen on killing kids,” the man says, “So I’ll just have to beat you so bloody none of the others think to double-tap!”

The man raises his sword overhead, grinning madly. Tsuyu darts forward, planting one hand on the ground and spinning around to drive her foot into his heels, and the Villain crashes to the ground.

Tsuyu springs up, spinning in midair, and brings up her leg as high as she can before slamming it down against his back.

The Villain coughs spittle and does not move.

“Kero,” Tsuyu says under her breath.

This is her first Villain fight.

It’s her third day of school.

She has already fought a Villain. Someone who wants to hurt her. Maybe even kill her, if he’d been lying. It’s not like swords are well-known for being safe to use on people.

It’s her third day of school.

Tsuyu feels weightless for a moment before it all crashes into her at once. Someone attacked her. Someone broke into her school and attacked her. Her classmates. Her teachers. If she had been a little slower, she could have died.

It’s her third day of school.

She has exactly enough time to pause and catch her breath before the building shakes at a booming sound from down the hall. Tsuyu inhales sharply. She’s not the only one who was sent here.

Sparing a single glance at her downed foe, Tsuyu springs off from the floor, bounding against the wall and down the hallway towards the sound.

A form hurtles through an empty doorway fast enough to blur, smacking hard against the wall and Tsuyu skids to a halt.

Her heart leaps to her throat, but it only takes her a moment to recognize that the person lying still in front of her is an adult—not her classmate, and not one of her teachers.

She lets out a sigh of relief.

“Asui?”

“Call me Tsu,” she says on instinct, turning to the voice. “Kero.”

“Tsu then,” says Sero, cutting the tape from his elbows, and Tsuyu follows it along to where it wraps around the downed Villain beside her. “I’m happy to see a friendly face! You alright?”