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Sekijiro stepped over a visible root, looking forward, seeing exactly what he had left. The perfect piece of hardened red ice that was exactly the same since the last time he had so it. There were no claw marks, no sort of fighting back. All of which when it was completely surround Himiko Toga’s feet. She was just huddled up in a ball looking at her right hand which was dripping with mud.
Her golden eyes looked up to see a hero looking back at her. She offered both of her arms out much to the hero's surprise. In response, the hero slowly got out his cuffs and approached the girl. They shared a long look at each other before Sekijiro cuffed her. He placed his hand over the hardened ice and looked at the girl before he absorbed the rest of his blood again. He slowly got up whilst holding Himiko’s arm.
“C’mon,” He tried his best for his voice to be consoling. “Let’s get you out of here,”
<--->
Himiko walked into the cell, cushioned was the first thing she recognized about it. She really was that insane wasn’t she? To be put in this kind of cell.
It was nice while lasted wasn’t it? To be free from those who held her curse with disdain. It was nice being herself for a while. But everything good must come to an end. She looked around her padded cell and decided to sit right adjacent next to the door. Even if there was a small bed in there she didn’t really care, something about a fast escape always intrigued her, but mauve that was she was, always was, deep inside.
A monster.
After all, she’s been through, loving… no killing. Killing Saito, and almost killing Izuku. She really was a monster wasn’t she? Her parents were right, they always were. Tears began to fall out of Himiko’s eyes neverending. She sniffled and sobbed but didn’t say a word.
She sobbed for hours.
<--->
When the door first opened she didn’t hear it. When the man stepped inside and closed the door she didn’t hear it. When he looked down on her, she didn’t sense the feeling. Even when the man sighed and took a red bag and poked a hole in and began to sip she didn’t even listen. Halfway through the man stopped and removed his straw, which caused a mouth-watering aroma to spill into the room. At first, her nostril twitched, and then her mouth watered. She looked up to see Sekijirio Kan looking over her with a blood bag in one hand and a clean straw in the other.
“Would you like the rest?” Himiko gulped down her saliva. “I’ll take that as a yes,” Sekijiro approached the girl like a wild animal, slowly poking the straw and carefully handing it to her. Himiko reached out for it, before she snatched it, looked at it, and sipped it with intent.
In fifteen seconds Himiko had gulped it all down and sighed in relief. When she opened her eyes again she saw another small bag right in front of her. She looked at it with intrigue before looking back at Sekijiro. He shook the bag a little and this time, Himiko reached for it and brought it back, stabbing the pouch and started sipping on it.
She looked forward as she saw Sekijiro open the door and close it, only to return half a minute later with two chairs. He places one behind him and one in front of him. Himiko slowly stood up and walked in front of the chair and sat down, sitting down with her legs crossed. What she didn’t expect was for the hero in civilian clothes to announce some unneeded information, especially for what it was.
“It’s tasty isn’t it?” Himiko nodded. “The person we got this from usually eats a lot of high-iron foods to add flavour to the blood. Tuna, Mussels, Clams, Beef, then there’s a lot of lentils, leafy vegetables such as spinach,”
Himiko finished her blood bag and looked at the typing, B. “Who is it?”
“Mine,”
That information made Himiko uncomfortable, she looked at it and handed the blood back. “Ew?”
“You’re not sure what to think of it?”
“No,”
“But do you feel better?”
She was conflicted by her answer. “Maybe,”
Skijiro reached for another bag. “More blood?”
“Yes please,” He handed her the bag and she poked the bag again, and very slowly sucked it up. This time pure bliss flooded Himiko’s face as her body tensed. She hummed to herself, it was a habit she got into while on the streets. But as she sipped a question from Sekijiro startled her.
“What's your name?”
She stopped sipping. “My name?”
“Yes, your name, I would like to know it,”
“I… I don’t want to say,”
“Fair enough… How about you look for an alias instead? Something I can call you in the meantime,”
“If that's the case then... Nazuna Akatani,”
“That was fast, okay Ms Akatani how long have you been on the streets for?”
“It… I think it was a year ago maybe. A little less a little more,”
“So around a year give or take is that correct?”
“I think so,”
“Have you always lived on the streets or did you find somewhere to stay at some point?”
“I would just try and go anywhere I could really. Rooftops, Alleyways, Maybe a dumpster if I knew it wasn’t a bin day… But I did break into some houses if I knew no one was home… I didn’t take anything I swear!” Sekijiro winced at her. “Fine, I snatched some money and food, happy?”
“If it was just money and food and no sort of robbery, so it’s only burglary. And if it’s only perishables and some money, it should have been easier to get these drops,”
“But it’s still wrong,”
“So I a lot of things Akatani, but we still do it don’t we? You know I know exactly where you were at, being thirsty for blood. Trying to kill someone just to get some blood,” Her eyes widened in recollection. “It happens to the best of us,”
“But that’s bad! It’s what I did!”
“I did the same thing and look where I am now. Have you ever tried to get some blood by attacking someone?”
Himiko thought for a moment. “Twice, but it was only for blood though,"
“We already know of Izuku Midoriya which you did help save, I do have to congratulate you on that. Do you have a name on the same one?”
“Saito... Saito Maekawa, I can give you more information but I think you already know that,”
“What happened before you tried and kill Saito?”
“I… I lost control,” She gripped her hand. “He was in a fight and and had some injuries and he looked,” Himiko remembered the face. “No… no it wasn’t… He was scared,”
“Now why do you think that?”
“I’m actually thinking with a clear head and I remember that face,” She looked up. “Oh god,”
<--->
“Um…. Maekawa-kun!” A shy girl came running up to him. “I-i saw the fight and I was wondering if you were alright,”
“Oh uh, thanks I’m fine um… I’m sorry what’s your name? I think we’re not in the same class,”
“I-i’m Toga, s-sorry I’m just really shy and I just wanted to see if you’re alright and-,”
“It’s okay… Say how about we eat lunch together after I go to the nurses?”
“U-um sure! But I really like those cuts of yours,” She placed her hand over her mouth in shock.
"It’s fine… I like the battle scars but I really need to ge-,” Saito looked at Himiko’s face. “Are you alright?” He heard a sound of a boxcutter unwinding. “Do we-,”
Himiko sliced an Artery in Saito’s neck and pushed him over. The last thing he saw was that of a figure with a metal straw in her hand kneeling down, placing it in his wound before he began to be sucked.
<--->
“A-and he died! I remember in his eyes! I didn’t even remember why I wanted to be him anyways now! I… I never even transformed into him!” She realized. "That's what I wanted! I wanted to become him an-"
"Akatakni please come down,” Sekijiro said. “You didn’t kill Maekawa,”
“What? But I remember so clearly it was just!”
“You had your first taste of blood for the first time in years, you weren’t thinking clearly. Saito Maekawa made a speedy recovery, all that was left of him was a moderate size gash mark,” Sekijiro rubbed his right neck. "From what I've seen it isn't to large and healing quite well,"
“I..." She sniffled. "I didn’t kill him?”
“You didn’t no,”
“But I almost did!” Himiko said. “I almost killed Midoriya! If it weren’t for his idea he would’ve bled out! What else then? Attempted murder!? Real murder?! I don’t know!”
“It would have been attempted if you hadn’t saved his life, but you did. You used your quirk and saving him results in vigilantism, but I looked at Recovery Girls report and there was nothing about the wound, only that Midoriya lost a lot of blood. In fact, she had proposed an offer for you,”
“An offer? What does… that mean?”
“It’s… an agreement, your parents publicly disowned you on live television, and because your villain rank is only E-Rank allows this to happen. Basically, UA is offering you a chance to become a ward,”
“A ward?” Sekijiro nodded.
“You’ll stay on the campus and UA will take care of all expenses for you, this includes medication, therapy, classes, and everything to get you back again. If you do well enough we may be able to place you in the hero course next year,”
“But… My quirk… my crimes!”
“You will be tried yes, but what you’ve told me will only get you on some probation. We’ll be watching you like a hawk… But then again you will be living on UA grounds if you agree so-,”
“Where do I sign?” Sekijirio blinked a few times. “It’s either this or jail and I don’t want to go to jail,” She looked at her hand, her hand that oozed mud that saved Izuku. “Maybe I can be a hero, with a quirk like mine... and a quirk like yours...”
“Blood?” She hesitantly nodded. “There are hundreds of heroes around the world that have a blood quirk. There are a few in Japan that isn’t just me. And none of them has the skills that your quirk can have,”
“...My names Himiko Toga… I’m sorry for lying to you,”
“I deal with students your age almost every day, it’s fine keeping some stuff to yourself. But it’s nice for you to trust me right now,” Sekijirio got up and he sighed. “I’ll be back… I need to get some more forms,” As Sekijiro walked away he turned back to Himiko. “You want another blood pack?”
“...Yes, i’d like that very much thank you,”
<--->
“Buttergly, Stingray… Crosshair,”
“Well I think that is all Ms Toga,” The man said as he got up. “Please be patient we will have all of this cleared up in no time,”
“Why did I have to do that little ink-blot test?”
“We are just trying to measure your state of mind at the moment. I’m sorry but I can’t just say right now I have to confirm with some experts on this. We’ll try and keep you updated for now but… No promises,”
It had been a few hours, and some more officers came and asked about what she did on the streets, specifically. And more specifically the metal straw she carried around, and was found on multiple victims of homicide. She honestly told them that she was the one who found them and didn’t kill them. After a lie detector quirk and some cross-referencing, the officers left and the tests continued.
And after the seventh different test, Sekijiro finally came out the door and her eyes sparkled.
“We’re almost done here, they’ll quickly give us some things and then you’ll be under our care,”
“I may be wrong, but why is this going so fast?”
“Because no one knew of your involvement during the sports festival we don't have to worry about this… That and because your parents disowned you it would be faster than normal,”
“I think that makes sense,” She was going to continue but a doctor went through the open doors and up to the two of them.
From there he gave Sekijirio a bottle of pills and a watch.
“These are a prescription for a month for Toga, take one after every meal three times a day. And prescribed by the government she will be required to wear this tracker,” Himiko gave the man her right arm. “Taking it off will result in an alarm as well as your heart rate exceeding 200 bpm… It’s a response if she’s in the process of grievously harming an individual,”
Himiko gulped down one of her meds. “Anything else doctor?” Sekijiro asked.
“We just need for you two to sign some forms and we’ll be on our way,”
<--->
The two left the facility and into the parking lot. Himiko looked up at her now hero caretaker
Himiko took the pills as prescribed and the doctor locked her ankle bracelet. After the two were escorted out to which the two gave a loud sigh, unbeknownst to what to do now. Himiko looked up to her now guardian and he looked back.
“So what now?” Himiko asked her caretaker right before he stomach grumbled audibly which caused her to blush a bright red. “Sorry,”
Sekijiro just looked up at her and then at his car. “Don’t be, let’s get you something to eat,”
<--->
“Can we have One large Nom Burger deal and One large Teryaki-Chicken Deal,” Sekijiro nodded and turned to Himiko “What drink do you want?”
“...Strawberry milkshake,”
“Strawberry milkshake for both, please…And an apple pie,” Sekijiro nodded. “Thank you very much,”
Himiko wasn’t sure why Sekijiro brought her to this place, but damn was she hungry. By the time she stopped salivating over the fact she was going to get actual food a large paper bag on her lap. She looked at Sekijiro who was already eating his own burger before she looked down at her own.
She opened the bag and peeped inside, picking up the burger with both hands. She brought it to her mouth, took a bite, and let the juices flow.
She took three more bites and swallowed them without chewing before taking a few fries as well. She looked over for her milkshake in the cupholder and took a long slurp of it before returning to her burger. The pattern kept consisting for a while. It went from burger, fires, shake and then back to burger. Sekijiro just watched in awe as Himiko demolished her order in what seemed to record time.
She looked up with haste and finished her chips, scavenging around and the bottom of the bag. Himiko stopped when she saw Sekijiro hand her his chips to which she finally began to slow down. But still a minute later a pack of large chips were in her stomach. After taking a breath Himiko finally grabbed her milkshake and began to slowly drink it.
“When was the last time you ate?” The hero asked her.
“It was…Before the sports festival, I used the rest of my money for some Katsudon, a big bowl!”
“I see, how long ago was that before the sports festival?”
“A day or two,”
“I see,” he took another bite, handing her the apple pie. “Here you go,”
As Himiko began to blow on the hot desert Sekjiro put his half-eaten burger down and pushed it towards Himiko as he started the car. As he did so Himiko obliged with yet another bountiful feast.
<--->
“Due to UA’s size and reputation, we usually have some people that stay during the night… We couldn’t give you a present room but it should be enough for a day or two,”
“I’m fine just sleeping in the gym if that's-,”
“You’re under UA’s care now, there’s no need for any of those thoughts,” Vlad opened the door and Himiko walked inside. From what she could feel in the room it felt like a motel. It had a television, some small soaps in the bathroom, and a large double bed. She looked at the massive thing and ran straight up to it and dropped on the bed. She laughed as she did so and admired the softness of it.
“So how is it?” Sekijiro asked.
“I missed this,”
“Just for tonight, I’ll be in the next room when you wake up okay? We’ll get you some breakfast, and I’ll have Midnight bring you some clean clothes,”
“Oh, I LOVE Midnight! She is so sexy!”
Sekijiro blinked at the statement. “Moving on… We’ll also set you up in the dorms where the exchange students are as well. From then we’ll work on getting you settling back into normal life and then school. Now, do I have to repeat anything?” She shook her head and Sekijiro yawned. “And if that’s all I really need to-” Himiko ran into him and gave him a hug.
“Thank you,” Was all she said.
Sekijio looked down and smiled, rubbing her hair. “Don’t mention it, I’ll see you… I’ll see you in a few hours, get some sleep,” Himiko loosened her grip and Vlad king left. Her boundless energy quickly drained from her body as she made her way to the bed and fell down, not even climbing under the sheets.
But before she did go under there, the first thing she did was pull out her phone. Not her clothes, not a shower, her phone. She stared at the pink coloured phone she got with her first burglary cash. She placed in the battery she stared at her contacts she made from the streets, wincing at some as cracks riddled the device. One last time, one last time looking at her past before she grabbed either end and twisted, breaking the phone in two. She dropped the two pieces onto the floor and stared up at the ceiling.
A new home, a new school.
A new start.