Chapter Text
Izuku could tell something was weird when he didn't see Kacchan by the playground.
He usually saw Kacchan with his friends around here ready to go on some adventure around the city or in the woods. This time, however, neither Katsuki nor his friends could be seen. It was weirder considering that he remembered them saying how much they looked forward to mocking him, calling him by that silly nickname. Izuku was sure they wouldn't stop and leave that easily.
Maybe they had gone to the other playground. It was odd that there were two of them so close together, but it gave the kids plenty of stuff to play on, so no one really complained. He began to walk over, wondering what cool thing Kacchan was going to discover this time.
What Izuku heard instead was a noise he knew all too well. An explosion. One of Kacchan's explosions. Izuku didn't seem too worried until he heard it a second time, followed by a high-pitched scream. Izuku began to run towards the explosions and saw the scene that had unfurled.
Kacchan was standing with his friends near a defenseless girl. She looked to be the same age as him, but she looked very messy. Her blond hair was unkempt and seemed like it was rushed into the style it was now. Her uniform was covered in bits of dirt, but also ash marks, likely from Kacchan. Her yellow eyes were hard to discern, but Izuku first thought it to be fear or maybe anger.
Izuku quickly rushed between Kacchan and the girl, saying, "K- Kacchan! What are you doing?"
"She's a villain, Deku!" He said to Izuku with a smug grin on his face. "She said she wants our blood!"
Midoriya slowly raised his arms up as he said, "I- If you keep doing this to her, I- I'll have to fight you!"
All of Kacchan's friends laughed at this statement, with Kacchan saying, "What are you going to do, Deku? You're quirkless! You can't fight us!"
Izuku tried to defend himself, but he was easily beaten by the barrage of attacks from Kacchan. It went on for several minutes before the group got bored and left Izuku bruised and beaten. Izuku heard the group laughing about some joke as the noise of their voices faded away.
Izuku slowly picked himself up before he heard the girl say to him, "Are you okay? Are you hurt at all?"
"N- No, I'm fine." Izuku quickly brought a fake smile to his face. "My name's Izuku! What's yours?"
"...My name's Toga. Himiko Toga."
"Nice to meet you, Toga! Are you new around here?"
"No, my mom and dad are just visiting for some business thing. I think I annoyed them a bit, because they told me to go play outside while the adults did work stuff."
"Well, I'm sorry your playtime ended for you like that. Kacchan can be a little mean sometimes."
"I heard his friends calling him Katsuki."
"Well, Kacchan's a name that only I call him, but you can call him that too if you want."
"Yeah, it sounds funny!"
"But he's really cool, too! He once made an explosion with his quirk that was this big!" Izuku gestured with his arms stretched out as far as they could go.
Himiko laughed as Izuku did his exaggeration before asking, "What about you? What's your quirk?"
Izuku put his arms down before saying, "I don't... Have a quirk..."
Himiko covered her mouth before saying, "Oh, sorry! I didn't mean to-"
"No, It's fine. I'm used to it now... What about you? Do you have a quirk?"
"I do, but my mom and dad don't like me using it,"
"What? Why shouldn't you use your quirk?"
"Because... Because my quirk-"
"Himiko Toga, get over here this instant!"
Himiko flinched at the sound of the voice. Both looked in the direction of the speaker to see what looked like Toga's parents calling for her.
Himiko frowned as she replied, "Yes, Mama."
She began to start walking towards her parents when she heard Izuku call, "Wait!"
Himiko turned to face the green-haired boy as he said, "Do you want to be friends?!"
A small smile crept up Himiko's face as she replied, "Definitely!"
"I live just about a block that way! If you ever visit again, stop by!"
"I will! Bye, Izuku!"
Izuku smiled back and waved goodbye before she turned back to her parents, who grabbed her hand before leaving towards a car. Izuku couldn't contain his joy. He protected someone like a hero and made a friend. He couldn't ask for anything more. He couldn't wait to tell his mom about his new friend Himiko.
That event was nine years ago. He still remembered that girl, but there were still several spots that were unfilled. However, a lot of those blanks started to fill as he saw her standing on his front doorstep in the rain.
She still had the same hair, but it was far more disheveled than he remembered. Her yellow eyes had very prominent bags underneath, and she wore a ragged tan school outfit. She was completely soaked as she stood there with a sad look, staring directly at Izuku.
"H- Himiko! It's been a while. H- How have you been?"
Himiko had several thoughts rushing through her mind, but the only words that came out of her mouth were, "Can I... Stay here for a bit?"
"Um... Sure. Just come inside, I guess."
Izuku opened the door wider as Himiko stepped inside, still soaked in rainwater. She politely took off her shoes before walking over to the main room.
Inko Midoriya, who was cooking dinner nearby, began to say, "Who was at the door, Sweetie?" Before she noticed the new child in her living room with strangely vacant eyes. She immediately rushed over, saying, "Oh my gosh! Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. I'm just... a bit tired, I think. I didn't really know where else to go."
"Well, what about your parents? I'm sure their worried sick with you missing and-"
"I'm not going back there. Never again."
Inko looked concerned for a bit before saying, "Sure, you can stay the night. Izuku, go get the extra blankets from my room, okay?"
Izuku nodded and went to get the blankets while Inko grabbed a towel for Himiko, trying to comfort her as she was brought over to the couch. Izuku walked out with the blankets to see Himiko starting to cry.
Izuku rushed over and dropped the blankets down before asking, "Are you okay? Is something wrong?"
Himiko didn't say anything, but silently nodded. Tears continued to roll down her face as she was held in a comforting hug by Inko.
Inko loosened her hug a bit as she asked, "Do you want to talk about it?"
Himiko had calmed down a bit when she asked Izuku, "Do you remember when we were talking to each other a couple of years ago?"
Midoriya nodded.
"I didn't tell you what my quirk was back then. My quirk is called transform. I can transform into anyone, but I have to... I have to drink their blood. I know, it's weird. My parents thought that too. They tried to hide me from my quirk. But I always found myself being drawn towards blood. It started out small back then, maybe just a bird or a mouse every few weeks. But overtime it felt like it was working less and less, and I needed more and more. Eventually, my parents told me not to kill anymore animals. I tried for a long time, but the urge kept growing and growing. A couple of days ago, I... I did something terrible. My classmate, Saito, was all cut up and I... I couldn't resist the urge. I took a straw and I... I..."
Izuku and Inko's expressions continued to grow to wider levels of shock as she continued to speak. Rivers of tears were running down her face again.
Inko asked the blond girl, "What about your quirk counselor? Didn't your school have one?"
Himiko sniffled back tears as she said, "My parents wouldn't let me go. They said that if someone ever found out about my quirk, then the family named would be tarnished."
"Your parents just ignored your quirk and wouldn't let you get a counselor?" Inko asked toga. "I'm fairly certain that's illegal. Hold on one moment."
Inko disconnected her hug with Himiko and got up towards her room. Izuku was still beside her and asked, "What have you been doing since then?"
"I ran. I ran away from my school, my friends, my parents, everything. I tried to find where to go for a couple of days before I ended up here."
"Here it is," Inko said as she held a series of papers. "It says here that quirk counseling is required by law, so denying your child quirk counseling is technically a version of child abuse. Honey, we're going to-"
"No, I'm fine. I don't need help."
Himiko's stomach began to rumble as she said those words.
Izuku said to her, "Well, do you at least want some food? You seem pretty hungry."
"...Sure."
"Alright then," Inko said as she put down the papers. "It's pretty lucky we're having steak tonight. How cooked do you want it?"
"Rare, please."
Inko gave a light smile before saying, "I thought so. Izuku, would you mind setting up a plate for our friend here?"
Before long, Himiko was eating dinner with Izuku and Inko. She wasn't used to the silverware, however, and she was very hungry, so she ate the steak by grabbing it and ripping it apart with her teeth.
As they continued eating, Inko asked Izuku, "So, Izuku, how exactly do you know... Um... Sorry, I don't think I remembered hearing your name."
"My name's Himiko Toga."
"I see. So are you two friends from school or..."
"No, she was that girl that I saved from Kacchan about eight or nine years ago."
"Oh, I remember now! I thought you had made up that girl and were just so excited to tell me about some adventure you had with Katsuki."
"What!?"
Himiko laughed as the two Midoriyas talked back and forth about Izuku's wild imagination. They continued to talk as they ate their steak, laughing every now and again.
Eventually, Inko said to Himiko in a serious tone, "Toga, I think that if everything you told us is true, then we could probably bring the blame towards your parents for neglecting their child and you wouldn't have to worry about running away."
"If I did, then I wouldn't really have anywhere to go."
Izuku spoke up, saying, "You could live with us for a while."
Inko nodded. "Yes, we could let you stay for a while. Maybe even get you some proper quirk counseling."
"And I... I wouldn't be causing you trouble?"
"Absolutely not, honey. I could use an extra pair of hands around here, after all."
Himiko softly smiled, saying, "Yeah, I guess I could do that."
Toga took a big bite out of her steak. It tasted better than any steak she had eaten before. This wouldn't be so bad for her.