Work Text:
Himiko and Ochako had been dating for… going on three months now? Which was a new personal best for Himiko, if she did say so herself.
Whether it was the strange fascination with the colour red, or her, uh… occasional instability (which she was working on, thank you very much), none of the girlfriends she’d had seemed to stick around for very long. It wasn’t like she could blame them. Hell, half the time, Himiko could barely stand herself.
But Ochako was different.
And now it was getting to that point where Himiko was starting to wonder if she should reveal the fact that she was, in fact, an immortal creature of the night. Or a vampire, if you wanted to sound a little less mysterious and cool.
Except it was a Friday night, and Ochako was nowhere to be seen. Himiko had finally worked up the courage, and now she was being ghosted! By Ochako of all people! It didn’t make sense.
“Maybe go to her house or something? I dunno.” Tomura huffed down the phone. “I’m busy.”
‘Busy.’ That was all he was nowadays. Always off somewhere with that kid he’d basically adopted as a brother… Oh, who was Himiko kidding? Izuku was like a ray of sunshine in their dark and gloomy house. His presence even made their father happy. Their father! Zen Shigaraki was never happy!
“Tomuraaaa!” Himiko whined down the phone, leaning against the side of her car with a pout. “Wouldn’t that be weird?”
“What? Maybe? I don’t know! Look, Himiko, I don’t have time to sort out all of your gay issues every time you call.”
Himiko gasped. “Says you!”
“Shut up!”
“Ugh. You’re no help. I should’ve called someone else, like— like Magne-chan!”
Someone said something in the background of the call, and Tomura groaned loudly, that familiar sound of someone who’d just tasted defeat. Served him right.
“I hope Zuku kicks your ass!”
“You little—”
Himiko hung up.
She stared at her phone for a beat, like it might have the decency to ring the second she glared hard enough.
Fine. If Ochako was going to disappear, Himiko could do “normal girlfriend” things too. Like show up uninvited. Like a responsible adult. Probably.
With a huff, she pushed off the car and slid into the driver’s seat.
Ten minutes she stood on Ochako’s doorstep, coat wrapped tightly around her, and the street awfully quiet. Himiko had only been to her girlfriend’s house a handful of times, but it never failed to surprise her out of the way it was, given how sociable Ochako was.
She hesitated for a moment, then knocked.
.
.
.
“Ochako?” Himiko called through the door. She was really starting to worry now. Three months was enough time to really get to know each other, and from what Himiko knew it was stupid to even assume she’d been ghosted.
Ochako wouldn’t do that. She wasn’t that sort of person.
With a sigh, Himiko shifted and glanced around, the light of the moon catching on the wind-chime above her. Pretty. Oh hey, a full moon.
The door suddenly cracked open. It was too dark to see inside, but Himiko could hear heavy breathing.
“…Ochako?”
“Himiko,” Ochako’s voice was rough, like she’d smoked a pack of cigarettes. Or gargled gravel. “You need to leave.”
HUH?! The audacity!
“Says the one who stood me up! I thought you were different, Ochako!” Himiko cried dramatically, hoping to coax a laugh out of the woman.
Nothing but silence.
Himiko blinked, thrown so far off that she almost forgot how to breathe.
“Huh?” she whispered. Then, louder, because she refused to be the only one in this conversation acting sane. “Chako, what’s wrong?”
A low sound shuddered through the crack in the door, halfway between a growl and a sob.
“Himiko,” Ochako rasped again, each syllable strained. “Please. Go.”
The wind-chime stirred once, soft as a warning.
“Not until you tell me what’s going on,” Himiko stood her ground, placing her hand against the door. Not pushing. Not yet, anyway. “I can handle it. I can help. Please, just let me in.”
For a long moment, there was only that ragged breathing on the other side.
Then the chain rattled.
The door swung wider, and the scent hit Himiko like a punch—metal and rain and something wild.
It was a scent she’d caught a few times before, on those nights she’d gone out hunting late—before her dad had found out what had happened to her and started providing for her… dietary needs himself. Werewolf.
Her defences snapped up at once. Had a werewolf attacked Ochako? Was she being threatened? Was she hurt? Himiko felt her fangs drop from her gums, brushing her bottom lip.
Himiko threw the door open before she could stop herself, storming inside, ready to raise hell—
“O…chako?”
Because the pretty girl she was used to seeing was there, relatively unharmed, crouched a few feet away—partway changed.
“You’re a werewolf?”
“I told you to leave!” Ochako sobbed, baring her teeth. “I warned you—”
Himiko lifted her hands, taking a step back before sinking down to Ochako’s height. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry, but I was worried. I smelled werewolf, and I thought—”
“You smelled me??” The confusion must’ve broken through the fog, because the woman sounded clearer than she had before.
“Oh, uh, well… I was gonna tell you over dinner, but I’m a vampire.”
There, I said it! That was easier than I thought. Himiko ignored the way her half-dead heart beat too hard in her chest, rattling her ribcage. The fact that Ochako was also a supernatural creature made this a lot less nerve-wracking, but still. It was like coming out all over again!
Except, well, as a vampire rather than a lesbian.
Ochako stared at her like Himiko had just announced she was the moon.
“…You’re a vampire,” she echoed, voice wobbling between disbelief and something that sounded like relief. Her claws flexed against the floorboards, scraping little half-moon scars into the wood. “And you’re just— here. Standing there. Like that’s normal.”
Himiko gave a small shrug, trying for casual and landing somewhere around horribly earnest. “I mean. I’m still me.” She tapped her own chest, then nodded to Ochako. “And you’re still you. Just… fluffier. And, uh, teethier.”
A wet laugh broke out of Ochako, immediately turning into a strangled sob. “Himiko, I could hurt you.”
“I heal,” Himiko replied instantly, soft but stubborn. Then, after a beat, she bared her fangs in what she hoped was a reassuring grin. “Also, I bite back.”
Ochako stared at her again, then giggled, slapping a hand over her mouth. “God, I love you.”
“Huh?” Himiko perked up, eyes wide. “What did you say?”
Ochako went pale beneath the fur dusting her cheeks, then flushed bright red. “I—I mean—”
“I love you too, Chako,” Himiko giggled, grinning so hard it hurt. “Let’s be freaks together, okay?”