Work Text:
“Okay girls, it's romance time! Let’s talk about our plans for Valentine’s Day coming up next week,” Mina exclaims. “I’ll go first, so like obviously I’m getting my girlfriend red roses, yea I know a little on the nose but totally romantic, the staple chocolates of course, and lastly I’m getting her this super cute stuffed bear with a matching eyepatch and little toy hammer!”
“That is incredibly thoughtful of you Mina, I’m sure she’ll be very appreciative of the gifts. As for myself, I plan on gifting Kyo-, ah I mean I plan on gifting someone the appropriate presents to show my romantic interest in them as well,” Yaoyorozu says calmly despite the intense blush on her face.
“Oh My God Yaomomo! Are you finally gonna confess to Kyoka?!” Mina squeals in delight.
“Finally?” Yaoyorozu sputters out before looking at the deadpan stare of Mina. “Well I suppose I have not concealed my feelings as much as I thought. To answer your question though, yes I plan on inviting her to the manor for the day and presenting her with various gifts in hopes of conveying my romantic feelings for her. But enough about me, what about you Ochako? What do you have planned?”
“Well, I plan on making my girlfriend chocolate and giving her some blo-oosming flowers, but I have to patrol that day so I don’t think we’ll be able to do much.” Ochako replies, frowning slightly.
Himiko finally takes her leave after hearing that. She’s been tailing her super cute and amazing girlfriend for the last few days to figure out what she’s planning for Valentine's Day and now she knows! She’s a little concerned that Ochako is so easy to stalk, that could be really dangerous if a villain wants to hurt her, but fixing that little problem has to wait. She’s got to plan the best surprise for Ochako ever and she’s only got a few days to do it!
Himiko knows she’ll have to dredge up all the intelligence she’s got from being a homeless middle school dropout if she wants to come up with a good idea for her amazing Valentine’s Day surprise plan. She thinks of her previous Valentine’s Day experiences, and everything she loved and hated about them. It’s easy to remember, like everything in her past is. There isn’t much she can say she loved about those previous Valentine’s Days. The things she hated are a different story. There’s a long list of things she could mention, but they all boil down to one thing, she never got to love anyone the way she wanted to.
Every year before, her parents looked at her and saw an inhuman demon wearing the skin of a little girl. They saw her soft yellow eyes and claimed that they were too animalistic and wild. They saw her bright happy smile and decided that it was far too wide with teeth much too sharp. They saw her express her love in the way that comes natural to her and chose to physically beat her for it. They saw her freely express herself and verbally berated her for it. She cried and begged to be loved by them, and when she struggled and failed to be the perfect daughter they wanted, her parents decided to neglect her.
Her classmates weren’t much better. She was the creepy girl that almost no one wanted to be friends with. She just wasn’t normal in their minds. They thought she was too interested in things they thought were too weird. Then she tried to act like everyone else and things got better for a while. She’d smile without showing her teeth, wouldn’t look anyone directly in the eyes, and she’d never bring up blood no matter how badly she wanted to. But even then she still wasn’t really accepted.
Neglected at home and rejected at school, it’s no wonder she eventually killed one of her classmates and had to run away.
The League of Villains is the first place she feels like she really might fit in, but even it isn't the perfect safe haven. The League is great and they allow her to live and love how she wants, but only because their goals align. They say they don’t mind giving her blood, but only when she needs it for a mission, and then they always make plans that allow her to take blood from someone else anytime she needs it. They don’t hit or scream or ignore her when she drinks blood, but they still call her creepy or a little devil when she does. And even though she knows they don’t mean it to be harsh or cruel, that they don’t mean it in the same way her parents or classmates meant it, she can’t help but be slightly hurt that she’s still somewhat of an outcast even amongst a group of outcasts. Despite it all, The League of Villains are her friends, she might even call them her family, and they’re far better than her parents or classmates ever were. Still, she can’t help but wonder just how accepting they’ll be if she doesn’t continue to be the perfect little villain they all expect her to be.
Thankfully, Ochako isn’t like that, well not anymore at least. She still remembers their first few meetings, where their mid-fight banter wasn’t playful on both sides. Where the looks Ochako gave her weren’t all soft and warm. Where Ochako was seriously trying her best to arrest and then forget about her. She still remembers those demeaning words, the same demeaning words she’s heard time and time again from so many others, coming out of Ochako's mouth when they met for the sixth or seventh time. She can still remember crying and feeling so hurt that the cute girl that she thought might actually finally be able to understand her saw her as the creepy devil girl everyone else sees her as.
But she also remembers the next time they met, how she tried her hardest to lock away her feelings so she could just kill Ochako and move on with her life. How she had stabbed and hit and ignored Ochako regardless of how many times the other girl tried to talk and apologize. She remembers Ochako somehow getting through to her, crying again, telling Ochako about her past, letting her walls down for the first time in so long . She remembers feeling seen, Ochako didn’t just see her as some monstrous villain that needed to be locked up anymore, but she also didn’t see her as some poor blameless child in need of saving either. Ochako looked at her, all of her, saw the good and the bad and offered to give as much of her blood as she wanted for the rest of their lives. Looked at her when she was crying, naked, covered in blood that wasn’t hers, and vulnerable and still called her the cutest girl in the whole world.
Ochako means so much to her, Ochako means everything to her, and she’s determined to have the perfect Valentine’s Day with Ochako. A Valentine’s Day where Himiko Toga can love Ochako Uraraka exactly how she wants to.
First, she needs to think about what gifts to get Ochako! Immediately, the most expensive chocolate she can find comes to mind, but she’s quick to eliminate that from contention. She can’t exactly walk into a fancy store to buy any expensive stuff. Being a well known domestic terrorist does tend to have its downsides after all. Beyond that, she’s also poor.
She could stab someone that looks rich, steal their money, transform into them and then go buy it, but Ochako always gets kinda awkward when she does illegal stuff like that for her. Something about ‘I’m a hero in training, please don’t commit crimes for me otherwise I’ll have to arrest you’ and making what’s supposed to be the most romantic day of the year awkward with silly ‘hero’ and ‘villain’ talk is the last thing she wants to do.
Plus handmade chocolate is so much more romantic! Just chocolate doesn’t feel like enough in the gift department, especially since she knows Ochako is giving her chocolate and some of her deliciously pretty blood. Unfortunately, she’s limited in what she can get or make Ochako, so she’ll just have to move on for now.
With the gifts somewhat taken care of, Himiko goes back to thinking about what else she can do for her fantastic girlfriend and comes up with something brilliant! Ochako is obviously super sad about having to work on the most romantic day of the year, so to cheer her up she’ll surprise her at work! While her beautiful and brilliant Ochako is running around the city dejectedly, looking like a super sad kicked puppy, bawling her eyes out crying because she’s missing her girlfriend, who’s the cutest girl in the whole world by the way, Himiko is going to come save the day by showing up unexpectedly! It’s the perfect idea! Now she just has to come up with the most romantic surprise visit at work in the history of Valentine’s Day ever!
The first part of the plan is finding out exactly where Ochako will be. Her girlfriend being a Pro Hero, in training technically but who cares about stupid labels like that, means that she won’t be easy to find on the special day. She won’t be in some stuffy old office building fetching coffee for middle-aged people or doing boring paperwork. She’ll be out running around with a Pro Hero, probably that Big Dragon Lady again, so Himiko will have to find out where exactly in the country Ochako will be.
Normally, trying to get the exact details of a specific Pro Hero’s patrol route days in advance would be difficult and ‘illegal’. She’d have to stalk the Pro Hero during the weeks leading up to the special date to hopefully notice the patterns in their daily routes in order to predict where the Pro Hero would be on any specific date. Or she’d have to pay some ridiculous amount of money to some sleazy guy in a dark alley for the information and hope that it’s reliable.
She won’t be able to do things the normal way though. She doesn’t have the time or desire to stalk anyone other than Ochako, nor does she have the money to pay some unreliable back alley dweller.
Unfortunately, being Ochako’s girlfriend can’t help her with this. Not only would directly asking run the risk of spoiling the surprise days in advance, she and her beloved have previously agreed to not bring work talk to the dinner table.
Thankfully, that doesn’t mean she’s out of options. The upside to being a well known domestic terrorist is that she doesn’t have to worry about stuff like that anymore. All it takes is a phone call to a well known information broker with the request, a couple vague threats and promises mixed into one while mentioning The League of Villains to make sure the guy knows who he’s dealing with, a couple direct threats of stabbing for good measure, and boom she has exactly what she needs for her plan!
The second part of the plan is figuring out how to get Ochako’s attention. Her sweet and amazing Ochako will be busy helping totally not cute old ladies cross the street, getting not-as-cute-as-her kitties down from trees, and stopping gross villains that are stupid enough to try committing crimes when the best and cutest hero in the world is around. So getting her girlfriend’s attention won’t be as easy as she’d like it to be.
She could use her status as a well known villain for this part of the plan, it would be as simple as walking around in public with a knife in her hand to get the attention of nearly everyone around, including Ochako, but that comes with its own set of problems.
Despite her girlfriend being the best hero ever, she’s technically still a hero-in-training, so she won’t be alone. That Big Dragon Lady, Twisty Blue Hair Girl, and her Good Friend Tsu will probably be there with Ochako, and despite how cute they all are Himiko wants this to be romantic. Having a bunch of heroes trying to pin her to the ground and handcuff her will ruin the mood, unless it’s Ochako doing it, but even then the other heroes’ presence will stop her girlfriend from fully enjoying herself too. She’d have to follow stupid hero society’s rules and be the good little hero that brings the big bad villain to jail instead of doing what she wants, which Himiko definitely knows would be making out with the cutest girl in the world right there on the hard concrete ground.
Alas, dumb society and their stupid rules dictate that can’t happen, which means they need the moment to themselves, so simply getting everyone’s attention by being a major villain in public is out.
Since using her attention grabbing fame and head turning beauty to get what she wants isn’t going to stab it, Himiko thinks of going the complete opposite route.
Anonymously lurking in dark alleys hidden from view of the public and being suspicious could lure Ochako away from everyone else in her hero group. However, that idea has one major flaw too.
Ochako would never investigate suspicious sounds down a dark hidden alley by herself unless she knows that Himiko is the one waiting on her. If she doesn’t know who it is at the end of the alley she’ll bring backup, which defeats the purpose of the whole thing! And if she knows who is waiting for her it wouldn’t really be a surprise anymore. So that idea is out too, and that’s probably for the best since meeting in a stinky alleyway isn’t the best meeting place for Valentine’s Day anyways.
This part of the plan is turning out to be more difficult than she expected, so she decides to break it down into smaller parts. The three major causes for concern are actually getting Ochako to pay attention to her instead of anything else, splitting up Ochako from the rest of the heroes and civilians that will be around, and keeping the whole thing a surprise until the big final reveal.
The first roadblock can be worked around fairly easily. Ochako will be out running around the city primarily looking for crimes happening to stop them or for civilians in danger to save them. So all she has to do is orchestrate a major crime that the heroes can’t ignore. Something like a building burning down or exploding will be sure to get the heroes attention, but might be too drastic in terms of damage done to the city. While it would surely be eye-catching, Ochako will probably be upset if people die or are permanently scarred, and then the whole vibe will be ruined.
Something like a bank being held hostage could work, since it would give off the illusion of people being hurt and crimes happening without anyone having to actually be hurt in the end other than some minor trauma from being held hostage, but that’s basically nothing and could easily be excused!
So a planned bank heist to get the attention of the heroes, and the police but they’re an afterthought mostly, is a nice starting point, but how will she get Ochako to leave the other heroes to go to a second location?
Well obviously she just needs to use the bank heist hostages as a bargaining chip. She can be the one in the bank holding the people hostage and claim no one will get hurt if only Uravity enters to arrest her, while everyone else waits outside. But holding a bank full of people hostage so she can meet a sixteen year old girl alone, even if that sixteen year old girl is Pro Hero in training Uravity, might make her look like a disgusting pervert and have the opposite effect.
So, having other criminals in the bank holding people hostage is probably the better option, and having them claim it to be an attack on Valentine’s Day itself and refusing to cooperate if Ochako enters should work. Uravity is all pink and lovely-dovey, so it makes sense that criminals wouldn’t want to see her if they were declaring war on the most pink and lovely-dovey day of the year.
Once the other heroes are in the bank, with Ochako waiting outside, she can then stage another crime. This one a weak woman in need of saving being held captive by two thugs on top of a building across the street from the bank.
Naturally, she’ll be playing the part of the weak woman being held captive. All it’ll take is a little bit of blood, secured in a way that won’t land her with a pissed off Ochako, from some random woman to nail the part and it will double as a way to keep the whole operation secret until the perfect moment.
Once she makes a big deal of being weak and in need of saving she’ll make a bunch of noise calling for Pro Hero Uravity to come save her, and after Ochako beats up the nameless thugs she’ll jump into her girlfriend’s arms and drop the disguise to reveal what’s really happening!
The final part of the plan is what to do once she has Ochako’s attention. There are plenty of things she could do once she’s being held in her girlfriend’s arms, like immediately going for blood.
But, she already knows that Ochako is planning to give her some blood at some point in the day. So if Ochako gave her blood earlier in the day, then she runs the risk of taking too much and Ochako fainting from blood loss. If that happens she might not even remember how romantic Himiko was after she wakes up, which is no good!
There’s always the chance that Ochako won’t want to give her some blood until later in the day, potentially after her patrol, but then drinking her girlfriend’s blood during her surprise visit will just cause similar problems later on.
Giving Ochako her gifts has the same issues. If they’ve already exchanged gifts earlier, she’ll be in an awkward position with nothing to give, and if they haven’t exchanged gifts yet it’ll be easier to do it later anyways, since it's not like Uravity has pockets to carry stuff in.
That doesn’t leave many other things that can be considered romantic as options for what to do, other than an old-fashioned declaration of love and a nice kiss on the lips. Well, keeping some things simple and traditional isn’t all that bad!
With the plan finalized, it’s time to take the steps in order to make it happen in time for Valentine’s Day. She’s already got the general area that Ochako is supposed to be in on the big day, so all she needs to do is find some people to play the part of bank robbers and big scary men holding a defenseless woman hostage.
Her first thought is to enlist the help of her friends in The League of Villains, but that falls apart pretty quickly.
Dabi said he’ll be off bird hunting that day, whatever the hell that actually means, so he’ll be too busy to help. Shigaraki and Spinner both said they’ll be busy ‘duo-queueing’ with their ‘gaming partner’ which sounds a lot like they’re both going to be going on dates, so they’re both out of consideration too. Mr. Compress has his own Valentine’s Day heist already planned out, so he also won’t be able to help. Lastly, Jin and Big Sis Magne were both weirdly secretive about what they’ll be doing that day. Neither of them would give a straight answer when she asked. Jin went from claiming the day was stupid and that he didn’t have any plans, to saying that he is busy with totally unrelated business that day that he couldn’t talk about for some important reason. Magne was pretty forthcoming with her plans for the day, gushing about the hunk that asked her out on a date for the day, but was tight-lipped about who this supposed hunk is or even what he even looks like.
In the end, none of her friends can help her. Which she belatedly realizes is for the best anyhow.
If she isn’t going to be using her fame and fortune to get the attention of Ochako because of all the problems it’ll cause for her, then the rest of her super famous villain pals making an appearance would be even worse. Though, with all of the members of The League of Villains indisposed, she really will have to rely on nameless thugs to help her out.
It isn’t difficult to find any. With the League being so well known, finding a handful of everyday crooks willing to do an ‘initiation mission’ to ‘test if they have the potential to be the next member of the League’ didn’t take longer than a day. Explaining their role in her plan without giving away too many details, and making sure they’re up to snuff took the remaining few days.
Before long it is the morning of Valentine’s Day! And Himiko is so excited to give her girlfriend the best surprise gift ever! With all the planning she did, and all the preparations she made nothing could go wrong!
The big day starts off great. Himiko wakes up with a roof over her head, in a safe and familiar place. Admittedly, most girls her age usually expect to do these things, but she survived a few years on the street where she didn’t have that luxury so she’ll count it as a win that she does now. Her phone’s alarm blares the same cliche catchy love song she set it to at the start of the month when she was getting into the holiday spirit, and like every other day this month she lets the whole song play out despite already being awake and active.
After the three minute song concludes she takes her old outdated phone, yet not as old and outdated as Ochako’s phone, and sends her typical morning text to her lovely girlfriend with an added bit asking about any special plans she has for the two of them today. It isn’t long before she gets a reply asking to meet in their normal spot in about two hours so they can spend some time together and exchange gifts. With a quick text back to let Ochako know she’ll be there, she starts getting ready for the day.
“Hey Himiko,” Ochako greets her as she walks into view of the park they’ve claimed as their own. Her beautiful girlfriend is blushing more than usual, and it’s a testament to her self control that she hasn’t leapt across the clearing and sunk her teeth into Ochako. Like always her favorite hero is diligently looking around the park for any uninvited guest, which is silly since she always gets here early for the sole purpose of stabbing anyone dumb enough to try and interrupt their time together.
“Hi Ochako,” she exclaims! She’s excited and she’s not afraid to show it! Okay, so maybe she’s a little nervous and she’s being more animated than necessary so it doesn’t show. But can anyone blame her? Her beloved Ochako is here and it’s the most romantic day of the year and she knows Ochako is going to give her some blood because that’s how Himiko shows her love and Ochako is going to love her back just as much and this is the Valentine’s Day that she’s dreamed of for years and…
“Happy Valentine’s Day Himiko,” Ochako says, interrupting her thoughts. “I’m sorry that I can’t spend more time with you today and that we have to meet in a park away from everyone else. I know it’s not perfect-”
“It is perfect.” It’s her turn to interrupt Ochako because if she doesn’t her girlfriend might get into one of her ‘moods’ where she apologizes for anything and everything bad that’s ever happened to her. “There isn’t anywhere I’d rather be than here with my Ochako.”
Ochako blushes even more at that, and Himiko wants nothing more than to sink her teeth into her girlfriend right now. Her beautiful blood is coursing through her veins and Himiko knows that she should just wait until they exchange gifts since one of them will be Ochako’s blood anyways, but she can’t stop thinking about getting to personally spill Ochako’s blood, to drink it greedily, and then feeling it rush through her own veins as she transforms.
“You know all you have to do is ask,” Ochako says and Himiko snaps out of her own head because Ochako is looking at her. Looking at her with anticipation. Looking at her like she can read Himiko’s mind and wants the exact same thing.
“Can I-” But she hesitates because it almost feels too good to be true. It’s exactly what she wants, being able to love however she desires, but can she really have that? Ochako always gives away her blood nicely, cleanly, heroically. She goes to her school nurse and draws blood ‘the right way’ so she can give Himiko a nice bag to drink out of. Or Ochako lets her use her needle blood sucking thing, so Himiko has it in a tube that’s easy and convenient to drink from. But Himiko doesn’t want clean or nice right now. She’s a villain, no matter how much she loves Ochako, and she’s learned to love taking blood when she wants it. But she can’t do that with Ochako, can she? Ochako already gives her blood freely, and that’s more than anyone has ever done for her. Can she really be so selfish as to take it too?
“Yes.”
“Really?”
“Himiko, I want you to.” Her Ochako’s voice has enough desire in it to completely quell any remaining hesitation in her.
Himiko’s fangs sink into the meat of her girlfriend’s shoulder with vicious eagerness. A wet squelch and a pained yelp ring out throughout the forest as Himiko begins to devour her prize. She maneuvers herself into Ochako’s lap, her nails harshly digging into other bits of Ochako’s exposed skin for better leverage, while her girlfriend’s hands wrap around her waist to hold her steady. Himiko thrashes slightly, jaw clamping down tighter with Ochako’s flesh still held between her teeth as she violently shakes her head side to side. It elicits another muffled cry of pain from her girlfriend’s mouth and a fresh wave of blood from her girlfriend’s wound.
Himiko slurps it all up greedily. Not caring to ensure that every drop of delicious blood ends up in her mouth.
Despite the noises of pain, Ochako’s blood sings loudly of pleasure and satisfaction. It’s apparent in the taste and smell, and if Himiko had any hesitance left in her it would have faded away by now. This is the happiest her Ochako’s blood has been since the day Himiko nearly stabbed her to death in an alley. She really does have the weirdest girlfriend.
It feels like forever and no time at all before Himiko’s instincts are letting her know it’s time to stop. Going any longer would put Ochako at serious risk of lasting harm, and every part of her bristles at the thought.
She slowly unlatches from Ochako’s shoulder, licking away any stray blood that persists, before moving to apply first aid. It’s a familiar routine, disinfecting and dressing the wound, though this one is a lot less uniform than previous wounds she’s given Ochako. Still, she finishes quickly, leaving her in a slightly loopy Ochako’s lap.
“You’ve got a little something on your face, Himiko,” Ochako says through a giggle. Himiko takes a finger, wipes some blood off her face, and licks it. Just as delicious as it was a few minutes ago. “Hey, we should exchange the rest of our gifts. I made you some chocolate and put all my love into it.”
“I made you chocolate too! And I’m going to feed it to you! You need to replace all that blood sugar you just lost.”
“Okay Nurse Himiko.”
So that’s how they spend nearly the rest of their time in the park together. Her feeding Ochako chocolate that's much saltier than normal, specially made for her girlfriend that’s missing more blood than usual. Definitely not because she accidentally misread the recipe she was following! While Ochako dutifully eats it, occasionally calling her ‘Nurse Himiko’ as she pretends to be a patient under intensive care.
“I’m gonna have to leave soon,” Ochako says eventually. They’ve been giggling and gossiping the last couple hours too. Arguing over the logistics of how their relationship could continue if one of them got hit by a quirk that turned them into a worm. And discussing the pros and cons of Ochako buying a better phone. Just normal teenage girl stuff!
“You sure you can’t spend the whole day with me?”
“C’mon Himiko, you know I can’t.”
“Fine, I’ll let you go be a hero, but I’ve got another present before you go!” Himiko holds out a vial of her blood for Ochako to take. She put a lot of thought into this gift. Blood is super important to her, it's how she expresses her love. For most of her life she’s been denied it from everyone she’s loved. Then she learned to take it, even when it made the people she loved hate her in return. Recently she’s been given it by the girl that she loves more than anyone else she’s ever loved. So now she’ll be the one giving it, because she knows that same girl she loves more than anyone loves her back just as much.
“Oh thanks Himiko! Am I supposed to drink it?”
“What?! No silly! You’re supposed to keep it!” Himiko isn’t sure what she really expected Ochako to do with her blood, but it never even crossed her mind that her girlfriend might drink it! Just the thought is making her blush! Here she is trying to be all sentimental and Ochako has to go and make it weird!
A dead man once said, “All plans bleed when first stabbed by the enemy.”
Or maybe it was, “No plan survives getting stabbed by the enemy.”
Himiko’s not totally sure because the philosophies of the dead are nearly never relevant in her life. Unfortunately, they are very relevant right now, and in the wise words of a different dead man, “When it bleeds it gushes.”
Her perfect plan to get her wonderful girlfriend’s attention was supposed to be simple. Her handful of forgettable background thugs break into a bank on the patrol route of the Dragoon Hero to draw her attention, they demand that all but the cutest of heroes enter for negotiation, and then the attention of the cutest hero of them all will be solely on her.
She plays the part of hostage to some weak low lives, Uravity comes to save the defenseless woman in need, she readily jumps in Ochako’s arms while letting the disguise drop, and bam! She gets to give her girlfriend surprise kisses and reaffirm their love right there!
She realizes her perfect plan isn’t so perfect almost immediately because all the banks are closed. All the banks are closed? Why are all the banks closed? Don’t they know she’s trying to take them hostage today? Is it possible that her plans leaked and every bank around here closed to avoid her plans? No, that can’t be right because if her plans got out early then the banks would know she’s got no plans to actually rob them. So, then why are all the banks closed today?
She’s so confused about why the banks are closed that she walks into a convenience store across the street in hopes of getting answers.
“Welcome to Gemakswinkel, the convenience store with all your general needs. We’re the forty eight thousand, three hundred and seventeenth best convenience store in all of Japan. Looking for some last minute items to gift a special someone this Valentine’s Day? Look no further. We have all that special someone could want within these walls guaranteed,” the nondistinctive worker robotically drones as they enter.
“Hey, convenience store worker! How come the banks are all closed,” she asks. She’s currently disguised in the perfect identity to play the role of the helpless woman getting accosted by no name thugs. Literally. The woman whose face she’s currently wearing was actually getting mugged by some random nameless outlaws before she ethically secured some of her blood. Really, she didn’t even personally stab the lady and her blood would have gone to waste otherwise!
“Esteemed customer I am delighted that you have chosen to bring your inquiry to this humble worker. Unfortunately, our policy here at Gemakswinkel, the forty eight thousand, three hundred and seventeenth best convenience store in all of Japan, prevents me from answering you. Our company believes in giving the customer the most convenient shopping experience possible. Which means that I, as a mere worker, am forbidden from interacting with you, the esteemed customer, more than strictly necessary. If you have any questions our downloadable app, which can be accessed by scanning any of the posted QR codes, has an extensive list of frequently asked questions with accompanying answers for you to look through at your leisure.”
“What? How’s having to download your stupid app more convenient than you just telling me what I want to know?”
“This humble worker is in no position to question the policies of Gemakswinkel, the forty eight thousand, three hundred and seventeenth best convenience store in all of Japan.”
“Ugh, this is so dumb. I don’t want to download any apps. I’m in a hurry right now!”
“I am saddened to know you aren’t having the most convenient experience right now, esteemed customer. If you’d like to file a complaint or leave us any constructive feedback to improve your future visits, our downloadable app has a survey section with accompanying questions regarding the issues you had during your visit. The various posters around the store have posted QR codes that will give you access to our downloadable app with a quick and simple scan.”
Himiko is pretty tempted to take one of her knives and show those posters just what she thinks of their QR codes and downloadable apps. But she’s on a strict time limit right now. She can only hold this transformation for so long, and she’s got to keep it up until she’s in Ochako’s arms. Luckily, nameless minion three decides to actually be helpful and answer her previous question.
“Uh boss,” the nameless minion nervously starts. “All the banks are closed because it’s a National Holiday. They’re always closed on days like today, so people can be at home with their families or whatever.”
“You didn’t think to tell me the banks would be closed before today? I think that’s the kinda thing a good minion should tell his boss!” Seriously, how’d she not know that already? Must be the kinda thing they teach in those fancy high schools she never got the chance to attend. Oh, she can imagine it now! Her in a cutesy uniform, sitting dutifully in her assigned seat half listening to some old fart droning on about all the fun bank facts everyone else seems to know, while she daydreams about getting out of class and meeting up with Ochako! They’d skip across the courtyard while holding hands, she’d tell her girlfriend all the fun bank facts she just learned. Ochako would praise her, calling her so smart, and then she’d blush and respond all bashfully. Then Ochako would call her cute, which would only cause her to blush more. It’d be so wonderful!
“We thought you knew, boss. We figured it was why you chose today to rob the bank. Since all the money is still there, but none of the people that might call the heroes will be,” minion three says, breaking her out of her daydream.
Before she can respond to that, the nondistinctive worker speaks up. “Nao Hideo, you have been identified as a man that has repeatedly stolen goods from Gemakswinkel, the forty eight thousand, three hundred and seventeenth best convenience store in all of Japan, in the past three months. The proper authorities have already been called. If you attempt to flee or make any move to escalate, the nearby Pro Heroes will be called as well.”
“I’m not going back to jail,” the supposedly named Nao Hideo yells while immediately making a move to escalate the situation.
Well, she’s got to give her not so nameless background thug credit, he did do exactly what she needed him to do. While it is not at all going how she planned, Ochako’s group should be closing in on them pretty soon. Which means the rest of the plan is a go!
“Alright minions! While it isn’t exactly what we were expecting, the plan is still on! You know what to do. Don’t let me down! Otherwise you’ll find a very sharp knife in places you don’t want it.”
It doesn’t take the Pro Heroes very long to arrive on the scene. The Big Dragon Lady shepherds the herd. Moving with the confidence of a commander, clearly someone used to being in charge.
Twisty Blue Hair Girl follows, flying in the air. A smile on her face, seemingly unbothered by anything happening around her.
Her Good Friend Tsu hops along, face blank like usual for her. For some reason she seems more squid than frog today. Maybe all the love in the air is getting to her?
Last but far from least is her beloved Ochako. She’s fully Uravity right now. Keeping up with everyone with ease. Her shoulder clearly isn’t hurt anymore, which is good. It’ll make it easier for her to carry Himiko when the time comes.
“Stay back Heroes! I’ve got a hostage and I’m not afraid to use it,” one of her hired thugs yells. They’re on script, or as on script as they can be when they’re holding a single person hostage in a convenience store when the script had them in a bank full of people.
“Alright we hear you. Don’t do anything rash and we may be able to solve this diplomatically. Hold your positions girls. I want nobody going in or out, don’t make moves to escalate without my signal,” Big Dragon Lady commands.
“Right,” her Good Friend Tsu croaks while Twisty Blue Hair Girl and Ochako speak in unison.
“So villains, what is it that you’re hoping to accomplish by holding Gemakswinkel, the forty eight thousand, three hundred and seventeenth best convenience store in all of Japan, hostage on Valentine’s Day?”
“This is a declaration of war on the most romantic day of the year!”
“Hey hey! That’s not very nice! What’d Valentine's Day ever do to you,” Twisty Blue Hair Girl asks, clearly baffled by the concept of someone declaring war on a major holiday.
“Yea! Valentine’s Day is an amazing day! Why would you ever declare war on it,” Uravity asks clearly just as confused. Himiko thinks she can also spot a deeper blush than usual on her girlfriend’s cheeks.
“What does a war on Valentine’s Day involve,” her Good Friend Tsu croaks out. She seems more confused about the logistics behind the whole stunt than anyone else.
“Yes, I’d like to know that as well. What is it that you’d desire in exchange for the safety of the hostage and continued lack of public destruction,” Big Dragon Lady asks. She seems totally unphased by everything happening.
“Pro Heroes are rotten to the very core! Only caring about their public approval ratings rather than being true heroes! This Valentine’s Day I won’t allow you fakes to continue gallivanting in the streets uncontested! As long as the real heroes of this world don’t involve themselves in this fight I’ll release the hostage and contain our battle inside Gemakswinkel, the forty eight thousand, three hundred and seventeenth best convenience store in all of Japan!” That is not part of the script she wrote up. Seems she got a Mr. Stainy fanatic in the mix and he decided to take a few creative liberties. She’ll have to stab him for not following directions if he makes it out of here alive and not arrested.
“Okay I’ll bite. Who among us, if any, do you believe to be a ‘true hero’,” Big Dragon Lady asks unbothered.
“A True Hero is someone pink and bubbly! Someone that makes the hearts of those around them float with just a touch! Someone with a perfect smile, that’s kind of stupid but in an adorable way! The kind of person that you’ll love everyday for the rest of your life no matter how hard it is because you know they’ll love you back just as much!” Himiko blushes at the declaration. Hearing someone else recite her feelings for Ochako out loud is so embarrassing!
“Hey! Hey! Aren’t you being contradictory! You said you’re declaring War on Valentine’s Day, but then said the only Heroes you don’t want to fight are those that are like Valentine's Day personified,” Twisty Blue Hair Girl exclaims.
“Is it just me, or is that definition oddly specific,” her Good Friend Tsu croaks inquiringly.
“Uravity, you’ll be sitting on the sideline for this fight,” Big Dragon Lady states.
“What! Why?”
“You’re the only person here with pink in your costume and your quirk allows you to float whatever or whoever you touch. My best guess is that you’re the one this group doesn’t wish to fight for one reason or another. You’ll watch the perimeter. Make sure no one enters or leaves while the rest of us are occupied inside.”
“Good! You fakes aren’t totally incompetent. You were able to decipher my riddle! As agreed I’ll release the hostage outside, and our battle will be contained inside! Now those unworthy of the title Hero, it is time for you to repent with your lives!”
With the stage not so perfectly set, it’s time for the final act of Himiko’s master plan! Things haven’t really gone right at all up to this point, but the end result is the same. Her beloved Ochako is all alone and in the perfect position to come save her!
“Oh no! I’m being roughed up by some nameless thugs! I’m just a weak, defenseless woman! Won’t a Hero come save me?” Himiko makes sure to project her voice loud enough to be heard by Ochako. She also makes sure to lean into her role by making her voice tremble in mock fear.
Like the amazing Hero she is, Ochako immediately zeroes in on the sound of her disguised voice. From her vantage point, she can see her girlfriend’s eyebrows scrunching as she takes in the situation. It barely takes a moment before Uravity has a fierce look of determination on her face and is moving to intervene. Himiko hopes the squeal she lets out is attributed to horror at the situation and not cuteness aggression.
“Don’t worry Miss, I’ll save you,” Ochako shouts. She’s rapidly closing the distance between them by floating herself with her quirk, tethering herself to the building with her grappling hooks, and propelling herself with air from her boots.
Her nameless thugs subtly look at her. A silent question of whether it’s time for them to play their part in her plan. She doesn't respond immediately. Ochako is rapidly closing the distance between them, but she’s not close enough just yet.
That changes within the next moment though. Himiko gives her minions a nearly imperceptible nod. To the untrained or otherwise occupied eye, it looks like nothing more than her shaking in fear. But her thugs have been well trained and are paying attention, so they immediately do what they’ve been told ahead of time to do and push her off the building.
Ochako gives a panicked yell at her free falling from the top of a building, but thankfully reacts perfectly to catch her.
“Oh thank you! You’re my Hero!” Himiko can’t help but giggle after saying those words. The adrenaline from falling from a building and the giddiness of her plan working make a wide grin split her face.
Ochako seems slightly worried at that. It probably makes sense from her perspective. A random helpless woman getting pushed off a building after being held up by thugs should probably be more scared. Or maybe she’s worried because Himiko can’t and isn’t trying to hold her transformation anymore, so her body is slowly melting into a familiar sludge and falling off her.
“Himiko,” Ochako says, clearly confused even more now that it’s clear who she’s holding. Uravity’s hand placement and hold on her is suddenly much less heroic. Naughty Uravity! “What are you doing here?”
“Surprise! I’m here to give my last gift to you!” Himiko says excitedly. She softly bites Ochako’s cheek. Not hard or deep enough to draw blood, since this isn’t the time for that. Still she couldn’t help but get a small bite in. Her girlfriend is just so cute! “Happy Valentine’s day Ochako. I didn’t get to tell you earlier, but this has been my absolute favorite one I’ve ever celebrated. And I love you so much.”
Before Ochako gets a chance to respond, Himiko is passionately pressing their lips together in a kiss. At that moment everything else becomes irrelevant. The background noise of the city, the confusing cheering of her minions on the roof, the loud sounds of fighting coming from Gemakswinkel, the forty eight thousand, three hundred and seventeenth best convenience store in all of Japan, none of it matters when Ochako’s lips are on hers.
Himiko kisses her girlfriend fiercely. Caressing Ochako’s face and tilting her own head for a better angle, she puts all the love she feels for Ochako into the kiss, and lets herself get lost in all the love Ochako puts in as she kisses back in turn. They both get so lost in the physical declaration of their love for each other that neither of them realize when they finally float all the way to the ground. Or when a small crowd gathers and starts to look at them for a little too long. Or when the Dragoon Hero: Ryukyu joins the small crowd, watching them intently.
“Uravity,” the deepened voice of the Big Dragon Lady in Big Dragon Form interrupts them. “Could you please explain to me why the very infamous villain Himiko Toga is currently being held in your arms, completely naked. And why, instead of apprehending her, do you appear to be kissing her?” If she had to guess, the Big Dragon Lady in Big Dragon Form isn’t really asking a question. It sounds more like a demand to be informed this second.
“Uh, Gunhead Martial Arts?” Ochako’s response is clearly more of a question than anything else. Big Dragon Lady gives a long, bone deep sigh at that.
“After we take her down to the station, we’ll be having a long conversation about acceptable ways to neutralize villains going forward.”
Himiko knows her cue to leave when she hears it.
It’s hours later, when she’s laying in bed, kicking her feet and giggling while remembering the events of the day when she gets a text from Ochako that reads, my fav v-day ever, I love you too <3