Chapter Text
“Why don't you go play with Himiko while us grownups talk?” Ochaco's mother asked, gesturing to herself, her husband, and Himiko's parents.
Three-year old- Ochaco nodded happily and ran into the living room, waving to the little blonde girl who was playing with some stuffed animals.
Himiko waved back. “Play toys with me,” she pleaded.
“Okay!” Ochaco said excitedly, running over.
“We're playing doctor. Mr. Bunny is sick,” Himiko explained. Ochaco nodded happily.
Over the next hour, Ochaco and Himiko became very close friends. “Time to go,” Ochaco's father said. Ochaco pouted.
“But I wanna keep playing with Himiko!” Her father smiled.
“You can play another time,” he said.
“Okay,” Ochaco agreed. “Bye, Himiko!”
“Bye, Ochaco!”
Himiko and Ochaco spent lots of time together over the next year. Ochaco was the first to develop her quirk.
“You can make things float?” Himiko asked in awe. “That's fun!”
Ochaco nodded. “Yeah,” she agreed, floating a stuffed rabbit into the air. “Look! He can fly!” Ochaco said happily. Himiko's eyes practically sparkled with joy, which made Ochaco that much happier.
On the day that Himiko's quirk manifested, Ochaco and Himiko were playing in the courtyard.
“Look at that bird,” Ochaco pointed out sadly. “It must've fallen.” Himiko picked up the bird and began to suck its blood.
“Himiko, what're you doing?” Ochaco asked, sounding concerned.
Himiko pointed at the bird. “So cute,” she muttered. Ochaco tilted her head and grabbed the bird from Himiko gently.
“Are you supposed to do that?” She asked. Himiko shrugged.
“It's a cute little birdie,” she said by way of explanation, taking the bird back and continuing to suck its blood with a smile of her face.
That was when Himiko's parents came outside. “Stop that!” Her mother yelled. “What do you think you're doing?!”
“And stop making that creepy smile!” Her father added. “And around your friend, too!” Himiko didn't stop smiling, but she looked confused.
Ochaco touched Himiko's arm. “Maybe you should stop. But don't yell at her,” she added, with a glare at Mr. and Mrs.Toga. The parents in question looked startled, but ended up grounding Himiko and sending Ochaco home.
The next time Himiko and Ochaco met up, Himiko looked worse for wear. “Are you okay?” Ochaco asked nervously, upon seeing Himiko's tired eyes and overall not looking great.
“I'm okay,” Himiko said, trying to sound cheerful.
Over the next few days, Ochaco and Himiko talked a lot. Ochaco hypothesized that Himiko's quirk had to do with blood, and Himiko agreed.
“You're so smart, Ochaco!” Himiko said.
Ochaco smiled. “I'm nothing special,” she replied
Ochaco was the first to know when Himiko started having blood cravings that hurt her inside and out. “I know! We'll go to the butcher! They sell blood there,” Ochaco said, grabbing Himiko's hand. “Come on!” Himiko followed her quickly.
“Hi, do you have any extra pig's blood or something?” Ochaco asked politely. The butcher raised an eyebrow but gave it to her.
“See?” Ochaco said, handing a bag to Himiko. Himiko grinned and drank it happily.
That became their normal. They would go to the butcher and get pig's blood, and chat for a while about anything from school to heroes outside of the shop. Himiko never wanted to go home, back to her parents who yelled at her and locked her in her room.
It was the beginning of middle school when the incident happened. Himiko had been sleeping over at Ochaco's house, as she often did, when she had an idea.
“I saw it in a movie, where if you mix up your blood with someone else's, it makes you family! Like, soul sisters! Like us!” Himiko said excitedly.
Ochaco smiled. “That doesn't sound like a bad idea,” she agreed. “Although we would have to cut ourselves… but it could just be a little tiny cut, right?”
Himiko nodded. “Yeah, just to draw a teeny little bit of cute blood,” she said.
So they went into Ochaco's tiny backyard and poked their fingers respectively with a thumbtack and rubbed their fingers against each other.
Himiko tilted forward to lick the blood. “Now we're really soul sisters,” she said.
Ochaco was overcome with curiosity and leaned forward to taste the blood as well. And that was when her parents decided to come outside.
“Ochaco, Himiko, what the–?!” Her mother asked.
“We're sisters now,’ Himiko said. Ochaco was nervous, but she nodded.
That night, Ochaco could hear her parents whispering. “Is it really okay for Ochaco to hang out with that girl? She could learn horrible things…” her mother said nervously.
Himiko heard it too. She frowned in the darkness of Ochaco's bedroom. Ochaco reached over and held her hand. “They shouldn't say that,” Ochaco said.
After one more incident of a similar kind, where Ochaco's parents caught them hanging out by the butcher, Himiko was forbidden from being around Ochaco. Of course, that couldn't stop sisters.
Himiko snuck out of her house at night and walked about a mile to Ochaco's house. “Ochaco,” she whispered, knocking on her window.
Ochaco awoke with a start, ready to defend herself from an invader, but saw it was only Himiko outside. Carefully, she slid the first floor window open and stepped outside.
“I missed you,” Ochaco said, throwing her arms around Himiko.
“I missed you too, Ochaco,” Himiko said, returning the hug. After a long moment, they pulled apart.
“I'm… I'm running away,” Himiko said quietly. “I wanted to say bye first.”
Ochaco shook her head. “I'm coming with you,” she said firmly.
Himiko looked startled. “But your family! They love you a lot,” she said.
“Yeah, but they were mean to you,” Ochaco said. “Plus, there's no way I'm letting my best friend go alone. So please, let me come with you.”
Himiko's smile at that moment was all Ochaco could have asked for. These two girls– these soul sisters– snuck out into the darkness, not knowing what awaited them, but knowing they would always be by each other's sides.