Chapter 8 - One's Self Worth

It was the end of the first week of her second year in Aldera Junior High, but unlike last year, there was no excitement this time around.

While she was optimistic and had hoped Junior High would be a different experience, it soon became apparent it was nothing more than the same cycle as before, not like she wasn't expecting it regardless.

No matter how much effort Izuka spent trying to befriend other kids, the outcome was always the same, some were a bit more harsh and subtle in their remarks when learning she was Quirkless. Not all cases were that bad, at best, only giving her odd stares and/or simply walking away without saying another word. It wasn't much of an improvement, but it was far better than being on the receiving end of foul comments, or made fun of for not having a Quirk, which was something, at least.

Most of her time was spent writing notes regarding Quirks or potential strategies she can employ in the future that might be helpful in combat. Some days she wouldn't even pay attention in class, either being ahead of schedule for certain subjects or it was something simple that could easily grasp at home. It's not like she had anything better to do in the meantime.

Nevertheless, a big part of her didn't bother dwelling on those things, it's the effort that counts, at least.

The green-haired girl had a goal that kept her mind occupied in the meantime. One she was preparing for nearly four years and still had so much to go over before trying to apply for U.A. when the time comes. The journey itself was going relatively smoothly, all things considered, making sure her studies and physical capabilities are constantly improving without any issues.

It was a steady process, with only a few years left before she could apply for U.A. and realize her dream of becoming a Hero. Working towards her goal made it easier to ignore the dull sensation of attending school.

Closing her locker, Izuka was about to head towards the main entrance, before locking eyes with a particularly explosive blonde, Bakugou Katsuki.

It was purely by coincidence, and it only lasted for a few seconds, but just like many times in the past, resulted in nothing more than a hateful glare sent her way before immediately turning around and pretending she doesn't exist.

Ever since she met Yukio, and realized the difference between a healthy and toxic relationship, there were only a handful of times the two would even interact with one another. Most of the time it would only include Bakugou expressing foul comments or trying to insult her verbally in the off chance that they did run into each other, but it wouldn't go anything beyond that.

In each encounter, the green-haired girl could only sigh at her former friend's immaturity. Losing any hope of managing to hold a decent conversation, as if they ever had one in the first place.

She didn't even bother responding back at him, as it would only cause an additional headache in the process. They technically weren't even considered friends anymore, so he really had no reason to further harass her as much since she wasn't following him around anymore, yet she didn't let that get under her skin, not in the slightest. Izuka could barely take him seriously with the way he would "threaten" her, nor would she back down if he actually tried to attack her.

While his Quirk was impressive and versatile, her physical capabilities greatly improved over the years, and so did her confidence to not back down from a fight, especially with everything she learned up until this point. The element of surprise was also on her side, as surely he wouldn't expect her to end said fight before it would get any messier.

That was half the reason, at least in her mind.

With a certain someone around her at almost any given moment, Bakugou wouldn't dare to say anything, only a spiteful glare before walking away entirely. It was obvious their first encounter left a bad taste in the ash-blonde's mouth but never tried instigating a fight of any kind on his own, as compared to everyone else, Yukio was the only one who would stand his ground and never get intimidated by him. That's not including how their fight ended, which stuck as a reminder to choose your battles carefully.

At the end of the day, just like with Bakugou, and even in another school with new faces, It seems like some things just never change, and learning to accept that was a part of life. Simple enough.

She only hated how unfairly one-sided it was, she truly did.

"Izuka!"

The green-haired girl's eyes widened slightly upon hearing her name being called out, all other thoughts that were floating around in her mind vanishing instantaneously.

Looking off to the side, Izuka's eyes landed where the sound of her name came from. Even though the hallway was filled with students with unique appearances because of their Quirks and somewhat crowded in general, it was impossible to miss the combination of white and black darting across each of them with such grace and confidence.

Unlike her, who had a pretty crappy start to Junior High, the same couldn't be said for Yukio.

Given the nature of his Quirk, to not repeat the same cycle as in Elementary School, Yukio decided to settle on using a single ability without utilizing the others they've collected over the years. Initially, she expressed concern over the idea, as it would basically mean putting extra attention to not accidentally revealing his other Quirks to the other students, which would be a difficult task in itself.

However, her friend simply reassured her it was the least of their concerns. To put it into his own words, he "wouldn't care" if others found out about the true capabilities of his Quirk, rather it being a security issue. For the foreseeable future, it was best to keep it a secret while simply training and collecting others to be well prepared when they go to apply for U.A. after graduating Junior High.

That's not what made him stand out, not by a long shot.

While restricted to using a single Quirk, it didn't stop his name from being quickly spread across the entire school like it was wildfire for other reasons.

Aside from him being a talented student overall, he was exceptional when it came to physical activities, even going as far as not needing to use his Quirk when they were allowed to be used. Theories of him being Quirkless quickly began to spread, but he immediately shot them down, giving a simple answer as "I don't need to use it" whenever it was brought up, or being cheeky in front of many students who could only stare in shock after getting the same kind of response each time.

His personality and rather "unique" appearance helped him to stand out even more. It was fairly difficult to not notice all the attention he was getting, and how can it be when almost every other person would come into contact with him and attempt to befriend him whenever they were at school. The worst offender is when they would completely ignore her existence to get him to notice them, which would happen quite frequently.

Despite all that, Izuka remained silent each time, fearing she might get in the way of Yukio befriending other students that were eager to talk to him. She accepted the fact that there may come a time when Yukio would simply want to interact with other people and be a part of different groups in general. While growing up, Izuka wanted nothing more than for her friend to experience success and receive the admiration he rightfully deserved.

Given this newfound popularity, and being the talk amongst the entire school, in a positive light to boot, she was afraid that they would spend less time together as a result. Being unable to befriend anyone else, Izuka didn't want to use that as an excuse to be clingy and for her inconvenience to prevent him from going out and meeting new people.

However, that never happened.

No matter how different their circumstances were now compared to a few years ago when they first met, this was one of those things that always stayed the same.

There wasn't a day where the same scene would play out over and over again. Never, and quite literally never did he venture off with someone else during school or after, as in his own words it's an "excruciating" experience at times, something she simply couldn't wrap her head around.

Even though he was popular and was able to strike up a conversation with anyone so easily, the thought of him not wanting to socialize with other people made her question why he kept doing that, it just didn't make any sense, from her point of view at least.

Regardless, it would bring her so much joy each time when school would end, as he would be always there with the same expression and walking by her side. That single aspect is what made her entire school experience worthwhile, wishing that the very next day will play out the same way as it did up until this point.

For once, even though she plans on becoming a Hero who would do anything to help those in need and make compromises so others could be happy, this was the one thing, no, the only thing that she couldn't easily let go of.

If things really do stay the same, with no sign of any change whatsoever, then it's only fair this stays the same as well.

It was okay for her to be selfish, only for this one, specific instance.

Was it?

---

"Thank god you're still here!" I said joyfully while coming to an abrupt stop. "Did you grab all your stuff?"

"Yeah…?" Izuka asked curiously, tilting her head to the side. "Why are you in such a hurr-"

"Good!" I said hastily while gently turning her around and pushing her forward. "Cause we're leaving, right now…!"

"Y-Yukio-kun…!?" Izuka stuttered as she allowed me to keep on pushing her as we walked. "What's gotten into you…!?"

"If I have to listen to one more obnoxious "hey man!" or an attempt to talk to me while minding my own business, I will lose it," I said lowly, ignoring the numerous sets of eyes that follow me each day I enter this school. "Like seriously, I can't spend a single hour actually doing work in class without getting pestered in some way or the other. I won't even mention the bunch that follows me around everywhere I go."

"Oh, come on, Yukio-kun," Izuka said. "They can't be that bad, can they?"

I was about to respond before my eyes trailed down the hallway, finding the new group of the week I was trying to avoid and keep the interactions down to a minimum. Compared to the others I had to deal with, this particular bunch was particularly annoying for following me and trying to get me to hangout with them.

The curse of being exceptional in P.E., who would have guessed?

"Act like I said something funny," I whispered into her ear while hunching down slightly, putting an arm over her shoulder. "Try to make it convincing as well, please."

Without even missing a beat, Izuka did exactly what I instructed her to, placing a hand over her mouth while releasing a continuous laugh. I quickly followed along by "continuing" with a random story as we walked, making it so any attempt of catching my attention fell flat on their end.

"Yes… they are…" I said through my clenched teeth, already feeling slightly better that I don't have to think of another excuse to slip away. "I can't even go to the bathroom without some peace and quiet."

"I'm sure you're just overthinking this," Izuka said calmly as we walked through the main gate."

"Listen, you have to understand, I'm not willingly avoiding them, I'm doing it so I can keep my sanity intact." I expressed while rubbing my temple, recalling all the absurd interactions I had over the past year. "I hoped Junior High would be a better experience, but it seems I just caused the opposite effect. Makes me think that keeping my Quirk a secret might have been the wrong choice…"

"I… genuinely can't tell if you're serious or not…" Izuka said with a blank stare.

I sighed. "Okay, I'm exaggerating a little here, it's not that bad, but… some of them don't even have basic manners, Izu," I began explaining. "There are probably a handful of people I can talk to without catching a headache. I spent the last year trying a different approach and so far, I haven't been able to hang out with anyone else longer than ten minutes before wishing I had a Warp Quirk to escape each time."

"Well… now we don't have to worry about that anymore…!" Izuka said cheerfully while changing the subject. "We got a weekend with no training planned, might as well make the most of it!

"Finally, some good news," I clasped my hands while looking up to the sky in a joyful manner, only for another thought to pop up in my mind as a result. "Speaking of which…"

I stopped in my tracks for a brief moment to get behind her, lightly tossing her ponytail off to the side while trying to unlock her backpack.

"Y-Yukio-kun…!" Izuka blurted out. "What are you doing…!?"

"Digging for treasure, what does it look like I'm doing?" I replied sarcastically while rolling my eyes, proceeding to search through her backpack now that we've momentarily stopped. "I know you keep it somewhere around here…"

Flipping through the many notebooks within her bag, I found the item I was waiting for all morning.

"Oooh, nice, very nice," I admired the manga choice of the day, a new one she picked up not too long ago. While admiring the book, my thumb trailed the edge of the neatly placed cover protectors that were noticeable on closer inspection. "You even got these cover protectors on it as well. Bet you can set these babies on fire and they wouldn't leave a scratch on them."

"When it's a series I'm fond of and I know I'll be carrying it around a lot, I'd rather not have them get damaged in any way. Attaching those protectors was a hassle, once they're on you can't take them off anymore. A one-time use, basically," Izuka explained before changing the topic. "Anyway, did you catch up on that?"

"Why did you think I went digging for it in the first place?" I replied with a grin, opening the first page that held a quick recap within several panels. "It's the only thing you've been gushing over for the last month or so. Decided to take a look for myself and got immediately hooked."

"You'll like the newest chapter," Izuka said. "I don't think I paid attention to a single lesson in class today because of it."

"What about the others?" I asked while flipping through the book for a quick overview. "These seem familiar, but my memory is a bit flimsy."

"You'll just have to find out for yourself, not giving away any spoilers…!" Izuka replied with a cheeky grin.

"Train or on foot?" I asked before diving into the opening panels.

"I don't mind walking, honestly," Izuka replied while doing numerous stretches. "Sometimes it's just better to relax after school with a nice walk. Besides, considering it's a Friday, you already know the ten minutes it takes to get home ain't worth the constant elbows to the head and lack of oxygen in such a stuffed crowd."

"Aye aye."

Four years have passed since Izuka and I first met, and my, how time flies when you're busy.

During this, we found and experimented with a bunch of new Quirks, alongside improving the ones I had from before. As I got better with each individual ability, we were able to precisely discover its limits and find further improvements, always managing to branch out into other fields one way or another during the planning phase.

Sticking to our excessive training plan, with the help from Sensei and everyone at the Dojo, we came a long way since we first joined. While improvement is an endless cycle, and I tend to be a bit harsh on how I measure it, it would be wrong to spit on all the progress we've made in the meantime.

My physical capabilities experienced slight improvements now that I'm a little bit older, but still a few years away from developing properly, which was a decent trade-off. With certain Quirks demanding a decent level of stamina and strength to use properly without any issues, it was better to be extra prepared just in case.

Since a part of my Quirk is Energy Absorption, we kept on trying to figure out how to make a sort of battery to always have it on hand, as you could never be too careful. It took a while, but we were able to make a prototype at the very least. Needing to have something small and compact, it's one of the many nifty devices we spent our time working on over the years.

Meanwhile, Izuka on the other hand was on a completely different level than when we first started.

We covered plenty of fighting styles till finding ones that best suited her, added with training her body to be able to accomplish many different feats. She practically memorized countless techniques and ways of dealing with her opponent in a fight, I should know, having experienced them firsthand many times over the years.

Our sparring sessions became more interesting, and personally, a lot more fun as well. Her stamina and endurance improved significantly, making it less one-sided since Izuka's combat knowledge had greatly expanded over the years.

By now, it was evident the progress wouldn't be slowing down any time soon, and the results were definitely starting to show. Naturally, I didn't go all out, as I knew what level to keep it on, but that doesn't mean her hits didn't pack one hell of a punch and kick.

Because of that, we were able to achieve quite a lot in these four years. One of my picks was to ensure she can tank heavy hits and how to deal with them, as knowing how much your body can withstand is essential to not make a wrong choice during battle. Pain endurance is a tricky one, but greatly beneficial in the long term.

Her determination truly shined after going over many different exercises, I don't think I ever heard her complain or upset when we trained, simply doing what was instructed and making sure to do it properly.

Aside from training constantly, we made a habit of doing other activities in our downtime so things wouldn't get repetitive. Since the number of Quirks I had could be used in various ways, it was easy to find a new method of entertaining ourselves in our downtime.

One of those new hobbies included gaming, instantly rekindling an old passion I have completely forgotten about, or to be specific, didn't think much about as I couldn't talk to anyone to resurface those interests. We totally didn't geek out over the potential abilities and combos we could mimic if we found the right combination, only further fueling our addiction while getting some ideas in the meantime.

School might have been a chore to deal with, considering every day I'd have someone new walk-up right into my face and act like personal space doesn't exist, but luckily, with Izuka being able to save me each time, I was able to stomach through it.

It was at moments like these I enjoyed the relatively slow pace the world was moving at, as well as once again experiencing the joy that comes with teenage hormonal changes.

Sadly, there are only a few years left to savor, but I might as well just keep doing the same routine and just live the moment while I can. After all this time, actually having some breathing room made this whole experience a lot more manageable, and to be honest, a little bit enjoyable in the process.

Even if it wasn't meant to last.

"Aghh! S-Somebody! Help!"

It happened so suddenly, and by the time I raised my head from the book, another scream quickly filled the air.

"What was that?" Izuka asked suddenly as we briefly shared a look, instantly bolting towards the direction of the noise while sliding her book into my bag.

Me being slightly faster, I turned the corner several seconds before Izuka did, finding a middle-aged man with black hair on the ground, trying to pry off a girl with blonde hair down to her shoulders, wearing nothing more than a simple black-colored school uniform.

While quickly observing the situation, my eyes widened as I noted the girl's features.

For a brief moment, I was stunned when I realized who the man's attacker was, Toga Himiko, a future member of the League of Villains.

More importantly, it would seem that the man was bleeding somewhere, the numerous red streaks of blood on both their clothes.

After I saw that, there was no more room left to think, only to act.

"You make sure the man is alright, I'll restrain her."

I instructed her as I took off my bag and jacket, throwing them off to the side before bolting towards the injured civilian. At the right moment when she raised her hand to strike again, I crashed into Toga to push her away, instantly standing up in a defensive stance to shield the man.

Instantly getting back up on her feet, Toga's head spun around with her shoulders slumped, breathing in and out quite heavily in the process.

We exchanged glares for a brief moment, getting a better look at her up close. Areas of her mouth were covered in blood alongside small sections of her clothes stained as well. Like a wild animal, Toga lunged headfirst towards me, briefly seeing her sharp fangs as closed the gap between us.

Before the bite could connect, I simply activated 'Dinosaur' for my arm to grow in size by a small amount, the outer layer of skin forming light brown-colored scales in the process. Just as she bit down, her facial expression didn't change in the slightest, only trying harder to pierce my skin but it was to no avail.

When that didn't work, she tried slashing my face with her surprisingly sharp fingernails, the Quirk once again came to the rescue, only affecting the side of my face where her hand went. While I wasn't afraid of getting injured, as I was easily able to avoid each of her attempts, my mind trailed off elsewhere.

"Something's not right here…" I thought the more I observed Toga up close. "The way she's behaving is not like how I remembered it, although she is still twelve or thirteen years old, so that explains the lack of any "psychotic" tendencies. It must be because of her Quirk, that much I knew, although not to this extent.

While she was reasonably fast for her age, there wasn't any strategy or plan by the way she was moving. It was dealing like a feral animal, releasing nothing but growls each time she would try to attack me.

Standing my ground, I grabbed her left wrist when she went for another attack, tightening my grip just enough so she couldn't slip away. Instead of playing tug of war, Toga merely

"It's okay! You're safe now…!" Izuka kneeled down to the injured man, trying to help him stand up. "Here, let me h-"

"A-Aghh, g-get away!"

Pushing Izuka off to the side and making her lose her balance, the man bolted towards the empty street, not even bothering to look back.

"He didn't appear all that injured, he's probably just in shock," The thought immediately came to mind while momentarily looking off to the side to take a proper look, catching the backside of the man turning the corner at the last second. "At least now he's out of harm's way."

Just as I turned my head back, Toga thrust her body forward to headbutt me in the nose, making me take a step back. The hit itself wasn't painful but the unexpected action on her part still took me by surprise, trying to do it again with more ferocity.

It was enough to make me lose my hold on her, using that opportunity to push me backwards while Himiko made a run for it.

"Damn it…!" I mentally cursed as I instantly got back on my feet, "Izuka! Watch out!"

Even though she saw her coming, Izuka didn't have much time to react as the blonde-haired girl crashed into her, throwing both of them to the ground with Toga on top of her.

Not wasting time, Izuka grabbed her wrists to keep them in place and pushed her back, preventing Toga from swooping down to bite her so easily.

When the opportunity presented itself, Izuka retracted one of her hands to hit her in the solar plexus. It was enough to stop Toga from attacking momentarily, taking quick breaths after getting hit in such a sensitive area.

It gave her enough room to wiggle out from underneath the blonde-haired girl, pushing her from behind to sit on her back.

"W-Woah!" Izuka uttered while trying to keep Toga in place, holding both her hands behind the blonde's back with some difficulty.

"Don't worry, I got you," I said reassuringly upon kneeling down beside her, absorbing a little bit of concrete in the process. "Just give me some room…!"

Still sitting on her back, Izuka moved back slightly while keeping Toga's hands, making the blonde-haired girl's body jerk upwards in an attempt to break free, but was unsuccessful. Using the stone I absorbed moments prior, I laid my hand on top of Toga's to release some in liquid form, commanding it to form makeshift cuffs. Just as the process was complete, Toga started thrashing around once again, only more wildly than before.

Needing to keep her from escaping, Izuka and I moved her off to the side, briefly touching the cuffs to connect them to the wall's surface.

"Okay… what now…?" I asked the question that was on both our minds.

"Well, for starters, does anything seem… off, to you?" Izuka asked with a hint of uncertainty while looking down at Toga, who was still unable to stay in place for longer than a second.

"Aside from her refusing to use words and only growling at us, I can think of a few things," I commented in a light tone but still containing a hint of seriousness. "She appears to be our age, but for her to act this way is…

"Well, for her to be in this 'feral state', it could mean only one thing, her Quirk is messing with her physical and mental health, most likely from a lack of appropriate control. She seems almost… What's the word… hungry?"

"That's what I think as well," I agreed with her. "While on that topic, I'd wager it's a Blood-related Quirk."

"How do you know?" Izuka asked.

"If you look closely, you can notice some of her teeth are different from the rest, they look like fangs if you ask me," I explained. "When she tried attacking me, she wasted no time trying to bite me anywhere possible, and when I used my Quirk to reinforce my skin, she immediately switched to a different area. That aside, she would've used it already if she wanted to harm someone."

"That does make sense," Izuka pondered with a thoughtful look. "If that's the case, who knows how long she's been dealing with these kinds of issues, but I feel like it's more complicated than just that."

"What are you talking about?"

Izuka stayed silent for a few seconds, staring down at the blonde-haired girl with an apologetic look. "I'm not sure but… when she was on top of me and I got a chance to look at her up close. If she needs blood because of her Quirk, I'm fairly certain she hasn't gotten any for a long time to behave this way. It's like… she's aware of what she's doing but can't control herself. I know it sounds off but… that look in her eyes, I can tell she's in pain, and I'm positive she didn't mean to do any of this. I'm just curious what she's been through for her to act like this."

Oh, why did this day have to get so complicated?

Himiko's case was fairly complicated, to put it lightly.

The fact that her parents completely neglected her and forbid her from even using her Quirk, an ability that requires Blood so the user can stay fully functional, it's actually baffling that they truly thought she wouldn't grow up without any issues.

I'm fairly positive Toga indeed was normal during her childhood, with her issue gradually becoming more serious over time, staying like that before finally reaching her breaking point. Putting her Quirk off the side, the way her upbringing affected her mental health only further contributed to where she would end up. Being labeled with a villainous Quirk, keeping it a secret seemed the best thing to do, but at what cost?

A person's Quirk doesn't represent their entire character, but some give into peer pressure and convince they're someone they aren't, with a good amount of mental problems forming over time.

That's where I asked myself a simple question, was there any room left to help her?

A part of me kept saying there was still hope, she was still relatively young, after all. That factor alone weighs a significant amount, and if so, a few years of adjusting to get her back on track seemed reasonable.

At the same time, it could already be too late to try and help her, the feral state she's in making me think it was. The story was vague when detailing the exact date where she "snapped", as from that point the effects of her Quirk changed her mentality completely, possibly even passed the point of repair.

Psychological and mental trauma can come in all sorts of shapes and forms, some more complicated than others. Furthermore, in this world, how much can a person truly endure all that while also factoring in a rather essential part of life that is different compared to everyone around you.

Crap, what do I do? What can I do?

"Help me… p-please…"

My thoughts were shattered when I heard that weak and barely audible plea.

I wasn't prepared for the sight before me, at least my morality wasn't.

Instead of thrashing around and yelling to be released, Toga's entire demeanor changed completely, replaced with a horrified expression with tears flowing out uncontrollably.

"I-I'm… s-sorry," Himiko uttered while the tears continued to trail down her face uncontrollably. "I-I didn't m-mean to hu-hurt anyone…"

This was no act, rather genuine remorse upon realizing what Toga just attempted to do.

That means our theory of Toga acting this way solely because of her Quirk is now harder to dismiss, as I couldn't find a hint of cunningness or an ulterior motive in her eyes. Any sense of concrete logic I had was replaced with empathy, finding it difficult to imagine her as the same person that would end up being a serial killer, rather a scared girl with a Quirk her own parents were afraid of and forbid any use of it.

Instead of teaching her healthy ways to deal with her feelings and situation, they did everything in their power to force her to hide and deny that part of herself and pretend to be "normal" like other kids. On top of that, with an ability like this, where it can potentially twist one's sense of reality and common logic if not handled properly, especially when a child develops that kind of power from a very young age.

Taking a look towards Izuka, I was met with an equally worried expression, unsure what to make of this situation. While we're both aware of how some Quirks have certain needs that may cause the user to behave differently as a result, there were simply too many variables to take into consideration. However, after witnessing this, it just didn't sit well with me, not in the slightest.

Again, I'm forced to make a difficult choice, one that might have a massive effect on how some future events will play out. Furthermore, there is no possible guarantee that our meddling will change something that might be already too late to fix. I kept going back and forth the more I thought about it, unable to reach any sort of conclusion to this dilemma.

Yet, the longer I looked down at Toga in such a weak and miserable state, coupled with her plea for help that kept ringing in my head, I was reminded of a cruel lesson, one I learned years ago.

Monsters aren't simply born into this world, rather they're made by how society treats its own people.

Not everyone could be placed in the same category, some never even got a proper chance to find the right path for themselves, or an ounce of help to guide them towards it. The whole system was completely unfair, and nobody deserves to live in such conditions when they never had a glimpse of what it is like to be treated properly in the first place.

Seeing her head slowly falling off to the side, using the last of her strength to stay conscious while quietly sobbing, my mind was made up.

I made a gamble before, might as well do it again.

"Crap, she's a minute away from passing out entirely," I commented on her weak state, doing several additional checkups for extra measure. "Quick Heal is basically useless since it can't help her with what her Quirk needs, or keep her awake."

"Well, if blood is what she needs, maybe there is still a way to help her." Izuka suggested while rolling up her sleeve, kneeling down to Himiko with her arm right in front of her face. As if on instinct, and with heavy breaths, Himiko opened her mouth to bite down, but couldn't do more than lightly nibble on the surface of her skin.

"She doesn't have enough strength to even open a wound to take it." Izuka said hastily.

"Furthermore, I don't think it would be enough to simply bite down if she could," I said in a serious tone. "If she's like this, she's gonna need way more than a few milliliters from us two in this weakened state."

"What do we do?" Izuka asked worryingly. "None of your other Quirks are useful in this situation, maybe we should try finding a Hero?"

"Might not be enough time," I responded hastily, thinking of ways on finding a solution to our little situation. "Unless they would have a mobility-type Quirk, it would still take a while before she can get any medical attention."

Without replying, Izuka hastily took out her phone, fingers furiously tapping the screen while bringing it closer to her face.

"There… is a hospital… not too far away but not exactly close either," Izuka explained, turning the phone over so I could see. "We're all the way over here, and we have to go… here."

"That just won't do," I said bitterly, thinking about what we can do at the moment.

Taking out a random notebook, I wasted no time finding an empty page before making a stone pencil in my free hand, producing a small amount of ink from my forearm to draw a small bird with wide wings. Once its body was complete, a brief moment of silence passed as it manifested out of the page, instantly darting upwards into the sky to find any Heroes that might be in the area.

After about a minute, the bird came flying down at high speed before landing on my wrist, merely shaking its head in a loop.

"There aren't any Heroes around the area either, meaning we can't depend on them to rush her to a hospital." I said with a frown.

"Can you make it there by carrying her?" Izuka questioned. "Judging by her state, we shouldn't waste any more time doing nothing. Getting her to someone who can properly help as soon as possible should be our main priority."

"What about you?" I asked, feeling like something wasn't clicking. "I can't exactly stay at an even pace if I were to carry her."

"Don't worry, I'll catch up," Izuka said reassuringly. "I may not be as fast as you, but that doesn't matter right now. If we both know we're heading, me being a little behind won't be an issue

She did have a good point, time was of the essence, and having knowledge of how her situation will turn out, every minute from this point onward was critical.

Still, I didn't want her to leave her behind, but luckily, I had a decent solution to that issue.

Flipping to an empty page, I quickly began drawing a relatively detailed sketch of a lion, taking a total of thirty seconds before it was fully complete. I am aware that using Quirks in public was against the law, but seeing as there weren't any Heroes around, and this was somewhat of an emergency, might as well make it so Izuka doesn't have to run all the way there on her own. I tossed my jacket into the backpack before putting it on from the front, so it wouldn't bother me nor cause any discomfort to Toga while we were moving.

"They may easily dissolve if I don't put in the proper amount of focus and energy, but since only one would be active and be right behind me, it should last a while," I explained to her, kneeling down to place Toga's arms around my neck, grabbing her legs while slowly lifting myself up."In the likelihood that we get separated, or if I arrive before you do, I'll be near the reception desk or something. Sound good?

Hopping onto the tiger's back while giving her the direction of where we were going, giving me a thumbs up in understanding, I gave her a nod before entering a slow run, waiting for her to catch up before we turned the corner. Once we did, I blasted off towards the hospital, making sure to stay at a reasonable pace without shaking too much.

Taking a look behind me, I found Izuka several meters away, riding on top of my creation without any issue or making too big of a gap distance-wise.

Focusing my attention on the blonde-haired girl once more, observing her for a few moments before turning to concentrate on the empty sidewalk ahead of me. In the span of those few, short seconds, all the thoughts I had in the last several minutes began replaying back in my head, briefly second-guessing my decision before dismissing the thought entirely.

Nothing is set in stone, at least not yet.

---

"Where… am I…?" Himiko thought groggily upon opening her eyes, quickly closing them as the sudden light felt like "What… did I do…?"

Trying to recall the last thing that happened, Himiko vaguely remembered the events prior to her blackout, everything else was hazy at best.

At one moment, she was simply walking around aimlessly while trying to get her Quirk to calm down, which led absolutely nowhere. The next, Himiko found herself running after a random civilian before "blacking out" again.

Over the past few months, these urges caused by her Quirk only got more intense, and incredibly difficult to contain. The lack of blood in her system was gradually beginning to take its toll, both mentally and physically.

Despite that, informing her parents of what was going on proved to be futile.

Her parents told her doing such things was wrong, and like with many other instances, she understood that, but she couldn't do anything when her Quirk started acting up.

It was out of her control, it truly was.

Last year in school, her grades and social interactions gradually began to decline, as any resemblance of focus was impossible to hold for long periods of time.

Then there was a lack of blood she was able to obtain, that was a whole separate issue on its own. While she was able to make some "friends" in Elementary School, asking them such a request seemed pointless the longer she considered it. There was also a momentary discussion where Blood Quirks were mentioned through conversation, with one pointing out how It was enough to make her forget to ask anyone else about the topic ever again.

The only substitute she had that managed to ease her suffering was occasionally finding a dead bird or a cat on her way home and drinking what little amount of blood she could from its carcass to calm her urges for just a few brief hours.

Sadly, in the end, all she could do is pray that the next time it won't be such a painful experience, but that was nothing more than wishful thinking.

No matter how much she wanted it, her situation only got more severe as time went on, today being a prime example.

She remembers the man's horrified face as she tried to drink his blood, the one single bite she was able to do before being smacked away, the scene replaying in her head over and over on repeat. Chasing him down through multiple city blocks like an animal, her body unresponsive to any of her commands to stop right then and there, only focusing on the blood when she briefly tore into his skin.

Despite doing that, it still felt like the blonde-haired girl was forgetting something.

"Oh… that's right…" Himiko thought remorsefully as she slowly remembered the last few minutes before blacking out. "I attacked that boy and girl as well…"

If Himiko felt awful already, this was the icing on the cake.

Neither seemed to have any intention of harming her when she was in that state, yet, Himiko was unable to calm down, despite her efforts.

Himiko only wished she could apologize to the man and the two

"Why… can't I just be normal… like everyone else…?"

She asked herself that question countless times before, always being met with the same answer. Maybe it was just who she was, a girl with a "villainous" Quirk that she couldn't change, which in turn meant people would see her as a monster with the need for blood.

It was just unfair.

.

.

.

Wait, why was her body "shaking" constantly… in sort of a rhythmic motion as well?

Furthermore, why were her arms and legs locked in place?

Opening her eyes once more, Himiko tried to keep them from closing again to find out what was going on. Countless cars and bystanders passed by in a blur, the constant change in scenery making her only more nauseous, forcing her to turn her head to get a hold of herself.

What instantly caught her attention was a black and white-colored lion not that far away from her, adjusting her vision to spot a girl with green hair riding on top of it. Why did she seem familiar?

Slowly sliding her head forward, her eyes immediately noticed black-colored hair on her right side. From such an awkward angle, she couldn't properly identify who it was, but the streak of white hair from the front made everything click.

It was them, the boy and girl she attacked.

What was going on?

"Where… are you taking me…?"

Himiko tried uttering those words with as much strength as she could muster but came out nothing more than a weak croak.

"Oh! You're awake…!" The black and white-haired boy said softly while turning his face slightly to the side so she could see his face properly. "Hang in there, we're on our way to a hospital. We're should be there any minute now, so hold on for a little more

Did she hear that correctly, or was her mind deceiving her?

Why… why would they be helping her, even though she tried to harm them?

No, that's not it. It just doesn't make any sense, there had to be some sort of misunderstanding.

People are afraid of her when she behaves unnaturally, why would this instance be any different?

Taking another look behind her, Himiko's eyes locked on the green-haired girl while trying to keep her head from shaking constantly.

Because the other girl was a little farther away, her blurry vision made it sort of difficult to focus properly, only able to see her face but not much more than that.

Before she knew it, the girl smiled and Himiko saw her lips moving, but she couldn't make out what she was saying. For some odd reason, a part of her kept saying it really didn't matter, the way her expression changed before addressing her with a reassuring smile made her feel… at ease?

Even though she tried her hardest to not pass out again, her eyelids were growing heavier with each passing second, unable to give in without finding out why this whole ordeal was happening.

Regardless, the odd sensation in the blonde-haired girl's stomach kept telling her not to worry about it, somehow washing away all other questions and concerns that troubled her at the moment.

Over time, the idea of this all being a very vivid hallucination kept growing in Himiko's mind, unable to fathom that the same two people she attacked are trying to help her. The idea of that is just absurd.

Yet, even if that was the case, she desperately wanted to believe otherwise

---

After about fifteen or so minutes of running without stopping, the only exception being the occasional red light to not cause a traffic incident, we finally made it to the closest hospital.

Before we departed, I memorized several key places that I would pass by on my way over here, knowing exactly how much more is needed to reach our destination.

On our way here, we encountered a Hero that warned Izuka about using Quirks in public, to which I explained the reason why we were in such a hurry. While the man understood the situation, Quirks weren't allowed to be used in public but it wasn't a big issue, only forcing me to run faster and wait for Izuka at the hospital.

Luckily, the moment I brought her in, a doctor with his assistant immediately took notice, taking her into one of the many rooms to conduct their procedures.

While I was able to recall how the story presented Himiko and the insight into her psychology, I still needed her to get a medical check-up before I could proceed forward. I could only guess, but I'd assume the one and only time she got one was when her Quirk appeared, and her parents

Whatever the case may be, I just need some of the fine details, handling the rest is manageable afterwards.

I just really hope the damage wasn't that severe yet, but only time would be able to give me an answer on that.

"Yukio-kun!"

Being snapped out of my thoughts, I looked off to the side to find Izuka at the entrance waving at me, jogging a bit more to close the distance between us.

"Damn, you're quick," I said to her with a smug look. "Could've sworn I kicked it into high gear when that cop told you to jump off my lion."

"Yeah…" Izuka said in-between breaths, resting her hands on her knees. "I didn't stop running until I saw the hospital in the distance… we're lucky it wasn't too far away…"

"Here, drink up," I handed her the water bottle that was nearly full, only taking a few sips myself and playing with it to pass the time.

After gulping down half the water bottle, Izuka didn't waste time asking the main question "What about her? Did they tell you anything?"

"Dunno yet," I merely shook my head. "Still haven't gotten any update on her condition. It taking so long makes me think they want to be thorough in her check-up than immediately assume the worst.

In the corner of my eye, I spotted the same doctor that went to do a check-up on Toga, talking away with a colleague.

"Talk about good timing," I said quietly as I instantly started walking toward the doctor upon spotting him. "Excuse, sir?"

The two men stopped their discussion when I grabbed their attention, the younger man speaking up with an eyebrow raised. "Oh, so you're the boy who brought her in?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "She passed out roughly twenty minutes ago. We were thinking about calling an ambulance, but that seemed like it would take too long so I just carried her all the way to the closest hospital."

"Well, it's a good thing that you brought her in," the doctor responded. "Considering what her Quirk is, it could've been way worse if you arrived any later."

"Really? How bad is her condition?" Izuka asked.

The doctor looked towards his assistant for a brief moment, releasing a sigh before turning his attention back to us. "Look, you have done more than enough by bringing her in. Trust me, it is better if you two don't worry yourselves over something that does not concern you."

The other man quickly followed up. "We promise you that we will notify her parents of her condition, as well as advise them of what to do in the future so she doesn't have another accident such as this."

After the doctors recited this statement, the two men turned away to leave.

Oh, hell no.

There is no way I'm letting that happen.

If her parents find out she ended up in a hospital it will cause all sorts of issues.

While the question of what happened can easily be altered, the aftermath is what I'm more worried about. If anything, it just might make things even worse for her when she gets home.

Not on my watch.

"Sir…!" I called out to the doctor, making the two men turn around with a puzzled look. "I know I may not look like it, but I am a member of the student council, and I take my job rather seriously. Knowing her condition and the cause of it isn't just for our sake. but for her as well. Also, my Quirk might be capable of helping her if I know the details regarding her situation. So please, if you could, any information you are able to share with me will be of great help to prevent any incident in the future."

The doctor merely blinked several times in confusion, most definitely surprised by what he just heard.

"Oh, just explain it to them, already," The colleague expressed hastily in a relaxed demeanor. "I have a hard time keeping kids focused for their Quirk checkup, let alone getting a chance to teach them something and not talk to the parents all the time. I'll go check if the others need help with anything."

The doctor pitched his nose while releasing another sigh. "Might as well, I guess…"

While motioning with his hand to follow him, we began walking through the doorway where we first spotted them.

"How is she?" Izuka asked worryingly as we walked beside the medical professional.

"She's stable, your friend's timing couldn't be any more perfect," The doctor began. "With these sorts of things, especially among children, it can be rather dangerous if they go without a medical check-up."

"When do you think that was?" I asked. "For her case, I mean."

The doctor shrugged. "We checked her file, and quite a lot of time has passed since then. That is, unless her family has a doctor they already know, but I find that to be very unlikely. It's not mandatory to do checkups for Blood-related Quirks but it is advised to monitor the child's growth and to spot any issues before it's too late. As well as to prescribe the right dosage and permit to get it from any pharmacy."

That doesn't surprise me. For such specific Quirks, having a note from the doctor makes things a whole lot easier. Sadly, her parents are paranoid nutcases, so that was never an option.

"What about an addiction?"

"Hm?" the doctor raised an eyebrow at my question.

"Well, with Quirks such as these, I read that it's essential that users always have a supply of blood ready to not get any odd "urges" or cause any interior problems. Now, I'm not sure whether any of that is accurate, or not, but I'd like to hear your thoughts on the matter."

"Yes… that would be the case if the person in question goes without it for several years at the very least. To be honest, it really depends on the Quirk. Say, two people have the exact same Quirk with only one minor difference, on the surface, it doesn't have to mean much but in some cases, that difference can mean a tremendous amount to the person in question ." the doctor paused momentarily before continuing. "Excuse me, I'm still bewildered that I'm having this sort of discussion with a Junior High student."

"I get that a lot," I replied casually with a smile. "I can't really blame you, if I'm being honest."

"Speaking of which…" The doctor turned to me with a puzzled expression. "I have to ask, from the way you were talking about her, has this sort of thing happened already before?"

Obviously, tip-toeing around certain questions can always be tricky, and while talking to a medical professional, I'd rather be honest. However, the best I could do is give half a lie.

"We met her last week when school started," I began explaining calmly. "She is a transfer student, so she didn't really know anyone else besides us who showed her around. We learned she had a Blood Quirk of some kind, but she never gave us the specifics, seemed to be like a sensitive subject so we stopped asking her about it."

"Makes sense, some children tend to be rather secretive if their Quirk ain't normal in their point of view."

"I'd rather not focus on what caused her to act that way, rather the solution to make sure it doesn't happen again," I told the doctor with a serious expression.

The man stayed silent for a few seconds, studying me intently before forming a low smile. "Guess I was wrong about you, my boy. I'm glad to know she has such caring friends to look out for her, many kids would most likely be afraid solely because of her having a Blood-type Quirk. As for your friend…" The doctor turned back to look at Toga through the window. "I'd heavily advise making sure she drinks blood in small doses, for now at least. Since she didn't have the chance to do so properly for a long time. Poor girl is probably having black-out moments with how she looks."

"Will she need to spend the night here or?" Izuka asked after the doctor finished.

"She'll be fine in another half hour or so," the doctor motioned with his hand. "Just for safe measure, keeping her a bit longer for the fluids to properly set in. By the way, you said before your Quirk could help her, may I ask what it is?"

"It's a Copy Quirk, I'm able to store several Quirks at a downgraded level than the original, but still be decently effective," I began explaining to the doctor. "If it's alright with you, I was kind of hoping to ask either you or one of your colleagues if I could copy a Healing Quirk of any kind to have, just in case."

The man rubbed his chin for a few seconds before responding. "You have no issue with copying Emitter Quirks? That's the type that is most commonly used for medicine."

"No, in fact, those are the type of Quirks where I excel the most," I answered, unable to tweak the truth about my Quirk, as almost all healing Healing Quirks are categorized as Emitters. "Transformation and Mutation ones aren't my forte."

Damn me and this ever-present paranoia I carry around everywhere I go. It was probably unnecessary, but with a certain other doctor roaming around somewhere, I'd rather keep details down to an absolute minimum.

"All of them seem to be rather busy at the moment. Although…" He turned around to scan the rather hallway, stopping once his eyes landed on another colleague talking to the woman behind the desk. "Hmm, I may have just the thing that might be of use. Come, follow me."

---

After a few more minutes of talking to one of the doctor's colleagues, we finally found a nurse willing to share her Quirk with me.

The Quirk itself, called Healing Aura, was a jack of all trades in terms of healing abilities, not exactly super regeneration but leagues above Quick Heal for what it could be used for. The one-tenth aspect would be an issue if I didn't have Energy Absorption to make up for it, so I'll be able to use it with higher potency after some training.

Upon entering Himiko's room, we made our way to her bed with each step slower and more delicate than the last. She was still asleep when we entered the room. She lay on a bed in the deepest part of the room by a plain white wall. The room itself was sparse with two beds divided by a curtain that was white with blue rubber ducky print all over. Our Initial steps into the room must have been a bit too loud and piqued her curiosity.

For the first few minutes, both of us merely talked in a hushed tone, as to not disturb her rest.

Until at one point, her head began to turn in our direction, it abruptly stopped when she spotted us with her eyes widening slightly

Both of us were surprised for a brief moment when we established eye contact, but we didn't wait too long before she spoke up. "It's you…"

"Heeeey…" I spoke softly, while Izuka smiled with a slight wave of her hand.

"How are you feeling?" Izuka asked in a gentle tone.

"I'm…" Himiko stopped herself before uttering anything else with an abrupt pause. Despite her being in a weakened state, I could tell she was "afraid" as this was the only instance of somebody acknowledging her issue and willingly helping her, with the constant neglect she experienced over the years hard for her to process everything that happened in such a short amount of time. Biting her lip briefly, she finished her sentence. "Better now… thanks to you…"

"Good, good," I merely said, more of an instant response than anything. "Told you it wouldn't take us long to get here. Even better, the doctor said you'll be good as new in an hour or so."

Himiko merely bobbed her head up and down slowly, not taking her eyes off us. "Can… I ask you two… something…?"

"Of course…!"

"What do you want to know?" Izuka followed up softly.

"Names…" Himiko uttered softly before repeating her question once more, a bit louder. "What are your names…?"

Forming a warm smile, I introduced myself while doing a slight bow with my head. "I'm Toshiaki Yukio."

"And I'm Midoriya Izuka," The green-haired girl replied softly. "Do you mind if we learn yours?"

"I'm… Himiko…" she paused momentarily before speaking up a bit more confidently. "Toga Himiko…"

There was a long silence that filled the room as we stood there staring at this timorous girl. Regardless, we merely allowed her to save her energy and reassured her that we will accompany her home when we leave the hospital.

The declaration most definitely came to a shock to her, that much I'm sure of. Yet, all she could do is give a nod in approval, before the room fell into silence once more.

---

"Do you think she'll actually be there?" Izuka asked as we exited the train.

"Something tells me that's all but guaranteed," I replied with certainty, taking a moment to look around if this was the right stop. "After yesterday, I can't shake the feeling that she needs this. I have a hard time thinking she wouldn't at least want to talk about it."

After the whole hospital incident, we had to think about how to tackle our next issue, befriending and getting to know Toga. Turns out, Izuka had no issues with it whatsoever and wholeheartedly agreed that the person we saw that day wasn't the real Toga, not caring all that much about "first impressions" given the circumstance. Being passionate about Quirks in general but born without one, she never saw any of them in a negative view and was aware that every case was different by nature, even this one.

Her perspective made it easier to just think in the moment, helping a small bit to ignore the image of Himiko in her later years and her rather tragic fate. It wasn't a recurring thing but still managed to pop up every now and then on its own, for good reason.

There was still hope, all we have to do is be present from here on out.

While the station was rather crowded at this time of day, it took all but thirty seconds when the next train came for it to disappear, a new batch exiting that dispersed over the course of a few more minutes.

I didn't immediately jump to conclusions, simply deciding to wait a little longer.

Yet, the longer we waited, alongside the dead silence at the train station,

"Oh… seems like I was wrong…" I said with a frown while looking around the train station, finding the blonde-haired girl nowhere in sight.

"Maybe she's running a little late?" Izuka pondered. "Or she missed her train and is waiting for the next one?"

I could only shrug in response, feeling a little disappointed that she had second thoughts and didn't want to meet up with us.

That was until my ears faintly picked up a few, but silent steps in quick succession.

"Hey… you two…"

Turning around, we laid our eyes on Toga wearing a simple black-colored hoodie with a pouch, and a white was also carrying a purple bag that was cinched at the top instead, foregoing the zipper, and a pink cellphone. Her hair was put up in two round neat buns on each side of her head as she cautiously approached.

First of all, with Echolocation, I could sense any movement in close proximity, even to greater lengths if I were to put more energy into it, meaning I could sense if something was coming my way. Here, only noticing it barely a few seconds before calling out to us, it means she was hiding somewhere and waiting to see if we would keep our promise to meet up.

Regardless, that small detail wasn't important, she showed up in a non-threatening manner while displaying obvious signs of shyness and anxiety in her overall demeanor.

Oh yeah, there was definitely still hope.

"Himiko-chan! You made it!" I greeted the blonde-haired girl with a smile. "For a second there, I thought we got dropped off at the wrong station."

"Yeah…I arrived a little earlier than what we agreed upon…" Himiko replied shyly, looking off to the ground before continuing. "I didn't want to be late…"

"Regardless, we're happy you wanted to meet up

"Well then, shall we?"

The initial few minutes of simply walking in silence were rather calm, with only Izuka asking if she was alright and small nitpicky questions to be double sure,

"So, Toga, do you have any hobbies?" Izuka asks. Toga looks surprised at first and replies after a bit of time to consider.

"I-I guess I never ever considered if I had one or not." There was a moment of pause before Izuka asked another question.

"Do you have any allergies? Just want to make sure since it will make more sense when we get there."

"None that I can recall, so I don't think I have any? So…umm," Himiko began but had difficulty continuing. "Did you two have s-something in mind…or?"

"We do, actually," Izuka replied happily. "I think you'll like where we're going."

"You see, Izuka and I have a small tradition we do every Saturday, by eating at one of the best food places in Musutafu. We found it two years ago when we were done with training, and made a promise to visit at least once a week.

We walk into a small alleyway off of the main thoroughfare and wind down a series of small streets to a bustling downtown wholesale market. Fresh fish and produce were being sold openly in crates and buckets all in tightly packed stalls. We push past the many businessmen to one of the only permanent structures in the whole place.

The Street Food restaurant, which was a sort of a mix between a stall and a dine-in eatery, opened up to a lightly populated interior. The shop stall had a hodgepodge menu that was influenced by whatever was available in the market that morning. It's not always packed but the fried chicken bites are an ever-present and very popular item. They have always been made fresh to order for any passerby to purchase.

We go to the nearest table and wait for the owner to notice he has new customers. It takes about three minutes as he jots down notes on his pad from a customer that seems to be commissioning a rather large order.

The owner and waiter noticed us as he jots down a line at the bottom of his pad, with a finality that can only be had when a customer has finished their order. The kind man makes his way to us as he weaves through the motley of disorganized tables.

"Ah, you finally noticed us, Ichiro-san." I joked as I noticed the owner approaching our table. "Took you long enough."

"I can only be at so many places at one time, my little friend," Ichiro, a man with tanned skin and brown hair in his mid-thirties says. So, how have you two been?

"Oh, the usual, school's tedious, we know everything they teach us already, and train in the meantime," I replied while leaning back into my seat.

"Aside from us, how's business?"

"The usual, boring during the mornings, hectic during the evenings. Chicken has been selling out a little too fast, so I am trying my hand at selling takoyaki. So we'll see how that turns out." he stops for a second and leans in while forming a smile. "You two didn't stop by the other week, so I didn't get the chance to thank you for taking a look at my deep fryer."

"Oh, please," I waved it off. "I knew how many times you said it gave you issues so I decided to take a look-see for myself. Turns out that just some of the interior parts needed slight repairs and a little maintenance at the same time."

"For that, I can't thank you enough," Ichiro replied with a slight bow and hand clap."And I see you brought a new face, so today's bill is on me, it's the least I can do. So, what can I get you?"

Going over our order, with Izuka helping Himiko out on what to choose since she was a bit lost, we waited patiently for it to arrive.

While waiting we talked about many different small things to kill time. We were a bit careful on what to bring up topic-wise, as it was easy for us to assume that Toga might have a difficult social life.

"S-Sorry, you two," Himiko looked down in embarrassment. "I'm not exactly good at this sort of thing…"

"What… exactly, I mean?" I blurted out.

"This…" the blonde-haired girl gestured to both of us, and then herself. "Meeting and getting to know new people…"

"Don't you have any friends at your school?"

"I do, well… I can't really consider them "friends" if I'm being honest," Himiko clarified. "I never really told anyone what my Quirk really is, let alone anything about me without lying."

"Really?" Izuka asked for clarification. "Not even a single person from your school?"

Himiko looked down before replying. "When I first told a few other students what my Quirk was, most of them were weirded out by it," Himiko explained with a downcast expression. "They said it reminded them of something a Villain would have, or that I couldn't become a Hero because I would freak people out. After a while… I just tried ignoring everything but it became too difficult, so every time someone would ask me about my Quirk, I'd just make up an excuse why I can't use it."

"Yeah, but just because a few people say that doesn't mean it's true," I said softly. "More importantly, what are your thoughts about it?"

"I…" Himiko started, but quickly stopped herself to think it over a bit more. "...I'm not really sure. All this time… I tried so hard to keep it a secret after seeing other people's reactions after telling them, I just didn't want everyone to see me as some kind of Villain. On the other hand… I know I can't just change or replace it, and after yesterday, it just makes me think I'll be stuck like this forever."

"Well, there's a rather simple answer to that."

That made the blonde-haired girl perk up, looking at me with a hopeful expression that was a bit sad to see. She was so desperate for a friend and an honest connection to anyone or anything that would treat her with kindness. So Izuka looks her in the eyes and grabs a hand reassuringly.

"Those who are able to forgive themselves for who they truly are and are able to accept their true nature. A person's Quirk doesn't dictate who they are or who they'll be in the future, but rather trying to overcome their flaws and issues to better themselves. While learning who you are in this world is difficult, finding the things you don't like about your identity and wanting to better yourself is harder if you don't know where to start. Even so, making an attempt is sometimes more than enough to find your own path in life."

To which, I simply smiled. "Besides, being a little different doesn't make you weird, if anything, it makes you more unique. Regardless of how you look at it, you met up with probably the weirdest duo in all of Musutafu. So I think we'll get along just fine if you ask me. Right, Izu?"

Izuka released an awkward laugh at my statement. "Well… when you put it like that…"

The rest of our meal was spent mostly in silence, but in a comfortable atmosphere that made it enjoyable nonetheless. When we were finished with our meal, and saying goodbye to Ichiro-san upon leaving, we decided to stay a bit more in a nearby park before it got dark.

"Oh, I almost forgot, we brought a little something for you…"

Reaching into my bag, I took out a small cube-shaped box that, with a press of a button, had several parts open up to reveal what was inside.

Himiko wasn't sure what to make of it, but the obvious red-colored liquid in small bottles spoke for itself. "Is…that…!"

"Yup, it is," I replied with a smile. "When we were at the hospital, I talked a bit with the doctor that diagnosed you, and we got plenty of info from him. You obviously need blood in your system because of your Quirk, so we thought of this little idea to help you out. The two big ones are mine and Izu's blood, the rest are some of my dad's friends I asked last night. "We wanted to show you it's alright to tend to your Quirk's needs and not see it as a burden, or to be ashamed of it," Izuka chimed in. "All Quirks are unique in their own way, some more different than others. Yet, that doesn't mean the others are valued any less or deserve to get neglected. Gotta start somewhere, right?"

Looking back and forth between the two of us with a face full of utter shock, her eyes went down to the box, slowly moving her hand towards Izuka's bottle, lifting it up while shyly pointing at it. "I can…?"

Izuka and I immediately responded with encouragement, wanting nothing more than her to experience her gift in peace.

Taking a slow sip of her blood, Himiko's eyes went wide after a few brief seconds passed for it to

"It's so… sweet!" Himiko exclaimed joyfully while jumping slightly in excitement. "It's like… eating strawberry ice cream but ten times better! Also, I didn't tell you guys… but I can also do this…"

Before we could ask her to elaborate, Izuka jumped back slightly upon seeing Himiko's form change into an exact copy of her, including her clothes. "Woah, you can shapeshift into different people when you drink their blood?!

"Y-Yeah…"Himiko said shyly while rubbing the back of her head. "I learned I could do this a few years back, just never had much of an opportunity to use it. Since it was a while ago, I'm not sure how long I can stay like this, or if it depends on how much blood I need to extend the duration."

"Hmm, interesting…" I hummed, playing along like I didn't know what her Quirk was capable of. "Well, now that you can drink it whenever you need it, we can help you get it under control and hopefully learn more about it."

"You will?! Thank you so much! You don't know how much-" Himiko stopped mid-sentence when she turned to Izuka. "Umm, Izuka-chan… where did that notebook come from…?"

"Hmm?" Izuka hummed upon looking back up, tilting her head to the side.

"Don't even bother with that one," I said nonchalantly while waving the question off. "To this day, I'm still not sure where she keeps them. She does this anytime there is a new fact or idea she gets about a Quirk, don't mind her. Besides, about the gift, I'm glad you like it. Here, try mine."

While the blonde-haired girl perked up in excitement, she quickly composed herself to gently take the bottle, waiting a bit more before drinking it. It was obvious how much she appreciated the present as she shivered in delight while sipping the blood.

Toga, looking down, noticed the labels with names on the bottles. About three bottles had my name on the labels and two had Izuka proudly scribbled on it. Toga, curious, looks at the other bottles and notices there are about five bottles each from three names she doesn't recognize. The other bottles were from my father, two of his colleagues from work and some from Izuka's mother.

"There are plenty of those since they are grown-ups and can give more, I can sorta refill mine every now and then, but Izuka can't unless I use my Healing Quirk to make up for the lack of blood in her system." I began explaining. "Buuut, part of my Quirk also allows me to manipulate liquid as well, to a reasonable extent. With it, I just might be able to develop a way to reproduce the blood we already have, so we'll never have a shortage of it. Furthermore-"

.

.

.

"Wait a minute…"

I said suspiciously as I slowly brought my face closer to the girl with the ability to shapeshift, who at one point decided to transform into me while I was still talking.

Regardless of seeing my reflection in a full-body mirror every day in my room, it was far different from seeing your face on someone else entirely.

"Is that how I look from a different angle…?" I asked while tilting my head, beginning to feel an odd sensation from observing my own features the more I looked at her.

"O-Oh…" Himiko uttered before laughing awkwardly. "For a second there, I thought you might have gotten mad for turning into you."

"No, no, just weird seeing my face on someone else y'know?" I smiled, then motioned with my hands. "So how does mine taste?"

"Your blood is totally different from Izuka's! There are more 'flavors' to it, I guess? Not in a bad way, though! If anything, I think it has a unique taste to it, definitely not like any other I had before…!"

"Heh, sounds about right," I said jokingly. "Since my own DNA adapts to the Quirks I've copied, I guess it would only make sense my blood would be a little different as a result. What do you think, Izu?" I said while waiting for her to chime in on the matter, only to be met with silence. "Izuka?

Tilting my head to look past my lookalike, who did the same thing, I found Izuka staring at us with a blank expression while her mouth was slightly open.

"Izuka?"

"Izuka-chan?"

The two of us asked at the same time, with Himiko sounding more concerned as she brought her face closer to Izuka.

It immediately snapped Izuka out of her daze, shaking her head momentarily before responding. "What? O-Oh, yeah! I-I'm fine…!"

"Are you sure?" Himiko asked worryingly.

"Absolutely, Yu- I mean Toga-san…!" Izuka quickly corrected herself. "S-Sorry, just got confused for a second there… heh."

"Okay, if you say so, Izuka-chan." Himiko responded with a worried expression, which only made the green-haired girl even more apologetic for some odd reason.

Oh, yeah, this whole ordeal will be interesting. That's for sure.

---

For the first time, while walking towards her home, Himiko didn't look nervous, or fidgety. she instead just stared at her destination.

Her eyes didn't move an inch, just blankly staring forward while deep in thought, unable to do anything but go into auto-pilot mode.

Now that they went their separate ways, Himiko instantly felt saddened that the encounter ended so quickly, despite lasting several hours at the very least. A part of her wanted to turn around and go spend more time with them, but knew better than to do that.

That wasn't the only thing that was on her mind, though, the bag in her hand that contained a small box with numerous bottles of blood inside took up a considerable amount of space as well.

While the taste of blood was delicious and eased her entire being, the proper combination of words to explain that sensation to her simply didn't exist, and now after so long, she would be able to have it at a moment's notice.

Yet, this time around, Himiko didn't want to give in to her desire so easily.

Most likely because it was a gift from her actual "friends" that are meant to help her, and encourage using her Quirk instead of ignoring its existence. On top of which, even though Yukio implied getting more wouldn't be much of an issue, she didn't want to drink the entire batch in a short amount of time to get more.

Then her mind trailed back to her new friends, which instantly pushed everything else to the side.

It truly was weird, Izuka didn't have a Quirk and Yukio had one that allowed him to use multiple abilities and retain them. Through their conversations, Himiko could barely piece together what their school life must be like given their circumstances. Izuka, regardless of not having a Quirk, was full of kindness and compassion. While Yukio, who seems rather non-threatening in appearance and has a relaxed demeanor, was knowledgeable in a variety of things and used his ability to help others,

In her case, it was a bit difficult to compare.

She understood how her Quirk functions, but there were plenty of other small titbits she never learned about, or rather didn't get a chance to, but the fact still remains. Controlling it would be the most essential aspect and yet, she didn't know where to start.

Maybe despite her Quirk being what it is, the two easily pushed that fact off to the side and focused on her as a person above all else, even her "episode" she had upon their initial encounter.

It was there Himiko found herself at a crossroads of sorts, to put it in simple terms.

Before, the blonde-haired girl would have to keep plenty of aspects of herself a secret or tweaked to maintain some sort of relationship with other students, but it still felt… hollow.

She would work so hard to remain "normal" to experience any form of social interaction with her peers, yet, not once did it ever be what she hoped for. Having to pay attention to small details regarding her life to prevent any slip-ups in her story, only became mentally tiring over the years. On top of which, she never had the opportunity, to be honest with anyone or let alone others having a genuine interest in her Quirk.

That's why these last two days were so weirdly paradisiacal.

Himiko would be lying if she wasn't at a loss of words when the two showed her the gift they made for her, having another moment of pure disbelief at the events unfolding in front of her.

Her own mother and father repeatedly told Himiko nobody should see her Quirk or to even use it, but Yukio and Izuka wanted to see her use it freely and not think of it in a bad light.

"Never judge someone by their Quirk, but their sense of character…"

The sentence echoed inside Himiko's mind upon remembering their discussion during their meal. In her case, the concept seemed so foreign as she disliked her own Quirk since it first manifested and caused all sorts of issues because of it, as her entire personality was built on top of a lie as a result.

Now, for the first time, she doesn't have to keep that part of her a secret.

Even though she knew the duo for barely two full days, she wanted nothing else but to spend more time with them and re-experience the odd sensation in her stomach that made her feel tense but also a wave of reassurance as well. They weren't like any other kids she encountered before, there was something different about the two of them.

She was both scared and excited at the same time, the latter feeling being more unknown territory than anything else, but she wasn't ready to lose that odd feeling.

Not now when she finally got a real taste of what it was like.

Lightly gripping the bottle with a look filled with pure determination, Himiko raised it towards her mouth.

Allowing the liquid to flow back and forth in her mouth for a few seconds longer to savor the taste, the blonde-haired girl swallowed and licked her lips afterwards, raising the bottle once more so she could seal it properly without a second thought.

While the obvious sensation of wanting to drink more was present, she refused to give in to her urges. Regardless if it was easier than ever before, it simply wasn't worth it.

That's what she was slowly starting to realize, and it was impossible to not think about it even further.

Himiko herself wasn't sure where the sudden willpower to ignore those feelings came from, but the thought of Yukio and Izuka potentially being happy with her progress in controlling her Quirk made her all the more motivated.

The blonde-haired girl wasn't sure how this new development would transpire, considering it was only the first day, and thinking too much ahead proved to be difficult.

However, it would seem it's true what they say, you can always stay focused on something with the right type of goal in place.

Forming a low, but contagious smile, Himiko's face once again lit up with hope.

Waiting until tomorrow seemed like an eternity, but if it meant spending another day with her new friends, she would even wait a whole week if she had to.

-Quirks-

Healing Aura - emits a jade-colored aura from the user's hand that is able heal/repair abrasions, bruises, small to deep cuts etc. Initial usage has no requirements, but the longer it's in use, begins to drain the user's stamina and energy to compensate. The more energy used, the more severe wounds are able to be healed.

Dat concludes Ch.8, hope ya'll liked it

This was rather interesting for me to write, solely cuz Himiko's backstory always intrigued me. Canon itself was a bit vague on her past, both in the anime and in manga. I'm a firm believer she was a completely normal child during her youth, but due to the neglect of her parents regarding her Quirk, some mental/psychological issues began developing over the years.

I didn't want them to just meet when she didn't have any sort of issues, as I don't believe there was a time when that was the case. Maybe, at best through the age of four to six, but beyond that, that's where the issues gradually started growing. Here, we get an idea of how she appeared to be before she fully snapped, so hopefully, I got it right on how she would act around the two.

It won't take long to rach episode one of canon timeline, from this point on. One chap showing how our trio is doing after meeting each other and that should be it. I asked before whether the All Might scene upon meeting him should stay the same or not, and still debating it, but will have a decision soon enough.

Before anyone asks, I think Toga being the same age as Yukio and Izuka is a better choice, one year difference is potato potat0 either way. Want her to attend Class 1-B and consider a small buff to her Quirk to be able to manipulate blood to make weapons, but that's just me.

As always, if you have any suggestions or ideas or critiques, be sure to let me know by leaving a review. If they are any errors, as I'm know to let a few slip past me, I'll revisit the file again in the morning when I wake up

The link for Discord is " www - discord gg - bTyYgzEm7r" (Removes the - for the internet links).

P.S - If anyone is concerned about the name Healing Aura for the Quirk, I already asked Kairomaru for permission, he said it was perfectly fine if anyone's concerned.

Cya