Chapter 32: Confessions Part 1
Warning for dark themes: This chapter will contain discussions of past child abuse and the topics of underage sex and prostitution. While no acts are shown nor are they described in detail, the topics are discussed.
A pillar of green fire ripped through the night sky, bathing the street below in emerald light. The Nomu was enveloped in the blaze screeched in agony but the roar of the fire drowned out its cries. Even Ochako couldn't hear it and she still had its hands around her neck, though she could feel its grip loosening. The release of the pressure and suddenly being able to breathe was enough to jolt Ochako out of her dazed shock and into action. Grabbing the Nomu's wrists, Ochako yanked them apart and at last she was free. Keeping a hold on one of its arms, Ochako glanced down and her jaw went slack. She now had a perfect view of the fire's source and her mind raced to come to terms with it.
Deku's breathing fire…? Deku's breathing fire! What the fuck?!
The insanity of the situation still hadn't completely sunk in and Ochako didn't have time to let it. She felt an abrupt jerk as the Nomu's leg kicked out and threw Izuku away. The sudden act and tumbling through the air cut off the fire and Ochako got a good look at the charred and blackened monster. She didn't bother to look too long, though. Izuku was plummeting towards the ground and she had to catch him.
Twisting around, Ochako used the Nomu's body as a springboard and launched herself down while the burned Nomu fell towards the ground, its wings now too burned to keep it afloat. While Izuku tumbled through the air, Ochako kept her body straight so she could scythe through the night sky. Watching Izuku plummet and the way his body waved about was sickening for Ochako, but with them both being so high up she would have no problem reaching Izuku in time.
Ochako saw a black portal swirl open. A great dark void ready to catch Izuku and take him away.
Then Ochako began to panic.
Reaching out her hands, Ochako began to pray she was fast enough. He was so close now, she just had to touch him. The black portal was close, too, and getting closer by the second. Ochako prepared herself; if she didn't get to Izuku in time, she was going to be diving headfirst into wherever that portal took him.
She'd be damned if she saved herself and let Izuku get taken.
Stretching her hand out as far as she could, she reached.
Yards became feet.
Feet became inches.
Izuku's body whipped around and his arm slapped into Ochako's hand. She grabbed it and floated them both, their bodies coming to a sudden but gentle stop just above the black portal. Yanking Izuku to herself, Ochako wrapped her arms around his body and held him close. The way his body twitched against her, the sounds he made, she could tell he was in so much pain. She knew she had to get him back to the ground as fast as she could.
Then she heard a growl of frustration. Looking past Izuku she saw twin yellow slits stand out against the blackness as Kurogiri looked at the two, "Shigaraki wishes to meet this boy. I'm afraid he will be coming with me."
From the portal, dark tendrils of mist reached out to grab them, only for a new blast of bright orange fire to slam into the black portal. Ochako gasped and rolled herself and Izuku aside and away from the fire. Kurogiri yelled as he vanished, whether from pain or frustration Ochako didn't know or care. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Endeavor blasting away.
With the threat gone, Ochako floated herself and Izuku back down towards the ground. Holding Izuku close to her body and wincing at every hacking cough and shallow weeze he made, Ochako touched back down on the ground and as carefully as she could laid Izuku on his back. Pulling back, she was finally able to get a good look at him. Izuku had burns around his mouth, nose, and running down his neck. His costume around his neck and chest was burned away, showing even more angry red and blistered burns. Ochako pushed back the thought of what he looked like on the inside; his throat and lungs could be burned as well.
His erratic breathing sounded horrible and with every exhale Izuku coughed up smoke while his inhales made the inside of his mouth glow green from a light further back. Then his body started to convulse. Each spasm rocked his broken limbs creating fresh jolts of pain that only made him move more. His breathing got even harsher and the coughed up smoke was soon joined with tiny tongues of flame. Not wanting him to move his body anymore and terrified that he may burn himself even more, Ochako put her hands on his chest to try and hold him down, before yanking her hands back in shock, hissing in pain.
HOT!
Izuku's chest was burning hot. After being so close to the first blast of fire from Izuku, then the second from Endeavor, not to mention the shear panic she had been in to try and save Izuku from his fall, Ochako hadn't noticed just how hot Izuku's body had become. Moving her hands to his shoulders to try and stabilize him, Ochako quickly realized that Izuku's whole body was burning up. It suddenly dawned on Ochako that there was nothing she could do now. She could feel herself starting to panic again. Her own breaths became shallow and rapid. Eyes widening, she turned her head, looking desperately for someone to help. She saw Miruko, Tenya, and the heroes running over to her.
"HELP! HE'S BURNING!"
Miruko reached them first, skidding to a stop and grabbing Ochako by her shoulders, "Runt are you-?"
"DEKU'S BURNING!"
Ochako was beyond being able to talk back, her mind stuck on repeat. Gran Torino and Tenya reached them next, shocked at the sight of Izuku while Miruko tried to get Ochako to calm down. Endeavor, who had finally reached the group after chasing Kurogiri off, heard Ochako's wails and reached down and laid a hand on Izuku and hissed, He's overheating. Pushed his body too hard using that fire. And those burns… Like his body isn't used to his own Quirk… Like… He needs to get cooled down now!
"SHOUTO!" Endeavor turned back to look for his son, "You need to cool down this boy now!"
Shouto looked over at the group before glancing down at Himiko, conflicted over the idea of leaving her but also knowing he was the only one that could help Izuku. Looking at the sword sticking out of Himiko's chest and noting that there was very little blood loss now, Shouto's eyes traveled up and found Himiko's. While the rest of her was freezing, the fire in her eye hadn't dimmed in the slightest, and the look she gave him made her position on what he should be doing very clear.
Get over to Izuku or you're dead.
Shouto added an extra layer of ice over Himiko's wound, then rushed over towards Izuku. Like everyone else, he had questions. Many many questions. But first and foremost he had to make sure Izuku was going to be around to answer them. Putting his hand on Izuku's chest, Shouto worked to cool him down. The space between his hand and Izuku's chest hissed and puffs of steam billowed out from between Shouto's fingers. Shouto was shocked at just how much work he was having to do to bring Izuku's temperature down. As he worked, the small flickers of fire that escaped Izuku's mouth with every breath soon faded to dull embers.
"How hot was that fire if it left Midoriya like this?"
Endeavor looked down at the Izuku with a frown, "Probably close to ours… That kind of heat but no control…"
Father and son went out of their way not to look at each other after that.
Miurko held Ochako back so that Shouto could work, so she looked back and forth between him and Izuku, "He's going to be alright, right? He won't…?" Ochako couldn't bring herself to finish. Izuku's mangled body, the blood from his ears, nose and eyes and now the burns and heat; Ochako wasn't sure just how much more damage Izuku could take.
Izuku took a deep and shuddering breath, but as Shouto worked, it didn't devolve into another haggard cough. "He's cooling down," Shouto said with a sigh. He could still feel heat coming off Izuku but he wasn't having to fight to cool him off like he had been. The fire was completely gone now and the smoke faded away as Izuku's breathing sounded and looked more normal. Strained yes, but no longer as haggard and painful.
"See, runt. He's going to be okay. It's going to be okay."
Miruko wasn't one for soothing people, but given the circumstances she was trying her best. One arm wrapped around Ochako to hold her back, while the other she ran over Ochako's head, "See, nothing to worry about. Nothing at-"
SLAM!
The sound of someone suddenly landing in the street shocked everyone. Endeavor turned, his body igniting as he got ready for another fight. Gran Torino whipped around ready to launch, while Tenya crouched into a fighting stance. His engines were still stalled but he wasn't about to let someone attack his friend again.
"I am here to… to…"
All Might stood in the middle of the ruined street while everyone else nearly doubled over as their momentum came to a screeching halt. He looked around in total shock before looking at the group.
"What happened here?"
"You're all fakes!" Stain called out as he was loaded up into a police armored van. Bound and restrained, police officers worked to push Stain into the back. At first he hadn't fought back, but when he saw Himiko getting medical treatment with heroes standing around to offer help, he started screaming, making sure everyone knew what he thought, "That you've allowed that monster into your ranks shows just how far you fakes have fallen! She's soaked in blood but you all want to pretend it isn't there! None of you are real heroes. No true hero would allow her to train in their schools."
As he was loaded up, Stain looked towards All Might, "Why do you allow this filth to remain? You've found a boy with the heart of a hero, yet you risk it by letting that monster stay with him?"
All Might laid a hand on Izuku's shoulder as the unconscious boy was loaded up into an ambulance, "It is a hero's duty to ensure the best for everyone. Everyone deserves to be saved. That's what we are doing. What you should have done."
Around him, the rest of the students were finally loaded up and on their way to the local hospital. Only Himiko remained as more care was needed to stabilize her for transport.
Stain shook his head, "Some are beyond saving, All Might. You've saved so many, maybe you've lost sight of that. I don't blame you, of course. It's your nature to be a hero. But sometimes you must realize some things are beyond your reach. Toga is a monster and she will be the death of everything you hold dear. It's her nature. These fake's can't see it," Endeavor sneered while Miruko rolled her eyes. Gran Torino just ignored him as he held a phone up to his ear, "but you must. Or else you'll have a blood bath on your hands."
The group of heroes watched as Stain was loaded up and driven away. With Stain finally gone, All Might watched as medics quickly and carefully loaded Himiko up on a stretcher, keeping her on her side and doing everything they could to make sure not to make her injuries any worse. While they worked, All Might was very aware that a group of officers were hanging back, watching Himiko's ambulance with great interest. He noted the distinct hats on some of their heads that marked them as Tartarus guards. When her ambulance drove away, they also loaded up and drove off.
That's… going to be trouble.
"All Might, I called Recovery Girl. She's on her way to the hospital."
All Might slumped with a sigh, "Thank you, Gran Torino."
"I also got in contact with Nezu like you asked. Let him know that Tartarus was interested in that girl."
All Might looked out at the destroyed street, "I'm hoping things don't get out of hand but he'll know what to do to deal with it if it does."
Gran Torino nodded, "Speaking of getting out of hand…"
"Yeah…"
"All things considered, kid did alright. All of them did. You must be teaching them something right at U.A. for them to survive this." Gran Torino reached up and patted All Might on the back.
I just hope things calm down and they have a chance to recover. Lord knows they all deserve it. I could also use the chance to figure out what's going on, too. Yeah… worry about healing first, then figure out what the hell is going on with Young Midoriya.
Tomura scratched at his neck as he walked into the bar, "I don't believe this. What the hell is going on with that brat?!"
Behind him, Kurogiri reformed and took his place behind the bar, "I apologize, Shigaraki. I should have been more careful while I tried to capture that boy."
Plopping onto a stool, Shigaraki sighed, "I was the one that ordered you to get him after that Nomu got fried. Looking back, probably not one of my better ideas, what with all those heroes around."
Kurogiri poured Tomura a drink, then he walked over and turned on the monitor, "Master? We have returned."
"So you have. I take it things did not go as you had hoped?"
Shigaraki shrugged, "Stain's gone. Didn't die but he'll be locked away. And we got to cause a little chaos, too. That'll put the League on everyone's minds."
"True. Though we have lost more Nomu. Unfortunate."
"You're making a habit of losing my creations, Shigaraki. One dead and another captured."
Tomura frowned and looked over at the monitor, "Doc? It's not my fault your Nomu are faulty. Besides, Kurogiri brought one of them back."
"A blackened mess with more burns than skin now. Do you know how rare flying Quirks are?"
"Is it salvagable?" Kurogiri asked.
"...Perhaps. Not in its current form but… It survived in this state. Maybe I was too hasty to turn the boy into something so simple. Maybe I should try something… higher. Yes, yes, bringing him back was a good call. To survive Endeavor's fire means there's something to be used from this Nomu."
"It wasn't Endeavor that turned the Nomu into fried chicken. It was Midoriya."
"Midoriya? The boy you ran into at USJ?"
"And the one All Might took under his wing, to train during U.A.'s internships."
Tomura growled, "Well something happened when All Might did that. Now the brat can breath fire."
"Fire Breath? That is very odd. Perhaps he was hiding the Quirk?"
"Not only that," Tomura spat out, "The kid's suddenly way stronger. He practically threw a fucking alley at Stain and then decimated a street with a single punch. It was just like watching a little All Might. What the hell?!"
"Like watching All Might, you say? Shigaraki, tell me exactly what you saw."
Nice to meet you, Ninth.
Groggily, Izuku opened his eyes, squinting at the light coming in from his window. As his mind slowly came back into focus, Izuku began to get a feel of his own body and his surroundings. White walls and ceilings, and the gown he wore told him he was in a hospital and the light letting him know that it was at least the next day. He then lifted up his left hand and held it up, examining it and his arm to see if there was any sign of damage from when the Nomu snapped it. It looked exactly like it should.
Next he did the same with his right hand and arm. Memories of shredded skin and blackened flesh flashed in his head, turning his stomach, but he forced it away. His right arm and hand were lightly wrapped up in bandages. His arm felt very sore and weak but as he ran his hand over it, everything was still there. Gingerly, he tapped his thumb and each finger together and was happy that there didn't seem to be any loss in dexterity. The soreness reminded him of when he woke up after getting smacked by Nomu.
Turning away from his hand and arms, Izuku looked down at the foot of his bed and with effort, wiggled his feet. He sighed when he saw the blanket over them move around. So he still had his legs, though like his right arm, they were very very sore. Still, all things considered, he was in pretty good shape.
"Midoriya?"
And he wasn't alone.
Looking up, Izuku quickly scanned the room. Sitting off on the other side of the room on the other bed was Tenya. Like Izuku, he wore a hospital gown and had bandages wrapped around his arm. Shouto sat in a chair to his side and both looked surprised but happy to see Izuku up
"Iida. Todoroki," Izuku winced. His throat was sore and his tongue tender.
Shouto stood up, "Easy, Midoriya. Recovery Girl treated most of your wounds but she told us to make sure you rest when you woke up."
"How long have I been out?" Izuku asked quietly while he raised his hand to his throat and rubbed it. It felt like he had been screaming all day yesterday, But why does my throat hurt so much? I'm pretty sure I blew up my limbs using One for All but my throat? What did…
More memories returned to Izuku, held back by the pain he had been in when the events had happened. He had been grabbed by the Nomu and then...
"There was fire…?"
Shouto and Tenya glanced at each other before Tenya nodded, "That's right. You were breathing fire after you got taken by that Nomu and Uraraka chased after you..."
Izuku stopped hearing Tenya. Images. Horrible, terrifying images assaulted Izuku's mind. The Nomu, it's elongated fingers wrapped around Ochako's throat. Strangling her. Panic began to well up in Izuku's chest, his breathing starting to become shallow and quick, "Uraraka!"
Ochako wasn't in the room with them. He couldn't remember what happened to her. All he could see was the Nomu's hands around her throat. Alarmed at Izuku's sudden panic attack, Shouto and Tenya started to rush to Izuku's bed, "Midoriya, hold on-"
SLAM!
"I swear, I'm going to throw that jerk out a freaking window. He won't even tell me how she's... Huh?"
The door to the room slammed open and Ochako, looking exceptionally pissed off, stormed into the room ready to vent. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Izuku sitting up in his bed, looking at her with wide eyes.
"Ura… raka?"
Ochako's anger evaporated instantly, "Deku!"
Rushing to Izuku's side, Ochako was about to ask Izuku how he was feeling but her question died on her lips as Izuku surprised her, and everyone else in the room, by lunging at her and wrapping her up in a tight hug. Burying his face into the crook of her neck, Izuku started to weep, "You're okay. Thank god, you're okay."
"D-Deku?"
Ochako froze up. Izuku had never, ever, done something like this before. His grip on her was tight and every sob reverberated through him and into her.
"It… it was strangling you. It was killing you and I couldn't… I couldn't…do anything."
Izuku's voice grew hoarser with every word. Holding onto Ochako like this hurt. His sore body screamed for release but he would be damned if he was going to let her go now. Ochako knew that Izuku was still recovering and that getting worked up was not going to help him in any way, so she moved to help calm him down. Wrapping one arm around him and moving her other hand up to his head, she stroked his hair gently, "Shhhh. It's alright. I'm alright. You saved me, Deku. It's all over now."
Every fear, every horrible thought and terror Izuku had fought and drove back so that he could will himself to act finally broke free. He cried and cried and cried. All the while Ochako held him and told him it was all okay. That everything was going to be okay. She was there for him, like she knew he would be for her. When Izuku was finally able to calm down, he unwrapped his arms from around Ochako, slowly letting himself move away from her until he was back to sitting upright on his hospital bed. Ochako kept a hand on top of his as she moved to sit down on his bed next to him, her touch a constant reminder she was there and she was alright.
Izuku looked down at her wet shoulder guiltily, "Sorry about that."
Ochako rolled her eyes with a smile, "It's a hospital gown, Deku. Don't worry about it. Besides, I've known you and your mom for how long now? Want me to tell you how many times you two have nearly drowned me in tears."
Sheepishly, Izuku shook his head, "Please don't."
Ochako laughed and the mood in the room felt lighter for everyone.
"How are you feeling, Midoriya?" Tenya asked as he looked his friend over."Sore, like I got punched by a Nomu again. My throat hurts."
"That's… not that surprising," Shouto answered simply.
The unasked question hung in the air, but no one was in a hurry to ask it. Which Izuku was relieved of. Looking back, it suddenly dawned on him that after everything that happened last night he was going to need to come up with some stories fast.
It'll need to be something good, too. Otherwise Toga will rip it apart. She's way too… way too…
Izuku stopped and looked around the room. Really looked around the room.
Iida. Todoroki. Uraraka…
"Where's Toga?"
The lightened mood of the room darkened and Izuku watched as each of his friends' faces turned grim. Panic once again started to seize Izuku's heart but Ochako, seeing the change in his face, gripped his hand and shook her head, "She's alive, Deku. And recovering just fine…" Ochako's face soured, "Or so we've been told."
"So you've been told? What does that mean?"
The group of three glanced at each other, "Todoroki, you were the only one of us that got to talk to anyone. Want to fill Deku in?"
"Fill me in?"
Ochako sighed angrily, startling Izuku, "It's been… a long morning."
Shouto nodded, "While you were still unconscious, we tried to find Toga's room. We thought it was odd she had been sectioned off from the rest of us. We had assumed that she must still be in intensive care but that doesn't seem to be the case. Though we haven't been able to see her to know for sure."
"Why not?"
Shouto sighed, "Because her room is being guarded. There is a prison officer from Tartarus right outside her room and he isn't letting anyone in."
"Not us," Ochako continued, "Or any of the U.A. teachers."
"What? Why?!"
Shouto shook his head, "We don't know," Tenya looked off to the side when Shouto said that, "The guard just told us we were not getting in and if we asked again he'd have us arrested. At that point we heard that there was U.A. staff in the lobby so we went down there to try and figure out what was going on. However, that didn't get us anywhere. Our teachers and Tartarus are at each other's throats and the police are trying to keep the two groups calm. When they saw us we got sent back up here. I only got to speak to Principal Nezu briefly but he said it was a custody issue."
Izuku's head was spinning, "How bad is it?"
"Present Mic and Aizawa sensei were both holding Midnight sensei back. She was ready to take a swing, Deku." Izuku's jaw dropped, "The other teachers looked ready to fight, too… and so did Tartarus. It's bad, Deku."
"But… why?"
"I think…" Tenya began slowly, "I think Toga hasn't been completely hon… completely open about her past."
Izuku blinked while Ochako frowned, "What do you mean? You know something?"
"I… have a theory but I don't want to say more until we have a chance to hear from Toga herself. Sufficient to say, I think she got into some trouble in her past. However, I personally would feel better if she wasn't in Tartarus's… care. The officer guarding her right now, we ran into him before the Nomu attack. He and the other kept referring to Toga as an 'it'. Treating her like she wasn't even human. Whatever her past, it would be best if she was back with U.A."
"THEY…"
"...WHAT!?"
Izuku and Ochako's mood changed instantly. Before Izuku had been filled with worry and Ochako was filled with worry and more than a little anger. Now, both looked furious. Now, both looked ready to go to war.
Shouto also did not look pleased, though he was still much more in control of himself, "Why didn't you mention this before, Iida?"
"At the time we were still worried about Midoriya and after the run-in with the guard, we were all starting to get upset. I didn't want us to do something that might make things worse. If we were going to find a way to get to Toga, we had to be sure Midoriya was alright first."
"...Makes sense. At the time we might have tried to bull rush past the guard," Shouto said.
"We're seeing her," Izuku said with finality. Throwing the covers off himself, he swung his legs off the bed and stood up, only to crumple to the floor. It was only Ochako and Tenya's quick reflexes that stopped him from falling flat on his face.
"Midoriya, calm down!"
"No! I'm not leaving Toga in their hands."
"Midoriya, you're still recovering. You can't even stand."
Izuku looked down at himself, "Uraraka. Float me."
"Good idea, Deku."
Tenya's eyes bulged, "Wait! No it isn't! Shouldn't you be more concerned with his recovery?!"
Shouto shook his head, "They're too much in sync now to talk them out of this."
Tenya frowned, "I'm not trying to talk them out of it. I'm trying to get them to do this smartly."
Izuku eyed Tenya, "How else am I going to get there if I can't walk?"
"A wheelchair?" Shouto replied simply. He pointed to a folded up wheelchair in the corner of the room.
Both Ochako and Izuku paused while Tenya looked over at the item, "I forgot you brought that in."
"At Principal Nezu's suggestion," Shouto added.
That got everyone's attention. While Ochako picked Izuku up and carried him over, Tenya rubbed his chin in thought, "Wait, I thought the Principal only told you about the custody confrontation?"
"He mentioned that I should wait until we were all ready to go see Toga before bringing it up… Are we good to go see her?"
"Yes."
"Absolutely."
Were Izuku and Ochako's quick responses.
Tenya collected himself and then nodded solemnly, "Yes."
Shouto then walked over to his bed and grabbed his phone sitting on the little nightstand beside it. Quickly dialing a number, Shouto put the phone up to his ear, "Principal Nezu, sir. Yes, he's awake. Yes, he's up to speed. Yes, he is ready to go see Toga. We all are. Yes. Yes. Okay."
The group looked at Shouto, "He also said to call him when we were ready. He said we should be quick after the distraction."
Tenya frowned, "What distrac-!"
BOOM!
Something landed outside. But the sound of the landing was nothing to what came next.
"I AM HERE TO SEE MY STUDENTS! WHO WANTS TO TELL ME I CAN'T?!"
"That's All Might," Izuku said simply.
Ochako nodded, "He wasn't… in the lobby with the other teachers confronting the Tartarus guards and police."
"No, he wasn't," Tenya shook his head, "So did Principal Nezu have him wait so that we-"
A loud scream from outside the room interrupted the group. Shouto opened the door and peaked out just in time to catch the guard keeping them out of Himiko's room bolt by, cursing up a storm, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'ALL MIGHT'S HERE!' YOU EXPECT US TO DEAL WITH HIM, TOO?! FUUUUCK!"
"I think… that was our distraction," Ochako said as she gripped the handles to Izuku's wheelchair.
Izuku nodded, "Let's go!"
Quickly leaving the room, the group of four rushed down the hallway. Izuku was a little worried that someone might question why four kids, one in a wheelchair no less, were running down the halls. Everyone seemed too distracted by the fact that All Might had just arrived and sounded pissed, however. After a few seconds of running, the group came to a sudden stop, with Ochako reaching over to help hold Izuku in his seat when they did.
"Toga's room?"
Shouto nodded and grabbed for the door, "Yes. Let's get in quickly."
Shouto pulled open the door and Ochako pushed Izuku inside. Izuku prepared himself for the worst. The last memory Izuku had of Himiko was not a pleasant one. So even with the advances in medicine and people like Recovery Girl, he was sure he was about to see Himiko hooked up to all kinds of different machines that were keeping her alive.
Izuku was wrong.
What he came face to face with was worlds more horrible.
What Himiko was on might have been a hospital bed at one point but it wasn't one anymore. Himiko was strapped down to the bed and chained. Thick leather straps criss crossed over her body, over her spread legs, and her held out arms. Himiko hadn't even been given the dignity of being allowed to be under her own covers. She had been left exposed in her hospital gown over them, so the straps pressed into her bare skin, leaving the area's around the leather puffy and dark red. Multiple metal cuffs were attached to Himiko's wrists and ankles, the skin around them a dark purple from the force the metal exerted on her flesh. The chains on the cuffs were pulled taut and anchored to the beds railing.
Finally, a last indignity was a barbaric muzzle strapped around her head, with strands of her hair sticking out of the belt clip, jaw and neck. The muzzle covered Himiko's mouth and whole jaw, with only a small hole for her nose to fit through. The right side of her face was covered with a large bandage that looked like it had been pulled askew when the muzzle had been put on. Handcuffs were clipped onto the muzzle straps and attached to the bed, keeping her head pressed down into her pillow and unable to turn.
Even tied down and unable to move, Himiko's left side was towards the door so that her one eye looked over and there was enough fire and fight in it to make anyone question the safety of approaching her. But when she saw it wasn't a Tartarus guard but her friends, the fight died and was replaced with horror. At the same time, any words of greeting Izuku could have said to her were strangled in his throat.
Behind him, his friends had similar reactions. Ochako choked on a breath, while Tenya hissed through his teeth. Shouto closed the door and didn't say anything, though the air around them got very cold.
While Izuku's words had been taken from him, his actions hadn't. He gripped wheels on his chair and drove himself forward. His movement snapped Ochako out of her daze so she rushed the Izuku's chair over to Himiko and the two immediately got to work, leaving the other two behind still shocked at the sight. Even with his sore arms, Izuku angrily yanked apart the straps holding down Himiko's lower body from his wheelchair while Ochako took care of everything up high, first carefully removing the muzzle so that she didn't yank out Himiko's hair. Himiko coughed and moved her neck and jaw around after being finally freed while Ochako ripped off the remaining straps with ruthless abandon.
"Guys you might not want to…" Himiko started to speak, then stopped. The looks in Izuku and Ochako eyes made it pretty clear they weren't really listening to anything at the moment. With all the leather straps undone, the two turned their focus on the metal cuffs.
"Deku, you can break these right?"
Izuku was about to do just that but paused as he remembered last night. Buildings and roads ripped apart, devastation on a scale he'd never imagine himself capable of, and power he'd only seen All Might wield. But All Might doesn't destroy city blocks every time he throws a punch,Izuku thought to himself. Izuku reached out, starting to draw on his Quirk, but being extremely careful about it. He only just started and he could feel the power there and how it pressed against him when he only wanted to use a small amount. The feeling made him hesitate, something everyone noticed.
Shouto covered the distance quickly and placed his fingers over the keyhole of one of the cuffs. Ice flowered out of it and then with a sharp snap, the lock broke and the cuff fell off Himiko's wrist, "Midoriya. You're still recovering right? Overusing your Quirk hurts your head and you used it a lot last night. I can take care of these."
Izuku nodded and leaned back into his chair. In short order, Shouto had the rest of the cuffs off and Himiko sat up, rubbing her wrists and checking out all the marks left by the restraints.
"Toga, you're okay, right?" Izuku wasn't sure if he was asking about the injuries she got last night or the wounds from her restraints. Both he and Ochako looked over Himiko's whole body, circling the bed as they did their checks while Shouto and Tenya took up their places a few steps back to give them room to work.
Himiko watched the two, looking bemused, "Wow, you two are like a couple of mother hens. Look," Himiko made a show of moving her toes and feet, then rotating her ankles, "full movement. Recovery Girl does good work. I'm perfectly fi- eek!"
Himiko was about to shoo the two off before they both lunged forward and wrapped Himiko into a twin bear hug, "Wha- wha- what's going on?" Alarmed that she was getting hugged and that Izuku and Ochako had started to cry, she snapped her head over towards Tenya and Shouto only to find that they also looked pretty emotional. For them, it amounted to a restrained smile from Shouto and a surprisingly genuine, if cautious, smile from Tenya. Itsurprised Himiko a lot, since she had been pretty sure the next time she saw him he was going to be punting her out of a building, since he wasn't dumb and had heard a lot of talking last night. More than enough to put things together, anyway.
"Toga, we're just so glad that you're alright," Ochako finally answered, "You were stabbed through the chest. You almost died."
"Bah! I'm not dead. I'm sore as crap because the handy brothers wanted to keep me secure, but I'm fine. Look!" Himiko broke free and stood up on her bed. Grabbing the hem of her gown, she pulled it up to just under her breasts. While she had on scrubs to cover her legs, it was veryobvious that she had nothing on under the gown. "No sword there anymore! So you can stop worry…ing?"
Tenya and Shouto had turned away fast enough. She had made it pretty obvious what she was about to do. It was the fact that Izuku wasn't looking away that threw her for a loop. Her bare stomach and slightly exposed breasts should have knocked him out, but it hadn't. He was looking right at her chest, which was very bold. Glancing slightly to the side, she saw that Ochako was also staring pretty hard.
Okaaaay? I know I got some greatness going on down here but this is just a little weiiiiiird!
Himiko's thoughts came to a violent stop as Izuku reached up and laid a hand on her chest and a look of anguish overcame him, "God, what did I do…?"
Himiko glanced down and it finally clicked that her attempt to throw Izuku off with some surprise sex appeal had only made things worse. He wasn't looking at her body in any sexual way, even the touch wasn't filled with any kind of lustful intent. All his attention was now squarely focused on the scar she now had. Against her pale skin the scar tissue stood out in stark contrast, about as long as her hand and roughly three fingers wide. It was jagged along the edges and started from just below her ribcage and traveled up her chest.
She knew it was there but hadn't thought much about it. She had plenty of scars from her life on the street all over her body, though she had to admit that pretty much all of them were always covered up with clothes. So she hadn't expected anyone else to react to it at all, either. Clearly, she had been wrong, but she couldn't focus on that now. She had to address something else and she had to address it now. Taking Izuku's hand away and letting her gown fall back down, Himiko looked Izuku dead in the eye, "Izuku, this is not your fault."
Izuku shook his head, "Yes it is. Everything that happened to you is my fault."
Tenya turned back in alarm, "Midoriya, wait-"
Izuku, however, kept talking over him, "If I had gotten to you faster your eye wouldn't have gotten hurt. If my Quirk hadn't-"
Smack!
It wasn't a hard slap. Himiko's hand on his cheek barely had enough force to make a sound, but the touch alone was enough to make Izuku shut up and look up at Himiko. Her remaining eye blazed as she spoke, "Let me make this crystal clear. You are not responsible for my actions and the consequences of those actions last night. Everything that happened last night is on me. This," Himiko pointed at her chest, "and this," Himiko reached up and pulled up on the bandages around her face, revealing a light sharp clean scar that crossed over her cheek eye and eyebrow and the now-pale yellow iris, "are my fault. My actions lead to this. Not yours. A lot of shit I did lead to this, in fact. So stop with the whole 'it's my fault' bullshit right now, or we're going to see if a one-eyed girl and beat up a little boy in a wheelchair."
The room was silent for a few seconds before Izuku, wiping his tears away and sniffling, gave Himiko his best smile, "I think I'd still win that."
"Oh?"
"I'd just sic Uraraka on you."
A heart beat later, Ochako snorted and that set the other two off. Himiko fell back onto her bed laughing while Izuku buried his face into the blanket weezing as he laughed, "Oh, hahaha, laughing hurts."
While they got themselves under control, Himiko looked over at Tenya, "That goes for you, too. I made my choices."
"Yes… I suppose you did."
With everyone back under control, the group found places to sit, and for a few glorious minutes they just existed in each other's company. No one said anything, they just let themselves bask in a silent victory. Last night, they probably should have died and yet they didn't. They survived. They won.
But the world doesn't stop for anyone's pain or pleasure and soon the question they all knew had to be asked came up.
"Toga," Izuku began, "Why are the police, Tartarus, and the school fighting over you? Why would they tie you up like this?"
"I've never told you the whole… story about my past. There are reasons for this whole… shit show."
Ochako frowned, "What could you have possibly done to deserve this?"
"...You want the long or the short version?"
"How about the truthful version?" Tenya's words came out much harsher than he meant them to. Himiko was his friend and to assume the worst was wrong. But he had a picture in his head now, after everything he had heard last night, and it was coloring his view more than he'd want to admit.
"Iida!" Izuku looked at Tenya in shock, "That's not fair!"
Shouto shook his head, "Given the circumstances, Iida might not be that off base."
Izuku frowned deeply, "We all have… We all have our own personal secrets." Izuku looked at Shouto when he said that, then at Iida, "And even if she was keeping some things from us, she still doesn't deserve to be treated like… like a-"
"Like a villain?" Himiko finished for him. Izuku nodded and Himiko scratched at the bandage over her eye, "Because I pretty much am one. So, Tenya's right to call me out. I haven't been truthful. At all."
"No!" Izuku's immediate denial rang in the quiet room, "I don't believe that. You're not a villain. You're nothing like-"
"When I was in my first month of junior high I stabbed a classmate in the chest, cut him open, and stuck a straw into the wound to drink his blood."
Izuku's mouth kept moving but no words came out. Ochako just looked stunned, "Did… did this person attack you or… maybe your friends?" Ochako was trying to take what she knew about Himiko and rationalize what she had heard. Himiko was vicious. If you were a threat to her, or anyone she liked, you were going to get hurt. The villains from the USJ attack learned this the hard way. And if she was only a junior high student, she wouldn't have had her support gear to help her use her Quirk, so a straw might have been the best option at the time.
For whatever reason.
Himiko shook her head, "His name was Saito. He wasn't some bully or thug. In fact he was a very nice person, willing to get into scraps to help protect kids from bullies. He helped people with homework if they were having issues… He was also my first crush."
"Then why…?" Ochako wasn't about to finish her question. Her throat suddenly dried and her mouth just couldn't make any more sounds.
"Because I was thirsty and I needed to drink him up. He had just finished getting into a scrap with someone and was a little busted up. He was bleeding from some cuts and when I saw that, I couldn't help myself."
Himiko could feel the looks she was getting. She could feelevery connection she had built cracking and fading away. The dream was dead and she could accept that. She knew eventually this was going to happen. People would find out and this whole dream would come crashing down. She had accepted this a long time ago and yet even as she tried to power through she couldn't shake the twisted feelings in her gut.
She couldn't shake the feeling that her insides were breaking.
"You needed to…"
The mumble was soft. Even in the silent room everyone almost missed it.
"She said needed… needed… needed..."
Himiko looked over to her side and blinked. While everyone else looked pale and in different stages of shock and horror, Izuku was mumbling away, his hand pressed hard against his chin and his eyes focused downward.
"Needed… blood. Quirk… stable… suppression…"
The more Izuku mumbled the more everyone slowly turned to look at him. His mind raced and his mouth tried to keep up. This wasn't a new phenomenon, of course, though no one, not even Ochako, had seen him so concentrated before, so dead to the outside world as he focused on the puzzle in his mind. They'd also never seen small puffs of smoke escape his mouth with every mumbled word, forming a small dark cloud over his head. The strange sight was almost enough to distract the group from the horrible truth Himiko had just dropped. Before anyone could say anything, though, Izuku's head snapped up and he looked right at Himiko, "Toga, you said your parents took you to a Quirk Suppression Therapist right?"
"Eh?" Himiko blinked a few times, "Yeah…"
"It was because they wanted you to stop drinking blood, right?"
Himiko nodded, "Yeah."
"But you told me that you needed blood to keep yourself stable. That for you, it was as important as food and water."
Ochako's eyes went wide as she started to follow Izuku's logic, "Oh!"
"Toga, how long between your… treatment and the time you… attacked your classmate?"
Himiko didn't really see what point Izuku was trying to get at, "They took me to get fixed almost immediately after my Quirk manifested so… about eight years."
"Toga, you were denied a fundamental thing you needed to exist for years. This sounds like… like you had a psychotic break. You said it yourself you needed blood. If he was bleeding, if what you had to have was right there in front of you, it's like putting food in front of people that have been starved. They'll fight and kill for it; it's happened before in history: horrible people pushing others to the brink and their victims just snapping."
Ochako nodded, latching onto Izuku's rationale for all she was worth. Then Shouto had to ask, "Did you kill him?"
"…No."
"Then," Izuku tried to quickly bring back his silver lining, "Then you're still a victim of your parents' abuse. They put you into a situation that-"
"Izuku. Stop. Please, just stop," Himiko cut in, shaking her head, "I get what you're trying to do. I do. But you need to understand something: I cut open his chest. I took an exacto knife and cut Saito open. I hit his ribs with the damned thing. And after I drank my fill, I left him in the hall to bleed out." She took a breath, "I didn't learn he was still alive until my first meeting with Nezu. That was years later. I left him… bleeding and I didn't care. I didn't care about anything at that point. My parents, my classmates - my whole life up until that point didn't matter to me anymore because I was finally free. I didn't have to pretend to be someone else anymore. That blood brought me a clarity I'd been missing for years. I was going to become myself, no matter what. It didn't matter who else got hurt along the way."
Izuku sat in silence, just looking at Himiko. His face wavered between shell shock and anguish. Ochako's bowed her head and clasped her hands together. She looked like she was praying. Tenya shook his head, "That explains the police wanting you, but why Tartarus?"
"You're right. That day would make me a criminal, sure. Attempted murder is a cop's job to solve. Between then and now, that's when I became a real monster." Himiko leaned back into her bed's headboard as she got comfortable, "After I stabbed Saito, I went on the run. For the next week I dug myself deep into the darkest parts of the city I could. If I wanted to hide, I needed to go to the places that even the police would hesitate to go. That first week, I saw what the world was really like. There was so much ugliness and I threw myself into it. I learned I was pretty good at avoiding people. The police never even came close to finding me and I was able to avoid a lot of the nasty people. For a time. Of course, I was still little more than a rabid twelve year old. So eventually, I got cornered. I was feral but I didn't know how to fight. I also hadn't eaten anything for a few days and the water I was drinking… probably better not to think where it ran off from. So not in the best shape."
Himiko brought her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs as she recalled that day, "So I was pretty screwed. I think they were going to sell me or rape me. Probably rape me and then sell me to some underground brothel. They never got the chance, though. Because he showed up."
"He?" Ochako squeaked out.
Tenya frowned, "You told us you didn't live on the streets on your own. You were with someone. Someone that wasn't a fan of heroes… save for All Might."
"That's right. I did say that, didn't I?"
"Stain," Izuku said, looking up at Himiko. "You lived with Stain."
No one needed Himiko to confirm it right away. They each could put the pieces together. Everything they had seen and heard: the similar costume, the similar fighting style, the familiarity between the two, it all led to the same conclusion. Himiko nodded, "Yeah. The first time I saw Mr. Stain, it was when he diced up the group that had me cornered."
"He saved your life?" The disbelief in Tenya's voice was mirrored by the looks of surprise the others had.
Himiko nodded. Her gaze wasn't focused on them anymore as she spoke. She looked at the past instead, "I can still see them, the alley… him. Everything was covered in blood and gore. Watching him kill those guys, I also saw him use his Quirk. Licking the blood up and freezing this guy in place, just so he could lop his head off. A knight in gore stained armor. How couldn't I fall in love?"
Ochako's eyes went wide, "Love?!"
Himiko blushed, "Yeah, He was so sexy, so at that moment I knew I wanted him - needed him. Of course, while I was getting all hot and bothered he never said a word to me, just started to clean up his weapons. I took the chance to… drink my fill from the bodies. When he was done, he looked at me and left. I just followed after him. I asked him why he saved me."
"What did he say?" Tenya asked.
"He hadn't acted to save me. Those men just needed to die."
"That must have been… hard to hear," Izuku recalled the time All Might had saved him from the Slime Villain. If the person that had saved him told him they weren't concerned about his safety, it would have hurt him.
Himiko just shook her head, "It only made me fall in love with him more - want to be with him more - because fate had led us together. Our destinies intertwined even before we knew the other existed."
Looking around, Himiko could see her talk was unnerving the group but no one had told her to stop, or maybe more importantly, no one had left the room. They seemed to have decided they were going to stick through this until the end. So, Himiko kept going.
"Traveling with Mr. Stain wasn't easy. This was still at the start of his career. He was refining himself. Training. Best way to do that was to find more and more dangerous prey. We were always on the move, finding underground pockets of thugs, gangsters, villains and monsters, all waiting for their chance to burst out into the world and take their fill."
Izuku frowned, "Wait… How many of these groups are there? You make it sound like there are groups of villains all over the country."
"There are," was Himiko's matter-of-fact reply.
"But that's… That's not right. The League of Villains is the first organized group to exist in years. All Might defeated them all."
Himiko shook her head, "Izuku. There are groups and cults and all kinds of organizations out there. All Might probably did defeat a lot of them. Probably even some of the biggest during his what… decade and a half of being a hero. But there were plenty more that went underground. They saw what was happening when they tried fighting or grouping up. They either got defeated or…"
Ochako leaned forward, "Or?"
Himiko scratched her chin and looked at everyone very carefully. She chewed on her words and this hesitation was noticed by everyone. She was willing to talk about her past but this subject was making her hesitate, "Mr. Stain told me something once: that 'every light has a shadow.' All Might is a very bright light, so there must be a very dark shadow, too."
Ochako, Tenya and Shout all looked at each other with disbelief on their faces. Not that Himiko blamed them. The idea that some great evil existed in the world as some dark reflection of All Might was just too crazy. Izuku, however, didn't react at all. He was calm. If anyone in the room should be denying the idea it should have been him, but he wasn't.
That got Himiko's attention.
"So, Stain was going around the country, killing street level villains to make himself stronger for when he started to go after heroes?" Shouto asked, refocusing everything. "So it's guilt by association then? For why Tartarus is after you?"
"No. Not association. Accomplice," Himiko said and the grim reality started to settle over the group.
Ochako let out a shuddering breath, "You've killed…"
Himiko shrugged, "You've seen me fight. You saw what I did to the villains that attacked us. Are you going to sit there and say you're shocked that I've killed people?"
Ochako couldn't say that she was.
"At first I was content to just be there while he worked. After he was done there was always plenty for me to eat and drink." Himiko heard a soft oh come from Izuku as it hit him how she had been getting her blood back then. "However, I quickly realized, after some rock guy almost crushed my skull, that if I wanted to stay with Mr. Stain, I needed to stop being weak. So, while he trained, I started to train, too. I watched how he moved and taught myself to do the same. For almost two years I turned myself into a killing machine using Mr. Stain as my template. I even discovered I had a few talents that he didn't. He couldn't disappear in the middle of a group like I could, for example. So he would send me to sneak into places and cause all sorts of chaos before he'd attack. Then after I discovered I could transform, I could infiltrate these groups. Chaos or stealth, I got very good at both options. I'd make a game out of it. If someone could point out I wasn't who I was pretending to be, they didn't die. Towards the end, no one ever lived. If I did good, he'd even praise me."
Izuku frowned hard at that while Ochako's fists tightened.
Tenya looked at Himiko with a hard expression, "You've talked about criminals. Villains. But what about heroes? That's what Stain is known for. How many attacks on heroes were you a part of?"
"None."
"None?" Tenya repeated back.
"'To fight the false heroes in this world you need a conviction that puts you above their greed and corruption.'" Himiko quoted. "That's what he told me. So, when he went out for his hunts, I was left alone. That's how it was for most of the last year we were together: he'd run off and I'd chase after him. Towards the end, though, it got harder and harder to track him down, until finally he hid his tracks so well there just wasn't a way for me to do it. I could still guess where he'd go, but could I get there in time, that was the question. Once it got to that point, it was pretty clear I was abandoned. I had other options I was considering, however," Himiko finished, looking at Izuku.
Ochako glanced at Himiko, then at Izuku, "When you decided to follow after Deku?"
"Yup. After my run in with Izuku, he ripped my heart out of Mr. Stain's hands and took it for himself. There was the issue of not knowing where he lived, but I knew where he was going."
"U.A."
Himiko nodded, "Yup."
Tenya shook his head, "How? Why?"
"I got in contact with Principal Nezu through the police after I made it clear I knew more about Mr. Stain than they did. Gave them places he was likely to hunt and details about his Quirk, that kind of thing."
"Just like that?" Ochako asked.
"It had been… a while since anyone had shown me any real kindness. Mr. Stain was gone and I… didn't want to be alone. So yeah, I gave them everything they would need in exchange for a pardon and to get into the school. I guess I intrigued the mouse because he agreed to the deal after our first meeting, though he made sure to impose some rules on top of everything with the Commission and the police. Big one was that they had full custody of me. Then I had to start therapy, couldn't leave the campus, no killing, no draining people of their blood, and if I stepped out of line, I'm done: I'm shipped off to a cell and locked up for the rest of my life."
Tenya crossed his arms, "But that doesn't explain why."
Himiko leaned back and sighed, "They're trying to 'save me.' All the teachers work with me in some way. I work out my aggression with Ectoplasm and Midnight gets me to talk about my feelings. Give me 'empathy' or something, and talk about all the horrible things that didn't bother me before."
Silence again fell over the group. It was all out in the open now. Himiko was impressed with herself. She hadn't crumpled away as she spoke, like she felt like she was about to. So now that they knew, they could leave and everyone could get on with their lives. It wasn't like things could get worse today.
"There's something I don't understand, though, Toga," Izuku said. He hunched over in his wheelchair, like the weight of Toga's story was weighing him down. He stared down at his hands as he drummed his fingers together, "You were able to do the things you can, fight like you can, back when we were all in our last year of middle school right?"
Toga nodded, "Pretty much. I mean, the present me could kill past me but I was still pretty dangerous."
"Evidently," Tenya said, not to anyone, but his voice carried over the group.
"But," Izuku continued, "when I met you, you were running from those high schoolers," Izuku looked up, "They were chasing you because they thought you were a prostitute. They were going to… try to make you…"
Himiko, who had been remarkably calm and composed the whole time, blinked once. Twice. Then slowly, a new look crept up her face: shame. She turned away, not able to face Izuku as it hit her that their moment, the moment that had changed her life, was about to be corrupted and ruined when she opened her mouth. She knew she had to answer, there was no stopping it. It didn't mean she didn't want to rip out her own heart instead, "Izuku. They thought I was a prostitute because that's what I wanted them to think."
"You what?"
The genuine confusion in Izuku's voice made Himiko wince, "Izuku, have you ever heard of a honey trap?"
Izuku still looked confused but Ochako sucked in a sharp breath through her teeth, "You were leading them into a trap."
Izuku looked stunned and shook his head, "Wait. Wait, hold on. You said you went after other villains. Those high schoolers were… They were criminals because of what they were trying to make you do but they don't match up with the kinds of people you were describing."
"No, they weren't. As far as I was concerned they were just a couple of guys I could cut open and drink," Himiko wrung her hands, "I hadn't trained with Mr. Stain in a few months so that source of blood was pretty much gone for me. He was solely focused on heroes by that point. I used to be able to spend some time hunting back alleys but he was moving so fast that I didn't even have time for that anymore. When I got to Musutafu I was running on empty. I was so… hungry. I didn't know where any of the gangs or criminals lived yet in the city so that wasn't an option. And I knew I wasn't going to be able to wait till night to find a nice pedophile business man to slit open as he pounded me to relieve some stress. But I knew someone would want to tear into me so I threw myself out there and let whoever took the bait be my next meal. Not something I'd done before but I needed something to drink."
"Oh my god," Ochako's face was pale. Sickly pale. Seeing her like that hurt Himiko but she fought that feeling back.
"I use my body and sex appel all the time. Learned real quick it could be one of my best weapons. You think I haven't had se-"
"You've been raped?"
Himiko blinked, "I... No? What?" That was not the next thing she had expected Ochako to say, "I wasn't… What I'm saying is that Izuku didn't save me that day. Izuku, he," she turned back to point at Izuku, "You saved those three boys from me."
And there it was, the last secret out in the open. Everything Himiko had kept hidden, every dark thing she did. All that was left was for her former friends to storm out in disgust. She just wished they'd leave already because waiting for them to go was killing her.
Izuku looked down and Himiko prepared herself for what came next. For what had to come next. She waited. Seconds felt like hours as she waited for something to happen or for someone to say something. Then she heard it: not a shout or a curse, but a soft sniffle and a shuddering breath. When Izuku raised his head, he was crying, which was even worse to Himiko.
"You didn't care… or you don't care?"
Huh?
Himiko looked at Izuku, confused, "What?" Why was he still talking to her? There should have been nothing more being said between them and her, besides yelling. Everyone else looked at Izuku, too. While Shouto and Tenya looked surprised that Izuku had spoken up, Ochako's eyes were wide, like she had just heard something very important.
"You kept saying you didn't care whenever you talked about your past. About the things you did. That at the time you didn't care. You never said you don't care. That you don't care about what you did."
"I…" Himiko trailed off, not sure how to reply to that. It would be easy to say it was just a word choice. 'Didn't' vs 'don't' shouldn't have made a difference. Still, if Izuku was going to be so focused on that, then it would be an easy fix. It was easy to say 'I don't care,' but the words stuck in her throat. After opening up and telling everyone the honest truth, why all of a sudden couldn't she say such a simple thing?
"Toga. Your parents hurt you. For years they hurt you until you couldn't stop yourself and you attacked someone. I think if you had been able to have blood, or maybe some kind of medical substitute like at U.A., you would have never done that. Then while you're at your most vulnerable, Stain comes and takes advantage of you. He doesn't try to help you. He lets you get twisted up to the point where you start copying him, because if you didn't learn to defend yourself, you'd get killed. Then when he starts to see how talented you are, he manipulates you so that you make his training safer. Becoming a distraction for whoever he's targeting so he can get his kills. Praising you so you keep trying to earn more, until he reaches a point where he doesn't need you. And he leaves you. Until that moment, you were never in control of yourself."
Himiko didn't like how similar Izuku's words were to some of the first conversations she had with Midnight so many months ago. When she had first heard them, she had lashed out, claiming that Midnight was trying to diminish what she was and how strong she had become to survive. She had fought and clawed her way to a point where she wasn't on the bottom end of the food chain. The memories of pain and the scars on her body were proof of where she had come from.
It felt like Izuku was trying to take something from her too. Rationalize it away. But the world isn't rational. She sure as hell wasn't. So even if he was moved by good intentions, because this was Izuku and he was the avatar of good, she was not going to let him take anything from her, "So you think I'm not responsible?"
Izuku shook his, "I'm not saying that at all, Toga."
Himiko blinked.
"The… things you did, whether you were made or manipulated to do them… That's still something you have to take responsibility for. I'm saying that it wasn't your fault."
Himiko shook her head, "You can't be… Izuku, I'm a fucking monster. I'm evil. Don't you get it? The things I've done-"
"A monster wouldn't be taking responsibility like you are, Toga," Izuku interrupted.
"Wha-?"
"You go to your meetings, right? At U.A., I mean. You see Midnight sensei for therapy."
"Yes?"
"You see the other teachers, too?"
"Yes but I-"
"So you're doing what you're supposed to do to get better."
Himiko was shaking, this was not how this was supposed to be happening. She didn't know what was happening, "I don't even like going to them, though! I hate it! Being controlled, having my freedmon ripped from me. I want to live in an easy world. Going to U.A. and doing all the shit they make me do is the exact opposite of that! I only put up with it because I wanted to see you again! It wasn't some fucking altruistic decision!"
"But you're still going. That says a lot, Toga. You're making a choice to get better. Regardless of the reason you started or the reason you keep going, what matters is you're getting the help you need. Without Stain, you're finally healing."
Himiko slammed her hands down on the bed, "WITHOUT MR. STAIN I WAS GOING TO KILL THREE STUPID KIDS!" Himiko let out a string of swears that tumbled and tripped over themselves to get out of her mouth.
Himiko glared at Izuku, daring him to try and find a way to counter that. She should have known better. Izuku never did anything alone now, not when Ochako was with him.
"You said you had been spending so much time chasing Stain down that you hadn't had any blood, right? You said you were empty."
Himiko turned to face Ochako. She didn't answer. It was obviously a rhetorical question since Ochako knew the answer, "How long had it been since you had any blood?"
"..." Himiko mumbled something under her breath. Ochako leaned forward waiting for a proper answer and Izuku looked at her with his big green eyes. Himiko cracked, "A little over a month."
"So you were starving?"
"I…"
"And it was when you hit that point that you started looking at civilians? The first time since Saito that you were going to hurt an innocent person."
Himiko couldn't say anything. With kind words and some of the most desperate reasonings, the fight in her had been stomped out.
"You said Izuku saved those three boys. Maybe that's true, but you know what? I think he did save you. He saved you from crossing a line and going down a dark path there might not have been any coming back from."
Shouto, who had been quiet for the talk, asked, "After Midoriya pulled you away, what happened next? You still needed blood, right?"
Himiko was almost sheepish when she answered, "No… No, I didn't go after people like that again. It felt… weird thinking about it. I dunno. After running into Izuku, my priorities shifted… I was able to get some blood that day, though. From when I clean up your busted face… remember?"
Izuku nodded, easily able to recall getting tended to by Himiko.
"So that helped me for a bit and afterwards I was able to scrape by on random cuts and scratches. Doing anything else might have made my plan to get into U.A… needlessly complicated."
"Toga," Shouto began, "I've seen first hand that people have breaking points, where they're pushed to a point they no longer are themselves." Izuku glanced over at Shouto, eyes falling onto his scar. "Your parents forced you to be someone you weren't and then, when that part of you broke, you only had Stain. He never tried to help you, so you stayed broken. That is, until you met Midoriya and an act of kindness started to heal you. People who get hurt like you were deserve a chance to heal."
Himiko wanted to scream, but not in rage or hate. She felt no anger towards anyone in the room. It was anguish and joy mixed together that threatened to burst from her. Joy because in this small instance her expectations seem to have been dashed. Her friends didn't hate her and weren't disgusted by her. Horrified? Yes there was some horror but when you learn what they learned, that was only natural.
But Himiko's joy was short-lived because she knew - she knew - what was going to happen next. And if her friends had left hating her she could live with that. What she didn't think she could live with was their sadness as Tartarus took her away. Because that was what was going to happen. They finally had their claws in her and there was no way they were going to let her go. And the look on her friends' faces when that happened, it was going to break her heart.
Izuku felt uneasy. There was something in the air that had his flight or fight instincts acting up. It wasn't that Himiko looked distressed that the group hadn't turned on her. The way she was acting it was almost like that was what she wanted, trying to make them hate her. Which was impossible. He was not going to abandon a friend no matter what. The horrors Himiko went through had made her commit horrors of her own, Izuku was certain.
And like Ochako had said, she was getting help at U.A. and she had been able to stop herself from harming any innocent people since her first break down in junior high. An act driven by starvation. Izuku saw that as proof Himiko wasn't what she thought she was. A monster wouldn't have waited until it was starving a second time to start attacking people.
That mattered.
His unease also wasn't from Tenya. His friend hadn't said much except for one or two very pointed questions or comments. Even now, he stood motionless in his corner of the room, arms crossed and a frown on his face. He looked angry but he hadn't directed any of that anger towards Himiko, or at least, he hadn't yet. It was clear he was taking in everything that Himiko said. As for what conclusions he was drawing, that was anyone's guess. Izuku supposed that, of everyone in this room, Tenya would be the one to come down on Himiko the hardest. He was strict when it came to rules and Himiko was the opposite of so many of his values, even before these revelations. Add on top of that her connection to Stain and well, it was not a good combo.
But even with all that, it wasn't Tenya that was making Izuku nervous.
We've been talking for a while now… I wonder where-
"So Iida… You've been really quiet." Ochako's comment broke Izuku's thoughts and brought the room to a strange place. It was like someone finally chose to address the elephant in the room. One by one, eyes turned to look at the tall bispecaled student who looked back at them with a stern and grim face. "Er… I mean… if you want to..."
Ochako trailed off, regretting even saying anything.
Tenya's face soured and his jaw clenched several times. He was chewing on his words and they were clearly sour in his own mouth.
"I-"
SLAM!
Tenya was cut off as the door to the room was ripped open and the giant multi armed Tartarus guard Gyges stormed into the room, "Stupid guard. How could he leave his post like that when we have to secure this dangerous thing for transport before those damned teachers interfere any more-!" The man, so consumed in his own grumblings, came to a sudden stop when he looked right at Himiko.
The room stopped.
Then violently started up again as Gyges called into his radio while also whipping his rifle up and leveling it with Himiko. Even as he yelled his finger was pulling the trigger, "IT'S FREE! IT'S FREE! NEUTRALIZING THE VILLAIN!"
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
When Ochako and Izuku saw the guards rifle go up and that barrel point right for Himiko, time seemed to slow and they acted without thought or reason. Their bodies, after spending a year training with All Might and spending weeks at U.A. and even their scant few days in internships with other pro heroes, just moved. Ochako grabbed Himiko and slammed her flat into the bed before using her own body to cover Himiko and shield her. Izuku, in a bright flash of green, flung himself out of his wheelchair and directly between Gyges's rifle and Himiko.
The three rounds fired and then nothing. No sound. No movement for anyone. Shouto and Tenya were stuck, shocked beyond thought and action, while Gyges froze as his tunnel vision finally widened and he realized that Himiko hadn't been alone in the room. His masked face drifted down at the same time as Ochako dared to look to see what was coming next. They both saw Izuku, face down on the floor.
"De-DEKU?!"
"IZUKU!"
Ochako and Himiko began to untangle and started to scramble for Izuku when Gyges snapped back to reality and moved his gun back to Himiko while using his other hands to point at the students, "None of you move! You're aiding and abetting a dangerous villa- ACK!"
Gyges's large body suddenly vanished from the door frame as someone slammed into him and pushed him down the hall, "YOU FUCKING BASTARD! ARE YOU INSANE?! WHO FIRES A GUN IN A HOSPITAL?!"
A series of cracks and pained grunts followed the yell as someone began a beatdown of the Tartarus guard.
"Midnight! Don't kill him! And watch out how much of your Somnambulist you use or you'll knock us all out!" Turning away from the beating, Aizawa rushed into Toga's room, hand to his ear, as he talked into a small earpiece, "We have shots fired. I repeat, a Tararus guard opened fire. I'm checking on… What the-?"
Aizawa came to a skidding stop in the room's doorway as he looked in and saw his students staring back at him in shock. Students that were not supposed to be in the room, "You all shouldn't-"
Midnight, costume ripped and knuckles noticeably scuffed up, shoved Aizawa aside as she hurried into the room, "Toga! Are you… What the hell happened?!"
"Midoriya's been shot!" Tenya snapped back to reality while Aizawa looked down and hissed.
"Damn it!" Putting his hand up to his earpiece, Aizawa yelled into it, "Get Recovery Girl up here now! Midoriya's been shot!"
Somewhere in the hospital a bellow reverberated up the whole building, "WHAT?!"
Aizawa was already moving, "We need to see how badly he's been hurt. Iida, Help me-"
"Can someone please pick me up?"
Everyone stopped and looked down.
"My legs still don't work and I can't get up."
Ochako blinked away some tears, "Deku? You're okay?"
"…I think so."
Toga leaned over her bed and looked down at him, "Then why were you just lying on the ground like that?"
"I sorta… landed on my face… so everything was kinda spinning." Silence greeted his answer and Izuku started to wonder if he should have just stayed quiet.
While Aizawa and Shouto helped Izuku up off the cold linoleum floor, three distinct metallic clinks echoed loudly in the quiet room. Ochako frowned and knelt down to see what had made the sound. Her heart stopped when she saw three pristin bullets rolling on the ground where Izuku had been lying. Numbly, Ochako picked them up and showed them to the room. Himiko's eyes went wide, "Holy crap. Izuku caught bullets."
"Er… not really," Izuku began, "I made a barrier when I threw myself in the way. Didn't-" Izuku hissed softly and pulled down the front of his gown, showing three round bruises on his chest, "didn't block them totally, though."
Aizawa shook his head, "Problem child, what were you thinking?"
"I didn't want my friend to get shot," was Izuku's immediate answer.
Himiko cooed softly while Ochako felt herself teter on the edge of praising Izuku and chewing him out.
"And," Aizawa began slowly, "why didn't you just push the gun away?"
"…Oh," Izuku said, turning bright red, "yeah I could have done that, couldn't I?"
And chewing out wins! Ochako growled.