Chapter 57: No Half Measures
The trip had become a yearly tradition for Eri's family. There wasn't a set date for it. But, at some point in the year, it always happened. Though not everyone always came, at the very least, her father was never allowed to come alone.
Again.
Izuku had started making the journey even before he had graduated. When they were second years, Eri recalled quite vividly just how upset everyone was when he left without a word for that weekend. Ochako had punched holes through several walls, to the point that she earned the nickname Kool-Aid Man for the rest of the month.
Watching her godmothers, especially Himiko, try to calm her mother down had been something else. Whenever Aunt Stabby is the one being the voice of reason, things are fucked. When Dad had returned, it seemed like everyone hunkered down and was ready for one hell of a fight. Some from the dorms were even taking bets of if hands were going to get thrown. It didn't help that when Izuku walked back into the dorms, where they were all waiting for him, he didn't look very apologetic. Like at all.
Which went over great.
It wasn't that cooler heads prevailed that made the people who bet on a fight lose. It was the fact that Ochako was held off the ground and prevented from going full Miruko on his ass, by one of two people in all of U.A. that was stronger than her. With Ochako getting carried away and dear dense Izuku being led at knife point, the rest of the afternoon and most of the evening, everyone waited outside Tsuyu's dorm. No one was brave enough to try and put their ear to the door to listen in, in case another booby trap went off. Poor Kyouka was nursing a headache until morning.
When the group emerged from the dorm, there wasn't a dry eye in sight. After that, Izuku never visited the island without someoneagain.
Eri frowned as she carefully made her way to the beach's edge. Taking care to avoid all the flowers that grew all over the small remnant until she reached the small sandy shore. Coming to this place was never easy. There was always a heavy cloud that hung over everything. Though considering this small island's past, that wasn't a surprise.
"You ready to head back, kiddo?"
Eri groaned as her hair was tussled, swatting at Himiko's hand to make her stop. The glint of metal on Himiko's hand where it caught the sunlight, made Eri squint at her. She glowered harder when Himiko flicked her horn.
Puffing out her cheeks, a habit she'd picked up from her mother, Eri snidely replied, "Don't you have to wait for someone to help you get back? I mean someone in yourcondition shouldn't be straining themselves getting into a dinghy, right?"
Himiko looked down at Eri, eyeing her with almost completely fake scorn. "… Hasn't even been a week since the fucking test and you're all acting like I'm a bloated fucking ballon made of glass. Kid," Himiko pointed at Eri, "I get that shit from everyone else. You keep it up, you're going to bite into your breakfast and one of my eyes is going to be staring back at you from your miso soup."
Eri turned green. Because she knew her dear, wonderful godmother wasn't kidding. Day one when she got that mechanical eye, it always had a horrible habit of popping up where it could cause the most mischief.
Most of the family had already made their way back to Aunty Tsu's ocean rescue boat, anchored in what was once a large bay. All that was left were herself, Himiko, and her mom and dad back up the hill.
"Do you think we should wait for them?"
"You mean for your dad?"
Eri nodded.
Himiko sighed, and patted Eri on the back, gently moving her towards the beached boat. "I got the feeling he still had a lot to say this time. So he might be a while yet. To be fair, a lot has happened this year."
"I guess with Juuriko about to be born, he's taking the time in case he's not able to come next year," Eri guessed. When Toshi had been born, there almost wasn't a trip. But with Ochako's assurance, and the godparents promising to watch over things, the two had been able to slip away for a day, so she supposed it made sense that this trip took just a bit longer. Her father had a lot to say to those four on the hill before the day was over.
It was the night before her friends were going to fly off for their magical island date, and Himiko was on the phone with one of them, humming as she fell onto her bed, keeping her phone pressed against her ear while she helped talk her through all her prep work. "So definitely try to get a crêpe while you're on your date. That'll get you some major brownie points."
Himiko could hear some stuff getting zipped up, which she assumed was Ochako's duffel bag. "Crêpes will? How come?"
"Because when Izuku learned about the whole trip, one of the romantic things he listed off for a perfect date was sharing a crêpe. He sees it like this huge romantic thing." Himiko absently played with her bangs. "Honestly it was super adorable."
"I like crêpes!" Ochako breathed out hurriedly.
Himiko heard Ochako heft up her bag and put it away. Meaning she must be done packing. "So it sounds like you got everything ready for your big trip, huh?"
"Yeah. I think so."
Lazily, Himiko held up a hand in front of her face and started counting off her fingers. "Toothpaste and toothbrush?"
"Yep."
"Sleep clothes?"
"Uh huh."
"Mint gum?"
"…"
"Oh come on, you're not going on this trip just to see the sights. So did you grab some mint gum so when you're kissing Izuku, your breath doesn't make him pass out?"
"… Yes."
"Atta girl."
"Just to be clear, I do not have bad breath."
"Pfft, no one ever has bad breath until their tongue is inside someone else's mouth."
"Oh god, don't! I wouldn't do that!"
Himiko's eye-rolling was so hard, she was sure Ochako saw it, even on the other end of the phone. "Oh, don't even try to act all shy and innocent. We've kissed and you're a very active kisser." On the other end of the line was a lot of sputtering. "You want to french that boy so bad. Don't you?"
More muttering and sputtering came from the other line. But not a single denial. Finally Ochako regained some semblance of control over herself. "Okay, I think that's everything I need packed away."
"Condoms?"
There was a short pause before something heavy hit the ground. Or had floated up to the ceiling. Then came a screeching, "TOGA!"
Himiko hissed as she pulled the phone away. "Fuck, don't scream in my ear. I don't need to be blind and deaf on one side of my body."
"WHAT DO YOU THINK WE'RE DOING?!"
Himiko kept the phone pulled away for her own well being. "… Apparently not having safe sex by the sounds of it."
"WE'RE NOT HAVING SEX!"
"Not with that attitude you're not."
"TOGA!"
Himiko snickered. "Okay, soooo third base then?"
"No!"
"Really? Wow, you're a boring date." Himiko could feel Ochako trying to reach through the phone to throttle her. "Second base surely."
"I'm going to murder you."
"Nah, you're not."
There was a huff. "Oh? Give me one reason why I'm not?"
"Because~" Himiko began mischievously, "I can tell you how to give that boy the best hickies." Himiko's smile split her face when she heard the sharp shuddering breath from Ochako. Could hear her gulp nervously and take her time to reply.
"Y-you can?"
"I can, but if you're mad at me, well I can just hang up now and let you—"
"No! … I mean," Ochako cleared her throat. "We can still talk…"
"And what do you want to talk about?"
"…"
Himiko liked to imagine Ochako was squirming. Maybe even floating up into the air.
"How to give Deku… really good hickies."
Himiko wanted to tease her a little more. "Hmm, maybe if you ask me really nicely."
There was a short pause then, a sound slipped out of the phone's speaker and danced into Himiko's ear. Echoing inside her head and flipping every conceivable switch she had as Ochako didn't ask, she begged, "Please Toga. Please tell me." Her voice carried a thick husk to it, as her own desires leaked through.
This time it was Himiko's turn to stutter and lick her lips while she tried to find her voice. "Y-yeah. Sure, I'll tell you."
The next day Himiko was back out at U.A.'s training grounds, teaching another summer class. But unlike some of the others she had taught since the first one, today she was in a sour mood.
"Fuck, all you guys. And especially fuck you." Himiko glowered, while pulling globs of softened building out of her hair. Juuzou however wasn't the one she was ready to maybe sorta actually kill. That honor went to Neito, who was too preoccupied with the sudden horror that not having a costume specially designed to handle the Transform Quirk, left the user completely and utterly naked. While robots hurried to get him a towel to help cover up, Setsuna had bits and pieces of herself floating around his waist, helping him preserve some small amount of dignity.
Midnight scratched her chin while she kept her eyes up. "Come on now. A teacher is supposed to congratulate their students when they succeed."
"I will find out where you live, slip into your fucking room in the middle of the night and slit your throat."
If frost fell from Himiko's lips, no one would have been surprised. The cold hatred she radiated made Neito shudder and turn a little blue in the face. "Eep!"
Vlad King was ready to move everything along, but then Pony, head tilted to the side, asked, "Um, excuse me, but why is Whore-san upset with us? Did we not capture her correctly?"
Every. Single. Head. Turned to look at Pony with looks of shock, and for one young man, absolute horror. Himiko's hand was inside her costume's coat, fingers wrapping around a knife hilt. "Ex-CUSE-me?!"
Midnight was ready to start tearing a hole in her costume to put everyone to sleep since it looked like Himiko might actually start cutting people. Vlad King was also getting ready to act while Itsuka moved to put herself between Pony and the literal killer.
Setsuna screeched, "Girl! What the hell?!"
Pony frowned. "What? Isn't that the term to describe student teachers in Japan? In America we call them T.A.'s, but Monoma said the proper word to describe Toga was Whore-san."
Now all those heads were looking at Neito. Juuzou had his face in his hands, face-palming in embarrassment. "You didn't."
Itsuka frowned, hands twitching as she tried to decide if she could stop at just a karate chop this time. "He did."
"Dude, what did we tell you about teaching Tsunotori the wrong words like that?"
Neito was now stuck between running for his life or doubling down on his best tactic. Unfortunately for him, he picked doubling down. "It's not my fault that 1-A doesn't have standards for its class! 1-B is the clear superior—"
WACK!
Itsuka was quick to shut him up with a chop to the back of the head. Vlad sighed. "So much for learning anything."
Midnight clapped her hands together. "And I think we're done for the day. Everyone, congratulations on being the first group to pass Toga's special summer class. You all realized the situation and turned Toga's game on its head. Using her own Quirk against her to confuse her, having Tokage split up to make her lose track of where people were, then letting Kendou push her into your trap with Tsunotri and Hoenuki. Well done everyone."
Pony frowned. "So wait, we did good then? So why was Toga upset then? Oh, is it because I showed I was better at stabbing when I pinned her to the floor?"
The speed at which Vlad King and Midnight got Himiko and the 1-B students away from each other was something that should be recorded as a heroic feat.
Once Midnight had Himiko back at the main building, and inside her room, she carefully put her down and then took a few steps back, hands up to protect herself either from oncoming knives, or the very real possibility that Himiko might actually explode.
Himiko looked at her, her eye twitching. "You carried me the whole bus ride."
"Are you going to tell me you wouldn't have jumped out the window to try and get at Monoma? Or Tsunotori?"
"Do you think, there is a force on this earth, that's going to stop me from finding that little shit and stabbing the ever loving fu—"
"Oh Toga, are you done with your lesson, kero?"
Himiko's mouth kept flapping, but no words came out. Taken off guard that apparently, it wasn't just herself and Midnight in her room. She turned, and found Tsuyu, sitting at the edge of her bed, phone in hand, like she had been waiting there.
"Asui showed up while you all were getting your lesson started. Principal Nezu told her she could wait here until everything was done," Midnight explained carefully. She was still half expecting the explosion. "She had something she wanted to ask you, and it's already been given the okay by the teachers." The happy little ribbit from Tsuyu was hard to miss. "So… I'm going to leave the two of you alone. Asui, you got her?"
"Yes sensei, kero."
Bowing out, Midnight paused as she peaked past the door, then with a smile closed the door behind her.
"So you lost, kero."
"Grrr," Himiko growled as she stormed over towards her bathroom, bits and pieces of her costume getting stripped off and tossed aside before she stepped into her shower, and the few last remaining articles were tossed over the glass partition as she turned on the water. "Those 1-B brats suck and I hate them!" Came Himiko's annoyed rage, drifting into the dorm room along with the steam from the shower. "Shit! Some of this crap is hard now! That douche is going to be missing some teeth the next time I see him!"
Tsuyu put her phone down and was collecting Himiko's discarded costume, her homebody nerves twitching at the mess. It was crazy that Himiko could act just like her little brother and sister. She folded up what she could and put it all into a small laundry tower to get taken for cleaning.
"You know, you're going to pick up a reputation if you keep this up," Tsuyu said as she walked into the bathroom to grab the rest. Pausing briefly as her eyes glanced towards the textured glass of the shower. Which did the absolute barest minimum required to give the person inside 'privacy.' Tsuyu might've not been able to see details, but Himiko's divine figure was easy to make out.
Himiko's hands were in her hair, struggling mightily to undo her buns while also working the solid chunks of debris out from the tangled mess. "Oh yeah, because my reputation can get soooo wors—! OW! Motherfucker get out of there!"
Tsuyu closed her eyes and turned away, doing her best to ignore everything she was only sorta getting to see. It wasn't fair that the glass obscured just enough to make the whole thing so eye-catching. It wasn't like she hadn't seen Himiko in various states of undress before. She shared a locker room after all.
But, as she felt a heat rising through her that had nothing to do with all the steam billowing around, none of those times had happened after Izuku and Ochako had practically pushed her forward to confess. Those two had single-handedly fired a starting pistol and then told Tsuyu to have fun while they flew off to do god only knows on some sci-fi island. They had changed the game, and then fucked off.
"Damn them, kero," Tsuyu muttered with only moderate displeasure.
"You say— Ow fuck— something?"
Tsuyu croaked, "N-No. I'm picking up your costume. I'll get it all put ready to get cleaned."
There was a pause in the struggle and swearing. "You don't have to do that, you know."
Tsuyu looked towards the glass again, but her eyes had a leveled, neutral, stare. "Were you planning on picking up after yourself?"
"That's what Midnight is for."
Tsuyu almost, almost, sent her tongue shooting up over the glass door to smack Himiko for that.
"Oh hey, why're you here?"
"I was going to see if you wanted to come over to my house for lunch," Tsuyu answered as she finished cleaning up.
A sudsy, tangled mess of a head peeked out past the door as it was cracked open. "Your house? You're inviting me over?"
"Is that a problem?"
"N-no? I just…"
It was odd to see Himiko suddenly seem nervous. Her fingers drummed on the glass, and her good eye darted around.
"What?" Tsuyu was now curious. What could possibly have Himiko so—
"Are those… kids going to be there?"
"Samidare and Satsuki? Yes? They're waiting for me to come home to make lunch in fact." Himiko squeamishly pulled the glass door closed. Tsuyu tapped her chin. "Is my little brother and sister being around a problem?"
"Ehhhhhh, me and kids aren't… The greatest idea."
"But you're so good with Eri."
The door quickly reopened so Himiko could stick her head out. With most of the suds now in the process of getting washed away, she had to keep her eyes closed as they all ran down her face. "The very first time she met me, I taught her to swear and flip people off."
"… Yes, please don't teach them that when you meet them."
"Do you have any idea how… exhausting it is to be on my best behavior?"
Tsuyu paused for dramatic effect. "You mean act like a normal productive member of society?"
"Yeah, lame, that's what I said."
"…"
"…"
"I'm making pasta."
"I'm in."
Tsuyu ribbit'd nervously, working very hard to keep her eyes off Himiko as the girl casually finished her shower, dried off, and then meandered around picking out her clothes. Tsuyu really wished Himiko would hurry up. Self-control was in short supply recently and it didn't help that Izuku's advice was ringing in her ears. Hearing, 'just kiss her,' when said girl she really, really, wanted to kiss was walking around stark ass naked, was not doing her any favors.
It was only after she heard a few drawers open, then close, that she steadied herself to check. Fortunately, and it was fortunately despite how certain parts of her felt, Himiko was more or less presentable.
Himiko finished slipping on a shirt that ended an inch or two above her waist line, giving just the most infuriating peek at her tummy, before she walked over and grabbed her towel that was hanging off the side of her bed. Wrapping it around her head, she took another chance to roughly towel off her hair before it was tossed into the laundry tower. Well, onto it anyway. The towel was left hanging while Himiko started pulling her hair into buns.
And instantly Tsuyu felt her homebody instincts kicking in. "We have time for you to finish drying and combing your hair." Maybe she was being naive, given how Himiko's hair normally looked in those messy buns. But she had to hope Himiko wouldn't just—
"Eh, it's fine."
After making some distressed frog noises, Tsuyu was up and pushing Himiko into a chair. She was then digging around in the bathroom drawers, looking for anything to help with the mess that was Himiko's head. Tsuyu had seen her with nice hair. She'd been wearing a very smart ponytail the other day when she had introduced herself as their teacher for the day. Tsuyu just hoped that she hadn't had to steal from Midnight or something to pull that off. Fortunately, Tsuyu found what she needed to combat the tangled mess. She was very disturbed to find that none of it looked very used.
When Himiko saw her walk back into the room with everything, she got nervous from the look in Tsuyu's eyes.
"Ow ow ow!"
"Aren't you supposed to be a scary blood-sucking monster? Stop making a fuss."
"You're scalping me!"
"You're the one with matted hair."
"My hair is fine!"
"Do you see this knot?"
"…No, my peripheral is bad."
"I'm on your good side."
"Right eye means I can't see out of my left side."
"…"
"…Okay you being quiet while you got a fist full of my hair is terrifying."
Tsuyu ran her fingers through Himiko's hair, or at least tried to. "You washed your hair after the beach, right?"
"…"
"…"
"Water was applied, yes."
"What is wrong with you, kero?"
Himiko leaned back so she could look Tsuyu in the eye. "I think we've established the answer to that is somewhere between a lot and a fuck ton."
Tsuyu ignored her and went back to working the brush up from the ends of Himiko's hair and slowly going up as she worked the knots out. "Why do you let it get like this?"
"Not exactly something I got a lot of practice with. As long as it wasn't matted or I could just chop the matte parts off while I was on the street, I was fine." Himiko huffed then smirked. "Just spent the time with it recently because it worked with my whole, sexy sensei thing I was going for. Wanted some extra attention."
After working out some particular bad knots, Tsuyu was able to run the comb through Himiko's blonde bangs. "You have pretty hair, Toga. You should take better care of it."
Tsuyu froze, realizing she might have said too much. Himiko however, just hummed and leaned into Tsuyu's hands. "I do, huh? Well, if you want to come over and wash it for me, I wouldn't say no."
"O-oh?" Tsuyu tried, oh she tried so very hard, not to imagine herself getting into the shower with Himiko to wash her hair. She tried not to think about after she had suds'd her up, where her hands might wander.
"Yeah, I bet I could get someone from the support department to build me one of those wash sinks."Tsuyu closed her eyes, and was so happy that the image in her head switched to something so much more normal."I'm joking of course, I know you wouldn't want to deal with that." Himiko chuckled.
Tsuyu ran her fingers through Himiko's hair, smiling now that she was able to do so uninterrupted. "I wouldn't be opposed to it. Maybe not every day, but not outright no."
Himiko blinked, taken off guard by that. Leaning back, she tried to get a look at Tsuyu, to see if she was joking or not, because she sure as heck didn't sound like she was. But with Tsuyu now working her hair into some neat pair of buns, she couldn't. "Wait? You seri—"
A loud ring interrupted her. Her phone, chirping away, brought a sudden end to the topic. Much to Tsuyu's relief, because she honestly would have said yes. This intimate closeness with Himiko. The fresh smell of her shampoo, the way she was leaning into her hands. Tsuyu could get used to this real fast.
"Huh, it's Ochako?" Himiko commented as she checked the caller ID.
"So who do you think did what to get her to call you, kero?"
Himiko snickered. "That's mean."
"You didn't answer," Tsuyu said evenly.
"…"
"Just say Midoriya. He's not here to be offended."
"Damn, you're mean."
"Not hearing a lot of you coming to his defense, kero."
Tapping the screen, and trying to hold back her laugh, Himiko put it to her ear. "Yo! Toga he— "
"A BLONDE WOMAN JUST RAN OFF WITH DEKU!"
Himiko yanked the phone away from her ear. Swearing under her breath and replying with a dumb, "… Wha?"
"SOME TALL BLONDE WOMAN RAN AWAY WITH DEKU!"
Even with the phone not on speaker, Tsuyu heard Ochako. Suddenly her attention was focused on the call. Himiko rubbed her brow, head still ringing from the shout."Fucking hell that boy has a type…"
Tsuyu blinked at that. "Wait… As in literally? Or figuratively?" Clearly some clarification was needed. Because Ochako couldn't mean—
"Literally! She had him tucked under her arm!"
Himiko looked at her phone, while even Tsuyu's less than expressive face seemed shocked. It took Himiko a moment, but she worked out a, "And you're calling me because—"
"What am I supposed to do?"
Tsuyu almost had to pick her jaw off the floor. What kind of question was that?
"…"
"Toga?! What am I—"
"FUCKING GO AFTER THEM YOU IDIOT!" Himiko screeched into the speaker.
"Oh, right. Because this is a kidnapping. Not a romantic rendezvous I could end up interrupting…"
If Himiko was able, she'd reach through the phone to smack Ochako upside her head. "EITHER SOME BITCH IS TRYING TO STEAL IZUKU OR SOME BITCH IS TRYING TO STEAL IZUKU FROM YOU! BOTH CASES, GO THE FUCK AFTER THEM!"
Himiko's finger damn near went through her phone screen as she ended the call. Seething, she pressed her phone against her forehead. "Bitch, how the fuck are you letting bullshit happen to you on your first fucking day?!"
"Um… should we notify the teachers or…"
"Oh fuck that. If this was a serious thing she wouldn't have called me."
"So… Midoriya wasn't kidnapped by someone big enough to tuck him under her arm and run off?"
"…"
"Kero?"
"So what kind of pasta?"
Outside of Tsuyu's apartment, Himiko was on her phone again, on speaker for Tsuyu to hear, looking like she was about to have an aneurysm. "So… let me get this straight. Izuku got grabbed… by Star and Stripe, some hero from the states… because she's apparently a huge All Might fan girl… and she wanted to talk to Izuku about what it's like being taught by him."
On the other end of the line, there came an embarrassed groan. A sympathetic 'there there, we fans have to stick together,' from the background before Ochako answered, "Yes, that's exactly what happened."
"And Midoriya is alright, kero?"
"Just emotionally traumatized," came the boy's shout.
"… Ochako, take me off speaker."
"Eh?"
"I don't want to traumatize Izuku anymore than he already is with what I'm about to say."
There was an annoyed 'hey!' But this was ignored as Ochako did as asked and put the phone to her ear. "Yeah?"
"This better be the last time you fucking call me on your date for any reason that's not an actual emergency, or you sending me some good news. Otherwise I'm turning into you, and teaching Eri some very funny words. Got it—"
"Aaaand it was great talking to you Toga! See you when we get back! Bye!"
When Himiko hung up and turned around, she flinched when she caught the blank stare Tsuyu was giving her. "Er… I wasn't being serious of course. I wouldn't… actually do that."
…Stare…
"Ha ha… Tsu?"
…Stare…
"Tsu please say something."
"… What's the going rate for blackmail these days, kero?"
The shudder that ran up Himiko's spin told her she might be in trouble. "Eh?"
"Mrs. Midoriya would probably have thoughts on your pulling a stunt like that."
"EH?!"
"I'm back, kero," Tsu called into her home.
Himiko looked around while she took off her shoes. "Huh."
Tsuyu finished putting hers away. "What is it?" Tsuyu watched Himiko's good eye scan around before the other girl shrugged.
"Oh, nothing. Everything looks… really normal."
Tsuyu stood up and cocked her head to the side. "Normal?"
Himiko vaguely motioned to the apartment's interior. "Yeah. Normal."
"… How do you think I lived?"
Himiko cleared her throat. "Sooo, what kind of pasta are we having?"
"Pesto spaghetti. You didn't answer my question."
Himiko was noticeably silent, and also making an effort not to look at Tsuyu.
"You thought I lived in a swamp, didn't you?"
"Not like a swamp… swamp. Like one of those… Terrarium things. Just… bigger."
Tsuyu wasn't known for being very expressive, but Himiko was pretty sure the girl looked pissed off. Fortunately for Himiko, she was saved from a potentially nasty tongue lashing when a little something scurried into the hall. Himiko blinked down at the little thing, which was staring up at her with big round eyes.
"Tadpole?"
"Satsuki, my little sister," Tsuyu corrected.
The little girl looked questioningly from Himiko, over to Tsuyu who motioned towards her friend. "This is my friend I said I was inviting over for lunch."
Satsuki nodded, turned back to look up at Himiko, big eyes filled with curiosity. Himiko, deciding she really needed to make a good first impression, smiled brightly. "Hello there, your big sister invited me over. Thank you for having me."
There was the briefest of pauses, then the little thing's eyes grew wider. In a hurried whisper, she gasped, "A crocodile's welcoming grin," before turning on her heel, and running off. Leaving Himiko to stand in utter bewilderment.
"Satsuki!" Tsuyu called after her sister as she turned a corner and fled out of the entryway.
"Wha—? What'd I do?" Himiko asked. How'd she screw up already? She thought for sure she'd make it at least until she sat down to eat before screwing up.
A new voice came into the hall as a laid back, slightly older little boy came around the corner to see what had caused the commotion. "She just watched some old puppet sing-along video. Had a crocodile eating a bunch of frogs." The boy pointed up at Himiko. "Sharp teeth."
Tsuyu frowned. "Samidare, what have I said about showing your sister scary things?"
The boy shrugged. "They're puppets. There's nothing scary about that." Samidare then glanced at Himiko. "Does this mean we can finally have lunch?"
Tsuyu sighed. "I'll get started, kero. We're having pasta today."
Samidare nodded. "Mom and Dad will like that I think. Maybe you won't get in trouble for bringing a date without letting them know."
Tsuyu's angry frog noises got caught up in her throat when it suddenly clicked what was just said. Before the 'date' thing, which Tsuyu really hoped Himiko wasn't paying attention to. "Mom and Dad are home?"
Uh oh.
According to Tsuyu, quickly explained to Himiko before the pair walked into the living room where Tsuyu's parents were waiting for them, she hadn't expected her parents to be home. They both traveled for work so they are gone for most of the day, so most of the house work, and taking care of the siblings, falls on her. But with her about to go to the school's summer camp, she knew her folks had worked out with their workplaces to schedule it so that they weren't going to be away, and would be able to look after the kids. Apparently, that change in schedule started today.
When the pair walked into the room, and Tsuyu's mother came to pull Tsuyu into the kitchen to help her make lunch, leaving Himiko alone with a man that was looking at her from his seat, his literal toad face giving her a steely gaze, she was one second away from just abandoning ship right then and there. But then the man motioned towards an empty seat across from him, and Himiko decided she wasn't the kind of person that was going to let Tsuyu deal with the fallout of herself jumping out a window to escape the whole situation.
Fuck you Midnight and the empathy you jammed down my throat.
Once Himiko was sitting in the interrogation seat / sofa, Ganma just continued to look her over, while the little kids sat at the table watching TV. After a few more seconds of awkward, painful, silence, the toady father asked in a very croaky voice, "Do you want something to drink, croak?"
Don't be a smartass.
Don't be a smartass.
Don't be a smartass!
"Boy, that's a loaded question. But if you got any type-O around, that'd be great."
You dumb fucking bitch!
Ganma stared at Himiko for a bit. Himiko tried not glancing at the window, and definitely tried not to think if she had a good transformation to swap into to make the multi-story fall less risky.
The silence dragged on, and the longer it went, the more Himiko wished she could get a read on Tsuyu's father. But while Tsuyu had very reserved and neutral expressions, her father was just a blank. Himiko couldn't get anything from him. His face being a toad's face didn't help at all, but even his body language just seemed so… unmoving.
Coughing into her hand, Himiko sheepishly apologized. "Maybe that was a bit tasteless."
"Hmph, croak."
… 'Hmph?' What does 'hmph' mean?! Is he accepting my apology? Is he… Damn it, that window is starting to look like a good idea now.
"So I hear you had a rough go of it growing up."
Himiko almost cringed when she realized that the man was now going to engage her in small talk. Why, oh why, was this happening to her? Why would a father want to talk to the person his daughter brought home with her?
Also, he wants to talk about my past? Well, as Himiko pondered, in all fairness, that was probably the most obvious thing anyone would want to talk about. She had a very colorful past, so it made sense some parents might be concerned. Especially when the color was red, red and more red.
"I did what I did to survive," Himiko answered carefully. While she wasn't ashamed of her actions, she knew this wasn't the time, place or probably person to brag about the things she's done.
"Hmph, croak."
Again with the 'hmph!'
"So you're a fighter then?"
Himiko got the distinct feeling she was getting led. This man was leading her through this conversation. Midnight used the same tactics, but she was subtle. This guy… was as subtle as a toad in your face.
"I…" Himiko searched for the best, non-scary, un-murderous psycho way to give her answer, "…didn't… don't take half measures."
"Hmph, croak."
Himiko felt her bad eye twitch under her eyepatch.
Ganma, for the first time, broke eye contact with Himiko and glanced over at his young children. Both were engrossed in their cartoon of a wily coyote chasing a road springing bird. Seeing that neither were paying attention, he turned back to Himiko. "So. You killed to survive then?"
Well fuck me, he's not beating around the bush.
Himiko shrugged. "There are plenty of news reports over me if you're curious."
"Not interested in what other people have to say about you. Want to hear what you have to say about yourself."
There was something refreshing about talking to someone that didn't want to beat around the bush. Too bad instead of beating around the bush, they were instead beating her upside the head with their bluntness. "I have."
No 'hmph, this time, but those cold eyes were drilling into Himiko now. "'Have' huh. What about now?"
Himiko blinked. That had not been the response she had expected. Suddenly, she wasn't so sure where this conversation was going. So she fell back a bit on old habits and played a bit coy. "Are you asking if I'm still able? Or still willing to kill?"
Those hard eyes just looked at Himiko, who sighed and shrugged. "It's a yes regardless."
Boy remember when you'd just fucking lie about this shit? Those were the days. But noooo, now you're all considerate and shit.
"Do those lengths you're willing to go extend to others, or just yourself?"
"…A-wha?"
Ganma paused for a bit. Leaning back, he folded his hands in his lap. His hard gaze didn't soften so much, but more like the edges became more rounded off. "Tsuyu told us how you saved her life. Two times in fact. The first time, she left out the more grisly details. But after that parent-teacher meeting, we sat down. And she told Beru and me exactly what happened that day."
The stubborn-looking man took a moment to shudder. Himiko watched him carefully, wondering if the details were making his stomach turn, or if it was the idea that so many people got so close to hurting his little girl. Himiko felt like it was the second option more than the first.
"I find it interesting that what you're saying here now, is so different from what you did that day." Glancing off towards the kitchen, Ganma watched Tsuyu and her mother busy getting things ready for lunch. Beru more than once kept Tsuyu's attention on her work, and away from them. Himiko also noticed that it seemed like Beru was keeping herself close to Tsuyu, leaning over to talk with her in a voice that wouldn't carry over the cooking.
"Did you know that Tsuyu didn't have many friends growing up? Especially in junior high?"
That, Himiko thought with a pause, didn't seem right at all. Afterall, Tsuyu was a wonderful, kind person. Who wouldn't want to be her friend? "What about… ugh, I forget her name. She came to the school. Red hair, had the medusa-y kind of Quirk…"
"Habuko."
"Yeah, her!" Himiko said with a snap of her fingers. "She's her friend. Kinda protective too."
"Tsuyu didn't meet her until her last year at that school. She was her first friend." Ganma took a breath. "You see, my daughter was trying so hard to get into U.A., she didn't spend much time socializing. As a result of that… and my wife's and I's work schedules… she didn't have much time to just hang out with other kids."
Ganma's gaze turned back to Himiko. "So I was delighted to hear that in such a short time, she had found herself a part of a very large group of friends. She talks about you all in fact. Sometimes wondering if maybe one or two of you should learn to lighten up."
"That would be Tenya… Or Hitoshi now that I think about it," Himiko hummed to herself.
"Hmph." It seemed like those were names Ganma had heard before. "And she talks about you, being part of that group. And not just about the time you saved her. She talks about you a lot."
"She does?" Himiko hadn't expected that.
"She does," Ganma confirmed. "You should know, my Tsuyu's happiness is very important to me." Himiko blinked. "As is her safety." He leaned forward, leveling his eyes at Himiko's. "Is it for you?"
That was one hell of a question to suddenly get dropped into Himiko's lap. But, if anything could be said about Himiko—and honestly, a lot could be said about Himiko, but that was neither here nor there—it was that she was furiously loyal to those she let get close to her. So it shouldn't come as a shock that her immediate reply was a simple, but firm. "It is."
"Hmph, croak."
Stop with the fucking 'hmphing' already for the love of god it's driving me nuts! Also, what in the holy fuck is this interrogation? Cause it almost seems like—
"And yet those villains that attacked Tsuyu are alive."
… Wait? Am I getting grilled because I didn't kill someone?Himiko took the time to try, try really really fucking hard to get a read on the man sitting infront of her. Toadness aside, she paid attention to everything she could. And came to the conclusion that papa toad over here was not happy that the villains that tried to hurt his little girl were still breathing.
Holy fuck I'm in trouble with Tsu's dad because I didn't kill. What the fuck kind of topsy-turvy world is this? Also, points for papa here not fucking around. Congratulations old man, you're part of the third set of parents I've met that I like.
Himiko decided to just bluntly give her answer. "If they needed to die, they'd be dead. I take protecting my friends very seriously. But," Himiko glanced over to the kitchen, her eye lingering on Tsuyu's back. "she didn't need to see people die on her, what was it, third day of class." Himiko paused and added with a shrug, "Plus, I'm under uber-probation, so having some deaths on my official U.A. records could be messy. For a lot of people. Most of which could make my life very not fun."
Ganma croaked for a bit. Taking his time as he absorbed Himiko's answer. "But if it came down to it. And a villain was threatening her? In a way that you couldn't just leave it at an injury?"
"They'd be dead before touching her."
"Good," Ganma said with a curt nod. "Then that's settled," he added with a more—Himiko almost called it happy, but for the serious man, the best way to describe him would be—content or satisfied tone.
Also, "Eh?" Settled?
"I'm not about to let my Tsuyu be with someone that's not going to look out for her." He pointed at her. "Next time some punk tries to touch her, don't bother with half measures. You gut them and drop the body in the ocean for the fishes to eat."
Himiko blinked, before a savage smile split her face. "…Holy shit, you're extreme. Cool."
Ganma crossed his arms. "I'm her father, I better be when it comes to her safety." He said it like it was just a fact. Soon, he started croaking out something that could be a laugh.
Oh, Tsu totally got her bluntness from papa here, Himiko thought as she joined the man's chuckle.
The loud noise grabbed Tsuyu's attention as she turned around and nearly blanched at the sight of the two, apparently getting along great. Which was fucking horrifying. Ganma noticed Tsuyu's gawking stare and jerked his thumb towards Himko. "Tsuyu! You can hop to it already. She passes, croak!"
"Huh?" While Himiko tilted her head at that, Tsuyu looked like she was ready to die of cringe right there in the kitchen.
What had started off as a bad day—she still intended on getting some revenge against 1-B—had turned out pretty good, Himiko thought to herself. Apparently she now had permission to kill from Tsuyu's dad, which was just awesome. She really needed to figure out how to use that going forward. After that, she got to eat a really nice lunch with some really tasty pasta. The happy little kero Tsuyu had made after she devoured the meal, boy, when she gets a boyfriend and makes that sound, that's gonna do all sorts of things to the poor thing. She's gonna have someone eating out of her hand.
So yeah, all in all, a good day.
Flopping onto her bed, Himiko wondered what she should do as a thank you for the nice time she had. It wasn't like she knew how to cook. Without almost burning down the whole of U.A.'s cafeteria. Her one attempt at trying the classic, 'surprise your crush with a personal bento for lunch,' had not gone well at all. And gotten her perma-banned from any onsite kitchens.
"Hmm… Takeout could work? Just need to find Midnight's credit card."
She had invited Tsuyu over tomorrow for the pair to hang out. With her parents now home, she'd be able to spend the whole day over. Himiko was sure she'd find a good way to thank her then.
A soft chime from her phone stopped her line of thought. It was Ochako's text message chime, which had Himiko glancing over at her side with a nasty squint. "No. No, you are not contacting me again? How are you this bad at this?!"
With a grouchy grunt, Himiko rolled over, deciding to ignore whatever 'emergency' Ochako must be having this late at night. Which, with the time change, would have to be extra late at night.
…
Which probably meant that if she was reaching out now… There had to be a reason.
…
Like a rampaging tween getting made to take out the trash, Himiko groaned in despair and rolled back over to grab her phone. She hated that apparently Ochako had this sickening power over her.
Hated it with a capital H.
"I swear, this better be worth it. This better be a real fucking emergency or something really really good."
Swiping to look at the message, her rage made it very difficult to read the short, actually fully typed out message. Which meant, she had taken her time to send something without shorthand on her stupid, old-ass flip phone. There was also a video file. "The fuck did she…"
Uraraka: You might have kissed Deku first, but I'm sleeping with him first bitch!
Himiko's phone slipped from her grip and bounced off her forehead, but the stunned vampire didn't feel a thing. She was still staring up at the spot where her phone had been, unable to move, blink or process a thing. It took her a good minute to even register that she wasn't holding her phone. This was quickly followed by a sharp pain in her head because she had dropped her phone on herself like an idiot. So a few swears later, she was scrambling for her phone and bolting up on her bed.
"You… you cannot be serious right now!" she shrieked. "You you you you bitch! You can't just—Oh, I know you're lying. You wouldn't. You couldn't!" Himiko then recalled quite vividly their shared kiss back at the hospital. "Oh my god, she definitely could."
Then Himiko remembered that this message had a video file. Her eyes zoomed in on that as her face leaned in. There was a video file.
How Himiko's finger didn't punch through her phone's screen hitting that file, will be a mystery that is never solved.
The video started with a pan around a pretty sweet suite. Himiko noted that the place looked expensive. A balcony overlooking a beautiful city skyline with the lights dancing in the background. Then, as the camera moved into the room, Himiko had to do a double take when she saw a freaking jacuzzi just plopped in the middle of the room. The pan around spent a few seconds getting a good look at that.
Then it started again, turning inward, the angle changing before it showed a very, very big bed, and what had to be the comfiest comforter Himiko had ever seen. The camera slowed to a stop, and Himiko held her breath. Breathing softly was the dozed off, angelically cute face of Izuku, wrapped up in fluff and deep in dreamland, his arms wrapped around a large pillow he was snuggling against. Himiko could just make out a shirt under those blankets, so he wasn't naked.
Then the camera moved again, this time pulling back until Ochako's grinning face was staring back at her as she took a video selfie of herself. Smiling a billion watt smile, with cheeks practically glowing. With a cheeky wave from her oven mitt covered hand, Ochako ended the video.
Leaving Himiko to fall back onto her own bed and cackle like a madwoman, before she hurried to start typing a reply, desperately needing to know how in the hell Ochako found herself in such a goldmine of a situation.
Laying in bed, Tsuyu glowered up at her ceiling. Today hadn't exactly gone like how she planned. Putting aside that apparently her father and Himiko got along swimmingly, which put the fear of god into her because not only had neither told her what they had talked about, it also seemed like her father thought he knew her intentions.
Tsuyu bit back a disgusted groan. Hop to it he said. That was mortifying. But not nearly as bad when he reminded her that a good ribbit could get any girl's blood pumping.
She had not brought Himiko here for that. She had brought her over because she wanted to spend time with her. Maybe get a feel of how things stood with her. It wasn't like she brought her over just to flirt. Cooking a fancy lunch wasn't flirting. It wasn't.
Tsuyu pretended she hadn't seen the look her mother gave her when she had told her she had wanted to cook something for Himiko, before her father stepped in to talk with her.
…
She still got a little fluttery when she thought about how Himiko had enjoyed the meal.
Rolling over and pulling the covers over herself, Tsuyu tried to fall asleep as fast as she could. Because it meant that tomorrow she could see Himiko again all the sooner.
The moment Himiko opened her dorm door, and Tsuyu saw her face, she just said, "You're giddy. Who'd you stab from 1-B?"
"Gasp! Me?" Himiko put a hand over her heart. "You'd accuse me of committing such a horrible, despicable, act? I'm hurt. The bonds of our friendship are now forever stained with—"
"Stop." Tsuyu's neutral stare didn't waver for a moment, even as Himiko put on a show most drama clubs would salivate at. "…Do we have to hide a body?"
Himiko broke out into a pearl of laughter. "You wanna be an accessory with me? Tsu baby, buy me dinner first before you start with the dirty talk."
To hide her blush, and make sure Himiko didn't see the shudder that ran through her, Tsuyu turned Himiko around and pushed her back into her room. As she marched in after her, she went on like nothing Himiko had said had affected her. "So if you haven't stabbed anyone… Then good news on Uraraka and Midoriya?"
Turning to close the door, she just about closed it on her fingers when Himiko dropped the bomb. "She slept with him last night."
Recovering quickly, Tsuyu turned and decided she needed to reign in Himiko's teasing if she was going to hang out with her for the day. "Very funny, kero. So what actually…" She trailed off when she saw the grin on Himiko's face. "… I don't believe you."
"Wanna see the video she sent me?" Himiko pulled out her phone, pausing only briefly to add, "Just make sure you don't go spreading this around."If there was an expression more lifeless and dead, then neutral, that was Tsuyu's face. "Toga, she didn't send you anything." Himiko flashed Tsuyu her screen. "She sent you a video…" Himiko then pointed at the message above it. And while Tsuyu still didn't believe a word coming out of Himiko's mouth… Maaaybe it would be best not to look at what was on her phon— Aaaand she just pressed play.
Tsuyu really should have turned around. She knew that. But she didn't.
…
…
…
"I don't like you." Himiko's grin was filled with smugness and Tsuyu hated it.
"What? I said she slept with Izuku." Himiko leaned in, getting into Tsuyu's space and leered at her with a naughty smirk. "You're so naughty Tsu. Thinking such bad things about our class's G-Rated mascot."
Himiko was oh so close now. Tsuyu had taken a few steps back, until her back was up against the door, but Himiko kept advancing. She didn't touch Tsuyu, but she leaned down possessively, making sure she kept direct eye contact with Tsuyu. She had a hand pressed against the door, right next to Tsuyu's head. Her body was close enough for Tsuyu to feel her body heat.
"You didn't even try to look away either. You're so naughty Tsu."
Himiko was so used to her prey floundering and sputtering under her when she toyed with them. Izuku became a wonderful nervous wreck. Ochako could play the game, but it took some none to gentle poking and prodding to get her to that point. So when Tsu inched forward, one hand grabbing her outreached arm, while she raised up on her toes to lean into Himiko's face, her eyes lidded and a flame burning behind them she had never seen before, she was taken off guard.
"I'm not being naughty. If I was. You'd know, kero."
For maybe the first time in Himiko's life, she took a step back, her eye wide, and a faint pink spreading over her cheeks. But it only lasted a second, before her cocky grin was back. "Damn Tsu. Threaten me with a good time, huh."
Himiko looked Tsuyu over, admitting that this extremely outgoing display, for her, was very impressive, and pretty damn appealing. Not one to let a good challenge go unanswered, Himiko went right back to her previous spot, and a little more besides. She decided that if Tsuyu wanted to play, she'd play.
So she laid it on thick, putting a wanton heat into her voice. Letting each word drip with honeyed sweetness. "I'd know, huh? So what's naughty Tsu like? What'd she do to me? Would she show me all the tricks that tongue can do?" Himiko licked her lips, her eye falling on the little pink appendage that was peaking past Tsuyu's lips. "You know, I don't have a gag reflex."
Tsuyu didn't know why she had decided to try and beat Himiko at her own game. It's very possible there was no reason. Just that enough hormones acted up with her being so close that for a brief moment, Tsuyu forgot that she was supposed to have something called common sense. Now, she realized she might have bitten off more than she could chew because, holy mother of god, Himiko was so damn close and just radiating sex appeal. The sin of lust was literally leaning over her and Tsuyu wasn't sure what kind of fucked she was. So all she could do was stutter out a small kero.
She had never been on this side of Himiko's flirting. Only seeing her do it with Izuku, and Ochako. How, in the name of sanity, neither Izuku or Ochako had not jumped at the chance to see just what Himiko would do to them if given the chance, Tsuyu could not fathom. Because she was pretty damned sure that the moment Himiko touched her, she was done.