Chapter 6: A Hero's New Friend
Izuku watched as Toga cried after hearing All Might's words on how she wasn't a monster. 'Is this what it was like for me?' Izuku looked at both All Might and Recovery Girl as they watched the young girl cry. 'Well they were busy handling me and my blood, so I guess it's up to me to comfort her.' As Izuku pushed up off of the ground and stumbled as he took his first step forward in a few hours.
Recovery Girl reached out to stop him from moving too much, but was stopped by All Might as he watched Izuku move towards the girl. "Let him handle this much. I will be taking him home after as well; feel free to accompany us, or I can arrange a ride for you."
"Call a car for me, please. I would love to accompany him home, but I still need to finish my work. Make sure Izuku gets my clinic's phone number in case something like this happens again."
As the two talked, Izuku made it to Toga. "Hey T-toga, are you feeling all right? I know you must be feeling a lot of different emotions right now, and I understand that. I felt those same emotions when All Might said I could be a hero, even w-without a q-quirk." As much as Izuku had progressed, he still feared that some people would make fun of his desires to be a quirkless hero, or at least until he received One for All.
She looked up at him as he started speaking, watching him as she continued to cry, and when he mentioned that he was quirkless, she was surprised. "A quirkless hero? Why do you want to be a hero?"
Izuku prepared himself so as to not stutter through his answer. "I want to save people. To help them, to let them know that someone is there to help when all hope seems lost. I want to be a hero because it is the right thing to do."
She smiled. "You want to be a true hero then, not some celebrity hero who cares about his ranking or endorsements. You wish to be a savior of the people like All Might, then."
Izuku blushed a little and looked back at All Might. "Yeah. When I was younger, I had a notion about being the 'Number One Hero,' but now I think being a Symbol of Peace like All Might is the true goal in life, and if not Peace, then maybe a new symbol, like one of Hope." Izuku looked back at Toga and saw her smiling at him, tears still falling down her cheeks. Izuku, not having any real experience with girls, decided that a topic change would be best, as he wasn't sure what to do next. "I promised you some blood as well, didn't I?"
Izuku raised his good arm up for her. "Uhm here? Or do you need it in a bag first? Maybe I can get some drawn." Izuku quit talking once he realized that she had her mouth around his arm. 'Huh, I never felt her bite me, and it doesn't hurt either. Is it her quirk at work? Does she have to do something for that to happen, or is automatic? Questions for later, there is a cute girl biting my arm.' Izuku blushed again at that last thought.
Toga upon seeing this nice, cute boy offering her his arm, did the only thing she could at that moment: she gently grabbed his arm, turned it over until she could see the underside of his arm and gently bit into him. If Stain's blood had been delicious and full of flavor, this was the greatest thing she had ever tasted. 'Freely given blood tastes so good, but his blood—it is so delicious. I hope this doesn't scare him off; I don't think I could ever go without having his blood again.' As she continued to drink from him she started to purr quietly, embracing her cat quirk heritage.
Izuku watched as Toga drank his blood. 'What do I do with my hands? I feel uncomfortable just watching her suck on my arm, but it's not like she can talk currently. Also it feels really good; maybe she is enjoying it, too?' Once she began purring, all Izuku could think was how she became cuter. Watching her feed—how she never spilled any blood and had a look of pure bliss on her face while doing it—was oddly mesmerizing. It was causing the hair on the back of his neck and head to stand up; Izuku had only felt this a few times before, but knew that this was the best so far. Izuku slowly raised his hand and gently placed it on her head, gently running his fingers through her hair.
Himiko opened her eyes when she felt a hand gently rubbing her head. She looked at Izuku and saw him smiling at her through half-lidded eyes with a content look on his face. She then realized that it was his hand stroking her head, giving her comfort as she fed. 'Were his eyes really that strong of a green?' Toga slowed down on her feeding, wanting to keep the gentle peace between the two of them, relishing the feel of his hand at work in her hair gently pulling out any knots he found. While her hands were busy keeping his arm level and at the best angle for her, she moved her tongue over the puncture wound to gently coax some blood out and felt Izuku slightly jerk as his breath hitched.
Izuku watched Toga purr and rub her head against his hand as he continued to rub her head and start to play with her hair. When he felt her tongue start to drag across his arm he felt goosebumps start to form in its trail, and once she gently licked where he suspected she bit him, he got a slight wave of pleasure. She looked at him, slightly worried she had hurt him. As he was about to tell her to continue he heard a cough behind him, startling him enough to look behind him at All Might who bore a light blush due to the intimate scene he had just witnessed.
"If you two are done gazing into each other's eyes, I can take Young Midoriya home. Also you will be coming with us young lady. Inko will want to meet the person who is responsible for saving her son." As he finished, he shot Izuku a cheeky grin.
"Oh!" Toga was wiping Izuku's arm clean, "All right then, if that is okay with Midor—"
"Call me Izuku. You are responsible for saving me, like All Might said."
She blushed at that. "Then call me Himiko, and thank you for the blood. It was—I'm not sure how to describe it. I've been given blood once before and it tasted amazing, but it pales in comparison to yours. It's so rich and full of flavor, I almost want more already. It will be tough going back to bagged blood from a blood bank."
Izuku blushed at her statement. "Oh, well, it didn't hurt when you bit me, so it should be fine to let you feed in the future. Just maybe not everyday; I still need to train for the entrance exam. Could you wait a few days between drinking my blood?"
Himiko blinked at izuku, then tackled him in a hug. "Yes, I'll wait for you! You're my new favorite person, possibly even best friend!" Toga was holding Izuku even closer now, grinding their bodies together.
'Holy crap, she's stronger than I thought. Wait what's that soft feeling on my chest?' Izuku looked down and saw how close Himiko was holding him to her chest. 'B-boobs! No, bad Izuku, don't be a pervert.' "Hi-Himiko, you're squeezing me too tight."
Himiko looked at Izuku's face, noting his blush, then looked down and saw how close they were, and decided to tease him some. "Aww, Izuku is afraid of a little closeness with a cute girl like me? I'm hurt," Himiko ended with an exaggerated pout.
'Maybe drinking blood lowers her inhibitions a little like alcohol? Her personality feels like it is starting to change. Maybe this is how she is when she isn't 'blood crazed.' I may need to work on a new term for her.' Izuku started to sweat a little, as he wasn't expecting her teasing, "Well we're a little too close for having just met"—Izuku tried to wiggle free from her grip—"and I don't want to be rude or seen as being indecent for getting into your personal space." Izuku was hoping she would get his hint; he didn't want to be crass about the issue, but wasn't sure how to handle a girl pressing her boobs onto him.
"I'm fine with being close with you, Izuku." Himiko pushed her breasts more into his chest and grinned as she whispered in his ear, "Besides, you let me drink your blood while you played with my hair, I think that already makes us intimate ."
Behind them, Toshi watched on as his successor was teased by the young woman that had saved him, glad that Izuku seemed to have made a new friend after all these years. "All right, we have spent long enough here, let's get you home, Izuku."
Himiko looked at All Might then to Izuku, "Okay, you're gonna have to tell me how you know All Might personally at some point. I mean, he's the Number One Hero, and you can just call him up when you need some help?
Izuku looked at All Might. "Yeah, but another day, ok?" ' We need to work on a cover story; she knows I'm quirkless, but soon I won't be anymore.'
Inko was currently fretting. She had felt something earlier in the day that made her think of Izuku and his well being. She had put it off, thinking she was just wanting to spend some time with him. The two of them had worked on repairing their relationship as mother and son since Toshinori came into their lives a month ago, and she greatly enjoyed having her son active in her life again. For so long, he had seemed downtrodden and wore a forced smile she knew was for her sake. But with All Might, or Toshi or Toshinori, as he asked to be called in private in their lives, her son's eyes held that sparkle she had snuffed out by apologizing when asked if he could be a hero. Inko was nervous; she had hoped that nothing had happened to Izuku. She was worried about what would happen if Katsuki found her son after all this time. She had been able to keep Mitsuki and Masaru away for the time being; she wasn't sure how to deal with her friendship with them still. She had told them that Izuku was doing well in his classes and had felt bored by the course load, so he had looked into homeschooling programs that offered customizable courses to fit the student's strengths and weaknesses. She had, of course, omitted that Izuku was being taught by possibly the smartest being in Japan.
A knock at the door followed by All Might's booming voice calling for her snapped Inko out of her thoughts. She approached the door hoping that Toshi had her son with him and was dropping him off. Upon opening the door, she saw a sight that made her smile; there in front of her was her son standing in front of All Might, but he wasn't alone. A blonde girl with messy buns was holding onto his arm and looking at him with what appeared to be a faint blush on her face, whereas Izuku's face was bright red due to the ordeal.
"My baby boy! I was so worried about you, I felt a chill earlier in the day and it made me think of you," Inko surged forth wrapping Izuku in a hug. "Then you never answered your phone when I called you later to check on you." Suddenly Inko remembered that something about Izuku looked off. She looked down and saw his clothes had red stains on them. "IZUKU! Were you hurt? All Might, what happened? Who hurt my baby? Where are they?" Inko growled the last question out, startling Himiko, who took a half step back before Inko looked at her. "Who are you? Did you do this?"
Himiko, who had the feeling of being between a mother bear and its cub, gulped before stating, "No Mrs. Midoriya, it wasn't me."
"Miss," Inko cut in. "Sorry, continue."
"Right, Miss Midoriya. I was by Dagobah Beach when I smelled blood, due to my quirk, and went to investigate.
"Smelled his blood? You have a blood-related quirk then."
"Yes, I do, but that's not important currently. I found Izuku here trapped beneath a trash pile," the girl paused, then looked at Izuku before continuing. "The trash had fallen and his arm had been pierced by a chunk of metal, pinning him to the beach. I arrived a few hours after it had happened."
At that, Inko pulled back and grabbed Izuku's arms. Seeing some recent puncture marks, she was surprised. "These don't look deep enough to pin him."
Izuku spoke up before Himiko said something trying to help that would make his mom lose her temper without all the facts. "It was my other arm, mom. I asked Himiko to look for my phone and I called Nezu to send Recovery Girl and All Might to come help me. He got me out, and she healed my arm. She said that it missed my bones and major veins, but when I go back to UA, I will see if she will double check there, ok?"
Inko nodded, glad for her son's quick thinking on the matter, "But that doesn't solve these marks here, Izuku."
"I know. promise you won't get mad?"
Inko looked at Izuku, then the girl. "I promise."
"I let Himiko drink my blood as thanks for helping me. She was blood-starved, as her quirk requires her to drink blood; otherwise, it seems she loses her mind due to the quirk requiring others' blood to function."
Inko froze. "You let her drink your blood?"
"Yes mom, she needed it. She isn't a villain for it."
"Inko, what Young Toga here did was heroic. Her finding Izuku when she did was truly a blessing. If she hadn't, Izuku here may have bled out from his wound, especially since he had already passed out for a few hours." All Might cut in, knowing that while Inko was a nice person at heart, she would lash out at any perceived threat to her son to protect him.
"I-I—I'm sorry, young lady. Izuku is all I have, so anything that could harm him, I try to keep him away from. Forgive me for starting to jump to conclusions." Inko bowed to her. "Will you please come inside? Let me offer you something to eat and drink with us?"
Himiko looked at Izuku, who nodded his head. "Sure, that would be nice. And I understand, there is a stigma to blood quirks, after all."
Izuku spoke up, "Actually, what is your quirk?"
Himiko smiled at him. "You want to see it?" She looked to the two adults, who both also looked curious as to what her quirk was that it required the blood of others. "All right, although I will need to clean up afterwards." As she spoke, her body started to bubble and suddenly standing before them was Izuku, but in Toga's clothes. "So, how do I look?" the Izuku doppelganger said, finishing with a slight twirl showing off Izuku's body in a school girl's uniform.
Izuku's eyes widened. "That's so cool! But please head inside before someone sees me in girl's clothing.
All Might started coughing upon seeing the transformation's outcome, surprised by what he saw. "Young Toga, that is an interesting quirk. Can you use the quirks of those you copy?"
She turned to All Might. "No, I am unable to. I merely gain their appearance from the time I drank their blood; no quirks, abilities, or memories. I do gain their muscle mass, so I can have their strength and weaknesses from their injuries as well, and as you can tell the voice is a perfect match with no work needed from me."
"Very interesting. If you do wish to be a hero, your quirk may not be best suited for everyday heroics." All Might watched as the doppelganger's eyes began to look down. "However, your quirk would be an absolute boon to the underground side of heroics, wouldn't you say so, Izuku?"
Izuku, upon hearing the go-ahead to start his quirk analysis in full, walked around Toga, comparing himself to her. "While you may not be able to use quirks, you could still be useful in infiltration missions, pretending to be a villain or criminal that police have in custody whose blood you drank. Your quirk is very versatile; granted I don't know the drawbacks like you do."
At this Toga perked up. "Well, I could have chosen to have your clothes, but then they would have overlapped with mine, and it would cause a mess. I will have to, um, use a shower when I change back, due to the outer layer of my body falling off. It's like watered-down clay, but disappears after a while."
"Maybeaherosuitmadefromherbodymaterialwouldbebestforhertousemaybewithenoughtrainingandstudyofthepersonwhosebloodshedrankshecanunlocktheirquirkwhatifsheusedherquirkwiththebloodofamutantstylequirkwouldshegaintheextralimbsorappendeagesandtransformationqui—" Izuku was brought out of his mutter spree by his mom gently shaking him. "Huh, did something happen?"
"Izuku, what was that? You spoke ten times faster than usual." Toga was leaning forwards, trying to see what was going on with him.
Inko chimed in. "He tends to do that when excited about a quirk he sees for the first time. He must really find your quirk interesting to have gone through so many questions." All Might and Toga looked at her, both with a quizzical look on their faces. "Ah I can somewhat keep up with him at times," she explained.
"Oh." Izuku rubbed the back of his head, looking away from Toga. "I sometimes get caught up in a quirk and how it works and the ideas and questions just spill out of me. It's a habit I need to fix."
Toga reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Listen, it isn't bad, it's part of your personality. Plus, you aren't like me and have a fascination with blood, even if it is just my quirk at play, I think."
Izuku grabbed Toga's hand on his shoulder and looked at her. "Thank you, Himiko."
Seeing this play out in her living room, Inko suppressed a smile before speaking. "Well, as nice as this all seems, will Himiko here be staying for dinner? And All Might, you are always welcome to join us for dinner as well, if you can."
Upon hearing his mom say Himiko's name like that, Izuku balked, realizing that the two of them were on a first-name basis, not to mention how hands-on they seemed with each other; his mom was going to tease him for days, if not weeks, about this.
"Sadly I can not stay for dinner tonight. Unfortunately I need to finish my patrol for today." All Might bore a slight frown. "I regret missing one of your home-cooked meals; they are always wonderful." As he headed to the door, he stopped and turned around. "Young Toga, where are you currently staying?"
At that she frowned. "Wherever I can, mostly. I can't go back home—I won't be welcome there."
Inko, not missing a beat, responded, "Would you like to stay here tonight and have a warm meal? I can wash your clothes while you take a bath, and we can see what we can do tomorrow?"
Toga's lip trembled, and Izuku immediately pulled her into a hug. "Hey, it's all right, let it all out."
"You all have been so good to me, and to think I was just gonna get some easy blood earlier." Toga was hiding her face in Izuku's neck, slightly shaking as she cried again.
Inko smiled, watching her son comfort his friend. "It is quite all right dear; it's the least I can do for you for saving my son. If you would like, you can call me Inko—if you feel comfortable with it.
A buzzing sound cut her off as Inko's cell phone began to alert her to a new message. Picking up her phone she saw a message from Nezu. "Huh, Nezu sent me a message that reads: After Young Toga spends the night with you, please bring her to UA where we can work out a system for her to stay here. I will look into her story of her parents refusing to follow her quirk psychiatrist's recommendations to get her charges dropped." At that Inko dropped her phone in shock before catching it with her quirk. "How? How does he know all of this?"
"You get used to it eventually." All Might thought for a moment, then shook his head. "Or so I have been told."
"Well at the very least I'll see you off,." Inko followed him to the door. "I'll be right back, you two, then I'll get dinner started."
Izuku watched as the two left them alone. "Hey, Himiko?" he rubbed his hand along the side of her face to coax her to look at him. As she lifted her head to meet his gaze, he smiled. "See, everything is going to be all right now. You saved me, and now I can save you."
Himiko smiled at that. "Thank you Izu…" she hugged him back. "Could I possibly have some more blood after dinner and our baths, if you are feeling up to it? I don't want to drain you if you can't."
"We will see. I may have to look into foods that help blood production to keep that from happening."
At that she smiled. "Izu, you're the greatest., I could almost k—" Himiko cut off and blushed redder than she had all day. "I'll be back; I want to freshen up before we have dinner. Which way is the bathroom?"
Izuku, not being fully aware of how intimate the moment between them had been, pointed her in the right direction and let her explore on her own. "That was weird, but it has been an emotional day for her so far." While he waited, Izuku heard his mom and Toshi talking at the door still and caught the tail end of their conversation.
"I never noticed before, but when she transformed into Izuku in her clothes, he seemed oddly effeminate—not that there's anything wrong with it."
"No, I agree. For a moment, I thought to myself there, 'Is this what he would have looked like if he had been a girl?"
"Hmm interesting, it is certainly food for thought. And you are ok with Toga staying here tonight? I know we have just met her, but to give her a roof for the night is very generous of you, Inko."
"I know, but did you see how they looked at each other, Toshinori? His first true friend, in who knows how long; Izuku's happiness is one of my top concerns after his safety. Plus," Izuku heard his mother smiling in how she was speaking, "I may not have a daughter currently, but give it a few years and I will have her and maybe some grandkids."
Izuku paled. 'Grandkids!'
"Grandkids, Inko?"
"Of course; you saw how they looked at each other, how they held each other. They have fallen for each other without even realizing it. Izuku never played with any girls growing up, so he is going to be confused at first, but eventually he will realize how he feels about Himiko."
"You're really wanting grandkids to spoil aren't you, Inko?" He smiled, thinking back to what he saw on the beach. "Next time I come over I'll tell you how they were when she drank his blood earlier. They stared into each other's eyes for nearly ten minutes."
After that Izuku decided to pay attention to something else before he heard more than he could deal with. But he had to agree, he did look rather 'cute' in Himiko's clothes.
Chapter 7: A Hero's Sleepover
Himiko quickly shut the bathroom door behind her. She was on the verge of having a meltdown. 'I can't believe I just told Izuku that I could almost kiss him. What is wrong with me? We just met each other.'Himiko looked at herself in the mirror, but saw Izuku's face instead and realized that she hadn't changed back yet. "Oh, I'm still Izuku. Huh, he does look rather cute in a skirt." Himiko shook her head. "That's not important right now, think about that later."
She looked around the bathroom she had found herself in, noting the surprisingly large bathing area. "Maybe they used to take family baths when Izuku was younger?" As she continued to look around the bathroom, she looked at 'her' reflection in the mirror and decided to get a close-up view of Izuku's face. Leaning in close to the mirror, she noticed his freckles on his cheeks and traced her finger along them. She noticed how each set formed a diamond. "I wonder how many people notice that or just see freckles and move on."
Upon opening her mouth to speak, she saw a 'normal' set of teeth, running her tongue over his duller canines was different than what she usually experienced. "Seems nice to have teeth that actually look like they fit your mouth. Still, I do like my fangs. I wonder if those are from my blood quirk or that bit of cat quirk I inherited from mom's side of the family?" As she continued, she noticed a shorter tongue than usual as well. "Stain had rather regular teeth as well, but his tongue was long like mine is. So my fangs and eyes are most likely from my mom's family then." Himiko stuck her tongue out, seeing how short Izuku's was in comparison to hers and Stain's. "Weird, both Stain and I have tongues, could that be a blood quirk similarity? Maybe Izuku would know, he seems rather smart about this kind of stuff."
Sighing, she went to scratch where her bra strap had been rubbing on her chest when she noticed something. Running her hand over Izuku's chest, she felt faint marks on his skin. 'They feel smooth in some parts and rough in others, like burns. I shouldn't pry too much; it would be a gross violation of his trust.'
A knock at the door caused Himiko to jump, yanking her hand out of her shirt.
"Himiko it's me, Inko. Are you all right in there? Izuku said you came in here several minutes ago," Inko said. Toga thought the older woman sounded worried about her.
"I'm fine, thank you for checking on me." Himiko walked to the door and opened it. "Actually, I think I would like to accept your offer on that shower, if you don't mind."
"Of course dear. I'll grab you a towel and some clothes to change into while I wash yours later tonight." Inko turned and headed to a door that was covered by an All Might poster, which she knocked on. "Izuku? May I come in real quick?"
"Sure Mom. Is Himiko feeling ok? I know today was probably as emotional for her as it was for me."
Hearing her name mentioned, Himiko followed after Inko, "I'm fine, thank you for asking about me. I was asking your mom about that shower she offered, and she mentioned getting me a towel and some clothes, then she went to your roo—" blinking, Himiko took in Izuku's room. "That is a lot of All Might."
Rubbing the back of his head, Izuku looked away briefly before replying, "Yeah I just really admire him; he means so much to me as a hero, both professionally and personally."
"Yeah, he is pretty great," Himiko agreed. "You know, I saw his press conference after your slime villain incident, the one where he said it wasn't our quirks that define us, but our actions. That was the first time I had ever heard that, and it felt so good to hear." Himiko scrunched her face slightly, then sighed. "I know All Might said not to call myself this, but I felt that I wasn't a monster at that moment."
"You aren't a monster!" Izuku blurted out so suddenly that Himiko stepped back, surprised that he was so earnest in his declaration. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. I agree with All Might, though. You aren't a monster, Himiko; you're my friend."
"Thank you, Izuku." Himiko didn't cry at that admission, but once again embraced him in a hug.
"Yes, that's very sweet of you, Izuku," Inko chimed in after watching her son talk with Himiko. "I'll leave your towel in the bathroom for you, Himiko. Once you get a change of clothes from Izuku here, take your shower when you're ready. I'll start dinner now. It should be ready in roughly an hour."
Izuku grabbed a bundle of his clothes and handed Himiko a bundle of his clothes. "Here you go. I just realized I need to take a shower still as well. I should be able to use my mom's shower without either of us losing hot water."
Taking the clothes, Himiko nodded. "Okay. I'll see you in a little bit, Izuku. Also, what do you think your mom is making?"
"Oh, most likely Katsudon. It's my favorite dish, so after the day I've had she is probably making it for me. I hope you enjoy it." Izuku smiled as he followed her out of his bedroom, his own bundle of clean clothes in hand.
"I'm sure I will."
As Himiko entered the bathroom, she once again had to calm her nerves. Himiko put her hand over her heart. 'I feel so funny around him. It doesn't make any sense." Himiko released her quirk as she stepped into the shower. Feeling her quirk slough off of her was always a weird experience. As she watched Izuku's body melt off of hers she began undressing, trying to keep the mess within the shower. Once finished, she stepped out and turned the shower on to wash what remained down the drain. Himiko smiled. "I bet even Izuku would be interested in seeing me change back and how the copy simply falls off of me. I think I would be okay with him watching it happen, even though it looks so unappealing. Releasing it with clothes on is just so messy; naked is so much better. Wait…" Himiko blushed furiously, covering her face to hide her shame. 'Did I just say I wanted him to see me naked? Get a grip Himiko, why are you being so weird.' Himiko shook her head. "Okay, take a shower, eat dinner with the cute boy I am having weird thoughts and feelings about, and maybe drink his blood again after if he is okay with it."
Currently, Izuku was having a similar bathroom dilemma as Himiko. After undressing, he had noticed his remaining burn scars on his chest. Recovery Girl had done her best over several treatments, but some things, she said, "even time couldn't heal." The few remaining hand prints from Bakugo were faint, but could still be seen, could still be felt.
"'Maybe she will change back to her form before undressing." Izuku blushed, realizing he was thinking about Himiko getting naked to take a shower. "I know she's cute, but this is getting ridiculous. She's my friend; I shouldn't be thinking about her like that, it's disrespectful."
Shaking his head at his own thoughts on Himiko, Izuku stepped into the shower, relishing the feel of the water running over his skin. The warm water embraced him as he scrubbed sand, trash residue, and blood from his body. Gently, Izuku washed where Himiko had drunk from his arm. The puncture marks were faint, and only now did he start to notice a dull pain from them. 'She must have some kind of dulling chemical in her saliva to let her drink longer. I wonder if I'm the first to realize that. She thought that she had hurt me near the end there. How considerate of her quirk, to make the blood drinking process painless for the donor.' Running his hands through his hair as he lathered, he remembered how he had played with Himiko's hair as she drank. 'I still can't believe I did something so forward like that, but she looked at me like she enjoyed it. I wonder, would she let me do that again? To repeat that level of "intimacy" as she called it?' Izuku was confused by these new thoughts as well; were they normal thoughts to have? "He didn't know. His last friend had been Bakugo, and he didn't have too many positive memories of his time with him. The few he did were prequirk ones, when they talked of the future, being heroes together. "Heh," Izuku laughed softly, "I will gladly take this new blonde in my life who fears hurting me over the one who meant to." Izuku sniffed, but tried to hold back his tears. "I promised myself, 'no more crying over Bakugo, I need to move on.'"
When he finished his shower, Izuku quickly dressed and made his way to the kitchen to see if his mom needed any help with dinner.
Inko turned to look at him as he entered the kitchen. "Oh Izuku, you're done with your shower. Can you grab the eggs for me, please?"
"Sure I can do that." As Izuku grabbed the eggs, he asked his mother, "Katsudon?"
"Katsudon."
"Nice, I was right then." Placing the eggs on the counter, Izuku watched as she continued cooking. "Do you need me to help with anything else?"
Inko, Izuku noticed, was flipping the pork with her quirk at times while she spoke up. "Can you grab us some bowls and three sets of chopsticks? Oh, and a fork in case Himiko hasn't used any in a long time."
Izuku nodded,and headed for the cabinet over the counter, grabbing three identical bowls for dinner, then opened the drawer to grab the asked for utensils. Placing the bowls, chopsticks, and fork beside his mother on the counter he watched as she plated their meals, both with her quirk and without it. "You've been practicing with your quirk, Mom. I don't think I've ever seen you use it this much before when cooking."
Inko smiled slightly, "So you've noticed that? Seeing you work hard on your dream has been nice to watch. I decided that I should work on my quirk, even if for everyday things like this. Exercising it like this may one day come in handy." As she talked, Inko lifted the three bowls and turned to head to the table with them when she stopped. "Oh, Himiko!"
Izuku followed his mom's gaze and saw Himiko standing in the kitchen, wearing a shirt that said 'suit' on it and a pair of blue exercise shorts.
"Honestly Izuku, couldn't you have given her a different shirt to wear?" Inko shook her head Her son's fashion sense was beyond her.
"I did."
"He did."
Both Izuku and Himiko spoke at the same time, then looked at each other surprised.
"What?" Inko was confused, "What do you mean, you didn't give her that shirt?"
Izuku looked at the shirt again, rereading it. "I gave her a plain shirt to wear, one without anything written on it."
"Ok then, magical shirts just appear in your closet aside. I hope you like Katsudon, Himiko."
"Not sure I've had it before, but I'll eat it."
As they sat down to eat, Izuku noticed that Himiko's hair was down around her shoulders.
Seeing him stare at her, Himiko spoke up. "Is something on me, Izuku?"
"Huh? No, I just noticed that you left your hair down. It's different is all."
"Oh yeah, I didn't feel like the hassle of redoing the buns. Did you prefer my hair up?"
Inko shot Izuku a look. Not sure what was happening exactly, he knew this was probably an important girl question. "I didn't mean that it was bad. It looks nice down as well. If you feel like having your hair out of the buns, then it's fine. You're still you regardless of your hairstyle, Himiko."
Himiko smiled at him. "Thank you."
Inko smiled at him, then started to eat.
Thinking his mom wasn't watching, Izuku leaned over to Himiko. "After dinner, if you still want to drink, I would be okay with it. Plus I'd like to talk with you as well anyways, if you would like."
Himiko, realizing that this wasn't a proper dinner conversation, kept her voice low. "Thank you Izuku. I'm looking forward to my dessert." Turning back to face Inko after finishing a bite of katsudon, she said, "Katsudon is really good. I'm glad you made it tonight, Miss Midoriya."
Inko smiled back at her. "I'm glad you like it, Himiko. Oh, and take the first aid kit with you when you go with Izuku after dinner, if you don't mind." Inko smiled as she watched the two teenagers squirm in front of her as they realized that they hadn't been as quiet as they thought they had after all.
After dinner, Izuku led Himiko back to his room so they could talk and Himiko could drink more blood without the presence of his mom. As nice as Inko was, both silently agreed that they would prefer to do this in private, as neither truly knew if they would recreate the same atmosphere as the first time she drank his blood.
"So this is my room. I know you saw it earlier, but now you can actually take it in at your leisure." Izuku stepped aside after opening the door to his room, allowing Himiko to proceed inside first. Izuku closed the door behind him and grabbed a fresh notebook from his desk before sitting down.. "Before you get to drink my blood, I was hoping I could ask you questions about your quirk, if you don't mind."
Himiko turned to face him. Seeing him sitting in his chair, she turned to his bed before hesitating and looking back. "Can I?"
"You can sit wherever you choose. You don't need my permission."
'So your lap is an option? Shut up, weird thoughts.'Himiko managed to keep her cool on the outside as her thoughts went awry. "Thank you," she said as she sat down, smoothing the shirt out across her lap, as though she were still wearing a skirt. "I actually noticed some things earlier about my quirk I thought you may like to hear." Seeing Izuku light up at that made her smile. "But ask your questions first; they may be similar."
Izuku was ecstatic; someone actually wanted to do quirk analysis with him and had even thought about their quirk for him. 'She is so amazing! I need to do my best to not scare her off with too many questions, or too intrusive ones, for now.' "So earlier on the beach, you thought you had hurt me at the end. You hadn't actually, just so you know. While I was in the shower, I washed where you bit me, and I finally felt a dull ache from the bite marks. Does your saliva contain an anesthetic?"
Himiko blinked, then blinked again. "I thought I had. You flinched like you were in pain when I moved my tongue over the bite."
"Ahh," Izuku felt his face heat up a little, "that, uhm, wasn't in pain, I felt your tongue on the puncture mark and it made me shiver was all. I actually never felt you bite me; one moment I was talking, then suddenly I saw you holding my arm, drinking my blood."
"You didn't feel me bite you?"
"Correct. Maybe I was distracted or still in some shock from the trash pile, but you never inflicted any pain on me." He showed her the area arm she had fed from, where he had applied some bandages. "They didn't bleed when I touched them while bathing either. Later I'll pay attention when you do bite me to see if I feel it then."
"All right, next question, then."
"Can you explain your transformation better, and things you can't copy? Like maybe piercings or tattoos?"
"So I could have transformed wearing your clothes, but I was still in mine, so it would have caused a mess."
Izuku processed what she said, then repeated what made him pause. "Still in them?"
"Yeah, I—uhm, if I want to change into you and what you were wearing, I would have to," Himiko looked away, blushing, "strip."
Izuku, for all of his knowledge and understanding that quirks were weird, blushed to new levels of red. "S-st-strip?"
"Yeah, it's rather embarrassing."
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to ask something so personal and intrusive like that." Izuku stood up suddenly and bowed. "Please forgive me!"
"Hey, you wouldn't have known unless I had told you, or you had seen me strip to use it that way." Himiko realized what she just said, then copied Izuku, also blushing brighter than she had earlier in the day.
"Okay, maybe that's enough questions from me. I don't want to ask anything personal by accident now."
"Thank you, Izuku". Himiko still had a flushed look to her face and was trying to regain some semblance of normalcy. "I'll still tell you what I discovered about my quirk. First, have you ever met anyone with a blood-related quirk besides me?"
"I know of Vlad King, but I have never seen him in person. Why do you ask?"
"Well, when I first went to the bathroom, I was looking at the mirror, when I realized that I still hadn't dropped my transformation."
Izuku looked up at her at that, not sure if he would like this after all.
"I noticed your freckles then, a diamond on each cheek, rather cute actually."
Izuku flushed. 'Still seems weird she finds me cute.'
Himiko smiled watching him take the compliment. "I spoke out loud about something, when I noticed it."
"What did you notice, Himiko?"
"The lack of fangs. I never really paid attention to my transformations' mouths before until then. You have regular human teeth, no overly sharp teeth in place of your smooth dull teeth, no over-sized fangs that look like they shouldn't fit."
"Vlad King does have fangs; they jut up out of his lower jaw! So you're saying blood quirks give fangs and sharp teeth then."
"Nope, I know someone who also has a blood quirk and their teeth are just like yours."
"Oh, so fangs don't always manifest then for a blood quirk. Hmm. That's actually very interesting. And I've met people with fangs or large canines who didn't have a blood quirk."
"Yeah, I think my teeth come from my mom's side of the family."
Himiko's inflection at the mention of her mother did not go unnoticed by Izuku. "Why do you think that?"
"My eyes and my teeth are rather similar to a cat's, and her side of the family had some cat quirks in it. You might know better than I would about that kind of stuff; I only ever saw photos of them, so it's a guess at best.
"Oh wow, so your quirk works well with the passed down teeth of the cat quirk. I actually make guesses as well with my quirk analysis, but I've been doing it for years now, so I better know what to look for. You mentioned your eyes as well being from her family. Do they help you see in low light or the dark?
"Yeah, I can easily find my way in dark areas. It's been useful for getting around bad areas and being left alone." Himiko looked away for a moment before turning back, faint pin pricks of tears slowly fading away.
"If you want, we can stop here, Himiko. I won't force you to talk about it if it upsets you."
"I'm fine. Thank you though. There is just one more main thing. That other blood-quirk user I know, we have something in common that is also part of our mouths."
"Oh? What would that be?" Izuku was intrigued; maybe this would match with Vlad King, whatever it was.
"It will be easier to show you." At that, Himiko took a moment to breathe, then opened her mouth wide and let her tongue dangle out.
Izuku watched, transfixed, as Himiko's tongue seemed to endlessly come out of her mouth before finally stopping. "How—how long is your tongue?"
Himiko shrugged, then, noticing his desk, she stood up and walked over, tongue still out. She grabbed a ruler from his desk and handed it to him.
"Are you ok with me measuring it?"
Himiko leaned her head to the side suddenly giving him a look that seemed annoyed.
"Well, you did hand me the ruler. Dumb question, I know." Holding the ruler along her tongue from where it came out of her mouth, Izuku did his best to measure it accurately. "A little over sixteen centimeters long, just from your lower lip to the tip of your tongue."
Himiko slowly pulled her tongue back in, "I could probably stick it out further, but I've never really tried before." Himiko rubbed her jaw before continuing, "And that person with a blood quirk I know,his tongue was longer and larger than mine; granted he's probably at least twice my age."
"Oh, that is interesting. Maybe if I get into UA, I'll meet other people with blood quirks there like you and Vlad King. He teaches there, I heard. ' I'll have to ask Nezu after he meets Himiko tomorrow. I'll ask if I can meet Vlad King. Maybe she would like to meet him as well? Maybe he can help her with her quirk?' Izuku felt a poke on his forehead.
"Hello in there? Izuku?" Himiko was leaning forward, poking him.
"Gah!" Izuku scrambled backwards in his chair, seeing how close she was. "Sorry, I was deep in thought there."
Himiko smiled at his response. "It's fine, Izuku. I was wondering if we could stop with the questions for tonight?"
"We can. You still need to get some blood from me, after all." Izuku was wondering if she would bite his arm again in the same place or try somewhere else.
Himiko sat back down on his bed, patting the space next to her. "We will get there, but sit with me for now, please?"
Izuku sat next to Himiko on his bed and was about to speak when Himiko leaned her head on his shoulder. "Today has been so eventful, Izuku. I woke up, wondered where I would get blood from, and then I met you and everything that happened since."
Izuku, realizing that it was a lot to take in, thought that maybe she just wanted to finally slow down after such an eventful day. "Yeah, it has been crazy, but it led to us meeting though."
"That, and people accepting me for who I am. It's what I've always wanted. I'm just sorry that you had to get hurt for it to happen."
"Of course, Himiko. you're you, no matter your quirk. we have all told you that multiple times today. 'It's like when Toshi said I could be a hero, but now from his perspective. Huh.'
"It's just so much. I'm afraid that I'll wake up and find out that I've accepted the offer to join a villain group and that this was just a dream of what could have been." Himiko shook slightly, a silent tear falling.
Izuku wrapped his arm around her. "You're my friend, Himiko, my first true friend. And I understand what you're going through. The day I met All Might had been one of my worst ever up until I met him. I had a friend who developed a quirk when we were kids, and when mine didn't develop he cast me aside. That could have been it, except I still chased after him; I wanted to keep my friend and he saw me as an easy target to bully. No one cared what happened to the quirkless kid."
Himiko listened to Izuku talk about his life growing up quirkless, how the former friend bullied him for years and used his quirk on him, but never where someone could see it on him. She rubbed her chest, remembering the marks she had felt on Izuku's body.
"Then the day I met All Might came. Our teacher talked about our future careers and called me out in class for applying to UA. Ba—He cornered me after school with his lackeys and bullied me more than ever. He said..."
Himiko felt Izuku grip her harder, worry appeared on her face.
"'If you want a quirk so bad, why don't you take a swan dive off the school roof and pray for one in the next life'."
Himiko stared at Izuku after he finished relaying what he had been told, horror etched on her face. 'No, not Izuku. I refuse to lose him. He's mine, I refuse to let some villain kid take him from me.'
Izuku was doing his best, trying to not cry after repeating Bakugo's words. He wasn't sure if it would ever be easy to remember that school day, repeat that phrase to someone. He felt Himiko shift, then a weight on him. He looked up and saw Himiko sitting on his lap straddling him. "Hi-Himiko! What are you doing?"
"No! I refuse to lose you to some punk villain!"
'Did she just call Bakugo a villain?'
"I promise, Izuku, to be a better friend than he ever was to you. You want to be a hero, I'll be one with you. We will both become true heros in the future." She held Izuku's head in her hands. "I won't let anyone hurt you like they did, and if they do, they will suffer for it!"
Izuku wasn't sure what to feel at Himiko's declaration. On one hand, he was proud that she wanted to be his friend and be a hero with him. On the other hand, he was worried about her threat to those who would hurt him. 'Maybe she is still suffering from quirk madness?' He hugged her tightly. "Thank you Himiko. Now, don't I owe you some blood?"
Himiko looked at him and smiled.
Izuku started to raise his arm, but she placed her hand on it, pushing it back down.
"No, I have somewhere else I want to drink from, Izu." she whispered in his ear before slowly pulling his shirt to the side, revealing where his neck and shoulder met.
Izuku's breath hitched as he felt her tongue run over his skin. "Hi-Himiko, what are you doing?"
"Testing if you can feel me bite you." Himiko ran her hand through his hair on the other side of his head. "Let me know if this hurts, Izu." She bit down into his neck.
Izuku stiffened as he felt her mouth come into contact with his skin, her teeth grazed across his skin, then nothing. "Did you bite me yet?"
Himiko leaned back to look at him, licking blood off of her lips. "I did, and your blood still holds such a delicious flavor, even better than your mom's katsudon."
Izuku felt a bubble of pride swell in him. "I'm glad you like it, but do we have to be in such a position?"
Himiko smiled at him with half lidded eyes. "Of course we do, we both want to be comforted, and I want to drink."
Izuku was unsure; he felt that was a rather intimate position to be in with Himiko, but he also enjoyed holding her in his arms. As he went to wrap his arms around Himiko to hold her, she spoke up, "Izu, can you play with my hair again? It felt nice, having you run your fingers through it, and now my hair is down as well, so my buns won't be in the way either."
He complied, running his hands through her hair as he drank from his neck. After the shower and with her hair loose, it was easier for him to comb through it, and he started removing any knots he had missed earlier in the day or that had been added during the shower. His other hand rubbed her back as she held onto him.
"Himiko, don't take too much, okay?"
She pulled back, her lips dressed in a bright red, "I won't Izu. I won't hurt you."
He smiled at her, then laid down. Himiko positioned herself to lay on top of him and continued to drink from his neck. When she finally stopped, Izuku thought she looked amazing, looking down at him and smiling as her hair framed her face in a golden halo. "Thank you Izu, that was delicious." She licked his neck where she had been drinking from, getting any blood that had leaked after she stopped drinking. She nibbled on his neck lightly, making sure to not break the skin, causing Izuku to lightly moan her name.
"Himiko…" Izuku wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tight, a smile on his face.
She smiled back and rested her head on his chest, "I'll get up soon then and see where your mom will have me sleep." She yawned, "Maybe. You are rather comfortable, Izu.' She pressed her lips to where she had bit him, then closed her eyes.