Age: 13
My house always smelled like spicy chili peppers and hairspray. It was an aggressive smell, like everything else in the Bakugo household.
I walked through the front door, kicked off my shoes, and went straight to the living room.
"You're late, brat!" my mother yelled from the kitchen. The sound of the knife hitting the cutting board was rhythmic and violent.
"Shut up, old hag!" I yelled back, with no real hostility. It was our usual greeting. "I need to talk to you and the old man! Right now!"
There was a pause in the vegetable chopping. Mitsuki Bakugo poked her head through the doorway. She had the same piercing glare as me, but with more wrinkles around the eyes.
"What did you do now?" she asked, narrowing her eyes. "If you get expelled for blowing up a desk again, I'm not going in to apologize."
"Sit down. It's serious."
Something in my tone, maybe the absence of the usual teenage irritation, made Masaru put down his newspaper and Mitsuki dry her hands on her apron. They sat on the sofa.
I remained standing, arms crossed. I wasn't going to ask for permission. I was going to present an executive briefing.
"I met a girl," I said.
Mitsuki and Masaru exchanged a look. Masaru smiled slightly. Mitsuki raised a mocking eyebrow.
"Wow, finally. I thought your only true love was your own biceps."
"She's not my girlfriend, hag. She's a clinical case," my voice hardened, cutting off any attempt at a joke. "She has a hematophagous transformation Quirk. She needs to ingest blood to function. Her parents are 'normalcy' fanatics who are starving her and repressing her biology. She is one step away from a psychotic break or becoming a villain."
In my past life, I read exactly what this girl turns into if no one reaches out to her. A manic serial killer, obsessed with blood because the system taught her that her thirst was a sin. She stabbed dozens of people with a twisted smile because the hunger rotted her brain. I am not going to let that timeline happen in my damn city. A plate of food today costs less than catching a terrorist tomorrow.
The atmosphere in the room changed instantly. The mockery vanished from Mitsuki's face, replaced by a ruthless seriousness. Masaru leaned forward.
"They're starving her?" my father asked, frowning. "Literally?"
"Her brain needs blood. They feed her vegetables and tell her she's a monster for being thirsty." I clenched my fists. "I've been stabilizing her with raw liver and supplements, but she can't keep living in that house. She needs to see that there are adults who aren't afraid of a damn Quirk."
I looked my mother dead in the eye.
"I invited her to dinner tomorrow. I need you to make your curry. Extra spicy, with lots of rare red meat. And I need you to not treat her like she's made of glass, or like she's a murderer."
Mitsuki held my gaze for three seconds, weighing the gravity of my words. Then, she scoffed and crossed her arms.
"You think a little girl with fangs is going to scare me? I raised you, you little ticking time bomb." She stood up from the sofa, considering the matter settled. "Bring her at seven. And tell her if she doesn't finish her plate, she'll have to deal with me."
I smirked. I knew I could count on her maternal aggression.
"Understood."
(...)
At 6:55 PM the next day, Toga was standing in front of my door.
She was wearing her pristine school uniform. Her hair was perfectly styled. Her hands were clasped in front of her, and a tight, fake porcelain smile was painted on her face. She was trembling imperceptibly.
"Katsuki-kun... are you sure?" she whispered, staring at the wood of the door as if she were going to bite it. "My parents say I shouldn't eat with normal people... my diet is... unpleasant to watch."
"This isn't a house for normal people, Toga," I told her as I opened the door. "And drop that fake smile. You don't need it here."
We walked in.
"THEY'RE HERE!" Mitsuki's yell made Toga jump a foot in the air.
My mother came out into the hallway, drying her hands on a towel. She looked Toga up and down. Toga took a step back, lowering her head, awaiting judgment. Expecting the look of disgust she was so used to.
"You're a total twig!" Mitsuki yelled, walking over and pinching Toga's cheek (surprisingly gently). "Katsuki said you're thirteen? You look ten. Masaru, set the table! This girl needs protein right now!"
Toga blinked, completely thrown off guard.
"Um... I... I'm sorry for being so skinny..."
"Don't apologize, get in here!" Mitsuki gently pushed her toward the dining room. "Dinner's ready!"
Dinner was a chaotic mess. Masaru tried to politely ask about school, Mitsuki yelled at Masaru not to overwhelm the guest, and I yelled at Mitsuki to keep her damn voice down.
Toga sat in silence, a giant plate of steaming curry in front of her. She looked at us like we were aliens. At her house, dinner happened in dead silence. At her house, nobody touched or yelled as a show of affection.
"Are you not going to eat?" Mitsuki asked, noticing that Toga hadn't touched her spoon. "Do you not like spicy food? I put extra juicy meat in it, just like Katsuki said."
Toga clenched her fists in her lap.
"It's just..." Her voice trembled. "My Quirk... sometimes... when I see rare meat... I get... weird. My eyes change. And my teeth..."
She lowered her head, shrinking in shame.
"I don't want to scare you."
Silence fell over the table. Masaru set his chopsticks down. I was about to speak, to explain it with scientific coldness, but my mother beat me to it.
Mitsuki let out a harsh laugh.
"Scare us?" she asked, pointing at herself. "Kid, my sweat is pure glycerin. I have to use special creams so I don't look unnaturally ten years younger. My husband sweats combustible acid. And my son sweats explosives and has the temper of a rabid badger." Mitsuki leaned over the table with a fierce but immensely warm smile. "In this house, weird biology is the norm. If you grow fangs, use them to chew your meat better. Now eat, before it gets cold."
Toga's head snapped up. Her yellow eyes filled with tears.
"I... I'm not a monster?"
"You're a hungry teenager," Masaru said in a soft, kind voice, pouring her a glass of water. "And in this house, nobody goes hungry."
Toga looked at her plate. Then she looked at me. I gave a slight nod.
She picked up her spoon. She took the first bite. Her pupils instantly dilated from the effect of the iron and blood in the rare meat. Her posture straightened, and a faint smile of pure ecstasy crossed her face. It was a "predatory" expression.
At her house, her father would have slapped her or locked her up.
Here, Mitsuki simply nodded with deep satisfaction.
"See! I told you she'd like it. Katsuki, pass her some more rice!"
Toga started eating for real. And as she ate, she started to cry. Big, heavy tears fell into her bowl of curry, but she didn't stop chewing. She cried and ate, releasing years of systematic repression, fear, and hunger with every bite.
Nobody said anything awkward. Nobody asked her to stop crying or looked at her with pity. Mitsuki just gave her a pat on the back that almost dismantled her, and Masaru placed a box of tissues next to her without a word.
When she finished, Toga's face was red, her eyes were puffy, and her stomach was full.
"Thank you..." she sobbed, gripping her spoon. "Thank you for the food."
Mitsuki smiled—a smile identical to the one I get when I win a fight. Pure pride.
"Come back whenever you want, Himiko-chan. And next time, bring your laundry. That uniform smells like you escaped through a basement window."
Toga laughed weakly through her sobs, wiping her eyes.
"Yes... yes, ma'am."
I leaned back in my chair, watching the scene with my arms crossed.
Mission accomplished. Dynamite Diplomacy had been a resounding success. Himiko Toga had just found her first safe haven in the world. And I... well, I guess I now had a new vampire friend to keep in check.
Izuku was going to lose his fucking mind.
(......)
Author's Note: Hey everyone! I've been reading your comments, and regarding OFA... I've already made my decision, hehe. Thank you all for the feedback.
I really appreciate all the support you've given the story, especially knowing there are still things I need to improve. It means a lot to me.
I also want to address the use of AI in this story. I know I sometimes lean on that tool a bit too much. I'm trying to learn English little by little, and my goal is to keep learning and gradually improve my own writing, hehehe.
Besides, it's a real headache trying to get an AI to translate things exactly the way I want them to sound. I also use it as a sounding board to fix the plot holes I leave in my drafts. I've actually had to rewrite two whole chapters because I messed up a few things, hahaha.
Honestly, my conversations with the AI usually go something like this:
AI: "Your draft is crap. Rethink your writing and find another lame hobby." Me: "...."
Hehehe. Anyway, as always, any constructive criticism is welcome!