Chapter Text
All men are not created equal.
Himiko learned this at four years old, the first time her parents hit her.
She held the twitching sparrow in her hands, nursing the blood from the open wound in its chest. It’d been on the ground in her backyard. She smiled. So pretty. So red… The impact didn’t even register until she was already on the ground. Her father stood over the dead bird, shaking violently. Her mother hid behind him, covering her mouth with one hand.
“You- You killed that bird!” Her father shouted, “You tried to drink its blood!”
Her cheek stung. Himiko held it as she began to cry. “NO! I FOUND IT ON THE GROUND!”
Some people were born with good, virtuous quirks. These people could become heroes: the cornerstone of modern society. Then there were people with mediocre quirks. They could go on to become businessmen and support engineers.
Then there were people like her.
“Let’s straighten you out so you can be normal.”
Psychiatrists and counselors loomed over her in her elementary years, all trying to figure out what was wrong with her.
“Deviance is common in children with strong quirks. It happens all the time in our current society. We’ll fix it. It’ll be like it never existed.”
She’d watched other families. They didn’t act like hers. They were happy. They played in the park, smiling. At six years old, she couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen her mom and dad smile.
“Nothing we say is getting through to her.”
“JUST BE NORMAL!”
At the age of ten, she was given up by her parents. Thrown into the foster system. Himiko didn’t understand. It didn’t make sense. Was everyone else suppressing the desire to become the ones they love like she did? Why was it so bad? She just wanted to be like them.
Himiko’s quirk was called Transform, but that didn’t encapsulate the full weight of it. She could change into people if she consumed their blood. The duration of the transformation depended on how much blood she’d taken in. It felt like an act of love. To transform, she meant.
Himiko fell in love really easily. Boys… Girls… Animals… It just came naturally to her. And what came naturally, she’d learned to repress. It felt like a sin to love the way she did.
“We gave birth to a monster!!”
She balanced a pencil on her lip, totally not paying attention to whatever the teacher was saying. Middle school was boring. She didn’t really have any friends. No one to talk to and no reason to pay attention, honestly. She already knew most of the stuff they were talking about, anyway.
The person behind her tapped her shoulder. Himiko shocked, and the pencil dropped to her desk. The boy passed her a little note.
Her heart thudded in her chest as he smiled at her. It seemed genuine, but, then again, she’d never been good at reading people. She snatched it away and unfolded it in her lap.
Meet me in the gym after school
-Saito
Himiko blushed. Holy crap! Saito had finally noticed her. Maybe he liked her, like, for real! She repressed a squeal and kicked her legs under her desk. Maybe they’d even go on a date! Oh, how scandalous!
People like her didn’t go out on dates a lot. Mostly she just got told that she was a creep, or to stop smiling like that, or that she’d become a villain someday- the list went on and on. Her foster parents often told her that nobody could love a maniac like her. Well time to face the music, foster parents, because a boy was interested in her.
“Say, Toga, aren’t you applying to UA as well?”
Her head perked up from the note, face still red. “Huh?”
“What, that freak?” Shindo, the top of the class, scoffed, “She’s more likely to end up in the Doom Squad!”
Himiko stuck out her bottom lip at that. She was not going to end up in the Doom Squad. They were tacky as shit. If she was going to be a villain, she’d try to join a cooler group. But she wasn’t going to be a villain, so put the thought out of your mind.
She was going to be a hero.
--
Himiko went to meet Saito at the gym after school. It wasn’t a particularly fancy gym, given it was a lower-class middle school. But she was excited. Today, this gym was the most beautiful place in the world.
Something hit the back of her head, and there was a wet splat. A thick substance was dripping through her hair. She’d cut it recently, so it hung around her shoulders. Now, she ran a hand through it.
When she pulled the hand back, it was covered in red paint.
There was another splat as something made impact with her shoulder. She whipped around, turning to face Saito and his friends.
Her heart broke.
“Did you really think I’d want to associate with a fucking freak like you?” Saito smirked, hefting a red water balloon. He threw it at her, and it exploded against the floor in front of your feet, “You don’t belong here, Toga!”
Her eyes watered. She sniffled, trying her best to keep it together. She’d always been an easy crier.
His friends began to join in. She cried and ran past them, out of the gym before they could ruin her uniform further. She didn’t stop running once she hit the street. She just had to get out. Get out get out get out get OUT.
Something snatched her by the ankle, and she fell face-first onto the pavement. Something slimy crawled up her leg. Himiko screamed and attempted to claw it off. Two eyes and a set of teeth sludged out of the sewer drain.
“Finally- a new host!”
She shrieked. It took the opportunity to get inside her mouth and nose.
“You’ll only hurt for forty-five seconds, then it’ll all be over!”
Fuck. She didn’t usually curse, but FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUUUUUUCCCCKKKK!!! She didn’t want to die before anybody could miss her. This couldn’t be happening! Her arms and legs were restrained, and slime was furiously fighting its way up her sinuses.
Himiko could feel herself getting dizzy from lack of oxygen. Her eyelids fluttered. Everything hurt.
Her mother’s terrified face came to mind.
Distantly, she wondered if this thing could bleed.
An idea popped into her head.
And Himiko bit down as hard as she could.
Despite the composition of the slime, she could feel something tear. The villain yowled and retracted all the sludge from her mouth. She took in a greedy breath of air. “YOU LITTLE BRAT!” It pumped more furiously down her nose, down her throat.
The lid to a nearby sewer drain popped open.
Out of it popped someone who hadn’t been on public radar for years.
--
Himiko woke up to someone lightly tapping her cheek.
“Hey. Hey, kid.”
She opened her eyes and was face-to-face with the number one hero, All Might. She was so shocked, she didn’t know how to react for a second.
“Are you alright? You’re all covered in uh… red stuff.”
She almost started crying again. “It was a prank.”
The hero’s brows twitched just the narrowest bit. “Bullies, eh?”
Himiko nodded. “They think I’m a villain ‘cuz of my quirk.”
The man dug through his pockets for a second, then pulled out an off-brand soda bottle filled with dark green slime and two floating eyeballs. “Well, thanks to you, this particular villain has been apprehended! I’m off now to deliver this perpetrator to deliver them to the authorities! That’s pretty heroic to me!”
He moved to take off. She’d seen him pull that move before. He squat down, and Himiko rushed forward. All Might launched into the air-
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand Himiko latched onto his leg.
A blast of air rushed through her paint-plastered hair. Her eyes were blown wide. They were several kilometers off the ground, sailing above buildings.
He looked down and shook his leg. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING, KID?! GET OFF!”
“I THINK I WOULD DIE!!”
“RIGHT!”
They landed with a big thump, and Himiko collapsed to the ground. She wheezed and coughed. Ough. That had not been a good idea.
“Kid, that was not a good idea!”
Yeah. She got that.
“I- I had to ask you something!”
“I don’t have time,” He grunted, going toward the rail.
“But I need to know!” She shouted back, “Can someone with a quirk like mine be a hero like you?”
All Might exploded in a puff of smoke. She shrieked. In his place was a shriveled up man in a very baggy outfit. Then he barfed blood. Were she not so surprised, she would’ve licked her lips.
“Uh…” She squinted, “Are you not… All Might?”
“You know how people puff out their chest at the pool?” He grumbled, sitting down, “It’s like that.”
“So you have an a super transformation quirk?” Himiko asked, flexing one of her arms half-heartedly.
“Not exactly,” He lifted up his shirt, revealing an absolutely horrendous scar, “I got this in a fight with a villain five years ago. My respiratory system is in shambles, and my stomach was completely scooped out. I’ve mostly wasted away due to the surgery’s complications, so I’m limited to three hours of heroics a day.”
All Might narrowed his eyes and pointed at her. “You better not spill any of this to your friends, okay? I’m trusting you, here.”
She nodded. It wasn’t like she had any friends, anyway.
“What’s your quirk, kid?”
Himiko tightened her fist at her side. “I can transform into people when I drink their blood. I just… I have this need for it. I want to be people other than myself so bad. I need it. People always say it’s just destined for villainy. But- But I don’t want to hurt people,” The image of her father flashed in her mind, “I just love people so much that I want to be them.”
All Might looked her up and down. He let out a long sigh. “Not gonna lie to you, kid. I don’t see how a quirk like that could apply to hero work.”
Her heart dropped into her stomach.
“Heroes need to be able to reassure people that everything is okay. They need to be able to save people with a smile. And if your quirk is about hurting people and drinking their blood, I don’t see how people can be comforted by that.”
Tears began to slide down her face without her even realizing she was crying. What a shitty fucking day. “Oh.”
All Might got up and started walking to the stairwell. “Not everything is about quirks and heroes, kid. You’ll get through this.”
Oh, what great advice. Like she hadn’t just gotten her dreams crushed and her nightmares confirmed. She was a monster after all. Even All Might thought so.
--
On her way home, there was a loud BOOM.
She went toward the commotion, seeing there was nowhere else for her to be. Himiko muscled her way through the crowd.
Down the street, the slime villain was trying to overtake a boy. He was in an Aldera uniform, and was trying his best to explode the villain with his hands.
He couldn’t breathe, could he?
She looked around. Why wasn’t anybody doing anything? People were filming on their phones. A news helicopter hovered overhead. Heroes stood on the sidelines, watching.
He couldn’t breathe. It wouldn’t be long before he died of asphyxiation. She’d barely lasted a minute with that guy.
Without even thinking, the blonde ran forward.
It was like her body was moving on its own. Her feet thwapped against the ground in rapid succession. What was she doing? Literally everyone said she couldn’t be a hero. Even All Might said she couldn’t cut it. Why was she running toward this boy she didn’t know when even pro heroes couldn’t handle it?
She dug her fingernails into the sludge around the boy’s throat.
“BITE!!” She screamed to him.
The boy bit down, and the slime villain yowled. She tugged at the teen’s arm, attempting to yank him out. The goo left the boy’s face, he took a big breath of air, and the two of them were wrenched back by a powerful hand.
“DETROOOOIIIITTTTT SMASH!!”
All Might blew the slime villain away for presumably the third time that day.
After the fight, EMTs arrived. The boy that’d been stuck was cheered on by the heroes who’d been ‘helping’ the fight. Meanwhile, she was scolded for being so irresponsible. All Might was nowhere to be seen. He was probably out of time.
She was cleared after a few minutes and sent on her way. The boy was held back by reporters. Himiko wandered back to her foster home- covered in paint, sweat, and dirt.
About halfway through her walk home, there was a loud thump behind her. She whipped around. All Might smiled at her, then returned to his shriveled form in a coughing fit.
Himiko blinked, tipping her head in confusion. “What? What’re you doing? Did- Did I mess up?”
She tried not to eye the blood on the ground.
“Out of everyone there, you were the only one to act!” He proudly projected, “You, who I had just assured could never be a hero! My dear girl, I believe that was the most heroic act I’ve seen in years!”
He took a step forward, and it felt like time stood still. “I swear to it, I will help you become a hero!”
Her eyes watered. “W-What?”
“I’ve deemed you worthy of being my successor, child. If you are willing, I would like to pass my power down to you. It will be hard work, but if you work hard, and have determination, I believe that you could become the next Symbol of Peace!”
Himiko openly sobbed. Nobody had ever regarded her with such positivity before. This had to be a dream, right? She was dreaming. The number one hero of Japan was not telling her she could be on his level someday.
Wait a minute.
“What do you mean- ‘pass the power down’?”
“In the most literal sense possible.”
She blanked. “Huh?”
“My power is based on inheritance,” He explained, “It’s called One For All. It’s been passed down from eight holders now, each making the quirk more and more powerful. And I would like you to be the ninth in line. You’ve displayed such heroism and selflessness for someone your age! I couldn’t think of anyone more worthy of my gift!”
“It’s still your choice, of course!” He added on after a moment, “I would never force this upon you. Know that great danger comes with this heavy responsibility. If you accept, your life may very well be in danger.”
“Could- Could it help me get into UA?”
“My dear girl, I believe it could help you be the greatest hero of this century!”
Her eyes sparkled. She looked down at her hands. She, Himiko Toga, could save people. She could make a difference. She could make it so that little girls like her didn’t have to feel like they were so out of place.
Himiko hugged All Might with a big grin. “Yes! My answer is yes!”
Over the following ten months, Himiko would get called home from training quite a few times, then be scolded for being late. She didn’t exactly have the foods Toshinori wished her to eat. When she asked for them, her foster parents yelled at her for being ungrateful. So, whenever he could, Toshinori brought bulking foods to training.
Today, a week before the UA entrance exams, he’d brought Nanban soba. It wasn’t something she was used to having. Too rich for her blood, she supposed, but it was a nice treat.
It was a cold day outside, so the hot broth was a blessing. She’d already finished the duck and eggs, so all that was left were the chives and noodles. She was hungry. It’d probably be eaten soon enough.
Training was hard. Like, really hard. But the roughness of it all was almost satiated by the fact that someone actually cared enough to put her through it, and then get her food afterward.
Toshinori sighed and put his take-out down. Himiko’s eyes flicked up to him. He’d seemed to have gotten a lot frailer over the months they’d spent together. The downsides of illness, she guessed. It takes something out of you.
Every time he coughed blood, she resisted the urge to consume. It’d been almost two years since she’d tasted another’s blood. It was painful, almost. But it wasn’t something life-or-death. She just wanted it really really bad.
“I think you’re ready.”
Her eyes went wide. “What?”
“I think you’re ready for my quirk. One for All.”
She slurped down the rest of her soup, noodles and all, and set it down beside her. “Okay. Wow. I didn’t actually think you’d give it to me, to be honest.”
“Why would you think that, my dear girl?”
Himiko blushed. “W-Well, people don’t trust me very often. They always think I’m gonna kill them for their blood or something.”
“SPEAKING OF BLOOD-” Toshinori smiled, “-You need to consume some of my DNA to get the quirk! So, uh,” He plucked a hair from his head and held it out to her, “EAT THIS.”
She blanked. “Eh?”
She really wanted to speak out and just ask if she could have some blood. Eating hair seemed… gross. Himiko took it, of course, eyeing him to make sure it wasn’t some sort of prank. She cringed at the thought of it. She could just ask for blood. Why didn’t she just ask for blood? That would satiate two needs at once. Ugh, but she didn’t want to be weird. Maybe he’d revoke the offer if she asked that. AGH! This was too weird! She did not want to eat this guy’s hair. It was too freaken gross!!
“Any time now, young Toga.”
She gulped, staring at the hair like it was her worst fear manifested. Then she turned her hand and let it fall to the ground. “Nope. Too gross. Can’t. Can you give me blood? I’d prefer blood.”
Toshinori blinked. It took a second, then he nodded. “Yes, I forgot that your original quirk involved blood. I do believe we can make that work, young Toga.”
“For real?” She blinked in surprise.
He nodded again. “For real.”
He offered his wrist to her, rolling up his massive jacket’s sleeve.
Himiko almost started crying on the spot.
“Do I- er- Do I need to make a cut-?”
She sunk her fangs into his arm. He hissed a bit. She almost felt bad doing it. But the second his blood hit her mouth, she felt better than she had in what seemed like years. She held back a contented sigh of relief. She didn’t want to seem too happy about this, after all.
After a moment or two, Himiko pulled back and wiped her mouth. She put her hands in her lap, staring straight ahead bashfully. “Thank you.”
He pat her on the head. “Don’t worry about it.”
There was a minute there. Then two. Just them sitting in silence. It felt nice. Cold air bit at her face as she kicked her legs. Did this mean that they were officially friends? She’d never had a friend before. Himiko smiled to herself. She had a friend. A middle-aged old man friend, but still a friend.
Toshinori stood up after a while. She stood up with him. “Well, kid, we should get training.”
She groaned. “More training?”
“It’s part of being a hero, my dear girl!” He laughed, “Training keeps one’s body fit!”
Himiko rolled her eyes. She flexed out her fingers a bit. She could transform into Toshinori if she wanted to. Would that freak him out? It’d been so long since she’d used her quirk. The blond man walked forward a bit, eyes toward the distant skyline.
Without even meaning to, she shifted to a taller form. Her pants rose a bit, the cuffs hanging around her mid-shin now. Her clothes felt tighter than before. She wondered if she could turn into his big, buff form.
She felt a pain in her side. Right where his wound was. Now that she thought about it, it was kind of hard to breathe, too. Himiko tried to take a deep breath and went into a coughing fit. The real Toshinori turned around. Blood stained her hand when she pulled it back.
She giggled. It sounded weird in the man’s voice. “How do you live like this?”
He paused, then grinned.
“With a smile.”
--
Himiko spotted someone as she skipped to the entrance of UA.
“HEY!” She shouted, waving her hand wildly as she ran up to him, “SLIME GUY!”
The boy stopped and whipped toward her. “You,” He growled.
She grinned widely. “Me!!”
His palms popped like firecrackers. “Look, fangs, I didn’t need your-”
“Fangs?” She tipped her head in confusion, “Oh! Because of my teeth! Yeah!”
The blond boy scowled, red eyes twitching, “I didn’t need your help, okay? Now stay out of my way.”
“What are you applying for?” She asked, completely ignoring the hostility, “I’m going for the hero course. Are you going for the hero course too? Maybe we’ll be in the same class!”
He scoffed and kept walking. Himiko pouted. Well, that was rude. She shook it off. Not everybody was going to be nice, even if they all wanted to be heroes. She shrugged and kept on skipping. This was going to be a good day.
Himiko tripped almost immediately.
Something tapped her shoulder, and instead of falling, suddenly she was floating in the air. She blinked in confusion. What just happened?
“Ack! Sorry for going all crazy with my quirk there!” A girl squeaked, reorienting Himiko to be upright in the air, “I just didn’t want you to fall like that.”
The girl tapped her hands together, and her feet hit the ground again.
The girl in question had dark auburn hair and eyes, paired with light brown skin. Her cheeks were flushed red. Probably from the cold. Gosh, this girl was gorgeous.
Himiko blushed. “Uh. Yeah! Thanks!”
The brunette smiled. “I like your hair, by the way. It’s super cute.”
Somehow, she managed to blush even harder. She’d styled her hair in twin buns. One of her foster siblings had helped her do it. Something about having to look nice for the entrance exam. She didn’t really get it, but it had to have been worth it if this girl liked the look of it.
“Th-Thanks!” She squeaked.
“Maybe I’ll see you in class someday!” The girl waved as she ran off.
Himiko wobbled a little bit on her feet. She was nice, too.
She slapped her face lightly. Get it together, Himiko! She had to focus. No falling for people who she doesn’t even know yet. She ran after the girl, trying to get to her exams as soon as possible. Go beyond, plus ultra!
--
Something came to her in the middle of the countdown to the physical exam.
How the hecky heck was she supposed to take on robots?
Himiko’s original quirk was completely blood-based. During her training with Toshinori, One For All had only manifested in getting herself to float a few inches off the ground. Not exactly a power she could defeat tanks with.
She took a deep breath in, then let it out. Everything was going to be fine.
“EVERYBODY GO!!”
Himiko watched as her peers rushed past. Shoot! She started running, then had to immediately dodge a sparkly white laser. She screeched and ducked under it.
“My apologies, mon ami!” A particularly sparkly blond shouted after her.
Just as she was about to shout at him, a large piece of machinery flew toward her. She dove out of the way with a shriek.
“I’m at thirty-five!” A boy exclaimed.
Thirty-five??? Already????? Crap. She was screwed, wasn’t she?
Himiko got up and tried to find a good target. Maybe one that was a little beat up, y’know?
Time flew by, and she couldn’t find a single bot she was capable of taking on. She may have spent the last ten months training, but that didn’t mean she was some kind of superhuman!
“It’s like she isn’t even human!!”
SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!
Something exploded behind her. Himiko’s eyes went wide as she turned around.
The zero-pointer from the presentation rose from the rubble of the fake city. People began to scream and run away. She should probably run away too, if she was being honest. That’d be the smart thing to do. She could try to rack up some more points in any way she could.
That girl from earlier was trapped under a pile of rubble. It looked like her leg was stuck.
Eh. Himiko was never that smart.
She ran to the girl, skidding to her knees in front of her.
“My ankle!” She cried, “I can’t get it out!”
Himiko checked her leg as the behemoth approached. It seemed pretty stuck. She tried prying it out, only earning a squeal of pain from the brunette.
“Can you float it with your quirk?” She asked.
“I can’t reach!”
There was blood coming out of her leg. It probably got cut in the crash.
The blonde had a crazy idea.
Maybe One For All wasn’t about giving her super strength. Maybe it just enhanced the quirk she already had.
“Don’t freak out!” She warned.
“About what?!” The brunette screamed, “Is it getting closer?!”
Himiko licked the blood off the girl’s ankle.
“EW! WHAT ARE YOU-”
Her body was instantly filled with electricity. It felt like a rubber band about to snap. Himiko tried to get up, but was instead launched into the air. The zero-pointer came into view. Okay okay okay. What would All Might do? This was his quirk, after all.
The head of the robot lifted to look at her. She reared back an arm, and punched it as hard as she could.
--
Himiko woke up on the ground in absolute agony. The girl from earlier was lying next to her, vomit all over her previously unsoiled white t shirt.
The girl batted her pretty brown eyes, smiling weakly. “You’re gonna be a great hero.”
Her heart swelled. Himiko blinked the tears out of her eyes. “You too.”
“I’m Uraraka Ochako.”
“Toga Himiko.”
--
The next few weeks were absolute torture. She stayed home over the break, waiting and waiting for the letter from UA. Himiko didn’t have particularly high hopes considering how few robots she’d destroyed, but she was excited nonetheless.
Her foster parents berated her for staying inside so much, so she went out. She didn’t really have anything to do except train at the beach. Toshinori was busy, and she never got that Uraraka girl’s number. She just had to hope that they got in the same class.
It’d be nice to have a friend in class. She’d never had that before. Especially not a girl friend. Wait. No, not like girlfriend. As in a friend who was a girl. Shut up!
She got home that night, and her foster family was waiting at the dinner table. Her foster mother, a stern woman named Mrs. Hagiwara, was holding a rather chunky letter. She was smiling for once. “Himiko! Your letter from UA came in! Would you want to open it at the table?”
This seemed like a very rare nice gesture from this woman, so Himiko sat at the table. She took the letter and ripped open the top of the envelope. Out of it fell a chunky disk. She cocked her head in confusion. What the-
“Toga Himiko!” All Might’s voice boomed, startling the living heck out of everyone at the table, “On the written exams, you got a rating of 473/500! Quite well for someone who was ninety-seventh in her class!”
Hey! Mr. Hagiwara gave her a pointed look at that. She sunk into herself a bit.
“But at the practical exam, you had a skill rating of zero. You, of course, failed.”
“I knew it,” Watanabe (her foster brother) hissed, “A loser like you could never get into the number one hero academy. Not when I-”
“But wait! There’s more!”
Watanabe was silenced quickly by their foster mother’s sharp “shut it!”
“As soon as the exam ended, the girl you saved petitioned us almost immediately!”
Uraraka came onto screen, holding her jacket in front of Present Mic. Himiko gaped, face red.
“Hello? Uh- sorry- I just- I wanted to give some points to the girl who saved me!” The brunette explained, “She was kinda short? Blonde hair in two buns? Well, I don’t think I saw her take down any of the robots, and I wanted to make sure she still had a shot, y’know? She was the only person who came to help me!”
“Much more than any quirk, your actions have touched people,” All Might said, coming back onto screen, “And the judges were looking for more than just smashing robots for points! Did you really think there’d be a heroics department that’d reject an entrant for doing the right thing? Perish the thought!”
“What?!”
“So take your rescue points! The judges all agree! Himiko Toga: sixty points! And while we’re at it, Uraraka Ochako: forty-five points! Meaning- you passed, kid.”
Fat, blobby tears rolled down Himiko’s face as she openly sobbed. Everyone in her foster family seemed shocked. Well, they’d all told her it was only a matter of time before she became a villain. It must’ve been a big shock to see this.
“So come on down, Toga, my girl! Welcome to UA, YOUR HERO ACADEMIA!!”
.
..
…
….
Izuku shot upright with a gasp, only to be greeted with deep darkness. He didn’t see the light filtering from the window of his room, nor the leather cushions of his apartment’s couch. It didn’t even seem that he was in a hospital. He was somewhere completely unknown.
Panic shot through his system. What was happening? Did he get kidnapped? Oh, what a shitty day. Last thing he remembered, he was taking a swan dive off the school like Kacchan had told him to. Now he was somewhere completely new??? This didn’t make any sense. What the hell was happening.
“You’re awake.”
Izuku’s head whipped to the sound. Two glowing eyes peered in at him.
“Welcome, child. You’re home now.”