My Whole Life For Yours

by JajaLala

Summary:

Eight years after the war between the Paranormal Liberation Front and the Pro-Heroes, Himiko has a new peaceful life thanks to the sacrifice Ochako made for her. Nobody knows she's Himiko, of course, but that's the price she pays to live a normal life. And she's totally happy with it. Totally!

However, when a chance event makes Himiko suspicious of what Hawks and the HPSC know about her, the world she built turns upside-down, and she'll have to face both herself and her past to save what she thought she lost forever.

Notes:

I thought My Hero Academia manga ending would calm me down... but that Epilogue just gave me some meat to work into post-canon TogaChako :3.

Big warning: I MEAN THAT SLOWBURN TAG. And I'm about to put Himiko through it, lol. I may adjust the various tags or the title at some point, I just am tired of NOT posting and want to release this into the world Now...

Chapter 1: Smells sus

Himiko hurt everywhere, a deep-seated ache from her head to her toes. Was this how her victims felt when she drained them of all their blood?

Was she still alive? She tried out her voice, tongue moving like sludge.

“O…cha…ko…” she rasped out.

Listening for a response, she registered beeping and a loud, regular thrum nearby. She was lying down, but whatever she was lying on was moving and shifted a bit, like a rocking ship. 

“Don’t worry, we know you, Ochako, we’ve got you. We’re lifting you to a hospital, alright? Hang on.”

So Ochako was with her? And she was going to a hospital? She forced her eyes open so she could take her in again, perhaps for the last time.

Their quarters were cramped. She saw some feet, some chairs, and beside her was herself. Bloody, unmoving.

She blinked slowly, worried about her own imagination. How could Himiko be lying beside herself? She wanted to ask what was going on, who had borrowed her appearance, but after one more herculean breath, she let it go, too weak to let out another word before she slipped into unconsciousness again.

 

---

 

“... And remember, no quirk is bad. You should never feel ashamed of or have to hide what is an essential part of you. If you’re feeling scared or nervous about your quirk, you can talk to your teacher about getting a quirk counseling appointment. This district is partnered with the Quirk Counseling Expansion Project, so you get to have at least one free appointment with a counselor per year. If you need more counseling, they can help you set up more support during your appointment.”

She looked around at the room of kids, dozens of students who probably got their quirks within the past year or two, sitting attentively in their tiny seats as a pro-hero lectured at them. She tried not to be too much of a lecturer; she could see some kids' legs bouncing and others looking out a window. They were more alert than the classes suffering under Tenya’s long drones that usually lost attention from all but the most studious students after ten minutes, but it was near the end of the school day and most wanted to go home.

The students were clearly tired of listening, so she went to the conclusion. “I’m almost done, don’t worry! But I have one more secret I want to tell you guys.”

That perked them up, the ones looking out the window turned back towards her. Kids liked being in on secrets.

“I spent years working to become a professional hero, but did you know you don’t have to do all of that to be a hero? The truth is, sometimes you’ll meet someone who is struggling, whether it’s shame about their own quirk, or other people around them saying that they’re weird for something they were born with. No matter what, you have a choice to reach your hand to them, accept them, and help them. If you do that, you can be their hero. Thank you for all of your time today.”

 

---

 

As they walked away, she let out a breath. “Finally, done with all our talks! What are you guys going to do now?”

Momo said, “I’m heading back to my agency—I left Kyouka with a lot of work to do and want to catch up with her.”

Tenya nodded. “I will also be returning to my agency. There are still hours left in the work day!”

Tsuyu shook her head. “I’m taking the rest of the day off. I’m going to travel to my parent’s place for dinner. It’s been months since I saw some of my siblings.” Then she turned to her. “What about you, Ochako?”

She smiled. “I’m also going to take the rest of the day off. Those talks always drain me, you know.”

Momo’s expression softened. “If you ever want one of us to take over, I can adjust my ‘how studying actually applies to the real world, even hero work’ talk to include some of your quirk counseling talking points…”

She waved her hands. “No need! I’ve got this, and like… it’s not a bad kind of draining, it’s more like it just… reminds me of her, you know? So it brings up a lot of feelings, but doing this makes me feel like I’m doing something for her, so… I want to keep doing it.”

Momo smiled. “Of course.”

They split ways soon after that, and she headed straight home.

Her path took her through a park. A playground with a swing set, seesaws, a few toddlers in the sandbox, along with benches of their adults chatting with each other, laughing. Green grass, trees flush with leaves and blossoms. Compared to eight years ago, this park had become vibrant.

This park was one of the ones the UA students helped to rebuild after the final Paranormal Liberation Front. She still remembered helping lift out debris with zero gravity, helping to make it somewhere that the reconstruction team could build on. Back then, she wondered whether all that work was worth it, if it might have been better to just leave the land to rot, considering it would inevitably be torn apart again by another next villain attack.

She breathed in the sweet scents in the air, and was glad people still decided to build it. Maybe villains would tear it down again one day, but right now? It was a beautiful spot, somewhere people could gather and pass peaceful time. Even just walking home after work was made a little more magical by this park that human hands had built.

How many people worked together to bring this to life? The government and relief offices who decided to include it in reconstruction. The civil planners who mapped out what was required. Heroes like those from UA and construction workers who brought those plans to life. And now, probably gardeners and others who managed the park regularly and kept it such a beautiful spot.

Maybe it would be destroyed again one day, but that wouldn’t change how much joy it brought people in the meantime. And even if something was destroyed, if people worked together… they could rebuild again. The whole world could be destroyed, and it was still possible for people to work towards a new future.

She smiled. This was a world worth saving.

 

---

 

She wished she could have stayed in the park and enjoyed the gentle breeze instead of dealing with her paperwork at home. She flipped through the stapled stack of papers she was supposed to fill out for the Hero Public Safety Commission’s yearly report. She preferred to fill this out online, but when she complained about having to click through all the various sections on the glitchy online portal, Tokoyami had delivered this stack to her door the next day “For reference.”

It was helpful to be able to flip through it and get a sense of the paperwork she was going to need to pull together. The third year UA classes on pro-hero forms and taxes had been a drag, but she was thankful for them now so she at least knew what the dozens of forms being referenced were.

Her organizational skills, though…

She booted up her computer. Most her forms were digital. She poked through her folders, hoping that her past self had organized them neatly by year, before surrendering to the fact that half of the things she needed were in a badly-labeled mess in her Downloads folder. Assuming she had downloaded them, and they weren’t only in the various online systems that a hero like herself had to interact with to record her rescues, arrests, income, volunteer work, and more.

Being an independent hero sucks, she decided as she clicked through dozens of documents, belatedly labeling things like “asdrrheg20650403-00001F” into “Rescue Report - Jakku earthquake - April”. Though she always rejected Tokoyami’s offers to join the Hero Collective, the HPSC’s system to help standardize agencies and provide support staff to independent heroes like herself, she wished she hired an assistant of some sort to properly manage her paperwork. The cost of that, though…

Once again, she flicked through the stack of papers to find the next forms she’d need to track down. As she slid page after page past her finger, she angled incorrectly and sliced open her finger on the thin edge.

She paused, watching the blood well up from the tip of her finger.

Blood was supposed to be covered up. She got up and went to the bathroom, where her first aid kit was. All she needed was a simple bandage. Quickly, trying not to linger, she opened the cabinet behind her mirror and pulled out a bandage. After a quick rinse under the sink and a pat down with a paper towel, she placed the bandage onto the finger. There. Done. She closed the cabinet, and looked into the mirror.

Toga Himiko looked at Uraraka Ochako’s face.

Though her finger was covered up, the paper towel still had a streak of it. Slowly, she brought it up to her nose and sniffed deeply.

It smelled like her, but most importantly it also smelled like Ochako. She shuddered at the reminder. Something had happened during that attempted blood transfusion eight years ago, which had mixed and melded their blood so much that Himiko was now capable of maintaining Ochako’s form and using her quirk 24/7. From what she could gather, the same must have happened to Ochako, as she had a dim memory of seeing her own form worn by someone else.

When she was properly conscious several days later, Himiko had been understandably confused. Everyone kept calling her Ochako, and although she had been sharp enough to play along at first, learning where “Himiko” had ended up had ruined her.

Dead. Her body cremated before Himiko had even woken up, as per the wishes of the Toga family.

So “Toga Himiko” was dead, and now she lived as Uraraka Ochako.

She forced the paper towel away from her nose. Ochako wasn’t obsessed with blood. Himiko finally had a normal life. She wasn’t locked away in jail; she had friends and a job and a path forward that was warm and welcomed by so many people.

It was all thanks to Ochako, who had indeed given her blood for the rest of her life, and then her whole life too.

Himiko took a deep breath and shoved the paper towel deep into her bathroom trash bin. She returned to her desk in the corner of her tight apartment and reminded herself who she was doing all of this for.

Ochako wanted to be a hero, and now she was. Himiko could handle a little paperwork to keep things that way. She dove into the mess, invigorated.

Her phone interrupted her, buzzing long and hard to indicate an incoming call.

Mina is calling…

She picked up on the third ring. “Mina! What’s up?”

“Hey Ochako, how are you doing?”

“Great, just got home from a school visit, now I’m wrestling with the paperwork for the HPSC yearly report, you know.”

She laughed. “I don’t really know, the Collective is handling that for me, I think? But hey, good on you for dealing with all that complicated stuff.”

“Did you call me just to brag?”

“Nooo, Ochako I’m in a real pickle and need a favor. Pretty please would you hear me out?”

Eight years with Mina. Well, Mina thought it was more like nine, but nonetheless Himiko had grown fond in the time they shared. “As if you have to ask.”

“Okay, there’s this mission tonight that I could really use a hand with… We’re trying to move a bunch of stuff from one location to another, and our plan was to use Wash’s bubbles to float all the stuff along and make it an easy transfer, but we just got word he pulled his back. Your zero gravity is pretty similar though, so could you sub in?”

“What exactly are you moving?”

“Ehh who knows? A bunch of cargo.”

That lack of information was indicative. Her lip curled down. “Did Hawks ask you to do this?”

“Are you psychic, Ochako?”

She knew how he operated. The less information people had, the better. He even knew not to ask her outright to sub in, instead funneling the request through her classmate who she would struggle to reject.

He loved manipulating people.

Being Ochako meant she couldn’t murder everyone who she wanted to.

“Lucky guess,” she told her, “plus you’re part of the Collective, it makes sense they would loop you in to missions.”

“So can you help?”

She sighed. “Yeah, I can.”

Once she was off the call, she texted Izuku.

Can we reschedule? A mission came up with Mina for tonight.

His response was almost instant. Of course! How does Thursday night next week sound?

Perfect.

How many weeks had it been? Two? Maybe three since they had last gotten to see each other. Since Izuku had returned to hero work in addition to teaching, their schedules struggled to align, but she wasn’t going to abandon Mina.

Would Ochako have made the same decision? Choosing this mission over her date night? Even though she liked Izuku?

Himiko sighed. She hoped so.

 

---

 

Once there, Himiko gathered that they were moving some sort of lab space, based on a few people in lab coats who helped direct the heroes around the space full of dense, metal reinforced cargo boxes. Himiko tapped them each with five fingers to turn them weightless, and passed them off to the heroes waiting to carry them through the cramped first-floor offices to the trucks waiting in the parking lot outside.

Though it had taken Himiko some time to get used to Ochako’s quirk when she first became her, it was second-nature now.

As she handed a floating box to Mina, she commented, “This seems like more of a job for a moving company.”

Mina shrugged her shoulders. “I guess they think there’s a risk of a villain attack during the transfer? I heard one of the scientists mention there was some sort of breach the other day that compromised this place. They must be nervous villains will choose to attack while they transition out.”

“But why would villains attack this random lab?”

“I dunno, that’s not part of my job.”

So they carried on, Himiko keeping her ears peeled for any further information. She didn’t enjoy being a pawn, but leaving Mina to be a pawn alone would have been worse. As the hours continued, though, she found herself relaxing. The most she got was the name of the lab—Novel Heroic Advancements Laboratory. Vague. Maybe this wasn’t that big of a deal, and she was just paranoid from constantly watching her back and assuming the worst of the HPSC.

Three trucks had left already, and the last was waiting for cargo.

Himiko had suspicions.

Ochako’s quirk included some sensation of the weight that she floated. Himiko knew that all the boxes on the first three trucks were the same weight, but the boxes she was floating now for this fourth truck had actual weight variation, and all were heavier than the ones put on the first three trucks.

None of the heroes carrying around the zero-gravity boxes would have noticed, but she was feeling it as she floated them and wondering what was going on. Were those first three trucks dummies? Meant to split up any villains trying to follow them to the new location? It was a lot of effort for some obscure lab she’d never heard of.

Mina came into the current office Ochako was emptying, and said, “You bored yet?”

Himiko smirked. “Better bored than–” 

A scream rang out from the parking lot. Himiko crouched automatically, bracing herself for whatever would come next. Good thing she did, as a wall beside her smashed open.

A scientist with a manbun was thrown against a wall, his glasses slipping down his nose in the chaos. Someone darted out from the new opening, bulky with wide arms that jostled the already crumbling wall and sent more debris onto the scientist.

Himiko darted out and grabbed the dazed scientist, pulling him away from a chunk of debris just before it landed on him.

“The cargo!” The scientist shouted, instead of thanking her, “Don’t let them get away with it!”

Though Himiko put her hands together quickly to return weight to the cargo, another villain darted inside to help their compatriot carry the box out.

Mina intervened, obviously, creating a slippery acid that made the one in front stumble, almost dropping the crate onto themselves. They scrambled out just in time, and Himiko had a moment to take them in.

The bulky one had long hair that wrapped around his arms and pulsed as he moved. Was the hair a strength enhancer in some way? She glanced at the smaller villain who engaged with Mina immediately, her skin turning to scales as she went for Mina with a knife.

This would be easier with a knife, but that wasn’t Ochako’s style.

So instead, Himiko tried to catch the bulkier one with the capture weapon from her wristband. He dodged and drew closer, forcing Himiko to grapple. She smoothly caught his hands, shifted her balance, and sent him flying over her shoulder.

Ochako’s body was beautiful. Bulky, strong, perfectly formed with power in every muscle. She had trained it up well in her first year, and Himiko had been building it ever since. Himiko had focused on being lithe and maneuverable in her own body, but she relished Ochako’s strength.

Unfortunately, the bulky hero’s hair snaked out and grabbed her hands, sending her stumbling back towards him. She was still able to maneuver him, but she was inextricably chained to him.

She really wished she had a knife.

Especially as other villains piled in, some more going for the cargo while Mina and Himiko were both occupied with their respective villains. The other heroes in the parking lot had to be occupied as well, since backup wasn’t coming in.

“They can’t take that!” The scientist shouted, “If it gets into the villains hands, there will be devastation!”

Though Himiko tried to swing her villain into the others, it wasn’t enough. They were getting away.

That’s when Mina kicked out a foot, creating an arc of acid aimed widely enough to coat the entire crate. It sizzled as it met the metal, and the people trying to lift it backed off at a single drop. This was one of Mina’s most potent acid mixes, powerful enough to eat away the metal… and everything underneath.

There were cabinets, racks of test tubes, and even more metal casing. Though some villains tried to dart their hands inside to take the contents, they pulled back quickly as Mina’s acid dripped all over their hands.

Himiko focused on the fight in front of her, trying not to get punched by her opponent. She took a deep breath and–

That smell.

Her head snapped back towards the metal. The tubes—there was red liquid in some. Some of the tubes were disintegrating, releasing the contents into the air. She took another sniff.

That was her blood. Ochako’s blood. Their blood.

She was punched in the nose.

Himiko was sent reeling back, fresh blood filling her nostrils and drowning out that strange hint. Furious at the distraction, she flipped her opponent over again, using his hair for leverage and, along the way, twisting that hair around his neck.

He started to choke. The hair that had wrapped around her was loosening, trying to escape, but she held onto it tightly.

“Retreat!” One of the villains cried out.

That snapped Himiko out of it. Ochako’s not a murderer, she reminded herself, and let go.

The villains disappeared almost as quickly as they had appeared. Mina took chase immediately, barely pausing to let out some liquid to counteract her intensive acid, but Himiko went to check in on the scientist instead.

She preferred the rescue side of heroics over the arresting people part anyway.

The scientist sat against the wall, glasses askew, staring at the crate. Or rather, what was left of the crate. Which was a small portion of metal and some half-disintegrated tile beneath it.

“That took five years of development,” he said, aghast.

“What were you developing?”

“A way to duplicate…” he frowned. “No, I’m sorry, I’m in shock. It’s better destroyed than in the hands of villains. I still have the research notes. We can rebuild. Maybe the others are still intact.”

Himiko reached down a hand to help him up. He accepted it, but once he was standing she didn’t let go. Instead, she looked into his eyes with Ochako’s gorgeous beady brown eyes. “Do you want to talk about it? Maybe I could help.”

He shook his head. “No, no, it’s classified, I… where is everyone else? Dr. Sen, he needs to be alright.”

She tried not to let her disappointment show. Instead, she focused on checking in on everyone else who had experienced the villain attack. It seemed some of the other heroes had fared better—none of the other crates had been successfully stolen. There were a few injuries, but nothing life-threatening.

Some heroes like Mina were already on the chase. Himiko stayed and completed her mission, filling the rest of the last truck, thankfully with no further incidents.

The entire time though, her head was spinning. What had that scent been? She knew herself and her own nose; her blood scenting was impeccable. And the delicious, bittersweet but tender mixture of her and Ochako’s blood was unmistakable.

Her blood had been in this lab’s classified materials.

Her mind raced trying to figure out the method. Was it her bloodwork during her annual physical a few months ago? Or someone who scraped up and collected the blood during her messy battle with that glass villain the other week? Or when she fell unconscious during that gas attack the other month, and woke up in the hospital?

She hadn’t signed any sort of consent, for sure. No wonder everything was “classified”, if it might not even be legal. For a lab like this to have her blood, she had to assume someone high up was giving some sort of clearance.

But just how far up the chain of command did this go?

Before they closed up the truck, Ochako hopped in. “I’ll guard this while you travel.”

Though it wasn’t part of the original mission plan, the scientists were too rattled by the recent villain attack to object. The central comms hero had his hands full with the heroes who had gone for the chase, and thankfully just gave a frazzled “affirmative” rather than trying to sort out who might be the best choices of guard among the few heroes remaining.

A handful shuffled in with her, along with a few of the scientists, apparently loathing to part with the cargo too long.

She stayed in an alert pose, as though ready to dive into action the moment another villain attacked.

On board, Manbun-scientist sat with his shoulders slumped beside a mustached old man. “Dr. Sen, we lost some samples, and some of the developed prototypes.”

Dr. Sen grumbled. “We’ll have to get more samples. We can recreate from those.”

She kept her ears peeled, but neither of them went into more detail. Most the scientists seemed stunned, probably more accustomed to lab accidents than villain attacks. If only they were chattier, Himiko could focus on that instead of the thoughts racing through her head.

As far as she knew, there shouldn’t be a reason for an obscure HPSC lab like the NHAL to be experimenting with her blood.

Obtaining her blood wasn’t impossible, but why would this lab want the sample? As she rode alongside the scientists, none smelled particularly anxious on her account. Most seemed more frantic about the lost samples or harrowed by their close brush with villains than anything else. So perhaps the scientists didn’t know exactly who that sample had come from. Who would?

Hawks.

She crossed her arms and leaned against the walls of the truck as it turned a corner. Hawks was personally invested enough in this lab to be detailing its security himself. And he chose Uravity. Did he assume that the cargo would stay secure throughout the transfer, and so was completely unconcerned with the thought of her realizing? She was only even able to identify it thanks to her sensitive nose for blood. That was a Himiko secret, way too specific and creepy to ever express as Uravity. So Hawks couldn’t have known she would realize.

Unless…

The truck turned the opposite direction abruptly, and she had to take a step forward to brace herself. Was there some sort of investigation going on? She thought her performance as Uravity was going well, but there were unfortunate slip-ups. Tiny clues, if someone knew where to look.

Himiko knew what her blood smelled like now, but she’d never tried to do analysis on it. She wasn’t a geneticist, and asking one to investigate what was going on with her mixed blood was begging for evidence that could be used against her. There was so much about herself, her quirk, and the effect Ochako had on her that she surrendered to ignorance—the price she paid for this peaceful and normal life that Ochako had given her. Asking questions, finding answers, learning more could spiral into the awful truth spilling everywhere and destroying her new life.

Were these scientists learning about it?

Finally, the truck stopped and the doors opened. The scientists stood up.

“I”ll help you bring them in,” Himiko said, going into work-mode before her stewing in the corner got suspicious.

Their new location was a white, nondescript building. In the city, still, but clearly not downtown. There was enough space for a garage on the first floor.

She made a note of this location, and paid close attention as to to where the boxes went and the arrangement of the building.

Hawks might be paying close attention to her, too

Chapter 2: A little birdie told me...

Summary:

Previously on Coping with your crush's death in a totally normal way: Himiko is living like as Uraraka Ochako, and eight years after that fateful day when Ochako died, Himiko is being Uravity and doing stuff like giving talks to kids on the value of quirk counseling. When Mina called her up to help with moving a lab from one space to another, despite it being an HPSC mission, Himiko joined in to help Mina. However, during a villain attack, Himiko discovered that her own blood was among the lab's samples, and is now suspicious of what the HPSC is doing and what it might know about her real identity.

The headquarters for the HPSC was easy to walk into. The front lobby had a wide, welcoming glass front door, framed by miniscule cameras that recorded and identified everyone who walked through them. If anything was amiss, an alert would send security and heroes on duty to check things out.

Himiko was a hero though, so the front desk merely smiled at her and didn’t accost her as she went down the halls towards the HPSC cafeteria. The cafeteria had an ID-controlled turnstile, but all Himiko had to do was wave her license along the scanner and she smoothy went in. This wasn’t her first time going through the process—Tooru had invited her to the cafeteria for the occasional lunch break, and Tokoyami had once squeezed her in for a cheap evening meal. Each time, they put her on the visitor’s list, and she was free to help herself to the whole cafeteria of options and take a seat anywhere at the many tables.

Today, someone new had put her on the list.

Hawks stood up from a table in the corner almost as soon as she walked in, waving a hand so there was no way she could miss him. “Uravity!”

Smile, she reminded herself, waving back with Ochako’s amiable charm. She approached and put down her bag.

“Thanks for coming by,” Hawks said. “Feel free to help yourself to anything. Sorry it’s just cafeteria food, but I didn’t want to go out and get interrupted by press or civilians asking for an autograph. This is a little more private, yeah?”

The illusion of privacy. Sure, there was no press allowed in here, but their fellow heroes could see and perhaps even hear their conversations. The setting gave a neutral, free impression, but every single person here was affiliated or allied with the HPSC in some way.

Including Himiko, of course. And with her having lunch with Hawks himself, the signal to any hero or staff going through these halls was clear. Hawks has Uravity on his side. Uravity may be teaming up with or joining the HPSC. The mere implication propped both of them up, gave a stronger sense of unity among the HPSC and heroes at large.

She went off and grabbed herself a tray, piling it high with rice, curry, soup, and some deserts. Ochako’s body needed lots of fuel for training. 

Once she had plenty enough to hopefully strain the HPSC’s coffers, she returned to Hawks’ table, where he was scrolling through his phone. This was undeniably Hawks’ home turf, but he leaned casually in his chair like he was just your average guy grabbing a bite to eat on his break. His loose motions and easy posture gave their meeting the impression of two friends hanging out at lunch instead of a hero and potential employee.

Or an ex-villain and a hero who betrayed her.

When she sat down, he smiled and leaned towards her. “How are things with you? I’ve been seeing you in the news, great public relations with those school talks.”

“Good. That stuff has kept me busy, obviously, but it’s worth it.”

“Instilling some good into the next generation, love it.”

If she imagined Hawks as a stranger instead of Hawks, the small talk was almost bearable. She was able to keep her face under control, at least.

He leaned a bit straighter, signaling his acknowledgement that this meeting included some business. “Thanks for finally agreeing to meet with me. I have to thank you for stepping up with that transport mission.”

She noted the dig with the word finally. Hawks was a schmoozer at heart, even with those beneath him. He had tried to invite Himiko to chat several times before, but after he failed to persuade her to join the HPSC ranks some years ago, she had politely dodged all of his attempts to meet with claims of a scattered schedule. 

He hadn’t tried in the past year, but after sneaking her into an HPSC mission via Mina, he had been emboldened enough to text her afterwards with some excuse of “thanking” her for joining at the last minute.

Normally, she would have still politely dodged. After smelling her own blood in a HPSC-funded lab’s samples, she was willing to put herself through a little torture in search of more information.

“It’s no problem,” Himiko said with a practiced smile. “I was happy to lend some aid. Especially for Mina’s sake.”

He already knew she had a weakness for her friends—there was no sense in hiding it.

“You’re truly reliable,” he responded. “Even though you’ve got your hands full with your quirk counseling project and whatnot. You’re famous, in the top 50 on the popularity charts at just 25 years old. I have to say I’m impressed!”

“You’re too kind,” Himiko said, knowing his flattery didn’t come from kindness.

“Uravity, you're not just a hero. You’re a whole operation, and you’re doing it all with a team of… exactly one. Yourself.” He rested his elbows on the table, got close and almost conspiratorial. “Isn’t it exhausting?”

Yes. “I’m hardly the only independent hero without a whole agency. Miruko rocked that lifestyle for almost a decade.”

“Even she eventually hired an assistant.” He sighed. “I’ve met her, she’s overworked handling all of Miruko’s business, and she’s not a hero on top of it all. So come on, Uravity. You’ve gotta be tired… Why not consider joining the HPSC? We can handle all the boring stuff so you can focus on heroics.”

“I’m flattered you think I’d be an asset, but I think you’ve got a wonderful roster already. I don’t think I could provide anything new.” What exactly are you after?

“Nonsense! We could always use another hero of your fame in our ranks.”

“You exaggerate. There are plenty more famous heroes happy to join the HPSC, I’m certain.”

He chuckled. “Well, it’s true that you’re on the lower end when it comes to arrest numbers…”

“Rescue is my specialty,” she countered automatically while trying to keep her voice level. He’s not accusing you of anything… yet.

“Obviously. Your rescue metrics are stellar, but your low arrest rate combined with your quirk counseling expansion project projects a certain… image. You’re a pro-hero, but you’re not just fighting villains all the time. People have taken notice.”

She tilted her head curiously as though her heart wasn’t racing. “Taken notice? Who? Of what? I’m just doing my work in the way I feel best suited to.”

“Do you know Iguchi Shuichi?”

Her mouth went dry. She shoveled a spoonful of soup into it so she would have time to think of how to react.

“...Spinner?” She said, trying to sound a little uncertain, like she wouldn’t know his given name for sure.

He nodded. “He made a comic while in prison, released it two years ago. A tell-all on the League of Villains.”

She knew. She’d purchased one as soon as it was available. Himiko wasn’t drawn as cutely as she would have liked, but despite the title being “The League of Villains”,  a majority hadn’t even been strictly about the League. A large chunk was about Tomura, and then the rest was about Spinner and his history, why he had been persuaded to join the League, what he saw as the ills of society. There were even thoughts and stories she hadn’t known about while they were in the League together, scars on his heart that they hadn’t had the time to share.

She read it once, then twice, then buried it in the back of her bookshelf so nobody would ever see she had it.

“I’ve heard of it,” she said to Hawks.

“It sold well, and although I’m sure plenty of people were just curious, Iguchi has amassed something of a fanbase. The public support ended up pushing his release from prison, and so he’s been free for the past year or so.”

Himiko was extremely aware, and had followed the public response and the handful of demonstrations and protests closely. Editorials and news segments ran on the subject, and in the end Spinner’s sentence was shortened with claims that he had shown good behavior in prison.

Hawks continued, “Since he got out, he started a blog.”

The blog was called Blade Edge Thoughts. She read one post and became so uncomfortable with the intensity and familiarity that she hadn’t read it since. She’d never reached out to Spinner, even after he left prison.

He was part of Himiko’s life, not Ochako’s.

“He does a lot of political posts and thinkpieces, both essays and comics, but recently he’s released his own ‘Hero Rankings’. Heroes he believes legitimately deserve to be lauded. You’re in the top five.”

She blinked. “I wasn’t aware.” For once, not a lie

“No wonder—it’s a random list made by one man on a random blog post. Still, he’s got a cult following that’s growing. It’s the kind of group that’s bound to attract villains and potential villains… so even though it’s small so far, we want to keep ahead of it. Iguchi isn’t committing the villainy of a decade ago—instead, he’s got his finger on the pulse of a cultural movement, and he’s guiding it where he wants. Today, if he were to post and push for it, he could cause a battle. Give a few more years for his audience to grow, and he could push for another war.”

Himiko laughed, a little disbelieving. “You have a lot of confidence in an ex-villain who’s eight years past his prime.”

Hawks shook his head ruefully. “Don’t underestimate the influence he still holds, and the influence he’s growing. He knows how to speak to the kinds of people who are attracted to villainy. He’s becoming the masthead of a movement, and although most people aren’t paying attention yet… the HPSC has to keep an eye on this sort of thing.”

She was almost done with lunch. Hawks’ long explanations gave her plenty time to stuff her face. “Okay, what does this have to do with me, though? The HPSC has the official hero rankings, surely you’re not taking his too seriously.”

He chuckled. “What I’m saying is that the HPSC wants to make things easy for heroes, and that means staying five steps ahead of any potential beds of villainy. Thinking ahead includes working with those who have potential connections that can be leveraged.”

She scoffed, keeping a smile on her face to stay amicable. “You think Spinner is gonna start praising the HPSC if one of his favorite heroes joins?”

“Something like that.” He smiled in an opaque way that made Himiko certain there was too much beneath the surface to get into during a lunch.

Her tray was empty, so she got up. “I’ll think about it.”

“Hey.”

Politeness demanded she pause and wait for his next point.

“You don’t have to dive right into it. If you want to try one or two missions with us, we can loop you in. Contract a bit, like what you did with Mina.”

He wanted her close. Why? Did they need more of her blood? Was he going to make some excuse to collect some as ‘part of a mission’ to replenish those samples?

Why did they have it? Why did they want it? What had they found out about it so far?

Did he know the truth about her?

She agreed to this lunch hoping for answers, but there was nothing made certain.

“I still need some time to think about it,” Himiko told him. “Thanks for the lunch.”

Finally, she was free.

She was returning her tray to the cafeteria when she sensed someone coming up behind her, ready to launch.

She spun just as someone squealed. “Ochakoooo!”

Tooru jumped into her arms, hugging her before she even knew what was happening. Himiko relaxed once she recognized her invisible friend. “Hey, Tooru.”

“You should have told me you were here today!”

“It was just for a quick lunch with Hawks, I didn’t want to interrupt your schedule.”

Tooru’s glove waved back and forth. “Don’t think like that! I always like to see you. Oh, actually, could you walk with me a sec? This is perfect timing, I have something for you…”

Curiosity piqued, Himiko followed along as Tooru led her down some halls she hadn’t been before. Silently, Himiko catalogued the layout as Tooru chatted.

“This is such a good coincidence. A few days ago, I was shopping during my lunch break, and I saw something that made me think of you. I’ve been meaning to give it to you, but you know how busy we’ve both been! We really need to have a hang out soon.”

“Totally,” Himiko responded, noting that the space labeled “locker rooms” was unlocked by Tooru tapping her hero license against a pad by the door.

“And this would be perfect for it, I actually got several, I was thinking of arranging another girl’s night, like the one we had a few months ago? And then I was going to debut these, but it’s so hard to get everyone’s schedule’s together, so since you’re here, let me just…”

She opened up a locker and pulled out a bottle of pink nail polish. It floated in the air like a ghost coming to haunt her. 

The first time Himiko had painted her nails with them, bundled together in Tooru’s room during their second year, finally enough time to relax between the months of cleaning up that huge final battle, she had started for the red nail polish, only to have the pink nail polish placed into her palm. It’s your favorite, right? Tsuyu had said, helpfully. It must have been Ochako’s, so she had smiled, accepted the container, and obediently brushed on the subtle pink.

This was slightly more sparkly. “There was a lady selling these at a crafts fair. I got you the pink, since it’s your favorite, then Kyouka the classy dark purple, Tsuyu this cute green one with little yellow sunshine sparkles, Momo a shiny white one for those french tips she likes to do, and Mina this absolutely garish teal that changes color with the temperature. You know how she is.”

Mina would love it. So would all of the others. Tooru was being considerate of all of their tastes, as far as she knew.

So Himiko let out a breath and tried to be sincere with her smile. “Thank you, Tooru. I’m happy you thought of me.”

Though Tooru’s expressions were invisible, Himiko could smell the delight radiating off of her. “It was nothing! Hey, let me walk you out, too. Gotta hang out while we can, right?”

Ochako laughed. “Sorry I’ve been so busy.”

“Hey, I’ve been busy too. That’s adulthood.” She let out a dramatic sigh. “I miss all living in a dorm together. Way easier to meet up.”

As they walked the same path as before, Himiko set her sights on gathering more information. Hawks hadn’t revealed much, but there were other avenues to explore. “HPSC keeping you busy?”

“That’s an understatement! Yeah, they give me plenty to do. But totally worth it. Good pay, great benefits, and important work.”

“Like what?”

“Oh, the usual. Stealth work, mostly. Nothing much I can say, policy is to not share, just to make sure everything’s totally under lock, you know?”

“I understand,” Himiko bumped her shoulder. “Sounds important. I was just asking because Hawks asked me to join the HPSC, and I was kinda curious what it’s like.”

Tooru’s steps grew light, excited. “Oh my gosh, join! We could be coworkers! Then we could have lunch together all the time! Fumikage’s here too, I sometimes eat with him, but it’d be so fun if we could all hang together.”

“I’m still deciding if it’s right for me… I’d love to hear more about what it’s actually like to work for the HPSC… like the day-to-day.”

By then, they were at the doors. Tooru paused to grasp Himiko’s hands. “We gotta meet up again soon, then I can tell you all about it. Text me later? I’m crazy busy, but surely I can squeeze something in the next few weeks”

Himiko grinned. Just as planned. “Will do.”

As Himiko walked away, though, she knew she wouldn’t be patient enough to wait for Tooru’s next free day. Knowing Hawks had his eye on her and that a sample of her blood was in the NHAL lab made her want to pursue every possible avenue for information.

So she pulled out her phone and sent a text to Utsushimi Camie.

Hey bae, you got time for a sleepover?

Chapter 3: Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) - 38 min 30 seconds

Summary:

Previously on Mundane Meeting With Your Nemesis, Hawks invited Himiko to invite lunch with him, and since Himiko was suspicious of what he might know about her true identity, she agreed to try and figure out more. Though she didn't get more clarity on what he actually knows, he invited her to join the HPSC. She decided not to commit for now, and left to try and find more info from other sources. On her way out, she bumped into Tooru who gifted her some pink nail polish--Ochako's favorite color.

Himiko tucked herself onto Camie’s couch as Camie scrolled through the streaming options on the television.

“Bram Stoker’s Dracula,” Himiko declared.

“Again? Are you sure you’re in the mood for that?”

“I wouldn’t suggest it if I wasn’t in the mood. Besides, it’s been almost a year since we last watched it!”

“It’s been like, a bajillion years since we watched Twilight, though.”

“If we watch one Twilight we gotta watch the rest, so that’s like a whole day affair. We’ve only got tonight, so let’s watch Dracula.”

Camie shrugged, her shoulders loose and relaxed as ever. “Whatevs, it’s all lit. So long as you’re for sure.”

Once the movie started, Camie grasped Himiko’s hand in one of hers, then pulled up her nail polish and began painting Himiko’s nails with a scarlet red.

Himiko smiled at the color. The first time they had done this, she had looked at her through those heavy eyelashes and asked What color do you want?

Himiko had taken a chance to reach out to Camie some years ago after seeing a charm on her bag for a vampire anime series. They quickly got closer with their shared good taste in vampire media and occasional horror films. It was a taste nothing like Ochako’s.

But Camie never really knew Ochako, so that was okay.

The movie played, but both of them had seen it enough times that they didn’t have to pay close attention. Instead, as Camie painted her nails, Himiko leaned closer. “How’s your dating life going?”

Camie sighed. “Oh, you know. I reel 'em in and throw' em out. Too many fish in the sea to stick to just one, you get me?”

“Totally,” Himiko kept her voice as casual as possible as she asked, “What about that scientist you dated a few months ago? The one who was always working those long shifts?”

“Umm Tanaka? He had like, zero time for me, so I dated that zookeeper at the same time. Traded between them whenever one was busy.”

That wasn’t what Himiko wanted to know. She knew Camie had met the scientist at one of the HPSC galas, and was desperately hoping for some sort of connection to the Novel Heroic Advancements Laboratory. If the NHAL was close enough to the HPSC for Hawks to personally assign heroes to help them move, hopefully that meant they’d be invited to galas as well.

Himiko kept a smile. “Whoa, what was he so busy with?”

“I dunno, work?”

“He never told you?”

She rolled her eyes. “He hyped up all this ‘classified work’, but it was kinda sus. Like, he was just trying to rizz me up with all this drama about how he ‘shouldn’t even be saying this’, like come on babe, calm down, I’m not even into biology?”

“Biology?”

“Gotta be, right? He yapped about something like that… genes? Or was it microbes? I dunno, it’s all outta my department. Hey, do me now.”

Camie had finished Himiko’s nails, so they switched off. Though Camie liked a variety of nail colors, today she chose black. On the coffee table, there were two topcoats. A plain, clear one, and then one with glittery little stars and hearts suspended in it. She had a feeling it would pop beautifully against the sleek black nails.

Before Himiko could attempt to interrogate her any further, Camie asked, “How about you and your BF?”

She almost missed Camie’s nail while painting. “Huh?”

“Izuku? It’s been like… three years now, right?”

Almost three years ago, Izuku finally asked her out. One of the first things Himiko had known about Ochako was her crush on Izuku, so obviously she accepted. Dating him was allowing Ochako to live her dream. “Things are fine! Same old, same old.”

“You tryna get married?”

This time Himiko’s hand did slip, and her brush went past the edges of Camie’s nail. “Married? We’re still so young! Plus he’s just restarted his hero career, neither of us have time for that sort of thing.”

Camie shrugged, not noting the slip. She’d probably clean it off later once the paint had dried. “Some of my homies your age are already married. Three years is a totes normal time to tie the knot, especially since you guys knew each other for years before that too.”

Did Ochako ever dream of walking down the aisle in a wedding dress? Probably, right? Normal girls did. Even Himiko had fantasized about it, a gorgeous fluffy white dress that would stain the most delicious red…

“I don’t know,” Himiko demurred. “I don’t think we’re ready yet.”

Sharing a space with someone long-term felt dangerous. She mostly had a hold of being Ochako, but there were still private times when she needed to let loose. Her mask wasn’t perfect yet.

Camie leaned close. “You not feeling him?”

“No, I mean, yes I am feeling him? He’s cute! He’s always working so hard, even when he gets hurt, he just gets up and keeps going. And he’s so nice to me, of course I love him. I’m just maybe not ready for the whole marriage thing.”

“You think you’ll ever be?”

Himiko was done with both of Camie’s hands now, so she turned back to the screen for a distraction. “Oh, here’s the good part!”

On screen, scenes flashed by in a dreamy flurry. Shots of the ship Dracula was in, tossed by a storm, were interspersed with Mina and Lucy chasing each other through a hedge maze and, just for a second, tucked between the scenes like a flower hidden between the leaves, Lucy and Mina inexplicably kissing in the rain.

Camie giggled. “The director popped that in there just to tease.”

“They should have bitten each other. It’s unfair only Dracula gets to do it… Why not have Lucy bite Mina once she turns? It would have been sexier.”

“Ooh that woulda been too scandalous. We can have a lil girl-on-girl, but girls-biting-girls? Mega naughty.”

Himiko found herself grinning at how their tastes aligned. “Totally scandalous.”

“Which do you think is sexier? Being the vampire or being bitten by one?”

“The vampire,” Himiko said instantly, knowing it was probably the wrong answer.

It’s not as though Camie knew what the right answer for Ochako would be.

“For real?” Camie said with a blink, “Being bitten feels sexier to me, like I wanna be the one getting rizzed you know?”

“But being the vampire means you’re all powerful, you’re the one who gets to stalk. Sneaking around, becoming integral to your beloved’s life so smoothly that by the time she realizes what you are, it’s too late for her to escape. All that work is gonna be worth it when she’s so under your spell that even though it’ll hurt, she has no choice but to let you consume her.”

During her speech, Himiko’s smile had gotten wider and wider, face flushing, until her cheeks hurt.

Camie giggled. “You really like it, huh?”

Dread shot through her. Was it too much? Even for a vampire-lover like Camie? “Like, theoretically. Obviously vampires aren’t real, so it’s all moot.”

“Hey,” she was still smiling, “close your eyes.”

Though Himiko was wary, she closed her eyes. She waited, confused and a little scared of what Camie would do next. She liked her spontaneity, but Himiko didn’t always have the freedom to do everything she wanted. Nervous, Himiko licked her lips just in case.

“Okay, open them,” Camie said.

And Ochako was sitting on the couch next to her.

Warm, round face smiling at her as though she hadn’t died eight years ago. She wore a sleeveless red dress, showing off her neck and unusually pale skin. Himiko wanted to bury herself against it, soak up that long-missed warmth, but examining her face again showed an unusual expression. A smug, wide grin that showed off sharp canines.

Ochako, vampire, back from the dead.

“Do I look like your vampire-sona?” She asked.

Himiko let her breath out all at once. It was a joke, just Camie messing around with her illusion quirk. Himiko forced out a laugh. Another laugh. She was totally normal about this. “Oh, it’s great! Is that the dress Lucy wears?”

On the screen, Lucy was walking through the garden as the wind whipped through her red dress. Meanwhile Camie struck a pose, a characteristic Camie pose with one hand on her hip and the other delicately tapping her collarbone as though to brag. “Thank you for noticing! It’s a lit style for a vampire.”

Though Himiko had gotten used to the mirror, seeing Ochako living and breathing in front of her made her want to sob, so she looked away and said, “What about your vampire-sona? What would you look like?”

Thankfully, Camie took the bait and changed her illusion. She was herself again, though the fluffy historical dress and fangs were clearly added. “Sexy?”

“Totally,” Himiko agreed, eager for any change of topic, “You should add a slit to the dress.”

Camie’s responding grin was devilish. “I love the way you think, Ochako.”

 

---

 

By the end of the film, Himiko was sobbing into Camie’s shoulder.

Camie patted her back and passed another set of tissues. “There, there, they saved Mina at least.”

“But Lucy!” Himiko wailed, “She died, even though they all gave her so much blood, even though they tried so hard, even though they loved her so much…”

Camie sighed. “You’ve seen this, you know how it ends.”

“She was Mina’s best friend, they kissed! They should have let Mina die—how is she supposed to carry on without Lucy?”

“Hey, hey, hey, she’s still got a whole squad that cares about her? They’d all be even sadder if Mina died too.”

“They were Lucy’s friends, not Mina’s. They loved Lucy more.” Himiko sobbed again. “Mina should have been the one to die instead.”

“That’s obviously not legit, they all fought hard to save Mina. And like, Jonathan’s literally her husband, yeah? They all care about Mina too.”

Camie squeezed her while saying it, so Himiko pressed closer to her. Himiko wished there was an easy answer—that she didn’t have to live on for Ochako’s sake, that she didn’t want to stay in this world where friends like Camie held onto her so kindly.

“Okie, you should probs go to bed.”

Himiko sniffled. “I don’t need to go to bed, I need Lucy to be okay.”

Camie pushed her out to arms length and looked straight at her. “Did something happen?”

Himiko froze. “...Huh?”

“This movie always makes you cry. Last time we watched it was after you failed to save that old lady from that explosion. So did something happen?”

She avoided her eyes. “Nothing happened. Just feeling a Dracula mood.”

Though Camie waited several long seconds longer, in the end she ruffled her hair. “Alright, if you say so. Never a wrong time to enjoy that batty bastard. For real though, we should go to bed.”

Himiko nodded, relieved Camie didn’t push. Soon, Camie was passing a spare blanket and pillow to her on the couch.

“You need anything else before bed?”

Instead of saying Can you turn into Ochako again and let me crawl into your bed? Himiko said, “Nope! All good… Thanks.”

“Gucci,” Camie said with a nod, then disappeared into her own bedroom.

It was late, but Himiko couldn’t sleep yet. She knew Camie fell asleep quickly, especially this late at night, but she waited an hour just in case.

Once that hour passed, she crept up and pressed her ear against Camie’s door, listening for giggles or audio from TigTog, which she sometimes liked to watch instead of sleeping. When she heard nothing, she slowly opened the door.

Erasing her presence was easy. Himiko crept like a housecat over the floor, approaching the bed in dead silence. She moved so slow and smooth that not even the movement of air would alert Camie of the intruder in her room.

With deft precision, avoiding any sort of jostling disturbance, Himiko slipped her fingers under Camie’s pillow and plucked out her cellphone. 

Camie shifted, perhaps deep down sensing the risk to her precious phone. It was like another limb to Camie, but one Himiko needed for just a bit. Thankfully, she smacked her lips and settled more deeply into her pillows, so Himiko didn’t have to make up some sort of excuse for looming over her in the middle of the night.

Once back in the living room, Himiko relaxed just a tad. She scrolled through Camie’s texts until she found the messages between her and Tanaka. Up, up, through the history as far as she could. Every time she saw something that related to his work, she took a picture of the messages exchanged with her own phone, old-school style.

Most of it was pet names and sappy, flirty exchanges, but occasionally she got hints of his work.

Ugh, I’m sorry kitten, but I have to work late tonight, can I see you tomorrow night?

I can’t just quit, this is important stuff!

We only get a new sample every two weeks or so, so like there’s a cadence to this I can’t ignore

No, because it goes bad, we gotta use it while we can

But I wanna work on this, my lab manager says this could seriously change how we deal with quirks

Wait don’t tell anyone that

Just in case!

It’s classified, like I said, this is serious stuff

Are you sure you don’t want to know?

Oh. okay.

Himiko silently cursed Camie’s lack of curiosity. She had her interests, and unfortunately this was not one of them. She kept scrolling, until her thumb froze at a familiar name on the screen.

I talked to Hawks today! He stopped by my bench and said he was “proud of my work”

Well, okay, all of our work here

Unlike you, I’m not used to working with a bunch of heroes directly

He’s still a hero, even if he’s retired from the field. It’s thanks to him I have this job!

Cause the HPSC funds the lab

He cares enough to visit. Talked about some visions for the future too, kinda ambitious but like, we’re doing our best. I could see it happening

It’s classified

But ahaha maybe you could persuade me…?

Maybe a picture?

You know what I mean

:’( 

She kept scrolling, but there was nothing else particularly relevant. They had only dated three months, sporadically due to his schedule, so there wasn’t a ton to go off of.

After she returned the phone to underneath Camie’s pillow, Himiko tried to sleep, but found herself tossing and turning on the couch. She had slept on that couch dozens of times, but her nerves were frayed tonight.

What if Ochako were on this couch with me?

Every time she closed her eyes, she saw that vision of the undead Ochako that Camie gave her. An illusion turned haunting, harassing all attempts to sleep. Would she dream of Ochako tonight? She featured in plenty of nightmares, but occasionally she starred in sweeter dreams. 

A sweet dream would be nice. Ochako sprawled over a bench in that red dress, arms out, begging for her embrace, helpless towards Himiko. Willing to indulge.

“I’ll give you my blood for the rest of my life.”

Himiko didn’t realize her wrist was in her mouth until she tasted iron. She pulled it away from herself like it was on fire.

She resisted the urge to lick at the tiny scrape she’d made with her teeth into the flesh. Instead, she got up and went to the bathroom to rinse the injury and put on a bandage.

In the mirror, she saw Ochako. She was everywhere, but not really. Not the real Ochako. Just a shadow of her, or a mask. A hollow shell of that angel who deserved to live a hundred times more than a parasite like Himiko.

She took in a shuddering breath. She was having those urges again, those distinctly non-Ochako urges that drove her thoughts to these dark places. 

Tomorrow, she would handle it. She knew how to cope.

She went back to bed and, unsuccessfully, tried to sleep.

Notes:

So of course I wanted to review key scenes from the film Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) when writing this chapter, AKA that little scene where Mina and Lucy briefly kiss. Honestly I thought I could google "Lesbian scene bram stoker's dracula" and I would instantly get a dozen clips on YouTube that people put together.... but then when I did, I got almost NOTHING. I kept searching various phrases until I had to give up and look up the entire film, and scan through it, but it's SUCH a short scene that I kept missing it. I ended up asking multiple film-loving friends for help (to which they were like "Hey why are u looking for that scene so desperately?" and I would be like "haha don't ask questions") until I finally found it.

For the version of the film I found, it's 38 minutes and 30 seconds in. It's literally like, blink-and-you'll-miss-it, but I'm fascinated by the choice.

Chapter 4: Totally healthy coping mechanism

Summary:

Previously on Sexy reconnaissance sleepovers: Himiko had a sleepover with Camie where they watched Bram Stoker's Dracula. While discussing their love of vampire media, Camie transformed into a vampire version of Ochako, which stirred up complicated feelings for Himiko. After the film, Himiko cried onto Camie's shoulder about the fact that Lucy dies despite everyone giving her blood to try and save her, and despaired about Mina living on without Lucy. Once Camie went to sleep, Himiko sneaked into her bedroom and borrowed her phone, and searched for text conversations with an HPSC-affiliated scientist she dated awhile back, in search of information about the Novel Heroic Advancements lab. She didn't find much beyond confirmation that Hawks has visited the lab and seems in favor of it. As she tried to sleep, thoughts of Ochako caused such a blood craving she started to bite her own wrist.

Himiko smiled at those passing by on the street, holding up her sign. A few paused, sometimes doing a double-take. Eventually, two children, parents in tow, took the bait.

The charge was led by a preteen girl who pushed her little brother forward. “Go on, ask her.”

He had chubby cheeks and was sweating as he reached out a school notebook and pen. “Um, miss Uravity, please, I’m um, uh…”

Behind him, his parents, a mother and father, smiled and nudged each other fondly while watching their son awkwardly approach a hero.

Himiko crouched down, trying to be a little less intimidating. “Yes?”

He swallowed hard, then shoved the notebook even closer while bowing slightly. “Would you please sign my notebook?”

She propped her sign against the wall of the building she was standing outside of. “Of course.”

As she signed it with the Uravity signature she’d perfected by third year, his mother said, “Thank you, he’s a huge fan. You rescued his best friend last year, they both love you.”

“Of course!” she said, then to the child, “Should I sign another piece of paper? To share with your friend.”

With sparkles in his eyes, he nodded vigorously.

After she signed that second sheet, she stood up and picked up her sign again, which said Blood Drive Today! Walk-ins Welcome. She addressed the parents, “While you’re here, would either of you be interested in donating blood?”

The two of them hemmed and hawed. “Well, we’re on our way home…”

Himiko gave them Ochako’s most kind smile. “We have some open slots right now, we could have you in and out real quick, less than half an hour could save a life.”

The little boy gasped. “Save a life?”

“That’s right, your parents could be heroes! We need lots of people to donate blood so when people are hurt, we can use that blood to help them get better. Every person can only donate about a pint, but if lots of people work together to share, then we can get enough to save people’s lives. We need lots of heroes like your parents to share so we can keep saving people.”

The boy looked back at his parents with wide eyes. “You’re gonna help, right?”

Their expressions softened. The father coughed. “Well… I suppose if it is really quick, and you kids can be patient…”

The preteen girl nodded. “I’m a big girl, can I donate?”

“Not until you’re older, but you can support your parents while they donate.”

Soon enough, the whole family was following Ochako into the donation setup. She passed them off to some available volunteers, and turned to head back outside.

Along the way, a volunteer tapped her arm. “Hey.”

She turned.

“Thanks for volunteering to recruit, our numbers always go up whenever you’re here.”

Himiko smiled. “Of course, I’m always happy to help. It’s a nice change of pace from patrolling.”

Nowadays there were plenty of heroes patrolling anyway. Himiko welcomed any opportunity to do good in a way that didn’t require fighting and arresting villains.

 

---

 

At home, Himiko pulled out her lunchbox. It was a specially insulated lunchbox with freezer bags that kept it nice and cool inside. She unzipped it and revealed the pint of blood inside.

A treat for her work today.

It was risky, but she had the smuggling down to a science. After several hours recruiting, she would volunteer to help with some of the admin, where she would sneakily delete the record of one of the donations, then smoothly pluck that bag out of the freezer storage while “double-checking labels”.

It was a delicate maneuver, but necessary. She didn’t have time to be picky about whose blood she pulled, but the gamble was its own fun. Like a mystery bag.

Her hands trembled as she reached down for it. She carried it to her bedroom, cradling it like a precious child. In her bedroom, she stripped off her clothes, pulled her blankets off her bed, and set up a nest beside her mirror. Normally she used that to check that her outfits were cute in the morning, but today it would just be to satisfy her curiosity as to who she drank from today.

After grabbing a specialized tube from her desk drawer, she sat cross-legged on the floor and wrapped the blankets over her shoulders, trying to get cozy. She only did this a few times a year, when her urges got overwhelming, but she tried to make it comfortable.

She was so uncomfortable most the time, after all. Holding back, smiling, hugging Ochako’s friends, kissing them on the cheek, and fighting beside them. They welcomed her in, they shared their hopes and dreams, they encouraged her, and she stayed completely normal with them no matter how much her heart swelled and ached.

So she tried to embrace this stupid, niggling desire of Himiko’s that still remained in these short moments, tried to indulge deeply enough that those urges would abate and stop haunting her every time she felt love.

Himiko pressed her straw into a port, wrapped her lips around it, and sucked.

She shivered as blood hit her mouth, and wrapped the blanket tighter around herself. She closed her eyes, trying to enjoy this.

But it was cold.

She didn’t want this cold, distant blood from a stranger.

She wanted to go on one of those long walks with Tsuyu, like in their third year when they talked about their fears for the future and opened up about how hard it felt whenever they were unable to save someone, and then while Himiko’s heart was swelling and feeling so, so seen, she wanted Tsuyu to hold out her wrist, not down at the waist asking to hold her hand, but up towards Himiko’s mouth to say We’re this close, aren’t we?

She wanted Tenya to insist on testing for bloodborne diseases. Himiko had never properly tested whether she was immune to them, she hoped she was because of her quirk, but she had no clue how to go about checking and was a little terrified of finding out. Tenya would help her with the logistics and make it so much easier, a friend who could hold her hand through the process, and if there was legitimately some sort of risk, he would set up regular blood testing so that every time Himiko’s heart was warmed by how he organized and took care of the people in his life, she could just ask him and he would share his blood.

She wanted those close nights with Camie to get even closer, to satisfy both their fantasies, pushing Camie onto the couch as she giggled and gasped and then biting her throat to say Thank you, you make me feel so loved, I know you know I’m holding back but I do want to get closer, for you to know the whole me and the depth of how I feel.

But instead, here she was alone in her room, sucking at some chilly stranger’s donated blood. 

The bag was empty now. She released her suction with a sigh. Time to learn what kind of person she had sampled today. Hopefully someone cute. Himiko turned to the mirror and opened her eyes.

Yellow eyes. Blonde hair.

Her hand lashed out, smashing against the mirror.

She scrambled back with harried breaths. No, she wasn’t…

Her hands. Her skin. Was it hers? No, it couldn’t be…

Slowly, she approached her mirror again, now marred with a spiderweb of cracks where she’d punched it. She took another look at herself, more prepared this time.

This person was blonde, yes, but her hair was curled. Her eyes were yellow, but they were angled differently from Himiko’s. She wasn’t herself, just someone who happened to have a few of the same features.

Her heart slowed down, relieved.

It had been three years or so since she’d last transformed into herself. Even then, it had just been to check if she still could. She could, but she had no reason to.

Being this stranger wasn’t any fun. She released the transformation and became Ochako again. Those delectable cheeks, warm brown hair, soft thighs.

Her breaths steadied as she looked at herself in the broken mirror. Ochako had given her this gift, allowed her to transform into her whenever she wanted. She had to stop stealing random blood—she had everything she needed running through her veins already. She was who she loved.

She looked down at Ochako’s beautiful hands, the cute little pads on her finger tips. While staring at them, she was reminded her nails were still red from her night with Camie.

That was too much. Too Himiko.

If Hawks saw this, would he know? Would her other friends realize?

She hurried to the bathroom and pulled out her acetone. Methodically, she scrubbed the nail polish off with the chemical, cleansing herself. She didn’t like red, she liked pink.

“I am Uraraka Ochako,” she told herself, the way she used to practice introducing herself in the mirror during her first year as Ochako. “Pink is the cutest.”

She washed her hands, dried them, then pulled out the pink nail polish that Tooru had given her. Quickly, like casting a desperate spell, she brushed it over each nail. She even brought her feet onto the bathroom counter and coated them, making herself as pink as possible. Once every nail was covered, she capped the nail polish and waited for it to dry.

Was pink truly Ochako’s favorite color, or had that just one of Tsuyu’s assumptions? It’s not as though Himiko could ask Ochako now.

Still, she looked into the mirror and asked, “Is this what you would do? Am I being you right? Is this good?”

As always, the Ochako in her reflection didn’t respond.

Tears welled up in her eyes.

She returned to her room and curled her lips at the blood bag on the floor. Ochako wouldn’t drink blood. That was gross.

This had to be the last time. “I won’t do it again,” Himiko told herself, as she had half a year ago when she last did this.

She tossed it into the trash and went to bed. Despite the scare and the rock of disgust in her gut that grew denser whenever she thought about what exactly she had done, her body was more relaxed than it had been in weeks. 

She slept like the dead.

Notes:

*slaps a mirror* this bad boy can hold SO much Himiko angst

If you're interested in donating blood, go for it! I have fun whenever I donate--I go absolutely nuts for the little boxes of raisins they often give, they are like my special little treat for donating. And if u don't know ur blood type, they may tell u for free! In the USA at least, you can look up your zip code on their website and see what sorts of blood drives and options might be near you.

Chapter 5: Maximal sus

Summary:

Previously on Bad Coping Mechanisms: Himiko volunteered at a blood bank, and stole a random blood bag to help satisfy her urges. She drank it in the privacy of her home, but was frustrated that it's the blood of a stranger and not of her friends. When she looked almost like herself, she punched her mirror and panicked.

Himiko sat on the roof of a building, back against a low wall that kept her from being visible for the most part. In one hand, she held up a compact mirror so it peeked over the wall behind her and down to a small building, specifically a garage door that was currently closed. The other hand was occupied with texting.

OCHAKO: Can we meet soon? I’m having sooo much trouble deciding on the HPSC thing (˶˃⤙˂˶)

TOORU: Totally im SO sorry I’ve been so busy!! I swear I’ll text u as SOON as something opens up.

OCHAKO: :’( are u sure u cant squeeze me in sooner? This weekend?

TOORU: I’m sorry I have so many events and stuff I already agreed to, my schedule is PACKED

TOORU: Well

TOORU: Would u be alright with me multitasking?

OCHAKO: (˶ˆᗜˆ˵) YESSSS so long as I get to see you!!!

Movement in the mirror caught her eye. The garage door slid upwards, and a white van pulled out. She already had the license plate memorized—it was the same van as the last time she did this.

Back then, she had lost sight of it along Yavin avenue, so she got up and ran to the  opposite edge of the roof. Just in case, she tapped herself with all five fingers, then leapt.

Like a leaf in the wind, she floated across that roof to the next. She went again and again until she reached Yavin Avenue in record time. She made sure to get to a roof towards a further part of it than she had been last time, somewhere in the range of where she’d lost the van entirely.

She paused to catch her breath. She’d wait for it to reach this stage, then chase it with renewed energy. These chases were tricky, especially trying not to catch attention. 

Himiko was not dressed as Uravity today. Instead, she wore jeans and a light denim jacket, both a blue-ish gray that would blend decently into both sky and gray city walls. Though jumping across rooftops could catch some attention, she darted quietly in her endeavors, careful not to spend too much time near edges, so if anyone looked up, they would barely catch a glimpse.

And as it turned out, many people in the city did not bother looking up.

So she was in the ideal place to wait for the van. She took some deep breaths and prepared herself to renew her chase.

When it finally bumbled down the street, she darted after it immediately. She jumped from roof to roof, keeping a close eye on the van. In these tight city streets, it was frequently paused by traffic and lights, so although it got ahead of her at times, like the first time she’d chased it down Yavin avenue, she usually was able to catch up.

This time she was able to keep up almost all the way to its destination.

Towards the end, it went somewhat outside of the city, so her technique of jumping roofs became considerably more risky. There was far more variation and distance between them now, so she eventually had to settle for running along a side street or two, popping up occasionally to check that the van was still in her sights without being seen by the driver.

Eventually though, there was only one road, and only occasional buildings or trees alongside it. This was a road meant for cars, not for people. She would struggle to blend in around here, so she paused at a gas station, somewhere where it wasn’t weird for a person to be standing, and stared after the van disappearing into the distance. At least with less buildings, she had a clearer view, Though even with how sparse the trees were, eventually the van disappeared with a blink behind their gradual cover.

There was no way for her to follow along for a large stretch without being obvious, but perhaps if she waited in that denser area, she could travel between the trees…

Honk!

She jumped, alarmed. A minivan had pulled into the gas station, and its passenger window rolled down to reveal familiar red and white hair. “Ochako?”

Himiko blinked at him. “...Shouto?”

His eyes crinkled with a smile. He turned back into the car. “It is her. Park the car, Fuyumi.”

The minivan carefully took a spot. Shouto hopped out and jogged to Ochako, eyes lit with curiosity. Behind him, his older sister Fuyumi got out from the driver’s side.

Himiko quizzed him first, hoping she could come up with a cover while he responded. “What are you guys doing out here?”

He said, “We’re coming back from a visit with Touya.”

She tried not to visibly stiffen. Dabi. 

“What about you?” Shouto asked.

The reminder of her friend had rattled her enough that she didn’t come up with a proper cover, so she let out a weary sigh and simply said, “It’s too complicated to get into.”

“Okay.”

One of Shouto’s best qualities was that he could drop a topic without interrogation, so long as he wasn’t truly interested.

Fuyumi smiled at her. “Where are you heading? We could give you a ride back, if you don’t have one.”

Himiko perked up. “That would be great, if you don’t mind!”

She smiled. “Of course not. Come here…”

Himiko discovered the backseat to be rife with toys, a car seat, and a booster seat.

“Sorry about the mess!” Fuyumi called back as she buckled into the driver’s seat. “We borrowed Natsuo’s car. His kids have a lot of stuff. I’ve been meaning to help clean it at some point, but…”

She moved a charming purple elephant plushie to the side so she could take a seat. “Don’t worry, I think it’s cute.”

Fuyumi let out a sigh of relief. “Now, where were you heading?”

She gave her address.

Curiosity gnawed at Himiko. She knew Dabi was in a specialized prison, kept on life support, only allowed visitors for a limited time each day. Obviously, as Uraraka Ochako, she had no claim on that time, so she relied on the rare mention from Shouto.

They were coming from a visit, so it wouldn’t be weird for her to ask, right?

Before she could overthink it, she asked, “How’s your brother doing?”

Shouto shrugged. “Same as usual. Thinking about rains of sparrow’s blood today.”

Her throat went dry. “Huh?”

Fuyumi explained, “He’s been dictating some poetry to us. This latest one is about an apocalypse… forty-seven lines so far, but he guesses it might reach a hundred. Very imaginative, though a bit macabre for my tastes.”

“I… see.”

Himiko tried to imagine the Dabi she remembered as a poet, flourishing a quill and ink, maybe a cravat too, and writing out vivid lines about blood. He’d never mentioned an interest in poetry during their time together. His sense for drama had been high, though.

“I like his poems,” Shouto said, “ The Broken Patriarch one is my favorite.”

Fuyumi sighed. “It’s evocative, but did he really have to make Dad transcribe that one for him?”

“That retired old man has plenty of time.”

“That’s not what I… never mind. It is a compelling poem.”

Himiko piped up. “I love poetry.”

Shouto turned to her. “You do?”

She had fallen asleep during poetry units in class. “Sure. Maybe I could read some of his poetry sometime? If he’s willing to share?” She tried not to sound desperate.

Fuyumi hummed. “We could ask. Right now it’s all within the family. But he’s not exactly shy.”

She wondered if Dabi even knew Spinner was still alive, if either of them had ever tried to start up some correspondence. It would be complicated, with Spinner having been in prison so long and Dabi in such a difficult state, but was there an opportunity?

Or would the prison security reject any communications between the League of Villains, afraid of encouraging a relapse into villainy?

Himiko knew better than to suggest it to Dabi’s family. What if they started questioning why she was so invested in the relationships between League members? 

What if Shouto went to HPSC with his suspicions? And Hawks added it to her file: Evidence that Uraraka Ochako is actually…

“Are you okay?” Shouto said suddenly.

She put on her smile. “Yes?”

He shrugged. “You look tired, is all.”

She laughed. “Work keeps me busy. But don’t worry, I have it under control.”

So long as she could get to the bottom of what the HPSC was up to, she would be fine.

 

---

 

Tooru’s house was small, but it included a backyard. High fences guarded against nosy neighbors, but it meant the grass was shaded.

At least, it was shaded until Tooru turned on the gigantic standing light, which shone a pleasant beam onto the center of the yard. Himiko held onto it, slightly tilting at Tooru’s every command.

“Okay, now up… up… oh, not that far, a little more down… perfect!”

Tooru skipped over to her, squinted at her handiwork, then squealed.

“Hey, you’re wearing the nail polish I got you! I knew you’d love it!”

Himiko put on a smile. “Of course.”

“But no showing it off today. Here, I put a seat behind the camera for you…”

She was led to a lawn chair set up beside a large camera and a laptop set up on a table, and given a pair of safety goggles. In her seat, she wouldn’t be in the view of the camera at all.

“Are you sure we can chat like this?” Himiko asked, somewhat amazed at all the moving parts that went into this setup.

“Totally!” Tooru assured her. “I usually keep my sound off for these streams anyway. Power tools and the occasional loud argument from the neighbors don’t make for great soundscapes. And with my invisibility, it’s not like anyone can read my lips. Give me a sec, I gotta grab a few more things…”

Tooru disappeared into the house, and Himiko was left staring at her piles of wood, tools, and a table saw. Though she had heard of Tooru’s furniture building streams before, this was her first time actually witnessing it.

When Tooru returned, with another box of somehow even more tools, Himiko asked, “What are you going to make?”

“A bookshelf!”

After setting her stuff down, she went over to the laptop and began to click around, occasionally pausing to check something on the camera that was wired up to it.

“I’m just starting the stream… right on schedule!”

Tooru waved at the camera. Since she was wearing her hero suit, a pair of visible gloves waved in the air at the camera. Himiko tilted forward to get a look at the laptop screen, and saw a live chat moving vertically as people sent messages in.

“People are really into this?” Himiko asked, somewhat amazed that Tooru had all these people cheering on her hobby.

Tooru admitted, “Probably sexually.”

Himiko wheezed so hard she almost choked. As she recovered, Hagakure approached her pile and began sorting through some of the wooden boards. It was admittedly fascinating to see things lift and drop with only a glove, but Himiko couldn’t imagine it sustaining her attention for too long.

When she recovered enough to speak, Himiko said, “Really? People are into heroes building furniture?”

“Certain perverts are into naked heroes building furniture.”

Himiko gasped, delighted. “Tooru, are you actually naked right now?”

She laid out some boards and began to measure, marking with a sharpie along the way. “While operating a table saw? No way, I’ve got my hero suit on. But the audience doesn’t know that. They have a fantasy, and I choose not to contradict it.”

Himiko wanted to wear her invisibility too, play around and tease people with it the way she did. The urge to stalk over to her, grope around for her neck, and chomp down for a sample rose up from her gut into her mouth, making her teeth ache so violently she almost bent over.

She swallowed down the thoughts. Think like Ochako. “They pay just for that?”

“The stream donations aren’t actually that much, but the bidding wars afterwards for the furniture made can get high. After all, maybe a naked pro-hero pressed her body against these very boards! Very intimate, super exclusive.”

Though Himiko found the whole thing fiendishly titillating, she had some doubts. “And the HPSC… allows you to do this?”

“Sure! I was doing this before I onboarded with them, and was able to negotiate approval. My fans expect this from me every few months—and like, technically I’m doing this all for charity. I choose a new one each time, helps keep me relevant and gives my PR team something fun to talk about. Makes a nice line, ‘Invisible Girl builds cabinet to raise money for Rural Children’s Health Access Fund’! Sometimes they’ll tell me about specific charities, if there’s something particularly timely, like recent disasters and stuff.”

Tooru paused to grab a pair of safety goggles. She put them on, revealing exactly where her head was, and then turned on the table saw. With all the noise, Himiko gave up on any conversation until Tooru sawed through various pieces of wood a few times.

When she took a pause though, Himiko asked, “So the HPSC decides on the charities you donate to?”

She laughed. “That’s simplifying. It’s not like it’s in my contract… well, I think they can technically veto if I were to donate to like, a charity intended to create more villains, but they’re really helpful. They just suggest what’s timely. Plus, they’ve helped me out of a few pinches with TigTog. Since my stuff kinda sorta toes the line with the whole ‘Oh gosh is she naked?’ question, TigTog has tried to shut my streams down before. Now that I’m part of the HPSC, their lawyers have gotten quite well acquainted with the TigTog lawyers, and I don’t have to worry about it anymore.”

After testing how the various pieces matched together, Tooru made a few new marks and used the table saw again. While she did that, Himiko pondered her next questions.

When there was another break, Tooru pausing to put pieces together and soften some edges with sandpaper, Himiko asked, “So what kind of work do you actually do for them? Undercover stuff?”

“My quirk actually isn’t great for undercover stuff, considering how distinct it is. I’m more of a general stealth operative. So they tell me to get into a place unseen, and I do it. Pretty frequently I work with our undercover heroes. I sneak alongside them and provide support if certain situations go south.”

“What kind of things are you actually dealing with? Like day-to-day?”

“I can’t actually talk about it in too much detail, but like… it’s boring a lot of the time. Getting documents from certain villainous organizations, or putting devices into places where they need to keep an eye on things. It’s the kind of stuff that prevents crimes before they happen, if that makes sense? It’s not as flashy or glamorous as taking down a villain terrorizing the city, but it means a lot less civilians are endangered, and when it comes to glamor…”

She propped up the wooden pieces into something approximating a bookshelf.

“I’ve found my own ways to shine. Hey, how’s it look?”

“Looks pretty shelf-y.”

“Perf.”

She pulled out a drill.

Unfortunately, it seemed like Tooru wasn’t going to spill everything about what the HPSC was doing. Himiko considered other angles.

After Tooru drilled some holes, Himiko asked, “If I were to join the HPSC… what kind of benefits do they have beyond what any other agency could give me?”

The angle of her goggles indicated she was looking closely at the holes she’d drilled and carefully measuring and testing them. “Oh girl, you know they are at the forefront of development, both in tech and more. My handler’s been talking about a serum that could allow heroes to survive almost anything, like how cool would that be? To persevere no matter how damaged you…”

Tooru faltered momentarily as two boards failed to match together as planned. She got up, returning to the table saw.

“But you didn’t hear that from me, alright? It’s still under development, it’s just fresh in my mind because my handler’s been asking if I’d want to trial it. Not as though I could purposefully test it, obviously, but could be good as a back up. Ahh, but of course you might not necessarily be offered… I should really shut my mouth!”

“Nooo,” Himiko whined. “This is super helpful, don’t stop.”

Tooru ran the saw again, slicing a ribbon of wood off a plank. Once done, she said. “No I really should stop, my handler says I run my mouth way too easy. Another reason I suck at undercover work!”

Himiko sighed. For the rest of their meeting, no matter what kind of lead Himiko gave, Tooru remembered to keep the HPSC secrets.

 

---

 

At home, Himiko squinted at her laptop screen.

She confirmed the van left the NHAL lab every two weeks, meaning that she would have to wait two more weeks until she could chase it the rest of the way. If she could chase it through the more sparsely populated areas without being spotted.

So she was trying to narrow down potential destinations. The map on her screen was zoomed into the gas station Himiko had stopped at, and slowly she zoomed out, then moved down the road.

Probably not the antiques store. Or the goat farm. Maybe something in that town off to the side? What else was out there?

We’re coming back from a visit with Touya.

She paused. Zoomed out again.

What was that prison named again? 

She searched Hades Prison . It appeared on her screen, just twenty kilometers away from the gas station. It was well-secured, but had various prisoners which required specialized medical care.

Her mind raced, pieces coming together into an ugly, almost conspiratorial picture.

…A serum that could allow heroes to survive anything…

Dabi spent a majority of his time unconscious. He wouldn’t notice if they were doing anything to him, taking anything from him. Samples that could be used.

It wasn’t Dabi’s blood that she smelled in that melted cargo, though. It was hers.

Hers and Ochako’s.

She stopped breathing.

Maybe this HPSC recruitment wasn’t part of some convoluted long-term mind game Hawks had cooked up to taunt Himiko. Maybe he really believed her to be Ochako, and was legitimately convinced she would be a good operative to have in the HPSC.

Maybe the blood, with apparently fascinating enough properties to intrigue the NHAL, had come from another source.

She got up, suddenly too energized to stay sitting. She paced her small apartment in circles, breaths coming fast.

Himiko never technically saw a body. She was told it was cremated. The Toga family might have been shown the body, but even if they had deigned to look at it, they wouldn’t have looked closely. They would have been happy to be rid of her in an instant.

Anyone could have taken “Himiko” at that time, unconscious, helpless, and dying.

She looked down at the plump fingerpads that characterized Ochako’s quirk. Her hands were shaking.

She whispered, almost terrified. “I’d give it all back, I’ll give it all back, just so long as… please…”

Himiko took a long, shuddering breath. She could imagine Ochako’s embrace that fateful day, both of them floating up in the sky, even now.

“...please be alive.”

 

---

OCHAKO: Hi, Hawks! I’ve been giving it some thought. Could we chat a bit more concretely about what joining the HPSC would mean for me?

Notes:

I know in canon Hagakure Tooru is legit naked.... but I choose to believe in the EIGHT YEARS since canon that tech has found a way to allow to wear some sort of clothes while remaining invisible... like c'mon being a hero while tits are freely swingin and pussy is FULLY OUT is dangerous and uncomfortable 😭

Chapter 6: Love! Love! Love!

Summary:

Previously on Horrifying Revelations: Himiko tried to chase a van from the NHAL to see what they were up to, but lost track of them outside the city. She coincidentally ran into Shouto and Fuyumi on their way back from visiting Dabi in Hades, and so got to hear how Dabi was doing. She then watched Tooru do her furniture-building stream and asked some questions about the HPSC. She couldn't get much, but Himiko mentioned a serum in development to allow heroes to survive almost anything. While reflecting on that and trying to figure out where the van from the NHAL could have gone, she realized it could have gone to Hades. She then wondered if that blood sample had actually been hers.... or Ochako's.

Hawks’ office had a desk with a seat behind it, but when Himiko took the seat in front of it, Hawks opted to lounge on the couch off to the side. As always, playing at casual, trying to treat her as a friend instead of a colleague. 

Previously, she thought he was trying to make her drop her guard and reveal herself, but now she understood he just did this to everyone, so she smiled at him, playing her part flawlessly.

“You’re seriously a life saver,” Hawks told her. “We’ve got a few missions you’ll be perfect for. But first…”

He pulled a stack of papers from behind the couch and passed them over to Himiko, then reached out a red branded HPSC pen to her.

“Good ol’ paperwork.” He laughed, then lifted a few pages. “The first place to sign is here…”

“This is pretty big, is it alright if I take it home to read?”

His expression didn’t change. “If you want to.”

“So what kind of work will you want me to do?”

“I’m glad you asked! There’s certain kinds of undercover work that I think you’ll be uniquely suited to. To start with, we’re not going to announce your official affiliation with the HPSC yet, in order to make sure you have more maneuverability and no particular public allegiances towards us.”

She frowned. “But–”

“Publicly, you’ll claim you joined the Hero Collective. Plenty of independent heroes have joined that program to get support personnel. The staff pool for that is always rotating, so it’s not as specialized as hiring your own support staff, but it’s an affordable partnership that independent heroes would be a fool not to take advantage of.”

You’ve been a fool not to join this earlier, no matter how many times I made Tokoyami bug you about it, was unsaid.

“We don’t manage work hours or assign missions to the Hero Collective, so you can still retain your independent status publicly, but liasoning with us and having us do your paperwork will appear normal. Internally, we’ll be arranging for certain missions. And giving you a salary, of course.”

The government funded certain licensed heroes, but it was a baseline salary, which most heroes supplemented by doing sponsorships or joining organizations like the HPSC.

Himiko tapped at her cheek. “And this little subterfuge to the public is for…?”

He grinned. “Just to keep advantages in our pocket where we can. Trust me, I have a plan.”

Trust me made her want to take his pretty red pen and jam it into his trachea.

Ochako didn’t have murderous fantasies though, so she simply smiled and said, “Alright.”

 

---

 

Izuku took a big bite of his burger using his hands and made a pleased sound. He swallowed hard, and gave a big thumbs up. “Delicious!”

Himiko sliced the burger with a knife and brought a bite up to her mouth. She chewed happily, enjoying the patty cooked rare, its juices blending deliciously with the sauce on it. She nodded, pleased.

This American-style diner, recommended by All Might, was a favorite date spot of theirs. Himiko loved the meat, and Izuku loved the whole vibe. Plus, it was a short train ride away from UA, so Izuku could easily get there after work.

After they had a bit of food in them, Izuku smiled fondly across the booth. “Hey.”

Himiko paused in her bite.

“I’m sorry I’ve been so busy. Between teaching and hero work, it’s been a little crazy, but… every time I see you like this, I’m reminded of just how lucky I am.”

She swallowed. Mirror. “I’m the lucky one,” she said automatically. “And hey, I’m sorry about being busy recently too. It makes me miss UA, how easy it was to see each other all the time…”

He laughed. “If only we realized how we felt about each other back then, it would have saved time.”

Himiko hadn’t been unaware. Izuku flushed easily at even the lightest tease, but he hadn’t been ready to take those flutterings seriously back then. Himiko had kept him at just the right distance—not so close as to rush them together, but close enough to respect Ochako’s feelings for him. She had kept him in her life, and set aside time for him even after graduation when things got busier for everyone.

She supported him as his embers of One for All faded and he faced the difficult decision of whether to push forward on the increasingly dangerous pro-hero work or to apply his talents to become the kind of hero who raises the next generation. She stood by him in that unsteady first year of teaching and reassured him as he learned how to manage a whole classroom of teenagers without causing a revolt. And eventually, years down the line, those fluttery nerves he got when any cute girl so much as smiled as him gave way to something steadier. As she showed her reliability, became his hero, his feelings evolved.

Himiko never pushed him at any point. It felt wrong to do so, knowing this was supposed to be Ochako’s spot, but she couldn’t bear to turn away from him when she knew how much he had meant to Ochako.

And now he was in love. She could smell it off of him every time they got together, the giddy, warm scent that made her salivate.

Izuku was in love with Ochako.

“Well, we can’t change the past,” Himiko said in response.

If they could, Himiko would have gone back and unstabbed Ochako, taking her hand instead of her life.

His eyes crinkled, unbearably warm, pure sincerity. “Our present is still pretty good, though.”

She forced herself to smile in response.

If there was any chance Ochako was still alive, she needed to pull her out of prison as soon as possible. Until then, she would maintain this perfect spot for Ochako to slot back into.

“Speaking of UA…” Himiko leaned against the table. “...do you remember that duo… Gentle and La Brava?”

“Of course!” He exclaimed, brightening up. “Tobita and I catch up every now and then. I went to his and Aiba’s wedding! And every year, Aiba insists I come over so she can install her latest in cybersecurity on my laptop.”

“La Brava is pretty cool,” Himiko said in the most idle way she could, 

“She is! Running GeL Incorporated is an intense business, but she manages it expertly. Though she’s arranged for Gentle to be the face of the organization, I would estimate about seventy to eighty percent of their actual operations is thanks to her efforts on the backend with programming and leading their employees. Of course, Gentle’s leadership and his efforts on the media side of things shouldn’t be underestimated, even if the use cases of his metrics are less straightforward, the notoriety means…”

As Izuku prattled on, Himiko took a long sip of her soda. In a few seconds, she would smile and nod. A few seconds after that, she would make an interested sound, then another ten or fifteen seconds and she would nod again.

Eventually, he topped off his long aside with, “...can’t imagine how the Cyber War would have gone without them on our side. Sorry, how did we get on this topic again?”

“I was talking about how I admire La Brava. Since it sounds like you still talk to them, would you give me her contact info?”

He blinked, surprised. Had Himiko been too forward about it?

Izuku said, “Sure. They’re both pretty friendly, I’m sure she wouldn’t mind.”

Himiko relaxed, her objective completed.

So she was taken aback when Izuku started to sweat a bit, nerves prickling up a smidge. Just a smidge, not so much that the scent was overwhelming. Did he realize what a weird request that was? Was he going to ask her why she wanted her contact info?

He said, “We are pretty busy, aren’t we?”

They already went over this, but she wasn’t going to fight Ochako’s boyfriend. “Yup!”

His burger was done, so his fingers were nervously pressing against each other on the table. “You know, Tobita and Aiba they… are both busy, but they see each other all the time. So I was thinking…”

She stared, still not sure where he was going. Was he going to complain or start a fight? No, he didn’t smell angry, but why was he taking a deep breath? It was clearly a vulnerable topic, so she would have to respond delicately. 

He sat up straight, serious, determined. “Ochako, what if you moved in with me?”

Himiko froze.

He went on with a practiced tone, nerves fraying the edges, “We wouldn’t have to spend so much time trying to schedule dates like this. We could just both be naturally at home, and if we realized we were both free we could go out and have a nice time. Or we could even just spend more casual time together! I would love to get a little more, um, domestic, you know? It’s been a few years, but I feel like we could be closer. Not that we’re not close now! It’s just, you know, there’s always, it feels like there’s a part of you that’s just… holding back a little bit, maybe?”

No. No, he can’t have noticed that. He shouldn’t have noticed that. Would hesitating to move in drive him to suspect something of her? But while she was on this hunt for information on Ochako, she couldn’t afford to have someone in her personal space so often.

“Sorry! You’re a great girlfriend! I just would like… a little more. Sleeping and waking up together, eating most our meals together, and you know my mom loves you, she would love for you to live with us. You’ve had her cooking, isn't it great? You wouldn’t always have to cook for yourself.”

Yet another person who might note her strange behaviors or ask about a blood bag in the fridge. Inko wasn’t someone she could distract from her oddities with a giggle and a kiss.

“So… Doesn’t it sound good? Or…”

He paused his rambling enough to really look at her. She was so taken aback by this whole direction that she wasn’t even sure what kind of face she was making.

“...Mina said you might prefer not to live with my mom. We could move out into a place on our own? At least try it out? I’d want to be near Mom so I can visit her of course, but if you really wanted, we could do a new thing together. Would you prefer that?”

This was a train running off the rails. Himiko needed to take control now before things escalated. She couldn’t just reject this, could she? Not without pushing him away, hurting his relationship with Ochako. No, this needed something delicate, anything to push it off, she just needed a little more time, then Ochako could come here and live with Izuku and appreciate his mother’s kindness, she just needed…

She finally said, “But we’re not married?”

Izuku stared. His cheeks went pink. “Oh! That… I didn’t realize that mattered a lot to you. You didn’t say anything about Kyouka and Momo moving in together, so I guess I figured…”

With the exit strategy established, she found herself calming and going smooth again. The flawless mask. “That’s them, they can live their life how they want, but personally I’ve always envisioned myself moving in with someone after marriage.”

He rubbed the back of his head, blushing the whole while. “No, of course! I should have asked. Marriage, huh…?”

He didn’t seem upset, so Himiko considered this conversational maneuvering a success. She gently shifted topics, and they ended the date on a high note, crisis averted.

 

---

 

OCHAKO: Hi, Aiba! My name is Ochako, I’m Izuku’s girlfriend. I was wondering if you have time to meet up and chat sometime? I wanted to ask your advice on some things.

AIBA: Hi Ochako! Unfortunately my schedule is pretty packed, but I could try to find some availability. What kind of advice are you looking for?

OCHAKO: Love advice (｡>﹏<)

AIBA: Name a time and place and I will be there!

 

---

 

The cafe they met at was bright and cute, decked out with little animal mascots and ribbons. In front of each of them was a parfait, cherry-themed for Himiko, and blackberry for Aiba.

“It’s just like, so hard to find the time for dates, you know? How do you balance love and a career?” Himiko bemoaned.

Aiba leaned forward. “It is! Fortunately I was a bit of a shut-in when I first met Danjuro, I wasn’t actually working, I was just hacking around for fun on my own time, so I was able to arrange my schedule easily to see and support him. And soon we were working on a career together, streaming and posting his videos, so I got to see him every day! We got so intertwined it was only natural for me to move in…”

Moving in was a lot of steps ahead. “So when you started out with him, you had free time?”

“Yup! I was a bit of a mess, honestly, but it led me to Danjuro, so I can’t regret it.”

Himiko sighed, staring sadly at a cherry sliding down the melting whipped cream in her glass. “I wish I had more free time, but I’ve been so busy with work.”

“Aren’t you independent?” Aiba said with a tilt of her head, “Hey, maybe you and Izuku could start an agency together…”

Himiko leaned forward, channeling her strongest gossip tone. “Can you promise to keep a secret?”

The sparkle in Aiba’s eyes contrasted with the deep, dark circles around them. “I will encrypt it into my brain.”

“I’m kind of starting to work with the HPSC, but it’s kind of a secret. They want me to publicly maintain my independent status, but I’ve been taking on some tasks for them…”

Aiba frowned. “Really? That’s kind of a weird setup.”

“...including some totally boring stuff I don’t even know how to work. Like, they want me checking in on and investigating some ex-villains, but I don’t even know how to go about finding them. Spinner, Lady Nagant, Skeptic…”

She paused, a spoon half way up to her mouth. “Feel Good Inc. Skeptic?”

“I guess, yeah. They suspect they didn’t investigate him deeply enough when he was initially charged, so they want me to somehow dig up evidence of either past stuff we never uncovered, or new stuff since he was released from prison. But I don’t even know where to even start!”

Aiba placed a hand on the table. “Ochako, don’t even worry about it. I remember Skeptic, his database security was intricate, but…” She shivered. “...Oh! The days spent pressing and iterating new techniques to weave through his firewalls were exquisite. That kind of challenge is what made me the programmer I am today. I would love another chance to dig into him and drag out some more evidence he’s tried to hide behind his silly encryptions.”

“Oh would you really?” Himiko exclaimed, “That would be so helpful! That would free me up to spend some more time with Izuku.”

“Of course! Though…” Her head tilted. “...the HPSC really asked you to do this? They would have been better off contracting with GeL Inc. or…”

The deeper Aiba thought about it, the more suspicious it would be, so Himiko dangled some new bait in front of her. “Actually, I wanted to ask you for more advice on the love stuff.”

The little furrow in her brow gave way to delight. “Oh?”

Himiko swirled her spoon in what was left of her parfait “How did you know your husband was the one?”

The swooning grin told Himiko that this was, indeed, an effective deflection strategy. “Ahh, there are so many moments that all built up, but if I had to pick a moment where I thought Oh, he’s the one… I’d have to say, some time after I expressed my interest in him, I mentioned how self-conscious I was about these dark circles around my eyes… I’ve tried make up, but they’re deep and it just kind of looks weird to cover up. Back in school, people used to say it made me look creepy, so I thought it was just gonna have to be this awful thing I feel bad about forever, but Danjuro…”

She sighed dreamily.

“...one day, I went to see him, and he had outlined his own eyes with black, and he was like ‘Now we match!’ And suddenly, that thing which I hated about myself became something we shared, something that made me look in the mirror and not see what kids used to make fun of, but something that reminds me how much he loves me and the bond we share. The ability to transform my pain into joy made me fall deeper in love.”

Himiko tried not to think too hard about the blood pulsing beneath her skin, Ochako who reached out and accepted that quirk which her family had rejected, and who was now a part of her forever.

Aiba started to twirl her long spoon as she reminisced. “I thought I loved people before him, but all that was one-sided. Having my devotion responded to in kind was like… like I used to think my quirk wasn’t all that powerful, but then, once Danjuro responded to my feelings, it became like, so strong. Ahaha, that was affirming, to discover that my love could power him up so much. Not many people have an actual physical barometer for their love, but with mine I can say with confidence that I love Danjuro absolutely definitely the most out of anyone and anything ever!”

When Himiko drank blood and transformed into others, the only two people whose quirks she had been able to use were Twice and Ochako. 

“Are you having doubts about Izuku?”

Himiko suddenly came back to the table, the melted parfait, Aiba leaning across the table with a curious glint in her eye. 

Fuck. Aiba was friends with Izuku. Himiko knew what the right answer was. “It’s not doubts, really. I’ve just been thinking about where we’re going, what our next steps are, if I’m ready for the next step.”

Aiba grinned. “If you’re asking those questions, that’s a good sign.”

“I think you’re right.” Himiko pasted on her smile, sold that Aiba had somehow given her guidance. “I was nervous, but ultimately, I know I love him. Hearing your story has helped me put some things into perspective.”

She could smell the delight coming off of Aiba. “I’m happy to talk through your romance troubles any time.”

 

---

 

Hawks looked at her from across his desk. This time he sat properly behind it, acknowledging he was giving her a somewhat serious assignment. She opted to stand instead of sitting down, best not to get too comfortable with him.

“I need you to chat up Iguchi Shuichi.”

She stared at him. “To keep an eye on him?”

“Pretty much. I want someone to be on the inside, get the feelings that he doesn’t post to his blog, figure out if he’s brewing or plotting anything else beneath the surface, maybe get a heads-up if he plans something big.”

“And you think a pro-hero could be his confidante? Even if he put me on his list of true heroes or whatever, even he would find it suspicious if I came knocking at his door for no apparent reason.”

“You were there in Himiko Toga’s final moments, right? Tell him you wanted to share more details about that. The cameras didn’t catch everything, so I’m sure he’s curious.”

Hearing her own name from his mouth made her want to claw him open and spread his entrails all over his office.

She tapped the pads on her fingers, reminding herself who she was right now. Ochako wouldn’t care like that. “He might be willing to listen to me, but I doubt he’d share back much in return.”

“Grief can bond people. Utilize that.”

Turning feelings into weapons, prying someone’s vulnerabilities open until you could strike at the weakness beneath… a Hawks method indeed.

“I’ll try, but I can’t promise anything.”

Notes:

Aiba: Uhhhh I'm sorry girl you may be my dear friend Izuku's girlfriend, but I am running a gigantic corporation with a lot of things going on, my schedule is packed.
Himiko: But I want to talk about Love~!
Aiba: Any day, any time, I will be there. And I won't think too hard about your weird requests for info either, as it's very overshadowed by the important matter of Love!!!!!

Himiko may be going through it, but this is also lowkey a psychological horror story for Izuku too :D

Chapter 7: Spinnterview

Summary:

Previously on Love Lies: Himiko accepted Hawks' offer to work for the HPSC, and he asked her to keep private that she's an HPSC operative in order to maintain "maneuverability". She then went on a date with Izuku, where they reminisced and she asked for La Brava (Aiba)'s number. Izuku suggested they move in together, but Himiko put him off by saying that she doesn't want to move in with a partner until they're married. She then went for parfaits with Aiba and discussed love, alongside subtly asking Aiba to investigate Skeptic for her. Hawks then assigned her her first mission: To get close to Spinner and see if she can get him to share any secret villainous feelings or plots that he's not posting to his public blog.

Himiko debated between knocking on the door and ringing the doorbell of the apartment. The doorbell could be too startling, but what if knocking didn’t capture his attention?

She needed to make a good first impression. She was dressed casually, jeans and a bomber jacket with little planets on it, which easily hid a small microphone that would record their whole conversation for the HPSC. But behavior was even more important than appearance for first impressions.

So doorbell or knock?

What would Ochako do? She probably wouldn’t overthink this. Her palms wouldn’t sweat at the thought of finally seeing Spinner again after eight years. She wouldn’t have to confront the fact that she’d left her old allies behind to step into a blissful new life without them. Ochako would have just smiled, unbothered, and knocked… or rang the doorbell?

After five minutes of internal debate, the door simply opened. 

Spinner said, “I have a door cam. You’re making me nervous, hovering like that.”

Himiko’s throat closed up. She flailed. Was she smiling? She was. She waved her hands, finally forced out a laugh. Ochako didn’t laugh like that.

“Sorry.” for everything. “I didn’t know whether to knock or ring the bell.”

Spinner looked different than she remembered. He wasn’t all dressed up the way he liked to while in the League. He had a hoodie with a logo she vaguely recognized from one of the games that Kaminari liked to play, and baggy pants. His hair was pulled back into a low, loose ponytail.

“Come in,” he said, turning in to his apartment.

Himiko followed behind, forcibly swallowing down her nerves. She wasn’t Himiko, now, she was Ochako. The hero who Spinner had professed to admiring in his top heroes blog post.

She had reviewed some more of Blade Edge Thoughts to prepare for this, but though his voice carried in writing, it was a whole different experience to see, to be near him. To see his tense shoulders, his scales reflecting the dim ceiling light, his wary expression as she walked into his space.

It was a small, messy space. The kitchen was practically in the living room, and through both were a series of takeout containers, receipts for deliveries still on them.

Spinner shoved a few away to sit down at a low table, and motioned towards the cushion on the other side. Himiko cautiously shoved a few aside as well and took a seat across from him.

Though Hawks had given her a whole series of potential questions to ask which would remain subtle while eliciting potentially useful information, everything had left her head and all she could think or see was the man she had fought and dreamed alongside for one invigorating, tragic year.

“How are you?” She said.

His nose crinkled, confused. It was a stupid question. They weren’t two friends catching up, they were a hero and an ex-villain only meeting because of a stupidly awkward email saying I want to talk about Toga Himiko with you.

So he said, “Fine enough.”

He did not ask how she was.

The awkward silence stretched out like a cat on the table between them. It gave her time to marvel at this new Spinner, same as the one she knew and yet so changed by time. So far, she hadn’t seen a single sword in this apartment, though in her head when strategizing what it would be like to see him, she had imagined an elaborate display on a wall.

He caught her gaze and narrowed his eyes. “What?”

“I read your book,” she said suddenly, for anything to say.

He didn’t respond.

“Twice,” she added.

He flinched.

There was no way he would suspect her to be some sort of suave spy sent to lure information out of him, considering how badly she was stumbling through this conversation. “I enjoyed it both times. It gave me plenty to reflect on.”

“In your email, you said you wanted to talk about Toga.”

Himiko looked down at the table, a flush crawling up her neck. How could she act like this, all casual and like they were friends? After how she’d turned away from him? “Yeah.”

Her embarrassment must have shown, as he sighed, and his voice came out slightly softer. “I’ll be honest, I’m not really a fan of pro-heroes being up in my space. I only agreed to this because you were the only one who saw her die.”

“I’m sorry,” she said reflexively.

“Why are you apologizing? Did you kill her on purpose?”

“No!” She wouldn’t allow that kind of stain on Ochako’s record. “No, of course not, I was bleeding out when she… it was a mess, I just… I’m sorry I took so long to come see you.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Did she leave a message for me?”

“No, not exactly…”

“So what did you come to say?”

Himiko swallowed hard, trying to banish the nerves threatening to make her voice tremble. “I wanted to tell you about her last moments, the time after the camera cut, she…”

She needed Spinner to know, to understand what Ochako meant to her now.

“Well, she stabbed me, but I… she was crying, so I couldn’t stop reaching out. I told her I would give her my blood for the rest of my life.”

For some reason, he snorted at that. “Did you know she had a crush on you?”

Himiko flushed anew, being confronted with her own feelings. 

“I’m sure you had some idea, she’s not exactly subtle–”

“I’m straight,” Himiko said, before Spinner could say anything else.

Ochako was straight. She was a normal girl, with a normal boyfriend, and a normal love. She had been willing to reach out and indulge Himiko, but that didn’t mean she felt the exact same kind of love. 

“Well,” Spinner said with some deliberation, “she was probably still happy to hear those words from you.”

“She was, so much so that she gave me her blood.”

He frowned, not comprehending. “She what?”

“I was bleeding out, dying, so she fixed me up, laid down next to me, and transfused her blood to mine.”

He was silent.

“She died of blood loss because of me.”

Spinner’s nails tapped on the wood of his table. He had been staring down, not at her, but suddenly his eyes flickered up. “Why didn’t you share this before? The public…”

“I wasn’t exactly active about hiding it. The news helicopter saw the aftermath, they could have figured it out from how the tube went from her vein to mine, but they didn’t want to see. Nobody wanted to see.”

He sighed, leaning on a fist. “A villain saving a hero doesn’t fit their narrative. Challenges too many expectations.”

Now Himiko was looking down at the table, scared to see his expression. She had finally admitted it to him, that at that last minute, a kind smile and an outstretched hand had made her change her mind and think there was something in this world worth saving.

Would he hate her for the betrayal?

He said, “Himiko was…”

She held her breath.

“...so young. I didn’t really think it at the time, as I was only barely in my twenties, but I look at high schoolers now and I can’t help but think how small they feel. I’ve read articles on the League of Villains that have used Himiko, and Mustard too, as an example of how corrupt they were, to be recruiting the young into villainy with no sort of organized training or safety. Sometimes I’ve wondered for myself if it would have been better if Tomura had kept teenagers like Himiko out of it, but ultimately…”

His finger had stopped tapping. There was a confidence to him now.

“...being young did not protect her from the cruelty of the corrupt system. Himiko experienced how cruel society could be towards those who were different, enough so that she was living on the streets. Prejudice doesn’t have mercy based on age. We cannot deny the young the right to fight for what they believe in, especially when the systems meant to protect them have fundamentally failed them.”

Though she was wearing Ochako’s skin, she shivered as though he were staring at Toga Himiko properly.

“She chose the path of villainy because it was the only way forward for her. She was able to reach her hands towards us because all of us, in different ways, had been hurt by society, and wanted to change it. Tomura led us towards destruction, filling our heads with ambitious dreams of a world where everything that hurt us was gone, and we could rebuild our dreams in the wreckage. None of us were wrong—the world had problems that we couldn’t address without turning to villainy. And together, all of us were stronger, and actually able to cause change. Though I can’t contact any of the League members anymore, I doubt any of them regret the path we chose.”

His sincerity and clarity of vision almost made her feel like the first time she heard Stain. She looked up, and when their eyes met, he blinked as though falling out of a spell.

He continued, “What I’m trying to say is, a villain isn’t just someone who wants to hurt for the sake of it. They’re trying to right the world in their own way. Society may consider Himiko choosing to save you as some sort of contradiction, but I understand it completely.”

She avoided blinking. She didn’t want to cry. 

Ochako’s body felt tight around her. She wanted to shed it, let it drip all over the floor and spring across the table to embrace Spinner. I’m sorry, she wanted to say, I should have visited sooner, I’m sorry you’ve been isolated, that you’ve been stuck in your apartment writing those blog posts and disconnected from the people who can understand what you’ve been through.

Her jacket still had the microphone. Their intimacy on display for the HPSC.

So she took a deep breath, reminding herself she was Ochako now, and let go of her urge to cry with a gentle exhale.

“I wanted to tell you her last words,” she said.

Spinner went still, still staring at her, alert.

She thought long and hard about what she would tell Spinner were her last words. “She said she was glad she’d get to see Twice and Big Sis Magne again.”

Functionally, she was dead, and she wanted to reassure him that the dead Himiko was at last at peace.

He got up abruptly, knocking a knee against a table and making it shake. “I think you should leave.”

There was a whole list of questions the HPSC still wanted her to ask. “Are you sure? But…”

Spinner was turned away, and his voice came out tight. “Please. Leave.”

Staying wouldn’t exactly endear her to him, so she hurried up and left.

Once the door was shut behind her, she lingered for a moment, feeling unsteady. Through the door, she heard something like a sob.

She left the building before she started crying too.

 

---

 

As Himiko walked to the HPSC, she idly checked her phone. 

Another dozen notifications since when she last checked. Though she silenced her phone last night, the emails and texts filled her screen.

Interview Request
Dear Uravity, we’re reaching out to offer you some time on our channel to talk about…

Open For Interviews?
Hi Uravity, my team heard about you from The True Fate of Himiko Toga and wanted…

Media Opportunity
Ms. Uravity, we are very interested in having an interview with you about Toga. We…

MOMO: Hey, are you doing okay with the media? I could help if you’re looking to…

TSUYU: I know we’ve talked about the Toga stuff before, but if you want to talk… 

CAMIE: Damn fam just read that blog post, mega heavy. Drinks or takeout?

She swiped them all away, then gave up as another email came in. She put her phone away and entered the HPSC headquarters.

The lady at the desk motioned for Himiko to go to the elevators immediately. She didn’t need to be told—She knew where Hawks’ office was already.

 

---

 

“I told you to get close to him, not to give him viral blog material.”

He was smiling, but his cheeks were stretched tight. Today he opted to sit behind his desk—serious business mode.

She gave a humble laugh, as though she could not fathom how she ended up in this position. “You also told me to use my connection with Himiko to get him to talk to me.”

“That shouldn’t have included giving him the kind of exclusive details that allow him to make a death from almost a decade ago the center of his philosophical musings. People curious about what exactly happened back then have propelled it into the public consciousness, and with the dramatics you described, it’s been cemented as the latest talking point.”

Himiko acted coy. “It’s not as though I was really hiding it. It just hasn’t really come up much.”

“As far as the public is concerned, this is a fresh hot nugget of gossip from a huge war most of them remember living through. Giving Iguchi an exclusive hold on this information means he’s the premier source, and it’s driving audience to him that would never normally give some random blog the time of day. Worst part is, it’s his version, seeped in his ideology.”

“Is it that bad?” Himiko asked, trying not to smile giddily at the way Hawks was tapping at the table, as though he wanted to fly out of the window and flee from all the drama.

“He’s got a whole spin on it challenging how we treat villains and make assumptions based on that label. Just because one villain decided to do one nice thing for her crush in her last moments, people are suddenly nitpicking how villains are presented in the media. Can’t you see what a mess it is?”

She leaned back in her chair across from him, lounging like a cat. “What I see is an opportunity.”

His eyes narrowed.

“You told me to get Spinner’s trust. I gave him a big boon, an exclusive scoop that makes him say ‘Wow, thank goodness that hero asked to chat with me!’ every time he thinks of me. Tell me—” She leaned forward. “—how big of a prize can you get if you’re not willing to bet big in return?”

He had his hands up now, steepled in front of his face, thinking. She kept his gaze. Dabi told her once that Hawks showed him Best Jeanist’s dead body to earn his trust. That must have been a bluff, but it showed just how much Hawks was willing to gamble undercover.

Really, she just needed Hawks to gamble on her.

He lowered his hands. “Got any other bombshells you’re going to drop on him?”

She laughed. “No way, kinda hard to top that.”

He nodded. “Alright. We can still turn this around. You’ve hopefully earned some big Iguchi trust with this stunt, but we have to damage control on this blog post. You’re going to do an interview, our media specialists already have a channel and interviewer picked out for you. We’re gonna discuss the questions beforehand, and you’re gonna answer each in specific ways. It’ll be recorded, so if you mess anything up, we can just cut it, alright?”

“What do you mean by ‘specific ways’?”

He started tapping his finger again. “We need a subtle counter to his narrative. You’re going to emphasize your role as a hero, the way you convinced her to do a little good at the last moment. Definitely play up the crush angle as well—this was an unusual case. And you’ve got all your quirk counseling stuff, right? Push that a little more, the fact that it was too late to save Himiko, but your goal is to stop the same thing from happening again. Let’s get the focus back on the pro-heroes and the good they’re doing, and less on the dying words of villains.”

“Ah.” Himiko kept on a smile. “Can totally play to that angle.”

His shoulders loosened a smidgen. “Once there’s an official version of the events from a trusted news outlet to reference, less people are going to be drawn to the messy ramblings of a web blog. Take away his attention.”

 

---

 

After finally finishing the polished interview the HPSC demanded, Ochako was so hungry that she almost ate the takeout she was carrying while walking to Camie’s place.

Somehow, she was strong enough to drag herself all the way there without opening any of the containers. Camie let her in with a smile, took the bags, and led her to the couch.

There were other texts Ochako had to respond to, but she knew most her other friends were going to ask questions. How do you feel about it? Did you know Spinner was going to make a blog post about what you told him? Why did you choose to do your interview with that channel in particular? Did you mean everything you said?

All Camie asked was, “Do you wanna watch Bram Stoker’s Dracula tonight?”

Himiko snuggled deeper into the couch and shook her head. “Nah, Twilight’s fine.”

Camie grinned. “Baller.”

Partway through, she peeked at her phone, ready to swipe away some more notifications, but discovered something different from everything else she’d gotten today.

AIBA: Do you have time to meet soon? I have a little gift for you ;)

Chapter 8: Skeptic's Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Summary:

Previously on Narrating Your Own Death, The HPSC told Himiko to get close to Spinner in order to help them track if he or his followers are brewing any villainous plots. To start their relationship, Himiko asked to meet Spinner in order to share details about "Himiko's last moments". After a discussion, Spinner was overwhelmed and she had to leave before asking everything the HPSC wanted to know. Spinner then wrote a blog post that went viral, revealing the fact that Himiko had decided to give her blood to Ochako before she died, which drew attention to his blog and made Hawks frustrated. Himiko convinced Hawks that this was a good thing for her getting closer to Spinner, but Hawks still made her give another interview about the event to help draw attention away from Spinner's blog. Afterwards, Himiko went to Camie's to destress by watching Twilight, and got a text from Aiba saying she had something for her.

Himiko sat up straight on her couch and took a deep breath. In her hand, her phone had Izuku on the screen. She coughed a few times, then took some sharp shuddery breaths, working herself up.

She clicked Call.

One ring, two, and then he picked up.

“Hey Ochako–”

“Izukuuuu~!” Himiko wailed. “It’s a disaster!”

His voice sharpened into a serious tone immediately. “Where are you, what’s–”

“My computer broke!”

There was a pause which Himiko filled with a pathetic whine.

“I’m… sorry, Ochako, that really sucks.”

“I was supposed to do my HPSC yearly report paperwork! The deadline’s coming up, and I don’t even have a computer!”

“Hey, hey, I’m sure it’ll work out, how exactly is it broken?”

She sniffled. “The repair shop said it’ll take days to repair.”

“Really? Oh no, I’m sorry…”

“I just wish I… I’m so stupid, I should have done this sooner, I’m such a mess, and I have no options for a laptop to use while they’re doing repairs.”

“Well, would you want to maybe, um, use my laptop?”

Hook, line, and sinker. “Really? You would really lend it to me?”

“Sure! I can use my computer at work for the most part anyway, I’d be fine lending it to you for a few days.”

“Izuku, baby, you’re the best.” She sniffled again for effect. “I love you.”

“I love you too, I’ll be over tonight with the laptop, alright? No need to cry.”

 

---

 

Himiko rocked on her heels in front of the apartment door. The security at the desk had allowed her through easily with a flash of her hero license, but she didn’t expect to be warmly welcomed into this apartment.

She rang the doorbell again, then knocked for good measure. Rocked for another minute.

So he was gonna pretend not to be home, huh? Her eyes wandered around the door until she spotted a miniscule little dot in the upper corner of a frame. A camera.

She slipped off her cute little backpack and rifled through it until she came upon the stapled papers she had printed before heading out here. She held it up to the camera.

“Hello~!” she crooned. “I’m just here for a little chat, won’t you let me in?”

Still nothing.

“Either you let me in, or I take this to the police instead.”

Finally, the door slammed open, and Skeptic was in front of her. “Don’t say that in the hallway.”

As soon as the door shut behind her, he snatched the paper out of her hands and started flipping through it. He paced on smooth linoleum floors  and past glossy counters. A piano sat in a corner beside some doors leading deeper into the apartment.

“Do you like it?” Himiko asked, grinning widely. “That’s just a paper copy for fun. I have the data backed up elsewhere, of course. I like the part where it points out all your insider trading while working for Feel Good Inc. Like, a whole set of past crimes unrelated to the Paranormal Liberation Front crime that you’ve done time for. The employee and client personal data breaches are a whole other beast—Did you get to the page with evidence of you selling that data just a few months ago? No wonder you have such a lovely apartment. How long have you been doing that? Ah, don’t answer, I already know. Page six.”

Skeptic glared at her through his bangs. “What is a hero like you doing? Trying to psych me out? Just arrest me.”

She gasped. “Arrest you? After you just barely got out of prison… two years ago? Say, doesn’t six years seem awfully short for such a high-ranking Paranormal Liberation Front officer? But I guess it makes sense, considering the promises your crony made to that judge. Messages on page seven, if you need to jog your memory.”

He flipped the page vigorously. “Those were encrypted!” He snarled.

“Not encrypted enough, clearly.”

He tossed the paper onto the ground. “What do you want?”

Himiko loved the way his shoulders went up to his ears, and how his sleek hair had already started to frizz from the stress. If she could kill Curious in front of him again to watch his reaction, she would.

But she wasn’t just here to torture him. She waltzed through his apartment as though she owned it, and didn’t even take her shoes off. “What I want from you is very simple.”

Veins bulged as she approached his piano. She looked back with a smirk, then stepped up onto the piano bench. He had always been unfairly tall and lanky, towering over her, but now she was the one on top. She was no longer some societal reject brawling in the dirt with another criminal—She was a spotless hero with pages of blackmail on an ex-villain. 

In other words, she held all the cards.

“I need a hacker, someone who can break into any system and give me the information I want. That hacker is going to be you, Skeptic.”

He marched over, but was stuck staring up at her. “I’m not Skeptic anymore, I’m just Chikazoku. And I’m sure a hero like you has access to plenty of experts without scraping the bottom of the barrel of irrelevant ex-villain hackers. Leave me alone and go bug GeL Inc. There’s gotta be a hundred hackers actually eager to help you with your hero work.”

“This isn’t going to be hero work.”

Though she couldn’t see his brows through his bangs to see if they furrowed, his lips pursed suspiciously. “...What exactly do you need a hacker for?”

“I need you to break the Hades Prison firewall and get me everything you can on it. Guard schedules, security protocols, all data on all prisoners.”

He paled. “I’m not a villain anymore.”

She raised an eyebrow and motioned to the papers on the floor.

“That’s small potatoes, leftovers just to keep me set. Most my income is from legitimate contracting. I’m not interested in getting involved in a whole new villain venture.”

“You think you have a choice?” 

To emphasize her power, she stepped onto the keys of the piano, smearing the soles of her shoes over the keys, creating a discordant crunch of sound, and then took a seat on top of the piano itself.

“I’m not asking you to do this, Skeptic. I know what you’ve done, and I have all the evidence I need to send you to prison again. Sit down.”

He hovered, hands clenched.

She motioned a foot towards the bench she had just stepped on. “Sit. Down.”

When he stiffly lowered himself onto it, she smirked. Despite his bitching, he understood the position he was in.

Below her.

“As I said, this is not a request, but a command. You are going to hack into Hades Prison and give me absolutely everything on what goes on in there and who it contains.”

He looked up at her. “You can command me, but there’s stuff even I’m incapable of. I missed six years of cryptography and general tech development while locked up. My knowledge is outdated, and the kind of protections a prison like Hades will have are gonna be top-of-the-line. Way beyond my abilities to crack, no matter how you threaten me.”

She leaned forward. “What if you had access to the most secure tech on the market? Could you work backwards from that and catch up?”

He frowned. “Maybe? That stuff is locked down, though. Proprietary defense systems with their own additional security to deter hackers.”

She slipped her backpack off of one shoulder and unzipped it again. This time, she pulled out a laptop. “How about a personal laptop from a top hero, installed with the latest and greatest from La Brava?”

He took it tenderly, like it might combust in his hands, and carefully opened it. “...Do you have the password?”

“0420AllMightIsDaBest!!”

The computer came to life, revealing a lockscreen of Izuku and Ochako’s body at an amusement park, crepes in hand.

Skeptic’s fingers hovered over the keys. “...Whose computer is this?”

“Midoriya Izuku, also known as pro-hero Deku. I’m borrowing it, so you’ll have to return it within a few days.”

He started to click around, entranced. “I see. And it has La Brava’s programs?”

“She updates it for him every year.”

Skeptic smirked. “I see.”

Since he was distracted by the shiny new toy, she lifted her foot from the piano keys to hook the toe of her boot under his chin and force him to look at her again. “So?”

“So what?”

“Can’t you hack into Hades with this?”

He frowned, pulled back so he wasn’t touching her foot anymore. “I’ll have to dig around and see what exactly I’m working with, check what kinds of tricks La Brava has up her sleeve.”

“It better be enough, ‘cause otherwise you’re going back to prison.”

He stared at her a moment, then said, “...Why is a pro-hero trying to break into one of Japan’s prisons?”

“I never said I was going to break in. I just want to know what’s in there.”

“What are you looking for?”

She snorted. “You’ll know if you find it.”

He sighed and turned back to the laptop. “Fine. I’ll mess around with La Brava’s programs and see what I can reverse engineer. If Hades is protected by that tech or anything similar, then there’s a chance I might be able to slip past their firewalls and get some data.”

“You better,” Himiko said with a smirk.

She jumped off the piano onto the floor.

“I’ll be back in three days to pick up the laptop. I’ll expect an update on your progress then.”

She left with a skip in her step. One step closer to discovering the truth of what had happened to Ochako.

Notes:

If you're like "Huh why is Himiko so vicious and mean-spirited towards Skeptic?" then plz review Chapter 229 of canon. AKA the chapter where Skeptic specifically prods Twice's psychological weaknesses by making his puppets look like Twice clones and then tries to kill Himiko in front of him using those "Twice" puppets. Yes they became "allies" afterwards but there's no way Himiko doesn't hold at least a little grudge.

Chapter 9: Love is stored in the curry

Summary:

Previously on Girlbossing: Himiko pretended that her computer broke and so Izuku lent her his computer. She then went to Skeptic's apartment with blackmail (that she got from Aiba) and told him to investigate the prison Hades. He said he was out of the game and out-of-date with his tech, but she offered Izuku's laptop as an example of some state-of-the-art security systems to examine, and so he said he would investigate and see what he could achieve.

Notes:

Hehe saw the latest bnha episode..... Himiko/Ochako battle/"baby take me back plz" scene ANIMATED very nice very good, fabulous voice acting (in the japanese version at least, english is not out yet)

Himiko laid on her bed, staring at the ceiling.

She really ought to make dinner, but her mind was racing too fast to consider something so mundane. It had only been a day since she gave Skeptic the laptop, but she already wanted to march over there and demand he hack into Hades immediately.

What if it was nothing? Maybe she was just so desperate to see Ochako that she was pinning every piece of evidence onto a board that pointed to this conspiracy of her being locked away. If Skeptic broke in and there was nothing, what would she do?

Her stomach growled, but she just rolled over and stared at a wall instead. She had to do more. Another HPSC mission, perhaps? Build enough trust with Hawks that he might leak. Should she visit Skeptic early to put on the pressure? Maybe she could consult with Giran. He would certainly be suspicious of a hero seeking his services, but she was desperate. She would pay him anything. Well, she had to keep enough money to survive and to send to Ochako’s parents, but with the new HPSC salary starting to stream in, hopefully she would have enough to spend on her machinations. And if not, could she persuade him by revealing herself as Himiko?

No, that would drag him into dangerous business again. If someone caught wind of her suspicious movements tried to track down threads, she didn’t want someone to cut off Giran’s remaining fingers to try and pull the truth out of him.

Her doorbell rang her out of those thoughts. She frowned, certain that she hadn’t ordered anything. With some trepidation, she crept to her door without making a sound and checked the peephole.

Tenya’s face filled her vision.

She opened the door. “Tenya? Is everything all…”

Behind him, Tsuyu and Shouto stood with bags full of grocery bags.

“Ochako!” He exclaimed, chopping an arm. “We have come to visit! Do you have a prior obligation, or may we come in?”

She blinked at them, confused, but took a step back. “Uh, come in?”

They marched inside like a team on a mission, going straight for the kitchen and unloading anything that needed to stay cold into the fridge, and everything else onto her limited counter space.

Tenya turned to her. “Have you had dinner yet? Would you be agreeable to curry?”

At this point, resistance felt futile. “No, I haven’t had dinner…”

Tsuyu put a hand on Tenya’s shoulder, then gave him an onion with the other hand. “Tenya, you said you’d do the chopping, right?”

He nodded. “Absolutely!”

As he dredged up a cutting board and knife from Himiko’s messy kitchen, Tsuyu smoothly took Himiko by the arm and led her out into the living room. “Ochako, let’s sit down.”

She was too surprised to resist, so soon Himiko was settled on her springy little pink couch, Tsuyu tucked in beside her. Himiko said, “What’s going on?”

“The three of us were chatting yesterday, and we were worried. You’ve barely been responding to your texts…”

“I’ve been busy.” And way too many people started texting after that interview.

“Which is exactly what we figured—too busy to make meals, so we decided to bring food to you and check in.”

Himiko took a deep breath. “I appreciate the thought but I’m doing fine.”

Tsuyu’s face could be hard to read, but Himiko could smell the concern rolling off of her. She was trying to figure out the best approach.

“Honest,” Himiko assured. “You guys don’t have to worry.”

“We know how strong you are, but that doesn’t mean you have to do everything alone.”

It took effort to keep the casual smile on Himiko’s face. None of her classmates would understand this quest she had given herself. “It’s not a big deal, just an interview or two.”

“On a topic you avoided addressing publicly for years.”

She bristled. “I didn’t actually avoid it, really. I even shared it in reports, just not in any media. And after the war, there was so much going on and things to prioritize… by the time things calmed down enough to go for interviews, enough time had passed that I didn’t want to dig that all up again.”

“But she never stopped haunting you during that time, did she?”

How could she not? I see her face every day in the mirror.

Tsuyu leaned back on the couch. “You told me the quirk counseling stuff was in her honor, but for eight years… Has it felt weird to know the world didn’t know the truth? That they’ve been assuming this whole time she was a villain to the core?”

“No,” Himiko admitted. “I’ve never thought that much about it.”

Though Tsuyu was not one to gasp, she sat up a little straighter, and her eyes widened minutely. “...No?”

Himiko brought her feet up onto the couch and curled her arms around her legs. “I don’t think Himiko cared what the world thought. If anything, it feels strange having the world look at such a vulnerable, intimate moment, and… dissect it.”

Spinner had philosophized about her like she wasn’t in the room. She went on national television and, using her crush’s body, talked about and implicitly rejected her own crush. She was a dual voyeur-exhibitionist getting to finetune her last moments for broadcast while cringing at every reaction. Editorials had now been written on what Himiko really meant, if those last actions retroactively absolved her of her villainy, or if one kindness was nothing in the face of her long list of crimes. 

People had stopped saying and writing her name for years, and now it was everywhere she turned.

Tsuyu put a finger on her cheek. “I suppose that’s fair.”

“I only talked to Spinner about it because he deserved the truth. He didn’t say he was going to write about it… but if anyone has a right to talk about her, he certainly does.” She stared up, not looking at Tsuyu. “The interview after that was just to be a little more formal and set the record straight, since his post was rambly and about a lot of other things.”

“I see.”

“Guys?” Shouto called out from the kitchen, “Is curry steam supposed to get all smoky?”

They both jumped up.

 

---

 

They saved the curry enough to eat.

Tenya hung his head low. “I vow, next time we’ll double-check the heat settings and pay more attention to the pan.”

Himiko laughed. “It’s fine, it all worked out.”

“Honestly, the burned bits give a fun new textural element,” Tsuyu said after a few bites.

As far as dinners went, this was leagues above the instant cup noodles she probably would have eaten otherwise. 

The boisterous table was also beyond her expectations for the evening. Instead of stewing in her paranoia, she was surrounded by friends. Ochako’s friends, technically, but her friends while she was Ochako.

She swallowed the curry and allowed its warmth to spread through her stomach. It was a little spicy, just like she liked. “You guys are the best,” she confessed.

The smiles around the table were so gentle; she wanted to belong to them so badly.

Since she couldn’t tell them the truth, she just asked, “Can you send me the recipe?”

Shouto nodded. “I got it from Fuyumi. Just a moment…”

As he texted it to her, Tenya shared a story of one of his sidekicks who was trying to teach him the latest memes, and the conversation flowed easily.

By the time dinner ended, Himiko was laughing, shoulders light, thoroughly distracted from the stress that had been piling up.

As her friends started to leave, Shouto lingered. “Are you still interested in poetry?” he asked.

She went still. “Yes?”

He slipped some papers out of his pocket. When he handed it to her, she discovered it was a few dozen sheets of paper folded over and stapled at the seam.

“These are some of Touya’s, ones he said were okay to share. Not the apocalypse one though, that’s still in progress.”

She held the papers gingerly, as though they might break if she squeezed too hard. “Ah, thank you.”

He nodded, and then she was alone in her apartment.

She took several deep breaths. The papers felt heavy in her hands.

It was late, so she changed into her pajamas, brushed her teeth, and got into bed.

She brought the poetry with her.

Her fingers traced the cover. Simple, hand-written: A Todoroki Touya Collection.

Trying to gather the strength to actually read, she flipped around a bit. There were lines as though it came out of a notebook, and the characters were hand-written. The handwriting wasn’t always the same—Sometimes it was written in tiny, neat script, sometimes it was broad strokes that bled into each other. A few looked messier, like scrawls, while others had a formal precision, and some were more florid and artistic.

All had been loyally photocopied into this little booklet for Himiko to peruse.

She braced herself, and read.

 

---

 

Himiko was walking through a desert. She was hot all over, sweating, bare feet burning against the sand. Her throat was parched, begging for liquid relief.

Ahead of her was an oasis. Bushes and trees rimmed it, but between them she could see the glittering lake.

She forced herself forward, taking dry, gasping breaths. From behind a tree, a girl stepped out, long hair swaying at her movement.

Tsuyu smiled at her and opened her arms. “Ochako,” she greeted.

Himiko stumbled into her arms, lifting her feet from the sand, collapsing into her embrace.

“It’s okay, Ochako, we’ve got you. You don’t have to worry anymore.”

“I love you,” Himiko rasped out from her sandy mouth.

Tsuyu smiled, eyes closing in that pleased, frog-like expression. “I love you too, Ochako.”

Himiko needed to drink. Her throat might burn away otherwise. So she tilted her head, pressed in towards Tsuyu’s neck, and took a bite.

Cool liquid flooded her mouth. Relaxed, chill blood from her slightly cold-blooded friend. It was Tsuyu, calm, grounding blood, that she latched onto like an anchor.

Until she was shoved away. She barely swallowed her last mouthful as Tsuyu stared at her.

“You’re not Ochako,” Tsuyu said, her face impassive.

“I’m sorry,” she stammered out, mouth still wet with her blood. “I still love you, Tsuyu–”

“Only my friends get to call me Tsuyu.”

 

---

 

Himiko woke up in her bed, tangled in her sheets, caked in sweat.

She clenched her eyes shut, trying to sleep again, but it was useless with how loudly her heart was pounding.

So she got up and went to the bathroom. Her head felt heavy; hair stuck to the back of her neck. Once there, she got a wash cloth and wiped down part of her body, trying to cool down from the stressed heat of the nightmare. After wiping down her face, she looked in the mirror.

She screamed.

Sometime in the night, she’d turned into herself, and now haunted yellow eyes were staring back at her. She clenched those demon eyes shut and put her hands over her face as though she could hide from it. Her hands and arms brushed against long blonde hair which she never cut.

“I’m Ochako, I’m Ochako, I’m Ochako,” she repeated like a mantra as she willed her quirk to change to her better form.

After a minute of heavy breathing, Himiko chanced a glance between her fingers at the mirror again.

Brown eyes looked back, framed by brunette hair, and she shuddered in relief.

Normally, she had better control of herself. During her first year of this, she had switched unexpectedly in the night, but she had become consistent since then.

Was it because Ochako might be alive? Because Himiko had to confront that she’d have to give this all up soon? Once Ochako was free, Himiko would have to become the villain again.

She squeezed out her washcloth and turned away from the mirror. 

That wouldn’t stop her. If Ochako were trapped somewhere, suspected of being Himiko, there was no way Himiko could live happily out here knowing she was suffering for her actions.

Himiko went to bed and didn’t sleep the rest of the night.

Chapter 10: Spinnterview 2: The Awkwarding

Summary:

Previously on Shouto and Tenya's Cooking Channel: Shouto, Tenya, and Tsuyu visited Himiko at her apartment to check in on her. As Shouto and Tenya made curry, Tsuyu talked Himiko through some of her feelings about her recent media attention. Afterwards, Himiko had a bad dream and accidentally woke up in her "Himiko" form instead of her "Ochako" form. After panicking, she went back to her Ochako form.

Hawks was sitting on his desk when Himiko entered his office, a bird perched on his nest of paperwork and bureaucratic secrets. He was squinting at a sheet of paper, but took off his reading glasses and put the paper down when she approached. His back straightened, but he maintained a lean that brought to mind a cat stretching out to expose its belly—playing at vulnerability, but ready to bring out claws the moment you got too familiar with it.

“Uravity,” he said with a smile. “My favorite new operative.”

She mirrored his smile. “You flatter me.”

“Go ahead, take a seat, get comfortable.”

His office included a couch and a seat across from the desk. Playing at the same casual vibe, she lounged on the couch. Based on his little grin, it was the right choice.

“How are things? Are our employees handling things to your liking?”

“It’s nice to have them complete my paperwork,” she admitted.

“Good, good. Feel free to let me know if anything comes up.”

If she were a little more starry-eyed, the thought of the HPSC president offering himself as a personal contact for any little issue she might have would have made her heart swell. So she approximated a thankful and flattered expression. “Will do.”

“So.” He leaned forward. “You’ve had one conversation with Iguchi. Big trust with those words from Toga, and hopefully good will from all the media attention his ensuing blog post garnered. However, that first conversation didn’t address any of the real questions the HPSC has.”

She tried not to bristle visibility. “He became emotionally overwhelmed. Pushing him further would not have garnered more answers.”

“Of course not.” Hawks grinned. “You did exactly what you had to do in order to maintain the mission. What we’re having you do with Iguchi isn’t a one-and-done sort of thing—trust doesn’t work like that. There will be days where you get nothing… and then days where you get everything.”

He got off his desk and began to pace, though not fast enough to seem nervous. Losing his quirk hadn’t made him any less flighty.

“You established initial contact, but we need more. You need to keep approaching him, become his confidante. A rare ‘true’ hero who is unconnected to the HPSC, one who he might trust if he decides to turn on society.”

Turn on society, or the HPSC?

“Feel free to say unkind things about us, and about other heroes if you must. But I don’t think you’ll have to do too much of that.” He looked her up and down. “Your image is impeccable, Uravity. You’re the lovable, reliable girl-next-door. Even Iguchi isn’t immune to someone like you with your natural charm and sincerity.”

A rare flush of genuine flattery flickered at being complimented for acting like Ochako.

“We need you to meet him again, be your wonderful, trustable self, and subtly, where you are able, get answers to our questions.”

Though she loathed to admit it, she had to say, “You describe me kindly, but I doubt he’d be willing to meet me again.”

The last words of his comrade had been her initial bribe, but now that it was spent and their meeting had ended awkwardly, she didn’t feel as though she could go calling on him like they were friends.

Hawks stopped pacing and leaned against his desk again. He waved a hand dismissively, as though she were silly for bringing up such an objection. “Don’t ask, then. Show up at his doorstep, put the pressure on. If you just start acting like you’re friends, he might be stunned enough to let you walk into his life.”

Himiko was aware enough of his paranoia to think such a plan was ill-advised. “I still think he’d be hesitant to let a pro-hero into his apartment again.”

Hawks’ smile went a little tight. “Uravity. We hired you for a reason—to help us keep an eye on Spinner. We don’t have all the answers, because to succeed you’re going to have to play to your strengths. When I took over the HPSC, I didn’t want to be a micromanager. I believe in each employee having their own expertise and talents they are qualified to employ, so figure out what your answer to the problem is, and make me proud.”

It took all of Himiko’s strength to not gag. “I see. I will do my best, then.”

He nodded as though he had helped. “Good. There are several specific questions we have that we’d like you to prioritize when you next see him.”

There was an index card on his desk that he flipped and slid towards her. She looked down at the neatly typed questions:

Does he have plans to reconvene with other League members?
Does he harbor plans for revenge?
Is there any communication with his fans we don’t know about?

Himiko raised an eyebrow. “Those are suspicious questions.”

He chuckled. “Your job as an operative is to find a way to ask them subtly. I believe in you.”

Maybe she could go vomit in the bathroom after this. “Is that everything?”

He nodded. “Thank you for meeting with me.”

Her muscles loosened minutely, relieved this time was coming to an end. She got up.

Before she escaped, though, he put a hand on her shoulder. She fought down the fury and bile rising in her throat, resisted the urge to rip his hand off, and did not turn towards him in case that hatred was visible.

“Uravity, I just wanted to say… I know you’re early on, but undercover work can cause stress, especially over time. Don’t lose track of the goal—to nip villainy in its bud. Whatever you do, so long as it’s in service of that, you can move forward with a clear heart.”

Do you think your heart is clear? She wanted to ask. With Twice’s blood on your hands?

“I chose you for this because I think you have the heart and determination to succeed. Every step you take along this path, no matter how thorny it gets, will help make the lives of your friends easier.”

She willed down her roiling gut and tilted her head back with a smile. “You’re looking awfully far ahead. If Spinner’s truly looking for a peaceful post-prison life, I might not have much to do or report.”

Hawks laughed. “Let’s hope for that.”

 

---

 

Spinner opened the door just a crack, keeping a chain on the door to prevent it from going too wide. “What do you want?” he asked from inside his apartment.

Himiko lifted up her bag. “I brought curry.”

He stared. “What?”

“I brought curry. Can I come in?”

Spinner narrowed his eyes and closed the door.

But then, after a few clicks and the sound of a chain falling, he opened it again. “...I guess.”

This time, she hadn’t given him a heads up about her visit, and she found the apartment’s state even more abysmal. His low table wasn’t cleared at all, stacked with plastic takeout containers and cans of energy drinks that extended past the table and onto the floor. The kitchen sink was full of dirty dishes, and the trash can had gotten so full that the lid was lifting off the stack of trash beneath. She delicately maneuvered around a sticky-looking pink spot on the floor and was able to get to the fridge.

The fridge contained a shelf full of energy drinks and soda. One egg carton. Soy sauce. A single slice of ham in a half open pack of plastic.

That was it.

Plenty of space to slip the tupperware out from her bag onto an open shelf. She turned back to Spinner with a smile. “Do you have any rice?”

“Uh…” He went a little dark in the cheeks. “...I just ran out. Haven’t had a chance to go shopping recently.”

“When was the last time you went grocery shopping?”

His lips pursed. “Why are you even here?”

Today, the microphone from the HPSC was stored in the front pocket of the overalls she had chosen to wear casually for the visit. She resisted patting it to remind herself. “My friends shared this curry recipe with me recently, and I wanted to share it. Don’t worry, about no rice, just in case…”

She opened her bag again, and pulled out a large bag of rice that she put on the counter. She rummaged through cabinets with occasional stacks of instant ramen until she found a rice cooker, slightly dusty on the lid but hopefully functional.

“Hey,” Spinner spoke more firmly this time. “Really, what are you doing here? We’re not friends.”

Himiko filled the rice cooker with rice and water. “We could become friends.”

His voice went acidic. “You have no reason to be friends with someone like me.”

“We have a mutual friend in common.”

“So this is about Toga?”

She clicked on the cooker. “Sort of? I guess.”

Now that the rice was cooking, there was nothing for Himko’s hands to do. She was stuck standing in Spinner’s kitchen as he stared at her, uncomprehending.

She wasn’t sure she comprehended herself very well at the moment either.

“Is this some sort of guilt response?” Spinner asked.

She shrugged, trying not to look around his lonesome wreck of an apartment. “I don’t know.”

“The people who died in that war are dead and gone. Trying to do nice shit for me isn’t going to get their forgiveness.”

“Who said I wanted forgiveness?” Himiko tried not to sound snappy.

“Most heroes don’t come waltzing into the apartment of an ex-villain they waged a war against less than a decade ago with a container of curry.”

“Plenty of people who are grieving want to visit people who are grieving the same person.”

He went silent. Himiko avoided his eyes, staring at the wallpaper instead as though that would make it less awkward.

Before he could come up with any sort of interrogation, she changed the topic. “Dabi’s been writing poetry.”

Spinner started coughing. When he recovered, he said, “Sorry, what?”

“Dabi. You know, Todoroki Touya.”

“I know that. Poetry? Like with a cravat and a little quill?”

She snorted. “I had the same thought. But no, he’s been dictating poems to his family to write down, since he’s… you know.”

“I know.” Spinner looked thoughtful. “Good for him, I guess.”

“Do you want to read any of it?”

He stared at her, mouth agape.

“I’m friends with his little brother,” she explained. “I asked if there was any poetry Dabi was willing to share, and he gave me a little collection. Are you interested? I made some photocopies.”

Spinner’s mouth shut, and he looked away. “My case officer said contacting old villain allies increases risk for recidivism.”

Though her microphone was recording it all, she made a mental note to highlight that for Hawks. That didn’t sound like someone interested in getting the gang back together.

She waved a hand. “You’re not even contacting him. It’s no different from one of them reading your book. You guys aren’t actually having a conversation—you’re just seeing what he’s created.”

Spinner’s lip curled, and he looked away. His arms crossed, and his finger tapped against his elbow irritatedly. After about a minute of debate, he sighed. “A little bit couldn’t hurt.”

 

---

 

After a dozen or so poems, they had curry at the hastily cleared low table.

“Do you like it?” Himiko asked, grinning now that the ice had broken a bit.

Spinner swallowed a large bite. “I’m not picky. I’m not exactly a cook, if you can’t tell.”

She politely feigned surprise. “No?”

He shifted in his seat. “Easier to just order out and have the delivery guy drop it at the door.”

“Doesn’t that get expensive?”

“It’s not about the expense.” He stared down at the curry, as though meeting her eyes would be too much. “I wouldn’t want to get recognized. Make the shopkeepers uncomfortable.”

“It’s been eight years, hopefully most cashiers don’t have the League’s faces memorized anymore.”

“Most of the other members are a little more anonymous-looking. When Mr. Compress gets out, he’ll be able to put on a pair of sunglasses and probably won’t be identified. Me? I’m all green, covered in scales, with a lizard-shaped face.” He grimaced. “Last year, I got an email from some teenager raging at me. He had a lizard quirk too, and people at his grade school had bullied him, telling him he was going to grow up to be a villain like me. I…” He clicked his tongue. “I wanted to lead heteromorphs into a new world where they didn’t have to be discriminated against, and all I did was make things worse for people like me.”

“Progress is still being made, thanks to your efforts. Things have been slowly getting better! Tentacole even dedicated his Imamura Peace Prize to you and others who revolted back then.”

He snorted. “Yeah, he dedicated it to us in a nice speech so everybody gets to feel good… but none of us who revolted are the ones standing on the podium. We’re in prison or out with felonies, unable to integrate back into the society that we’ve improved through our sacrifice.” He gulped some more curry. “You think Tentacole would have gotten that far without us having revolted? Something had to happen. The world had to see. And the ones who put their lives on the line have had their lives ruined, while the pro-heroes get to pat themselves on the back.”

Does he harbor plans for revenge?

“Do you think Tentacole deserves to be punished?” Himiko asked.

Spinner deflated slightly. “...Not necessarily. It’s just… frustrating, seeing him and others who got to keep their cushy lives, meanwhile I… As a teenager, I worked at a pizza place briefly before quitting, but I did work for a bit. And when I got out of prison, I knew I had to get some sort of job, so I checked that same pizza place, and learned with my criminal record it’s not even worth applying. My book checks are okay, and enough people subscribe to my patreon that I’m able to live in an apartment and order food, but… most the people in those riots will not have the kind of name recognition that I’ve been able to leverage into a kind of career. They’re just going to leave prison with a big stamp of undesirable, and have few or no options for what to do next.”

Himiko chewed thoughtfully. When she committed a crime in middle school, she didn’t wait to get caught by the cops and branded, but nevertheless the options for her future had become severely limited. 

Living on the streets was rough, but the threat of prison hanging over her head kept her moving. She knew what prison entailed—locked away, trapped with no recourse, for however long other people decided she deserved to suffer. She wouldn’t be able to wear cute outfits or drink blood or live how she wanted. Like everyone else in the League, she had wanted a world where she was free.

“So villainy becomes their best option,” she said.

He glanced up at her. “And then they inevitably get caught and go back to prison.”

By now they were done with their curry, and Himiko could see Spinner was getting agitated. If she stayed too much longer, he might consider her too prying.

“I understand why your blog is popular,” she said. “You have a way with words, and explaining things.”

He looked away immediately, cheeks going dark.

“Is your blog and patreon the only places where you share your thoughts?”

“There’s also a discord,” he mumbled. “I only invite the people who engage in the comment section and seem cool. If you really wanted to…”

He glanced up at her again, then paused.

“...but I think the vibes would be weird, for a pro-hero.”

Don’t say that, she willed, Don’t give any indication that we should go digging.

“Weird vibes?” she had to ask.

“A lot of them have been through things and don’t always have a great view of pro-heroes.”

Pushing now would be suspicious, so she laughed it off. “No, I get it. I’ll stick to the blog, then.”

She could already imagine Hawks’ response, assigning an agent to covertly begin following and infiltrating the comment section, posting sympathetically until they were offered an invitation to that private discord where they could surveil what was going on.

Himiko desperately hoped nothing was going on.

Spinner smiled at her, relieved she backed off, and she crushed the guilt in her gut until it was a tiny stone she could ignore.

 

---

 

Once her microphone was off and left at home, Himiko went to a different apartment. This was her business alone now. Izuku was going to want his laptop back sooner or later, and she couldn’t use the repairs excuse forever.

Skeptic allowed her inside without her threatening him this time.

As soon as the door was closed, she asked, “So?”

He spun around to face her. Himiko braced herself for an attack, but he simply exclaimed, “That laptop is a goldmine!”

He walked past her, seemingly aimless, just pacing around his apartment in excitement.

“La Brava thinks she’s so slick, well I’ve seen her defense systems now, of course it’s brilliant, but as with anything, it’s not impenetrable.” He rubbed his hands together. “Encryption methods have advanced, but so have decryption hacks, and I understand the keys now. If I can infiltrate that little dependency her security relies on… if La Brava herself thought that was a good method, surely any security company is using similar, and I can target a program to infiltrate…”

Himiko yawned. “So does that mean you can break into the Hades firewall?”

He grinned. “I’m eager to try.”

Notes:

I'm thinking about whether to upload the next chapter the day before or the day of the next episode.... although the next episode probably will just have a little wrap-up of the Togachako scene and then will be about other stuff, I kinda want to celebrate it getting animated anyway (last week's episode was juicy, but the conclusion is pretty important too!!).... I guess will depend on how busy I am.

Chapter 11: Tokoyami Darkness Dementia Raven Way

Summary:

Previously on Bonding with ur ex-ally as your ex-enemy: Hawks asked Himiko to pull more information from Spinner, so Himiko barged into Spinner's apartment with some homemade curry. She shared Dabi's poems with him, talked about his philosophy, and got some of the HPSC's questions subtly answered. Afterwards, she checked in on Skeptic, who said Izuku's laptop with La Brava's security had been extremely helpful, and he was enthused to try and break the Hades firewall.

Himiko leaned against the wall by the street corner with a baseball cap on her head to avoid too many people recognizing her. She glanced down at her phone.

HAWKS: An operative will meet you there to pick up the mic. Don’t worry, you’ll recognize him ;).

Having Himiko go to the HPSC too frequently was a potential danger. She could pass off a certain amount as visiting friends, occasional temp contract missions, and paperwork logistics, but if she spent too much time there, her status as an employee rather than a mere Hero Collective member could become obvious.

She tried to look around for the operative, but was interrupted by her phone buzzing again.

IZUKU: Big news for Wednesday’s dinner… I was able to get a reservation for Mokada’s!

Fuck, their third-year anniversary was this Wednesday, wasn’t it? Mokada’s was a very nice restaurant, one which she’d pointed out to Izuku once when passing by some aesthetic posts on instagram, but which had a months-long waitlist. Him getting reservations on such short notice meant he’d either shelled out a lot of money for a bribe, or had saved the restaurant owner’s life.

She’d buy him a fancy watch or something. That was an appropriate anniversary gift for a boy, right? She hurriedly texted back.

OCHAKO: Omg that’s amazing!!! 

“Uraraka?” A familiar voice said.

She looked up from her phone and saw her bird-faced classmate, dressed casually in a black hoodie and tripp pants. “Tokoyami?”

“I’m here to pick something up.”

Of course. Tokoyami and Hawks had been tight since he had interned for Hawks in high school. Tokoyami was a top HPSC operative, but also one of Ochako’s classmates, so it would be assumed they were meeting for personal rather than HPSC business if any paparazzi saw them together.

“I see, it’s good to see you,” Himiko said.

She palmed the microphone, attached to a microchip that recorded her whole conversation with Spinner, and reached out her hand to shake Tokoyami’s. He shook her hand, smoothly grasped the device, and pulled it away into his pocket without blinking.

They nodded at each other. Tokoyami said, “Well, I have some dark bidding to attend to…”

He turned away, still dressed casually, clearly not about to attend to pro-hero work. Hawks trusted him, clearly, enough so to ask him to pick up undercover stuff on what appeared to be his day off.

“Wait,” she said.

He paused, turned back.

She put on Ochako’s most disarming smile. “Could I join you? It’s been ages since we hung out.”

Hawks was a hard nut to crack. As the president of the HPSC, he knew how to shroud his true intentions beneath a dozen layers. There was no way he would reveal anything to an operative he just hired recently.

But to someone who had interned with him and worked with him for years, a fellow bird-quirk user…

“My quest is a dark one that may not suit you,” Tokoyami warned her.

What kind of secrets might Hawks have slipped to Tokoyami? “That’s okay! I’m excited just to finally have time to be with you.”

He frowned. “I suppose… if you solemnly swear to maintain decorum and restrain all judgment…”

“Totally, I swear!”

He stared at her a moment, and she tried not to wither under his gaze. There was no reason for her to be nervous as Ochako. Tokoyami couldn’t actually look into her soul, no matter what he liked to say.

He nodded. “We shall make haste.”

Himiko bounded up to walk beside him. Where they went didn’t really matter, so long as she had the opportunity to make some conversation with him.

“So, did Hawks tell you what I’m up to?”

Tokoyami glanced sideways at her. “As a pro-hero and as Hawks’ sworn brother, I made a vow. Rest assured, the secrets of your activity are safe with me.”

“I wasn’t worried about you knowing,” Himiko said. “I was going to share if you didn’t already know.”

“Oh.” He shrugged a shoulder. “Yes, I am aware. I do not envy your task.”

So Hawks did indeed share details of missions with Tokoyami, even those Tokoyami didn’t necessarily need to know about. That spoke to trust between them.

“Hawks’ sworn brother?” Himiko quoted him.

“Indeed.” Tokoyami stopped and turned towards a side street between two buildings. “We have arrived.”

Between two buildings, someone had hung a black banner that read Gathering of Darkness in red. They walked beneath it, past the building, and to what might have normally been a parking lot, but was now a bustle of activity.

Dozens of stalls stood up in the market square, each with a darker and angstier theme than the last. Shirts cut up like spiderwebs laid on a table, signs advertising black leather pointed to a particular seller, and a display of gems and chains sparkled in the corner of the path between stalls.

She spun on Tokoyami. “A goth market?”

He nodded. “Every fortnight, vendors make their way to this hallowed ground to sell their wares to patrons in the area such as myself.”

She trailed behind him as he approached some vendors, obtaining some handmade wax candles and a new cloth bag with shimmering fabric within. He stopped for awhile at a clothing stall with a rack of belts, tugging at two bearing identical metal hardware, but slightly different tones of black. He stared at one, then the other, then back to the other again with an intense expression.

As he waffled between the two options, Himiko allowed her eyes to wander. She was surprised to see there were more than incidental pops of pink, including a whole stall decked out in a pleasant pastel, but she was most drawn to a stall splashed in red.

There was a bust mannequin on display wearing a black dress splattered with red, mostly towards the bottom, but creating a crime-scene pattern that decorated as far up as the chest. The neck of the mannequin was also wrapped in a pearled choker, several layers of mostly white interrupted by two red beads, and then two strings that hung down and dripped into tear-drop red gems. A bite wound dripping down. She began to chew on her own lip.

“You like that?”

She jumped at Tokoyami speaking behind her. She spun around, cheeks growing hot with shame and fear of what he noticed. “Ahaha! No way!”

Was that laugh too awkward? She swallowed hard and stopped breathing, hyper aware of the blood pumping beneath Ochako’s skin.

He tilted his head. “No? The pink seems suited to you.”

She blinked, confused, then turned back to where she had been looking. The stall beside the blood-themed items was the pink one.

Himiko breathed out, relieved. That did feel like Ochako. “Well, maybe,” she conceded.

He led them over to the stall. “There are many facets to this community. Pastel goth is an honorable path.”

She studiously avoided even glancing at the bloody stall next door. Instead, she occupied her hands picking up various wares—a pink facemask with a skull jaw outlined in white, a shiny pink pinafore, and a backpack emblazoned with a cutesy cat mascot holding a bloody knife.

“Anything you enjoy?” Tokoyami asked.

With herculean effort, Himiko pulled her gaze from the backpack and to the pinafore. Though it didn’t call to her, when she imagined Ochako wearing it, spinning around to show off the skirt, she couldn’t help but think cute, so she picked it up from the rack. “I like this one.”

He nodded gravely. “An admirable choice. Vendor? Please allow me to purchase…”

“Oh no, no need, I can buy it myself.”

“Consider it a welcome gift.”

Himiko allowed him to pay. When they were a few steps away from the vendor, she said. “Thank you. I suppose we are coworkers now, aren’t we?”

“Indeed. I hope you find the experience pleasant. I imagine the mere reduction in paperwork shall be a relief.”

Himiko giggled. Tokoyami had been subject to her paperwork complaints plenty times before. “It’s a pretty immediate benefit, yes. But I’m still new to all this… You’ve worked with them ever since graduation, haven’t you?”

“And prior. Third year internship.”

“Of course.”

Though they were still wandering the stalls, Tokoyami’s eyes scanning each offering, he didn’t jump to approach any, so Himiko supposed now was as good a time as any to subtly dig.

“Do you enjoy it?” she asked.

“If I did not, I would not have continued my employment with them thus far.”

She wondered what his contract said, and what kind of options he would or wouldn’t have when trying to leave. “Do you like Hawks as a boss?”

“Indubitably.” He paused by a table, picked up a figurine of a crow. “He is sharp and well-reasoned. Though his efforts to appear casual and approachable may give some the impression of a clumsy manager, I find him the opposite. He acts friendly as a form of strategy, maintaining organizational cohesion and cooperation. And though he is no longer an active pro-hero…” He put down the crow and continued on his slow walk. “...his work as president is perhaps even more crucial. His vision drives the HPSC”

Himiko kept up with his pace, pretending to also glance at the shops with interest. “What kind of vision?”

Tokoyami chuckled. “One where pro-heroes aren’t needed—where there are no more villains.”

She shivered. “Do you think that’s possible?”

“I believe in him. Heroics is a mere band-aid on deeper societal issues. When villains rise up, they wreak havoc, and even if a pro-hero can defeat them, destruction has already been done. That’s attacking the branches, not the root.” He looked at her. “Things like your Quirk Counseling Expansion Project, stronger social safety nets, and missions that strike at the heart of villainous organizations rather than chasing their offshoots will decimate the sources of villainy until people simply stop turning into villains.”

A utopian vision, but… “And what about the villains that already exist?”

He blinked. “Hmm?”

“In this theoretical future where the pro-heroes are twiddling their thumbs with nothing to do and we no longer have to label people villains… What about all those who did become villains? Or who grew up without all those social safety nets the future generations will enjoy?”

Tokoyami suddenly became very interested in a set of skull-shaped dishware, and kept his eyes there while he spoke. “They committed villainy, so of course we’ll have contain and take down whatever’s left of them. We’re building the future, but cannot alter the past.”

“Ah.”

He glanced back at her. “You will understand as you continue down this path. Hawks has high hopes for you.”

Though she was able to keep herself from gagging, the effort of smiling gave her no energy to come up with a proper response.

After a minute of silence where Himiko assumed Tokoyami was once again choosing between two items—a monster-themed versus death-themed tarot deck—he abruptly said. “I’m glad you joined, Ochako.”

She jerked up at the usage of the first name.

“Though I have many allies in the HPSC, those of us from UA who persevered through so much… I admit to a trust that transcends time and distance. I am aware we have not been the closest of friends, but now that we are working together, I trust you to have my back.”

“Of course.” Then, after a nervous moment, she said, “Fumikage.”

He smiled at the use of his first name, then turned forward, continuing on their walk. Himiko used first names with a lot of the UA alumni, but Tokoyami—or, Fumikage now, she supposed, was always a bit distant. He wasn’t particularly expressive like Mina or Denki, and knowing how close he was to Hawks had kept Himiko subtly dodging him. Seeing him relieved to have her closer sent her stomach roiling. Flattery? Guilt? Whatever it was, it made her want to break into a run and never look back.

He spoke again though, so her escape was delayed. “I hope other old classmates may join us. Tooru is a most esteemed ally. Mina is only in the Hero Collective so far, but she has been taking up contracts and big missions, recently a mission that normally would only be shared with full HPSC employees…” He brooded a moment. “...It seems only a matter of time before she signs on with us.”

Himiko kept on a smile. “Hopefully.”

They were out of the goth market now, and Himiko’s phone was ringing in her pocket. She got it out and saw S calling…

“Sorry, I should probably take this,” she said.

“Fear not, I should take my leave as well.” Fumikage bowed slightly. “Thank you for the company.”

“Thank you. For the gift as well.”

She tried not to look too frantic as she got out of Fumikage’s earshot. He turned away, making a tame pace in the opposite direction.

Finally, she picked up the call. “What?”

Skeptic’s voice came over the line. “I got what you wanted.”

She went still, heart leaping into her throat. It was finally happening. “Send it to me.”

He scoffed. “You really think I’m gonna you this over a fucking network? No way, come here and I can show you and give you a flash drive if you really want a copy.”

 

---

 

Himiko forced herself to stay steady and not pace around or wring her hands as Skeptic brought her to a computer screen at his desk.

“Like I said, I can transfer stuff onto a flash drive, but it’s a lot, so I figure you ought to look at this and see what you want a copy of.”

“Just show it to me,” Himiko said, nerves firing like shotguns.

He turned the computer monitor slightly towards her so she had a better view, and he began going through it.

“The Hades Prison is pretty secure—they know how to keep a closed loop system for a lot of things, but! There’s a scheduling software that’s on a network, presumably to let the employees access it from home, and through that I was able to get into the employee databases. Their names, IDs, and schedules were all available, along with the prisoners they’re assigned to during their scheduled times.”

She waved her hand, telling him to scroll through the dense tables on his screen. “Tell me about the prisoners.”

He glanced sideways at her. “In the scheduling software, they’re listed by ID numbers. Prisoner one-three-nine and such.”

She grimaced. “So you don’t really have shit?”

He made an offended sound. “Well! If you have so little confidence in me, I guess I won’t tell you what else I found there then.”

Himiko kicked his ankle. “Should I deliver my blackmail to the police station now?”

Though she couldn’t see his eyes beneath the bangs, he tilted back as though rolling his eyes. Before she could sass him further though, he continued, “There’s a report draft that someone designed several years ago in the system. Inside of it, they manually translated the IDs to the legal names of the prisoners. Probably intended for forgetful employees to know what’s going on, but they put it into an archive folder, probably because that’s a super insecure way to handle that data. Still, I’m flabbergasted that they archived instead of deleting… Someone probably following standard procedures without considering the risks–”

“Just show me the list,” Himiko interrupted, impatient.

Sweat was pooling under her arms. She was so close.

“Fair warning that the report was created six years ago, so it won’t have any identification of newer prisoners–”

“Skeptic. Show me.”

He huffed, clicked a few times, and then motioned to the screen.

There was no apparent order, so she was stuck manually scanning each name. Fortunately, with how specialized Hades was, the number of prisoners was able to fit on just two pages. She went through the first one desperately until she found one she recognized.

Todoroki Touya.

She knew that much already. Hades was specialized to accommodate villains with particularly unusual quirks or extreme medical conditions. Custom cells and specialized medical treatment made it the natural place for Dabi’s imprisonment.

The first page didn’t have what she wanted.

She held her breath, heart pounding in her ears. What would it mean if she found what she was looking for on the second page? What if she didn’t find it? If what she suspected was true… everything would change.

Her future, even the past she thought she knew, it would all be different. This was her last chance to back out, claim ignorance, and keep this life she had built over eight years.

“Next page?” Skeptic asked, hand hovering over the keyboard.

It wasn’t her life, it was Ochako’s.

“Go ahead,” she whispered.

She started at the top and went down. Name after name she didn’t recognize. As she got closer to the bottom, she felt the urge to vomit. If this was all for nothing…

Toga Himiko.

She stared at her name. Rubbed her eyes, and looked again. Still, there it was, her full legal name laid out on this list of prisoners in Hades. P077 was the Prisoner ID number. 

Shuddering, she stepped back.

Skeptic glanced back at her with a smirk. “Yeah, I figured that was your goal. She’s supposed to be dead, isn’t she?”

When Himiko made her decision to give her blood to Ochako, she had done so knowing she might die. She had actually hoped she would die—so that she wouldn’t go to prison. So that she wouldn’t have to live in a tiny cell wearing an ugly jumpsuit, eating only the prison food they gave, forced to go to the bathroom with little to no privacy. She knew that future would be so boring, restrained, and hellish that she would have rather died saving Ochako’s life than end up there.

Waking up as Ochako had seemed like a miracle—she could live life again without the threat of prison hanging over her. A new kind of freedom had opened up for Himiko.

And for eight years Ochako had been locked up in Hades in her place.

“Uravity?” Skeptic asked.

Ochako’s hero name. Which she had taken and inhabited this whole time, assuming that with Ochako dead and gone, what could be the harm? Taking her life had felt like the natural next step.

But locked up somewhere, Ochako must have pleaded with whoever had plucked “Himiko” away from the scene, trying to convince them that she was actually the real Ochako, while Himiko blissfully took over her life and appeared so impeccably Ochako that they assumed their prisoner was bluffing.

She thought Ochako was dead. If she had known she was alive, if she had known that taking her identity would have doomed her to that, to potentially a lifetime of indefinite suffering…

Skeptic scoffed at whatever expression she was making. “Horrified? I thought a hero like you who blackmails villains would understand that there’s corruption on all levels. Marking a villain conveniently ‘dead’ for whatever reason isn’t far-fetched.”

Himiko turned away from him and tried to stop her hands from shaking. “I understand completely.”

Hawks had killed Twice and never gone to jail for it. In fact, he was the president of the HPSC now, cozy and lauded by society.

Did he know about this? He would have to, wouldn’t he?

Fury made her fingers curl into fists. If she could tear him open and spill his intestines over his desk…

“So how much do you want for yourself?” Skeptic asked.

She spun around. “Everything.”

He stared, half a lip curling.

“I know what I need to do, and I’ll need as much information as I can to do so.”

“It’s mostly just employee data…”

“Employee data will tell me plenty. Position titles will tell me what kind of systems are in place. Schedules and assigned prisoners will tell me who to target and when.”

He grimaced. “Surely you’re not planning…?”

She nodded. “I’m going to break in.”

Wait for me, Ochako, I’m coming for you.

Notes:

Updating this today not only bc I'm excited about the episode coming out tomorrow, but also bc it's thematic to my life. I'm going to a goth club event tonight! Tbh I'm not particularly goth, but I have friends who are, so I'm mostly going to dress to blend in with all black lol. When I've gone to these in the past, the funnest part has been looking at all the amazing creatively dressed people, but this time my girlfriend is coming along with me, so I may be distracted XD.

Anyways, the stuff at the goth market I describe is inspired by the kind of stuff I sometimes see there.

Chapter 12: Chug! Chug! Chug!

Summary:

Previously on Fates Reversed: Himiko dropped off the HPSC microphone to Tokoyami, and decided to spend some time with him at a goth market in hopes that he could leak a little info about Hawks. She bonded with Tokoyami and got to know a bit more of Hawks' philosophy of making a world where there are no more villains. Then she got a phone call from Skeptic saying he broke into Hades firewall. Although he could only get a limited amount of information, it was enough for Himiko to learn that "Toga Himiko" is locked in Hades.

Camie’s blood was a rich, dark red. Himiko tried not to visibly drool as she stared at it.

“How’s my flow?” Camie asked the nurse.

The nurse handling the blood donation gave her a thumbs up. “Fantastic, should be done soon!”

Camie turned towards Himiko. “You were for real, this is a breeze.”

Himiko’s eyes bounced up from that seductive tube leading to the donation bag. She smiled. “Thank you for being willing to donate.”

With her free hand, Camie brought up her phone. “No biggie, this is a lit photo-op opportunity too. Squeeze in.”

With a giggle, Himiko pressed her face against Camie’s cheek so they both fit within the frame of her selfie and put up her fingers in a peace sign. Camie took several, looked through them, told Himiko to squish in again and took several more. Among the second set, there must have been one that fit well-enough, as Camie smiled and began editing it and adding stickers.

“We’re hella cute,” Camie said.

“Sooo true,” Himiko agreed, forcing herself to keep her eyes on Camie’s body instead of the rapidly filling blood bag.

“And you’re a total philanthropist. I probs wouldn’t have bothered to schedule something like this without you begging me.”

“Hey, I didn’t have to beg that much, you’re the philanthropist right now.”

She laughed. “I’m sure my followers are gonna love it. Help me think of a caption…”

 

---

 

After a little sleight-of-hand to switch labels with a matching blood type, and “helping” admin to delete the record of the person she swapped the label with, Himiko went home that night with a pint full of Utsushimi Camie’s blood.

Her plan was coming along nicely. After dinner, her burner phone buzzed with a text from Nakada Tohru, confirming the bar they were going to meet tomorrow night. She returned, Yes!! Excited to finally meet you in person!

He was a “medical specialist” for Hades who was assigned to, among various other prisoners, Ochako. He was also divorced, on multiple dating apps, and almost always swiped right on women with bangs who wore red. At least, according to the data Skeptic had pulled upon her demand to pull any and all info he could on the man.

Himiko carefully pressed a tube into the port of the blood bag and squeezed out a few milliliters. Then she closed it up, and put the rest of the bag in the fridge.

She went into her bedroom with her fingers wrapped around the tube, warming it up. It was just a bit, as it wouldn’t take much to get a little warmer. Maybe body temperature, at least.

Still, she went through her usual routine; getting naked, wrapping herself in blankets, and parking herself on the floor beside her mirror. She still hadn’t replaced it since she smashed it, but there were enough pieces still up that she could use it to see how successful she would be.

First, become Camie. Then, try to use her quirk. If she couldn’t do that, she would have to adapt her plan a lot.

She hoped she would be able to use it.

When the blood felt warm, Himiko carefully uncapped the tube. This wasn’t one of her perverse breakdowns. She wasn’t being weak. The drinking of this blood was an unavoidable necessity, all for Ochako’s sake.

Still, Himiko found herself smiling at it.

The blood she drank in those pathetic moments were from strangers, but this was Camie. Camie who loved the same vampire shows she did, who knew red was her real favorite color, and who was a shoulder to cry on whenever things got too tough. Someone who hadn’t really known Ochako, and so someone Himiko had been able to let her guard down around.

Her blood was now in her hands.

Himiko’s fingers slipped as she tried to uncap it. Why was she sweating so much? This was okay; she had gotten it without hurting Camie, and she wasn’t just doing this for fun! It was important for her mission.

Finally, she uncapped the tube and brought it up to her lips.

She took a deep breath first, filling her nostrils with the scent of Camie’s blood. It was bright, healthy, delectable. She wanted to smear her face in it.

Instead, she tilted her head back, let it slide into her mouth, and swallowed. The coppery tang warmed her mouth and coated her tongue in the most delicious way that made her hesitate to swallow again.

Camie was inside of her now.

Her body started to shift, and Himiko moaned. Longer limbs that tightened just a bit, a heftier chest, hair that extended and tickled her shoulder blades. Her lips pursed, shaped differently from Ochako’s. Around her body, an outfit developed—the tight hero suit that Himiko saw Camie wearing earlier today, including a cap that weighed down on her head.

Himiko ran her hands over her suit and skin, marveling. Camie’s blood was inside her, and from there her love radiated out and surrounded her whole body. The love tingled all over and made her mind float.

She turned to the mirror, finding a large piece with minimal cracks, and finally looked at herself. 

Himiko was Camie.

Her mouth popped open in awe, revealing Camie’s teeth. Her tongue. Himiko tapped Camie’s cheeks, ran her fingers through Camie’s hair. It was her. All her.

She loved it. Loved her.

Her smile went so wide Camie’s cheeks strained. A laugh escaped her. She was really her! Her heart pounded at the sight. She got up, shedding the blankets, and twirled around. Yeah, that was Camie alright. Gorgeous, long-legged, with fun flippable hair. Himiko flipped it a few times, experimenting while giggling.

Wow. Wow, wow wow!

Himiko had transformed into Camie once before, back in her villain days to infiltrate the provisional license exam, but that hadn’t felt nearly so heady. Now that she really knew Camie, loved Camie…

Her quirk, Himiko reminded herself, I’m supposed to be testing if I can use her quirk.

She fanned herself, trying to calm down, and took a deep breath. She concentrated, staring at her hand, and visualized the image of a band-aid.

Her hand twitched, and it materialized on her palm. A simple illusory item, but it sent her heart soaring.

She could use Camie’s quirk.

There was so much energy flowing through her that she had to jump up and down. The illusion sparkled away, but it had been there! She loved Camie!

With great mental strength, she planted her feet. Now that she knew she could, she had to practice. She needed to create an illusion that covered her whole body. She concentrated…

Her doorbell rang.

Himiko jumped. She wasn’t expecting anyone, especially not this late at night. Maybe someone had the wrong apartment?

She sneaked out of her bedroom, not turning on any lights or taking any heavy steps that might imply she was at home. By the time she got to the door, whoever was intruding on this precious time had switched to knocking.

Carefully, Himiko looked into the peephole and got an eyeful of pink.

Ashido Mina in her hero suit, with her arms wrapped around her own body as though hugging herself, but she loosened them to raise her hand and ring the doorbell again. Her brows were pulled tight, her lips pressed against each other firmly.

Himiko almost opened the door right then, but then she glanced down on herself.

Fuck.

She was still in the middle of testing Camie’s quirk. She didn’t want to waste a single drop; she could probably hold this form for a little longer if she ignored Mina’s unexpected visit.

Why would Mina visit so unexpectedly, though? She usually gave some sort of heads up if she wanted to hang out. She was even still in her hero suit…

With a grimace, Himiko walked back into her bedroom.

She allowed the transformation to drop off of her in gloops. Once shedded, she was naked, but quickly donned her pajamas so she could run to the door.

By the time she opened it, Mina had turned and started to walk away. She paused and turned back when the door creaked open, but Himiko got a clear sight and scent of her back.

Gashes ran across her back, like she’d been clawed. Blood, both dried and fresh, bled into the torn fabric of her vest and suit. 

“Ochako…” she said, voice quiet.

Himiko motioned her inside, confused but unwilling to ignore her friend in pain.

Once inside, Himiko said, “You should go to a hospital.”

Mina shook her head. “There are better heroes who need more medical care than me. I’m sorry to bug you this late at night, but… could you stitch me up?”

This really should have been dealt with at a hospital regardless of the wait, but Mina should know that well enough for herself. The fact was, for whatever reason, Mina thought going to her apartment was a better option than getting qualified medical care.

Himiko led her into the bathroom. “Sit down.”

Mina sat on the toilet seat lid, facing the tank so her back was out towards the room and accessible to Himiko. She slipped off her vest, which left her shoulders and upper back exposed. However, the rest of her suit still covered her midback where some of the injuries were.

“I’ll clean it first,” Himiko said, then put a hand against the hidden side zipper of Mina’s suit. “Can I…?”

“Go ahead.”

Himiko unzipped it partially, just enough to peel the fabric away from the wounds. Mina twitched and her back arched as it pulled against the skin. Himiko swallowed down the saliva pooling in her mouth at the sight, and—most importantly—the delicious scent.

Once the fabric was peeled away, Mina braced herself against the tank and took deep breaths.

As she grabbed some disinfectant and some rags, Himiko asked, “What happened?”

“I was supposed to do guard duty for a mission. It was a group the HPSC put together, headed by a comms lead specialist.”

Himiko wet some rags with warm water and wiped them over the wounds. She tried to breathe shallowly so she wouldn’t be overwhelmed by the scent of Mina’s tangy, acidic blood. At least, washed up, it was clear that despite the blood, there were only a few injuries actively bleeding, and though some were deep they were not long.

“He set us all in specific positions. We were confronting a group suspected of kidnapping several children at a dock warehouse, but I was in the group meant to guard the various potential exits. I was supposed to hold my position by my exit but I thought I heard a child calling out… I told the lead that I was checking something out, and he told me not to, that I was supposed to hold my position, but like an idiot I… I thought I couldn’t just ignore a child crying for help, could I? I really meant to just confirm, and come right back to my placement. So I ignored my lead’s command, and I chased after the sound, and… turned out it was a trap to draw people away. And I was the idiot who was caught, and ended up totally surprised when I got attacked and—ah!”

Disinfectant made Mina flinch, but she didn’t tell Himiko to stop. She just hung her head over the tank, and her shoulders shook. It took Himiko a moment to realize she was crying.

“The kidnappers got away. They escaped out of the exit I was supposed to be guarding! In the post-mission debrief, the lead reamed me out in front of the whole team. Do you remember at UA, how it felt when Mr. Aizawa would make an example out of you and say literally everything you did wrong?”

Himiko looked over Mina’s back, making sure everything had been disinfected. “As if I could forget.”

“This felt about a hundred times worse than that.”

She tried to focus on Mina’s words, and not on the warm red streaks still leaking over her back. If she leaned forward just a bit, stuck out her tongue, and laved at the open wounds… No. “I’m sorry, Mina, that sounds awful. He shouldn’t have yelled at you in front of everyone.”

Mina shook her head. “It’s not that. After what I did, I deserve to be yelled at. I’m always like this, an idiot who chokes up and fails at the critical moment.”

She wasn’t sure what kind of comfort she was looking for. “That’s not true.”

“It is though! Even in school, whenever there was a test or exam, I would get all worked up and my mind would go blank. I’m such an idiot, and I’m not even… This is so embarrassing to admit, but do you remember in second year? When your grades went to shit?”

Trying to catch up to second year of high school education when she’d never finished middle school had been a rough transition, yes. “What’s that got to do with this?”

“I’m sorry,” Mina choked out. “Back then, I never admitted this out loud, but deep down I was happy about you failing. Even though I know it had to do with stress, all the Toga grief and stuff, it still made me happy to feel like I wasn’t the bottom of the class for once. Not only am I stupid, but I’m a shitty friend as well.”

“Mina, that was years ago. I don’t care about that.”

She sniffled. “Yeah, and in those years you got better, and I stayed bad. I thought once I was an adult, I would be better, that I would stop fucking up so much, but somehow I’m still as incompetent as I was back then, only now instead of getting a bad grade, I end up letting a bunch of children get kidnapped out of the country!”

Her forehead pressed against the tank. Himiko tried to think of what to say, but Mina’s agitation pumped hot in her veins—fresh blood was slipping down her back, and Himiko was unable to look away.

“Whatever, just stitch me up.”

Without looking away from the red, Himiko ran some new wet rags over the fresh blood. “I don’t have anesthetic.”

“I don’t deserve anesthetic.”

Oh dear. “I understand.”

Once again, Himiko used some more disinfectant just in case, then turned to her first aid kit. She technically had some materials for sutures, but these lacerations weren’t huge, so she pulled out some wound closure strips instead. On each injury, she put the two ends on either side of the opening, then pulled them together until they locked, keeping the flesh pulled taut against itself. 

“Are… are you doing the stitches?” Mina asked hesitantly.

By then, Himiko was on the last big wound. She placed the strips. “Sure.”

“You’re not,” she accused.

She tugged the last injury closed. “Caught me. Those injuries weren’t long enough to warrant stitches, I put some wound closure strips on them instead.”

Mina huffed.

Without the blood staring in her face, Himiko’s head felt a little clearer. This wasn’t one of her perverted daydreams—her friend was suffering in front of her. Himiko hooked her chin over Mina’s shoulder, preventing herself from drooling over the blood on her back, and spoke softly into her ear. “You fought hard. Even though you got hurt, it’s evidence of how much you care.”

“But if I weren’t so stupid, I would have actually saved those kids. It’s my failure that took everything down once again. I fucked up, and everyone had to pick up my slack.”

“But–”

“Forget it,” Mina said with a sigh, then started to get up. “I was stupid to come here. You don’t need to hear this whining.”

“No.”

Himiko brought her arms up and pressed her hands against the walls above her toilet, forcing Mina to stay there. Unable to see a straightforward escape, Mina cautiously sat back down on the seat. Himiko’s front was hovering over Mina’s back, almost brushing against it, close enough that with another few centimeters she could smear her pajamas all over the injury, soak up the last leaking dregs and leave a delicious stain across her fabric.

She didn’t, though.

Instead, Himiko spoke softly again. “You’re not stupid. That could have been a child legitimately calling for help, and if you had obeyed your lead, you would have regretted it forever. You gambled, who hasn’t? That’s what you’re good at, Mina, making bold moves. Someone has to be willing to shake things up, just in case. I took a risk a few months ago—I saw an old lady hobbling away from a falling building, but I thought at her speed and with the direction the building was falling, she’d be fine, so I prioritized a child closer to me who seemed to be going into shock. I picked him up, told him everything would be okay, and then a water boiler inside the building exploded.”

“You couldn’t have predicted that.”

“If I understood building construction better, I could have predicted it. But I thought I knew best, I took a risk, and I was wrong. I failed too.” Her throat went thick, but she swallowed and forced herself and continued, “But do you think it would help if I went beating myself up and doing stuff like denying anesthetics?”

“That’s different.”

“Sure, she’s dead, and there’s nothing I can do anymore. Meanwhile, those kids you failed? At least they’re not dead yet. You can get up and keep fighting. Try again. Mr. Aizawa let us retake tests, you can retake this.”

“I can’t,” Mina insisted through her teeth. “From what we know, they’ve been shipped off to China. Outside of our jurisdiction. And I doubt that comms lead is gonna want to work with me after this fuckup.”

“...Then trust in the Chinese heroes?”

“I know I should, but it’s… it’s so frustrating. It’s all out of my control. I don’t feel like I’m an adult.” She crossed her arms on the tank and buried her face. “As a kid, I thought being an adult would make things simpler, but I still feel like an idiot teenager in an adult’s body. Helpless, stupid, faking like I know what I’m actually doing.”

Himiko chuckled. “Who doesn’t feel like a fake?”

“The villains, I bet,” Mina said bitterly.

Himiko went still.

“They know what they’re doing, they spread terror, and it’s up to all of us to deal with them. Even in middle school, I don’t know if I truly wanted to be a hero. I just… I was frustrated with seeing others get hurt and scared, and I wanted to change things, make people happy. All I’ve wanted was to make people happy, but now I’m all tangled up with shit like this. If there were no villains anymore, all of this… I wouldn’t have to fight like this. Those kids wouldn’t be on a ship. The world would be safer. Midnight wouldn’t have…”

Both were completely silent. Himiko was aware of the casualties of the Paranormal Liberation Front’s war, but she didn’t like to linger on those beyond Ochako.

Mina continued quietly, “I’m just saying. Villains probably don’t cry in their friend’s bathrooms about what they’ve done. They get to destroy the world with no guilt, while the rest of us have to deal and actually care about how we affect other people.”

Himiko wanted to embrace her and cry into her shoulder. Maybe they do. Maybe they’re not competent masterminds, but people scrambling to survive who don’t see any other option than villainy. Maybe inside they’re also children desperate for what they’ve been deprived of. Maybe they spend nights crying over people they’ve killed… or someone who they thought they killed, who may have actually spent eight years in prison in their stead.

But that would be suspicious, so instead, Himiko carefully zipped Mina’s suit back up. 

Mina sobbed. “I wish they would all just die.”

Himiko stepped back. “I know.”

For another minute or so, Mina kept crying. Himiko wanted to reach out and touch her shoulder, but it felt wrong now. Mina didn’t know the truth.

But all emotions pass, and soon Mina was getting up and wiping her eyes. “I’m sorry, you didn’t ask for me to come in and be a mess in your apartment.”

Himiko shook her head. “You can come anytime. For any reason.”

It was the least Himiko could do.

Mina’s lips wobbled up into something like a smile. “Thank you.”

 

---

 

After Mina left, Himiko started to clean up the bathroom. She put away the first aid kit, then picked up the rags she used to wipe the injury.

They held Mina’s blood. Diluted with warm water that had gone cold, but blood nonetheless. Himiko stared down at it. Mina was gone, and she probably didn’t think twice about the little blood she left in “Ochako’s” apartment.

Before she had a chance to overthink it, she pressed the rag against her nose and breathed in deep. It smelled almost like a lemon, bright and tangy. Delicious.

She drooled.

Himiko was sitting on the floor of the bathroom where her friend had cried and opened up to her, but instead of crying about what a difficult situation Mina was in, Himiko was groping the leftover dregs of her blood and hovering her lips over it like a pervert.

For years, Himiko had proven stronger than her urges. Well, aside from picking up the occasional blood bank pint, but those weren’t even people she loved. She swallowed down her desires, and even when her friends got injured on the battlefield, she didn’t pause to sniff.

Tasting Camie had been transcendent, though. Himiko was tumbling down a slippery slope, giving herself free reign to start sampling her friends. Wouldn’t it be healthier to stop herself now, reduce the blast radius of her embarrassing desires? She indulged in Camie already, wasn’t it too much to indulge in Mina on the same night?

Once she saved Ochako, she wouldn’t have any opportunities to do things like this again. She wouldn’t be friends with Mina anymore.

Mina wasn’t even really friends with her now—she was friends with Ochako. Deep down, Himiko was just a deviant playing at normalcy. Soon, she’d give this all up and be on the streets again, evading all the pro-heroes she had played at friendship with.

Himiko shoved the rag into her mouth and sucked.

She had to breathe out her nose several times and squeeze the rag, trying to draw out as much blood as possible. The effort was more intense than her usual smooth sips from containers. She closed her eyes and imagined herself wringing the fabric of Mina’s hero suit while shoving her mouth against Mina’s bleeding back. Licking and sucking the pink skin, tainted with salty and acidic sweat. Mina trembling, but allowing her to take her fill… hopefully.

When the rag tasted more like Himiko’s own saliva than any blood, she dropped it and opened her eyes. 

Her hands were bright pink. She brought her hands up to her head to feel her hair, and found it delightfully fluffy. As she ran her hands wonderingly through it, she brushed up against Mina’s horns.

They were strange. She couldn’t feel the horn itself, but when she ran her fingers and nails against it the vibrations of sensation ran down to her scalp, causing a tickling sensation.

She giggled, quietly at first, then maniacally.

Two transformations in one day? She might as well be drunk. She got up on wobbly feet and approached her bathroom mirror. Yup, that was Mina’s face staring back at her, black sclera open wide, smiling much too wide and running hands through her hair like she was petting an animal.

“Himiko,” she tried out, tasting her own name in Mina’s voice.

It made a thrill zing up her spine.

“Himiko,” she repeated, louder, enthusiastic, like Mina on a good day. “I understand, can we still be friends?”

So many times, Himiko had seen Mina reach out her hand to people struggling. Even within their class at UA, Mina made sure that everyone felt included in class parties and other activities. If someone got shy or wondered if they belonged, she smiled and pulled them in to join everyone.

Couldn’t she pull Toga Himiko in?

Carefully, she concentrated on the skin of her arm. Mina released acid there most frequently. She envisioned the acid prickling through her pores and dripping down her arms.

Nothing happened.

She stared awhile longer, hoping. She had gotten Camie, so maybe, just maybe…

But still, nothing happened. No quirk. She felt like she was staring at Dabi or Tomura’s scarred hands, trying to draw out a flame or disintegrate a branch. But no matter how hard she concentrated or begged, there was no quirk.

Himiko crumbled onto the bathroom floor again, allowing the tile to cool the frustrated heat of her body. 

Did she not love Mina enough? Tears came to her eyes.

I wish they would all just die.

Mina wanted villains like her to die. Once Ochako was back and the truth came out, Mina would treat her with the same hatred she harbored for people like Gigantomachia and kidnappers.

Himiko sobbed, and the transformation slid off of her in slick gloops that splooshed against the floor. An ugly mess, like her.

After several minutes, Himiko drew in a large breath and steadied herself.

Tomorrow night, she would save Ochako, and then she could disappear. She wasn’t sure where she would go, but she would live a new life far from all these people who would never accept a villain like her.

Just one more night.

Notes:

Sorry I hurt Himiko like, every chapter. She is in kind of an awkward situation.

Chapter 13: Descent into Hades

Summary:

Previously on Blood and Other Matters of Love: Camie donated blood thanks to Himiko's encouragement, and Himiko stole her pint of blood. Himiko then experimented with her blood and transformed into her, and discovered she loved Camie enough to use her quirk! She was interrupted by Mina knocking on her apartment door asking for help with some injuries. Himiko let Mina in, and while helping care for her wounds, had a conversation that ended with Mina ranting about how much she hates villains. Mina eventually left, and Himiko drank some of her leftover blood. Despite being able to transform into her, Himiko found herself unable to use Mina's quirk.

Notes:

PERSONAL DISASTER: So you know the goth club event I went to.... it turns out..... going to a public event unmasked (bc I wanted to make out with my gf on the dancefloor lol) held in an enclosed space when you're not vaccinated (because you've been procrastinating on the COVID-19 and Flu shot)..... can lead to catching COVID-19!!!!! Who would have thought??? 😭😭😭

In retrospect, it is the #consequences of my own actions.... but I've now had to reschedule a party I was going to host this weekend (which sucks bc ppl who I wanted to go can not make it to the new date)... and I won't get to see my girlfriend for probably at least another week... maybe two??? (Bc quarantining and her traveling soon).

Symptoms-wise, honestly so far it has been very mild, literally a slight tickle in the throat and sniffles/mucus for the past few days. But I am going to do my best to quarantine... I may not have been able to avoid catching it, but I will fight to make sure this particular chain of infections Ends with me!!!!!!! I will be making sure nobody else gets sick thanks to my foolishness, even if it means rescheduling things 😭. I may miss out on some stuff, but hey! Maybe being cooped up will motivate me to work on this fanfic more XD.

SO PSA: If you have been procrastinating on getting your vaccines like I was, then if you are able to do so then plz go get your vaccines as soon as possible!!!! I went to that goth night with three other people, all three vaccinated, and all three of them have escaped unscathed while I, as the unvaccinated in the group, caught COVID-19.... Alas. Please don't make the same mistake I did..... get those sexy, delicious vaccines as soon you're able.

Himiko handcuffed the unconscious Dr. Nakada to the towel bar of his bathroom.

They had stayed out until almost four A.M. Despite his occasional protest that he had work the next morning, pouting her lips and batting her eyes up through illusory bangs was all Himiko had to do to persuade him to order another drink at the bar.

She kept the illusion on while in his house in case of any cameras. The illusion was against the surface of her skin, so if he touched her things wouldn’t seem suspicious, but beneath she had Camie’s form. When she passed him a bottle of “vitamin water” she’d brought along to help prevent hangovers, he had gulped the whole thing without a comment. It hadn’t taken long for the drugs to kick in, and for him to fall right asleep.

Once she swept his bathroom and confirmed there were no cameras there, she pulled open her purse and scattered her “evidence”. Makeup powders, silicone, gels, adhesives. She flicked so there was just the lightest hints, subtleties. But while she was there, she threw out the plastic wrapping from a wig cap into the bathroom trashcan. All sorts of hints that implied some sort of talented makeup artist taking on the form of others.

After examining Dr. Nakada up and down, she put him on as an illusion.

In theory, she could have taken his blood and fully taken his form, but she knew after this prison break, there was going to be an investigation. Any needles that went into him would leave some sort of mark, and she had to avoid her Toga Himiko signatures as much as possible. If investigators realized needles or blood loss were involved, they would start asking questions that might get them too close to the truth.

So she pulled out a wig that matched the bob and bangs hair she had illusioned today from her purse, and left the bathroom. She threw it into the kitchen trashcan, then raided the cabinets for food. She found some cup ramen and a set of chopsticks. Perfect.

She returned to the bathroom and left the ramen and chopsticks within his reach. He was handcuffed, but had one hand free, and could access the toilet, sink, and now this ramen. The hot water from the sink would have to suffice if he got hungry.

The dosage on the drink would keep him asleep until tomorrow late morning, and probably groggy and slow for a few hours after. Plenty time for her to go to Hades Prison in his place and do what she needed to do, and in the meantime he would survive.

There were more steps left to do. In the several hours she had before she could go into work, she went out to the dumpster behind his building where she stored some hardware earlier and returned to the bathroom with some wooden boards and a nail gun. She boarded up the small window of the bathroom just in case he tried to call for help through there. She took his phone and hid it under his bed so he wouldn’t be able to find it immediately if he escaped, then boarded up the door of his bathroom so he would be unable to leave, even if he somehow got the handcuff off or broke the towel bar off the wall.

Himiko had no doubt that her prison break would be found out within twenty-four hours, and was certain the HPSC would send people to check in on Dr. Nakada’s apartment with haste. They could easily pull down the wooden boards, so she wasn’t worried for his sake.

Finally, everything was in place, and she was set to go into work as Dr. Nakada Tohru, medical specialist for “Himiko Toga”.

 

---

 

She carefully waited in Dr. Nakada’s car. Previously, she had done reconnaissance and understood how he got in: A special keycard, which she had procured from his apartment, and a four-number PIN which she had figured out by watching him enter the building with binoculars. 7-8-2-2 for him.

Himiko knew how to get in, but not where to go, so she waited in his car until a fellow medical specialist pulled in to the parking lot. She recognized him as the one assigned to Dabi’s and several other cases. As he got out of his car, she opened hers as well and gave him a sedate wave.

Dr. Nakada was not particularly sociable with his coworkers, at least according to the demeanor that Himiko had observed and what he’d shared during their date. She imitated his mannerisms as much as possible as the coworker waved back and entered the building first. The coworker held the door open for Dr. Nakada very politely.

Whoever had taught these guys security needed to give them a refresher.

“How are you?” Himiko asked.

The man sighed. “Oh, you know. Sample day for me.”

Her mind sharpened. Even though she was paying close attention to every corridor and door they passed, she was cognizant of this man’s role. “Which samples?”

“Oh-seven-six,” he said with another sigh. “It’s always a gross time.”

That was Dabi’s prisoner ID. “Hmm. Remind me what’s so gross about it?”

He raised an eyebrow. Was that too clueless? He didn’t call out an alarm, though. “Gotta peel away all the new stuff each week without killing the subject.” He chuckled. “Though at this point I think he’s pretty much unkillable.”

New stuff? “Oh yeah, that sounds gross. Glad I’m not responsible.”

He let out a slightly amused huff. “At least mine’s unconscious. You’ve got to deal with… her.”

Her heart thudded. “Oh-seven-seven?”

Ochako’s number.

He nodded. “The stalker. It’s nice you can bribe her and she cooperates, but it still feels kinda skeezy.”

Himiko hummed and shrugged noncommittally. It’d be suspicious if she asked what the bribes were. Nicer prison food, perhaps?

By then, they turned into a door, which required another keycard scan and PIN to get in. The laboratory.

Himiko was not a scientist. She didn’t know what everything in the cabinets or on the counters were, but she saw plenty of plastic, glass, tubes, a fridge, a fume hood, and various machines with buttons she couldn’t hope to decipher in one day.

And most importantly, three computers.

Her companion approached a particular computer, put his keycard in, and started typing. Himiko chose another computer at random, and leaned towards it, as though squinting at the screen. There were two stickers along the side, cutesy cartoon representations of molecules.

He looked up. “You good?”

She turned to him. “Hmm?”

“Why are you hanging around Kanae’s computer?”

She shrugged. “Just checking out the stickers.”

So that wasn’t her computer. She went to the last remaining computer and took a seat. She found a slot for her keycard, then put in the code she’d observed him using for the door, and found herself in the desktop of the computer.

Computers were not her expertise, but that was okay.

She slipped a flash drive from out of her pocket—a gift from Skeptic. He described most of Hades as a disconnected network, so there was no way to hack the deeper networks from a distance no matter how talented. Physically, however?

She plugged the flash drive into the computer, then navigated to open it up. She clicked the executable file Skeptic had put in there, then waited.

The computer whirred. He put something on there that would scan the computer, hopefully break some admin codes, then burrow deeper and deeper into the disconnected network and funnel information back into the flashdrive. All Himiko had to do was wait, then take the flash drive out and return it to Skeptic afterwards.

It couldn’t hurt to understand more of what was going on in Hades. Maybe she could understand more of what Ochako had been going through.

While she waited, she idly typed and stared at the computer, trying to blend in. The other man eventually got up and began working at a bench, pulling out various implements, but she didn’t have confidence that she’d be able to pass doing lab work.

Another person came in, a woman in a labcoat, Kanae. They all greeted each other, but it seemed this wasn’t too sociable of a crew. People were concentrating on their work, which suited Himiko just fine.

She pouted while keeping up the illusion of Dr. Nakada’s stoic, concentrating face. This computer didn’t seem to have any internet; boring! She eventually found an internal messaging system, which she scrolled through for clues as to where things were or what to do.

The man in the lab left, and Himiko tried not to imagine him in Dabi’s cell, peeling away parts of Dabi while he was unconscious and unaware. Today, she had one mission, and she had to concentrate on it if she wanted any chance of succeeding. Dabi had regular visits from his family.

Ochako had no one.

In the internal messaging system, Himiko picked up more lingo and logistics. It seemed Dr. Nakada checked in on each case at least every few days, if not more. He gave the guard a heads up beforehand, so Himiko prepared a message to send to the guard that seemed to be contacted most frequently for Ochako. Dr. Nakada had just visited her yesterday, so Ochako wrote in the message that samples failed and they unexpectedly needed more. For some reason, she also found some exchanges about giving the prisoner strips of tape, and reference to papers and other printed materials.

Was Ochako doing some sort of art project? It seemed generous of a place like Hades, but perhaps that was her bribery for cooperation. Getting blood samples was easier when you could just tell a person to sit down than having to knock them out or strap them down first.

There were also notes from visits for Dr. Nakada’s various cases stored in the computer. She clicked through until she found Ochako’s, labeled P077.

The history seemed tame. Blood pressure, heart rate, and more that seemed normal as far as Himiko could tell. The lab work listed all sorts of minerals and cell types that she didn’t understand. DNA analysis…

She paused. Could they have found out…?

Himiko read on. P077 had been labeled a chimera, containing at least two distinct genomes. This was found first by attempts to label her blood, then through other biomethods. Himiko tilted her head, legitimately curious. Was that what had happened when she gave Ochako her blood? Could they both have been turned into chimeras? Himiko’s quirk had been under severe stress on that day, so could it have unlocked this ability in that strained state and affected them both?

Reading further, she discovered experiment after experiment focused on trying to understand Himiko’s quirk. They fed Ochako blood, took samples, analyzed them…

The realization of Ochako drinking blood made Himiko freeze. Surely Ochako didn’t want to do that, so did they force it down her throat? Was that why they bribed her? Her stomach turned over at the thought of Ochako straining to swallow blood that disgusted her, trembling and distraught at being mistaken for and treated like Himiko.

As far as these notes described, it seemed Ochako had a functional copy of Himiko’s quirk, as Himiko had of Ochako’s quirk. They described Ochako transforming into people, but attempts to use those other people’s quirks always fail.

Her eyes scanned until they caught on Ochako’s actual name and froze.

…failed to replicate long-term transformation ability, as with Uraraka Ochako form. Further testing…

So Ochako had her form, still. Did she stay in that form most of the time, trying to convince them that she was truly Ochako? Only for them to point to her ability to turn into Himiko as proof she was the villain herself? Himiko had to grit her teeth to avoid slamming her forehead against the desk.

Of course they assumed Ochako was just Himiko trying to sneak her way out of prison. The “real” Ochako had been acting normal, going back to her normal life, completely unaware that “Himiko” was still alive and in prison.

If only Himiko had confessed everything back then… Could they have swapped places? Would Ochako have gotten to live the life that Himiko stole from her?

She took a deep breath. Maybe it was eight years late, but she would return Ochako to her rightful place.

Skeptic’s program popped a window on her screen: Complete.

She ejected the flash drive and slipped it back into her pocket. Now it was time to make things right.

 

---

 

Though it took Himiko a minute to learn how to navigate the prison, she at least had found a room number for Ochako among the computer notes. The hallways were thankfully not too busy, so nobody witnessed her awkwardly turning around when she’d realized she’d gone the wrong direction.

Based on the personnel list, guards were assigned two to a prisoner. Those odds were not the worst she’d faced, but she wished she had a team. Skeptic’s program in a flash drive was not the same as an ally at her side, able to jump in and defend or catch her if things went south. That’s why she had loved the League. It was also one of the things she enjoyed in hero team ups. Now, she faced her enemy alone. As Ochako had been alone all this time.

She reached the door. Took a deep breath, swiped the keycard, put in the PIN, and used the illusion to make Dr. Nakada look completely calm. 

The first thing she noted when the door opened was the security setup. In front of her was the first guard, a tall man with stubble in a chair who looked up from a magazine to nod at her in recognition. Behind him was a door and glass partition to another room, where another guard sat in a booth. He glanced up for a moment, but didn’t linger. It seemed he had his own reading material in the booth.

Strategies flickered. Was the booth locked? Could she break the door? He was probably in there so if someone hurt the first guy, there was someone who could trip the alarms. Maybe the mechanisms or keys to open the cell were in there as well. There was at least one camera up in a corner, covering most of the room and the cell, so she would have to be cautious in case there was a third person observing the situation.

All that had been to the left, the section opening the door had revealed immediately, but she stepped inside and began scanning right to see the rest of the room. The cell bars.

Her breath caught in her throat.

There she was, sitting on a measly cot attached to a wall, dressed in hideous orange, framed by various colors and shapes taped up on the wall behind her.

She was in Himiko’s form.

Himiko stared like an idiot, marveling at the woman in front of her, breathing, alive. The blonde hair was down, long enough to reach her elbows.

She looked up at Himiko, smiled, and all of Himiko’s insides melted.

Ochako got up with a bounce in her step. Himiko stumbled forward, doing her best to keep the illusion around her calm and collected. She was finally here in front of Ochako. Alive Ochako.

“Doctor Nakada~!” Ochako spoke in a sing-song cadence, in Himiko’s voice. “Back already for another sample? You better have brought the Uravity tax.”

The hero name broke Himiko briefly out of her spell. “Huh?” she said before she could think better of it.

Ochako giggled, but tapped her foot impatiently. “Come on! Don’t say there’s nothing, hasn’t she been doing great recently? Any news article or picture would do. Or even an ad, those are so cute!”

Behind Ochako, the prison wall was absolutely covered in clippings from newspapers, magazines, and printed photos.

Every single one was of Uravity.

There was an article on the Quirk Counseling Expansion Project, a magazine interview Himiko had done two years ago with Rescue Heroes Monthly, and even a photograph of UA’s graduating class where Himiko had smiled at the camera, standing between Ochako’s friends as though she belonged there.

The more Himiko looked, the more her head spun. An advertisement campaign she did for bike helmets was taped up next to a series of screenshots from a video of her rescuing someone from a collapsing building. Though Himiko barely used the Uravity social media accounts, she saw every photo she had ever posted laid out in this prison. And beyond that, pictures she recognized from her friends’ social media accounts that had tagged her were scattered everywhere. Tenya’s formal group picture of their recent school talk series was plastered above the cot. Mina’s post from a few months ago when the UA girls had gone out for a rare girls night featured high up on the wall. There was even a photo of her and Camie yesterday, caked in filters and stickers but unmistakably the two of them squished together and grinning as Camie donated her blood.

“So?” Ochako said. “Where’s my Uravity fix? It doesn’t look like you brought any delicious blood for me, so surely you at least got me some Uravity?”

Ochako slid her fingers against the bars of the cell while pouting. There wasn’t enough space for an arm to go through except for in one section, a square opening that was just enough for an arm, padded on the back as though to allow an elbow to rest. Ochako eventually brushed a finger against the padding and looked dolefully at her again.

“I won’t stick my arm out for a sample until I get my Uravity, get it?”

Himiko tried to think through her racing, severely confused thoughts. She saw the insides of Ochako’s elbows were scarred, probably from needles going in and out so frequently. “I understand.”

She did not understand, not even remotely. Was this Ochako trying to keep tabs on her? Seething as she watched Himiko live the life she should have gotten? Plotting her revenge for when she gets out?

She breathed in deep. It didn’t matter. What mattered was making things right. Himiko practiced this next move in her apartment, and she only prayed she would be able to do it correctly now.

First, Himiko kept up the illusion of Dr. Nakada, staring at Ochako, but stopped anchoring it to herself. Then she slipped out of the illusion and passed a new one over herself—whatever she was surrounded by. She erased her presence, breathing so shallowly that the guard flipping a page in his magazine wouldn’t feel her, and maintained the illusion that made her functionally invisible. Then she brought out the syringe from her pocket, uncapped it, and jammed it into the guard’s thigh.

He made a sound, but she shoved a hand over his mouth and depressed the plunger. His eyes faded, and soon he slumped in his seat.

Quickly, Himiko returned to Dr. Nakada’s illusion and put her body back in there.

Ochako was staring at the slumped guard. So his motions hadn’t escaped her notice.

Her looking was suspicious, the other guard hadn’t seemed to notice yet. Himiko tried to draw her attention back to Dr. Nakada. “I’m sorry, I forgot to print the Uravity article.”

Ochako’s eyes flickered to hers and narrowed. “What’s going on?”

The cell door had a blocky section that could be a lock, but there was no keyhole, probably to prevent attempts to pick at it. Himiko leaned in close to whisper, “Do you know where the key to your cell is?”

In other words, did Himiko have to break into the booth, or were there other ways to release Ochako?

Ochako stared for several long seconds, then said, “...I don’t know.”

No matter. Himiko used Dr. Nakasa’s form to knock on the door of the booth, and said to the man inside, “Hey, can you check this? The prisoner just attempted to slip it to me.”

The guard inside frowned as Himiko held up the illusion of some money.

An intercom turned on. “Where did she get cash?”

“That’s what I’m confused about too,” Himiko said. “Has anyone unusual visited recently?”

“You’re the most recent, from yesterday morning. Hey, what does Hanae think?”

“I tried to show him, but he waved me away. Likes his magazine too much I guess.”

Hopefully this guard liked whatever he was reading too, and hadn’t actually been watching them to see the lack of interaction.

“Hanae, stop being lazy.”

“The money’s weird, though, if you take a closer look…”

Himiko tried the door to the booth, casually as she could, but found it locked.

“Give me a sec…”

There was a click, and the guard opened up the door.

Perfect.

She dove in with her syringe, shoving him to the ground to stun him and injecting him with the same sleeping drug as the other guard. Once he stopped moving, she investigated the contents of the booth.

Intercom, camera, a thick science-fiction book… there! A metallic keycard kept in a special slot. She pulled it out and hurried to the prison door.

Ochako’s hands were on the bars now, knuckles white from how tight she was holding on. “What the fuck are you doing?”

“Breaking you out,” Himiko said.

She pressed the keycard against the lock, and it clicked open. Finally, this was the moment.

Ochako’s eyes flickered to the corner. “There’s a camera. Microphones, too. They’ll notice soon and send someone in.”

Himiko opened the door and reached her hand out. “So come on!”

Instead of smiling and grabbing her hand though, Ochako stood there with her shoulders up to her ears. Why was she hesitating? Ochako should know she didn’t belong there. She should have been jumping for joy at the thought of finally escaping.

Without a single step forward, Ochako said, “You’re not Doctor Nakada, are you?”

And you’re not Himiko Toga. But she said there were microphones, right? This would be pointless if the HPSC realized Ochako had been down here the whole time—they’d want to shut her up and take her back if they knew.

Himiko stepped into the cell, since Ochako wasn’t coming out. She reached out a hand again, but hesitated when Ochako flinched back. “I’m not,” Himiko admitted.

There was no trust in Ochako’s eyes. Himiko couldn’t drop her disguise now though, not without giving everything away to the HPSC. How could she tell Ochako that she truly wanted to help her?

“Who are you?” Ochako asked.

Finally, Himiko gained the courage to grab Ochako’s wrist and tug her towards the door. Where they touched was like electricity, cells dancing at finally touching the woman she thought she’d lost eight years ago.

Ochako resisted though, and they struggled with a tug of war at the threshold of the door.

Himiko looked her in the eyes. “You once told me… that I have a beautiful smile.”

Finally, finally, recognition flashed on Ochako’s face.

Then horror.

Ochako shoved her out of the cell, and an alarm sounded—security must have finally noticed. With the alarm, the cell automatically locked shut once again.

Ochako breathed heavily, eyes so wide her pupils were pinpoints. “Leave me. Get out of here, and never, ever come back.”

Himiko tried the keycard again, but no matter how she pressed it against the lock it didn’t work. The alarms must have disabled it. “But—”

“Leave!” Ochako hissed, furious.

The door to the room burst open.

There was no choice now. Himiko danced around the security guard who ran in, using Camie’s illusion to draw him in just barely the wrong direction. She ran out into the hallway, choking back tears.

She sprinted down the halls, dodging security as she went, using Camie’s illusions every way she could to draw their attention elsewhere and slip past.

Himiko saved her tears until she got out. She created an illusion of Dr. Nakada running to his car, starting it, and driving away. As armored units peeled out of the parking lot, she made the illusion last as long as she could and absconded into the woods.

Twenty, maybe thirty minutes later, once she was deep enough in that she knew she was alone, she curled up against the forest floor and sobbed.

Camie’s transformation slid off of her, turning her into Ochako once again. Ochako, who belonged out here, not in there.

Why did she tell me to leave?

She drew shuddering breaths. She was supposed to save Ochako and give back her life today. If Ochako had only cooperated, they could have both been out here among the trees, sunlight streaming through the leaves onto their faces.

Why didn’t she take my hand?

Notes:

WHEN I TAG "SLOW BURN" ON A FIC I MEAN IT!!!!!!!!!!! ALMOST 40K WORDS IN AND WE GET ONE, SINGLE, DIRECT OCHAKO/HIMIKO INTERACTION, now time to hurt Himiko some more :) Don't worry, things can get worse!!!!

Chapter 14: Compress(!) those feelings, keep on that mask

Summary:

Previously on You think you know somebody...: Himiko used Camie's quirk to disguise herself as a doctor who works at the Hades Prison and broke in. Once inside, she used a flashdrive from Skeptic to pull some info from a computer, then descended to where "Toga Himiko" was imprisoned. She discovered Ochako wearing Himiko's form and demanding an "Uravity tax" before she would willingly give a sample of her blood, and in her cell there were a ton of pictures and articles of Uravity (Himiko) and her friends. Himiko got the cell door open and tried to persuade Ochako to escape with her, but when Ochako realized who Himiko really was, Ochako shoved her out and told her to never come back.

Notes:

I thought being sick and having to cancel a bunch of obligations would give me free time to work on this fic...... instead I opened Stardew Valley for the first time in YEARS and have quickly fallen into the rabbit hole of playing hours every day. Alas. At least I have a buffer so I can keep posting chapters for awhile.

Himiko entered Hawks’ office with every ounce of self-control activated to keep herself from leaping out the window or jumping on to him to tear his throat out with her teeth.

He smiled at her from across the desk. She smiled back at him, the way Ochako would have.

Or would she?

She thought she knew Ochako, but finally having met her again, everything felt different. All those confident thoughts of Ochako would do this faltered. Himiko assumed Ochako would want to escape Hades and had been wrong. What else could she be wrong about?

“Thanks for meeting on such short notice,” Hawks said.

She checked herself—still smiling, good. “I’m an HPSC employee, after all.”

Until she got to the bottom of what was going on with Ochako, she wanted to keep her enemies close.

“Still, I appreciate it. Things have been a little crazy recently, it’s nice to have someone I can rely on.”

There were bags under his eyes. His cheeks were taut from maintaining his expression. Her smile became an ounce more sincere.

Hawks idly straightened some papers on his desk, as though his thoughts were racing too fast to keep still. “I have a mission for you.”

“Another Spinner visit?”

“No.” He straightened the papers again, even though he just did so. “This is a more straightforward mission. Preventing a prison break.”

Thankfully, Hawks was still fiddling with his desk, putting his pen from one side of the desk to the other, so he didn’t see Himiko’s minute twitch as she forced herself to stay serene. “You believe I’m best suited for that?”

He sighed. “There are circumstances. An operative undercover in Iguchi’s discord discovered an impending prison break plan.”

Her heart dropped. Was Spinner going to be caught so easily? “Spinner is…?”

He shook his head. “This operative identified a high-risk potential villain among those chatting in the discord, and so began a more directly targeted mission. By carefully gaining trust and some additional reconnaissance, we’ve been able to learn of this guy’s intention to break into Gulhadar Prison and release, among other villains, Sako Atsuhiro.”

Mr. Compress. 

“Apparently, this person valorizes both the Paranormal Liberation Front and the peerless thief, Oji Harima from the past. Obviously he was attracted to Iguchi’s growing fanbase, and has been refining his plan to release Sako with an emboldened feeling from the community. He seems to believe if he can just get Sako out, he can usher in a renewed age of villainy.”

Would Mr. Compress even want to return to villainy? Himiko was eight years divorced from his dreams and desires. He had given up his body for the League of Villains, but with Tomura gone… What would he do with new freedom?

She doubted this person trying to break him out had any better idea of what Mr. Compress wanted.

Hawks continued, oblivious to the stewing behind her mask. “We have been able to get the date and an estimate to the time of the break in, but to keep that operative in play, we want to stop it without suggesting any prior knowledge of the event—in other words, you will ‘coincidentally’ be there and able to intervene immediately. Your lack of public connection to the HPSC will provide even further distancing and keep suspicion of a leak low.”

She raised a single eyebrow. “So I will… ‘coincidentally’ be near the prison? On a walk, I suppose?”

He chuckled. “We have the perfect excuse. You gave Iguchi some poems from Todoroki Touya, didn’t you?”

Himiko suppressed a jolt at the reminder of how that intimacy was recorded on the microphone she had worn to visit Spinner.

“We’ll multitask here—you pretend you’re just there to check in with Sako for Iguchi’s sake, then you’re there for the attack and can bring back some more nuggets to entrench yourself in Iguchi’s entrusted circle. All without tipping this criminal or any accomplices that the HPSC is onto them.”

“Doing so much to keep your operative in play… Do you suspect there will be other criminal activities from that discord?”

He laughed. “Though I don’t enjoy Iguchi growing his platform, I’ll admit it makes for a wonderful lightning rod that attracts those who are likely to turn to villainy. This way, we can keep an eye on and predict some acts of villainy.” His gaze went distant with a sigh. “Some acts can be predicted, at least. Others…”

When he didn’t say anything for several seconds, Himiko said, “Are you alright?”

He jerked minutely, then blinked at her. He put on a smile and waved a hand. “How sweet of you to ask! But yes, I’m perfectly fine. Apologies for spacing out—just had a long day yesterday, is all. But once we have this person in custody… Well, we’ll have someone to press for answers.”

“Answers? To what?”

“There has been… a recent issue.” He shooed his hand. “I won’t bore you with the details. But once this villain is in custody, we might be able to find some connection and put it all to rest for good.”

She kept on an idle smile, knowing better than to ask more questions about what he wanted to dismiss. If Hawks wanted to keep a secret, he would keep it.

Himiko could keep secrets, too.

“We need you to go today,” he said.

She wanted to spend the day curled up in bed and crying while running over the first meeting she had had with Ochako in eight years yesterday in her head, but since she had failed at pulling her out, she was still Uravity. Under the HPSC’s thumb. Close enough to bite when the moment was right. “I understand,” she said.

He pushed a sheet of paper across the desk. “The time, and what details we have are all there. Good luck.”

Like a normal person, Himiko accepted the paper and prepared herself for the mission.

 

---

 

Though she didn’t have much time before her mission, she was able to squeeze in a visit to Skeptic.

The moment his apartment door closed behind her, he said, “So?”

She held out the flash drive. “From Dr. Nakada’s work computer.”

He snatched it from her palm with a manic grin. It wasn’t until after he had spun around twice in excitement, hair dancing over his shoulders, that he paused with a realization. “So you got Toga out?”

Her shoulders raised up. “There were… complications.”

“You get caught at all?”

“I escaped. They know there was an infiltration, but don’t know who did so.”

He nodded, then scurried to his computer without a glance back, unconcerned with any further details from Himiko about the botched heist. He plugged it into his computer, and kicked his feet in glee while clicking his mouse.

She followed behind to ask, “So? Anything interesting? Anything I could use in a future attempt”

He leaned backwards in his chair to look up at her. “Hey, give me a bit. It’s gonna take some time to decompress what my program pulled. And based on the data size I’m seeing, even after that it’s gonna take time to comb through the information, crack any encryptions, and figure out what’s actually relevant or interesting.”

Himiko tapped a foot. “How long?”

He shrugged. “Come back in a week.”

 

---

 

Around the time the guard opened the door to the interrogation room, Himiko snapped into the fact that this wasn’t just a way to kill time before the imminent break in, but that she was going to actually meet her old ally Mr. Compress for the first time since the battle where he had sacrificed himself eight years ago, and her entire body went fuzzy with panic.

The mustachioed guard tipped his hat to her. “Miss Uravity? You may enter.”

She imagined herself bleeding out all over the floor instead, then steadied herself to take a step forward and into the sparse room. Two chairs and one table, with one side of the table attached to two handcuffs. One handcuff sat unused on the table, while the other connected to Mr. Compress’s single hand.

Her eyes crawled up his body, strangely unfamiliar in the prison orange instead of a dramatic coat or suit. Finally, she saw his face. Even when they had worked together, his propensity for masks kept his actual face a rare sight, but it was one she hadn’t forgotten in all their years apart.

“You’ve grown up,” he said.

That voice, lilted, always a tad amused, made a wave of nostalgia washed over her so strong that she almost collapsed. Only the sound of the door closing behind her jolted her to her senses enough to keep walking forward and take a seat in the chair across from him.

“You’ve grown older, too,” she commented.

Though his face was familiar, it was more tired, lines deepened from the passing time. His brown eyes crinkled. “This place ages you.”

For a moment, Himiko was entirely speechless. This wasn’t like her meeting with Spinner, tense and paranoid. Mr. Compress looked at her almost fondly, and it was doing things to her that made her want to crawl across the table and curl up against his beating heart.

“Uraraka Ochako,” he said, and the spell was broken.

That was who she still was.

He continued, “Hero name: Uravity. Zero gravity quirk. Part of UA’s Class 1A. Toga was rather fond of you, you know.”

“I know.”

He leaned back, lips quirked up. That fondness she read transformed into, perhaps, mocking. “What could you want from someone like me? Years beyond the war that locked me away?”

She bided her time. “Do you know much of what’s been going on in the outside world?”

He shrugged. “Newspapers cost money.”

She blinked. Was that how this prison worked? How did a prisoner pay for it when they were out of a job? With dread, she wondered if she would have to break the news about Tomura and Kurogiri. “So you don’t know…?”

He laughed. “You look so distraught! Don’t fret, I have friends whose families pay for the papers every now and again, and I’ve mastered pestering them to share. The Himura’s are a dreadful family in many respects, but they respect some obligation towards their son in here at least. Aside from that, there’s a books for prison project that works with this institution—I was fortunate enough to get my hands on Shuichi’s book thanks to them.”

Himiko breathed out, relieved both that she wouldn’t have to be the first to tell him what had happened to so many of his allies, and that he wasn’t completely isolated in here. “How did you feel about his book?”

He hummed a moment. “Compelling, but I wasn’t drawn as handsomely as I should have been.”

The comment, so familiar, made a laugh burst through her chest. Once she began laughing, she struggled to stop, cheeks aching from her grin, and back curling forward to brace her diaphragm.

When she recovered, she discovered he was staring at her. He nodded to himself, “I suppose I have gotten even more hilarious in the time I’ve been in here. Geten’s lacking sense of humor has forced me to get stronger, yes…”

She wiped away a tear. “Sorry, I just… You reminded me of something.”

He waited, but she didn’t know how to tell him, Yeah I wished I was drawn cuter too.

So he leaned on his elbow and said, “Surely you didn’t come here just to listen to my idle prattling. So what is it? Some grand conspiracy you think I can help shed light on?”

Hawks hadn’t given her anything to talk to Mr. Compress about. All he had told her to do was kill a certain amount of time until she got a signal from the pager in her pocket that would indicate reconnaissance had spotted the target approaching the prison.

“How are you doing?” she asked.

He blinked at her several times. She waited as he stared, eyebrow raising. After a minute of silence, he said, “I’ve been doing alright as I can, in a place like this.”

This was the place she had been terrified of ending up. During the war, when she saw it in her future, she had chosen to die rather than surrender. Mr. Compress, during battle, had chosen to sacrifice himself to perpetual imprisonment to give his allies an opportunity to escape.

“Was it worth it?”

“Was what worth it?”

“You sacrificed yourself, but the Paranormal Liberation Front still lost in the end.” She waved an arm over the situation. “Now you’re here.”

He smirked. “The Peerless Thief, Harima Oji, was eventually caught. Trussed up and sent to spend the rest of his life in prison. And yet, can we claim that everything he achieved was ‘not worth it’? The hundreds of hungry and struggling families whom he gave money to before being caught would disagree, I’m certain. Through his tireless efforts, he directly made the world  more even. And along the way, he brought attention to the corruption of heroics—the fact that those who bowed to and served those with power were granted the status of ‘pro-hero’, given monetary rewards, and allowed to freely use their quirks in service of those in power, while all others were expected to fall in line and surrender to them, or be labeled enemy of the state for any resistance or challenging the status quo.”

Himiko already knew of his admiration for his ancestor. “But what about you? How do you feel?”

“I feel that I did everything I could for the Paranormal Liberation Front. I can hold my head high knowing I pushed as far as I was able. Perhaps we did not destroy the whole wretched world as Tomura dreamed, but even the mere act of trying is already a message. In any endeavor, fifty-percent is better than zero percent. Besides, the Peerless Thief’s ideals echoed across time and down the generations—I dare say my messages and dreams have resonated in their own way across the world. Shuichi’s book is rather popular, from what I’ve heard.”

“It is.”

Still, staring at her old ally across the table, growing older each year while stuck in that hideous prison jumpsuit, knowing how much he sacrificed and how much he cared, there was an ugly twist in her gut.

Fundamentally, it was unfair.

She was a pro-hero now, though, so she swallowed down what frustration she could and tried to sound neutral. “Still, how do you actually feel? Like, day-to-day in here?”

His expression dimmed. “It is what it is.”

Her fists clenched. “Do you… miss anything?”

He laughed. “Do I miss anything? I suspect you can make an educated guess.”

Guessing wasn’t enough penance. She needed to hear his pain, remind herself of what she had been so fortunate to be able to dodge thus far, and then use it to carve her heart up into guilty ribbons. “Tell me anyway.”

He leaned onto his palm, humming. “...The other day, I was thinking of grocery shopping.”

She blinked at him, confused as to where he was going.

“Before the League, before I was on the run… I went regularly to a particular supermarket. I’d take my basket up and down the aisles, deciding what I was going to cook for dinner that week. Back then, I didn’t think twice about how wonderful that was… All the different options, the walking among people, anonymous yet together, lingering and debating between options. The cornucopia of a produce section felt so mundane, but now I have dreams where all I’m doing is trying to select the nicest vegetables off the shelves, and wake up with a desperate ache. To select the ripest strawberries, you should sniff them, you know? My mother taught me that—It’s more reliable than just looking at them. Smell them, alright?” He sighed. “I haven’t smelled strawberries in almost a decade.”

“...I’ll do that,” she promised him, unable to think of what else to say.

He chuckled. “They don’t starve us here, but there’s no choice. What’s on our plates is on our plates. I fantasize about plucking exactly what I want off the shelves and taking them to the checkout. A pleasant, rote conversation with the cashier, polite and dignified. I’ve tried to chat up some of the lunch staff here, but they’re sadly not the most conversational.”

The pager buzzed against her thigh. The prison break was imminent.

She stood up. “Thank you for your time today.”

He leaned back. “...That’s it? Surely you didn’t just call me in for a friendly chat about my favorite errands.”

Though she had to leave soon, she owed him a little explanation. “I did. I’ve been… in contact with Spinner recently. He wondered how you were doing.”

His eyes lit up. “Well! Give him my compliments on the book. No need to mention my critique of the drawing, that’s merely my own vanity.”

She nodded. “Will do.”

She left the interrogation room, inclining her head towards the mustachioed guard as she left, at a slow pace. The intent was for her to be present and ready to dive in the moment the suspicious individual made a move. For now, she headed for the exit.

As she got closer to the outside, a commotion from the windows made her pick up her pace to the nearest door.

Outside, she saw a man running from a guard who was waving a baton. The man’s teeth were gritted, and his hair was in a majestic wave almost to his shoulder, but most importantly he was running somewhat in the direction of Himiko.

It took only a moment for her to brace herself, and with a quick lunge forward she was able to intercept him, flipping him over her shoulder so his back slammed on the ground behind her. When she turned, he reached out to the door metal frame, grabbing onto it desperately. Himiko easily grabbed and turned him over again, and brought both hands behind his back. “Bring the handcuffs!” she shouted to the guard.

But as the guard locked the handcuffs in place, there was a strange creaking sound from the building, and the man began cackling.

Himiko sharpened. “What’s so funny?”

“I am the Metal-Melter! When I touch metal and activate my quirk, I can lower its melting point to a point where even at room temperature, it begins to melt… and the effect spreads to any metal it touches.”

The creaking was getting louder now.

“I will free Mr. Compress and bring in a new age! He will guide us to a new era! I will–”

The guard jerked him up. The handcuffs had already melted off, but the guard pulled out his leather belt and fashioned it into something like a restraint. “You will be going to jail.”

He grinned. “It won’t be here for long.”

The building beside them began to collapse.

Himiko went into action immediately, scaling up the building to address the disintegrating structure. Almost the whole building was reinforced with metal, and the non-metal parts were already starting to crash down violently. The roof cracked and began to crumble, but Himiko slapped each piece she could reach in order to float them up. Underneath, she saw guards who had been at desks looking up in shock.

They could try to run downstairs, but she wasn’t sure if the stairwells would hold up, and the elevator was certainly a lost cause. So she kicked the roofing away, released it onto some bare ground, and dove into the building to float the guards.

“We’re evacuating!” she told them,

Thankfully, those there gathered to her, so she was able to float them, then throw them towards the ground at a safe speed, and release once they were all just about landed.

She stumbled as the floor beneath her bowed from the weight on it that was no longer supported. Around her, thick droplets of metal leaked from the ceiling, Fuck, this was getting to be a mess.

Hopefully the guards called for backup and more pro-heroes would be on their way soon. Himiko ran through the rooms, dodging debris and slapping desks, tables, and occasional floorboards to try and ease the burden on the rapidly disintegrating structural integrity of the building, but she couldn’t handle this disaster by herself. She could only float what was detached, and she had to touch each one individually.

Back when she fought Ochako, all those years ago… Ochako had had an awakening and became able to spread her zero gravity even beyond what she directly touched, like a contagion.

If Himiko were the real Ochako…

A roof piece fell on her shoulder, and she grit her teeth. She floated it away. By now, she hadn’t seen any further guards—hopefully most had fled. The only other people to worry about were…

Her heart stopped. The villains.

She sprinted towards where the prison complex proper was. Depending on how the cells were set up, they might be safe, but if they weren’t, they might not be able to evacuate.

By the time she reached where the prisoners lived, more pro-heroes had arrived on the site. Which was a relief, as it seemed the Metal-Melter’s plot had indeed succeeded—lots of villains had been released, and the pro-heroes had their hands full trying to wrestle them back down. Shelves of ice, crackles of electricity, and more quirks created a chaotic scene.

Himiko didn’t have time to join them. Her head pivoted left and right, searching for Mr. Compress, only to find nothing of him.

Her breathing went fast, and her mind raced to remember where the interrogation had occurred. Towards the western end, right? The room was in that direction, the cells were here, so if there was a hallway connecting them…

The area in between was a wreck. Internal components of buildings, flooring, broken furniture, and more were caught in huge blobs of shiny metal. Himiko tried to dig her hand into it, but found that the melting must have been temporary, as it had solidified into this amorphous shape, trapping everything underneath and inside it.

Her hands shook as she uselessly pried at it. The wreck was thick enough that there could be people under there. Not just Mr. Compress and whoever had walked him down the hall, but anyone who had been traveling from one place to the other. Depending on what collapsed and when, they could be underneath or even inside.

Suffocating.

She forced herself to take a deep breath. They weren’t necessarily dead yet. She had to get the debris off of them. But it wasn’t a bunch of isolated parts she could tap away, it was all jumbled together and connected by the solidified metal.

…All together.

She placed her hands on the blob.

It didn’t quite lift, but it wiggled a bit. Fuck, it was still stuck under a bunch of other stuff, wasn’t it? Still anchored towards one end. Himiko grabbed a protruding chair and tried to tug the mass out from whatever was holding it back. Her muscles strained, but all she got was a snapped chair back in her hands.

She flung the pieces away and jumped down towards the bottom of the mass. Her fingers found a hold under a tiny crevice the float had created, so she crouched and then tried to lift from that side. 

The underside was mostly tiles that the metal had melded onto, no people, but just in case she called out, “Hello? Anyone there?”

There was a yelp, and a leg kicked out from a shadowy edge.

“You’re doing great!” Himiko shouted encouragement, “That leg is in the direction of safety! Can you get out the rest of the way or do you need a hand?”

A familiar voice said, “Just a moment!”

If she hadn’t been holding the structure up, she would have relaxed at the sound. The space near the leg opened up suddenly, a circle disappearing, and Mr. Compress fell down. Above him, there was the underside of a desk. A tiny shelter from the flood of metal that could only hold one person.

“Is your guard still in there?” Himiko asked.

“Ha! No, I played a brilliant little trick…”

He snapped his finger, dropping a marble at the same time, and the mustachioed guard popped into existence.

“Voila!”

The guard blinked several times, clearly confused, then turned on Mr. Compress with a finger raised accusingly. “Unauthorized quirk use! That’s two days in solitary–”

“He saved your life,” Himiko snapped. “Now get out of here, I can’t hold this up forever. Was there anybody else near you when all the metal fell?”

As they scrambled out from the underside, Mr. Compress said, “Only us, as far as I was able to see.”

She dropped the blob for now, and her muscles thanked her. She turned on the guard, who was staring around at the devastation. “Hey.”

His eyes snapped to hers.

“I’ll be checking in once things settle down, and if I learn you punished him for using his quirk to save your life, I will personally speak to your supervisor and whoever else I need to to explain how your incompetence makes you unfit for your role.”

He sputtered a bit, but Himiko refused to give him any more attention. She turned towards some more wreckage.  “I’ve got to keep searching for others…”

In the distance, she saw a tall woman with three snakes coming out of her head, and she let out a relieved sigh. Uwabami was here, whose snakes were incredibly sensitive, and could help guide Himiko’s rescue to locate as many trapped people as quickly as possible. They had worked together on multiple rescues before, and Uwabami always made it easier.

Himiko waved, catching her attention, and they nodded to each other. Time to dive into the disaster, and aim for zero casualties.

 

---

 

Hours later, Himiko dragged herself back to her apartment and took an immediate shower.

There were no casualties and all the villains had been apprehended, but the prison was a wreck. She wasn’t sure whether Hawks would call her mission a “success” or not, but at the very least, the chaos made it look as though no one had known or anticipated the Metal-Melter’s attack. Ochako had been able to intervene pretty immediately, but the scale of the disaster he wreaked had been too big for her to handle alone.

Now the villains were split into several prisons which had a little capacity, Uwabami had confirmed nobody was still trapped, and Ochako had done what cleanup she could.

She made the shower short, as she was starving from the exertion. She picked up her phone, considering ordering takeout, when she caught sight of her calendar.

Today, 6pm: Anniversary dinner - Mokada’s

“Fuck,” she cursed. One hour from now.

She put her hair dryer on the highest setting, and thought out her plan. She would have to dress up. And there was the matter of Izuku’s gift. There was a mall along the way, she knew one of the shops there sold wristwatches, maybe they were still open? If she went fast, she could stop by, get whatever their most popular model was, and hopefully get to dinner minimally late.

Would Ochako get Izuku a wristwatch?

She bit her lip so hard it bled, and the smell blossomed in the tight and humid walls of the bathroom. With another curse, she wiped it away and didn’t allow herself to swallow a drop.

Her hair was dry enough that she put the hairdryer down and looked at herself properly in the mirror. She slapped her cheeks. “I’m Ochako. I love my boyfriend Izuku,” she reminded herself.

She couldn’t afford to let her disguise break now and ruin Ochako’s life when she was so close to saving it.

Having a moment to actually sit and plan her next move to save Ochako would have been nice, but she had to secure this beautiful life she made her first. Play Ochako another day, another month, another year, however long it took before she could pull her out for real. 

Time to play her role.

Notes:

Himiko literally can't catch a break she has so much going on

Chapter 15: Normal Girl Has Anniversary With Normal Boyfriend

Summary:

Previously on Can't Stop Won't Stop: The HPSC discovered a developing plot to break Mr. Compress out of prison, and assigned Uravity (Himiko) to visit Mr. Compress and be subtly present for the break. After checking in with Skeptic to hand off the flashdrive from Hades, Himiko had a nostalgic meeting with Mr. Compress where they discussed Mr. Compress's feelings about prison and what he missed. The person attempting to cause the breakout used his quirk to set the melting point of the prison to room temperature, and so the prison collapsed. Himiko dove into action, rescuing anyone caught in the wreckage. Afterwards, she went home exhausted, and then realized she had her third year anniversary dinner with Izuku that night.

Notes:

I looooove putting HImiko through it, sorry.

Mokada’s had candlelit tables with white tablecloths, menus with no prices listed, and a sparkling crystal chandelier in the center of the dining room.

Himiko sat primly wearing a pink dress, white shoes, a pair of earrings Izuku had gotten her for their second-year anniversary, and she slid a small package across the table to Izuku. He smiled, opened the gift, and expressed delight at the nice wristwatch within. He tried it on, Himiko complimented him, and the waiter came over for their orders.

She tried not to think about the fact that this seat was Ochako’s, not hers.

“...So I think the curriculum should be updated with some more modern battles, but Aizawa insists that the current cases are timeless and foundational. However, I believe that if we’re sending these kids to become pro-heroes in the modern age, we need to present cases more relevant to the modern context, and if we focus too much on those older cases, there’s no room in the curriculum to watch and analyze battles that might be more applicable to the sorts of situations they’re likely to face in the field…”

Would Ochako have wanted this? Would she have wanted to wear this blush pink dress with a sweetheart neckline? Would she have done her makeup in the same way Himiko did it?

Or did she prefer rotting in prison?

“...Ochako?”

She jumped. Fuck. “Sorry,” she crooned automatically. “I got lost in your eyes.”

He flushed and started to stammer. She took a long sip of her wine. The waiter came by with their food and they dug in. Himiko couldn’t taste anything.

Tasting delicious food felt wrong. What did they feed Ochako in Hades? Probably not these buttered oysters. How could she just sit here chewing like nothing was wrong when Ochako was languishing in a cell?

“Are you alright?” Izuku’s voice snapped her to attention. “You seem quiet tonight.”

Himiko took a deep breath. She just had to get through this date, their anniversary, and then she could go stew in her apartment and try to plot whatever the fuck her next step was going to be in regards to Ochako. She smiled and tried to imagine herself as a character in a movie. Normal Girl Has Anniversary With Normal Boyfriend, an experimental short film that showed two people having a completely normal and standard lovely date.

So she smiled. “I’m better than fine, with you. Just a bit tired. I had a silly case a few days ago…”

She forced herself to talk a little more, sharing a story about rescuing a cat from a tree, and soon the concerned furrow in Izuku’s brow smoothed out. She primed him with another question, and successfully got him off onto another ten-minute tangent on Hatsume’s recent inventions. She laughed when she was supposed to. She was on a date. She was supposed to be having fun.

Soon, dessert was ordered with Izuku smiling and looking relaxed. Normal.

Himiko was frayed, mind constantly flashing back to Ochako in that cell, wearing Himiko’s body, surrounded by those pictures of Uravity. She could only force herself back to the present by reminding herself not to alienate Ochako’s boyfriend. Ochako liked him, Himiko needed to like him too. 

So why did this date feel like dancing on glass?

It didn’t help when suddenly, Izuku smelled nervous. Was it her? Could he tell she wasn’t having fun? She forced herself to perk up and beam a smile at him. He smiled back, but his body wriggled like he was uncomfortable.

Then the violins kicked in.

Himiko blinked, confused. That wasn’t a speaker, they were live strings that echoed. She glanced behind and saw three violinists drawing their bows over the strings, and patrons at other tables starting to look at them. She turned back, and saw Izuku had left his seat. He stood in front of her as a romantic tune screeched into her ears.

“Uraraka Ochako, I can still remember the day we first met. The UA entrance exam nine years ago when I tripped, but you caught me and prevented me from landing face first. Since then, you’ve been by my side and saving me every time I get into trouble. You are not only my beloved girlfriend, but also my hero, and I can’t imagine who I would rather spend a lifetime with.”

He went down on one knee, and terror crawled up Himiko’s throat. No, this couldn’t be happening. The violins screamed at her. Sweat dripped down her armpits, and her breathing went fast as he opened a small box in his hand.

“Uraraka Ochako, will you marry me?”

Shigaraki Tomura’s murderer proposed to her.

The whole restaurant had to be looking at them now, but she couldn’t see anything except that tiny box with a ring inside. In a movie, this would be the part where she jumped up and pulled him into a kiss. How did one act on the happiest day of their life? She tried to force her throat to move. Ochako loves him, she reminded herself, Ochako would say yes.

What would Tomura think? Spinner? Mr. Compress? Dabi? Would Twice forgive her for this? What did Toga Himiko think?

No, that didn’t matter. She opened her mouth, fighting through her thick saliva, determined to see this through and commit for Ochako’s sake, despite the dread weighing down every movement.

But her stomach lurched, and all she was able to do was vomit onto the floor.

The violins finally paused. Izuku stared, frozen, until some of the liquid seeped towards him, wetting the knee of his nice slacks. Only then did he get up with a flustered cough.

Himiko was coughing, too, saliva dripping grossly onto the floor in the aftermath. She didn’t dare to look up and face her failure.

No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t be normal. Izuku would hate her after this, wouldn’t he? He would hate her, run away, and she would be a failure but she would be free. No more dates, no more imagining how Ochako would love Izuku, just blissful, numb loneliness.

But Izuku reached for her mouth and dabbed at it with a napkin, lifting her chin up in the process so their eyes could meet.

“Are you okay?” he asked, all sincerity.

Himiko was all lies. From the beginning to the end, she led him on. The least she could do now was give him the truth for once.

She pushed him away, hating how it made his eyebrows raise. Did he believe he could salvage this?

“I… can’t,” Himiko rasped out, throat still feeling slimy.

His lip wobbled. “Can’t…?”

There was still hope in his eyes, like this could all be a big misunderstanding. For a moment, Himiko imagined blaming the oysters, claiming they made her sick, what bad timing that was, and then falling into his arms with an exuberant Yes. She could carry on this charade, propel Ochako to the apex of romance, wear a ring to show off to her friends. She would spend months or, if she was lucky, years referring to her fiance, with her friends teasing her and asking when the wedding was. She would have to plan out the wedding, the flowers, the guest list, the palette. Pink, of course. Like Ochako would want (Or would she?). Every single day guessing what Ochako’s dream wedding was. Marrying her to Izuku.

She wouldn’t survive it.

So she swallowed hard and stood up. “I can’t marry you.”

She sprinted out of the restaurant and didn’t look back.

 

---

 

Himiko spent three days in her apartment. She drank her stock of ramen cups and, when those ran out, branched into takeout delivery. She didn’t want to go out like this, but showering felt like too much effort. Especially with the mirror in her bathroom taunting her. She had turned away the broken mirror in her bedroom so it faced the wall.

People had texted and called. Izuku had called a lot, and left several messages, but she couldn’t bring herself to listen to them. She responded to a handful of texts to tell people she was fine, totally alive, just not up to having an actual conversation. News of her rejecting Izuku’s proposal had gotten out among at least some of their friends.

There was no conversation she could have with any of her friends. After all, the only one who knew the truth was herself… and Ochako, buried in Hades, perhaps forever if Himiko couldn’t get her shit together enough to rescue her for real. With Ochako and her secret locked up, Himiko was completely and utterly alone. Not even Skeptic understood the full scope of the truth, and even if he did, he was only supporting her under threat of blackmail. He would throw her under the bus the moment it was advantageous for him to do so.

Hours were spent pacing around her apartment, and even more hours buried in her couch cushions or the blankets on her bed. When she really wanted to spice things up, she took the blankets to the floor and laid down on the hard ground. She rotated plans and plots through her brain, but all of them were flawed. Her initial rescue plot was the best she could find, and now that she’d used it up, she was sure Hades would make adjustments to be resilient to future break-ins of a similar method. Coming up with one working plan was hard enough; how was she supposed to come up with two?

Himiko was just one person. She wasn’t like Momo, who came up with plans A through Z and danced between them at every setback. She wasn’t like Tenya, who knew where to find information and could organize it all flawlessly to figure out the best path forward. She wasn’t like Izuku, who could slam himself against a problem repeatedly until things worked out.

She wasn’t even Ochako.

So her attempts to plot another break in were regularly interspersed with frustrated crying sessions. Headaches chased her, and she deserved them. She would stare at the ceiling, head pounding, and imagine getting to that cell, the endpoint of her journey into Hades.

Only to be rejected by Ochako.

What was she supposed to do if Ochako refused to be saved? Even her best laid plans would fail if Ochako fought against her. But why did Ochako push her away? She was the one who reached out to her first. And surely Ochako knew that she didn’t deserve to be imprisoned forever. What had happened in prison to make her believe she belonged there?

On the third evening of her brooding, there was a knock at the door.

Since Ochako had already gotten her dinner delivery, she ignored it. After thirty seconds, there was knocking again. Resolute, she ignored it. After five minutes of the cycle, a polite three knocks around every thirty seconds, Himiko was annoyed enough to get up and at least peek through the peephole.

Tsuyu knocked again.

Himiko took a step back and hovered uncertainly. Knock, knock, knock. Regular intervals, steady as Tsuyu herself. She could spend an hour at this task, stubbornly waiting to be let in.

The only thing that gave Himiko the strength to unlock her door was imagining Ochako watching and being disappointed in her for leaving her friend out there.

So Himiko brushed her fingers back through Ochako’s hair, trying to make it slightly presentable, mustered up a smile, and unlocked the door. “Hi.”

Tsuyu nodded to her. “Can I come in?”

“I’m alright! Thanks for coming out here, but you didn’t need to worry. I’m just taking some me-time for a lil while.”

“Can I come in?” she repeated.

She didn’t know what Ochako would say, so she stepped back and let her in.

Tsuyu walked calmly into the space. Something about the way she held herself radiated a serenity that made Himiko relax slightly. Yes, it was embarrassing when Tsuyu’s eyes brushed over the garbage can, filled high enough that the lid was peeking open, clearly unchanged for too long, but she didn’t pause or make any comment. She just continued into the kitchen and started the water boiler. Though Tsuyu didn’t visit too frequently, she knew which cabinet the tea was stored in, and procured some along with two mugs.

Nothing was said as they waited for the water to boil, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. Tsuyu wasn’t the type to talk just for the sake of it—she was unafraid of the quiet, and didn’t pressure Himiko to say anything.

Once the tea was poured, and Tsuyu subtly corralled her to the couch, Himiko hoped Tsuyu wouldn’t say anything at all, and would just drink her tea and leave.

Unfortunately, after several sips, Tsuyu said, “How are you?”

“You can guess.”

“I still would enjoy hearing it from your mouth.”

Himiko clenched her mug tight. “I don’t know.”

For awhile, Tsuyu didn’t say anything, and Himiko hoped she had chosen the path of mercy and would allow them to finish their tea with no more conversation.

However, Tsuyu said, “What sort of things have you been thinking about, these past few days?”

Himiko was already sweating. Ochako would find it rude to kick her friend out of her apartment, though, so Himiko just tucked her bare feet onto the couch and avoided looking at Tsuyu as she said, “I wish I could curl into someone’s head and understand them.” Become them.

“Yeah?”

“I keep running myself in circles trying to understand, but I’m struggling to come up with answers that make sense. And knowing what little I do know, I look back on everything I’ve done and I’m just… I regret everything.”

“You didn’t think Izuku would propose?”

Himiko frowned, confused, then remembered. Right, the proposal. It’s not as though Tsuyu knew the real Ochako was rotting in prison as they spoke. She oriented, trying to align with what Tsuyu thought the issue was. “I know it’s something people do, I just didn’t think… us.”

“Why not?”

Himiko knew she was an asshole, but she appreciated Tsuyu not hurling that fact at her immediately. “We dated for three years. I loved him. He loves me. I know it should seem obvious what the next step was going to be, and in retrospect I can think of conversations where he might have gotten the idea that I… that I maybe even wanted him to propose, but… that didn’t feel real.”

Tsuyu curled in a little closer. “What didn’t feel real?”

Her mouth went dry, and she had to take another sip. “Do you promise not to judge?”

Her shoulders were so heavy, Tsuyu was so chill, and the tea so warm that she wanted to shed her guilt at her feet.

“Of course,” Tsuyu said, softly, like she was speaking to a scared animal.

Himiko lowered the mug to her lap and took a deep breath. “The whole relationship,” she admitted.

“...Didn’t feel real?”

Himiko nodded. “Which I know is stupid, but it felt more like… like a movie. I just did what I was supposed to, like I was playing a part, which I know is even stupider,”—Her words were coming fast now, a dangerous avalanche building—“and I swear I felt something, but mostly I felt like ‘Oh I should do this’, like I… I wanted to want him. I wanted to want to marry him, but when he got on his knee, and I stared at the rest of my life, and I thought about living with him, committing to him forever and ever, and never actually ever telling anyone ever what I actually feel, what I actually want, just play-acting his fiance and then his wife, I suddenly…”

Himiko turned away, embarrassed by the tears springing to her eyes. 

Tsuyu politely pretended not to see. “That makes sense.”

She clenched her eyes shut, spilling the tears from the brim. It made sense to Tsuyu as Ochako, but would she understand it as Himiko? Could she ever?

Tsuyu said, “I’ve always wondered if you were holding something back.”

Terror seized her heart. Despite all her pretending, was she so bad at playing her part that outsiders could tell she wasn’t properly Ochako? “What do you mean?”

“I know you crushed on him a long time, but you always kept a certain distance. I thought once he reciprocated and you felt comfortable and stable in your work as a pro-hero, you would let yourself fall fully in love with him, but… Even when you said you were happy, I felt like no matter what, if one day Izuku were to break up with you, you would just wake up the next day and be just fine.”

Himiko didn’t move. Tsuyu took another sip of tea.

“I apologize,” Tsuyu said. “That sounds callous. I assumed that you were just loving in your own way, and I didn’t fully understand you, but hearing your feelings now, I feel like my thoughts weren’t completely off.”

“So you could tell I was fake.”

“I didn’t say that. You said you wanted to want him, didn’t you? That’s still a real feeling. Just not the same as wanting to marry him.”

Himiko wished so much that she was real. Trying to articulate just how fake she was would be dangerous though, so she occupied herself with a long drink of the tea.

“Do you think…” Tsuyu’s next words were careful, once again speaking to an animal that might bolt at any sudden movement. “...it’s related to Izuku… being a man?”

It took a moment for her to understand the intent of the question, but when she did, she let go of her cup, and only the zero gravity she’d accidentally given it prevented it from smashing to the floor. “I’m straight.”

How could Himiko dare to assign Ochako anything else?

Tsuyu plucked the mug from the air and motioned for Himiko to take it again. Himiko pressed her fingers together to return its gravity, then took it gratefully.

Meanwhile, Tsuyu eyed her over the rim of her own mug. “Do you feel like you’re truly straight, or that you’re just supposed to be?”

“I definitely like boys.” That, at least, was no lie. “Just because I didn’t want to marry Izuku doesn’t mean I’ll never fall in love with another man.”

“And girls?”

Himiko swallowed hard. “I’m normal.”

Tsuyu kept staring at her, until Himiko felt compelled to look away.

After a pregnant pause, Tsuyu sighed and then said, “Toga Himiko.”

This time she dropped the cup for real, letting the tea spill across the floor as she stood up.

She was caught. Somehow, Tsuyu had seen through the layers of disguise to the truth at the center of all her acting.

Himiko’s mind raced. What could she do? If she wanted to survive, she should kill Tsuyu right there to make sure her secret stayed shut up forever.

But staring at Tsuyu, her friend for the past eight years who had stood by her side through so many difficulties, her heart could only waver. No, she couldn’t kill Tsuyu. Both for her own sake and Ochako’s. But how was she supposed to reconcile the lie she’d fed her all this time with the sincere feelings that had grown? Would Tsuyu even believe her?

Though Himiko thought she had gotten good at reading Tsuyu’s expressions, she found it impossible to parse the neutral expression she showed her now, simply staring up at Himiko as her breathing went fast and she panicked. She was leaving it up to Himiko to make the next move.

“How did you know?” Himiko whispered.

“It became obvious from how much you cared about Toga. Both during the war, when she was supposed to be your enemy, and you insisted that you wanted to reach out and truly understand her, and then… seeing how you’ve been since.”

As she went on, Himiko’s shoulder lowered. Somehow, her secret was safe. Then she realized what was implied, and a flush crawled up her neck to the tips of her ears. “Wait, you think I had a crush on her?”

Tsuyu looked off into the distance. “...I’m bringing up the possibility. You had some very strong feelings.”

“Not–” 

I’ll give you blood for the rest of my life.

“Not like that.”

There was no way.

Tsuyu eyed her. “You were willing to to give up your whole life to reach her heart. When she died, you changed. Subtly, but enough that I can see how much she affected you. I try to imagine you doing the same for Izuku… and I can’t.”

She wanted to say, The real Ochako would have loved Izuku properly so you wouldn’t have doubted her like this. Instead, she looked down and said, “I should clean this up.”

Tsuyu got up alongside her, even though her own cup was still half full. Together, they wiped up the floor and put away the mug which, thankfully, had only a tiny chip from the accident.

As Tsuyu sat down on the couch to continue her cup of tea, Himiko stayed standing. Now that she had a minute to compose herself, she had confidence. She would lay this ridiculous thought to rest.

“I didn’t like Himiko that way. I was just trying to save her, nothing else,” she said. “Honestly, I’m insulted you assumed I could feel that way about a villain.”

Tsuyu’s mouth twitched, but she covered her expression with her mug. After a sip, she looked up at Himiko with a sharp gaze. “I don’t know what to assume, Ochako.”

Himiko stayed standing. Maybe Tsuyu would get the hint and leave. 

But instead, Tsuyu continued with unbreaking eye contact. “I said it makes sense in retrospect, but when I first heard that you had rejected Izuku’s proposal, I was shocked. I had trusted what you said, and thought I knew the direction of your heart, but all this time… All these years, you’ve been carrying a burden, haven’t you? You’ve kept Izuku at a certain distance, and I could see from the outside that you were holding back, but now I realize that you’ve been holding back from me as well, and I… I…”

Finally, Tsuyu broke their gaze to stare down into her mug.

“You couldn’t trust me with those feelings and doubts of yours before he proposed?” Tsuyu asked, voice tight.

Himiko clenched her fists. “It’s not like that.”

Tsuyu got up. “I thought I understood you, but all the times we’ve shared, have you been pretending with me as well?”

She took a step back, terrified. “...No, of course not.”

“Izuku was confident enough in your feelings to propose, but you literally vomited at the thought. I want to be confident, but what if you secretly hate me and are just pretending we’re friends?”

Her lip wobbled. “I don’t hate you.”

“But you don’t trust me, do you?”

The silence stretched between them. Tsuyu’s eyes were rimmed red, which Himiko knew she found embarrassing. Still, Tsuyu didn’t try to hide her face from her. She was scraping herself open for her, but what could Himiko do?

Her throat felt thick. “Tsu–”

Only my friends get to call me Tsuyu.

The name turned into a sob, and Himiko curled in on herself. Tsuyu wanted to understand Ochako, so how could Himiko stand here acting like she was truly her friend? The moment she learned the truth, all of Tsuyu’s worst fears would be confirmed, and Himiko would be cast out of her life.

When Tsuyu touched her shoulder, she flinched, but Tsuyu continued and wrapped her up in her arms. Shamelessly, Himiko buried her face against her shoulder and inhaled the familiar, almost mossy scent of her body wash. Himiko probably smelled awful, but Tsuyu didn’t complain. She just held her, shaking only slightly, heart pounding in such a way that her blood pounded temptingly against her skin.

With a tilt, Himiko’s mouth could be at Tsuyu’s throat. If she could just open up and sink her teeth in, maybe Tsuyu could understand everything.

Maybe she would hate her forever.

“I just…” Tsuyu choked out. “...I can see you’re hurting, Ochako, but you’re not letting me in. Are you letting anyone in?”

Himiko gripped tight at the fabric of Tsuyu’s clothes and just continued to shake. How could she let anyone into this lifetime of lies?

“We’ve known each other for so long, can’t you lean on me? I’ve leaned on you, and you cared enough to support me, so let me do the same for you, please…”

In Tsuyu’s arms, it felt like things might become okay. Tsuyu was strong and thoughtful, if she knew Ochako was in prison, she would probably come up with a better plan to get her out.

Himiko froze, a horrible thought coming to her.

Now that Himiko was still, she could feel Tsuyu shaking with tears as well. She cared so, so much about Ochako. She would want her out. She deserved the real Ochako. If Himiko confessed to the full truth, though, who knows what would happen? Tsuyu might not trust her at all anymore, and then Ochako might never be freed.

So Himiko drew back carefully, trying to pull in long, slow breaths to calm herself. This was going to be a gamble, but Himiko was so desperate that the mere thought of it had her heart pounding with hope.

She couldn’t do this alone, she needed, no, wanted help. The help of her friends. Ochako’s friends.

“Tsuyu,” Himiko said softly, a new confidence to her mask.

Tsuyu gulped, wiped at her eyes, and looked at her.

She took a deep breath. It was now or never. Himiko opened her mouth, and made her confession.

“Toga Himiko is alive.”

For five, maybe ten seconds, Tsuyu stared at her, as though she hadn’t heard the sentence, or as though anticipating another sentence that would resolve the contradiction and make things clear. When there was nothing else, Tsuyu’s brow furrowed slightly, and her lips parted in confusion. “Huh?”

“She didn’t die back then,” Himiko explained, trying to speak slowly but struggling with how fast her heart was racing. “They faked her death, now they’re using her for experiments, and she’s been locked in a prison cell for the past eight years, and I’ve been up here, free the whole time, unaware, while she’s been suffering–”

Tsuyu patted her arms, steadying Himiko’s mania. “Wait,” she breathed out. “Hey, wait, slow down. Start at the beginning. What makes you believe this?”

She drew in a shuddering breath. “Let me show you some things.”

 

---

 

Tsuyu sat at Himiko’s spinning desk chair and clicked through the evidence on her computer as Himiko hovered behind her. “Ochako… where did you get all of this information?”

I’ve been bribing an ex-member of the Paranormal Liberation Front. “It was a source I trust, but can’t disclose.”

Tsuyu frowned. “Have you been getting involved in something dangerous?”

Himiko leaned over. Now that this was out in the open, even if it was just one thread of her web of lies, she felt emboldened. She wrapped her arms over Tsuyu’s shoulders and put a chin on her shoulder. Having a confidante, though initially terrifying, now calmed her. Since Tsuyu had seen the evidence, there was no way she could escape this whirlwind that Himiko had been subject to.

Tsuyu was in her web now.

“I’m doing what I have to do to save her,” Himiko murmured.

“So you are.”

Himiko squeezed tighter. “So what if I am?”

Tsuyu brought up a hand and placed it delicately on Himiko’s forearm. Not pulling it away—just resting, as though confirming she was really there. “There’s no way for this to end well. Hades is a government building, and if the HPSC is involved the way you say they are… there’s not really a judicial appeal we can make through legal channels. Whistleblowing is dangerous, depending on how far up this goes, we could be crushed. Unless we can publicize this before it’s stopped…”

Himiko spun the chair around, making Tsuyu face her. She put both hands on her shoulders. “No.”

Tsuyu stared up at her, breath held.

“If it goes public, Himiko’s probably going back to prison basically immediately. After all that time trapped, she deserves to go free. If the public knows she’s alive, that gets difficult. If they don’t… she can fade away.”

Though Himiko would trade places with Ochako if that had been a convenient option, if she was going to save her and break her out, she might as well take the chance to slink away once Ochako was back in her proper place.

Tsuyu said, “Even if we imagine that Toga will be willing to live quietly, if this prison is doing this sort of thing, we should make it public at some point to prevent it from continuing with other people.”

She considered it for a moment, but her thoughts were jumbled up. Everything depended on getting Ochako out first. 

Himiko pulled back and stood straight. “Let’s get her out, and see how she feels. If she wants to live quietly, or is willing to come forward about what happened to her.”

“You really think a break-in is plausible?”

“With you? Yes.”

Tsuyu stewed a minute. No, that hesitation wouldn’t do.

Himiko got on her knees. She felt shameful making Ochako’s body do this, but this was all for her sake. She wrapped her arms around Tsuyu’s calves and rested her chin on her knees. “Please, Tsuyu? I need you. I’ve tried, but I can’t do it on my own. With you, though, I feel like anything is possible.”

Her eyebrows raised a millimeter. “You’ve tried?”

Himiko pressed her cheek against her knee and gave her most innocent expression. “I was disguised. They didn’t catch me. But I learned more about how things work and the outline of the prison itself, at least.”

Tsuyu closed her eyes and took several long, deep breaths. She didn’t kick Himiko away, though, so Himiko thought things were going well.

“I can’t leave her there,” Himiko reminded her.

“I know,” Tsuyu said between deep breaths.

There was a minute of quiet. Himiko stayed on the floor, clinging to her, just in case that would change anything.

Finally, Tsuyu said, “We’re going to need a bigger team.”

Himiko jumped up, her heart in her throat. “That’s too risky–”

“What’s risky is diving in all on your own with no backup. Even with me… I’m a lot of things, Ochako, but I’m not experienced with this. You seem to believe I can help, and here’s how I’ll help—by bringing in people who could feasibly pull this off.”

She shifted on her feet, uncertain. “We’ll have to trust them.”

“We will,” she reassured her. “Come on, step one of our plan: Pull in the allies we need to make this a success.”

Notes:

Apologies for any typos with posting, I'm watching Rocky Horror Picture Show now which keeps distracting me from posting XD

Chapter 16: Stop to smell the strawberries

Summary:

Previously on Proposals Gone Wrong: Himiko rushed to her third year anniversary date with Izuku, where he proposed to her. She vomited from stress, and told him that she couldn't marry him before running away. After sequestering herself in her room for several days, feeling miserable and struggling to come up with a viable plan to rescue Ochako (again), Tsuyu came to visit. Tsuyu talked to her about Izuku, and confronted her about hiding her feelings. After some discussion, Himiko revealed that Toga Himiko is alive.... and claimed she was trapped in Hades. Tsuyu agreed to help her save "Toga Himiko" from Hades, and said that the first step would be bringing in other friends who can help.

Notes:

Lol there is no official schedule for this fic, but I'll admit I updated a few days later than I intended...... and you can blame Stardew Valley for that. I ended up picking it up again recently..... and ngl it's addictive XD.

Momo made Himiko and Tsuyu a cup of tea. Her method was significantly fancier than Himiko’s, involving a tea kettle that could heat to specific temperatures beyond just boiling, and a proper tea strainer with loose tea leaves. Already aware of their preferences, Momo slipped a bit of cream into Himiko’s tea, and added nothing to Tsuyu’s. They sat at a low table, on cushions.

“Thank you for visiting,” Momo said. “I’m sorry Kyouka’s not here—there’s a Your Physical Platonic concert tonight that she and Bakugo just had to attend.”

That was on purpose. Himiko tried to meet Tsuyu’s eyes, but she just sipped at her tea serenely. The other night, when Himiko had spilled out the almost-full truth to Tsuyu, they worked on a plan together.

“Momo first. If anyone’s smart enough to figure out a plan, it’s her. Plus, her quirk will allow us to get whatever tools we need without leaving a paper trail.”

Himiko hesitated. “She’s very sensible and defers to authority, she might try to stop us.”

“We’ll both approach her. She trusts authority, but she’s susceptible to peer pressure. If we both speak with her, especially if Kyouka’s not there to immediately talk her out of getting involved, we have a good chance of getting her on our side. And once she’s committed to us, she’ll loop in Kyouka, and come up with a plan that’ll help us decide the next people to tell or steps to take.”

Now in Momo and Kyouka’s apartment with just her target, Himiko smiled and said, “It’s alright, I’m happy to talk even just to you. The truth is… I have some kind of heavy things to talk about.”

Momo’s eyebrows raised slightly. “You can always talk to me.”

Tsuyu stepped in then. “If there was something going on with a larger organization, something high-up that might be difficult for a pro-hero to hear, and might require keeping secrets from the authorities you would normally cooperate with… would you want to know?”

She frowned, thinking hard. Himiko held her breath—this was dipping the toes in, and if the response wasn’t good, they would have to scrap this direction.

Thankfully, Momo put a hand on her chest and said, “If there’s something going on that you guys want to share, I trust your intentions. I promise to keep an open mind.”

Himiko brought out her laptop. “We need to show you some things.”

 

---

 

By the end, Momo was very quiet.

Tsuyu and Himiko both stayed quiet as well, allowing her time to think.

“But… faking someone’s death and then using them like that’s illegal,” Momo eventually said. “...I think?”

Tsuyu put down her teacup. “Toga’s status as a villain complicates her rights. Clearly, the HPSC has found some sort of justification to keep her a secret down there.”

“Well the connection to the HPSC is still somewhat circumstantial. They might fund that lab, but they don’t necessarily know where that lab is getting their samples from. And you don’t think Hawks knows, do you?” Momo said haltingly. “Maybe if we talk to him…”

Himiko held back from hissing, and instead said, “We can’t risk telling him. If he’s aware and involved, then telling him we know will dash our ability to save her.”

“But if he doesn’t know, surely he would help us legally–”

“If there’s even a chance it could jeopardize her rescue, I can’t risk it. I refuse to fail to save her again.”

Momo closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The tea had gone cold, but she took a sip. Once she put the teacup down, she leveled them both with a steady gaze.

“...Okay.”

Himiko perked up. “Okay?”

“I’m going to need some time to think on this. And I’ll want to tell Kyouka, of course.”

Tsuyu nodded. “Of course.”

“I didn’t see the prison layout in any of the documents you shared with me, but Ochako, you broke in once, so I’m going to need you to illustrate as much as you saw while in there. If we’re lucky, Toga will still be in the same cell, but since you’ve gone there once, they might move her, and we’ll have to guess where the options could be. If we bring Shouto in, we can gather some more of the layout from him visiting his brother.”

Himiko tugged at her lip. “Should we trust him?”

Tsuyu said, “If we tell him explicitly it needs to be a secret, he’ll respect that. And although he’s highly-ranked as a pro-hero, he’s blasé about authority, so I don’t think he’ll struggle morally with hiding things from them.”

“Right,” Momo confirmed. “So you two will help me build as much layout as you can, as a starting point. In the meantime, I’m going to consider what kind of break in plans are feasible.”

Hearing Momo’s confident voice laying out the next steps was a balm to the nervous flurry in her gut. Momo was reliable, and having her on the case made the storm of panic that had possessed Himiko for so long finally calm down. She wasn’t alone—her friends would be right alongside her.

Until they saved Ochako, and Himiko would have to bow out.

But for now, she would make the most of her final heist with them. They were some of the best teammates a girl could ask for, and with them by her side she regained her own confidence.

They were going to rescue Ochako, no matter what.

 

---

 

This time, Spinner opened the door to his apartment fully with a sigh. “What now?” he asked.

“Can I come in?”

He raised an eyebrow. “What are you, a vampire?”

He turned before he could see her smile fall, but he left the door open. She stepped in and closed it behind her.

The apartment was no better than the last time she saw it. Takeout containers everywhere. At least the trashcan lid was fully closed, suggesting the trash had been taken out since she last visited, but there were some new stains on the floor.

Spinner turned to her with arms crossed. “So?”

“You went against society,” she said.

His eyes narrowed.

“You went on the run, spent months with villains. You went through multiple huge battles. You led armies. You were Shigaraki Tomura’s right-hand man.”

He shifted, but puffed up his chest at her admiring tone. “Yeah, I guess I did.”

“You’re powerful. Strong. Bold.”

He shrugged, cheeks darkening. “I mean, if you really think so…”

“Will you go grocery shopping with me?”

Spinner froze. That pride dropped into a moment, eyes going so wide his pupils were pinpricks, before he coughed and looked away. “The fuck?”

“Let’s go grocery shopping together.”

“I got that part, but why the fuck?”

She went to his fridge just in case to take stock of his situation. It was as bare as last time she was there. “I visited Mr. Compress in prison.”

It took Spinner several seconds to respond, but he said, “I saw you.”

Her head jerked up.

“On the news,” he clarified. “It was a pretty big event. And knowing Mr. Compress was in there had me worried until the news confirmed that nobody died.”

Did you know the person who caused that whole disaster was in your discord? “I was there because I was curious as to how he was doing. After meeting you… it was such a relief to talk about Himiko with someone who understood. I wanted to face another League member properly.”

She opened his cabinets. The bag of rice she left last time was still there, almost empty. When it was available, he had made at least some rice for himself.

“When I asked him what he missed, he said grocery shopping. He dreams about it, apparently. Said he didn’t appreciate it enough while he had the opportunity.”

Spinner didn’t say anything as she checked the last cabinet and confirmed the dismal state of his pantries.

She turned to face him. “Since you got out, have you been to the grocery store?”

He avoided her eyes, and spoke so softly it was almost a mumble. “I’ve been to the convenience store sometimes.”

“That’s similar!” She said, smiling. “If you can do a convenience store, a grocery store isn’t much different.”

“There’s way more people. More people who can recognize me.”

“Spinner, you’ve faced death and came out unscathed. If someone happens to think they recognize you, I believe you can handle it.”

He bristled. “Iguchi.”

“Hmm?”

“I’m not ‘Spinner’ anymore. That’s… that’s my villain name, and those days are behind me. Call me Iguchi.”

Something twisted in her gut at him turning away from that name he chose that everyone in the League had used, but she kept on a smile and said. “Alright, Iguchi. You ready to face the grocery store?”

He crossed his arms. “I don’t know what I’d even buy.”

“I’ll share the recipe for that curry I made you!” Himiko said with a smile, pulling out her phone. “We can get the ingredients for that, then we can make it together. Maybe some snacks, too!”

Despite her enthusiasm, Spinner stepped back. “I don’t need to.”

“Come on, I’ll make it fun!” Himiko promised. “We’ll be so quick about it.”

“Why do you even care?”

“I promised Mr. Compress I’d go grocery shopping with you,” she lied.

He grit his teeth. “Did you tell him a lot about me?”

“Not really. Should I have?”

“No, he… he doesn’t need to know how I’ve been living.”

“He complimented your book, though.”

Spinner scratched the back of his head. “...Okay.”

Ochako tapped on her phone. “I found the recipe—what’s your phone number? I’ll send it to you.”

He hesitated.

Himiko knew she was being weird. Still, Mr. Compress’s words spun through her head, and every time she thought too long about what would happen to Spinner once Ochako was back in her place, her heart clenched. Maybe for now, she could deliver him some meals and visit him so he didn’t rot in silence, only able to reach out to people through a screen. But what would happen once Ochako was back, Himiko had to slink off into anonymity, and Spinner no longer had a friend looking out for him? She wanted, no, needed him to be okay. To be capable of leaving his apartment without stress and managing essential chores.

So she kept smiling towards him expectantly, ignoring the slightly disturbed expression on his face, until eventually he surrendered and gave her his number.

“Alright, let’s go!” She declared.

“Wait!” he waved his arms. “Isn’t this too weird? I mean, you’re a pro-hero, and I’m…”

She raised an eyebrow. “You’re gonna let society tell you who you can associate with and where you can go?”

He leaned on one foot, then the other, then said, “At least let me get changed first.”

 

---

 

Spinner walked alongside her in a hoodie and sunglasses. He deigned to carry the grocery basket while Himiko led them through the store and down the aisles. He was quiet, occasionally twitching nervously and looking around, but Himiko kept the mood late by chatting idly about the weather, what was on sale, and then the strawberries in the produce section.

“Oooh, strawberries are cute, aren’t they? Do you like the taste?”

“...Sure. Who doesn’t?”

Himiko picked up a package, brought it up close to her face and sniffed.

“Hey, the fuck?” Spinner hissed.

She pouted. “Mr. Compress said you have to sniff strawberries to choose the best ones. They have to smell fresh.”

Spinner frowned, but picked up a package himself and gave it a sniff. Meanwhile, Himiko put down hers and picked up another to smell.

He sniffed another, then tilted his head. “...What does it even mean to smell fresh?”

She giggled. “Is it bad if I don’t really know?”

Still, she picked up another package and gave it a game sniff. It sure smelled like strawberries! Just like the rest of them.

Spinner cracked a smile. “You look ridiculous.”

She shrugged and put the last one she’d grabbed into the basket. “Maybe all of them just smell great today. That means it doesn’t matter which one we get!”

“Come on,” Spinner urged her. “Once we get the vegetables for the curry, we can get out, right?”

She grinned and continued down the lines of colorful fruits and vegetables. “Yup! Almost done, you hanging in there?”

His shoulders raised up, and he glanced back conspicuously. “I think those people over there were staring at me.”

“Well good thing they can’t do shit to you.”

Still, she allowed him to hurry through the last of the list, just grabbing whatever they needed without lingering to find the best particular vegetable in each pile. Soon they had to go pay, but Spinner hung back as she beelined for a cashier.

“Maybe we could do the self-checkout?” he asked.

“Is a Paranormal Liberation Front ex-general afraid of a cashier?” she goaded.

His chest puffed up, and he marched to the first open cashier with a stiff lip. Himiko followed behind, grinning as he put his groceries on the belt.

“Hello, how are you today?” The cashier said.

Spinner froze suddenly, mouth open, like his words got stuck halfway through his throat.

After two, maybe three seconds, Himiko jumped in with a “Good, how are you?”

The cashier said, “Good, do you have a rewards card?”

Spinner still stayed awkwardly quiet, so Himiko said, “No, sorry.”

“Would you like one?”

She gave a few seconds for Spinner to jump in, but since he didn’t, Himiko said, “Mmm, not today, no thank you.”

Soon, everything was bagged. The ingredients for curry, a new bag of rice, strawberries, and a few snacks Spinner had picked out. Though Himiko had started to pull out her card, Spinner jumped to pay first. She didn’t fight it—it was his groceries, after all.

“Have a good day!” The cashier said.

Finally, as he picked up the bags and turned, Spinner was able to choke out a, “You too.”

He power walked out immediately, and Himiko had to hurry to keep pace with him. Once they were out of the store, his shoulders lowered slightly in the fresh air. Himiko bounded up beside him and said, “Yay! First grocery shop together: Done!”

“It’s not a big deal,” he grumbled.

Himiko could still smell his nervous sweat even through the sweatshirt.

“Totally,” she said. “Now, let’s go make some tasty curry!”

 

---

 

After giving him some quick knife tips, Himiko fluttered around the kitchen to prepare the rice, the pot, and more while he cut the vegetables.

“Did I seem weird?” Spinner asked suddenly. “Like, to that cashier?”

She laughed lightly. “Just shy. You’re fine, she sees hundreds of people a day, I’m sure, and doesn’t think that hard about any one person.”

For a minute, the only noises were his knife against the cutting board, and the pleasant tune from the rice cooker as it started up.

Then Spinner said, “In prison, I saw the same people every day. I got used to them, and kind of got to know how to talk to them. But now, every time I go anywhere, there’s so many people. So many strangers, and girls acting all scarily perky when I’m just trying to buy a few things… How do people handle it? People go out every single day and talk to so many people, even strangers… and they don’t get tongue-tied like an idiot at any basic conversation.”

“You’re not tongue-tied with me.”

“I’m used to you now.”

“You’ll get used to strangers eventually. All it takes is practice.”

“Practice fucking sucks. Fuck!”

Iron blossomed in the air. Himiko salivated.

“Fuck,” Spinner repeated, quieter this time. “I cut myself.”

Himiko breathed shallowly and asked, “Do you have bandaids?”

“Uh…”

“I think I have some in my bag. Give me a sec…”

He ran his finger under the sink as Himiko went to the bag she brought along and dug through for one of the bandaids buried among the dozens of random essentials. By the time she got back to the kitchen, Spinner had rinsed the blood off his finger. Still the smell lingered, warm but slightly sharp. If she grabbed his hand, she could suck up the blood faster than he could pull back.

She tamped down that ridiculous urge, swallowed hard, then wrapped the bandaid around his wound. “Good as new!” she said, trying to think of anything else.

“Thanks,” he muttered. “Sorry I’m shitty at even cutting vegetables…”

“Like talking to strangers, it just takes practice!”

He sighed. “There’s not really a good way to practice that.”

“Sure there is! Talking to cashiers and stuff.”

He shook his head. “It’s way too much. It’s meeting someone new every time, I don’t know them, but they might know me, and I don’t know how they feel about me, and it’s every single time? If I tried to practice that for real, I’d go crazy.”

She hummed. “Well, maybe you’d do better with a situation where you meet the same people each time? Like a club? Then there’s also a structure and stuff, so the pressure is off. You could focus on the activity.”

He scoffed. “What club is going to accept an ex-villain like me?”

“There’s got to be some. Hey, maybe you’ll join a club that has another ex-villain, and they’ll be relieved to see you walk through the door, like ‘Thank goodness, I’m not the only one’.”

“...I don’t even know what kind of club I’d join.”

“Since you’re a comic artist, I bet any art club would love to have you. Or maybe a martial arts club would be cool! And of course book clubs literally just require you to read a book…”

“It’s a lot,” he dismissed, bristling again.

Himiko decided she did enough work today by planting the seed—trying to pressure him now might increase his stress about it to the point where he would push it away. “Alright, let’s finish this curry. This is the next step…”

Notes:

The "sniff the strawberries" thing is based on something my roommate does. She's always sniffing strawberries in the grocery store XD (but she's right, I think)

Chapter 17: The sound of a broken heart

Summary:

Previously on The Power of Friendship: Tsuyu persuaded Himiko to share the "Toga Himiko is in Hades and I want to break her out" situation with Momo. Momo agreed to help, but wanted time to think through a plan and share it with Kyouka. Himiko went to visit Spinner, and encouraged him to go grocery shopping with her. Even though he was anxious, he successfully grocery shopped with her, and while cooking curry together shared some of his struggles with practicing being social now that he's no longer in prison.

Notes:

Plz clap I finally got vaccinated (for both the flu and covid-19... #DoubleVaxxed). My arms are kinda sore now, but I feel relieved to have finally done it.

Himiko lounged on Skeptic’s minimalist couch. Though the fabric of it was glossy, the actual couch itself was uncomfortable as hell, and she wondered if he ever actually sat in it or if it was all for decoration. Since it felt like shit, she held no qualms about tucking her feet, still in shoes, onto the cushions. Beside her, Skeptic’s fingers twitched over his keyboard, but he knew better than to tell her to stop.

So he continued, pointing out the relevant sections on the computer screen. “...So as you can see, my program was able to access all the messages exchanged over that closed network, alongside the medical notes and data stored within the connected systems. I’ve done some frequency analysis on the messages to build a typical schedule for guard rotations and prisoner sampling. Although every prisoner has some sort of medical professional on their case, only about ten percent have anything indicating that those professionals are pulling samples… and from there, I don’t have access to the next steps.”

The screen was dense with text. “Next steps?”

“It’s clear they need these samples for something, but although they do some baseline testing and experimentation in-house, messages about deliveries and such make clear that a majority of the development occurs off-site, probably in a specialized lab with room for more intensive equipment.”

The Novel Heroic Advancements Laboratory, most likely. She frowned, leaning forward. On the screen, she saw Todoroki Touya. “What kind of details are there about Dabi?”

Skeptic’s hands hovered. “...You’re interested in him, too?”

Himiko didn’t have to answer the question. Pro-hero Uravity could demand whatever info she wanted from Skeptic. “What do his medical notes say?”

He clicked around, pulling them up. “It’s gross as hell. There’s some hypotheses in there about what exactly happened when he tried to blow up during that war, but it’s clear there was some sort of unique activation that brought out his latent ice quirk. But obviously, quirks aren’t carbon-copies of your parents—his fire side hurts him, but his ice side… Well, according to the notes, his doctor suspects it’s what’s causing some unexpected healing.”

Her spine went straight. “Healing? But he’s been in almost the same state for years, according to his family.”

“His doctor pulls samples every week wherever there’s been ‘excessive’ healing. Because of that, he remains reliant on the additional life support that Hades offers, and so there’s never any reason to transfer him out.”

She kept her breathing steady. She tried not to imagine Dabi unconscious, unaware of his own capacity to heal, waking up to the same monotony of the previous day for eight years. He found his own way to cope with his poetry, sure, but this whole time… what if he didn’t have to live like that?

“Pretty fucked up,” Skeptic said with a shrug. “But hey, what can you expect from the government? He’s a villain, and so this is his fate. Isn’t this the natural endstate of the hero society you’re a part of?”

Himiko lowered her voice. “Don’t forget who has the blackmail here.”

He clicked his tongue, but dropped it. “So I’m guessing you want all of this as well?”

“Obviously.”

He pulled out a flash drive shaped like a gorilla’s face. “All on here. I sorted out the mess of data so even a noob could navigate it. Most the juicy stuff and my summary analyses should be obvious, but there’s a few folders for the raw data too.”

She pocketed the flash drive. Although she wanted to flee as soon as she had Ochako freed, having evidence that could be used to address Dabi’s situation would be invaluable. “Good work.”

He snorted. “I don’t do this for your praise.”

Himiko rolled her eyes. That’s what she got for showing a modicum of instinctual manners.

 

---

 

Himiko, Momo, and Shouto all sat on the tatami floor, surrounding the low table in the Todoroki living room. Shouto’s father lived in the other building, Shouto’s mother was out with a friend, and Fuyumi was out at a book club, so they had the whole house to themselves.

Meaning Shouto was the only one who learned the truth of ‘Toga’ being alive in the prison where his brother was being held.

“...I see,” was the first thing he said.

They went back and forth quietly. Himiko shared the details she could of Dabi’s state in there, the fact that he might be healing, prevented from recovering due to frequent sampling, but admitted there was a lot she didn’t know. Shouto listened carefully, face unchanging as she also detailed their intention to break in and rescue ‘Toga’.

Momo cut in, then. “To increase our chances of success, we are mapping out as much of Hades as we can. Would you be willing to write or draw out everything you’ve seen of the building in your time as a regular visitor?”

“Yes, I can do that.” He stared down at the table for a bit before meeting their eyes. “When it comes to Touya… I don’t want him in a place like that.”

Himiko held her breath.

“Still, even if there is something regenerative going on that they’ve hidden from us, it’s obvious that in the state he’s currently in, he needs that life support. Breaking him out and trying to hide or run with him is risky. Things are stable right now; we have a routine to visit him regularly, but… Do you suppose that Toga would be willing to testify about what’s going on there? Maybe we could get him out safely.”

She breathed out, forcing a gentle smile. “Once we get her out, let’s ask.”

I’m not planning to stick around.

Though Himiko didn’t want Dabi to stay in there either, she didn’t dare remain close once she was finally free of being Ochako. She would leave plenty of evidence for Shouto and the others to make a case against the prison, even without her.

After wrapping things up, the three of them parted. Shouto saw them off at the door, but Momo and Himiko walked alone to the gate at the end of the property. Himiko started to open the gate, but then it was opened by someone else on the other side.

Her pulse spiked at Hawks’ face.

“...for walking me home. Oh!”

Fuyumi’s voice made the blood rushing to Himiko’s head calm slightly. Hawks was there, but there was no particular suspicion visible in his gaze.

“Momo, Ochako, what brings you here?” Fuyumi asked.

Thankfully, Momo responded in an extremely normal way. “We were spending some time together with Shouto. It’s been hard to find time recently, but fortunately our schedules finally aligned.”

Hawks said, “A fun coincidence! I’d stay to chat, but I believe I’ve taken up more than enough of lovely Fuyumi’s precious time, and I promised Endeavor I’d swing by.”

Fuyumi smiled at him. “I’m sure he’ll enjoy the company.”

Soon Hawks was off to the separate building on the premise, while Momo and Ochako were left alone with Fuyumi.

“...You hang out with Hawks?” Ochako asked.

“I just bumped into him on my way back from book club. He’s Dad’s colleague, and supportive of Shouto’s career, so he’s certainly friendly enough to say hello to me, but hmm…”

“Hmm?”

She sighed. “It’s nothing. Worrying is my habit.” She beamed a smile. “Did you guys have fun with Shouto?”

“Of course.”

“It’s always a pleasure to spend time with him,” Momo chimed in.

Fuyumi’s eyes softened. “Thank you both for being his friends. You’re welcome to visit anytime.”

They parted with no particular fanfare, but there was a slimy feeling in Himiko’s gut. She hadn’t been prepared to see Hawks while in the middle of her putting together the pieces to infiltrate Hades again.

A hand slipped into hers, Momo still walking alongside her. Himiko barely held back from jumping in surprise.

“Ochako,” Momo said, squeezing her hand. “I promise you, I will do my best. You aren’t alone, all of us are going to work together.”

Tension unfurled, and Himiko found herself genuinely smiling. “Thank you.”

 

---

 

Momo spread the map out on her low table. Beside her, Kyouka sipped at a teacup. Himiko sat attentively beside Tsuyu and Shouto as Momo waved her hands over the theoretical schematics of Hades and the surrounding area. Parts were illustrated in detail, but others were vague and undefined—the sections neither Himiko nor Shouto had ever been.

“So we build our base in this section here on the outskirts—it should be far enough that the construction won’t be audible from Hades. We start with a small base underground with a hidden entrance, where we can gather, store materials, and consolidate our plans. We approach it from the east where we won’t encounter any main roads. It’s a bit of a trek, but better safe than sorry. Now here’s a key part…”

She brought out another sheet of paper, this one a blueprint of some sort.

“This is my initial plan for the underground bore. I still need to consult with Hatsume Mei to refine the design—we chat on occasion, and she’s always happy to help…”

“Is there a risk of her leaking info?” Himiko asked. “Like if the authorities find the machine, and go asking around if anyone recognizes it…”

“I’ll tell her to be discreet, or that it’s for a very sensitive special mission. So long as I give her direct instruction not to share with anyone aside from myself, she’s capable of keeping a secret, even without telling her the full story as to what we’re doing with it.”

The trust in Momo’s eyes was so blinding that Himiko had to look down, pretending to be interested in the blueprint.

Must be nice.

“The main difficulty I’m facing is the full logistics of building a tunnel that goes all the way from here to Hades, hopefully underneath Toga’s cell. We’re going to need labor, plus somewhere to put all the dirt and rocks that we’ll be removing, and a subtle way to transport them.”

Shigaraki’s face filled Himiko’s head. If he were around, getting rid of debris would have been nothing. Or even Mr. Compress would have been helpful to marble the dirt and remove it easily.

“The five of us aren’t going to be enough. We don’t just need to dig, we need to set up support frames underground along the way so the tunnel doesn’t collapse on us, which adds a ton of labor hours. The five of us all have full-time work already. Sure, we can squeeze in some hours each week, but overall, it could take a year…”

Kyouka leaned on the table. “What Momo’s getting at is that we need to bring more people in.”

Himiko’s shoulders raised. “The more people know, the riskier it gets.”

“The more people know, the more support we can get,” Kyouka countered.

Tsuyu placed a hand on the table, subtly reaching for Himiko. Himiko took the offered hand, trying to calm herself with the cool skin. Tsuyu said, “Let’s discuss our options, then decide. Momo, do you have any particular recommendations?”

“To start with, in terms of pure bulk, Satou, Shouji, Ojiro and Kirishima are all good candidates. Kouda could be useful with his ability to command forest animals. We could set up animal scouts to come alert us if anyone comes near. Mina’s acidic quirk might also come in handy if we can–”

“Not Mina,” Himiko said, perhaps too fast.

The others looked at her, frowning.

“I… I don’t think she has a good impression of Toga. I think it’s better if she’s not involved. Besides, she’s been getting pretty close with the HPSC. We probably shouldn’t include any HPSC employees who might struggle to hide this from them.”

Momo sighed. “We have to think of some method to get rid of the debris. Ochako, you could make it lighter for people to carry, but since your quirk only works on one thing at a time it’ll take a long time to activate on a bunch of loose dirt, and we’d still need people to carry it away. It’s not as though we can make it take itself away…”

“Wait,” Himiko said. “What if it could?”

Shigaraki was gone, but there were others she could use.

“I know someone with a quirk that allows him to turn objects into puppet people. So if we pulled out some dirt, compacted it a bit, maybe it could count as an object? So if he turns it into a puppet, he could tell the dirt to walk to wherever you want to dispose of it.”

Momo hummed. “Do you trust him?”

He was already involved. “Yes.”

“...What is his level of control over the puppets? Do you suppose he could use them to help build the structures we need?”

Though Himiko had seen Skeptic use his puppets before, and they seemed capable of following commands, she wasn’t sure how complex or precise he could get. “I’ll ask him.”

Momo nodded. “Alright. So if we can get the labor and transport figured out, we can keep digging. We’ll have a team focus on digging the first large hole that will be the entrance and base, then I’ll spend some time producing and building the components we need for the tunnel borer. Kyouka will lead the direction—by putting her earjacks into the earth and sending vibrational pulses, she can determine the earth composition and make sure we don’t drill into any huge rock formations, and identify when we approach any underground structures. Others will operate the borer, build out the wall supports, and remove dirt on a day-to-day basis. I think it’s worth seeing what kind of materials for the tunnel walls we can smuggle into the woods without arousing suspicions, but I’ll be able to produce at least some of it directly from my body to avoid any odd purchasing history from any of us.”

“And once we get underneath Toga’s cell?”

“We’ll want the rescue team kept as small as possible. If the worst happens and we get caught, we need to minimize the immediate risks of people getting caught. Ochako, I assume you’ll want to be in that final rescue team?”

Himiko nodded, determined.

“Unfortunately, Kyouka is going to also have to be on that final team. I’ll create a laser or drill, depending on the composition of the prison’s underground structures, that you can use to quickly open up the floor to Toga’s cell. However, to make sure that you don’t drill into the wrong area or accidentally stab Himiko, Kyouka will use her vibrational pulsing to figure out what’s above you. Once she gives the okay, you can create an opening, extract her, and hurry through the tunnels to escape.”

Himiko glanced towards Kyouka, hesitant. She had been pretty quiet through this meeting, but there was nothing on her face. She didn’t smell angry at being put in one of the most dangerous positions one could have in this operation, but Himiko found the calm expression hard to read.

Tsuyu said, “So what we actually need to do: Let’s contact a few of the people you mentioned, bring them in and prep them for the operation. Momo, let us know how your consultation with Hatsume goes and whether we need to adjust the plan. Anything else?”

People glanced at each other, and soon Tsuyu opened her mouth to declare the meeting over…

But then Shouto said, “I have a request, but it’s not exactly related to this operation. I know we have some medical notes about how they’re taking care of Touya, but I want to know what they’re doing with the samples. Is there any way to figure that out?”

Tsuyu tilted towards Himiko. “The samples are sent to another lab, we would have to split off a whole other operation…”

Shouto went quiet, and for a moment she saw Dabi’s brooding expression on his face.

“Maybe,” Himiko said slowly. “I’ll see what I can do.”

Momo stood up. “Pardon me, but I need to get ready for a merchandising meeting soon. Can we adjourn?”

Everyone else got up as well and exchanged farewells. Momo went off to get changed for her meeting, and Kyouka walked the rest of them to the door. Himiko was ready to leave with Tsuyu and Shouto, but Kyouka grabbed her wrist at the threshold.

“Can I take a little more of your time?” Kyouka asked.

Tsuyu glanced back, but Himiko just smiled and waved her off. “Go on without me.” She turned to Kyouka. “Of course, what’s up?”

The door closed behind her. It was just Kyouka and Himiko in the small hall that comprised the entrance, where shoes were removed.

Kyouka stared her down and said, “Momo is too polite to say this, so I’ll say it: This is crazy.”

Himiko’s smile dropped. Tsuyu had pinned Momo correctly, identifying that she would be willing to bend the rules for the sake of her friends and thus was an ideal person to bring into the fold. Unfortunately, involving Momo had to mean involving Kyouka as well.

Kyouka wasn’t as much of a stickler for authority, but she wasn’t going to be swept away by the mere desire to help her friends either. Where Momo saw dozens of potential plans for any mission, Kyouka pinpointed all the probabilities of failure and the consequences thereof. Their agency was a powerhouse thanks to their complementary styles, but Himiko wasn’t interested in being held back.

Though the women who had gone through UA together were generally close, out of all the girls in her class, Himiko had found Kyouka the most distant and difficult to handle.

“Even if we somehow pull this off, what happens after?” Kyouka asked. “There’s still a risk of detectives figuring out who did the prison break. It’s inevitable we’ll be leaving some sort of evidence behind. Not to mention the fact that…”

Himiko breathed through her nose. Despite her criticism, her scent remained mostly calm.

“Well, Toga is a villain. Squirreling a person away underground and pretending they’re dead certainly isn’t good, but when it comes to a villain, is it worth taking this kind of risk? She’s supposed to be in prison anyway.”

“Nobody deserves to be locked away. I can’t even visit her.”

If Himiko had truly gone to prison, and Ochako knew where she was, she had no doubt she would have at least pushed to visit her, if nothing else. 

Kyouka ran a hand through her bangs, sighing. “What I’m trying to say is… What are you going to do with her when she gets out? Surely you’re not just going to set a killer on the loose.”

Himiko chewed on her lip, trying to decide what the right answer might be to keep Kyouka on this team.

Her eyebrow raised. “So you don’t have a plan?”

Himiko settled on, “I will take responsibility for her.”

Kyouka groaned, ran a hand over her face, and stared at the ceiling.

Himiko’s gut twisted at the expression. There was a plan and everything now, things were supposed to be slotting into place. If Kyouka turned fully against it, it would only be a matter of time before Momo was unable to continue helping as well.

“So you won’t help?” Himiko dared to ask.

She let out a long breath, then breathed back in. “Do you truly think it is worth trying to save her? In spite of everything she’s done? And the risks of releasing her?”

“Yes, absolutely.” 

Kyouka leaned back against the wall, as though she exhausted herself just thinking about this. “I still think this is the stupidest mission I’ve ever heard. You’re not only putting yourself, but lots of your friends at risk. I should stop this, force Momo to pull out, and maybe even report the crazy stuff you’ve apparently already done in pursuit of Toga, but…” She stared out at nothing, not looking at Himiko but beyond her. “...I’ve tried to imagine what it would be like if I knew Momo had been buried in a prison for eight years unknown to me. Even if Momo had hurt people, even if she somehow did something that deserved it… Nothing else would matter to me. I would endanger anyone and everyone, including myself, to get her out of that kind of hell.”

Himiko stiffened. Although she was glad to hear Kyouka coming to her side, it felt irresponsible to allow a misconception to flourish without Ochako here. “Um. But you and Momo are like… not like Toga and me.”

Her gaze sharpened, meeting Himiko’s eyes. “I can hear heartbeats when I focus my earjacks, and different people have different heartbeats. The valves, chambers, and blood pressure for each individual create subtle, audible differences.”

A new fear crawled up Himiko’s spine. She eyed Kyouka more carefully. “So?”

“We were classmates for a year before the war, and along the way, I got to know your heart. In a crowd, I could plug into the ground and find where you were. A steady, healthy thud. And then… after Toga died, it changed.”

Himiko held her breath.

“Her death affected you deeply enough that… I can’t help but feel that for the past eight years I’ve been hearing your broken heart.”

She let out her breath. Safe, for now. “I got injured in the fight, that probably affected it.”

Kyouka crossed her arms. “And when you learned Toga was alive, you just so happened to decide to break up with Izuku?”

“...It’s complicated.”

Momo stepped into the hall. “Ochako? You’re still here?”

Both Himiko and Kyouka put on a smile. “Just heading out.”

Chapter 18: Camie's Vampire Kink: Origin

Summary:

Previously on Plots and Schemes: After talking to Skeptic, Himiko learned that Dabi and "Toga" both had their samples being sent to a separate laboratory for testing, which she suspected to be the NHAL (Novel Heroics Advancement Laboratory). She ended up sharing this info to Shouto, and asking him to help with the break-in plan. Tsuyu, Momo, Kyouka, Shouto, and Himiko all gathered at Momo and Kyouka's apartment to hash out the plan. They decided to tunnel underground to try and break in from below, but it's a huge undertaking that requires even more support. After their planning session, Kyouka confronted Himiko to tell her this plan was crazy, but she expressed that she's still committed to helping because they're friends and she cares about her.

Camie wrapped an arm around Himiko’s shoulder as they entered the cafe. The hostess greeting them startled as she caught sight of their intimacy, but they continued forward with grins on both of their faces.

“Yo, can we get that couple’s private mega-special?” Camie said. “Reservation is under ‘The Rizzler’.”

The hostess’s eyebrows raised, and her pupils shrunk to pinpoints, but she nodded and motioned them upstairs, where a series of doors led into private booths. Their hostess motioned them into the third door on the right, a tight room with a table and two heart-shaped chairs. Around it were streamers and heart-shaped balloons in reds and pinks.

“A waitress will be with you momentarily with the first course,” the hostess said with a stiff smile.

The moment the door closed behind them, Himiko and Camie stopped holding back their laughter. Himiko landed in the nearest seat, clutching her stomach.

“That face!” Himiko wheezed. "Oh wow, she looked like she was gonna combust!”

“Total riot! You think she gossing with her homies now?”

“She’s gotta be telling them now, ‘You won’t believe it, these two pro-heroes were all over each other and asked for the couples-exclusive experience!’”

Instead of sitting in the other seat, Camie planted herself casually on Himiko’s lap and wrapped an arm around her neck. “Should we give the waitress a show?”

Himiko held her breath as their eyes met. Camie’s lips were plump, glossy as per usual, but stretched with a devious little grin. What kind of show would Camie give? She placed a hand on Himiko’s shoulder and drew closer.

The door opened up to reveal a waitress carrying a tray. The waitress’s eyes went wide at the sight of them all over each other.

“Here–” Her first word squeaked, so she coughed and repeated, “Here’s your first course, the… the Cutie Cookies and some rose tea for the…uh, happy couple!”

Camie watched the waitress shuffle awkwardly in to place the tray on the table, but stayed on Himiko’s lap, shameless. Himiko squeezed her waist possessively, eliciting a scandalous giggle. The waitresses face went red, and she mumbled a “Pardon me,” as she escaped.

Though Camie laughed again when the door closed, she immediately got off of Himiko’s lap. She wandered around the table to take the other seat properly, and her attention was immediately on the collection of cutely-shaped cookies and fragrant tea while Himiko was still feeling that lost phantom warmth on her upper legs and willing her heart to slow.

She didn’t just come here to play along with Camie’s little pranks.

“Oooh, this one is shaped like a panda!” Camie exclaimed.

Himiko allowed them a few minutes to marvel at the treats. This was a delicious cafe they both liked that marketed itself as a date spot by occasionally having special couples-only events and experiences, which was fun, but made certain items inaccessible to single people.

Fortunately, Himiko was recently single, and Camie was between beaus, so they naturally borrowed each other to get at the cafe specials. And for this particular promotion, Himiko was particularly invested in the private rooms, which she needed to have this conversation with Camie.

Once they finished squealing over the cuteness of the cookies, Himiko took a deep breath. “Can I talk to you about something a little… heavy?”

Though Camie’s slow-blinking eyes and mouth full of cookies didn’t scream ‘serious’, she had her advantages. Some years ago she had almost joined the Hero Collective, but had bowed out at the last minute when the contract they gave her required that some staff have access to her official social media accounts to help with public relations management. Though Himiko didn’t mind the HPSC having access to the Uravity accounts since she barely used them in the first place, she could understand why Camie loathed the idea of losing any control of such an important part of her life and brand. Camie was a maverick and innovator on the internet, jumping on or starting trends in a way that a tame media relations specialist would certainly try to tamp down. Her refusal to give up that freedom implied she had the gumption to stand up against the HPSC, when it mattered.

Camie swallowed the last of the food in her mouth. “For sure, what’s up?”

 

---

 

They ended up getting through the second course (baklava pancakes) and starting the third (a dessert platter) by the time Himiko finished describing the situation.

“Whoa,” Camie said. “That is legit sick. Not like sick sick, but like twisted sick, ya know?”

Himiko nodded seriously. “I know. And I know you may not particularly like Toga, but…”

Camie blinked at her. “Hey, wait a sec, when did I say I didn’t like her?”

“Didn’t she knock you out and use you during the provisional licensing exam? That doesn’t exactly seem like someone you’d feel kindly towards.”

“Have I ever told you how I got my vampire kink?”

Himiko froze, staring. A piece of red watermelon jello dripped off her fork.

Camie continued, “The whole knocking me out to take my blood was like, a violation or whatever. There was a bit of time where I was at least like a little freaked, but then when Shiketsu made me talk to a counselor about it, we had a serious breakthrough. Instead of imagining what could have happened as just like, some sorta rando violence, I reframed it as a sexy thing, see? I was like ‘OMG! She couldn’t resist me!”

A flush crawled up Himiko’s neck. It certainly hadn’t hurt that Camie had been cute.

“So whenever I’d get nervy late at night, I’d run through how I think it could have happened, with a more elaborate story each time. Like my heart would race, but it didn’t have to be fear.” She waved her spoon idly as she spoke. “It started with just her flirting a bit to distract me before she knocked me out, but then I thought ‘oh but wouldn’t it be sexier if she also…’ until I had like, a dozen of elaborate fantasies I’d choose to imagine before bed.”

“Dozens,” Himiko repeated, feeling too dizzy to eat. “Fantasies.”

“Mmhmm! Now I’m all nostalgic.” She giggled, took a swallow of jello, and waved her hand.

An illusion appeared, making Himiko flinch at the sight of herself. An image of her real body approached an image of Camie’s, herself in high school, standing cluelessly as the imaginary Himiko approached her.

Camie narrated, “In one of my faves, Toga had been planning to take someone else, but took one look at me and was unable to resist. She changed her plan on a dime and followed me into the restroom. She complimented me, flirted to get all close, and then struck.”

Not far from what had actually happened. There was no way Camie fully remembered, since the drug Himiko had given her led to memory loss prior to the event, but Himiko had complimented Camie in the entrance of the building, then warned her that her makeup was a little messed up. When Camie had gone to the bathroom to fix it up, Himiko had used the relative privacy to inject her with the drug and drag her to a stall.

In this conjured image, though, Himiko worked much slower. She had backed Camie up against a wall, where Camie blinked innocently through heavy lashes. Himiko jammed a syringe into her, but the initial response was an understated twitch and sinful gasp from Camie. Camie’s eyes fluttered, then she slid down to the floor. That Himiko stared down at her, licking her lips, absolutely entranced, and then crouched to lower her mouth over Camie’s neck before pausing.

“I imagine she was tempted to bite my neck properly, but…”

The imaginary Himiko drew back, conflict warring on her face. “No, I can’t leave such obvi evidence!” she said, then pulled out a needle to jam into Camie’s thigh and extract the blood that way instead.

Meanwhile, the real Camie had her elbows on the table. “I bet she watched me slumped over all helpless and had to fight all her vampiric instincts to not embrace me and drink me up. Like, c’mon, how could anyone resist thar?”

That last point was punctuated by Camie pouting and waving her hands at the unconscious Camie, helpless on the floor but with perfectly pursed lips, artfully coiffed hair, and somehow still posed in such a way to emphasize every curve that the general public was prone to drooling over.

Himiko wiped at her own mouth with a napkin and tried to regain composure. “Um. You really think she was…?”

“Who knows?” Camie waved her hand once more, and the tempting illusion dissipated into sparkles. “Whatevs. I got over those nerves, and it turns out thinking sexy blood sucking scenarios every night means when you take a peek at any vampire stuff you start getting all heated. You feel?”

Himiko gulped some iced tea that came with the third course, thankfully with ice cubes still in there to help her cool down. “I, uh, feel. I think.”

Camie had been cute. And getting to know her had only made her cuter. Himiko tried not to remember what it felt like to turn into her, the elation and heart-pounding satisfaction of becoming love incarnate.

“All that to say—nah, I don’t hate her. If you can get her out, I’d wanna meet her.” Camie’s grin was a smidgen devilish. “I oughta tell her to take responsibility.”

Though Himiko had tried to sip at the cool iced tea, that phrasing made her swallow wrong, and she ended up coughing a storm. She pounded at her chest, trying to clear her throat and recover before Camie started wondering why she was reacting so strongly.

“Damn, you good?” Camie asked.

Himiko took a deep breath. “Haha, sure! Totally!”

Camie smiled. “Thanks for the confidence in me, Ochako. It’s way serious stuff, but I got my lips zipped.”

“Actually, I shared this with you for a reason. I’m looking for your help.”

“Me? Toga’s hot and all, but IDK if I want to risk everything to break into a place like Hades…”

“Not breaking in.” Himiko leaned forward. “Do you remember that guy you dated some months ago, who worked for the NHAL lab?”

Camie tapped her nails against the table and tilted her head.

“Tanaka?”

She hummed, thinking hard.

“The one who was always busy working.”

Understanding dawned. “Ooooh, I think so. Armpit guy. Yeah, I gotchu.”

Himiko decided not to ask, and forged on with her request. “Apparently Toga, Dabi, and others have been having their samples shipped to the NHAL for some sort of analysis. I’m wondering if you could possibly, maybe, if you’re up for it, reconnect with him, and see if you could learn anything about the NHAL from him?”

“Hmm.”

Camie tapped her fingernails against the table again. The dessert plates were almost all empty now, mere powdered sugar and leftover chunks of jello spread across the display.

“Gonna be legit here, I don’t have the head for all that complicated science stuff. I’m a gal who works with stuff you can like, see. Not all the itty-bitty cellular or conceptual stuff he used to bore me to sleep with. I could ask him to explain what he’s working on, but TBH I probs wouldn’t remember enough deets to be worth your time.”

“That’s okay. Maybe you could ask him stuff over text? Something that you can easily share back, or…”

Himiko recalled her first attempt at breaking into Hades using Camie’s form. Though Camie was a pro-hero often in the heart of the action, confusing opponents with her illusions, her potential for undercover work was vast.

“If you could find some way to get into NHAL via him, and access any of the computers, I could give you a special flash drive. All you would have to do is plug it in, activate it, and then pull it out once it’s done. Then we could have someone who actually gets the science stuff to review what they’ve got, probably even more than Tanaka could share on his own.”

Camie closed her eyes, thinking. Her mascara was heavy, and lifted tantalizingly slow once she had her answer.

“Lemme check out the sitch a bit, first, then I’ll get back to you. Imma text Tanaka tonight and see if he’s willing to vibe, then we’ll go from there. Yeah?”

A grin broke out on Himiko’s face. “You’re the best, Camie.”

Camie flipped her hair. “Yeah, yeah, I am.”

By then, their allotted time for the couples special was nearly done, so they got up. 

“Seriously, I appreciate it,” Himiko reiterated as they went for the door.

“No prob, it’s the least I can do for my bestie—whoa!”

“Whoa?”

Though Camie had started out the door first, Himiko hopped out to catch what had surprised her, and came face-to-face with Hawks, also in the middle of leaving one of the couples’ rooms down the hall. His eyes went wide. Toga froze completely, suddenly aware of how much she had said apparently in close proximity with her number one enemy.

“What’s a snack like you doing in a place like this?” Camie asked with a laugh.

Once she broke the tension, Hawks’ practiced smile took over. In the next instant, someone else came out of the room, and Himiko had to use every ounce of self control to prevent her jaw from dropping.

“Ochako?” Todoroki Fuyumi said. “I’m surprised to see you here with…?”

“Utsushimi, AKA Illus-o-Camie, at your service!” Camie introduced herself.

Himiko was sweating. “What about you? What are you and Hawks…?”

She met his eyes, which glinted in the hall lighting. He let out a smug sigh.

“Well! I guess it’s time we come clean. Uravity, the truth is…” Hawks put an arm around Fuyumi’s shoulder. “We’re dating.”

Himiko stopped breathing.

Fuyumi gently grasped Hawks’ hand, and lifted it away from her shoulder to drop behind her. She took a polite step to the side for good measure, then sighed. “Hawks, don’t tease, they might actually believe you. Really, Hawks was curious about the special here, but since it was couples-only, he asked me to come along. We’re just friends.”

With a little time to recover, Himiko subtly sniffed and didn’t smell any love on them. They didn’t even smell particularly happy, like a pair of friends might.

Behind her back, Hawks gave them an exaggerated wink as he said, “Alas, just friends for now.”

Fuyumi sighed again. “And you, Ochako? I thought you and Izuku–”

“We broke up,” Himiko said, perhaps too quickly, wanting to get the news over with. “But Camie and I wanted to try out the couples-only special too, so we played along.” Then, just in case it wasn’t clear: “We’re also just friends.”

Fuyumi laughed softly, amused. “It’s truly frustrating this business limits so many specials to couples…”

Hawks nudged her. “But hey, if there’s another one I want to try, you’ll have my back again, won’t you?”

She smiled. “If I have time.”

Himiko was getting a little nauseous watching Hawks flirt with Dabi’s sister, so she coughed. “We were just heading out, we shouldn’t keep you guys.”

“We’re heading out too,” Hawks said.

Thankfully, Camie took over smoothly, prattling to Hawks about his eyeliner routine, while Ochako and Fuyumi lingered slightly behind them.

“Shouto tells me he’s been seeing you a lot recently,” Fuyumi said.

“Ahaha. Yeah.” We’re planning a prison break together. A prison break under the nose of the guy you just ate a couples meal with.

Her smile was soft. “Thank you for being a good friend to him.”

They split off then, everyone waving genially. Himiko didn’t stop sweating until Camie and her were out of sight of the other couple.

“You think he knows?” Camie asked. “Like if he’s involved with all that stuff?”

Himiko grit her teeth. “I’d bet on it.”

Camie whistled low. “Messy as hell.”

 

---

 

There was a clearly defined square in the middle of the woods bordered by little stakes and strings, surrounded by shovels and several of Himiko’s old classmates. Shouto stood with a shovel in hand, ready to get to business. Satou placed a cake onto a little foldout table and had a huge backpack on, probably filled with more food. Kyouka stood, bored and twirling her earjack. Beside her, Momo stood with a straight back, but when she took in the person next to Himiko, she squinted and her smile became strained.

“Ochako!” She exclaimed. “Just on time. And you brought…?”

Skeptic introduced himself,  “Chikazoku.”

Neither of them reached out a hand to shake.

“His quirk could be very useful,” Himiko explained. “If you compress the dirt you want to get rid of into one solid ‘object’ of dirt, he can turn it into a puppet that can literally walk itself wherever you want to dispose of it.”

Momo’s smile didn’t drop. “Ochako, could we speak… privately for a moment?”

She led her off several meters into the woods, until they could barely see the others awkwardly waving at each other between the tree trunks.

Momo put a hand on Himiko’s shoulder and said, “It’s been some time, but I’m positive that man is Skeptic. From the Paranormal Liberation Front.”

“He did his time in prison, and is now reformed,” Himiko countered primly. “He’s living on the straight and narrow now.”

Well, he gave up his big-time villainy at least. There had been enough small stuff since his release that Himiko had plenty to fill out his envelope of blackmail material. Nobody here needed to know about that, of course.

Momo’s brow furrowed. “Even so, he’s a villain, I’m not sure if we can trust…”

“What’s the point of prison if not for people to pay for their crimes and become better?”

She blinked a few times, and floundered a moment. “I’m not… That’s not really my area of expertise, I’m just not sure if it’s entirely comfortable for all of us to be working with an… ex-villain I suppose. I doubt he’s very comfortable either. And even if he’s reformed, why is he even helping us?”

Prior to this, Himiko had cooked up a justification that skimmed over the whole blackmail thing. “He used to be allies with Toga, so of course he’d be motivated to help. And when it comes to going against the establishment, I can’t imagine anyone better suited than someone who literally waged war against it years ago.”

She bristled. “We’re not going against the establishment, per se. We’re simply… prioritizing your friend’s safety over what seems to be some immoral circumstances. It’s those circumstances that are against common decency, and we can sort it out with the establishment once Toga is secured.”

Himiko raised an eyebrow, but didn’t want to dive into that tangled set of justifications so long as it kept Momo on her side. “Well either way, we’re aligned with him for now.”

“Temporary alignment doesn’t mean we can trust him with such a sensitive mission, I mean, how did you even… Oh.”

Himiko tried to keep her heart rate down. “Oh?”

“Is he how you got all that information originally?”

She breathed out. “Yes. He’s been involved since the beginning, so you don’t have to worry about him snitching or whatever. He’ll cooperate with us.”

Finally, Momo’s shoulders lowered, though her face didn’t relax. “Well… Alright, if you’re certain.”

They returned to the clearing, where Satou was valiantly talking up a storm about how he had baked his cake, filling up the air while Shouto, Skeptic, and Kyouka stood in stony silence.

Satou looked at them desperately. “...Cake?”

“Thank you, I would love a slice,” Momo said.

As he cut it for her and himself, Momo waved a hand over their chosen dig site. “This is going to be the entrance to our tunnel. Today, our goal is to at least dig deep enough for me to make a camouflage cover on top. The rectangle we’re digging needs to be big enough to accommodate the boring machine Mei designed for me, alongside storing materials to reinforce the walls of the tunnel. Although I’ll try to come as often as I can and provide materials in these initial stages, I can’t take time off of work forever, so I’ll be coming less often as this plan progresses, but I’ll try to visit often enough to provide materials.”

Satou saluted. “I’ll try to come when you do, so I can help provide your fuel!”

She smiled at him. “Thank you. For today though, I’m just going to need all of you to put your all into digging.”

“Of course,” Himiko said with a determined grin. “Let’s dive in!”

Satou shoved a piece of cake into his own mouth to power up while Momo daintily swallowed her slice in four bites. Everyone picked up their shovels and began to dig.

Or rather, almost everybody.

About one minute in, Himiko realized Skeptic was hanging awkwardly off to the side. “What?” she asked him. “Don’t know how to use a shovel?”

“I’m here to move the dirt, not to get my hands dirty.”

Himiko paused in her own digging efforts to approach him. She grabbed his arm and led him away. “Let’s talk for a moment.”

Once they were out of earshot, Himiko’s expression dropped. “Did you forget that you’re my bitch? You’re going to do anything and everything you’re capable of for me.”

Instead of cowering, he barked out a laugh. “Damn, you’re hilarious. Playing all sweet in front of those pro-heroes—you’re like an entirely different person from how you are with me. Do any of them know you’re blackmailing me? Or would that go against that saccharine image you’ve cultivated with them?”

She snatched the collar of his shirt and dragged him down to the level of her eyes so he’d stop looming over her like some smug, overthinking piece of shit. “They don’t know about the blackmail, and they won’t. You know why?”

He smirked. “Cause it would ruin your reputation with them?”

She clenched his shirt tighter, making him choke a bit. “You better not mention or even imply it, because they’re not like me—they won’t give you an opportunity to stay out of prison with an agreement like ours. They’d toss you back in the moment they knew you had more shit you haven’t confessed to. So watch yourself and play your part, or you’re going back behind bars.”

With that, she released him and turned away, marching back to the dig site without looking back. She breathed slowly, trying not to shake.

You’re like an entirely different person.

She was just Ochako. She had to be Ochako. Meeting Skeptic had made her clumsy; familiarity had made her act too much like Himiko.

Whatever. Just for awhile longer, enough to dig this tunnel, extract Ochako, and she could leave everything behind.

Though the rest of them were still digging, Kyouka and Momo looked cautiously at her as she returned. Kyouka was frowning a little, but Momo’s face was pure concern.

Concern for Ochako.

So Himiko put on a smile. She heard footsteps behind her, Skeptic following as he had to, and was relieved when he passed by her and picked up a shovel. She picked up a shovel herself, and dug.

Chapter 19: Nobody knows these are my goodbye tears

Summary:

Previously on Homoerotic Cafe Dates: Himiko went to a cafe with Camie, where Himiko shared that "Toga Himiko" was trapped in Hades, and asked Camie to help by reconnecting with her old beau that works at the NHAL to see if she can figure out what they're doing with the samples taken from "Toga" and Dabi. During the conversation, Camie also revealed that her vampire kink somewhat comes from Himiko having taken her blood during the provisional license exam. While leaving the cafe, the two of them happened to bump into Fuyumi and Hawks, who had also gone to the cafe together. Later, Himiko went to the dig site in the woods where some old UA classmates were planning the tunnel to go underneath Hades, and brought Skeptic along. Although others were hesitant about Skeptic, she persuaded everyone to cooperate.

The HPSC cafeteria bustled around Himiko as she weaved through the foot traffic to reach the table where Tooru and Fumikage sat.

“Greetings,” Fumikage said.

“Ochako~!” Tooru squealed. “Finally, we can have lunch together! I thought when you joined the HPSC, we’d be able to eat together all the time…”

“Sorry, but they’re trying to keep my employment status on the down-low, so I can’t be spending too much time at headquarters.”

There was a pout in Tooru’s voice as she said, “Just say Fumikage or I invite you every day.”

She laughed. “Any paparazzi or gossipers aren’t going to be asking me what I’m doing hanging out at the HPSC every day. They’re gonna make assumptions all on their own.”

“Whatever, is it really so bad for the public to know you’re a HPSC employee?”

Fumikage intervened. “She has a mission for which it is of the utmost importance. Besides, she dines with us now, so let us bask in her presence rather than bemoan the circumstances.”

Tooru sighed dramatically. “Fine, fine! Ugh, it sucks being an adult. We never have time to hang out.”

Himiko let out a sigh of her own. “Work sucks.”

Tooru swirled a spoon in her hand. “It’d be so cool if we all had an excuse to be together, a big project or something, like the cultural festivals way back then.”

Like a bunch of us working together to break another out of prison? Himiko suppressed the thought and instead said, “Remember the haunted house in our third year school festival?” She nudged Fumikage. “We got some quality time together, manning the tables.”

He nodded. “I had to hold guard. Despite the appeal of the haunted house, the all-encompassing darkness was stressful for Dark Shadow…”

“But we still got to dress up!” Ochako exclaimed. “You had a great fit, and Kyouka gave me some good makeup tips to look all creepy.”

Though Himiko knew the haunted house had been filled with gruesome blood-splattered scenes, she had been too terrified of blowing her cover by drooling over the bloody splatterings to spend any time in the haunted house itself. Instead, she had volunteered to manage the table letting people into the entrance.

Tooru laughed. “I had a great time playing a poltergeist! The other classes said I was a highlight!”

“It was better than our second-year event. The maid and butler cafe…” Fumikage shuddered. “I can still remember the entitled parents demanding that I heat up and then cool down and then heat up the tea again…”

Himiko laughed. “I thought it was fun! The maid outfits were cute. At least, I felt cute in them!”

Tooru giggled. “Not to mention Kyouka in that butler outfit… I think that’s part of what made Momo realize her feelings, you know? She was very handsome.”

“Oooh, I believe that. I remember Momo getting all stutter-y when she first saw her, I think she even tripped when walking away. They pined way too long.”

“It was going on even our first year, I think. The two of them were both in the band during the first year cultural, you know, the concert?”

She faltered. Himiko didn’t know. That was the real Ochako. Still, she said, “Haha, of course.”

“Fumikage, you were in the band with them, right? Did you notice anything?”

Fumikage tilted his head, thinking. “I don’t recall any particular signs, but I was not particularly cognizant of their feelings at the time.”

“Hmm, maybe they weren’t that cognizant either…”

A new but familiar voice made Himiko jump. “Well, well, well! A regular ol’ UA reunion over here!”

Hawks took a casual seat in a free chair at their table. He didn’t have a tray of food, so Himiko hoped he wouldn’t stay for long. They exchanged greetings.

“Tsukuyomi,” Hawks said to Fumikage, using his hero name. “Can we chat after lunch? I have some new details on that mission we chatted about last week.”

“Of course.”

Tooru leaned on the table. “Say, Hawks, what kind of cultural festival events did you do at your school?”

He blinked once. Twice. “Hmm?”

“We were just reminiscing about ours, and I’m curious now. In high school, what kind of events did your classes do?”

“Oh. I didn’t really go to high school.”

Hawks got up, relaxed smile never changing along the way.

“I gotta go. See you soon, Tsukuyomi.”

Once Hawks was out of the cafeteria, Tooru leaned even further on the table and whispered urgently, “He didn’t go to high school?”

Fumikage didn’t show any signs of shock. “He was taken in by the HPSC at a young age. I believe they must have supplied him with some tutors and such, but he rarely shares details of his past.”

Tooru hummed. “Huh, I guess he reached pretty high on the charts at a young age, didn’t he? Must have been all that HPSC training.”

Fumikage nodded. “He reached number two on the charts when he was just twenty-two—younger than we are now.”

“Whoa, crazy to think about.” Tooru laughed. “He felt way more adult back then than I feel now. A kid’s point of view, I guess.”

She wondered if Fumikage knew Hawks’ full backstory, or if Hawks kept that close to his chest even from his most intimate subordinates. Dabi had investigated it, and although he hadn’t told all the details to Himiko, she knew that the HPSC more or less purchased Hawks from his mother after his quirk showed potential at a young age.

Fumikage stared thoughtfully at his drink. “He sacrificed a lot. He didn’t have much of a childhood in order to become a stellar pro-hero. To fight All for One, he gave up his quirk. And even now, with no quirk, he’s still putting his all into the HPSC for the good of society.”

Himiko didn’t have much sympathy. He wasn’t the only one out there who lost their childhood to circumstances they couldn’t control.

Tooru sighed. “That sucks. I had been hoping for some fun school stories from him… I’m sure he would have been a ladykiller back in high school.”

Fumikage chuckled, and Himiko forced herself to laugh.

 

---

 

Himiko visited the tunnel and helped out as often as she could.

Now, hours upon hours of work from not only her, but several of her old classmates enlisted to help, they had made substantial progress.

She found the entrance inconspicuously marked by a small red flag in the trees above it. She dug her fingers into a small hole, intending to lift the hatch, but then it lifted itself up and a non-descript, dead-eyed human-esque figure stared at her.

Ah, one of Skeptic’s puppets. Dirt taking itself out.

She allowed it to pass by her, then descended down the ladder into the entry cavern. It was wide, spacious enough to accommodate meters of various materials they were using to reinforce and hold up the large tunnel they were digging, plus a table and some chairs for people resting between shifts or stocking up on Satou’s famous baked goods. Skeptic sat there now, fanning himself with a hand fan, while noises echoed deeper inside.

“Bitch,” Skeptic muttered when he saw her. “This is exhausting, doing this almost every fucking day.”

She smiled serenely. “You’re unemployed anyway. Unlike the rest of us you have free time.”

“I’m a freelancer,” he snapped.

She rolled her eyes and stared down the tunnel itself, which was so deep now that she couldn’t see the end of it, even with the little lights they had installed. It was tall enough a person could walk through standing straight, though occasionally support beams necessitated some ducking.

Off to the side, there was another tunnel, smaller but still substantial, dug with the help of Kouda’s communications with some burrowing animals, which now had machinery filling it—some sort of air ventilation system that opened up to another area in the woods. A tertiary tunnel on the opposite side was the same to increase airflow and function as a backup in case the first failed. Down the path of the small tunnel were more little burrowed holes which theoretically led up to the surface and encouraged a little airflow, but they couldn’t be too big without compromising the structure or leaving suspicious evidence on the surface.

Himiko grabbed a pocket oxygen mask from the materials pile. It was lightweight, with an automatic filter at the mouth, and two discreet canisters that wrapped towards the back of the head you could activate in a pinch which would last probably up to an hour. Anyone who went down the tunnel was required to bring one both for the air filter, and for the emergency oxygen in case they started to get light-headed. She put hers on, and went into the tunnel.

Sound echoed, and grew louder the further down Himiko went. The path was straight at first, but soon there was a subtle angle towards the left—Kyouka regularly went down to check the vibrational maps of the path ahead of them, and had steered them clear of large rocks, pipes, and ground water. So the path angled awkwardly back and forth a few times until Himiko finally caught sight of the end of it.

The borer was doing its work, digging with a drill-like design to drag out hunks of dirt into the bin of a compactor. Kirishima stood by the compactor, occasionally pressing levers to help make the dirt into a large brick that Skeptic would eventually be able to transform into walking puppets. Though they normally stacked several up, it seemed Skeptic had come down recently to do his removals, as there were none aside from what was currently in the compactor.

Kyouka stood facing the borer with her hands on her hips while Tsuyu carefully monitored some settings on the machine. Neither noted Himiko’s approach due to all the noise, but Kirishima waved at her. After a minute, Tsuyu pressed a button that stopped the borer, pressed some more buttons that made the borer roll back a meter or so, then opened up a small compartment at the bottom of it. Kyouka crawled into that space below, disappearing into the very tip of the tunnel.

“Ochako!” Kirishima exclaimed when the noise died down. “You came at a good time, we’re making great progress. I’ve crunched so many bricks of dirt!”

Tsuyu turned. “And according to the map, we should be just under Toga’s cell. Kyouka’s confirming the vibrational content around and above.”

Himiko’s heart swelled. What had seemed like an impossible crack rescue idea was becoming reality, and it was all thanks to her friends. There was no way she could have conceptualized or built this massive undertaking all on her own.

Kyouka crawled back out from under the bore’s crawlspace. Everyone around her waited eagerly for her assessment, but she took her time standing up and patting the dirt off her clothes. Finally, she looked around at them.

“The vibrations indicate the structure I expected based on Momo’s map. Since it’s an underground cell, we don’t have to go up too much, but we’ll probably have to manually dig upwards a bit to get through the last of the dirt. Once we hit the actual floor structure, I’ll listen for heartbeat and we can confirm where the people are.”

Himiko’s heart pounded. “So it’s time?”

Kyouka frowned. “I want Momo to come down and confirm her calculations. Plus, we’ll want to deconstruct the borer and remove as much evidence of our work as possible. We’ll want to move quickly once we hit the floor, so let’s be as certain as we can be, and get everyone in place for the rescue. Or….” She glanced towards Tsuyu and Kirishima. “...let’s make sure anyone who doesn’t have to be here isn’t here. If somehow we end up caught, we want the minimal number of people involved.”

Himiko swallowed hard. “You and me?”

She nodded. “You’re gonna owe me a lot.”

Himiko knew just how hesitant Kyouka was about this whole plan, but that just made her even more thankful that Kyouka was willing to put those doubts aside to help her. Even if it was partially only thanks to Momo’s persuasion, Kyouka’s love for Ochako shone through so brightly that Himiko was blinded. Her face felt hot, overwhelmed with just how much their old UA classmates had been willing to do just because Ochako wanted to save someone.

“Are you…? Fuck.” Kyouka looked like she regretted everything. “You don’t have to cry.”

Himiko sniffled. “I’m just– we’re so close… I’m really thankful.” She took in a shuddering breath. “You guys are the best friends a girl could ask for.”

I wish you were mine.

Tsuyu wrapped an arm around her. “Come here.”

She cried into Tsuyu’s shoulder, embarrassing little hiccups. When she chanced a look upwards, she saw Kyouka approaching and tears brimming in Kirishima’s eyes.

More arms wrapped around her, an awkward four person hug that made her cry harder. She felt so warm and surrounded with support, friends willing to go through this crazy plan and put in hours upon hours of labor.

“I don’t know what I’ll do without you guys,” Himiko choked out, though it was muffled under the weight of all their bodies and the others didn’t seem to hear enough to make more than vague comforting noises.

Soon she would be entirely alone again. Like the days after she hurt her middle school classmate Saito—homeless and running desperately from the police and pro-heroes, committing crimes to survive. This community she surrounded herself with would be barred from her.

Could she find another League of Villains? Did she want to break her heart again and again?

Eventually, they parted.

“Soon,” Kyouka assured her. “Just a few last things, and then we’ll get her out.”

 

---

 

Himiko was carrying her grocery bags up to her apartment when her phone buzzed against her thigh. She ignored it for the moment, even when it buzzed again, opting to focus on getting through her door and putting away the food. Her fridge was packed with prepared meals, but most of what she bought today was shelf-stable. Granola bars, sandwiches, a handful of fruits that would be easy to carry and eat. 

There was a backpack under her bed which she’d been packing the past few days that she pulled out now to stuff with the new groceries. She nestled the food between some clothes, a sturdy little blanket, lighter, burner phone, and more little things that would help her on the road.

Deep inside was a sheathed knife. Something she bought several years ago on a private whim, then was ashamed to show off anywhere in her apartment. Knives didn’t fit Ochako.

But soon, Himiko could carry it on her, just in case.

Soon she stuffed the backpack under her bed again. She checked her phone, and was surprised to see Spinner reaching out first.

SPINNER: There’s a book club I’m thinking of going to….. Would you go too?

The second text was a link. She clicked on it, and found a local library was hosting a meeting to discuss a memoir written by an ex-prisoner.

She perked up. Hopefully people at that kind of book club would be willing to open their hearts to an ex-villain like Spinner. He had to be nervous, though, so she responded quickly: Of course! I’m excited to check it out with you.

As she looked closer at the link though, she realized the meeting was next week. After the break-in.

She swallowed hard, considering. She wouldn’t take back her promise—Spinner was in a delicate state, and she didn’t dare tilt him towards pulling away from people again. By that time, though, Himiko would be herself again, and Ochako would be in her rightful place. 

Still, Ochako had a kind heart, didn’t she? She had reached her hand out to Himiko, even when they were at war against each other. Maybe… hopefully she would extend that same grace to Spinner.

Himiko had to write this down, lay it all out so she wouldn’t forget. She pulled a binder from her bookshelf and opened it up. She had stored all of Ochako’s essential documentation in there, alongside some tax returns, and lists of all her accounts which she’d need to access. Utilities, emails, social media, phone, and bank usernames and passwords were all laid out neatly as possible.

The sheet with that info was all filled, so Himiko got a new sheet of paper.

Dear Ochako,

I’m sorry to put this on you, but can you go with Spinner to a book club? He’s nervous to go alone, but I promised to go with him. If you meet him and don’t like hanging out with him, you can cut him out, but please at least give him this. I’m hoping he can meet some new people there and get a little more independent.

Himiko frowned. Yeah, that covered Spinner, but what about other friends? She continued.

Also Mina wants to hang out soon, it’s been awhile, so you should arrange something with her. She gets antsy and anxious if someone keeps dodging hangouts, so prioritize getting in touch with her early on.

You’ll probably get a lot of texts from Camie—she’s super cool, super friendly, great for a movie night. She’s not super inquisitive, so if you want to just chill out for a bit she’ll be a good choice. I know you might not really know her, but I’ve gotten to know her, and so we’re really good friends…

Himiko clenched her pen. Camie had been hers. Her friend. But she’d been Ochako, so now… now she had to give that up.

I should probably explain your relationship with Izuku, too. You guys started dating around three years ago, he asked you out, and obviously I said yes. We dated for awhile, had an anniversary recently, but…

She took a deep breath. This was embarrassing to admit, but it would be better for Ochako to know than not.

…he proposed to you, and I felt weird about accepting on your behalf, so I ended up rejecting him. I’m sorry for complicating things, but I’m sure if you reached out to him and apologized, he’d give you another chance, and you guys can start over for real.

Himiko’s pen hovered. She considered adding more on what they might do. Decided not to.

If you’re confused by anything, or trying to catch up on stuff, talk to Tenya or Momo. They’ll be pretty thorough with explaining stuff and won’t make you feel dumb about it.

She recalled high school, desperately scrambling to catch up when she’d missed out on middle school, and how embarrassing it had been to ask for help at first. Still, after a few requests, and discovering they wouldn’t make fun of her or shame her for forgetting what seemed basic for everyone else, things got easier. Not just from learning, but from feeling secure that when she struggled, there would be someone there for her.

There wouldn’t be anyone once she gave up this life.

She took in a sharp breath and forced herself to keep writing. But how was she supposed to summarize eight years?

You’ve recently gotten closer to Fumikage, since you started working at the HPSC. You’re a secret HPSC employee, by the way. I joined up in hopes of getting closer to understanding what was going on with you, but obviously you can quit. I read the contract, the process to divest yourself from them is in the binder. It’ll take a decent amount of time and paperwork, but if you struggle, show Tenya and he can walk you through it.

Tsuyu is pretty close to you, as she was before I’m sure. She’s the first one I told about the Hades thing. If you’re feeling stressed or lost, you should reach out to her, she’s a great anchor. If you have the capacity, ask her about how her family’s doing, her youngest sister has been dealing with some medical issues, so she might want to unload about it.

Himiko wouldn’t get to know. Tsuyu had walked her through the family’s struggle, made Himiko worry and wonder about it, and now there’d never be closure.

She wouldn’t even get to say goodbye.

She sniffled and wiped her nose, then her eyes on her sleeves. There was so much more to write.

But as Himiko went through, filling page after page with details and memories, she couldn’t stop herself from sucking in weak, stupid breaths, and spilling tears over the ink. Where she could, she dabbed at the pages with a tissue, and in one particularly egregious and snotty case, just crumpled the first draft into the trash and rewrote the entire page anew.

She sobbed like an idiot, mourning friends who weren’t even her own. All the years she spent with them would mean nothing once she was her true form again, enemy of the state, enemy to all of them.

Himiko vowed to keep as discreet as possible and not make any waves as a villain. Maybe she could smuggle herself out of the country, make sure she’d never see any of these people again. The thought of meeting them as herself and seeing how their faces and body language would change drew a fresh wave of grief.

She would know everything about them, and they wouldn’t even recognize her.

Finally, several hours later, Himiko had a messy, disorganized reference for Ochako to know what kind of relationships she had with these people Himiko would miss.

No matter how much it hurt to tear herself from this community she was entrenched in, the thought of barring Ochako from this outpouring of love she’d felt the past eight years was too awful to even consider. It was long due that Himiko let go of this fortunate but stolen spot.

Now, Himiko would finally put Ochako back where she belonged.

Notes:

^_^ Yayyy finally time for Break In.... TWO! This time with the power of friendship <3

Chapter 20: Ascent into Hades

Summary:

Previously on Goodbyes: The tunnel digging was going well, and Himiko checked in while Skeptic, Kirishima, Tsuyu, and Kyouka were working on the tunnel. Kyouka revealed that they were just about ready to initiate the final phase of actually breaking "Toga" out of Hades, after checking in with Momo and finalizing a few things. Soon after, Himiko got a text from Spinner asking her to join him going to a book club later, and after agreeing she realized it would be after she broke out with Ochako and swapped places with her. She started writing some messages to Ochako, at first asking her to go with Spinner to this book club, and then generally writing out things about all her friends that Ochako should know and remember. Reminiscing made Himiko cry, but she remains committed to breaking Ochako out and putting her back in her proper place.

Notes:

If you wonder why my updates have slowed slightly (to ~once a week rather than ~twice a week), plz blame Stardew Valley. Fantastic game.

The massive supplies that previously filled the cavern were gone tonight. The only things left were the ventilators for safety, and three oxygen masks. One for Himiko, one for Kyouka, and one for Ochako. There were also minimal lights in the tunnels, and a new switch near the entrance.

“Once we get here, we have to remember to hit the switch to activate the explosives,” Kyouka said.

To help them escape, once they passed through the end of the tunnel into the cavern, they would activate the switch and trigger a small explosion, collapsing a few meters of the tunnel, blocking any pursuers from chasing them to the end, allowing them time to get out of the cavern and onto the hovercraft waiting for them outside.

“I remember the plan,” Himiko muttered, sweating.

Nervous, she rotated the laser saw Momo built her in her hands back and forth.

“Careful with that,” Kyouka, who held the sleeping gas canister, warned.

“I know,” Himiko whispered. “I was at the briefing, too.”

Momo laid it all out in excruciating detail, but it was up to the two of them to actually get the job done. Communications could leave a trail that would implicate others, so it was just Himiko and Kyouka, not even any phones that could be tracked, until tomorrow afternoon when they would check in with the rest of the group if all went well.

They were fully decked out in all black, including a ski mask that felt painfully stereotypically criminal, but was indeed quite effective at hiding their identities. The only parts exposed were their mouths to wear the air filter/oxygen mask. Even their eyes had a special filter that allowed them to see but blocked anyone from the other end from seeing any distinguishing features.

Kyouka took a few deep breaths. “I’m gonna feel a lot better once this is all over. You sure you’ll be able to keep Toga under control once we get her out?”

“She was willing to die for me, so I’m pretty confident she’ll hear me out.”

The hovercraft outside the cavern would just barely fit three people and allow the three of them to escape through the woods. Even if Ochako resisted at first, so long as they could drag her onto the escape vehicle, they could figure out the rest afterwards. Himiko could take Ochako to her apartment, give her the keys, tell her where everything was, and abscond forever.

Himiko took a deep breath. “Okay. Let’s go.”

 

---

 

At the end of the tunnel, there were two flat head shovels. After Kyouka listened to the dirt above them one more time, they both used the shovels to scrape. Once they loosened it up, most of the dirt naturally tumbled down. Before it could fill their whole tunnel, though, something metallic was exposed. Carefully, they pried away a little more dirt with their gloved hands.

Kyouka put her earjack into the metal. This was the final assessment—if there was someone directly above where they dug, they would have to wait for them to move. If there was nobody in the room above, then something was wrong and they would have to retreat for a new plan.

“Any heartbeats?” Himiko asked, eager

 “Two… No, three, but the third is very faint. Must be that third guard. The second is a little distant, but the closest heartbeat feels…” She frowned.

Himiko was sweating already. “Is she directly above us?”

“No, so we should be clear, but there’s something about her heart… something about the rhythm feels… like déjà vu? But what…?”

Before Kyouka could chase that thought, Himiko aimed upwards and activated the laser saw. Though it vibrated painfully in her hands, it cut through the layers above it deliciously smooth. Himiko cut just a small hole at first, then pulled the machine back.

That was Kyouka’s cue. She scrambled to pull the pin from the gas canister and flung it into the room. That would cover Ochako and the first guard, but the second guard and the security cameras meant they would need to go as fast as possible.

Himiko activated the laser saw again to cut a much bigger hole, big enough for a person to go through. She got rid of her own gravity, Kyouka boosted her up, and she was in that cell in Hades that had been haunting her dreams. The guard in the corner was slumped over, unconscious already.

In front of her was her own body, blonde hair spilling out, collapsed on the floor. Ochako.

She grabbed Ochako by her prison jumpsuit with all five fingers to easily drag her into the hole just as the second guard opened his door and began to shout. Another door in the room opened, backup with record-time response.

Himiko deactivated zero gravity once on the ground, but quickly tapped Ochako to make her weightless again and easy to pull along as she ran with Kyouka. Neither of them said a word. The shouting from above was enough to scare them out of saying anything that they might record as evidence as to who committed this break-in.

Kyouka and Himiko sprinted down the tunnel, Himiko pulling Ochako’s weightless body behind her. She felt a slight stir and grit her teeth. The sleeping gas had a pretty short effect time, but she would prefer that Ochako stay asleep until they got into the hovercraft.

The ruckus behind them grew louder. Fuck, they needed get past the area with the explosives before they could activate the switch.

There were shots. Himiko didn’t feel a hit, but the support beams cracked dangerously. They were reinforced to deal with weight, but not with direct attacks.

Fuck, they were so close, they just had to run a bit further, and once they passed those explosives they could—

BOOM!

The tunnel around them shook. No, no, no. It was too soon, they were still—

 

---

 

When Himiko came to, she found herself pressed against a soft surface, but aching on the back of her head. She pushed herself up, breathing heavily. There was no light.

“Ochako?” Kyouka’s voice was very close.

The body beneath Himiko stirred.

“I’m okay,” Himiko said. “I think I got knocked on my head.”

“What about Himiko?”

Too concerned to be embarrassed, she felt Ochako’s body. Ochako groaned and wiggled a bit, which was reassuring. She had all four limbs, torso, and her head attached. She lifted her filter for a moment to sniff, smelling panic and a bit of blood: a waft of Kyouka’s and… the Ochako/Himiko mix they shared. She slipped her glove off and felt the back of her own head, and found it was sticky.

She collapsed on top of Ochako. “She’s fine,” she murmured.

“Great, but we’re in a situation. I’ve checked, and the dirt and rocks go on for multiple meters in each direction, we don’t even have space to stand up, and digging or me using my shockwaves might cause more collapse on top of us. Have you activated your emergency oxygen? You might need to put Himiko’s mask on.”

“Himiko,” Ochako repeated abruptly, voice sounding dry and like Himiko’s.

“Ah, she’s awake?”

Himiko’s heart pounded. She placed the spare mask on Ochako’s face, trying to buy time for all of them. Ochako pawed at her as she did so, trying to swat her away, and scooted in the small space before almost immediately hitting the nearest wall.

“Whu–” Ochako said, then coughed. “Is it… you? You came back?”

Himiko reached out, found Ochako’s hand in the darkness. “I did.”

Ochako slapped her hand away. “I told you not to! You were supposed to leave me!”

“As if I could! You know you don’t belong there.”

“We can’t both exist. You’re going to ruin everything… Where have you even taken me?”

Kyouka coughed. “Uh, trapped underground. Our escape tunnel collapsed.”

“Is that… Kyouka?” Ochako said, aghast. “You even got her involved?”

“Your friends wanted to help. They care about you enough to help with this kind of crazy plan, so please let us–”

“Your friends,” Ochako snapped.

Kyouka said, “Yo, not to interrupt, but we’re going to run out of oxygen and die or get rescued by our pursuers and all get sent to prison unless we figure out how to get out of here. Ochako, is there any way you could zero-gravity the dirt above us?”

Himiko felt around for the ceiling, bumped into Kyouka, but placed both hands fully on the dirt above. She held her breath, but there was no movement. “I can’t, I can get some chunks of dirt, maybe, but this is all anchored to a bunch more dirt I can’t touch. There’s no way that I can…”

She swallowed hard. She couldn’t, but…

Himiko grabbed Ochako, though it was hard to aim in the dark. Eventually her hands settled on what felt like two shoulders. Ochako squirmed, but there was nowhere to run.

Himiko said seriously, “Back then, you had a quirk awakening. You were able to spread your gravity beyond what you touched…”

“I’m Himiko,” Ochako said.

She knew it was risky, Kyouka was right there, but the only alternative was letting Ochako die, and Himiko refused to lose her again. Even if Ochako hated Himiko enough to let her die…

“Please,” Himiko wrung out. “I need you. We need you. If we don’t get out of here… Regardless of how you feel about me, would you really let Kyouka die?”

Kyouka said, “Sorry what the fuck are you guys talking about?”

There was no time to explain, Himiko kept talking to Ochako. “I’m sorry for everything I did, I swear I had no idea you were down there. They told me Toga Himiko had died, so I thought… I thought it’d be fine to… I know it’s selfish, but I’m ready to give it all up for you. I’ll give it all back, you can be a hero like you’re meant to be, so please don’t let us all die down here in the dark, without me ever getting to see your real face…”

Something tickled the tops of Himiko’s knuckles, which were still hanging onto Ochako’s shoulders. It slid down… hair?

Ochako shifted, raising her arms up to the cramped ceiling and shaking Himiko off.

Then everything shifted. The ground above them groaned, the earth shook, and moonlight streamed in.

In front of Himiko sat Ochako. The real Ochako.

Her brown eyes were only half-open, exhaustion filling them. Her hair wasn’t in the bob that Himiko remembered, the bob that Himiko regularly cut hers into for the past eight years. Instead, her brown hair dripped all over her head, long strands hanging over her face like prison bars, down to her hips. Her pupils dragged up to meet Himiko’s.

Like she was in a trance, Himiko reached out for Ochako’s hand. For once, Ochako didn’t resist, and their palms met—five fingers against five fingers, and Himiko’s stomach dropped. She slid her fingers in between, grasping her tight.

They were weightless, floating out of hell together. Dirt lifted around them, and with a slight kick to their angle, they were above solid ground. Ochako pried her hands away so she could press her own together, and they landed with a thud around them, and dirt raining.

Kyouka cursed behind them, “Shit, your heartbeats, all this time…”

Alarms echoed in the distance. People were going to be scanning this whole forest soon.

“Ochako,” Himiko said freely, feet on the ground but still feeling weightless. “Let’s go.”

She grabbed Ochako’s wrist, keeping a pinkie raised, and pulled her to the hovercraft, showered in a bit of dirt, but still looking ready for escape. Kyouka got the cue and scrambled up, though her eyes were saucers from the revelations of tonight.

When Ochako willingly came along, not fighting her again, Himiko’s heart sang. They piled into the hovercraft, which had no proper seats, but could accommodate them standing. Kyouka took the pilot controls and activated the vehicle. They sped through the woods, Kyouka expertly navigating between the trunks. Himiko could smell the adrenaline pumping off her, panic and desperation driving her forward.

From Ochako, she smelled a strange sense of calm tinged by an edge of fury. She looked towards her, hoping for a hint as to how she was truly feeling, and was treated to the sight of Ochako becoming her again.

Her breath caught at the brown hair shrinking up into blonde that went just past the shoulders, her eyes sharpening and growing bright yellow in the reflection of the moon.

Though she missed Ochako’s face already, the transformation had her heart pounding anew. She dove into Ochako’s arms, clutching her through the prison jumpsuit. She was real, solid, finally in her arms. Alive. Free.

She breathed her in for awhile, then felt a tug at her ski mask. She let Ochako pull it off of her so she could see her face fully.

How silly, to be looking at themselves and each other at the same time. “You don’t need to be me,” Himiko told her. “We’re going to make things right.”

Ochako stared at her, expression unreadable. “Make things right?”

“I told you I’d give it all up, and I will. You have an apartment, a life, a career that you deserve. I’ve kept it all safe for you. You’ll have everything you ever dreamed of.”

Ochako didn’t respond, so Himiko just embraced her again. She didn’t hug her back, but that was okay. This was her first time outside of prison in eight years, so she was likely still in shock.

The hovercraft stopped. The parking lot of a gas station, closed at this late hour, with just one car parked. They left the hovercraft, and Kyouka pressed a button that compacted it. She stuffed it into the truck along with their ski masks, then took the wheel of the car.

Himiko pulled Ochako into the back with her instead of going into the passenger seat. If this was going to be her last encounter with Ochako before leaving, she wanted to milk their time together as much as she could. She laced her fingers with Ochako’s and squeezed, and tried not to overthink when she didn’t squeeze back.

The engine revved, and soon they were on their way towards Himiko—no, Ochako’s apartment.

Kyouka piped up awkwardly from the driver’s seat, “So…”

“I’m sorry,” Himiko rushed out. “I’m really, truly sorry. I knew you wouldn’t help me with a prison break, that you wouldn’t trust me the way you trust Ochako, and so I took advantage of your feelings… And Momo’s, Tsuyu’s, everybody… I just couldn’t bear the thought of her rotting in there forever, and I knew ultimately, you guys would be happy to have the real Ochako back, so I thought in the end, it all works out, right? Right?”

“How long?”

She stiffened. “How long?”

“Don’t play dumb, Ocha–... To–... Himi…? No, Toga.” Kyouka stammered before finally saying, “Since when have you two been swapped?”

Her hands were clenched so hard on the steering wheel that her knuckles were white.

Himiko shifted in her seat. “During the war with the Paranormal Liberation Front, when ‘Toga’ died. I had Ochako’s form on when people found me, they mistook me for her, and I just… never corrected anyone. They told me ‘Toga’ had died, so I believed Ochako had… was gone forever.”

Kyouka ran a hand over her face, dragging with exhaustion. “If we hadn’t been so paranoid about the HPSC knowing we’re onto them, and we hadn’t left our cell phones at home to avoid leaving any evidence of this break in… I’d be calling the police right now to pick you up at Ochako’s apartment.”

Nobody said anything for several long minutes. Himiko was breathing slow, doing her best not to burst out into tears in front of Kyouka. That would be embarrassing, considering they weren’t even real friends.

There was a squeeze of her hand, Ochako, and her head spun to take her in. She stared out the window though, face covered by blonde hair, not meeting her gaze. Himiko took several more slow breaths, swallowed down those fragile feelings, and reminded herself that it would all be over soon, and she wouldn’t have to fuss over the opinions of the people she had grown close to all these years anymore. She had Ochako in her hands now.

And she would let her go properly this time.

They pulled into a parking space. Kyouka slammed the driver’s door as she got out.

“...We planned for just a drop-off,” Himiko started.

“As if I would leave you two alone knowing everything, now,” Kyouka whispered sharply.

Himiko sighed, but didn’t argue. Ochako still hadn’t said anything in ages, but she was willingly pulled along up the steps, into the apartment, and up an elevator in tense silence.

Finally, Himiko reached their–... her door. “Welcome to your apartment,” she said, tugging it open.

Ochako stepped inside, and Himiko held her breath. Ochako’s eyes roved around the space, and Himiko was suddenly second-guessing every choice she’d ever made. Were those curtains too pale of a pink? Should she have gotten a rug that didn’t have those gauche hearts on them? Was the television too luxurious of an expense to put in Ochako’s apartment?

Feeling faint, Himiko just needed to get the verdict over with. So she prompted, “So?”

“Where’s the kitchen?” Ochako asked.

“Oh! Of course, you must be starving after all that, obviously, just here…”

The kitchen was through a small archway, tight but good enough for Himiko. Was it good enough for Ochako?

Himiko pulled open the fridge. “I figured you’d be exhausted after everything, so I prepped some meals. There’s some curry, pre-cooked rice, a soup, a few bentos packed with nutrition, some iced tea, and of course…”

She closed the fridge and opened the freezer.

“Frozen mochi ice cream! Several flavors, for desert. Don’t you like mochi? Your friends claimed I–... I mean, you do.”

Ochako grabbed the package, tore it open, and gobbled one of the mochi.

Behind her, Kyouka’s eyes were locked onto Himiko, as though daring her to make some sort of villainous move this far into the game. Himiko tried not to react as her insides twisted. Who cared what Kyouka thought? She wasn’t her friend anymore. She was never truly her friend.

Ochako wiped her mouth. “My hero suit?”

Himiko jumped. “Of course! Whatever you want. Let me grab it.”

She hurried past Kyouka to pass through the living room and into her bedroom, where her hero suit and equipment was hung in the closet. She returned with haste.

Kyouka was facing Ochako, speaking quietly, but just the end of her sentence was audible, “...want to capture her, I’ll help you no matter what.”

Ochako wasn’t looking at Kyouka. Her eyes went automatically to Himiko and stayed locked onto her, expression blank.

So Himiko ignored what she’d heard, and put on a big smile while holding up the suit and its peripherals. “Here it is! I tried to keep it almost exactly the same. Of course there’s been some tiny adjustments, but they’re so minor, I hope they’re to your liking. You could ask to have it changed back though, obviously, if you want?”

Ochako approached. She took her gauntlets, fingers brushing against Himiko’s along the way to send a tingle down her spine. Himiko held her breath as Ochako rotated the tools in her hand. “There’s new buttons,” she commented.

“Yes! Um, that button is the grappling hook, you know that one, but there’s also a capture button on the right gauntlet, right there, yes, which releases a kind of netting. The button on the left gauntlet is a parachute. You can keep the parachute attached, or release it to share with someone else.”

Ochako’s expression still didn’t change, and Himiko started to sweat. Was it too much? Too little? Ochako had to still be in shock, maybe she needed reassurance.

How did Himiko know so little about the girl she’d spent eight years impersonating?

“I… I know it might be an adjustment, but I believe you’ll be a wonderful hero. All of this is your right. Your friends will be happy to have you back, for sure.”

Kyouka interrupted awkwardly, “We will be.”

Himiko pursed her lips, but she didn’t have the right to fight her now. “I did my best to keep things good for you, and now you finally get to enjoy it. I… I know this is wrong of me to say, but being you, living your life… I understand now. Why you wanted to save this world. You can be happy now, Ochako, I promise.”

Idly, Ochako slipped on the gauntlets. “And you?”

She blinked. “Me?”

Her eyes dragged up to meet Himiko’s. They were still yellow, as she was still in Himiko’s form instead of her own. “I slot into this life, and where do you go?”

Her shoulders raised up, and she looked away. “I’ll… manage. Don’t worry about it, you’ve had more than enough to worry about all these years. I may have stolen your life from you, but from now on I promise not to cause any trouble. You can be rest assured as a hero.”

Ochako raised up the right gauntlet and pressed the capture button.

At Kyouka.

Kyouka squeaked, shocked, and fell back from the force of the netting. It wasn’t huge, just enough to wrap around her upper body and press her arms against herself. Himiko started forward, instinct drawing her to unwrap her ally, but in an instant Ochako snatched a knife from her kitchen knife block, wrapped an arm around Kyouka, and brought a knife up to her neck.

“Move and I kill her,” Ochako said.

Everyone froze.

“O-Ochako,” Himiko started, confused. “Calm down, you’re safe now.”

She met Kyouka’s eyes. Though her eyes were wide, she seemed to understand. The earjacks were close to her neck, so if Himiko distracted Ochako long enough, Kyouka would be able to maneuver them around and wrench the knife out of her hands.

But surely, Ochako wouldn’t actually kill her friend, right?

Still, Himiko found herself rooted to her spot, unable to risk Kyouka’s life.

“Safe?” Ochako said with a laugh. “Safe? Safety was being buried underground, but you couldn’t just leave me be, could you? Now you’ve dragged me up from hell to play along with this ridiculous game of yours? Spending all this time with heroes has softened your edge, Himiko.”

Kyouka’s earjacks were slowly approaching Ochako’s wrists, but as quick as a cat’s pounce, Ochako snatched both into one hand and tugged them forward, making Kyouka shout out in pain. Ochako’s knife moved from the throat to the line of the earjacks, and pressed cruelly close.

“Get on your knees, hands up, or Kyouka loses these forever.”

As if Himiko could bargain against that. She got on her knees and raised her hands, stomach churning with confusion.

Ochako hooked her chin over Kyouka’s shoulder, not seeming to care how tense Kyouka was or the way her eyebrows scrunched at her sensitive earjacks being pulled taut. “Good for you, Jirou, you went down the path UA set out for you and became a nice little pro-hero. I was once like you, but I understand now how ignorant I was.”

Dread crawled up Himiko’s spine. She asked, “What do you want?”

She hummed. “I want you to make a backpack. You’re going to pack it full of food, a change of clothes, a lighter, and as much money as you can stuff into it.”

Himiko hesitated. Was this all for her sake? Was she threatening Kyouka just to give Himiko the chance to build an escape bag? “I already made myself a bag,” Himiko told her, feeling flush at admitting she used Ochako’s money to buy things for her eventual escape.

“Bring it out.”

With a deep breath, Himiko went to the bedroom, crawled under the bed, and pulled out the pack she’d put together before the escape. Ochako’s eyes on it embarrassed her; she didn’t want Ochako to worry about how much or little she decided to take on her escape.

“I’ll take my leave now,” Himiko said. “So you don’t have to worry.”

To emphasize the truth, Himiko switched her form. She shifted, body warping slightly all over, hair growing and growing until there was blonde down to her hips that revealed her original form, the true Toga Himiko once again.

Ochako’s grip tightened. “No. Change back.”

Himiko paused, wide-eyed. “...Change back? But it’s… it’s your form, I may have stolen it, but I want to give it back to you now.”

The air smelled of Kyouka’s blood. Ochako had pressed hard enough to draw a bead from her flesh.

Himiko surrendered immediately, transforming into Ochako and putting her hands up in the air. “Stop! I’m going back, just stop.”

A smile crept onto Ochako’s face. “Good. Keep that form. It suits you.”

Though that would have made her happy to hear in just about any other circumstance, Himiko felt pale at the comment. “I-I’m Himiko, though, I shouldn’t…”

“The Toga Himiko that I know was willing to destroy everything for the sake of a world she could be happy in. And now I’m face to face with you, a watered-down, reformed little villain who folds at a little threat against a pro-hero who wants to lock her up? A flimsy little waif who could have everything she wanted, who instead slinks away into the shadows to disappear herself? No, you’ve changed, and now you’re entrenched in this twisted, ugly society you once rallied against.”

Himiko bristled, tempted to step forward despite the threat to Kyouka’s life. She thought of rebuilt parks, people laughing together after work, all of her friends. “It’s not all twisted, there are things worth fighting for, you taught me that!”

Ochako cackled. “That’s exactly why you should keep that form, miss pro-hero.”

“You’re the pro-hero.”

“No.” Ochako smiled wide. “Look at me. I’m a villain, aren’t I?”

Everything was slipping away. All of Himiko’s plans were unraveling at this absurd turn of events, and she scrambled to find purchase on something, anything that could make this all make sense. “What are you trying to do?”

She chuckled. “It’s cute that you believe you somehow ‘stole’ my form. No, listen closely: I’m the one who stole your form… and I’m not giving it back until I’m satisfied.”

It was like a bucket of cold water over Himiko. She finally got Ochako out of Hades, but now… 

Even Kyouka couldn’t help but say, “What the fuck?”

Ochako twisted her hand again to remind Kyouka of who had a knife up to her quirk, then glanced up at Himiko. “You’ve got to have chloroform or something, right?”

Though Himiko didn’t want to believe Ochako capable of anything nefarious, tonight she was learning that she knew Ochako even less than she thought. “...Why?”

She raised an eyebrow. “Either you grab me something to put Kyouka unconscious, or I kill her.”

Kyouka’s brows went high, shocked, and Himiko clenched her fists. How could Ochako treat her friend like this? She could still recall Kyouka’s hesitations and doubts at the outset of the Hades break in, but which she set aside for the sake of the girl who she thought was Ochako.

“You can’t. She cares about you, was willing to risk her whole life and career for your sake. She’s your friend!”

“She’s your friend,” Ochako snarled. “I knew her for just one year, and I’m no longer the same as I was back then.”

Kyouka spoke up, “I’d still–”

Ochako twisted her wrists, pulling the earjacks painfully enough that Kyouka choked instead of finishing her sentence. “Shut up.”

Himiko surrendered immediately. “Fine! Fine, please just… just don’t hurt her anymore.”

She stalked miserably to her bathroom and opened a drawer. She pulled out a small bottle of pills, the kind she previously crushed into a vitamin water to knock out Dr. Nakada. Ochako followed her the whole time, jostling Kyouka in such a dangerous way that Himiko flinched every few steps at the imminent danger.

“Dissolve it into some water,” Ochako said.

Himiko used the glass by her sink and did so, using just one pill. This would knock Kyouka out for less than an hour. In the meantime, Ochako had pressed down on Kyouka so she was on her knees.

“Now give it to Kyouka. Just one hand to hold the glass. Any funny moves from either of you and Kyouka can say goodbye to her earjacks forever.”

Slowly, Himiko brought the glass up to Kyouka’s lips. Should she try to fight this? Twist out somehow? But that kitchen knife was sharp, and some small part of her desperately wanted to believe if she just obeyed every one of Ochako’s commands that somehow everything would turn out okay.

Her eyes met Kyouka’s, and although they were terrified, her lips parted obediently so Himiko could rest the glass against it. Kyouka had accepted who had the power in this situation, and only sighed as Himiko mouthed Sorry. She tilted the glass slowly, hoping it wouldn’t strain Kyouka’s stomach too much if she moderated the speed.

The whole while, Ochako kept her knife against Kyouka’s earjacks, the omnipresent threat.

Once the glass was empty, Ochako said to Kyouka, “Open your mouth, show me you swallowed it all.”

Her face was flushed red, strained and frustrated, but she opened up and looked towards Ochako. To get a better view, Ochako used the fist with the earjacks to feel up Kyouka’s throat before pressing the chin to tilt her even higher, so her whole mouth was in Ochako’s sights.

“Good,” Ochako said with a satisfied smile.

Already, Kyouka’s dark eyes were going glassy, and her head sank down once Ochako stopped tilting her up. Soon, she was slumped down, only held up by Ochako’s threatening arm and knife.

“Now make another glass with another pill dissolved.”

Himiko obeyed, mind churning with possibilities. Now that Kyouka was unconscious, the smell of terror she had radiated calmed, and something that had been buried underneath wafted through the air. Anger, yes, but with a tinge of fear. Ochako may have spent eight years in prison, she may have changed, but Himiko struggled to believe that she could have developed a desire to murder in that time.

“Drink it,” Ochako said.

Himiko swirled the cup in her hand. It didn’t take much water to dissolve the pill, probably only two or three swallows at most. Once she drank it, Ochako would be free to do who-knows-what. Out of her sights again.

If Ochako escaped now, then Himiko was going to be trapped as Ochako again. Well, unless Kyouka snitched on her. Then there would be two Himiko’s in the world, and Ochako would be gone forever.

“I said drink it,” Ochako repeated. “Otherwise I kill Jirou.”

She took a deep breath. If she could gamble her way out of this, was there a way to keep Ochako here? Maybe if she just pushed a little further, Ochako would break down and listen to reason.

“Do you really want me to kill her?” Ochako challenged.

“Do you really want to kill her?” Himiko countered.

Her face twisted, lips curling down. “I will, if you don’t drink that.”

Himiko waited.

“I really will!” Ochako repeated, voice only shaking on the last syllable.

“I’m not sure what you’re getting out of playing a villain, but I can see that deep down, you don’t want to hurt her. No matter what you’ve been through and what you say, I… I still believe in the girl who reached her hand out to me.”

She glowered. The hand that previously held Kyouka’s earjacks was loose now, shaking against Kyouka’s shoulder, but the hand with the knife stayed steady.

“Becoming a villain is awful, Ochako. I don’t want you to have to live that kind of life, but if you stay in my form… you’ll have no choice. Put down that knife, and we can forget all of this. It’s not too late for you to become a pro-hero like you’ve always dreamed.”

Ochako’s free hand darted out and snatched the glass from Himiko’s hand. Himiko was so surprised she couldn’t process why Ochako was suddenly chugging that liquid with the pill in it. Her cheeks went wide.

Then Ochako dropped the glass, grabbed Himiko’s shirt, and dragged her towards her until she could meet their lips.

Himiko opened her mouth in shock, and in an instant water was flowing in. Himiko swallowed once by accident, then tried to struggle. However, Ochako wrapped a hand around the back of her head, locking her in place so she couldn’t pull back, couldn’t escape the ceaseless assault. Even when Himiko tried to close her mouth, Ochako bit her until blood blossomed between them, and Himiko’s lips parted just enough to allow more liquid to drain inside.

Though Himiko tried to pry Ochako off of her, Ochako shoved her against the sink and grabbed a hand, shoving it against the countertop. She let go of Kyouka, Himiko thought idly. Realizing there was no more knife against Kyouka renewed her struggle, but by then some of the pill was starting to kick in. Her movements went slow, her sensations dulled, and soon she was swallowing helplessly just to stop the endless sloshing in her mouth.

Her body relaxed against her will. Ochako’s tongue swept inside her, as though checking to make sure she swallowed everything, and then finally she parted from her.

Himiko coughed, and tears squeezed out of her eyes. Her body was steaming hot, but all her muscles felt like jelly. She started to slide, back scraping the sink on her way down. Ochako’s hand trailed up her arms as she lowered, until it got all the way up to her neck, and Ochako was able to grasp her chin with both hands and tilt her face up to look at her.

“Stay in this cozy life,” Ochako said, smiling sweetly. “Feel free to fight me, if you want to play the pro-hero. But don’t try to tell me how I feel and what path I should take. You were right, all those years ago, and though you’ve lost your nerve since then, I’ll finish the job you started. This world is corrupt, and the only solution is to destroy it.”

Himiko opened her mouth to argue, but her tongue was heavy, and her eyes closed.

She was asleep.

Notes:

Yayyyy after 69k the main couple (sort of) get to kiss ^_^.

Chapter 21: The Room Is Filled With People That Love You

Summary:

Previously on Did we succeed? Well, yes, but actually, no: Himiko and Kyouka were able to pull Ochako out of Hades, though there was a complication where they got briefly buried, and true identities were revealed to Kyouka. Though Kyouka treated Himiko coldly, she still cooperated with bringing both Himiko and Ochako to Himiko's apartment, and went in with them while Himiko introduced Ochako to the apartment. Though Himiko told Ochako that she was happy to switch places so they would both be in the "right" place, and that Himiko would leave and never cause trouble again, Ochako decided to take Kyouka hostage and forced Himiko to allow her to escape and continue living as Toga Himiko.

Notes:

Zooming to get this posted before my date tonight, since I'm gonna be busy for Thanksgiving.... but wahoo!!! Getting it posted now!!!!!

Title from a song by Foresight (One of the last songs on my playlist for this fic (playlist with explanatory lyric snippets on tumblr))

Himiko shifted, on the groggy edge between sleep and waking up. Her head pounded, and she curled deeper into her blankets, wishing she could block out whatever nightmare she had been having.

“Toga?” Kyouka’s voice.

Her eyes snapped open. Fuck. The breakout. Hades. Ochako, that horrible confrontation, Kyouka witness to it all…

She scrambled up. She was in bed? In her room? Her head spun until it found Kyouka sitting on the floor, with her arms resting up on the bed for her head to lean on. She straightened up as Himiko took her in. She must have woken up a bit before Himiko.

For what felt like almost a full minute, the two of them stared at each other. Himiko was terrified to make the wrong move and send Kyouka into a panic. She’d lost all of her trust tonight, and now she had no clue where the two of them really stood.

Without breaking eye contact, Himiko felt her own wrists, and didn’t find any sort of restraints. No handcuffs. She let out a heavy breath. Would Kyouka let her go?

“I’ll leave,” Himiko said. “Just… let me pack a bag, at least.”

Kyouka frowned. “Leave?”

“You know the truth now, I can’t keep… it’s time I stop pretending.”

Himiko started to get up, but Kyouka’s hand darted out and grabbed her wrist. Himiko jerked away by instinct, but when Kyouka didn’t try to wrestle her down, she paused properly.

Kyouka’s face was stern. “You said you’d take responsibility for her.”

Carefully, Himiko placed a hand on Kyouka’s, trying to smoothly pry her off. “And I will. I’ll find her some way, I promise, and I’ll persuade her to be Ochako properly.”

Kyouka’s grip tightened. “You said you’d take responsibility for her, but you’re responsible for her life and reputation too. You can’t just abandon that, make her disappear for who knows how long.”

Her heart thudded, and she hated the thought that Kyouka might be listening to it. “What else am I supposed to do? Have another girls’ night with you and the others while being called ‘Ochako’ and imagining what she’d say? What she’d do? Want me to keep playing the snake in your midst, soaking up those sweet memories that should have been Ochako’s?”

Kyouka grimaced, and her eyebrows pinched together. Her hand let go, and she took a long deep breath. “It’s been you for… what? Seven years?”

“Eight.”

“These past eight years… You’re the girl I graduated with, the one who I did that practical exam with in second year, the one who helped plan Momo’s surprise birthday party last year, the one who’s collaborated with us on our professional hero work, the one I’ve trusted to have my back no matter what, the one who has had my back, who’s saved my life multiple times…”

Kyouka leaned forward, bowing her head as she brought up her hands to grasp at her own hair.

“I can’t stop going through my memories. The girl who likes to pass Mina a glass of water after she’s had too much and telling her it’s vodka so she chugs it, the girl who will sleep on the nearest available person for any movie night, the girl who comes running when anyone says they need a hand… has been Toga Himiko. This whole time.”

Himiko turned away. “I’m sorry.”

The air was thick with silence.

Then Kyouka said, “How much of it was real?”

Himiko clenched her fists, digging her nails into her palm so if this was a nightmare, the pain might wake her up.

No luck.

Himiko answered, “What even is real? I was pretending to be Ochako the whole time. All those feelings were supposed to be Ochako’s.”

“But what about your feelings?”

Himiko’s throat felt thick. Was Kyouka going to force her to admit it? She wouldn’t survive the embarrassment, revealing that this whole time she’d been developing an attachment to the people who didn’t even really know her.

Since there was no response, Kyouka continued, “When Ochako threatened me, I saw the fear in your eyes. Even though when I first learned the truth, I wanted to throw you in jail, you still…” Kyouka laughed, high and manic. “I realized like, holy shit, she’s… you’re… it’s been you, this whole time, and I… you…”

Himiko felt so tender and raw and weak, a stiff breeze could have probably sent her sprawling onto the ground. She covered her face with her hands, scared of the creepy, maybe inappropriately hopeful expression she might be making.

Kyouka said, “I’m sorry I jumped to conclusions, but I want… to know your real feelings now. Toga, what do you actually think of me?”

She shivered at her real name coming from her mouth. Himiko drew in a shaky breath. “I’m the one who’s sorry for getting close to you while pretending to be someone else.”

There was movement on the bed, Kyouka getting on, getting close, and Himiko was terrified of uncovering her face. “That’s not what I asked.”

Kyouka grabbed both of her wrists and slowly drew them apart, so Himiko had no choice but to look at her. Kyouka looked just as clueless, confused, and desperate as she felt.

“Are we friends?” Kyouka asked.

Himiko whispered, “I don’t know.”

“Do you want to be?”

Tears brimmed Himiko’s eyes. “How could I not?”

Then there were arms around her, and she fell back onto the bed, Kyouka wrapped her arms around her, and slowly, uncertainly, Himiko raised her arms in turn to grasp her… friend?

She sobbed into Kyouka’s shoulder. Kyouka was shaking too. She still didn’t entirely believe that this wasn’t an elaborate ploy to get her guard down so Kyouka could tie her up and haul her away, but being in the arms of someone who knew her real name, who she truly was, and still chose to embrace her, was too nice to fight.

Briefly, she considered Kyouka’s neck, and how it might feel to press her teeth in and draw out some blood, then decided not to push her luck tonight.

Eventually they rolled over to be side by side and parted. Himiko spoke through a thick throat, “I still need to talk to Ochako properly. Preferably without a knife to your throat.”

Kyouka laughed. “That’d be ideal, yeah.”

“Would you… help me find her? I don’t know what she’s going to do from now on, but I need to track her down.”

“Of course, both for your sake and hers. Even if Ochako’s changed, even if I only truly knew her our first year… I can’t leave her like this.”

Himiko felt strangely refreshed, giddy despite the swirling anxiety as to where Ochako was and what she was doing. For the first time, she wasn’t facing this problem completely alone, and the shattered illusion was more freeing than she had imagined.

“Can I… would you let me keep living as Ochako? Just for now, until we can persuade her to take her place?”

“It seems like the best option considering, uh, everything. And to be fair, you are the pro-hero Uravity. You’re the one who got her hero license and everything, it’s your job. And hopefully it can put you in a position to track down Ochako, assuming she keeps up that charade of being you.”

Himiko let out a breath of relief.

“But…”

She stiffened.

“You’re going to have to tell the others the truth.”

Himiko got up, heart already jumping at the prospect. “I can’t.”

“You can. They deserve to know the truth, to know who their friend truly is.”

She swallowed hard. “The risks are huge. If any of them get scared, or feel betrayed, my whole career could be over, and I could be locked away without ever getting to talk with Ochako properly.”

Kyouka frowned. “...It is risky, but… At least the people who helped with the break in, they risked so much for you, don’t they deserve the truth? Haven’t they shown they can be trusted?”

While trying to find a distraction, Himiko realized there was a vibration in the room—She scrambled up to grab her phone from her nightstand, where she’d dropped it off before the break in. 

She saw three missed calls, and the phone continued to vibrate in her hands: Hawks.

“Fuck.”

Kyouka looked over her shoulder. “You think it’s related to the break in?”

“At this time of night? No other option. I better respond before he sends a team to my apartment to check on me…”

She tapped the accept icon, trusting Kyouka to keep quiet.

“Uravity! Sorry to interrupt your beauty sleep.”

Himiko channeled her most innocent self, the Ochako who had been sleeping the night away only to be awoken by the insistent calls of her boss. “What could be so important you needed to call me this late… or early?”

“Trust me, I wouldn’t if I didn’t think it was urgent. Can you come to the HPSC? As soon as possible?”

She glanced towards Kyouka, uncertain if she could leave her, but Kyouka gave a nod. “Give me a minute to get dressed, and I’ll head right over.”

“Dress discreetly, and wear a hat or something.”

“...Okay.”

She hung up.

Kyouka got up, stretching. “We’ll talk later, but you better see what’s up with the HPSC, and maybe get some sleep. Hope you can take the morning off… I definitely will.”

 

---

 

Hawks paced from one end of his office to the other with his arms behind his back, as though resisting the urge to wring them as well. Himiko could smell his stress the moment she entered, rolling off of him in waves.

Delicious.

“It’s absurd. Completely unprecedented. You’re gonna want to sit down for this,” he told her.

Himiko blinked as though truly taken aback and slowly took a seat on the lounge chair. “What is it?”

Finally he stopped in front of her. He closed his eyes and brought his hands forward to press them together, like a prayer he could get through this. He breathed in deep, then released it as he opened his eyes. “Somehow, Toga Himiko returned.”

She allowed her jaw to drop open, then placed a hand in front of it in case her mouth twitched towards a grin. “...But she died.”

“We thought she died,” he explained, words starting to speed up. “But she must have had someone on the inside who faked the death records or something. I guess she’s been biding her time this whole while, until finally… Tonight one of our operatives encountered her in the field. She’s on the move, getting active again.”

So this was how he was going to play it. She wondered just how deeply he built this cover. She pushed, taking on an incredulous tone, “No way, where’s the proof? Do we know she’s Toga? I need more details.”

“Sorry, too much classified and undercover stuff going on to give you too much, but we’re pretty certain it’s the real Toga. We’re trying to handle things discreetly before they escalate, but the moment I heard, I knew I had to get into contact with you to warn you.”

In other words, he didn’t have time to whip up some convincing evidence for her, and was relying on her trusting the HPSC. She nodded seriously, as though that was enough for her.

He began to pace again, fingers twitching like he wanted to send feathers to every corner to secure the room. “You need to stay on your toes, Uravity. Our analysts have been trying to figure out why she would choose to strike now of all times, and we have a suspicion it has to do with you.”

She raised her eyebrows, the picture of shock. “Me?”

“That blog post Iguchi made some months ago made waves, and was about Himiko. Our analysts suspect that after faking her death, she decided to lie low for years, but that article may have made her consider getting into more active villainy again. These past few months must have been spent deciding what to do and plotting out her return, but thankfully we’ve caught on in time to warn you, unless…?”

He paused, then slowly turned his head.

Himiko tilted her head. “Huh?”

“Has… Toga Himiko tried to contact you recently?” 

She startled, shaking her head hopefully not too quickly. “No! This is the first I’ve heard of her being like, alive somehow? I’m still reeling. Obviously if something like that happened, you would be the first to know.”

His shoulders lowered a smidgen. “The problem is that in your interview, you come off as pretty sympathetic towards Toga. There’s a high probability that she’s come out of the woodwork just now because she suspects that she can make an ally out of you.”

Himiko scrunched her brows together. “But… I’m a pro-hero, surely she can’t believe that I would help her with villainy just because I felt pity for her.”

He opened his mouth, then shut it. Himiko raised an eyebrow, surprised at his chatty side holding back. After another few moments, he said, “I don’t talk much about my time spent with the League of Villains and the Paranormal Liberation Front, but I had time to get to know the villains there. All of them had their own circumstances that led them down the path of villainy, including her. I saw firsthand her obsession with blood and love, and it’s probable that her first attack in middle school could have been a legitimately irresistible urge. However, instead of surrendering herself to the police, she decided to take the path of villainy.”

In spite of everything, Himiko still didn’t believe it was the wrong choice.

“She developed talents for her life of crime. She can wear any mask, any person as smoothly as her own skin. I got to see some of her work up close, and she was skilled at evoking the mannerisms of other people. She could take on the persona of anybody close to you and you might legitimately not notice until it was too late. Along with that, you have to understand that she has the capacity to be a master manipulator.” He walked around the room, around her like a shark carefully keeping its prey in its place. “Her acting abilities apply even when she’s not transformed. Maybe she’ll approach you as one of your friends, maybe she’ll even approach you as herself, but no matter what I suspect she’ll bring lies aplenty to shake you to your foundation and try to drag you onto the path of villainy.”

Ah. So that’s how they were going to play it.

“This long timespan between your interview and her first confirmed appearance may be because she’s been forging evidence to prepare for her plan. She might try to turn you against us, isolate you so you don’t know who to trust, but we need you to trust us. I need you to trust me.”

He met her eyes at that, dripping with a sincerity that made her nauseous. She could remember him looking at Dabi with those eyes, insisting he truly believed in the villain’s mission, and could be trusted. 

She took a deep breath, and used her long-practiced mask to say, “I trust you.”

Hawks smiled. “Good.” 

It was the rock-solid confidence that made her want to push again. Her skin felt like it was peeling away, and she needed to pick at the wounds, both old and new. “But… what if she truly just wants help?”

“...What do you mean?”

Hawks had gotten close enough to Twice to learn his history. And still, back then, when all the chips were down, when Twice refused to surrender, Hawks chose to murder him rather than have to grapple with trying to support the pro-heroes and a friend in need at the same time.

It had been almost a decade since then, plenty time for Hawks to think back on that day and his relationship to Twice.

She said, “What if Himiko is truly just struggling to survive and asking me for help living? I… I admitted in the article I told her I would give her blood for the rest of my life. What if that’s truly all she wants from me? No villainy, nothing but an unfulfilled promise for that blood she craves?”

He stared her down. “Uravity. I can understand your pity for her, but she still needs to go to jail. Even if she comes and seems to just be asking for help, you would still need to capture her and bring her to us so she can do time for what she’s done. And chances are, even if she seems to just be asking for help, that’s exactly what a villain would make it look like to persuade you to ally yourself with her. By the time you realize what she’s asking of you has wider ramifications, it’ll be too late. So…”

Himiko held back a flinch as he put a hand on her shoulder.

“For your safety I have to insist that wherever you can control it, you must not engage with her. There is unfortunately a high chance she may come to you, but the best way to save her is going to be to contact us as soon as possible so we can take her in properly.”

She breathed out slowly, letting go of the urge to claw his hands off of her. Ochako refused to take on the mantle of Uravity, so it was up to Himiko to keep up this charade. And along the way, she would keep an eye on how close the HPSC was to catching Ochako.

“I want to help,” she told him.

He shook his head. “We’ll let you know if you have a role to play, but right now you just need to watch out for yourself, and alert us if Toga tries to make contact with you.”

She allowed her fury to leak out as disappointment on her face. Finally, Hawks took his hand away.

“Thank you for coming here this late and on such short notice. I’m sorry the news is pretty much, ‘You’re in danger, look out!’ but… Stay strong, Uravity. And don’t forget that Himiko is a villain—she’ll drain you dry if you give her a chance.”

He didn’t know just how much Himiko had already drained Ochako’s life, taking it wholesale and making it her mask for the past eight years.

So she left him with her long-practiced Uravity smile, and exited the HPSC to go home and finally sleep.

 

---

 

The afternoon after the break in, Himiko ended up in Momo’s living room with everyone who had gotten involved, sans Skeptic who didn’t give a shit.

This had been planned from the start—a check in afterwards to make sure everything had gone well and everyone was accounted for. The way Tsuyu hugged her long and hard as soon as she walked through the door told her that she had been worried sick. Trying to avoid leaving any evidence on their phones of the break in meant people hadn’t even gotten an “all is good” text directly from her.

Himiko had hoped this meeting would be an opportunity for Ochako to meet all the people who had fought hard to save her, but now it felt like rubbing salt into a wound. Ochako wasn’t here, and nobody aside from Kyouka even knew.

As far as she could tell, anyway. Her classmates around her were looking with too much naked concern and sincerity for Kyouka to have revealed the truth.

Maybe Kyouka would let her get away with it? They were… friends, supposedly, now. Not Kyouka and Ochako, but Kyouka and Himiko.

That was one person, though, and the room was full of Ochako’s friends. Tsuyu, Momo, Shouto, Kirishima, Kouda, and Satou were all gathered, enjoying tea from Momo and snacks Satou had brought along.

Momo started by passing her a cup of tea, with a bit of cream just like Himiko liked it. Her brows were scrunched together, naked concern there. “Sit down.”

As soon as Himiko found a seat on the couch between Tsuyu and Kirishima, the meeting began.

Momo said, “Kyouka told us all about it.”

Her throat went dry, and she was unable to take a sip. She gleaned towards Kyouka, whose face was frustratingly passive.

“How Toga escaped us, despite you putting all that effort in to save her,” Momo finished, pity in her eyes.

She breathed out shakily and drank her tea to help hide her expression

Tsuyu put her hand on Himiko’s. “I’m sorry, I know how much you wanted to be with her.”

Himiko vowed she would not cry, but the way they looked at her, Kirishima’s eyes welling up with tears, made it difficult.

“Totally unmanly,” Kirishima said. “Leaving you after everything you did to get her out of there.”

“She was in a difficult situation,” Satou said softly beside her. “She’s probably not thinking logically. You did nothing wrong, Uraraka, she just might not have been ready.”

She nodded, quiet as Kouda, afraid trying to speak might make her sob.

Momo’s next words were said with some trepidation. “This of course puts us into a… difficult situation. We rescued her with the assumption that after eight years in prison, she might be interested in reforming her villainous ways, and would stay with Ochako as we figured out next steps. Unfortunately, as Toga has chosen to go on the lam again, we have to assume that she… she might…” She grimaced and avoided Himiko’s eyes. “She might have decided to commit villainy again.”

Her stomach dropped.

“I was willing to go through with this because I considered her imprisonment with no trial a fundamental injustice that the legal system was not currently equipped to address while she was in there. But as a pro-hero, knowing a villain is on the loose… I can’t abide by that.”

Around her was nodding. The only person who simply stood, leaning against the wall, betraying nothing, was Kyouka. Himiko looked around the room, at everyone worried for the same thing.

“We need to devise a plan to take her in again,” Momo continued. “This time, of course, with the public and us aware so she can go through the proper judiciary panels. But we need to set this as high priority—if she was so desperate to escape you, that indicates a strong intention to commit further villainy.”

Kyouka was looking at her, expectant. Himiko’s hands shook, tea wobbling in its cup. “I… I’ll take care of it,” Himiko stammered out. “You guys have done so much already. Let me handle Toga from now on.”

“Ochako, I know you… feel for Toga’s circumstances, but we cannot pretend that we didn’t just let an extremely high-ranking villain loose. We need to all go plus ultra and apprehend her, as we would any fugitive villain.”

Her heart was racing. Everything Momo said made sense, but it was all wrong. “She… She’s just scared and confused. I’m sure she won’t do anything bad.”

Momo’s eyes hardened. “I saw Kyouka’s injuries with my own eyes. Toga is a villain, through and through, we can’t afford to be merciful at this stage.”

Himiko’s throat was so dry, not even the tea could help her. Kyouka was still staring at her. Waiting.

Kirishima punched his fists together. “She won’t know what hit her!”

Shouto nodded. “There will be no hesitation. Whatever it takes.”

No. No, they weren’t supposed to talk about Ochako like this. Ochako was innocent, even if she had done some desperate things to escape Kyouka and her, it wasn’t like she was actually a villain. Her friends couldn’t, shouldn’t treat her like this.

She stood up, leaving her teacup floating in the air. “You guys can’t.”

Everyone was staring. Tsuyu grabbed her teacup, but aside from that, they were waiting for her to explain.

Her mouth opened, but nothing came out. She couldn’t do this. She couldn’t look into Tsuyu’s completely trusting eyes and admit that this entire time, she hadn’t had the right to call her Tsuyu. Her blood pumped hard, screaming like she was in the middle of a battlefield with a building about to collapse on top of her. To speak now would be to destroy everything she had built these past eight years.

She had loved building this life, even if the foundations were rotted and shaking. Staring at the people who felt like her friends all these years made it impossible for her to demolish what she made.

So she just stood like an idiot, a fish out in the air and unable to say a word.

Momo said, “Ochako… I’m sorry, but…”

“Wait.”

Kyouka interrupted, and stepped away from the wall where she’d been leaning ominously. She walked to the center of the gathering, and stood beside her.

“You still have more to share, don’t you?” Kyouka prompted.

Himiko’s lip trembled. She began to shake her head. Don’t make me say it.

Kyouka reached out and grabbed her hand. Squeezed it tight. I’ll be here beside you.

Himiko swallowed hard. Squeezed back. Despite everything, Kyouka had eventually come around to her. Her true self. The girl who spent all this time beneath her mask.

Would it feel good to finally shed that mask? Even just a bit? Even if she lost these friends, it was inevitable.

So Himiko began, “I… have to admit something. Please keep an open mind. I… I want to be clear that I care about all of you, you’ve all been wonderful friends, and I appreciate you, but… I haven’t been entirely totally honest about… uh… one or two things.”

She tried not to groan at herself. One or two things? But there was no way to go except forward.

“Eight years ago, during the war between the Paranormal Liberation Front and the pro-heroes… Toga and… Ochako, battled, but in the end, when Ochako was bleeding out, Toga chose to give her blood to Ochako to save her.”

Already, people were tilting their heads, confused by the way she was phrasing it.

“In the process, there was… some sort of quirk mixing. Toga developed the ability to transform into Ochako indefinitely, use her quirk, and Ochako got, uh, the vice versa.”

Satou was frowning. “Vice versa?”

She laughed. Oh no, this was a weird time to laugh. But she didn’t know how else to react to her web of lies unraveling in front of her. “Ochako became capable of using Toga’s quirk, and transforming into her. Indefinitely.”

Tsuyu’s eyes widened. Oh no, she got it, hadn’t she?

So she rushed through the next parts. “So like, when people found them unconscious on the battlefield, the one who looked like Ochako was rushed to the hospital, and the one who looked like Toga was… well, I’m not entirely sure, but when I woke up in the hospital, I was told she was dead. And I thought since she was dead, as long as I vowed to live in a way that honored… Like, again, I thought she was dead, and I didn’t want her dead, so I thought maybe I could live on as her, and maybe it seems selfish, I mean I got so much out of being her, I thought I was so lucky and fortunate to get to live this way, to get to know all of you, it was a miracle, but then I found out she wasn’t dead, and now we’re… I’m…”

There was dawning horror around the room. Nausea roiled, and her skin thrummed with panic.

The only person who didn’t have their jaw open in shock was Shouto, who mostly looked confused. “Um, what are you saying?”

“I’m Toga Himiko.”

The room was silent. Himiko clenched her eyes shut, terrified of the verdict.

Momo was the first to speak. “For… eight years?”

She nodded slowly, trying not to vomit all over her nice floor.

Then Kyouka squeezed her hand again.

“I got to meet the real Ochako last night,” Kyouka said. “And learned the truth about Toga. When the real Ochako threatened me, Toga was legitimately scared for my sake. The fact of the matter is, she’s been our friend for these past eight years. I’ve chosen to keep her as my friend, I hope all of you will do the same.”

Himiko’s breaths were shaky. She still hadn’t opened her eyes. So long as she kept herself shut away, she could avoid seeing their disappointment, fear, or anger for a little longer.

Something touched her, and she flinched.

But it moved softly, slowly, and when she opened her eyes, she found her face pressed into Tsuyu’s shoulder. 

“I’m sorry,” Tsuyu murmured.

Himiko choked out, “No, I’m sorry.”

She almost shoved her way out of the embrace, convinced that she didn’t deserve this kind of tenderness after the egregious lie she had been telling all these years, but then someone else wrapped their arms around her, and her side was pressed into Kirishima’s wide chest.

“I guess I didn’t know you, but your manliness has shone all these years. As long as you want to stay friends…”

She sobbed. “Of course I want to be friends!”

Tears were rolling down her face like a dam eight years in the making finally broke. There were other arms around her, and words far too kind considering what she had done, but it all started to blend together in a mess of relief and disbelief. 

How had she gotten so lucky?

How were her friends so wonderful?

The next hour passed in a blur. Another round of tea was passed around, people took their seats again, and soft conversation filled the space. Himiko finally got to talk at least a bit about reality, who she truly was, words she had never gotten to say to any other human being before. By the end, she felt drained and run ragged, but in a good way. Like the end of a long sickness finally clearing up, allowing one to breath smoothly for the first time in ages.

Tsuyu walked her home. Even when Himiko told her it wasn’t necessary, she insisted, and how could Himiko deny her? They talked only a little—out on the streets, trying to get into the details of the truth could be risky with eavesdroppers, but that was okay. Having Tsuyu quietly beside her was familiar.

“Thanks for walking me home, Asui,” she said at the door of her apartment complex.

She blinked at her. “Call me Tsuyu.”

Himiko hesitated. For people knew she was Himiko, not Ochako, it felt presumptuous to speak to people using their given names rather than their family names. “...Are you sure?”

Tsuyu reached out a hand, linking their fingers together. Not scared, not disturbed. Just reaching out. “I’m sure.”

If Himiko hadn’t already cried her heart out earlier, she probably would have started crying again. “Then thank you… Tsuyu.”

Notes:

Lol finally Himiko gets some COMFORT in these trying times. I do love writing angst, but today she gets a break <3

Chapter 22: Brand New Day

Summary:

Previously on Sometimes Nice Things Happen: Himiko woke up with Kyouka, and the two had a heart-to-heart about Himiko's true identity and her true feelings. Hawks urgently called Himiko into his office to warn her that "Toga" was somehow alive and on the loose, and told her not to trust anything that "Toga" tells her. Himiko gathered with her friends who had helped with the Hades prison break, and with Kyouka's support, ended up confessing her true identity. Although she was nervous, her friends ended up accepting her.

Notes:

I shoveled the snow out of TWO driveways on Friday, and my body is STILL sore.... but I'm well enough to post a chapter at least XD.

Himiko woke up refreshed and ready to face the day. Yes, Ochako was still at large, but she was outside of prison, and Himiko had her gigantic burden of a lie lifted at least a little bit.

Several people knew who she truly was… and they were still friends. She hadn’t lost everything with the truth. There was a potential future not for Himiko-as-Ochako, but Himiko.

She filled and turned on her rice cooker and her electric kettle. She would have a slow morning today, she decided. A cup of tea, plus rice with an egg for breakfast. The HPSC hadn’t assigned anything for this morning, so it was up to her discretion when she would work. Everything felt like it could wait. She had room to breathe.

Hopefully Ochako had room to breathe, too.

Her kettle went off, and she made a cup of tea. Not as good as Momo’s, but it would suffice as a gentle wakeup. 

Now well-rested and far less burdened, Himiko could reflect a little more clearly on the situation Ochako was in when she… reacted the other night. As far as Himiko could tell, Ochako had spent eight years trapped in one room, with only guards and the occasional medical person there to visit her and take samples. Anyone could end up a little… different, under those circumstances.

Himiko could have ended up like that.

She lounged on her dark pink upholstered couch, purchased three years ago after careful consultation with Mina and Camie, with a teal, dotted minky blanket draped over the back that Bakugou once called “an affront to both interior design and decent bedding.” Nonetheless, she pulled it from the back to wrap around herself in a cozy cocoon, enjoying its unique texture. She blew her hot tea, the cat-shaped mug a gift from Kouda during a UA gift exchange during their senior year. All around her were reminders of the rich life she’d gotten to lead so far.

Ochako had none of this.

Even if Himiko gave her the whole apartment and everything contained within, it wouldn’t undo those years of captivity, enforced stasis that had locked Ochako away from experiencing the full breadth of life which her purgatory had given Himiko.

If Ochako hadn’t made that sacrifice, she could have been the one luxuriating at home while Himiko rotted in prison. Would Himiko have accepted help immediately after being pulled out of hell? If Ochako had gone down to save her, would she have happily gone along with everything Ochako wanted?

No, the kind of resentment, anger, and frustration that would have built up over that time would have driven Himiko to a state that might be unrecognizable from her today. She wouldn’t have gotten to see the depth of good and kindness the world had to offer, the sweet relief of peace, or the strength of community.

How did Himiko ever believe that someone cut off from all that would have been willing to jump right back into society as though nothing ever happened?

The rice cooker finished, so Himiko got up and served herself a bowl, along with an egg on top. She mixed it in as she returned to the couch.

Ochako was out there, somewhere. Probably scared, unwilling to let her in yet. Himiko couldn’t give up now just because she lashed out and didn’t react the way she wanted her to. Though Ochako took a backpack of supplies, she was technically in the body of a fugitive criminal, so her options would be limited. Himiko remembered her time on the streets, uncertain where she would sleep most nights, wearing a school uniform to try and garner pity from those around her so she might stay afloat a little longer. It was a grueling lifestyle.

Short-term, though, maybe it would give Ochako time to cool off.

If Ochako needed time, Himiko would give her at least a little bit before chasing her down again. Her friends who knew the truth agreed—and had agreed to not report or hunt Ochako too severely, since she wasn’t truly a villain on the loose.

Himiko found the remote to her television and turned it on. She would catch up on the news over breakfast, then do some chores. A nice, easy morning to recover from the stress of the past day… no, months.

The news reporter said, ”...are reeling after the stabbing early this morning. The victim, pro-hero Mao, is now recovering in the hospital after being found by a good samaritan. The Hero Public Safety Commission has put out a statement for their employee, saying…”

She froze. No way, it couldn’t be…

Just in case, she kept the news on. It cut to another reporter, live at the scene of the crime.

“...Though police have blocked us from getting close, even from this distance you can see the gruesome scene. This pro-hero lost a lot of blood! On that wall you can see what looks to be deliberate strokes. Yes, that looks rather like… a heart?”

Himiko swallowed hard. Ochako wouldn’t hurt someone that badly, right?

She turned off the news, feeling sick. 

Though she wanted to allow Ochako her space, she didn’t like the idea of patience with a body count.

 

---

 

Skeptic allowed Himiko into his apartment without a fuss. By now, he was used to her leaving her shoes on, and didn’t even twitch when she walked past the entrance area towards the couch.

That was no fun, so she changed course, went to his fridge and opened it up.

“I see you didn’t get caught or die on your little mission,” he said.

He wasn’t going to ask like a normal person, but Himiko was going to need his assistance, so she informed him, “We got Toga out, but there were complications.”

He tilted back, an impression of rolling eyes behind those long bangs. “When has a plan ever gone off without a hitch?”

The middle shelf had a delectable little cup of pudding. She grabbed it and closed the fridge behind herself. “Toga wasn’t as cooperative as we hoped, and went off on her own. So she’s out of Hades, but I don’t know where she’s gone.”

“Okay? She’s free or whatever, wasn’t that the goal?”

Himiko opened various drawers in the kitchen, searching for a spoon. Skeptic watched her, but didn’t offer a single direction to help guide her quest. Dick.

She said, “I had plans to get her into a stable position. I never intended to release her just for her to become a villain.”

He snorted. “Wow, you’re more naive than I thought. She was already a villain, and you thought you could break her out of prison and she would… what? Say ‘sorry for all my crimes, I wanna be a nice obedient member of society now’?”

“You’re an ex-villain now living the civilian lifestyle,” she countered.

He let out a heh sound. “You literally pulled my blackmail that proved I’m not exactly attached to the straight and narrow. I’ve adapted to try and keep outta prison, but I’ve worked with Toga. She’s an annoying little psychopath—no way she’s gonna rip off pieces of herself to fit into this society just because you asked nicely.”

She considered ripping out the drawer she found crowded with USB drives to fling over the floor, but decided Ochako would have slightly more class than that. “I didn’t ask for your opinion on Toga,” she said extremely civilly instead of biting him to death.

She kept on her spoon quest and found another drawer full of batteries, then another stuffed with coffee pods until she thought to check the cabinets.

He crossed his arms. “Then what the fuck did you come over here for? You can buy pudding at the store you know.” 

Finally, in a cabinet above a counter, there were a few tall cups filled with utensils, including spoons. Once she had a spoon secured, she peeled back the lid, tossing it onto the floor instead of the trashcan, and strode to his couch. She sat down and ate a scoop of pudding before responding.

“Toga escaped me, and now I’m not sure where she is or what she’s doing. I need you to figure out where she is, and whether… certain crimes are her work or not.”

He marched over to her and did not sit down. “And how exactly do you expect me to do that?”

She shrugged. “Hack into security footage of storefronts? Or police databases?”

“Hey, quick question, why the fuck would you make me do the extremely dicey move of hacking into law enforcement channels when you and your little friends are way closer to the cops then I’ll ever be?”

She paused in gulping down the pudding.

“You’ve got some big pro-heroes involved already, all you gotta do is milk those connections half as much as you try to milk my barren teat, and at least one ought to have enough of an in at a relevant police station to request the kind of shit you want.”

Himiko twirled her spoon in her hand, considering. “...That could be worth exploring.”

He smirked, smug, so she shoved some more pudding in her mouth and avoided looking at him.

After an awkward pause, he said, “You really gonna try to track her down?”

“I can’t just leave her, especially not if… if she’s hurting people.”

He sighed. “You really didn’t think beforehand, did you? Either you want her free, and she’s free to kill who she wants, or you want her locked up, in which case you should have left her in prison.”

“It’s not like that.”

“Yeah? Then tell me, what are you gonna do when you catch up to her? What’s the solution here?”

She kept eating. Pudding didn’t ask questions she didn’t know the answer to. All she could think was that she needed time with Ochako. She needed to have her, hold her, create space and time for a real conversation. If she could just grab Ochako, make her listen…

“You said she deserved freedom, but are you ready to contend with her freedom to hurt people? Or are you gonna lock her up personally? Is it okay if you’re her jailer instead of the HPSC? Put her in a little cage in your apartment? Teach her to bark for you while you’re at it.”

“It’s not like that!” she snapped.

“Then what is the plan?”

The pudding cup was empty now. She crushed it in her hand, then left it along with the spoon on the couch as she got up.

She admitted, “The plan is to meet up with her, and figure out where to go from there. If we can have a sincere conversation… I’m sure we can find a way to move forward.”

Skeptic grimaced in a way that screamed Yeah right, but she knew better than to engage.

“Are you sure there’s nothing you can do to help track her down?” She asked, just in case.

“My realm is hacking and a bit of tech, but I doubt she’s leaving a strong digital trail. So whoops, outside my wheelhouse! Come harass me again when you have a request that matches my skillset.”

Toga should have thought more deeply about it. Her best option now was to rely on her pro-hero friends. Still, she craved someone who would understand the movements of a fugitive intimately, someone with connections to the underworld who would be able to track criminal activity in a way the police wouldn’t, someone like…

She perked up. “Do you know how to get into contact with Giran?”

He went still. “...How do you know that name?”

Fuck. Fuck. She kept her mask on. Stayed casual. Got haughty to shut down the questions. She was the one with the blackmail here, she had no reason to be afraid of him. “I do my research.”

He seemed to accept that. “We’re not on good terms, haven’t talked for years. So no, I don’t have his contact info.”

“But do you know how one would get into contact with him?”

Though Himiko had the idle thought of looking for Giran before, she hadn’t wanted to get him potentially implicated in a whole break in. Just asking for help in tracking someone’s movements, though… that couldn’t hurt, right?

The only problem was that she was eight years out of the loop in terms of the underground networks of villainy. She had some idle thoughts on where to start tracking him down, but it could take her multiple months to find a thread to chase. Even a hint from Skeptic was better than nothing.

He shifted on his feet. “I guess there’s a few folks I could ask. Friend of a friend type shit, maybe.”

She nodded. “Better ask around, or I’m gonna keep coming by for those pudding cups.”

He sighed heavily, but his shoulders loosened as she went for the front door.

Neither said goodbye. Himiko simply left, knowing he understood her subtle threat. I’m not letting you off the hook, you’re still my bitch.

On the way home, she checked her phone and discovered a message came in.

SPINNER: Do you want to meet before we go to the book club on Thursday?

Fuck, she forgot about that promise. That was just a few days away—no time to read the book. Well, she was sure it would be fine to just show up. The point was to support Spinner, not really to get involved. He was probably nervous and didn’t want to enter the meeting place—a library—alone.

She texted back, Sure! I can stop by your place beforehand.

 

---

 

Shouto stopped by her apartment after work, as per her request. Himiko barely said hello before he said, “I got information.”

She perked up. “That fast?”

He shrugged and held out a folder. “I told some of the police officers I’ve worked with in that district that I wanted to investigate the recent stabbing, and they just made copies and handed all this over.”

The connections of the number two pro-hero sure were fearsome. Himiko gingerly accepted the folder and then spread the contents over the table.

The full police report, hospital notes, and the progress detectives had made on the investigation were all in there. The victim hadn’t just been stabbed—she had been hit on the head first. There were memory issues due to that, but after recovering enough in the hospital to become conscious, she claimed to remember blonde hair and a baseball cap.

Himiko had packed a baseball cap into that escape pack which Ochako had taken. She always thought Ochako’s body looked fetching in one, and for the escape she had considered it a decent way to help hide her identity once she would most likely be using her own body.

“Is it helpful?” Shouto asked.

“I’m still figuring that out, but I think so.”

She read on, learning that a good samaritan had encountered the pro-hero bleeding in the alley and called for an ambulance. Himiko searched for a statement from the civilian, in case that person had noted any other important details at the scene of the crime, but there was nothing. Which was odd, since police usually interviewed any witnesses as soon as possible. Had they left before the police arrived?

Shouto said, “Can I ask an awkward question?”

Himiko was at the end of what seemed to be useful at first glance. “Most of your questions are, I don’t mind them.”

They had spent enough time together that she was accustomed to Shouto’s occasional bluntness. She knew he never intended rudeness by it, he just wasn’t always tuned in to perfect social manners, and preferred not to beat around the bush. So she didn’t bother getting wrapped up in elaborate social niceties with him. Even if he asked an odd question, it would require something monumental to make it legitimately awkward between them.

He said, “Should I call you Toga or Himiko?”

Hearing her true name out of his mouth jolted her. That’s right, she wasn’t Ochako to him anymore. Did she prefer he call her by her family name, or the more intimate given name?

Maybe this would be awkward.

She avoided looking at him. Tried to buy herself some time. “Well in public, you should still call me Ochako, or Uravity.”

“We’re not in public right now. So what should I call you?”

She shifted on her feet. “Well, would you prefer I call you Todoroki, or Shouto?”

There was a pause, and she dared to look at his face. His brow had crinkled slightly, thinking hard. “I don’t like my family name, really,” he admitted.

“...Me neither,” she confessed.

They stared at each other, both apparently unsure who ought to make the next move.

He broke the standoff. “It would be weird to change things up all of a sudden. You’ve called me Shouto for a long time, you should keep using it.”

Familiarity was a good excuse. “You can call me Ochako then. I’m used to it.”

He frowned. “Do you not want me to call you Himiko?”

Heat crawled up her neck. Was he going to make her say things outright? “It’s… not about wanting, I’m just trying to make it easier on you.”

“Calling you by your real name isn’t difficult. I just don’t know which name is polite to use.”

Her cheeks had to be red. Might as well go all in.

“Just Himiko is fine,” she said quietly. “If you’re alright with that… Shouto.”

He nodded seriously. “Alright, Himiko.”

Notes:

I love writing Himiko being a little shit in Skeptic's apartment

Chapter 23: When you regret not doing the assigned reading...

Summary:

Previously on No Rest for the Wicked: Himiko relaxed for a morning and then saw news of a pro-hero stabbing which included a heart drawn in blood on an alley wall. Although the pro-hero went to the hospital and survived, Himiko became nervous that this was Ochako's first move. She went to Skeptic to ask if he could help track down information on the stabbing, but after sassing her about releasing a "villain" from prison and then being pissed the villain did villainous things, he told her that she should ask her pro-hero friends instead, since they'd likely already have access to information on it. She asked for information to contact Giran just in case, so that she could approach the hunt from both the pro-hero/police side and the underground side. Then she met with Shouto who got files about the stabbing from the police.

Notes:

Me when I have 200 things going on in my life, but it's been almost a week since I updated my fic:

Things should calm down... soonish.... plz life I just want a break from all my commitments and the chaos of certain parts of my life to write dramatic things about anime women.

Spinner shifted awkwardly beside Himiko as she led them through the library, searching for the room number listed on the book club invite. They were both dressed casually, Spinner in a hooded sweatshirt and jeans, and Himiko in her favorite bomber jacket and second-favorite baseball cap. In her jacket pocket was the usual HPSC microphone.

This was, technically, another Spinner-bonding mission. Even if it wasn’t directly given by the HPSC, if on her next visit to him, he mentioned the book club they both attended, the HPSC would have asked her why she didn’t record that session. And the last thing she needed was the HPSC suspecting her of anything considering the very recent prison break she’d committed.

At least it meant she could bill the fancy ice coffee she was now sipping on as a “business expense” for the HPSC to pay off.

“Maybe we should go back,” Spinner said as they walked down a hall.

Himiko didn’t slow her pace. “Surrender? Why?”

“They’d probably find it weird to see someone like me, right? I would just ruin the mood.”

“Let’s just try it one time, and you don’t have to go back if they don’t want you there. It’s just one meeting, not like you’re not getting married to this group.”

He didn’t say anything else, probably stewing in his nerves, but he continued to follow Himiko and didn’t turn tail to flee when they finally found the room, so she counted it as a win.

The door was open, a welcoming start that made it easy for Himiko to enter. “Hello, we’re here for the book club…?”

There were already seven or eight people, a mixed bunch who were congregated into a few groups, some sitting within the large circle of chairs set up in the center of the room, and some standing as they chatted with each other.

Thankfully, an older man with tiny spectacles noted their entrance and turned to them with a big smile. “Hello, hello! Are you two new?”

“Yes, we’re excited for the club.”

“Well nice to meet you! I’m Yamazaki, and you are…?”

“I’m Uraraka, and my friend is…”

Spinner said quietly, “Call me Iguchi.”

He nodded his head towards Spinner, then did a double-take. Himiko could smell Spinner’s sweat.

Thankfully, if he recognized him, he didn’t comment on it. “Well! I hope you both enjoy the meeting. Come on, let’s find you two some seats…”

Small talk abounded. Nice weather, isn’t it? How was your way here? Oh, you should meet…

Another ended up in their conversation, a young woman who looked like she was barely out of high school whose ears were dense with piercings. She was quiet, but Yamazaki drew her into the conversation and introduced her as Rin. Spinner was pretty quiet as well, but he occasionally expressed some agreement or responded to direct questions.

Eventually, Yamazaki said, “Hmm, we were supposed to start a few minutes ago, but our facilitator isn’t here yet…”

Himiko said, “Are you not the facilitator?”

He laughed. “Me? Nah, I’m just a chatterbox. The real facilitator is usually on time, but she said she had to do some sort of activity after school today, so I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s a tad late.”

Her eyebrows raised. “Is she a student?”

The man chuckled. “Oh, no! Ahaha, that would be a riot, wouldn’t it? No, she’s a teacher.”

Just then, a familiar voice, though more breathless and frazzled than usual, piped up from the entrance. “Sorry I’m late!”

Himiko’s head spun around, and she met Fuyumi’s eyes just as she recognized her as well. The two of them stared for a moment, blinking.

“Ms. Todoroki!” Yamazaki exclaimed, “Wonderful, we’ve been lost without you!”

Fuyumi snapped out of her surprise to chuckle at him and respond, “I’m sure one of you could have easily led, even without me.”

“But we would miss you the whole time!”

She grinned and walked into the circle at a calmer pace. “Well I’m glad to see both familiar and… new faces.” She glanced towards Himiko, but then her gaze drifted towards Spinner and she paused.

It only took her a moment to snap out of it, though, and she found a seat in the circle. She opened up her handbag and pulled out a copy of the book which Himiko hadn’t found time to actually read.

“Alright, thank you all for joining. Today, we’ll be discussing My Fight for Freedom and Dignity, a memoir…”

 

---

 

Himiko wished she had read the book.

Apparently it was a memoir by someone released from prison just a year ago. Every time the group went into detail summarizing what this guy had apparently written, Himiko couldn’t help but imagine herself in another life. Forced to be cheap labor for some electronics company, refusing to work longer than what was humane, but then getting physical punishments or, in some cases, sent to solitary confinement as punishment for hurting guards.

Who wouldn’t fight back when they’re attacked? Himiko thought, and then heard Rin say “Who wouldn’t fight back when they’re attacked?”

Hearing all these people talk about this ex-prisoner like he mattered felt strange. Himiko imagined prison as an end-state, an infinite locked cage where she would have no recourse. The way people here spoke, though, caused a weird tightness in her chest. A strange mix of hope and frustration, borne from hearing the reactions of all these civilians. One old lady in particular felt the need to comment after almost every description of abuse with “It’s grossly unethical! They ought to be ashamed!”

Maybe it was unethical, but it was reality. Just naming it as wrong didn’t magically make it all disappear.

Towards the end, though, Fuyumi asked the group, “And what sorts of changes do you think could prevent this?”

The group was voracious. There were some stupid ideas. Some so complicated that they went over Himiko’s head. But there were also some that made sense. Himiko doubted they could ever actually be implemented, but considering any sort of change instead of surrendering to the inevitable horror of prison made the possibility of prison marginally less terrifying.

“...Need to focus on immediate, deliverable outcomes that create a sense of progress,” Yamazaki said.

The conversation between him and the girl full of piercings, Rin, was getting heated. Although she was shy during small talk, apparently she was eager to push once in a debate setting. She said, “Even if a boycott or whatever could convince one company to stop using prison labor, obviously another company is gonna contract with them. It’s not actually gonna change prisoner’s lives, at most they’ll be forced to make a different product, and still be taken advantage of. Or do you think if we boycott and pressure every single company that takes it on, we can go through every single company in all of Japan until no one will take advantage of them?”

“It would only take one or two until companies realize that contracting with a prison is a PR nightmare with economic consequences—thanks to boycotts—that would make any of their analysts advise against it.”

An older woman piped up. “Though I like the idea, as someone who used to do business consultations, I have to point out that there are unscrupulous companies that aim to make the cheapest thing available which wouldn’t be incentivized by that kind of PR pressure. Even if we can convince some people to boycott them, chances are the people purchasing the cheapest version of something on the shelf wouldn’t have the budget to be able to boycott, and they’d maintain enough demand to make prison labor profitable.”

Yamazaki huffed. “I still think it’s a viable path to get the larger public aware and involved. If we can persuade people to participate in a boycott, we develop a stronger base to build on for future actions. Not to mention the message it could send to people in prison, reminding them that their treatment is inhumane.

Rin said, “You think they want reminders of how shitty they’ve got it?”

Yamazaki said, “Well when I was in prison…” 

Oh. Himiko didn’t even hear what he said next. She had assumed all these people were purely civilians wanting to feel good by wailing about the plight of those less fortunate. Well, she supposed Yamazaki was a civilian now, as was Spinner, but knowing he had first-hand experience made her suddenly more relaxed.

Beside her, she saw Spinner’s shoulders loosen as well. He had kept quiet almost the whole discussion, but was alert and attentive to every point each person made. Perhaps this would end up on his blog later.

 

---

 

As soon as the group ended, Himiko got up. Though the old lady had approached Fuyumi to have a personal chat, she saw Fuyumi’s eyes kept flitting towards her, as though she was intending to speak with her next.

“I’m sorry,” she said to Spinner. “I told another friend I’d meet them after this, so I have to scoot out, but feel free to stay.”

“Stay?” He looked slightly nauseous.

“Sure, it looks like people are chatting. You should talk to Yamazaki again, let him know you’ve been to prison too. Maybe he’ll feel comforted that he's not the only one.”

He blinked at her, but didn’t object, so Himiko said goodbye and escaped. Spinner didn’t run out after her, so hopefully he took her advice to heart. She hoped the people here would be able to make friends with Spinner without judging his past in villainy. They seemed like a good group, eclectic but thoughtful.

The microphone was still in her jacket pocket.

Would the HPSC treat this kind of group as a risk? Nobody discussed actually doing anything, even the boycott discussion had remained theoretical, but the group leaned politically anti-government and very blatantly anti-prison. Would the people there have spoken so freely if they had known it was all going to end up on some HPSC transcript of evidence to track Spinner’s movements?

Once outside the library, Himiko breathed the fresh air, trying to banish the guilt. She did what she had to do in order to maintain her own position with the HPSC. Anything else could have jeopardized her careful cover. And in her limited capacity, she had opted to leave early. She avoided Fuyumi discussing anything in more detail with her.

Still, even if Fuyumi’s voice didn’t give her away, the others called her a Todoroki. It was obvious who had been leading that meeting. Hawks was getting close enough to her that it was only a matter of time before he…

Himiko stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. What if he already knew? Was that why he was suddenly spending so much time with her?

It’s just a book club, she told herself. Even though the discussion had made her nervous enough to get out before anything potentially incriminating could be brought up, the chance of it actually leading to anything, much less anything criminal, was slim.

She breathed in deep. Thinking of the worst-case scenarios didn’t help. She needed to focus on what she could control.

Finding Ochako. Her moves needed to focus on that.

 

---

 

It took a long chain of connections from Skeptic, but Himko finally had an in with Giran. Well, “Mikumo” had an in. She and Skeptic knew Giran wouldn’t agree to meet with pro-hero Uravity, so she came up with a persona.

She volunteered at a blood drive that morning and smuggled out the blood pack of a curly-haired woman. It gave her ample material to trawl Giran’s new haunts without drawing any attention to herself as either the pro-hero Uravity or “dead” fugitive Toga.

Giran’s office was apparently above a nightclub, Violent Delights. The sign was neon, but parts of it were out to the point where Himiko had to decipher Viol  t  el ghts above a door. When she entered, she immediately faced a broad bouncer with his arms crossed.

“ID,” he said.

“I’m looking for Violent Ends, actually,” she said.

He looked her up and down, eyes narrowed. “Name?”

“Mikumo. I have an appointment.”

He uncrossed his arms. “Come.”

There was a plain, rickety door to the side that he took them through, which led to a set of stairs. They went to the top, where a significantly more sturdy looking door stood. The bouncer knocked a long distinct pattern, tap-TAP, tap-TAP, tap-TAP, tap-TAP, tap-TAP. Then he said through the door, “You expecting a Mikumo?”

“Let ‘em in,” a muffled voice said.

There was a click, the guard opened the door, and Himiko flounced into the tobacco-scented room. “Hello~!”

Giran had his elbows on a heavy desk covered in folders, papers, and a thick computer monitor to the side. He looked up through his round spectacles to take Himiko in, then nodded to the guard, and the door clicked shut behind her. There was something small and cylindrical in one gloved hand that he held idly as he waved her closer with his other hand. 

The seat across from him was wide and plush, though worn. Himiko perched on the arm rest so she could kick her feet giddily and look down on him a bit.

Giran didn’t comment on it, simply said, “Mikumo, a buddy told me you’re interested in my services.”

She nodded. “I understand you’re well connected with the criminal underground.”

He shrugged, pulled the plastic he had been holding to his mouth, and sucked in. When he blew out, there was a fresh wave of the tobacco scent, but so distinctly that it felt like a parody of itself.

Himiko’s eyebrows raised. “Since when do you vape?”

He squinted at her. “Have we met? I don’t usually forget a face…”

She hadn’t forgotten his face at all. It may have been more creased than she remembered, and his gray hair was thinning, but that was still his firm jaw and appraising eyes trying to decipher her.

Himiko had mercy and gave him a hint, “We’ve met, but it’s been a long time.”

He raised an eyebrow. “If this is a vengeance situation…”

She laughed. “No, of course not. I’m thankful towards you, actually.”

“...For what, exactly?”

“You used to wander, talking to anybody and everybody, including those that society deemed undesirable. You didn’t come at them with disgust, judgment, or even charity, but with something even more important: A promise that they could have a place in this world, that you could connect them to something larger than themselves. You saved lives and built communities, Giran.”

He leaned back in his chair, basking in the praise but not quite relaxing.

“You brought together groups, connected people. Famous villain groups, even, and that’s the part of the story the police never asked. Who connected these people with their differing but compatible ideals? Who was willing to see the value and power in those who had nothing to their name but fury and a desire for change?”

“Sweet hype, but what’s your real deal here? It’s been years since I’ve recruited direct from the streets. If you’re one of those lost souls I used to shepherd, it’s been ages.”

“It has been. I’ve tried not to get you implicated in anything all these years since you already gave up so much.” She glanced at his gloved hands. “How are your prosthetics doing?”

He paused. “You’ve done some homework.”

“It was twisted of the Meta Liberation Army to use you that way, but it was effective.”

His brow furrowed, and he stared at her with sharpened eyes.

“After all, how could we ignore a threat on the life of the man who had brought us all together?”

“Holy shit, is it…” He began to smile as though he’d walked into some prank show. “With a body I don’t recognize, it must be Toga, right?”

She grinned and kicked her legs like a school girl. “Aww, you do remember me!”

Giran guffawed, leaned back in his chair, looked her up and down again. “For real? The dead Toga? You gotta show me, or I’ll assume this is a bad joke.”

Though it was uncomfortable, she owed him enough that she was willing to drop the mask and reveal her true face. Her borrowed form melted off of her, and although this form was older and hair longeer than when she was a teenager, Giran still stared enraptured as she revealed herself.

He rubbed at his jaw, dazed, and said, “You know, I heard about that recent stabbing of a pro-hero, and when I saw the crime scene with the bloody heart, I did think of you, but it was more of a ‘Toga woulda loved this’, not a ‘Oh Toga’s alive and she did this’ sorta thing…”

She sobered up. “Actually, that wasn’t me.”

“Oh. Then…”

“But it is related to the favor I want to ask of you. There’s a… copycat of me out there.”

He chuckled. “I thought copycatting was your schtick.”

“That’s part of what makes it so frustrating, yes. She’s got my body and quirk, so it’s a compelling double, but I don’t want her running amok. Would you be able to keep an eye out for people who look or act like me to help me track her down?”

“Wait, slow down,” he said, waving a hand. “How does she have your quirk? Do you still have it too?”

“I still have mine, but there was a situation that I guess… we somehow ended up with both of our quirks. It’s not important, though, what’s important is that she’s out there and I need to–”

“Hold up, it is important,” Giran insisted. “I’m an information broker. If there is some sort of mechanism to duplicate and share a quirk, I absolutely wanna know about it.”

She blinked at him, not expecting this specific pushback. “It was a very specific set of circumstances.”

“Which a lot of people and groups would be interested in replicating. What happened, Toga?”

Though she was hesitant, she was suddenly curious as well. Once she woke up with Ochako’s body, she had been scared to interrogate the mechanism behind it, afraid of the miracle unraveling with too much questioning. But now it had been eight years, clearly whatever happened had stabilized. Would Giran have more insight?

So she told him, “I had a near-death experience with someone. I ended up sharing blood with them directly. I think it was a combination of my quirk and our blood exchanging that allowed us both to access our own and each other’s quirks afterwards.”

Giran sat quietly for a minute, thinking.

Eventually, he asked, “Did you love them?”

Heat crawled up her neck. “Did I…?”

“Your quirk has a component of love, doesn’t it? I remember that much, even after all these years. It could give you the ability to use someone else’s quirk, at least partially. If this is all a side effect of your quirk, we need all the variables.”

Himiko clenched her fists. “I was willing to die for her. So do I love her? Yes, obviously, despite everything, even now, I still…”

After so many years of hiding and suppressing her love, admitting it out loud felt like cutting open an old wound. 

He leaned back. Sighed. Took another hit of his vape. “Pity. I doubt it’s reliably replicable, then. I’m sure some quirk genetics research team out there would have a field day with you, but…” He chuckled. “I’m a broker, not a human trafficker. You come to me with a deal, I’m on your side.”

The deal, right. She focused in. “So can you help me track her down?”

“Maybe. You’ve got a copycat with your body and quirk, but what’s her real identity?”

She grimaced. “Do you have to know?”

“Everything is a clue. Even if she’s copying you, if parts of her real identity slip up, that’ll give me potential clues for tracking her down. So who is she?”

“...Uraraka Ochako.”

He frowned, then turned to his computer. He typed something, clicked around a bit, then looked at Himiko with a raised eyebrow.

“I won’t even charge you for this info, since all I had to do was search up her name online—She’s working as Uravity, the pro-hero. I guess I can help get you her typical patrol times, but you could probably get info nearly as good for faster and cheaper on a hero-spotting forum. Did you want her address? I’ve got people who can probably–”

“No, no, Giran,” Himiko interrupted, feeling exceedingly awkward. “That’s not her.”

His brows scrunched, confused. “No, that’s clearly her.”

Since he still didn’t get it, Himiko closed her eyes and allowed her form to change once again. Her form shifted, muscles building, hair shrinking back up into the bob she was accustomed to. Back to that familiar body, the one she’d been living as this whole time.

When she opened her eyes, Giran was staring with his jaw dropped.

“I’m Uravity,” she explained, in case he was too shocked to process it correctly. “For the past eight years, I’ve been living as her.”

He took a deep breath. Steepled his fingers. “Why don’t you start at the beginning?”

 

---

 

Once everything was thoroughly, truly explained—Himiko’s life so far, what had happened to the real Ochako all these years, and the disastrous rescue attempts, they got into the negotiation phase.

“I could get a team together, I’ve got some real good trackers in my rolodex, but it’s gonna cost ya.”

Though Himiko hoped he would remember her fondly enough to favor her, she hadn’t expected to get everything for nothing. She already had a yen limit in her head based on her current savings, and potential stretch she could get by asking Momo and others to lend her more. “How much money are we talking?”

He leaned back. “Money? Who said anything about money? I’m sitting on plenty, right now, so unless you became a trillionaire as Uravity, I don’t think you could give me enough to make a real difference to my finances. No, what I’d want from you is suited to your specific position and skillset.”

Once she had turned back into Ochako, she had stayed in that comfortable form. She squinted at him with Ochako’s eyes, suspicious.

He continued, “It’s not often I get someone in the position of a pro-hero asking for my help. You have access to pro-hero resources, could infiltrate places my usual connections would never be able to.”

There was a heavy feeling in her stomach. “What would you want?”

“There’s a mission some cronies of mine are trying to put together. Their target has a lot of hero patrol, though, so we need to divert the pro-heroes. If you can find who’s on patrol and then set a high-priority alert that draws them away, they can strike while the pro-heroes are distracted.”

“What is the mission itself?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Does it matter to you?”

A heat crawled up her neck. Spending all this time with heroes has softened your edge, Himiko. Ochako had said.

Whatever this villain groups target was, it shouldn’t have mattered so long as Himiko got what she wanted: Ochako. A proper villain, the kind of villain who would steal someone’s life and friends for eight years, wouldn’t care who got hurt in her pursuit of her goal. Civilian, villain, pro-hero, none of it should matter to Toga Himiko. 

But her vision filled with Mina’s pink, scratched back, hunched over in her bathroom, crying because she had been lured away from her mission and lost the people she had been supposed to protect. She could almost smell the pleasant scent of the park she had worked to rebuild with all of her friends, now a central hub for families and anyone who wanted a moment of peace in this chaotic world. The world and all the people in it held Himiko in their vice now, reminded her of what could be lost in senseless destruction.

“It matters to me,” Himiko decided.

Giran watched her carefully. “It’s a vengeance thing. A high-up general of this gang betrayed them, went to the cops about a big event, and is now under protection in exchange for snitching. His new digs is in a well-patrolled area, plus a bodyguard. They feel confident about taking on the bodyguard with a group attack, but too much backup nearby throws a wrench in their plans.”

She tried not to imagine Tenya, Kyouka, or Camie on a bodyguard mission, but couldn’t shake the image. Instead of properly responding to Giran, she asked, “What do they want to do to him?”

He shrugged. “He’s a loose end with loose lips, so last I heard they wanted to kill him off.”

More and more blood, not spilled out of love, but out of hate. Still, she wasn’t naive, she knew murder was a viable option to solve a multitude of problems. Why should Himiko care about a random criminal? A snitch, at that?

But people she loved had died, and she knew intimately it was a cost that could never be offset. When Hawks plunged his bladed feather into Twice, ending his life, did he tell himself the ends justified the means? Did he consider it an acceptable loss for his goal, the way Himiko wanted to dismiss this life now for hers?

“I’m sorry,” Himiko told Giran. “I can’t involve myself in something like that.”

Giran stared at her carefully and rubbed at his chin, thinking hard. 

Ochako was right, Himiko had lost her indiscriminate edge that had been heedless of casualties in pursuit of her dreams.

“You’ve changed,” he said.

She shrugged, gave a laugh to lighten the mood. “I’ve been a pro-hero longer than I was ever a villain.”

He snorted. “Pro-hero, villain, the labels got nothing to do with it. There are pro-heroes out there who would take that kind of deal—no doubt about it.”

Himiko didn’t know what to say, so she just took a deep breath.

He leaned on an elbow. “I’m not someone who wants to make anyone do what they don’t wanna do—my deals are made willingly. Well, sometimes under duress, but ultimately I can’t force someone to pay a price they truly don’t want to pay. Are you sure you won’t cooperate with any villainy? Even if I promise to put my best trackers on Ochako?”

“I’m sorry, Giran, I wish I could but… I can’t.”

She wanted to find Ochako so badly, but how could she face Ochako and tell her the world was worth saving while becoming accomplice to the death of one of the human beings who filled this beautiful world?

They were at an impasse now. Himiko thought she would be willing to pay the price, but the path of a villain was more distant than she remembered.

Her form shifted, warping into the random woman whose blood donation she had stolen, and she stood up. “It was good to see you, at least,” Himiko said. “It’s been a long time since I’ve looked at one of my old friends through my real eyes.”

As she turned, Giran said, “Wait.”

She paused and turned back to him. Would he…?

“I’ll be real with you, Toga. I am happy to hear you’re alive. You, Jin, that whole League… I considered you all my own. Maybe things have changed, but I never drop a connection I don’t have to.”

“...So does that mean you’ll help me? Pro-bono?”

He laughed. “I’m never entirely for free, but we have a history. I can’t justify sending out people and dedicating resources to a search for nothing in return, but tell you what: I’ll keep an eye out, an ear on the ground, and let you know if anything filters back to me about ‘Toga’ getting active. You got a phone number?”

She perked up. “Yes, here it is…”

It wasn’t an underground team dedicated to tracking Ochako down, but Himiko understood that Giran was a spider in the center of a web, and even if all he could share was when a thread shook with a potential clue, it would be a boon.

“You’re the best!” She told him.

He was, for doing this for basically nothing in return.

“Hey, no praise until I find something. And be ready—maybe you don’t wanna help with a murder, but who knows? Maybe I’ll find another mission in the future that aligns with the new you.”

She doubted it, but thanked him nonetheless.

Notes:

I can't help it, Fuyumi is my Beloved, the #1 MVP of my heart.... ngl Giran is dearly beloved as well, but Fuyumi is the woman who got me writing My Hero Academia fanfiction in the first place, so although she's not the main character of this story, I can't help giving her a big role in certain areas <3

Chapter 24: My dirty little secret, who has to know?

Summary:

Previously on Thematically Relevant Book Clubs: Himiko accompanied Spinner to a book club at a library for a memoir written by a formerly incarcerated individual. The facilitator ends up being Todoroki Fuyumi, and although Himiko finds the book club and the ideas discussed engaging, she left quickly after it ended because she was wearing an HPSC microphone and didn't want to pick up on anything too potentially radically. Then Himiko went to meet with Giran and revealed herself, asking for help tracking down Ochako. Although Giran offers to start a hardcore search, he wants Himiko to use her pro-hero status to help with the murder of someone in exchange, so Himiko turns him down. Though Giran will not actively search for Ochako, because he is fond of the League he offers to keep an ear out and promises to let Himiko know if he hears anything about her.

Himiko took a deep breath and hit “send” on her phone.

ME: Hey Mina, do you have any time tonight?

It had been far too long since she made time for Mina. After confessing the truth of her identity to the small crew who had helped out with her Hades prison break, she found herself hanging out with those particular people more often. The experience of being herself and being able to say what she truly thought was still novel and exciting.

Having all of them accept her gave her a steadiness she hadn’t felt since the League of Villains. Maybe there was a place for her, for Himiko in this world, if she was just brave enough to reach for it.

That was just a small group, though, and she still had other friends she needed to keep up with. It had been long enough that Mina might have started asking questions, and besides that, Himiko wanted to see her. She wanted to face Mina properly now, with her new stable ground, and see if there was potentially a path forward for the two of them. Not Mina and “Ochako”, but Mina and Himiko.

Her phone rang in her hand, and Himiko answered the Mina is calling prompt with haste. “Hello?”

“Hey, girl! It’s been ages, I totally have a free night, what are you thinking?”

Hearing her voice, her enthusiasm, relieved her. Mina loved her, didn’t she? “What if we had a pedicure night together? Something super chill.”

Something private, where they could talk one-to-one.

“Ooh sounds cute, does my place work? I got some new nail polish from Tooru I’ve been meaning to try out.”

Himiko’s phone buzzed with a new text, but she ignored it for now so she could give Mina her full attention. “That sounds great!”

The phone buzzed again while they worked out all the details, but Himiko waited until after she hung up to finally look at the texts she’d gotten while on the phone.

HAWKS: Hey got time for a meeting? Updated guidance for you.

UNKNOWN NUMBER: Hi Ochako, this is Fuyumi, Shouto gave me your number. Is there any chance we could meet this weekend?

 

---

 

Ochako snuck into the HPSC through a back entrance wearing casual civilian clothes. She was fortunate that Ochako’s distinguishing features were subtle and easy to slip under a baseball cap and overalls. Like this, it was unlikely any paparazzi would pay particular notice to her slipping into the HPSC.

When she entered Hawks’ office, where he stood at a window at the people below, he turned and outstretched his arms in a welcome. “Uravity! Thank you for stopping by, cute outfit.”

The compliment was likely just his smarmy instincts, but Himiko considered tearing up all the clothes she was currently wearing and stuffing the remains into an incinerator. Even so, her mask descended, and she was capable of producing her practiced smile to respond, “Thank you. Did you have another mission for me?”

“Just an extension of your current one. That recording you sent us was very interesting.”

She kept on a smile and resisted clenching her jaw. That book club meeting she had gone to with Spinner had been innocuous, but the subjects had leaned in a political direction that ran counter to the HPSC desire for law and order via imprisonment of villains.

What would a model pro-hero think? She challenged herself, then said, “A bit idealistic, but it seems like a good place for Spinner to make some friends.”

Hawks snorted. “Yes. Friends.”

Her shoulders stiffened at the casual derision in his voice.

He leaned a hip against his desk as he continued, “A book club with those subjects attracts a certain kind of person, don’t you think? If I were a villain looking to find people sympathetic to doing… more, those are the kind of people I would target.”

Though sweat pooled under her arms, she kept her body language and expression as cool as she could. “He hasn’t implied a desire to commit new villainy, much less recruiting others for it.”

“My larger concern is the reverse.”

She blinked several times, processing, until it finally clicked. “You think someone there would recruit him?”

He shrugged one shoulder. “Plenty of villains start out as just ‘radical’ thinkers, and there was certainly some radical thought in that room.”

Fuyumi. Himiko didn’t dare say her name, but Hawks had to have heard ‘Ms. Todoroki’ and her voice on the recording. And if he’d been spending so much time with her recently, there was no way he was unaware that she ran a book club.

What did he suspect of her?

“So that’s the crux of what I wanted to ask you to do for the Iguchi mission,” Hawks continued. “Keep an eye on who Iguchi gets close to in that group and what sorts of inclinations they have. If there’s anyone there who’s got actively villainous intentions, there’s no way they could pass up the bait of an ex-League member and figurehead like Iguchi.”

“I understand. He seems to trust me enough that he would invite me again.”

Hawks smiled at her, teeth bared like a predator. “Good.”

Hopefully this was almost over. “Is that everything?”

“Not quite.”

She clenched her fist.

He walked around his desk, starting to pace. His nervous habit. “I’m guessing Toga hasn’t contacted you yet… right?”

The question was accented with a penetrating gaze, carefully assessing her reaction. Himiko was ready though, and met his eyes with all the confidence she could muster. He knew nothing, and she held cards he didn’t even know were on the table. “Obviously not—You’d be the first to know.”

He stopped pacing, but leaned a hand on his desk, and started to tap his fingernail. “Of course, of course… but you’re not the only one she might contact. Iguchi is the most public of her old allies, if she was seeking help, she might contact him.”

Himiko’s eyebrows raised at the thought. Would Ochako try to get in touch with him? She might be able to persuade him to help her, but there was also the risk of Ochako being unable to keep up the ruse of being Himiko with someone who actually knew her personally.

Not that Hawks knew the twisted hall of mirrors that made this all so complicated. So she nodded firmly and said, “I’ll pay special attention, drop some more sympathetic comments about Toga and see if I can get him to reveal more.”

Hawks grinned. “That’s what I like to hear.”

 

---

 

Mina opened her door with a wide smile, though slightly strained. “Ochako!”

She pulled Himiko in for a big hug, squeezed her tight, and Himiko squeezed her right back. “It’s good to see you.”

They entered Mina’s apartment filled with blue shag carpeting. Mina welcomed her in and herded her towards the living room to set on her couch before heading towards the kitchen. As Himiko eyed the bag on the coffee table, Mina asked, “Can I get you a drink? I’ve got beers, some vodka, half a bottle of sake…”

“Mina!” Himiko exclaimed, “On a weeknight?”

The smile Mina gave her was tight. “It’s been a rough day at work.”

Oh dear. “Are you still contracting on those HPSC missions?”

She shrugged one shoulder. “It’s not that, there’s… I don’t wanna be a bummer, I haven’t seen you in ages, so: Drink or not?”

Himiko allowed her to avoid it. If she didn’t want to talk about it, Himiko wasn’t going to push. Himiko had her own agenda for today, and she was sorely tempted to have a little liquid courage… but she wasn’t looking to get wasted. “Just a beer.”

Mina went into her fridge, and Himiko heard the click of a can being pulled. When she returned to the living room, she was holding a can of beer in one hand, and a bottle of sake in the other, which she put on the coffee table.

Oh boy, must have been a rough day.

Still, Mina waved at the living room amenities with a smile on her face. “We can sit on the couch and prop our feet on the coffee table to paint. Or…” She bounced onto one end of the couch and stretched out her foot across the cushions to point towards the other end. “I paint yours, you paint mine.”

Himiko grinned. “Watch out, I’ll choose the ugliest color you’ve got.” 

She grabbed Mina’s ankle, tugging her just enough to make Mina squeal in mock horror. Soon though, she let go and took her seat properly. Mina sat up to pull a bag on the coffee table closer to them, and zipped it open to reveal the many, many options. 

“I’m gonna want this teal one… you know it changes color with temperature changes? At least according to the label, I haven’t actually had a chance to try it yet, but I’m excited to try it out. And here, I’ve got a couple of pinks you might like…”

As Mina plucked out a few pinks to choose from, took a deep breath. “Actually, I was feeling in a kind of… red mood today?”

Mina froze, fingers holding on to a sparkly hot pink container in mid-air, and Himiko began to sweat. Nerves prickled, and she wondered if it was a step too far.

But then Mina smiled and put the pink down before diving into the bag again. “Red? Sounds like a fun change of pace, I know you like your pinks, but honestly I’ve always worried you would get bored of it at some point. Glad you’re changing things up. Here…”

Himiko breathed out as Mina revealed several red shades. Himiko plucked one just a shade darker than fresh blood, and soon they were set up. Drinks were open, Himiko started on her beer, and did not make any comments about Mina drinking the sake straight from the bottle. Mina claimed first pedicurist shift, and so grabbed Himiko’s foot to rest on her lap. She slipped a foam toe separator onto Himiko’s feet, then popped open the red nail polish.

“Thanks for reaching out,” Mina said as she gently lifted Himiko’s foot closer. “I needed a distraction.”

There was definitely a mood, something clouding Mina’s usual cheer, but Mina was trying so hard to stay perky that Himiko wanted to respect her attempts and pretend all was well.

Maybe it wasn’t a good day to try to get too close. Mina had felt strongly about villains, last Himiko had checked, so she might react badly.

Something ticked the flesh right at the edge of her toenail.

“Oops,” Mina looked up at her through thick lashes. “Sorry, Ochako, my hand slipped.”

Those golden eyes peeked up through dark sclera. Mina’s hand was cradling her bare foot. They were close—how could Himiko keep this from her, when others already knew? When others had already accepted her?

“It’s okay,” Himiko said.

Still, Mina pulled some q-tips from her bag and dabbed at the mistake, wiping it away. Mistakes were reversible; just because Mina felt one way at one point didn’t mean those feelings couldn’t change.

“So,” Mina started, sly. “I have a feeling you wanted to talk about something specific tonight.”

Himiko twitched.

“Oh my gosh, don’t move! Now I’ve messed up again…”

As Mina wiped up her mistake, Himiko said, “Um, is it that obvious?”

“You keep twitching in just the tiniest ways, and your eyes are bouncing everywhere. You always get like that when you’re worried. I know you, Ochako, you can’t hide your nerves from me.”

Mina’s thumb rubbed along the side of Himiko’s pinkie toe, making little circles. Himiko took a deep breath and tilted her chin, facing the ceiling with her eyes closed. Looking at Mina’s expectant face was too much. Maybe it was the right time to tell her. “Would you promise to keep an open mind?”

“Hmm…” Mina was almost done with the first foot. “I’ll promise not to be too mad that you took so long to tell me.”

Himiko swallowed hard. Had someone told Mina? No, her friends knew how delicate her secret was, they wouldn’t bring it up behind her back. Had Mina figured it out? Or was she just that good at reading Himiko?

She stared down at Mina, the brush in her hand, and noted a bit had dabbed against one of her fingers. It meshed with the pink of her skin, reminded Himiko of an open wound.

Mina’s blood was delicious, a bit acidic, bright. If tonight went as well as her other confession, maybe Himiko could get as far as tasting her again, with both of them aware this time.

Mina looked up again. “Well? Are you going to spit it out?”

She gulped. “It might take awhile to explain.”

“Girl, I hope it does. I want all the details. Don’t leave anything out.”

Mina was curious. Mina wanted to know about her. Mina cared about her, and even though she was wearing Ochako’s mask, if others had been able to accept the real Himiko underneath, then maybe, just maybe…

Her ankle was tugged, and Himiko yelped on instinct, scrambling to stabilize. Mina got up a little so she could loom over Himiko and tease, “You’re zoning out again. I’m dying to know, especially since Izuku barely told me anything!”

Himiko stopped breathing. She stared up at Mina’s excited face, rimmed by the room’s lighting. Mina wanted to know about… “Izuku?” Himiko gasped out.

“The proposal! The breakup! Tsuyu made me swear that I would give you space, but now that you’ve finally come to me, that means I get to interrogate you, doesn’t it?”

Her grip on Himiko’s ankle tightened. Fuck, there was no way Himiko was getting out of this. “Um. Yeah. That.”

“You guys dated for years, and you never told me anything was brewing under the surface. So tell me everything. All the details.”

Himiko took a deep breath, and tried to come up with an explanation.

 

---

 

By the time Himiko finished with the mostly true-ish story, similar to what she had told Tsuyu before, both their toenails were painted, and their drinks were almost done. Himiko had only occasionally sipped at her beer so Mina wouldn’t be the only one drinking, but Mina made impressive progress on the bottle of sake. 

As usual, Mina was a touchy and affectionate drunk, and leaned against Himiko as she said, “Thank you for telling me all that, I really needed a distraction tonight.”

Would Mina be more open now that she was drunk? “From work?”

“Ugh.” Mina brought the sake to her lips and had another drink. “Yeah.”

Okay, they had talked through the Izuku breakup, maybe after talking through whatever had Mina’s mood down, there would be time for Himiko to confess her identity. It might be perfect to strike right after Mina was reminded how supportive she was and how close they are.

“More HPSC stuff?” Himiko asked tentatively.

She shook her head. “Ha! I’m sorry about that night, I was really… I wasn’t in a good headspace. But actually, the work is going pretty alright now. I’m working with a different lead, and we’ve been doing some development stuff to improve some hero skills… I feel like I’m improving.” She smiled. “I really like the HPSC.”

Himiko stiffened.

“They’ve got structure, and like… there’s so much support there. I’m tired of always taking charge, it’s nice to have a map of some sort, and like… they’re experts, aren’t they? I trust their processes, they’ve probably researched the wazoo outta things. I just wanna hand over everything to them and let them figure it out…”

There was an ugly knot in Himiko’s stomach. “You’re not thinking of like, changing from contractor to fully joining them, are you?”

Mina pouted. “So what if I am?”

She sucked in a breath. What could she say? 

Mina continued, “It’s easier to work with them. I feel like I’m doing more, being a part of something bigger. I know there’s been a lot of preventative work to stop people from becoming villains, but those few who still end up that way, they’re…” Mina squeezed Himiko’s arm. “...they’re vicious. When I’m working alone, I… I worry about being able to defeat them all. They’re so big, pro-heroes need to look at bigger options, stronger measures, and the HPSC… can help me with that.”

Himiko didn’t like the direction of this conversation, and her arm was starting to hurt. She mustered up the courage that had left her when she last talked to Mina, and challenged her. “Not that all villains are like that, though. Some are just desperate people trying to survive or… or live their lives in the way they want.”

Mina let out a weary sigh. “Come on, Ochako, be for real. All of them made the choice to go against the law, and they need to be punished. Even the little things, it builds up… we let them get away with one thing, they start thinking no rules apply to them, and next thing you know, pro-heroes are getting stabbed in alleys indiscriminately…”

Himiko flinched as Mina’s fingers clenched inward, nails digging into the flesh of her arm so deep that the scent of her own blood bloomed. The pain and smell made her salivate, but she swallowed hard and tried to distract herself from the fact that her blood might be seeping under Mina’s nails. 

“I wanna destroy them all,” Mina continued, nails shifting in a way that drew fresh pain.

“M-Mina,” Himiko choked out, speaking because she couldn’t bear to physically push her away. “It hurts.”

Suddenly, Mina let go. Himiko’s eyes fluttered closed, relieved, but then there was a weight in her lap. Mina had gotten on top of her so she could wrap her arms around her.

“I’m sorry, Ochako, I get so frustrated when I imagine you, or one of our other friends getting hurt by villains… or worse.”

Himiko tried not to remember Midnight and her fate in the battle against villains. 

She couldn’t change the past, so she focused on the present. “That stabbing comment… did you see the news about pro-hero Mao?”

The one Himiko suspected was attacked by the real Ochako.

Mina pulled back so she could meet her eyes. “What? No, today, one of the heroes that I’ve been working with at the HPSC, he was on a patrol route, and he… he was literally just on patrol, it literally wasn’t even a battle or anything, just a shitty villain trying to kill someone who’s trying to protect this world. Such a violent stabbing, blood everywhere.”

“Wait, wait.” Himiko pulled out her phone and began searching the news for keywords. “There was another pro-hero stabbing today?”

“It happened near the very end of my shift, so it was pretty recent…”

Himiko scrolled through headlines and pics from the paparazzi squeezing what they could get from behind the barriers police set up on the crime scene. Pro-hero found stabbed in alley… Currently in critical care… HPSC released a statement… Her eyes caught on one of the pics, where the blood stain against a wall was visible: A heart painted against the brick.

Mina curled in against her again, face tucking into Himiko’s neck. “It’s scary, isn’t it?”

Himiko felt hot all over, sweat dripping down her back. “Yes,” she said, because anything else might be incriminating.

“If we could just get rid of every single villain… the world would be beautiful, ” she murmured.

Himiko imagined shoving Mina away. She imagined running out of the apartment. She imagined flipping Mina onto this couch, pinning her down, and biting her neck. Taking the blood fresh from the source. If you really feel that way, then I’ll be that awful, selfish villain and just take what I want.

Mina said against her skin, “I love you, I just want you and everyone to be safe…”

She swallowed hard and closed her eyes. She imagined Mina tilting her neck open for her, to offer herself up, because she loved her and knew what she wanted, no, needed. In another life, one where Himiko had somehow never fallen down the path of villainy, perhaps there was a way she could have had Mina yielding to her, welcoming every part of her no matter how abnormal.

But in this life, her chances were looking pretty slim.

Gently. Himiko embraced her back. “I think it’s about time you go to bed,” Himiko said.

Mina kept clinging. “Mmm, do you want to sleepover?”

She breathed in deep. “It’s a weeknight, I should probably go home.”

“Boooo.”

It was easy to get Mina to bed. Himiko simply tapped her with all five fingers and was able to carry her like she was nothing. Mina giggled along the way, amused at being carried to bed like a princess. Once in bed, Himiko brought the blankets up over Mina and tucked her in.

Mina untucked herself almost immediately, spreading out like a starfish. Her shirt collar was open enough that Himiko could see the veins of her throat.

Unable to hold back, Himiko placed her palm against the side of her neck, fingers grazing Mina’s jaw innocently while she felt for the pounding of her heart. She found it steady, pumping that rich delicious blood through her body. She wanted to wrap her fingers around her throat entirely and choke her, see what happens when all that blood got blocked. She wanted to press her mouth against it, feel the heat against her sensitive lips. She wanted to take a knife to her, nick it so that she could see beautiful drops well up and bleed all over her sheets.

Mina’s eyes fluttered. “...Ochako?”

She pulled back. “Good night, Mina.”

Himiko left without confessing the truth, dead sober. Maybe a few of her friends had accepted her, but this was a dose of cruel reality: Not everyone would, and she had to maintain discretion.

Notes:

I'm like, incapable of writing Himiko alone in a room with one of her female peers without at least a little homoeroticism.

Chapter 25: "Just a regular book club"

Summary:

Previously on Keep your friends close, your enemies closer: Himiko met with Hawks and he asked her to continue getting closer to Spinner and the book club he joined, citing concerns of possibly villainous people seeking to recruit Spinner as a figurehead and expert into their group. Himiko also met up with Mina, hoping to possibly confess the truth of her identity, but Mina continued to express her hatred of villains and good relationship with the HPSC that made Himiko decide not to. There was also a second stabbing victim with the red heart on the wall.

Himiko sat at a low table on a tatami floor. The living room of the central Todoroki building.

Across from her, Fuyumi poured a cup of green tea. “Shouto’s at hero work, and Mom and Dad are at a physical therapy appointment, so we can speak freely.”

Himiko accepted the tea poured into a ceramic mug with no handles. She sipped at it with both hands. “That’s… good.”

“I’m sorry to call you out all the way here, but I just had to talk to you. Honestly, I wanted to talk after that book club, but you were out the door in an instant.”

“I’m sorry, I had to hurry to another commitment.”

And a microphone had been on her. Maybe it had been paranoid, but Himiko didn’t want to put even more people on display for the HPSC, especially with a group that leaned so political. Now that it was just her and Fuyumi, no microphone, and no Spinner who she was supposed to be interrogating, Himiko felt more open to conversation. She was sure Fuyumi had questions, like what the hell a pro-hero was doing walking into a book-club with a famous ex-League of Villains general on her arm.

“Well, no worries!” Fuyumi said with a smile, though there was a tightness to her cheeks. “Just out of curiosity, did you… tell Shouto about seeing me there?”

Himiko blinked at her. “No? Should I not?”

Fuyumi loosened, and she took a relieved sip of tea before responding, “I would appreciate if you didn’t. I love him, but as he’s a pro-hero, I don’t want him to think I’m not proud of him or make things complicated. As far as he knows, I just have a regular book club.”

Sweat began to pool under Himiko’s arms. “Isn’t it just a regular book club?”

Fuyumi placed the mug on the table and slowly spun it, like a habit. “...Sure. I just don’t want him to worry about his career choices. He ended up choosing heroics, and he went through a lot to get to where he is today, I… I don’t want him to think I’m devaluing his work by running these book clubs about the issues with prisons and such.”

“You think he would worry about that?”

She sighed. “Maybe. I don’t know. My feelings about pro-hero work are complicated, but I’m aware that a core portion of pro-hero work tends to involve arresting people and imprisoning them.”

“Not all of it,” Himiko countered automatically.

Her own heroics record was sparse in the arrests department, focusing on rescue operations, but then again it wasn’t devoid of it. There were inevitable situations—a jewelry store thief has to be arrested if Uravity is there at the scene. And although she didn’t always get credit for them, various team ups meant she contributed to operations that led to plenty of villains getting sent to prison.

“I know,” Fuyumi said with a smile. “I’ve read Iguchi’s blog posts about you, you know.”

“Uh, you have?”

Though Himiko was not especially close to Shouto’s sister, she thought she understood her personality. Nothing about her had screamed I like reading the blog posts of ex-villains.

“Of course, he’s one of Touya’s friends.”

“Ah.” Himiko stared down at her glass, feeling presumptuous.

Fuyumi took a slow sip before continuing, “He noted your arrest records are relatively low considering your hero rankings, but your quirk counseling program and rescue statistics have kept you high on the charts. Iguchi listed you as one of his personal top five heroes.”

That blog post was months ago. “You read his posts that closely?”

“Of course. I read that interview he had with you about Toga, too. I enjoyed it a lot, hearing more of Toga's thoughts. Even though she’s dead and gone, you stepped forward and advocated for her perspective.”

That damn interview. Just the thought made Himiko want to bury her head in the sand. “It’s not that big of a deal.” 

“It’s more than a lot of people would do for someone in the League of Villains. And of all the people you could have asked to share Toga’s final moments, you chose Iguchi, yet another League member, rather than allowing a big news station to break the story.”

Himiko hadn’t asked him to share all those personal details. He was the one who decided to take their conversation and spin it into that dramatic post that had briefly propelled both her real self and Uravity into the public discourse.

“Natsuo even called me about it to discuss—It’s not every day that a high-ranking hero and ex-League member team up like that. It made us hopeful about the future of heroics.”

Though Himiko had tried to stare at her tea to avoid making strange expressions, her head jerked up at the new variable in this strange situation. “Natsuo? Shouto’s brother? What does he care about all this?”

“Well, Touya is also Natsuo’s brother,” Fuyumi said, matter-of-factly but not unkindly. “But aside from that, he’s more disillusioned by pro-heroics than I am. He’s actually how I got involved in the… those book clubs.”

Himiko didn’t like the hesitation in book clubs. She recalled Hawks’ dodgy behavior, hanging around Fuyumi at odd times.

What was he really investigating?

“During college, Natsuo met some people and got involved in some… things. I didn’t always agree with him, but after he got married and had a kid, he asked me to go to some meetings just to take notes for him, since he was busy with fatherhood and all. Eventually, hearing all those discussions changed my perspective, and then I became part of the discussions, and as a diligent note taker, I noticed where things were messy and started to… organize.”

Himiko swallowed hard, hesitant. Did she want to hear this? She wasn’t even sure of the scope of the subject Fuyumi was dancing around. “Organize what?”

“Not that much, really. Meeting minutes, a bit of structure… like book clubs. The group can get stale with no fresh blood, but it’s helpful to vet membership a little. Book clubs were my idea—it allows us to meet new people, assess them and get to know them before asking them to join.”

She was a hero now, she couldn’t, shouldn’t be hearing this. Hawks hovered at the edge of her vision like a phantom, grinning at how easily she was slipping in to things he wanted to access.

“Ochako, normally I wait a few meetings before offering, but–”

“I can’t join your villain group!” Himiko blurted out.

Fuyumi stared at her, wide-eyed, but Himiko sat resolute. Though she had been part of villainy before, that wasn’t who she was now. And during this delicate time hunting Ochako down and being a part of the HPSC, she couldn’t afford to get involved in anything suspicious.

“A… A villain group?” Fuyumi repeated after her. “Gosh, no, we’re just a group of prison abolitionists.”

Himiko blinked at her. “Huh?”

“You know, people against prisons.”

She continued to stare, processing.

“We meet up to discuss alternatives, and ways to potentially further the movement. It’s a volatile subject, so we’re a bit selective, but I wouldn’t necessarily categorize us as a ‘villain’ group… Though also, I disagree with the labeling of ‘villainy’ as a concept in itself, but…”

“Wait, just against prisons? In general?” Himiko had heard the term prison-abolitionist before, but never heard someone actually identify with it.

“Yes, we’re a varied group, so there’s some differences in specifics, but overall we want to dismantle the prison system.”

“...Like no more prison at all?”

“Yes,” Fuyumi was smiling calmly, like she was a perfectly rational civilian.

Though Himiko was terrified of prison, and had tried to destroy society to avoid it, it still felt like an inevitable and necessary part of society. The place to put people when they were bad. “So just… free all the villains?”

Fuyumi laughed. “Well, we’ve had a few members that have advocated for wholesale prison-breaking with the intent to release all villains, but they don’t tend to last long in the group. Not that we necessarily kick them out, but the last guy who felt that strongly about that ended up going off on his own to commit a mass prison-break and ended up just causing a ruckus. Actually… you might remember him, I saw you on the news helping out.”

Her mouth went dry. The Metal-Melter, who had tried to break open the prison Mr. Compress had been in.

“He felt strongly about the injustice of the prison system and wanted to address everything immediately, but most of us decided that physically destroying prisons would be a chaotic and temporary solution to the issue, so he went off and did his own thing without any of us directly supporting him.” She sipped at her tea idly. “As is his right, of course—but most of us are interested in slightly slower solutions that allow for more stability and, hopefully, building a better society that integrates and serves those who currently get sent to prison.”

Himiko hated prison, dreaded the thought of being there. But that was because she was a villain, someone who deserved to be imprisoned. Hearing a mild-mannered civilian like Fuyumi push against prison to the point of wanting to dismantle it had her head spinning. “You really believe that? It affects you that much?”

She held onto her cup with both hands, as though stabilizing, and took a deep breath. “When Touya revealed he was Dabi, he made a lot of our family business public. Perhaps you remember?”

As if Himiko could forget Dabi’s dramatic hair-dye job and the television broadcast revealing Endeavor’s intentional quirk marriage and abuse. “I do.”

“Our dad is not a perfect father. The things he did… weren’t right. And if you dig into the books, you can find things he did that are, more or less, illegal. Natsuo searched it up at some point, considered pushing a case against him, but in the end decided it wouldn’t go anywhere and would likely make things worse. And when Touya revealed things to the public, it was proven that it wouldn’t go anywhere. In theory, if the law and the system were working as it’s written, Dad should have gone to prison.”

Someone who had brought Touya such grief deserved to rot in hell. “I’m sorry, he should have,” Toga tried to comfort her.

Fuyumi’s grip on her tea tightened. “No. I didn’t want him to go to prison. It wouldn’t have helped, I love him, I care about him, I know what he did was wrong, but… going to prison would not have fixed our family. Not the way I wanted. And the authorities recognized him going to prison wouldn’t have helped society either—during that big war, trying to jail the number one hero would have destabilized Japan without actually helping anyone. There were complicated factors, and I’m grateful that people in charge decided not to press any sort of charges against my father. He got special consideration of his circumstances and was allowed to atone in his own way. I’m happy he got the opportunity to change and grow with us, rather than being locked away and separated. Meanwhile, Touya…” Her face darkened. “Shouto’s explained his circumstance, hasn’t he?”

Himiko nodded.

“He’s not a big pro-hero that Japan ‘needs’. He’s committed crimes, but so has our father. And yet, even now that Touya’s body is barely a husk, he’s still in prison. Just visiting him is a whole production. Background checks, security procedures, and more mean that Natsuo’s kids aren’t allowed to visit—Currently, only immediate family members are allowed. Touya hasn’t had the opportunity to meet his niece and nephew because… what? Because he might go out and commit some new villainy when he can’t even breathe without a machine? Imprisoning him isn’t protecting anyone. It’s just making life difficult for him and his whole family. There are so many little things the prison requires and dictates for him and how we can access and interact with him, and it builds up, and I just… I hate to be angry in any way, but it’s frustrating. All I’ve ever wanted was to bring my family together, and now that I’m in a place where I know what I want for our family, and have family members who agree, but the state interfering to say ‘No, this is where your brother belongs, now and forever at our sole discretion’... The more I think about it, the more it makes me want to tear the entire system down with my bare hands.”

Fuyumi’s knuckles around her cup were white. At Himiko’s silence, she seemed to realize her own intensity, and breathed out slowly.

“All that to say, Touya had his own circumstances for what he did, same as Dad, but only Dad got special treatment and consideration. The current prison system doesn’t actually apply the law equally, and the way it’s unequal reveals all these alternatives. What happens when the privileged commit crimes? They almost never go to prison, so why should the less fortunate not get those same compromises? All ‘villains’ and criminals have their own circumstances that should be considered, and often those circumstances relate to a society that failed them in the first place.”

Himiko recalled her parents' immediate shame at her way of loving, the ‘quirk counseling’ that involved repressing all of that love behind a mask that could never have lasted forever, and that fateful day when she finally broke. Though she loved Saito, and afterwards she realized that the amount of blood she had taken was dangerous, she knew sticking around and trying to fix things in any way wouldn’t have helped, not with police and pro-heroes on the way. The only options had been to abide to society’s rules and get locked away, or turn against society for that sliver of desperate freedom she had to fight for.

Himiko said, “So you’re like… trying to make options other than prison?”

“That’s a big part of it, yes. We try to champion and push rehabilitation programs and support systems that actually address the core issues rather than blanket punishments that functionally kidnap people for whatever time the state decides. Some of us are more focused on the criminal law aspect as well—what is set into law isn’t an immutable fact of life, it’s set by stakeholders and can reflect corrupt or unreasonable demands, and unjust laws can be changed with enough pressure. Most of us also advocate for currently and previously incarcerated people, who have been forced through what is almost always a traumatic experience that takes away fundamental human rights.”

Listening to all of this made Himiko’s shoulders relax. Pushing programs, pressuring lawmakers, and advocating didn’t sound like real trouble. Not like ‘HPSC needs to address this’ trouble. “So you guys aren’t involved in any sort of villainy?” Himiko confirmed.

Fuyumi paused. “As I said before, I don’t really subscribe to villainy as a label.”

No, no. Himiko smiled nervously. “Um, but you’re not like committing crimes and stuff?”

Fuyumi’s eyes slid towards the wall. “...Personally, I don’t commit any crimes. We have a few law experts involved, so we know the bounds of what we can do within the current legal system. Of course, as I said before, plenty of laws are unjust, and there are times when we want to be strategic where some members may… Well, I’ll just say if any laws are broken, it is done with full knowledge of the potential consequences from the state, and the benefits have to outweigh those risks.”

Now Himiko was completely frozen. She was a pro-hero, technically. She shouldn’t be hearing this.

Fuyumi was smiling though, like this was all an innocent conversation. “We’re a varied group, so there’s room for all sorts of people. Though some people might be hesitant at a pro-hero joining, you came with Iguchi, who a lot of us are a huge fan of. It was extremely exciting to see him in that room, and I appreciate you bringing him to us.”

Her head spun. Whenever she blinked, she saw Hawks behind her eyelids, walking Fuyumi home, taking her out to parfaits, and at his desk assigning a new mission to Himiko. She could see him lounging on that couch in his office listening to those recordings she took of Spinner.

“It’s a wonderful group, one that I think you could find some ideals in common with. Normally we wait a few book clubs and feel people out a bit more before offering this, but since I already know you and have seen your track record, Ochako, would you be interested in–”

“No.”

Fuyumi’s eyebrows rose only slightly. Her tea was almost empty, cold at this point.

Himiko continued, “Please don’t offer this again, and if you’ve already asked Spinner to join you, tell him to never tell me anything about it. No matter how much he trusts me, no matter if he reassures you I’m trustworthy, I need you to make sure that he tells me absolutely nothing about whatever you guys get up to.”

She sighed. “I see. Is it about your obligations as a pro-hero?”

“In a way.” Himiko pinned her with her eyes. “Hawks has been getting close to you, hasn’t he?”

Fuyumi’s eyes widened, and then she let out a small laugh. “You’ve noticed? Yes, he’s been friendly recently. But I’m not the type to get starstruck, considering my family, and if he were to ever pressure me, I’m willing to call on those family members to back me up. I’d much rather he play coy and dance with me for information than go after any of the other members with less advantages, so I’m entertaining him for now. I give him enough scraps to keep him busy.” She drank the last of her tea. “...Were you worried about me? That’s sweet of you.”

Hawks getting close was always a cause for worry, but Himiko didn’t ask with that intention. She wanted to tell Fuyumi, “He’s been getting close to me, too.”

After a moment, Fuyumi nodded in understanding. “I see.”

Himiko nodded back slowly. They looked at each other, aware that any more discussion would only prolong the inevitable.

Fuyumi drank the last of her tea. “I won’t ask again, then. And I’ll swear Iguchi to secrecy.”

Himiko breathed out, relieved. “Thank you.”

“But Ochako, if your circumstances ever change, or you change your mind… just let me know, alright?”

By now, Himiko was also done with her tea. “Thank you.”

 

---

 

Himiko woke up as the sun was rising to her phone buzzing. Blearily, she peeked at the caller ID. Unknown number. Normally, she wouldn’t pick up, assuming spam, but considering everything recently…

She hit Accept and brought the phone to her ear. “Hello?”

“It’s me, I got a detail you might be interested in.”

Himiko sat up fully. That was Giran’s voice. “Yeah? About my… target?”

“Yeah. I put out some feelers to see if any of my usual contacts had met someone of her… I mean, I guess your description, but you know what I mean. New clients with your familiar face, ya know? Anyways, one of my buds got back to me to let me know someone who matched that profile came by recently.”

She was already sweating at the promise of any information. “What kind of buddy?”

“He’s a drug distributor. Not recreational, or not intentionally for recreation, but the stuff she was interested in included muscle relaxers and sleeping pills.”

“Did he sell her them?”

“He did. He gave me a list, just a sec…”

As Giran listed drugs and dosages, Himiko scrambled to open the notes app of her phone and copy down what he said. There were a few different things, some that were in pill form, others injectable.

Once Giran was done, Himiko said, “It seems like she’s planning a few things.”

“Or she’s trying to stay flexible.”

She breathed out, unsteady. “Probably. I still don’t know what her plan is, what her real goal is. 

Giran’s voice was hesitant as he said, “Kid…”

“...What?”

“I’m just gonna say… This kinda stuff seems like kidnapping material. And it’s enough either for multiple targets… or multiple days. If she’s in a vengeful mood, you better watch your back.”

Himiko frowned. “I don’t know her as well as I thought I did, but… I have a feeling I’m not her target.”

Ochako had knocked her out once before, the night Himiko had pulled her out of Hades, but hadn’t done anything to her. Instead, Himiko had woken up in bed, whole and uninjured.

“Well then who do you think it could be?”

She hunched over, mulling the possibilities. So far, the two people she suspected of being Ochako’s victims were both pro-heroes. Clearly, Ochako had a bone to pick with hero society.

Not necessarily with Himiko.

Her jaw tightened. Things would be easier if Ochako just wanted to wreak vengeance on Himiko, then all she would have to watch out for was herself. Hell, if she wanted to take her, Himiko would have surrendered her whole body and fate to Ochako. Instead, Ochako chose to potentially attack other pro-heroes. Did Ochako truly believe that would improve this world?

“Kid?”

Giran’s voice flashed Himiko back. Almost a decade ago, herself on the streets, attacking people to survive, then staring at the news footage of Stain, killing pro-heroes to make a point about the corruption of pro-hero society.

She took in a sharp breath. Maybe there were parts of this society that were corrupt, but that sort of indiscriminate killing no longer appealed to her. Tsuyu, Camie, Shouto, and so many others could end up hurt if she agreed with that methodology. Was Ochako indiscriminate? Or was there some pattern in who she was after?

“I don’t know,” she told Giran. “I’m going to keep investigating. Thank you for the tip.”

Chapter 26: Prison is state-sanctioned kidnapping

Summary:

Previously on Secrets and Sedatives, oh my!: Fuyumi and Himiko had a conversation, where Fuyumi tried to invite Himiko to a prison abolitionist group. Himiko rejected the offer, and warned Fuyumi not to offer again. Afterwards, Giran called Himiko to warn her that Ochako had bought some sedatives on the black market.

Notes:

Even though this is a bit of a transition chapter, I'm posting earlier than my currently typical week-long break in between chapters so I can get to the next chapter faster XD. Please pray for my chapter buffer, which I am getting dangerously close to.... I have a bit of vacation time tho, will be doing my best to write and build it up again

Himiko stretched her arms across Momo and Kyouka’s table, covered in what little evidence they had, exhausted. “Would it kill Ochako to leave us a few more clues?”

Tsuyu made a conciliatory ribbiting sound while Shouto said, “It wouldn’t make sense for her to purposefully leave clues if she doesn’t want to get caught.”

“I’m just bitching,” Himiko admitted. “But hey, maybe she wants attention! Maybe that means something?”

Tsuyu asked, “Is there anyone we can think of who she might ask for help? Clearly, none of us, but…”

Himiko sighed. “Her parents, maybe? But these stabbings aren’t in the direction of where they now live or used to live… She wouldn’t know their new address, anyway. Maybe if the next stabbing is towards where they used to live, we could try camping out there…”

Kyouka walked into the room with her laptop. “No alerts yet for any new stabbings.”

Momo trailed behind with a teapot to refill their teacups. Five of them had gathered at Momo and Kyouka’s apartment to try and piece together Ochako’s movements, but so far they hadn’t made progress. Even with Momo on the case, there just wasn’t enough to work off of.

Tsuyu flipped between the two case files that Shouto had asked the detectives for. “Both were taken by surprise and didn’t get a detailed look at their attacker. One hit on the head and stabbed in the gut, the other stabbed in the back. They’re both pro-heroes, but aside from that…”

“They’re also both blood type B, and HPSC employees specifically,” Shouto noted.

Momo warned, “But with just two victims, it’s hard to determine what’s part of a pattern and what’s coincidence.”

“Will it even be a pattern?” Himiko whined. “Is she trying to send a message? Work out her anger? Was there something in particular about these two that set her off? What is she thinking?”

Those around the table grew quiet, only Kyouka murmuring, “That’s the big question, isn’t it?”

Himiko sighed. “None of you have a clue? You spent more time with her than I did, back then.”

She wanted a magic answer from them that would make it all make sense, but they all just looked at each other with grim expressions. “None of us are privy to her thoughts now,” Momo said. “You and Kyouka are the only ones who even got to talk to her. Was there anything she said that might explain what she’s trying to do?”

Kyouka was focused on her computer, clicking something. She was busy on newswatch duty, so Himiko did her best to explain, “She was pissed, obviously. A lot of frustration about society. She said she wanted to destroy it all, but this doesn’t feel like indiscriminate destruction. It’s two pro-heroes specifically.”

Momo crossed her arms. “The part I’m most concerned about now is her buying those drugs. So far her pattern has just been stabbings, but maybe she’s planning something new.”

Kyouka froze, eyes going wide as she stared at her computer. “Uh, guys?”

Himiko was up in an instant so she could hover behind Kyouka and see what had alarmed her. There was a headline of a news article that popped out clearly: Prison Warden Gone Missing…

“Apparently last night a prison warden disappeared, and they’re still searching for him.”

The room went quiet, considering. Himiko’s eyes trailed down the details of the article, and she reached around Kyouka’s shoulder to scroll down and see more. The warden ran the prison where Mr. Compress was… or rather, had been kept. Last Himiko checked, they were still rebuilding the prison after the Metal-Melter’s stunt, and the prisoners and personnel had split temporarily into several other prisons with capacity.

Kyouka said, “Do you think she would…?”

Himiko set her jaw. “I don’t know what she would or wouldn’t do.”

She had spent years enacting what she imagined Ochako would do, only to be proven wrong the moment she met Ochako.

Suddenly, Kyouka put down the laptop. “There’s not enough information in there, we need to know what’s going on.”

Shouto got up. “I’ll ask to be put on the case.”

She nodded towards him. “Do that, but I’m sure it’ll take a bit of time to get access. In the meantime… I’ll look for some other information sources.”

Kyouka left the room then, heading to her bedroom. Himiko glanced at Momo, who didn’t look confused, so she had to know what she was going to do. Shouto left the apartment, wasting no time, and Tsuyu put a hand on Himiko’s shoulder.

“If it’s her… I’m sure she has a reason,” Tsuyu said.

“LIke she had a reason for those stabbings?” Himiko countered.

Tsuyu frowned. “...We’ll do our best to figure it out.”

Himiko loosened slightly. It wasn’t Tsuyu’s fault that Ochako was putting them through this. “Sorry.”

“It’s alright. We’re all uncertain right now.”

Momo said, “Let’s follow Kyouka, she’s setting up her receivers now, so we might be able to get more information.”

They followed Momo, but Himiko asked, “Huh?”

“Kyouka enjoys radio stuff. She and Denki had this whole project awhile back, making a pretty sensitive receiver system to capture radio chatter in the city. The police encrypt their signals, but they’ve figured out decryptions for most of them.”

By now they had reached some sort of office space, and saw Kyouka had pulled a large machine out of an open closet with several wide, unfolded discs, and had both earphones on her head and her ear jacks plugged into various ports. 

Himiko asked, “Is that legal?”

“It’s–” Momo coughed. “It’s not as though we’re doing anything nefarious with it. It’s just a fun project.”

“I found a few good frequencies,” Kyouka said abruptly, then pulled out some more headsets and plugged them into different ports. “Everyone, take one and listen in.”

Himiko accepted a cushy pair of headphones with skulls on them and listened close to the radio chatter beneath.

“...suspect was negative. Unrelated. Any ---- on your end? Over.”

“My team --pt the north -- –- haven’t found any ---dence. Over.”

She frowned, listening as closely as she could. The audio quality was not ideal, peppered with static and instability, but that was the best she would get for now. She listened closely for another ten or twenty minutes, messages coming in and out.

“---da reported to t--- -----cture and analyzed the scene, ex--- water and -- other things suggest a possible ice quirk ---- being involved. Understood? Over.”

“Understood, we will focus-- — ----ping an eye out for ice q---- usage. Have you ----- the registry? Over.”

“Currently --- requests. Will update when available. Over and out.”

Her line went quiet, and she raised her headphone from one ear to say, “Ice quirk?”

Tsuyu said, “My line just mentioned that as well, seems like they’re keeping an eye out for anyone suspicious using an ice quirk.”

Momo hummed. “Elemental quirks are pretty widespread, but perhaps they can narrow it down with other factors.”

Kyouka glanced over at Himiko. “If they’re right, this might not be Ochako’s doing.”

Even that potential silver lining failed to loosen the tight ball of nerves in Himiko’s gut.

After all, even if Ochako was innocent of this, Himiko unfortunately knew an ice-quirk user with a potential vendetta against prison wardens.

Still, she forced on a smile for her friends’ sakes. “Let’s hope.”

Momo was right, elemental quirks were common enough that it wasn’t incriminating by itself.

 

---

 

It was impossible not to see clips from the video uploaded onto the internet. According to Shouto, their best tech investigators were trying to track down the source, but so far hadn’t turned up anything concrete.

Himiko sat down in her room, pulled her laptop close, found the full-length video linked on a news site, and clicked play.

The person on the screen was wearing a hoodie, with only a rim of light around them. They spoke through what was clearly a voice changer, adding a metallic and unreal feeling to the voice as they spoke.

“We have taken this prison warden to serve time for a crime he committed five years ago. When he was an officer, he beat a prisoner so hard that the prisoner lost teeth and had fractures in his shoulder, justified by this officer as a punishment for an ‘attitude problem’. However, because the prisoner dared to fight back while being senselessly beaten, that prisoner was subjected to three days in isolation as punishment. Meanwhile, this man was suspended for two days to ‘cool off’ and returned to work with no further reparations. He was eventually even promoted to prison warden. The prisoner hurt someone and served punishment, but why should this man be exempt from consequences when he committed assault? 

“Since the state refused to charge this man, we have decided to charge him. We have taken him away to serve time for his crime. Though assault can lead to multiple years in jail, we have decided to enact a simple punishment reflecting similar punishment that his victim faced: Three days in isolation. We will keep him for three days with minimal human contact, and then release him.

“If you consider kidnapping someone and imprisoning them to be terrifying and unjust, please consider that this is the reality of any person branded a criminal or villain by the justice system, or even anyone who is not shielded by the privilege of directly serving the state. What we are doing to this man is nothing new or different from what the state itself does to the people it claims to serve. If you disapprove of our violence, we hope you will disapprove of even more egregious violence that occurs in prison systems every day.”

Himiko closed her laptop and sucked in a deep breath. That rhetoric was unfortunately familiar.

 

---

 

Himiko didn’t call Fuyumi beforehand. She didn’t dare leave a trail that could further implicate her. There was too much already, but Himiko wasn’t going to be able to sleep tonight unless she confronted her.

So Himiko marched to the Todoroki estate and demanded to be allowed in. Rei, their mother, recognized her and allowed her in with some confusion. “Shouto isn’t home,” Rei told her as she entered.

“I’m not here for him. Is Fuyumi home?”

Though that only seemed to confuse Rei more, she led her to Fuyumi’s room.

When she opened the door, Fuyumi paused a video on her laptop and looked up from a lap full of red yarn. There was also a set of knitting needles which Fuyumi picked back up as Himiko entered. “Ochako! What a surprise, what’s up?”

As soon as the door closed behind herself, Himiko approached until she was standing just beside Fuyumi’s seat, and said, “It was you, wasn’t it?”

Click, click. Fuyumi continued knitting, completely unbothered. “What was me?”

Himiko didn’t appreciate her playing coy. “The prison warden kidnapping, you and… and that group of yours. Don’t you guys realize how dangerous something like that is? If you get caught…”

Though Himiko wasn’t close to her, she hated the image of Fuyumi in a jumpsuit behind bars. Fuyumi was doing good work out here, but if she was going to be clumsy and leave evidence of her involvement in things like this, she wasn’t going to last long.

Fuyumi’s hands continued adding to the row. What was already put together was long and rectangular, suggesting a scarf. “I actually have a tight alibi for the night of the kidnapping. I went out for dinner with my father and Hakamada… or Best Jeanist, as you might know him. We went to a public restaurant with plenty of witnesses, and even after that we went to Hakamada’s to play some board games.”

The wind in Himiko’s sails lessened. Could it be unrelated? “But… according to investigators, an ice quirk user might be involved.”

Fuyumi’s knitting stopped. She looked up. “They said that?”

Her tone was even, but Himiko could smell a tinge of anger filling the room. “It wasn’t you?”

“I am committed to my work as a teacher, and am not currently willing to risk my freedom to pull off things like this. I’ve made abundantly clear to various people that the ideal personnel for this sort of thing are people who do not have dependents and whose commitments will be minimally disrupted by any potential jail time. In other words, someone who’s a husband with two young children really shouldn’t be invited and certainly not directly involved.”

Fuyumi put down her knitting entirely.

“I’m sorry to cut this little meeting short, but would you excuse me? I need to visit a certain idiot brother of mine.”

 

---

 

Himiko sipped on her bloody mary at the bar, Shouto on one side, Tsuyu on her other, and the television of the bar softly playing with captions.

“...After two days of a harrowing search, the culprit has been caught. He will be charged…”

The prison warden had been rescued, and the person on the screen was someone Himiko didn’t recognize. Maybe Fuyumi would. 

Himiko would be better off not knowing.

Shouto drank a bit of his sake. “It’s good to see it’s unrelated to you-know-who, isn’t it?”

Himiko eyed him, sitting calmly at the bar. Ochako hadn’t been the culprit, but Shouto was unaware of just how close his family was to the situation.

After book club, the first thing Fuyumi had asked about was whether Himiko had told Shouto about it. Was Fuyumi really worried that Shouto would take her prison-abolitionist stance as a disapproval of his hero work? Or was she covering her tracks?

If Natsuo had been caught as an accomplice, where would Shouto’s loyalties have lain?

Himiko downed half her glass.

“You good?” Tsuyu asked from her other side.

“Was it wrong, though?” Himiko said.

Her two companions blinked at her.

“The kidnapping. I mean, the prison warden had never really been punished for what he’d done, why shouldn’t people be allowed to take power into their own hands?”

Tsuyu tilted her head. “That would be anarchy.”

Anarchy had its appeal—she’d fought a war in its favor, long ago, though nowadays she was wary of the dangers chaos wrought. “Then why should he have been allowed to hurt his prisoner? It’s fundamentally unfair, one gets to hurt the other with impunity.”

“Maybe he did do something wrong, but if we started kidnapping people for anything they did wrong, that’s just doing something worse.”

She bristled. “Isn’t that what putting people in jail is, though?”

Tsuyu stared at her drink. “That’s why we have a justice system, so it’s all done fairly. We can’t just let criminals run free.”

“I’m free.”

Tsuyu’s head snapped towards her.

Himiko met her eyes. “I’m a criminal. Do you think I should go to prison? That someone should be allowed to hurt me and never experience real consequences?”

Tsuyu went quiet as Himiko’s blood pumped. She liked that Tsuyu didn’t rush an answer, but it made her nerves flare at what the response might be.

On her other side, Shouto said, “Well, you’re a hero now, though. Overall, you’ve probably saved more lives than you’ve taken by now.”

“If the justice system worked the way it’s supposed to, I would’ve been charged and sent to jail before getting to do any of that.”

Shouto frowned. “We saw what would have actually happened to you though? Your death would have been faked and you’d be kept in a cell underground indefinitely.”

Himiko took in a sharp breath. The life Ochako had lived had been intended to be hers. Fortune spared her, but doomed Ochako in her place, and now Himiko had a clear sight into this alternate path she could have ended up on.

Tsuyu finally spoke, “I don’t think that’s a proper part of the justice system. There’s something weird going on there with Hades and the HPSC. Overall, when the justice system works as intended, it’s good and helps keep society safe.”

“It wasn’t safe for me,” Himiko countered. “As soon as I made one mistake, I ended up homeless, jobless, and on the run, with villainy as my only option to have any sort of life.”

Her blood was pumping fast, heated, and she ended up taking another gulp of her drink in an attempt to cool down. This was shitty, pushing at her friends who had already shown such mercy to her, but she didn’t like how they had dismissed this whole prison warden kidnapping situation once it was clear Ochako wasn’t involved. Himiko couldn’t help but press, begging to find the limits of what they accepted.

“...I didn’t know that,” Tsuyu finally said.

Himiko’s eyebrows raised. “How did you think I was surviving back then?”

Her brow furrowed minutely, a rare expression. “I guess I didn’t think about the villains’ circumstances much at all.”

“Me neither,” Shouto admitted. “At least, not until Touya revealed himself.”

Himiko turned to him, remembering the root of this conversation, Fuyumi’s ideals. “Do you think Touya should stay in prison or not?”

“...I definitely don’t want him in Hades anymore, considering what they’re doing.”

“But do you think it would be better to move him to another prison or to bring him home?”

“The law says he should stay in some sort of prison…”

Himiko swallowed hard. Even if Fuyumi wanted him home, how far could she get with other family members potentially in the way?

“...but if I could choose for myself, of course I’d want him home.”

She took a relieved breath.

He shrugged. “He’s been away from home for so long, it’d only be fair. But of course, the law doesn’t really work that way.”

Was law really so unchangeable? There was no fountain where all the laws came out of fully formed from the ground. They were written by human hands, and could be changed by the same, couldn’t they?

But Himiko’s skin felt prickly from all this dangerous talk, so she focused back on her rapidly depleting drink. Her phone buzzed against her thigh, and she pulled it out, desperate for a distraction.

MOM: How are you doing?

Maybe not that desperate for a distraction. She put her phone away and closed her eyes.

Ochako’s parents were very sweet. Very kind. It felt bad to dodge them, usually citing the hustle and bustle of pro-hero work in the city, but it felt worse to face them head on and feel all that love that was intended for the girl whose life Himiko had stolen. No matter how much money she sent them each month as reparations, it would never be enough.

She would wait one day, then respond with a generic “good!” and a vague sentence about how busy life was getting. Though she had played their daughter best she could during a few school breaks, the occasional little comment about how “school changed her” had panicked her so much that she had moved away immediately after graduation. Though Himiko tried to be friendly towards them, playing the act with them felt like walking on nails, and so she avoided them whenever she could.

Something nudged her side, and she glanced towards Tsuyu.

Tsuyu jerked her chin at the television.

Though the television was soft enough that she couldn’t hear it over the noise of the bar, she read the captions.

“…found by a concerned civilian, Pro-hero Miss Fit had lost significant amounts of blood, but was rushed to a hospital. She is now undergoing emergency surgery. The HPSC made a statement for their employee…”

Himiko stopped looking at the captions, as now there was a scene of the crime, where a big bloody heart was drawn onto the wall of a building.

“Fuck,” Himiko whispered.

Three stabbings was a pattern. Ochako was showing no signs of stopping.

And she still didn’t know what the drugs were for.

Notes:

At least with three stabbings there's a pattern to analyze :D. Thanks, Ochako!

Chapter 27: Déjà Vu Dance

Summary:

Previously on Radical Actions: A prison warden was kidnapped, and although Himiko and her friends were afraid that Ochako had don it, later a statement was released identifying the motivation as pointing out injustice within the prison system in a way that Ochako suspected Fuyumi of being involved. She confronted Fuyumi, and although Fuyumi implied knowledge of it, she had an alibi. After the prison warden was rescued and the person responsible was arrested, Ochako had a difficult conversation with Tsuyu and Shouto about whether they thought she deserved to go to prison. Then the news revealed another stabbing with Ochako's calling card--a red heart of blood on the wall.

Shouto was blocked.

He had called Himiko that morning. “The detectives I’ve been talking to have been taken off the case. Now that it’s been three HPSC employees in a row, the HPSC has declared it a case for them to take on. Sorry, Himiko, I asked the HPSC for more info, but unlike the detectives they didn’t share any with me.”

Of course they hadn’t—regardless of Shouto being the current number one, he was an independent hero who wasn’t beholden to any of their NDA’s or other clauses.

She had thanked him for trying, but now it was up to her.

That was why she was at the HPSC cafeteria for lunch.

She found Tooru in the line, and together they found Fumikage at a table.

“Thanks for texting us!” Tooru exclaimed as they sat down. “It’s nice when you come by for a meal.”

Himiko smiled. “We gotta stick together, after all. Especially considering… the news recently.”

Tooru sobered up. “I just went on a mission with Miss Fit last week, I can’t believe someone would target her like that.”

Himiko made her best expression of concern. “What do you think the motivation could be?”

“I dunno, maybe a villain who she arrested in the past? But I worry it’s related to the recent attacks...”

Fumikage leaned forward to say, “I convened with an investigator this morning. The three victims so far aren’t connected by any particular villain or any mission in their history in common.”

Himiko turned to him. “It’s wild.” And then, as nonchalantly as possible asked, “What have they found so far?”

“Though information is scarce, Miss Fit did awaken up last night. She provided an important detail about her assailant: Yellow eyes.”

“Yellow!” Himiko exclaimed, heart pounding. “How unusual.”

Tooru said, “Hopefully that narrows things down a bit.”

“I shall be sojourning with Hawks this evening, I shall ask for more information from him.”

Tooru said. “Ask how he’s doing, too. It’s gotta be stressful! On TigTog, people have been comparing this to Stain from way back when.”

Himiko flushed. She occupied herself with a glass of water to try and cool down.

Fumikage shook his head. “Such a comparison hardly seems suitable. He successfully murdered a large number of heroes, and so far this villain has failed to do so three times. They seem clumsy, so I expect our investigators to catch them easily.”

Tooru said in between chews of her food, “I guess they don’t make serial killers like they used to.”

Before Himiko had to think of anything resembling a reasonable response to this speculation, someone slammed a tray down at their table. All their heads jerked to take in the bright pink, wildly grinning newcomer. Though Mina was just a contractor, it was easy for a contractor who had gone through all the background checks to get permission to enter the HPSC cafeteria.

“Guys, I’m glad you’re all together, because I have some huge news,” Mina declared.

“Of what manner?” Fumikage asked.

“Big news of me. And kind of for you, I expect. Can you guys clear your schedule for this weekend? Because we are going to be having a celebration.”

“For what?”

Mina puffed up her chest. “As of today, I am an official HPSC employee!”

Tooru jumped up, squealing, and hugged Mina immediately. Himiko was slowed by her nausea, but she forced herself to follow suit, getting up, smiling so she wouldn’t make a worse expression. As soon as Tooru let go, Himiko pulled Mina into her arms and squeezed her tight. Where their necks crossed, Himiko could feel her blood pumping.

Mina was so excited.

Himiko pulled back, and Fumikage gravely shook Mina’s hand. “Welcome to the roster.”

They all sat down as Mina explained, “It took a bit of time to sort out the paperwork, but considering how much I’ve been contracting, I figured hey, why not make it official? I’m having a press conference tonight to announce it, but I wanted you guys to know first.”

“Congratulations,” Himiko said with practiced sincerity.

Tooru began to ramble, “This is gonna be fabulous! I hope we get assigned missions together, but even if we don’t, you have to eat with me, and we can hang out easily after work…”

“Speaking of…” Mina leaned forward. “I wanna celebrate. It has been way too long since I’ve gone about town. This weekend… you guys down to go out with me?”

The energy of the table was too enthusiastic to say anything but: “Of course!”

 

---

 

Camie sucked on a boba tea as she walked with Himiko. They were ostensibly on a hero patrol together, but functionally this was more often a gossip session while keeping an eye out for trouble. Though Camie was athletic, Himiko often tapped her so the two of them could float up onto a roof and walk across the city from up high.

And up high enough things were almost private enough to have a real talk.

“...I can’t help but worry, considering how much the… organization has been up to. I don’t want her to somehow end up involved in it.”

“Aren’t there other homies working with ‘em as well? And you too, peach.”

“Only technically,” Himiko said. “And I guess with the others it felt different. They joined before I knew all the shady stuff they were up to. I didn’t think too hard about them. But seeing someone who I… Someone who could have maybe possibly helped me end up on their side… I guess it’s awkward.”

They reached the edge of a roof, and Himiko watched carefully as Camie leaped across two buildings, ready to dive for her if necessary. Fortunately, Camie got across without a hitch, and Himiko followed.

Camie looked back at her. “Is it just awk, or does it like, legit hurt?”

Himiko pressed her lips together. “It might legit hurt.”

“Why not fess up about the shady stuff you told me about?”

“She’s… not very receptive about villains. If I told her the Toga stuff…”

Himiko could imagine it now. Laying out the injustice, the faked death, imprisonment Hades and presumably the HPSC were doing, and taking samples of “Toga” for the NHAL. Mina taking it all in, listening to the tale, and then reassuring her with a smile:

If we could just get rid of every single villain… the world would be beautiful.

“...I don’t think she’d be very empathetic.”

Camie sucked loudly on her boba, then released the straw with a pop. “Bummer.”

Himiko didn’t want to be a bummer. She wanted to be strong and confident and not care what her friends thought or that her friends were allying themselves with people who wanted to lock her away. 

She forced a laugh as they crossed another roof. “But hey! Maybe she’ll be assigned to a mission that I want to know more about, and I can milk her for info.”

“Oh! Speaking of, I’ve been rizzing up that dude you asked me to, and it’s been getting hype.”

Himiko perked up. “You have?”

“Totes. But I’m still not like, a science gal, yeah? But you said you had a magic stick or something I could use?”

“I can get you that! Yeah, a USB. Super simple to use, just plug it into a computer, it’ll do all the work, you just gotta bring it back to me.”

“You got one?”

“Not on me, but I’ll pick up one soon from… my supplier.”

It would be a simple matter to demand it from Skeptic, considering he had made one before.

“Fab. I’m not asking him for a tour of his work or nothin’ yet, but I’m vibing in that direction, so I wanna be prepped up.”

“Absolutely, I can get it for you, thank you so much for doing this, Camie!”

“Hey, anything for you,” Camie winked. 

Himiko giggled, feeling lighter even beyond the anti-gravity she used to lower herself off a roof towards the end of patrol.

Maybe things with Mina weren’t perfect, but she had other friends who supported her and who she could rely on.

Maybe even if she couldn’t tell Mina, Camie…

But Himiko couldn’t jeopardize this mission by adding in unexpected factors. At some point, she hoped she would get to tell Camie… but not yet.

 

---

 

The music was loud, the lights were colorful, and the drinks were strong.

Himiko’s dance turned into more of a bounce as a remixed pop song blasted from the speakers. Her drink almost spilled onto Mina beside her, but thankfully missed her clothes. Himiko’s bright red cherry cocktail would have stained Mina’s gold dress, featuring a complex criss-crossing of straps in the back. Across from her, Tooru’s sparkly shirt caught the colors of every light and turned her into a bonus disco ball. It was only thanks to her brightness that Fumikage was visible beside her, considering he was wearing an entirely black outfit that blended into the shadows.

She chugged the rest of her drink so she wouldn’t have to dance with it, and left the little dance circle she had with her friends to toss the plastic cup into the nearest garbage can. As she turned to go back, though, Mina came barreling towards her.

“Come on!” Mina shouted through the music. “Let’s get another round for everyone!”

Mina leaned heavily on her as they made their way through the crowd, and Himiko had the sense of mind to check, “Are you sure? We’ve had a few already…”

“And we can have a few more!” Mina exclaimed. “Come on, it’s my celebration, you can’t say no!”

The HPSC spared no expense in advertising their very recent acquisition of a pro-hero who was in the top 30 of the hero rankings. Mina’s bubbly personality and ease with the cameras helped make the press conference and interviews great PR for the HPSC.

“I’m excited to welcome the HPSC into this new chapter of my career. Though I’ve enjoyed independent work, they are a stellar organization who are pushing innovative ground in the future of hero work. I love teamwork and collaborating with other heroes, and being part of a larger organization will make that easier and more effective. Look out, villains, because Pinkie is coming for you, stronger than ever!”

Mina had worked hard, projecting a strong and confident image in interview after interview. There was no one who didn’t know Pinkie was an HPSC hero now, and that Pinkie was more than thrilled to have joined them.

So Himiko shoved down the gross feeling in her gut, and allowed Mina to order four margaritas, which they carried together to their little group. Tooru whooped at the new glass in her hand, and Fumikage nodded thankfully at them for having added a long straw for his. 

They danced and drank. Across from their little circle, Mina waved a hand as she danced with a wide grin. Her hips moved smoothly, perfectly on the beat, and Himiko’s breath caught as the lights danced on Mina’s elated expression. 

When Mina was like this, she was joy incarnate, spinning and moving in a way that made the self-consciousness of those around her melt away. Others around them noticed her, the way her hair shook with each twist, the freedom she exuded on the dance floor as she closed her eyes and felt her own rhythm, and although Himiko could see the crowd around them taking some notice, she herself was not immune to Mina’s charisma and stared at her breathtaking dance.

Mina’s eyes opened, the halos of angels shining through her black sclera, and suddenly Himiko was in her spotlight. Mina reached out a hand and shouted something inaudible over the music, but Himiko understood the motion well enough to understand the message.

Join me.

I want you here.

Let’s do it together.

Like a moth to a flame, Himiko took her hand, and Mina pulled her closer, then spun her around. Himiko might have spilled some of her drink again, but she didn’t care. Now she was accepted into the whirlwind, and everything felt beautiful. The world was lights, spinning, and even when Himiko slipped, that turned into a smooth dip and a warm embrace from a friend. Mistakes made into fond memories at Mina’s hands.

Mina encouraged her, and Himiko was soon dancing even more enthusiastically than she had all night. Her head was light from the drinks, her cup was empty, and Mina pushed it out of her hand so they could hold both hands and face each other. Himiko’s cheeks ached from how hard she was smiling, and she saw the same reflected in Mina.

Something cold slipped down her back.

Himiko jerked forward, off-rhythm, and almost knocked Mina over. Himiko turned to see what happened, but there were too many people passing by to pin-point one of them as the culprit. After a moment, she registered her back was wet, and on the floor there was more liquid, and even some ice.

Spilled drink.

“You good?” Mina said into her ear.

Himiko didn’t want to pull Mina away from the dancefloor where she belonged, so she put on a smile and waved a hand. “I’m fine, I’m just gonna run to the restroom for a sec.”

Before Mina could say anything else, Himiko weaved through the crowd to the nearest of the restroom options in this club. Each restroom only had two or three stalls, but at least there were multiple so no matter where you were on the dance floor, there would be one close by.

Once inside, Himiko saw Ochako in the mirrors.

Not that that was surprising. That’s who she was being, still. Every day. Dancing with Mina wasn’t Himiko, but Himiko as Ochako.

She leaned against a bathroom stall. The room was spinning. The music was quieter in here, and the room it left for thoughts was unpleasant.

After a few moments to catch her bearings, though, she took better stock of her situation. The back of Himiko’s shirt and the top of her jean shorts were both wet, so much so that Himiko cursed under her breath at the dick who had been so clumsy as to spill this much.

She tugged paper towels out of the dispenser and set to drying herself.

 

---

 

The angle behind her back had been awkward, but after ten or twenty minutes she felt dry enough to deal with the dance floor again. She found the spot her group had been in, although it was just Tooru and Fumikage at the moment. Mina must have been getting another drink or something.

As Himiko rejoined them, Tooru leaned over and shouted, “Back already?”

Himiko thought it had been quite awhile, but she was pretty drunk. Or Tooru was drunk and forgetting things. “Yeah,” was the easiest response.

They continued to dance, but the energy was not quite as peak without Mina. Tooru had some great moves as well, but remained relatively sedate despite the many drinks, and Himiko’s spirit had been dampened by the bathroom intermission.

After awhile, Himiko began looking around for Mina through the crowd. Had she joined another group? Or gone home early?

She leaned over to Fumikage, “Where did Mina go?”

He tilted his head. “She went to the bathroom with you earlier.”

“Huh? No she didn’t?”

Himiko had left her behind as she went to dry off, hadn’t she? And even if Mina had followed her, she would have easily caught up to her in the bathroom.

Tooru leaned in towards them. “She did, though! I was confused when only you came back!”

“No, I went alone.”

“No, I’m sure I saw you, Ochako…”

Ochako.

Himiko stopped breathing.

“Did you leave Mina in the bathroom?” Tooru asked.

“Let’s check,” Himiko decided.

There was a stone in Himiko’s stomach that only grew heavier as she checked the bathroom she had just come from. Nobody in there. Himiko even checked each stall, making sure no one was hiding on the toilet or anything.

There were at least two other restrooms to check. Himiko hurried to the second, marching with Tooru behind her and Fumikage hovering outside. She interrupted two strangers making out, but ignored them to investigate each stall. Still no sign of Mina, nor…

Himiko reminded herself to breathe as she made her way to the last bathroom. Maybe she was overreacting and it was all a misunderstanding. Maybe Tooru and Fumikage really hadn’t understood what had happened and Mina was perfectly fine, just somewhere unexpected. Himiko opened the door to the final restroom with desperate hope that she had just grown paranoid.

The smell of Mina’s blood hit her nostrils.

For a moment, she stood in frozen terror, taking in the apparently empty restroom. There was one dinky sink, three stalls, and no immediately visible body.

“Ochako?” Tooru asked from behind her.

Himiko forced herself to move through her shock. If Mina were in here, they had to get help as soon as possible. She opened the first stall, dread dripping down to her toes. Nothing.

She swallowed hard and opened the second stall, still nothing.

There was no time to waste, so Himiko didn’t have a moment to brace herself before going to the third and final stall.

There, against the wall inside, was the shape of a heart written in Mina’s blood.

Notes:

Hehe sorry Mina :3

Chapter 28: I’ve come to make an announcement: The HPSC is a bitch-ass motherfucker

Summary:

Previously on Night Out Gone Wrong: The serial stabbing cases had a clear pattern of attacking HPSC pro-heroes, so the case was moved from general police jurisdiction to HPSC investigators specifically, meaning Shouto no longer could ask for information regarding the case. Mina announced that she was going to join the HPSC as their employee, and convinced Himiko, Fumikage, and Tooru to go out that weekend to celebrate with her. Himiko had a discussion with Camie about her discomfort with Mina joining the HPSC, and then Camie asked for a flash drive to potentially use at the NHAL, assuming she could potentially get in there in the future. During the weekend celebration for Mina's new job, Mina mysteriously disappeared, and all that was left behind was a heart drawn in her blood in a club bathroom.

Notes:

For anybody curious, the current estimate ending chapter count for this fic is between 34 and 36. I have the plot outlined to the end for the most part, but have not written everything out to the end, so it may vary depending on if certain scenes take longer than expected or get added.

The last person Himiko wanted to interact with while going on hour twenty-seven of no sleep was the man who killed her best friend, but here she was in a meeting with Hawks. At least Tooru and Fumikage were there as a buffer. The three of them sat on the couch in his office as he leaned against his desk.

“I’m sorry to call you all in during such a… trying time,” Hawks said.

The hours following the discovery of Mina’s disappearance had been a whirlwind. Though Himiko didn’t want the HPSC on Ochako’s tail, there had been no plausible way to persuade Tooru and Fumikage to not tell the HPSC about the kidnapping of their friend, and so investigations had commenced immediately. By the morning, detectives had analyzed the DNA of the blood sample and confirmed what Himiko had already known: It was Mina’s.

Himiko had literally run the streets searching for clues, as had Tooru and Fumikage, but in the end Ochako had disappeared without a trace. Or at least, no traces beyond the blood that they could immediately find. Once the case was handed to the HPSC, investigators had taken over and were frustratingly opaque about how much they had found out, but tolerated Mina’s friends hovering at their office for updates.

Now that Hawks had taken them aside, Himiko was sure he’d push them one way or the other: Either bring them properly into the investigation, or tell them to stay in their lane.

“I believe it’s about time I told you guys some difficult news.”

Tooru took a sharp breath. “Her body?”

No, Himiko tried to reassure herself. Technically, Ochako hadn’t successfully killed any of her victims so far, and though she had threatened Kyouka’s life, she hadn’t ended up committing. With Mina, too, killing and leaving the body would have been easier than whatever she was doing now. It made little sense to kidnap her and then kill her.

Hawks shook his head. “We still haven’t tracked down Mina, but I want to enable the three of you to engage with the reality of the situation with… all of the facts. What I say cannot leave this room, understand?”

Was he going to confess to the crime the HPSC had committed? To how they had kidnapped “Toga Himiko” for nearly a decade?

Everyone gave their assent, and Hawks stood up straight. “Toga Himiko is alive.”

Himiko pretended to gasp, for her friends’ sakes more than Hawks who already knew she knew, and then tried not to jump as Fumikage but a hand on her shoulder and Tooru put a hand on her thigh supportively. Embarrassed at them checking in, she shifted in her seat to encourage them to pull back. She didn’t breathe easy until they did so.

Fumikage asked, “How?”

“I wish I had all the answers, but our best guess so far is that she faked her death and laid low for a long while. We suspect Uravity’s interview about her triggered a desire to stir trouble again, and now she’s our main suspect for these serial attacks against the HPSC.”

Tooru shifted. “You really think she’s targeting the HPSC specifically? What could her motivation be? I mean, obviously she hates heroes, but just this one organization…?”

Hawks began to pace, though he kept his speed sedate—not frantic. “Unfortunately, I fear I may be to blame.”

It took all of Himiko’s willpower to keep her face still.

“Back when I was a young pro-hero out in the field, I ended up doing some undercover work getting close to the League of Villains. In the end, of course I betrayed them.”

Betrayed was a very vague way of saying ‘murdered a man who sincerely thought Hawks was his friend in cold blood’.

“Toga may hold a grudge against me, and is forcing the whole HPSC to pay the price. I fear she would do anything to tear it down. Not just murder, but causing mass panic with these serial attacks, this kidnapping, and who-knows what else.”

Himiko sat on her hands so nobody could see how tightly she was clenching her fists. A grudge? She loathed Hawks, of course, and would celebrate his death with confetti, balloons, and a cake, but the thought of him being the core of her motivation, her drive to do anything big that she cared about, filled her with a disgust so deep she wanted to retch all over his rumpled business suit.

“As I said before, this is all classified, but since you are all so close to the situation, I thought it was time to tell you. Especially since Toga… though she is a violent villain, she is also capable of manipulation. If she comes to any of you and tries to persuade you of anything, I need you to stay confident. I apologize that it’s taken this long to share this with you, but…”

Fumikage nodded. “I understand. I trust you, Hawks. If you believed that it was for the best to maintain discretion, I believe in your reasons.”

Hawks smiled at his protege. “Thank you. This is exactly why I’m trusting you now.”

Himiko did her best not to vomit.

“Oh!” Tooru exclaimed. “It makes sense now! Why we thought we saw Mina leave with Ochako—since Himiko has a quirk that allows her to disguise herself, she must have turned into Ochako and tricked us!”

Hawks smiled at her. “You catch on quick, Invisible Girl. Yes, that’s currently what the investigation team believes happened.”

Himiko saw the house of cards Hawks was building, and seeing it laid out so neatly in front of her sorely tempted her. Just one breath, a little tease to see how he might tremble: “But wait, doesn’t her quirk require the blood of a person to transform? She hasn’t attacked me for my blood yet, so how could she have turned into me?”

She kept her face curious as she observed Hawks. His expression didn’t change from the pleasant smile he had, but his gaze turned slowly to Himiko. Like a predator scanning for a weakness in its prey.

But what could he admit? The experimentation in Hades had revealed that the person in there could change between Himiko and Ochako forms at will, but that was never the case prior to the imprisonment. To admit knowledge of this expanded quirk ability would require admitting how one knew that.

After another moment, his grin grew wider. “You’re active in blood drives, Uravity, and your involvement is well publicized. She must have been paying attention and snatched one of the bags you donated.”

She allowed him the counter. Pushing too hard would betray her distrust, and so she raised her eyebrows and nodded. “Ah, that makes sense.”

He settled on the edge of his desk, satisfied with his own answer, and continued, “As I said before, this is all confidential. I am telling you all because you are close to the situation and are professional heroes who can be trusted with the truth, but in the interest of maintaining public safety and not causing a mass panic, we cannot publicize Toga’s return. I trust the three of you, so please do not spread–”

Mera, Hawks’ shaggy-haired assistant, burst into the room. “Sorry, but Hawks, you need to see this.”

He frowned, but parted from his desk. “See what?”

Mera was nearly breathless, but squeezed out, “The TV. Now.”

They all followed him out into a main hallway of the HPSC. Hawks’ office was many floors up, but there was a large central space that stretched up all the way from the lobby to the ceiling, and along the walls were some screens that played news at times. Normally the audio was quiet and the captions spoke for themselves, but someone had turned up the volume, and now Himiko’s face was looking right at her through the screen, wearing a cheeky grin.

“...Impossible, but I’m really here!” Himiko’s voice said. “How, you might ask? Well that’s a real funny story. It starts eight years ago, when apparently somebody told the world that I died! But did you all really think I’d die so easily? From just a little blood loss? Ha! No, somebody took me away and kept me locked up for an entire eight years. Can you imagine that? You wake up one day, and you’re behind bars, with no due process and no opportunity to appeal to anyone? I was buried alive, and everyone on the surface was none the wiser. Doctors and others came by, took my blood, experimented with my quirk, but I was allowed no visitors or contact with the outside world. That doesn’t just happen, though, someone had to decide to fake my death and lock me away.”

Himiko could smell Hawks’ sweat. She was sweating too. If Ochako publicized herself like this, how was Himiko ever going to live a normal life? If she had let her stay dead, Himiko could have slipped away with no one aside from the HPSC looking for her. A big video like this, whatever it was doing, was going to make it impossible for Himiko to live normally even if she gave Ochako back her life.

“The prison I was unjustly kept in was Hades, which is under the jurisdiction of the Hero Public Safety Commission. Don’t you dare try to say it was Hades people being all silly on their own—how would I have gotten in there in the first place if higher-ups hadn’t made a decision to cover up my survival?”

“What news station is playing this?” Hawks snapped at Mera. “Tell them to stop.”

Mera grimaced. “It’s almost all of them. This video was released to too many at once. We don’t have sway with all of them.”

“I only just got out, but I’m disappointed in this world. Everyone living their lives peacefully, completely unaware of the evil beneath their feet, the cruelty of those ‘protecting’ society… It’s sickening. Why should all of you get to live, ignorant of the pain in this world, when I was being tortured? Well you can’t be ignorant anymore.”

Ochako stepped back, revealing more of the space behind her. It was a plain, breakroom-type space with an empty cork board on the wall, a cubby space to the side, and as Ochako backed away, pink that appeared behind her.

Tooru let out a shriek, but closed a hand over her mouth to muffle herself. There, behind Ochako, was Mina lying on a couch, eyes peacefully closed like sleeping beauty.

“Have you all seen the news that pro-hero Pinkie has disappeared, or has the HPSC covered that up, too? After all, she’s their shiniest new recruit. It looks bad if she can get kidnapped so easily, doesn’t it?”

Ochako grabbed one of Mina’s arms, tugging her up into a sitting position, then shifted her so she was facing the camera. The whole time, Mina didn’t react at all. The video quality wasn’t good enough to make out whether Mina was still breathing or not.

“But every HPSC pro-hero is just as vulnerable as any human, and can be killed like any human can. Have you all enjoyed my recent little stabbings? Heroes are so pretty when they bleed.”

One of Ochako’s hands flicked out, and there was a glint of a knife. Himiko could barely hear the next words over the blood pounding in her ears.

“Are you doubting me? Are you wondering whether I’m the real Toga Himiko, or some sorta prank? Well let me prove myself with my cute little hostage here. In case you somehow don’t know, Pinkie is a pro-hero who made the wrong decision to join the HPSC full-time. I saw all her interviews, acting so excited to become part of them, and I knew I had to have her. What I do to her is something I’m happy to do to anyone who decides to become a part of the system that trapped me underground.”

Ochako got behind Mina, brought the knife up to her throat, and angled towards the side against the base.

“She’s now mine to play with, and to prove my identity…”

She slid the blade against her, and Himiko stopped breathing as blood welled up. Confirmation that Mina was likely alive, at least, to still be able to bleed. Then Ochako put down the knife, grabbed Mina with both hands like a carnivore ready to tear into a chunk of meat, and enveloped the wound with her mouth.

Himiko’s whole body flushed at the sight, her own body drinking directly from Mina with no resistance, knowing it was Ochako, knowing that she was tasting the same thing that Himiko had once desperately squeezed out of bloody rags, even this far apart connecting them. Then Ochako drew back, licking one final time against Mina’s cut, and transformed.

The sight of Himiko herself turning into her friend, yellow going pink, forced a shuddering breath out of her. Ochako opened her eyes, grinning, and patted at her hair as though checking the transformation, until she reached the horns, which she tapped and tugged the same way Himiko had when she’d first turned into Mina.

The heat in Himiko’s face was so strong she thought she might combust in the middle of the hallway.

Ochako let Mina down, laying her against the couch once again, and approached the camera to fill the view. You could see the details of Mina on her, the bounce of her hair, her unique eyes, the plump lips which parted in a smile to reveal red streaked against the white teeth.

“As you can see, I’m the real Toga Himiko with a quirk that allows me to turn into whoever I want by drinking their blood. I’ve killed before, and I’m happy to kill again. Poor Pinkie, right? Trapped with a killer, totally helpless, but there’s one thing that could save her.”

Her face filled the screen now.

“I want two things: First, I want everyone currently in Hades to be released. Who knows how many other people who are supposedly ‘dead’ are trapped down there? And secondly, I want the entire Hero Public Safety Commission to be shut down. No more hero rankings, no more big group dictating such a wide range of things, including the media, prisons, and their own troops of pro-heroes.”

Ochako drew back from the camera a bit, and showed off the knife back in her hand. Close-up, Himiko recognized the pink knife she’d packed in her getaway pack way back when she thought freeing Ochako would mean freeing herself as well.

“I want this done within the next three days. Otherwise, the HPSC’s newest recruit, your dear little Pinkie, will be…”

She slashed the knife across her throat, just a few centimeters away from actually cutting her pink skin. 

Then she blew a kiss to the camera. “Bye!”

The video cut, and everyone in the HPSC who had walked out of their offices to watch the threat together burst into noise, exclamations and discussions as to what to do now.

Her head was spinning, but she registered Hawks’ whispered, “Fuck.”

He spun, eyes wide, until his gaze landed on Himiko.

“My office, now,” was all he said.

Had he seen something in her eyes? In her flushed face?

Hawks marched to his office, but as Himiko went to follow, he felt a hand on her shoulder. Fumikage had stopped her.

“Ochako,” he said softly. “I know there was a lot between you and Toga, are you feeling…?”

Himiko sucked in a breath and shook off his hand. “There wasn’t that much.”

If there had been, Ochako wouldn’t have gone off the rails and made things so messy for her. She had no clue what Ochako was thinking, revealing “Toga” like that and making such ridiculous demands for the life of her friend. Their friend.

She went to Hawks’ office and closed the door behind herself. In there, you couldn’t even hear the chaos in the hallways. Perfect privacy.

Hawks was pacing again, back and forth in the office. “This is bad.”

“I know.”

“She made up a lie about the HPSC to try and undermine us.”

With a mouth that felt like sludge, Himiko said, “I assumed so.”

Finally, he stopped pacing to pin her eyes on her again. She kept breathing even, not daring to react in any way that could draw his suspicion. She was Uravity now, pro-hero, secret HPSC operative.

What would Ochako think of that?

Hawks said, “You need to meet Iguchi. Immediately.”

Himiko drew back a step, frowning. “With all of this going on? I know you’ve said I shouldn’t be on the Toga case, but you need everyone you can to help, and I–”

“That is part of the Toga case. They were allies once, chances are Toga’s talked with him since then, and I need you to draw whatever clues you can get out of him. This is exactly why it was imperative to keep your HPSC employee status under wraps—now you have the ability to convince him you’re on his side. Draw on the relationship you’ve already established, both with him and her, and ask him if you can help Toga.”

Slowly, Himiko nodded. “I can… try to do that. But what if she’s working independently? There’s no guarantee that Iguchi is involved.”

“We have to start somewhere. Get whatever you can, anything, something. Toga’s gone a very dangerous route, and we need to stop her as soon as possible and rescue Pinkie before Toga gets bored of this game and kills her.”

There were three days. Three days, and Himiko would discover if Ochako had the stomach to murder her old classmate.

Himiko had to find her, somehow without the HPSC on her tail. But how?

First, getting out of Hawks’ office.

“I understand, I’ll do it,” she said.

He smiled, though it was strained at the edges. Stress radiated off of him in waves. “Do your best.”

Now it was time to have a hopefully unproductive conversation with Spinner.

Chapter 29: Where in the world is "Toga Himiko"?

Summary:

Previously on Dramatic Announcements: Hawks took Himiko, Tooru, and Fumikage into his office to admit that Himiko was on the loose, and that they suspected her of kidnapping Mina. Though Hawks swore them to secrecy, almost immediately there was a public broadcast from "Toga Himiko" (Ochako as Himiko) where she accused the HPSC of faking her death and hiding her in Hades with no trial. She proved her identity by drinking blood from the kidnapped Mina to transform into her, and then threatened to kill Mina in three days unless everyone in Hades was released and the HPSC was dismantled. After the announcement, Hawks demanded that Himiko contact Spinner and see if he had any clues as to where "Toga" was.

On her way to Spinner’s apartment, her phone buzzed with a call.

Midoriya Izuku is calling…

She grimaced. She could not handle this right now. They broke up, and she had resolutely ignored his initial texts and calls after that, giving only one carefully crafted apology message reiterating she wanted things to be over between them. He had stopped trying to contact her after that, but why would he…

Her heart stopped, and she scrambled to pick it up. If Ochako still had feelings for him, maybe she would have contacted him, and if so, maybe he would let her know what happened?

She tucked herself into an alley and answered the phone. “Hey, are you alright?”

“Hey, I’m fine, Ochako, sorry to call, but I had to check in. Did you see the news? Not in general, the news about, you know, we talked about her way back then, that girl, she…”

She frowned. They had talked about her? But she spared him the ramble and said, “Yeah, I know about Toga.”

His breath out was audible over the receiver. Probably relieved he wouldn’t have to break the news to her. “Are you okay?”

She sucked in a breath.

As if she could be okay. Her attempt to save Ochako had failed so spectacularly that Mina was now in danger, Ochako had taken her visage and returned her to villainy, and now Mina was definitely going to hate her.

Her hand curled on the phone, where Izuku waited for her response. He’d supported Uravity for years, but Himiko had never let him into the raw truth of her heart.

Still, his familiar voice checking in made her throat thick in a way that hurt.

“I’m okay,” she said. “Just in shock.”

“Me too. I just wanted to be sure you were alright.”

Himiko knew she would be fine, but Izuku… “I’ll be fine, but you should watch out, you know how she was about you.”

“Uh, you mean that confession that one time…? Ahaha, I think that was just her trying to throw me off my game mid-battle.”

She chuckled slightly. That had been a strategic bonus, but… “I think she liked you sincerely, back then.”

Himiko had had so much love in her heart with nowhere to go. When Ochako had initially rejected her, she had tried to shove the excess onto Izuku as a last-ditch effort before making all hell break loose during that war, but it had always been bound to go nowhere. Izuku hadn’t known her at all; it was Ochako that ended up reaching out, chasing her, trying to understand her and actually respond to her feelings.

Izuku was laughing awkwardly. “Well, hopefully she’s over it by now.”

She was over it the moment she’d heard who’d dealt the killing blow to Shigaraki Tomura. Still, she found herself smiling. “Maybe, but stay safe just in case.”

Himiko was over him, but what if Ochako wasn’t? Himiko’s nose didn’t lie—she had smelled a crush there back then.

“You stay safe too, Ochako.”

They said goodbye, and Himiko let out a long shudder. Izuku was smart, he could take care of himself. But if Ochako really wanted him…

She decided Ochako would be busy enough with Mina that she wouldn’t have time to chase old beaus, and pushed it out of her mind. She had to focus on her mission now, and the things she could control.

Her phone buzzed again, and she saw Dad is calling…

She rejected the call and silenced her phone. She didn’t have time to navigate that web of lies, not while she was supposed to focus on her mission.

Spinner.

 

---

 

Spinner cracked open the door, then hurried her in. “You saw the news?” he said.

“Yeah.”

The door shut behind them, and he let out something like a laugh. “I can’t believe it.”

Good. He sounded legitimately in shock. The microphone in her breast pocket was picking up on his disbelief, and building a case for the HPSC that he was legitimately completely uninvolved.

“Me neither,” Himiko said, then tested the waters: “...I’m glad she’s alive, though.”

“Assuming that is her,” Spinner responded.

Himiko went still, but thankfully he was walking deeper into the apartment, not looking at her reaction. The apartment was somewhat cleaner than Himiko was used to, with just two cups on the table, and the floor free of any immediately apparent stains.

She said, “She proved it in the video when she… to Mina, she…”

The Uravity Himiko had constructed would struggle to say the words, to articulate the truth and acknowledge its reality, so Himiko faltered and waited for Spinner to put it together.

He shrugged as he took a seat beside his table. “There are all sorts of quirks, and plain old video editing. Plenty of people could take on her appearance, especially since I brought her back into the public consciousness. Maybe some copycat looking to capitalize on the recent attention she got decided to use her to pull this stunt…”

Himiko’s fists curled as he jumped through hoops to avoid acknowledging the possibility that Himiko was legitimately back from the dead. “Do you not want her to be alive?”

Spinner glared up at her. “I never said that.”

“You seem to prefer that it’s a fake.”

His lips pursed. “I’m looking at the facts. If she really escaped from Hades, why did she go right to this stunt? Why didn’t she go looking for people who would support her? I try to keep my location discreet, but if she had really tried, I’m sure she could have found…”

He paused, eyes sparking in the fluorescent light, then turned away.

Himiko took a seat beside him, not meeting his face. Her own expression was carefully controlled—she didn’t dare to express the guilt that clawed at her insides for leaving him alone for so long. She had let Himiko die, let him mourn her, and then came back with another face without ever telling him the truth.

He continued, “Besides, there was something… off, about the Himiko in that video.”

She frowned. “Off?”

“I don’t know exactly how to describe it, but even though that person was energetic, a bit silly while maintaining intensity, and all that… She didn’t feel exactly like Himiko.”

Her heart pounded against her ribs. 

“I spent a long time with her. Most the public saw just the crime reports or occasional videos in the middle of battle, and even you… I’m sorry, I know you grew close to her in her last moments, but you were not next to her in your day-to-day. We lived together for months, I saw her personality outside of battle, the way she could get excited for a cute winter coat… Maybe that looked like Toga Himiko to you, but it didn’t feel like her to me.”

Himiko controlled her breathing carefully, refusing to suck in a pathetic gulp of air that might turn into a sob. She imagined the microphone in her pocket as a weight, grounding her, keeping her from doing anything stupid.

The mission. She needed to at least look like she was making an effort.

“It’s been eight years,” Himiko said. “Maybe she’s changed.”

He leaned back. “...Maybe.”

“And even if she’s changed a bit… I would still want to support her.”

His eyes widened. “You agree with what she’s doing?”

That was too far to be believable, wasn’t it? She scaled back. “I want her to be safe. Even if I don’t totally agree with what she’s doing right now, I’d want to protect her.”

Spinner crossed his arms and leaned against the table. “If it’s her, I’d want to protect her, too. Even though I don’t really agree with this, either.”

Her shoulders loosened. He was saying all the right things. Positive about Himiko, but implying disapproval of villainous actions. And everything he said up to this point implied he legitimately had no connection with her right now. “Yeah, hostages is a lot.”

“It’s more like, what is she trying to achieve here? Releasing all prisoners from Hades? Dismantling the HPSC? It’s a raw reactive revenge, not grounded in anything effective. I’ve been talking to some people from that book club, and they…”

Himiko stiffened.

“...talk about actionable goals. Even if prisoners were temporarily released from Hades, they would most likely just get sent to another prison. And she’s worried about others being trapped that we don’t know about, but who does she trust to investigate and confirm there’s no one left? And what does dismantling the HPSC even mean? Could they just say ‘we’re dismantled’, take a break for a few days, and then come back into the office once Pinkie is released? Her demands are so broad that they won’t actually have an effect.”

Don’t mention the book club again, she begged in her head.

“It’s so messy, I don’t know if she’s stupid, or doesn’t really want her demands to be met.”

Her head spun to him. “What?”

His brow was furrowed. “Yeah, like if she makes this absurd demand, then when they can’t fulfill it, she gets to kill their hero on camera and blame them for it. Would definitely make a splash. It would shatter public confidence in the HPSC.”

She felt nauseous. Could Ochako really want to kill Mina? Was this an elaborate play to hype herself up for her first murder?

Himiko swallowed her doubts. The only way to find out would be to meet her. She needed to track Ochako down, and though it was fortunate that Spinner was a deadend so the HPSC wouldn’t dig deeper into him, it meant she was clueless again.

“I’m sorry for taking up your time,” Ochako said. “But thanks for talking it out with me. If Toga says anything to you…”

He nodded. “Same to you. I know how she felt about you. If it’s really her, you’re probably on her list to deal with at some point.”

She laughed. Ochako had already dealt with her and thrown her out. “I’ll be careful.”

 

---

 

As Himiko went up the stairs to her apartment, she heard familiar voices. She entered her hallway and discovered several of her friends had gathered. Everyone involved in the breakout—Tsuyu, Kyouka, Momo, Shouto, Kouda, Satou, and Kirishima—stood outside her apartment door. Jirou had a phone up as though she was watching a video, but the sound was quiet enough that Himiko couldn’t make out what it was.

Himiko stared between them. “Did you learn anything about where they are?”

They shook their heads. “We’ve been trying to contact you,” Satou said. “We were worried.”

“Sorry, I had my phone on silent.”

Himiko let them all into her apartment, not wanting to discuss anything too detailed out in the open.

Once everyone was crowded inside, she was able to make out more of the noises coming from Kyouka’s phone.

“...have our best agents on the case, and expect to deal with this villain swiftly.”

Hawks’ voice.

Himiko grimaced, and Kyouka explained, “It’s a press conference. We came to check on you, but I got a notification and wanted to see if there was an update.”

She nodded slowly as Hawks continued.

“The HPSC firmly rejects the accusations Toga Himiko has made against us, and would like to note that she has not provided any concrete evidence of her ridiculous claims. Fortunately, I have confidence in a public that realizes a villain has everything to gain and nothing to lose by lying.” He faced the current camera recording him and winked. “She’s put on the pressure to try and make us lose our heads and blindly listen to whatever she says, but we will not be cowed so easily. Please be rest assured, we are working hard on this case to rescue our treasured employee, take this rogue villain down, and finally deliver the justice Toga Himiko deserves.”

As always, her name in Hawks’ mouth made her skin crawl. There was a commercial break, and Kyouka turned off the phone.

“Himiko…” Tsuyu said softly.

Himiko shook her head and stepped deeper into the apartment. People gravitated naturally to the living area, but it was crowded, and some people had to sit on the rug. “It doesn’t matter what Hawks says. What matters is that we get to Ochako before him.”

“And Mina?” Kirishima said, voice firm.

She bristled. Was he implying that she forgot her? “Of course we’ll rescue her while we talk to Ochako.”

Momo stood up. “Himiko, it doesn’t seem like she’s interested in talking.”

Eight years ago, Himiko hadn’t been interested in talking to Ochako either, but Ochako had forced a conversation anyway. “I’ll find a way to make it happen.”

Her friends glanced at each other, and the air felt thick with something unsaid.

Tsuyu spoke first. “When was the last time you slept?”

Her shoulders went up. When had the kidnapping happened? Just last night? It felt so much longer. She slept at a normal time the night before that, so she had been awake for… well over twenty four hours at this point. “...Awhile.”

“We thought you might get frantic, so we came here to make sure you’ll actually sleep for a bit.”

“I’m fine,” Himiko snapped.

She couldn’t afford to take a break. Every hour was another hour where Mina could get further hurt, or Ochako could get caught by the HPSC.

Momo said, “You may fail at the last moment if your sleep deprivation makes you clumsy.”

She shook her head. “I don’t feel sleepy. I need to track them down.”

Momo took a deep breath. “How about you prove you’re not sleepy? Lie down in your bed, in the dark, for just ten minutes.”

Though Himiko scoffed, Momo was already approaching the bedroom and opening the door. “I don’t need that, it’s a waste of time.”

“It’s only ten minutes,” Momo said. “The rest of us will spend the whole time brainstorming ways to deal with the problem, and if you come out after ten minutes, we won’t argue any further on it.”

Himiko glanced back at the rest of her friends, but none of them were jumping up to defend the fact that she didn’t need a nap right now, so she huffed and went to the bed. Doing this would be faster than arguing the point.

Momo put up blackout curtains she produced from her quirk, and left quietly.

Himiko fumed on the bed. She didn’t need to sleep, she would just hang out here for a bit, and then… soon…

The bed was pretty comfortable, wasn’t it? Himiko had been on her feet and running around for so many hours, it was nice to get off her feet…

Her eyes fluttered closed. Maybe a micro nap. A super mini ten minute nap. Just resting her eyes, really, and then she’d be fine and raring to go.

 

---

 

Almost two hours later, Himiko woke up and scrambled out of bed. She opened her bedroom door, and came face-to-face with Satou wearing an apron in her kitchen, and a nearly-finished cake on her kitchen table. Plates around it revealed that others must have eaten, but there were a few slices left.

Satou perked up. “You woke up just in time, I was about to put this away.”

He served her a slice, and with no reason to counter, Himiko shoved it into her mouth. Had she been hungry? She must have been, as the slice was gone in less than a minute. Wordlessly, Satou slipped another slice onto her plate. She sat down at her kitchen table and attacked that serving at a more sustainable pace.

Satou spoke for a bit about the cake, and now that she had slowed down Himiko was better able to appreciate the taste and texture. It was a tame, friendly vanilla, but had a divine spongy texture that was pleasant on her tongue.

Himiko tried to recall what she’d last eaten. There must have been something, right? At some point during the chaotic mess that was reporting and trying to further the investigation, she had grabbed some cup ramen with Tooru and Fumikage, but since then, nothing.

When Satou paused, seeming to have run out of things to say about this particular cake, Himiko swallowed her last bite and said, “Thank you.”

He beamed.

In the living room, the others were seated in a circle, partially on the couch and partially on the floor. They had been quiet while Himiko fed herself… too quiet. She approached them, “I’m sorry I slept so long, but did you find out anything in the meantime?”

They didn’t respond immediately, but Tsuyu scooted on the couch so that there was a little space between herself and Kouda. Himiko took the spot, though it was tight.

“Well?” Himiko repeated.

Momo stood up and spoke in an even tone. “Himiko, we’ve been discussing this whole situation, and we’re worried that you might not be considering things the most clearly. Now that you’ve had a bit of rest and food, we’re hoping you’ll listen to us with an open mind.”

She frowned. What could they be saying?

“When we first joined you on this journey, we agreed to help with a situation where we thought someone who had been kept imprisoned with no trial deserved to be saved from that, and where you promised you could handle her once we released her. And then, even when she rejected our help, we learned that it was not just a villain who had been imprisoned, but our innocent classmate, and we were willing to be lenient in terms of chasing her down since she wasn’t really a villain, but…”

“She’s still not really a villain,” Himiko cut in. “It’s more like she’s pretending to be one. Deep down…”

“Even if she wasn’t a villain at first, she has committed multiple crimes. We can’t keep averting our eyes and pretending the situation hasn’t changed. That Ochako hasn’t changed.”

Slowly, Himiko shook her head. “You guys don’t understand, she may have changed, but it’s no wonder with all she’s gone through. And it’s because she went through all that that we need to be understanding. She may have done a few bad things, but–”

“Himiko,” Kirishima interrupted, voice harsh. “She kidnapped Mina. Ochako may have been our friend, but Mina is our friend too, and I’m not going to sacrifice Mina for her sake.”

She pursed her lips. “So what are you guys saying?”

Momo took a deep breath. “We are going to continue to track them down however we can, but we can’t hide what we find from the authorities, like the HPSC. At this point, Ochako has committed several crimes, and she is an active threat that needs to be dealt with. We need everyone’s support.”

Himiko clenched her fists. Dealt with. Like some unpleasant trash you had to take out and then would never think of again. “And then? When will you guys deal with me?”

Momo’s eyebrows raised. “You–? You’re good, now. We weren’t trying to imply that we were going to–”

“No, but what about you guys? We all helped with that prison break. We all broke the law. Are you all going to turn yourselves in?”

Beside her, Kouda shifted uncomfortably. Himiko knew he hated arguing, but there was no way she would take this lying down. 

“That was for the greater good,” Momo countered. “Ochako shouldn’t have been down there in the first place, we were correcting a wrong in the world. Ochako right now is just hurting people.”

“What if she is hurting people for the greater good? The same way we hurt villains when doing our pro-hero work? We don’t understand her, we don’t get her motivations, we don’t actually know why she’s doing all this.”

Momo’s face scrunched up, lips pursed and brow furrowed uncomfortably. “We can’t afford to gamble on her motivations, not while Mina is in danger.”

The pain in Momo’s eyes was visible. Himiko understood, after all, the thought of Mina getting hurt made her heart sting the same way.

But the thought of abandoning Ochako now, despite everything, stung worse. “You once fought alongside Ochako, so please trust in her now. She must have a reason for all this. I believe with all my heart that if we can just reach out to her and have a real conversation, we can save Mina and Ochako both.”

Kirishima stood up. “Save Ochako? When she’s the one with a knife to Mina’s throat?”

Himiko curled her lips and stood up. “Ochako was the one who reached out to me and changed my mind eight years ago. Even though I was her enemy, even though I had killed people, even though I literally stabbed her, she was willing to look past all that and speak to me as a person. It’s only because she took that risk that I’m here at all, that I was able to grow and see the world as something worth saving. She saved me, so yes, now that I have the opportunity to do the same, I’m going to save her!”

The air was tense, but there were several seconds of quiet, only filled with heavy breathing. Himiko was so agitated that when a hand touched her shoulder, she flinched.

It was just Tsuyu, though, now standing beside her, facing her. “I understand Ochako made a big sacrifice for you back then, but that was eight years ago, and things have changed. Ochako has changed. The Ochako we all knew back then wouldn’t have done things like this.”

“Even so, I still have to try. I still care about Mina, but I haven’t stopped caring about Ochako.”

Tsuyu’s brow shifted only slightly, but Himiko could read the concern in them. “This isn’t just about Mina. While you were sleeping, we discussed, and we realized… If she’s willing to hurt and endanger Mina, we can’t guarantee she won’t do the same to you.”

Himiko scoffed, but her face slackened as she looked around the room and saw everyone’s pinched faces. They were actually worried.

She coughed. “Ochako drugged me to put me to sleep once, but didn’t hurt me then.”

Kyouka said, “That was right after she escaped, though. She might not have known exactly what she wanted to do, but now she has some sort of plan.”

Himiko shook her head. “She knows where I live. If she was coming for me, she could have gotten me ages ago.”

Tsuyu said, “It’s not like that. We’re worried that if you keep going after her and trying to interfere with her plans on your own, she’s not going to have mercy on you.”

Her stomach was flipflopping. There was too much, too many people, too many possibilities. “I can handle it.”

“Well I won’t be able to handle seeing you become another one of her victims,” Kyouka snapped. “We can’t keep playing around and taking these risks. If we figure out where she is, we’ll need all the support we can to face her, and that means the police, other heroes, and yes, even the HPSC. They may be doing some shady shit behind the scenes, but they’re still a major player that can be relied on for missions.”

Himiko grit her teeth imagining the HPSC. Grabbing Ochako, dragging her away. What would they do? Put her on trial for these most recent crimes along with the ones she didn’t commit almost a decade ago? Or would they fake her death again?

And would her friends just allow that to happen?

“Get out,” Himiko said.

Kouda was the first to get up and head towards the door, but the others lingered. Shouto started quietly, “Himiko…”

“No,” Himiko snapped. “This is my apartment. I… I can’t be with you guys right now.”

She wanted to tear and slash, but she tamped down the anger in her chest. Her friends were trying to look out for her.

They were just wrong.

They were soon all out the door, leaving her apartment feeling cold and empty. No conversation, warm bodies, or cake.

Actually, when she checked the kitchen, she found one last slice of cake left.

Now that she had a little space, her stomach uncurled slightly, and she sat down to take in her third slice. She would need the fuel to handle whatever came next.

Deep breaths in and out. So what if her friends didn’t want to keep ignoring the law? Himiko would handle it all herself if she had to.

First things first, review all available information. She pulled out her phone, planning to check the news and then text Fumikage and Tooru to see if either of them had found any leads she could steal, but her notifications gave her pause.

There were five missed calls, all from “Dad”.

Her mouth went dry. She had assumed earlier he had been calling to try and catch up, and silenced her phone for her meeting with Spinner, but had Ochako reached her parents? Did something happen?

She’s changed. Himiko understood that, but she still didn’t know what Ochako was truly capable of.

She scrambled to unlock her phone and called him back. The phone rang again and again.

Then went to voicemail.

Her hand was sweating so bad the phone almost slipped from her hand as she hung up and tried again. 

There was a click. “Ochako, I’m glad you called back–”

“Are you okay?” Her voice squeaked as she asked it. 

“I’m okay, but–”

“Is Mom okay?”

“She is, don’t worry!”

Himiko breathed out. It’s not as though she had necessarily expected Ochako to do anything bad to them, they were Ochako’s parents, but seeing all those missed calls had sent a panic through her. She didn’t think she could take another disaster with everything else going on.

“I was calling you to tell you, I saw that video of that villain girl, with your friend Ashido.”

Himiko grimaced. Was this going to be a check in? She didn’t know how to navigate an attempt from Ochako’s father to comfort her. Maybe she could fake an emergency she had to jump in as a pro-hero for, and hang up?

“I know I should probably go to the police with this, but I don’t know the whole process there, and I figured since you’re a pro-hero and all, you can give the right people this information…”

She was suddenly alert. “What information?”

“That building they’re in—I recognize it. Helped construct it almost thirty years ago, for a steel mill. There was a nook behind that girl that was really frustrating in terms of wiring, since they wanted a bunch of power outlets in weird spots there. I remembered, and when I looked it up, it seems the mill went out of business, but the building is still there.”

Himiko’s body thrummed with anticipation. “Can you send me the address?”

“Of course, honey. You’ll take it to the right people?”

She licked her lips. “Of course. Talk to you later, I gotta… talk to the police. And such.”

“Alright, I’ll send it after we get off the phone. I love you, bye.”

She knew Ochako would return it, so she said, “I love you too, bye.”

After she hung up, her phone buzzed with a new text. She stared at the address with a racing heart. Ochako’s parents didn’t even know how much they had saved their daughter just then—Ochako wasn’t going to be facing the HPSC or the police now.

It was time for her to face Himiko again.

Notes:

All of Himiko's friends: The stabbing and kidnapping and threatening to kill people..... is kind of a red flag, dude.
Himiko: 🥺 I can save her.

Chapter 30: Face Your Mirror

Summary:

Previously on Catch me if you can: Izuku called Himiko to check in, and then Himiko went to talk to Spinner for the sake of the HPSC that wanted her to see if he knew more information as to where "Toga Himiko" was. In her conversation with Spinner, he expressed doubt that the Himiko on the camera was the real Himiko, and they had a conversation about the short-sightedness and ineffectiveness of the threats themselves. Afterwards, Himiko went home, where her friends were waiting. They made her sleep and eat, but afterwards discussed their discomfort at trying to protect Ochako while Ochako is literally threatening to kill Mina, and said that they were willing to work with the HPSC if they needed to in order to save Mina, and warned Himiko that Ochako might hurt her too. Himiko disagreed, and after they left, she discovered Mr. Uraraka had been calling her. She called him back, and he revealed that he recognized the location in the video threat--an old steel mill he had helped construct.

Notes:

I might actually start slowing down after this on posting (like it might end up being slightly longer than once a week) depending on a few things bc life commitments are ramping up for the next few weeks. Luckily, we're heading towards the end (I think it's gonna be 34 chapters, tho there's a chance of 35/36 if I need to separate out some things) so there's not much more left, but depending on how much time I can squeeze, it may take longer than a week for the next update.

The old steel mill was big, with huge chimneys and pipes extending from it to create a skeletal feeling. Especially when there was no smoke or noise, approaching it felt like attending to a grave site.

As she got closer, Himiko smelled a pervasive griminess, left over from the molten fires of a huge abandoned furnace. She assessed the potential entrances carefully, trying to decide the best entrypoint.

It’s not as though she was trying to entirely hide from Ochako, but if she took her by surprise, that would give her the opportunity to set the terms of their engagement. If she was still with Mina… she might have to restrain Ochako, just to be safe.

Himiko ended up using zero gravity to float up to the ceiling and finding a ventilation shaft. They were thankfully huge for an operation like this, so after she pried off the rusting vent cover, she was able to slip in. Even with the bulk of her hero suit peripherals—the gauntlets, the boots—she fit. By floating, she was able to avoid banging against the sides; she gently pushed off with her hands or the toes of her boots to get where she needed to go.

Once the ventilation led to a huge room, Himiko slid out and landed quietly on a grated platform with guardrails before releasing zero gravity.

The room she landed in was huge, multiple stories tall with railed walkways at each level. Himiko was at the top, but there were rickety stairs that led down to hundreds of dials, levers, and more against the wall. Eventually, it led down to giant machines on the floor of the building, which stretched out like the carcasses of legendary beasts that once breathed fire and steel.

Himiko breathed in deep, trying not to be overwhelmed by the dust and grime that coated every surface. Rot came in many forms, and something abandoned for too long was bound to suffer from the time that passed it by.

She had to breath through it though, to track down the scents she needed. So far, a scan of this large open space hadn’t revealed anyone, but she trusted Mr. Uraraka. They had to be somewhere in this massive building.

Himiko walked slowly as she sniffed. This wasn’t new—during rescue operations, she had sniffed out fear rolling off of trapped people who were too weak to even call for help and used that to track them down. Though she could only tell others it was her “instinct” that led her to those trapped people, and her precision and sensitivity were nothing compared to specialists like Uwabami, she had done this enough to know how to play bloodhound.

Finally, along the third level from the ground, she caught a whiff of something sharp. Anger, terror, frustration, bundled into an unpleasant cocktail that made Himiko’s nose crinkle.

She honed in and chased the scent with quiet steps. It led her to a heavy door against a wall, which Himiko opened as slowly as she could. Thankfully, beyond it was still another set of hallways. They had to be against the side of the building, as there was one window along a wall that allowed the dying light of day to stream in, golden light streaming through the recently disturbed dust in the air.

The scent was stronger here. Himiko followed it down the hall, through some turns, until she heard a voice.

“...better not produce any acid, or I’m not giving you any more water whatsoever, understand?” Ochako said with Himiko’s voice.

Himiko held her breath and crept towards the room. She dared to peek in, and saw a kitchen-like space. Some sort of break room with a disgusting couch, some counters, a microwave, and most importantly, a fridge with a shiny exterior. It was blurry, but enough for Himiko to see a reflection around the corner in the room.

There was a pink shape that had to be Mina, low to the ground as though she was sitting or on her knees. Above her, another figure loomed and moved.

“Go ahead, open your mouth,” Ochako said.

“Uncuff me,” Mina said, voice quiet but growling. “I’ll drink myself.”

A tight feeling in Himiko’s gut uncurled at hearing Mina’s voice. She was definitely alive, capable of speaking.

Ochako chuckled. “Now you demand that? I saw you try to melt it earlier, but sorry Pinkie, it’s silver-plated. Non-reactive. Still, it’s rude every time you use your acid. Is that dress of yours resistant? The hem’s starting to disintegrate from your little stunt when you woke up. If you keep using your acid, I can’t guarantee those clothes of yours will survive the chaos. Want to record the next ransom message naked?”

“You’re sick, villain,” Mina hissed out.

“I can see you’re struggling. Most people don’t know how dehydration affects your ability to produce acid, do they? You’ve kept that information tight to your chest, but I gotta use everything I can to succeed. Get it? And even though it’s a risk, I’m such a nice girl, I won’t make you suffer needlessly. Come on, open your mouth properly and I’ll let you have a little bit, just enough to stay healthy.”

“Why would you care?”

Ochako’s tone went more seriously. “I gave them three whole days to comply. I can’t have you dying on me just yet.”

“And if I refuse to?”

There was a squeak, fabric swishing, and the shapes in the fridge moved. Ochako was closer to Mina now, having grabbed something on her head. Her horn?

“Open. Your. Mouth.” Ochako hissed, voice tight.

“I ref–”

Then there was gurgling, coughing, and a splash against the tile floor. A glass rolled around the corner, coming into Himiko’s view, and the coughs stopped and turned to muffled squealing as Ochako pressed closer to Mina.

“Swallow,” Ochako said firmly. “Swallow down what’s in your mouth, and I’ll let go.”

Himiko was frozen, listening to this exchange and processing just how intense Ochako had gotten. When should she intervene? Probably not when Ochako was holding onto Mina, as that gave Ochako access to her hostage to threaten.

Still, back when she first got out of Hades, her threat against Kyouka hadn’t actually been carried out, even when Himiko had gotten resistant. And now, with Ochako insisting Mina had to drink water, didn’t it mean she wanted Mina to survive? 

There was coughing, and Ochako’s voice turned cloying. “Good girl. Look at what a mess you made, though. Next time, remember this. When you’re restrained, it’s easier to cooperate, isn’t it? Eight years of imprisonment taught me that, but I guess it takes longer than I remember to break someone in.”

“Bitch,” Mina spat out.

Ochako’s hand went against Mina’s head again, and Himiko swallowed hard, imagining the details she couldn’t parse through the blur. Was she patting her? Gently running hand through the hair? Stroking those long horns? “Behave in the future, and I won’t have to be such a bitch.”

Mina’s figure in the reflection slumped, and there was a choked sob.

Ochako’s hand drew up immediately, and she stood there, awkwardly silent as Mina cried onto the tiled floor. Himiko’s heart twisted at the sound, and she had to fight the angry part of her that wanted to punch Ochako in that moment for her cruelty.

Had this been what Ochako felt like back then? When Himiko had been recklessly hurting people? How had Ochako found the strength to reach out her hands and listen to Himiko instead of dragging her to jail?

After a few more long seconds, Ochako said, “Stop wasting water, or I’ll have to make you drink again.”

That only made Mina cry harder.

Ochako coughed. “I need to clean up the mess you made.”

Himiko straightened up and aimed her gauntlet. As Ochako turned the corner, hand reaching down to the lost cup, Himiko launched the capture netting from her gauntlet.

With a squawk, Ochako’s upper body was wrapped in it, and the momentum sent her careening backwards into the fridge.

Himiko caught her breath staring at Ochako, at her own face with Ochako’s startled expression. Himiko leapt to her, pinning her by the shoulders against the fridge. Ochako was even wearing a school uniform similar to the one Toga had worn during her villain days, and found some blood transferral equipment that hung on her hips to complete the effect.

“I can’t let you do this,” Himiko said, staring into her own eyes.

Mina cried out, “Ochako!”

Himiko turned her head to take in Mina, who was struggling up from the floor. Now it was clear that not only were Mina’s hands cuffed behind her back, her ankles were cuffed as well, limiting her mobility.

She started to fall, and Himiko dove to catch her immediately, all else forgotten. Up close, she could see the tears in Mina’s eyes, the smeared makeup from that night out when she’d been taken, and the wet droplets over her shoulder and the top of her gold dress, torn and partially disintegrated in sections.

Mina was shivering.

It was instinct that drew her to wrap Mina up in her arms immediately, anything to chase that cold away. Regardless of the secrets she couldn’t tell her, Himiko couldn’t bear to see her like this.

What had changed Ochako so fundamentally that she was willing to put her old friend through this?

All too soon, though, Mina struggled out of her embrace, saying, “Behind you!”

She spun around and caught Ochako turning into herself, the real Ochako, and using the slippery globs of the dropped transformation to slip out of the netting and launch herself at Himiko.

Himiko flew back from a kick to the gut, but as she readied herself for another attack, Ochako simply grabbed Mina with all five fingers and dragged her away.

Mina screamed as Ochako ran, making it easy to follow the sound down the halls. Himiko’s feet pounded against the tiles, desperate to catch up. How far could Ochako really run, like this? Where would she even run to?

Then they were in the large chamber from before. Ochako stood, leaning against a guard rail with her hands in front of her, almost but not quite touching in the shape of a prayer. 

“Freeze or I drop her,” Ochako warned.

Behind Ochako, Mina was floating in the air, slowly spinning high above the multi-story mill space surrounded by railings and stairs that led to the bottom floor. A fatal fall, if Ochako deactivated her quirk now.

So Himiko froze, catching her breath in the spare moment. Like this, they were at an impasse, and might have a moment to actually talk. The witness wasn’t ideal, though—Mina was staring, and even as she spun she kept tilting her head so she could look between them, confusion in her eyes.

As far as most people knew, Toga Himiko could only transform into people once she’d taken their blood. There shouldn’t have been a way for her to turn into Ochako just like that.

There was no time to explain to Mina, though. This was finally her chance to reach out to the woman she’d been chasing all this time.

“I won’t lie to you, I’m scared of how far you’re going, and I can’t let you hurt Mina more than you already have, but…” Himiko met Ochako’s eyes. “...I’m sorry for making assumptions, when we last met. If there’s any chance that we can still have a conversation, then I want to hear your real feelings.”

Ochako stared at her a moment, then scoffed. “My real feelings. You really wanna know how I feel? I’m not the idealistic teenager you once knew anymore. Seeing what you are now, I doubt you’ll like it.”

She swallowed. “Please. You listened to me, long ago, let me hear you now.”

Ochako’s shoulders raised, as though taken aback by the reminder, but she returned viciously, “Then here’s the truth: I look at you, and I feel disgust.”

It lanced through Himiko’s heart, making her flinch. As she searched Ochako’s hateful expression for the truth, movement above Ochako’s head drew her attention. Her eyes flickered up, where Mina was waving for attention. 

As soon as their eyes met, Mina winked. Fuck, was she about to do something?

Mina yelped and screamed, “My leg!”

There was nothing going on, but it made Ochako turn her head for just an instant, long enough for Himiko to launch and get in close. Ochako spun back quickly, and tried to press her hands together but by then Himiko had grabbed both wrists and shoved them apart, keeping a pinkie raised to avoid sending them spinning through the air like Mina.

They were pressed together now, chest against chest as Ochako’s back dug into the guardrail and her arms struggled to close so she could threaten her with Mina’s imminent death again.

“I disgust you?” Himiko said, “Then punish me, not the rest of the world.”

When Ochako realized she wasn’t going to be able to join her hands, she gritted out. “You disgust me because of the world you live in.”

Then Ochako checked Himiko with her hips, sending her stumbling back, but Himiko refused to let go, not now that they had finally gotten so close. Still, Ochako maneuvered her around, and now it was Himiko’s back forced up against the guardrail.

“I look at you, and I see what I could have become. If we had been identified correctly that day, I would have gone the rest of my life believing in the system, believing you died, a little tragedy in an otherwise just world. I would have never known the depths of what society would do to someone labeled a villain. To you.”

Ochako kept pushing, forcing Himiko to lean back so her shoulders hovered above the large drop below.

“I understand you so much deeper now, why you wanted to destroy it all back then. Being on the run, avoiding the cops, trying not to get caught the whole time and struggling to make connections or even just get a meal each night… I see why you wore that school uniform, to make others let down their guard and have a little sympathy. To imply there was a place for you in the society that rejected you. Now, more than ever, I feel close to you. Becoming you has been the best thing that ever happened to me. Now I see the world for what it is.”

Himiko’s breaths were shallow from the effort of trying to keep Ochako’s hands apart and not allowing herself to careen off the edge. The railing creaked dangerously, reminding Himiko just how much this building was rotting.

“Can’t you see? You took the worst possible path for me. A path where I would have remained complicit, ignorant. A path where you would have suffered what I did, and I would have remained blissfully unaware. Wouldn’t you be sickened? Wouldn’t you look at the reflection of your naive self with the same disgust?”

Himiko leaned her head closer, into the scant distance between their faces. She could see every detail of Ochako’s rich brown irises from here. “I am disgusted by what they did to you,” Himiko said. “But–”

“Not to me,” Ochako snarled. “Not to Uraraka Ochako. It was only because they believed I was you that they kept me underground and isolated all those years. It was Himiko who they faked the death of, Himiko who they treated like an experiment to play with, Himiko who was treated as inhuman by the people who claimed to protect society. They called me you, and I never corrected them in all those years, because the thought of you, the real you who would rather die than go to prison, being put there would have been worse.”

Himiko wondered if Ochako could hear her heart pounding against her chest, since they were pressed together. Or was that Ochako’s heartbeat thrumming against her own that made it feel so fast?

Even though Himiko’s stomach was doing flips about Ochako doing all of that for her sake, she couldn’t stay silent. “I’m not in there, and now you’re not in there either. Let go, Ochako, and we can find a way for both of us to stay that way.”

She shook her head. “There will never be a safe place for Toga Himiko until I make one. Keep living as Uravity, enjoy that place in society that it refused to give you when you became a villain. I don’t want it anymore.”

Staring at Ochako’s stubborn, determined face shook something loose in Himiko. She brought up a knee to hit Ochako in the gut, sending her doubling over. In that unsteady moment, Himiko kicked her so she fell back, but kept her hands on her wrists the whole while so she landed on top of Ochako.

She bracketed her with her thighs, and shouted down at her, “You think I want this life either? After living behind a mask for my whole childhood, you think wearing a new mask for my whole adulthood to fit into this society is gonna make me happy?”

Ochako winced as Himiko squeezed her wrists even tighter.

“You made me become this!” Himiko accused her. “You could have told them the truth, and I wouldn’t have had to live a lie, trying to live up to a girl I never had time to truly understand.”

“You could have told them the truth,” Ochako countered. “But you didn’t. You always said you wanted to be me, didn’t you? You got your wish.”

“I didn’t want you to be dead! I thought I killed you, and the least I could do was live on in your spirit, but you were playing with me from the start! I don’t want your life, your friends, your family, because they’re yours, not mine. And now, now…”

Himiko blinked hard, dropping tears onto Ochako’s cheeks.

“You protected my smile, but what about yours? I never asked you to give up your whole life for mine. We’re both free now, but you’d rather go on this… this crusade or whatever instead of facing me properly.”

Ochako squirmed, trying to escape in earnest. “This world has to pay. I have to destroy it, and once it’s all gone to pieces, finally, you’ll be able…”

“And you think kidnapping and terrifying Mina is the path to that? You really think you can release everyone in Hades and dismantle the HPSC in three days like that? It’s ridiculous. Childish, even, to believe it could be that easy. How are you going to check that Hades is really empty? What does dismantling the HPSC even mean?”

Ochako was looking around, searching for alternate escape routes, perhaps. “I don’t know, they can figure it out.”

“And if they don’t? Will you really kill Mina?”

Ochako twisted her wrist in just the right way that she freed one hand, and with it she slapped Himiko across the face. Himiko was sent floating up, but clung onto Ochako with the one hand left.

Without Himiko’s weight on her, Ochako was able to stand up. As Himiko struggled to hold on, her hands swatted at Ochako’s, trying to prevent her from touching her own fingers to deactivate her quirk or push off Himiko’s remaining grip. In the struggle, Himiko’s right hand pressed fully against Ochako’s left hand, meeting all the pads of their fingers.

Weight returned to Himiko, and a scream echoed into the rafters behind her.

Fuck.

She let go of Ochako, but Ochako grabbed her immediately with both hands, imbuing her with zero-gravity again, and threw her straight across the abyss between the walkways.

Himiko slammed into Mina’s falling form, and rushed to grab Mina with all five fingers. The momentum Ochako had given her sent them both against a wall which knocked the breath out of her.

Once there was a walkway beneath them, gravity returned to Himiko, and Himiko deactivated the zero gravity she’d used on Mina as well. The supports to this walkway must have rusted away though, as it cracked and leaned, and Himiko had to hold on tight to Mina with one arm and some grating below them with her other hand to avoid sliding away into that long drop below. Still, after a few erratic seconds, things stabilized. The position was precarious, but with Ochako’s quirk, it wouldn’t be hard to get out of this predicament.

Mina breathed hard into Himiko’s shoulder and shook in her arms.

“Which…” Mina’s voice trembled. “Which of you is the real Ochako…?”

She grimaced. That conversation was probably confusing to Mina, but there was no way Himiko could talk her way out of this. 

So she murmured. “I’m sorry for lying to you all these years.”

Mina shuddered. “Oh.”

Rattling echoed through the building, Ochako running down the stairs, heading for the bottom where there was an exit.

She was not getting out of this that easily.

Himiko hoisted Mina onto her shoulder, and used zero gravity to push off the collapsing walkway safely down to the ground. She placed Mina down near the door, then ran up the steps to meet Ochako at the last walkway that led to that final set of stairs.

“You really think you can leave, just like that?” Himiko called out. “We haven’t finished our talk.”

Ochako paused and brought up a hand. Light glinted off the knife she was holding.

“Ochako,” Himiko said. “It’s not too late. We could still work together.”

She shook her head slowly. “You’re a hero now, Himiko, and I… I’m a villain. I have to be. If I can’t do this, I can’t…”

Slowly, Himiko walked towards her. “Put the knife down.”

Ochako held it with both hands now, stretching it out towards her. Another threat, but one Himiko didn’t heed. She rather liked knives. Ochako said, “I finally understand you, Himiko, and I know the only way to make a place for you in a world like this is to become a villain. I need to be strong enough to do this.”

“There has to be another path we can take. Together. I promise I won’t run from you if you won’t run from me, and I’ll listen. Your ideas, dismantling the HPSC and whatever else you want… we can figure out  a better way to do it, hand-in-hand.”

Now Himiko was within a meter’s distance. Ochako started to take steps back. “I almost really killed her.” She was breathing fast. “I really could have killed her just then. I’m truly a villain now.”

As Himiko got closer, Ochako’s back hit a set of guardrails, which creaked ominously.

“Stay… stay back!” Ochako cried out.

Himiko allowed the tip of the knife to press into her stomach, and Ochako drew the pommel more towards herself. It meant Himiko could take another step closer, even though Ochako kept the blade up and aimed at her.

“I promise we’ll find a way. Don’t just fight for me, Ochako, fight with me. For a world where we can both smile.”

Ochako stared at her, lips trembling, and Himiko stepped a centimeter closer, intending to at least hug her shoulders, regardless of the knife between their stomachs. Ochako’s breath hitched.

Then the guardrail cracked and bent behind her.

She started to fall back, head leaning towards the cement floor below. and instinct took over Himiko. Without a thought, she wrapped herself around Ochako to stop her from falling.

And shoved Ochako’s knife deep into her gut.

Himiko gasped, and Ochako screamed, “No!”

They were falling together now, but Himiko had enough sense of mind to use Ochako’s quirk. Ochako must have used her quirk as well, because they pleasantly spun towards the ground instead of plummeting. Along the way, a few droplets of blood escaped, apparently also affected by zero-gravity, as they floated around them in weightless bubbles.

How pretty, Himiko thought through the adrenaline trying to save her from the pain in her gut.

Somehow, they landed, and Himiko was set down on her back. She tried to get up, but the muscles that must have been sliced immediately protested, and Himiko had to lie back down. The initial adrenaline was fading, and now the pain was taking over.

“She keeps gauze in the right belt-holster of her hero suit,” Mina’s voice was closer than expected.

Had she shuffled over? Himiko’s eyes opened, and she saw Mina leaning over her, speaking to Ochako, who had now pulled out the gauze and was pressing it firmly against Himiko’s wound.

“That hurts,” Himiko wheezed out, closing her eyes again.

“Dying will hurt more,” Ochako gritted out.

Beside her, Mina said. “Release me.”

“Why? So you can go running to the police about two villains who accidentally killed each other?”

“Goddamn, Ochako, I’m pissed about all these secrets and all, but I’m not a dick. Release me so I can help.”

 “...The keys in my right skirt pocket.”

Himiko’s lids fluttered, and she was treated to the sight of Ochako’s hands covered in her blood. Even better, some of Himiko’s blood had somehow made its way to Ochako’s cheek, marking her. At some point since their previous encounter, she had cut her hair, so it was the same short haircut that Himiko wore on her Ochako form. Similar to back then.

“You’re cute,” Himiko muttered through her lightheadedness.

Mina said, “Oh?”

“This is not the time,” Ochako hissed. “How have you not found the keys yet?”

“Kinda hard to dig through pockets behind my back with hands stuck together!”

Mina was indeed making an awkward pose against Ochako in an attempt to dig into her pockets, which made Himiko kind of want to laugh. But since even breathing hurt, she didn’t dare.

Ochako countered, “I’m not gonna release any pressure.”

 

---

 

Himiko closed her eyes for what felt like a second, but when they opened again, Mina was uncuffed and holding her phone.

“Call Kyouka,” Ochako said to her. “She knows the truth, at least.”

“Kyouka knows?” Mina said with a slight whine.

“Just call her.”

Himiko blinked.

 

---

 

Suddenly, it was Mina who was pressing on her stomach, hands staining deliciously red. She looked around for Ochako, and found her just beside her, a tube in her arm for some reason. Her eyes followed it down to her own arm, and she registered the rich red hue between them. It made her smile, then close her eyes again.

 

---

 

She woke up to shouting.

Mina yelled, “You’re just gonna leave like that?”

“They said they need to bring an ambulance. It’s too many people, too many things that could go wrong. I can’t be here.”

“After everything she did for you?”

There was no response.

Mina couldn’t get up with her hands pressing down on the gauze at Himiko’s abdomen, so she just kept shouting, “Don’t you dare! Stop that! Don’t open that door…”

A door slam echoed, and Himiko closed her eyes again.

 

---

 

There were so many people now, many dressed in white. And what was Himiko on? Not cement, that was for sure. It jostled her. And what was all that beeping? She scanned until she saw Mina, who had a bright orange blanket wrapped over her shoulders.

“Hi–... Ochako, you’re going to be okay.”

“Where’s…?”

Mina’s face hardened. “She left. Don’t worry about her right now.”

Though Himiko wanted to protest, she didn’t have the energy to do anything more than let her eyes shut.

 

---

 

By the time Himiko was treated and woke up, it was nearly morning.

She scratched at her closed stomach. The ambulance had successfully gotten her to the hospital in time. Advanced health technology and some special quirks had fixed her up quickly, and she was cleared to go home now.

When she passed through the waiting room, Kouda and Tsuyu got up. She walked wordlessly into their waiting arms, letting them both embrace her.

Kouda spoke softly into her ear, “How are you feeling?”

She pulled back and said, “My body is fine.”

The rest of her felt empty. Ochako had been in her reach, Himiko even thought she’d persuaded her for a moment. The way Ochako had looked at her, on the edge of finally letting her in, had made Himiko’s heart swell with hope, but somehow… she’d lost her. Again. She’d woken up with a bitter headache, but it had faded into a vague helplessness.

Himiko was all fixed up and able to walk around on her own, but where did she even want to go?

She asked them, “How’s Mina?”

Kouda was on his phone, probably texting the others as to Himiko’s state, so Tsuyu responded, “They treated her as well. She was a bit roughed up, dehydrated, hungry and such… but okay, overall. Kyouka and Kirishima walked her home. They’ll be sleeping over with her tonight.”

Himiko nodded, relieved to hear that, at least. Mina needed to be taken care of after that ordeal. Mina…

She hung her head. “She knows the truth, now.”

Kouda’s head snapped up and his eyes widened. 

Tsuyu told her, “She didn’t say anything to the authorities.”

“Even so, she hates villains, what if…” Himiko swallowed the rest of her words, terrified of articulating the kind of anger and hatred that might face her the next time they met.

Tsuyu put a hand on her shoulder. “There’s nothing you can do about it or figure out tonight. It’s about time you go home and sleep, isn’t it?”

She was right. Himiko nodded, and made her way out of the hospital, shoulders slumped.

 

---

 

As if the day couldn’t get any worse, when Himiko reached her apartment building, she realized she had lost her apartment keys.

Without them, she was stuck in the vestibule of her apartment, staring at the mailboxes and little buttons for all the apartment numbers. How could she have lost them? Her hero suit had a secure compartment in the waistbelt where she kept personal effects like her phone and keys. It was nearly impossible to open by accident, but perhaps when falling from the railing, she’d nicked it on something. Or the knife had broken it.

But she felt around her belt and it wasn’t broken. Her phone had ended up back in there, even after Mina had used it. Only her keys were missing…

Himiko froze, a thought coming to her.

She scanned the buttons for all the apartments until she found her own. Himiko lived alone. There would be nobody who would let her in.

…Unless?

Himiko pressed the button for three seconds, making sure the sound couldn’t be missed by anyone in her apartment, and waited.

Though she held her breath at first, when nothing happened, she let it out. The thought had been ridiculous. She reached for her belt, planning to pull out her phone and ask Tsuyu if she could crash at her place for the night.

Then the door into the apartment complex buzzed, unlocking.

Himiko ran for the door, ripping it open. She sprinted up the stairs, heart pounding. She was so excited she almost slipped down the stairs, and had to grab the railing to avoid injuring herself again. She scrambled down the hall to her door.

She paused to gulp in some air, but she couldn’t bear to wait any longer. Before she knew it, her knuckles rapped against the wood. Her hands shook with anticipation.

The door opened, and there stood Ochako.

Notes:

YEAH AFTER OVER 100k words the main couple gets to interact for the third time <3. First base is trying to do a prison break, 2nd base is kissing her to force a sleeping drug into her mouth, and 3rd base is stabbing <3.

Chapter 31: How many emotionally exhausting conversations can u fit in one day?

Summary:

Previously on Coming full circle: Himiko tracked down the steel mill where Ochako was holding Mina hostage. In their confrontation, Ochako ended up floating Mina and threatening to drop her to her death. In the ensuing scuffle, Ochako and Himiko had a conversation unveiling some of their feelings, and revealing to Mina what their true identities were. When Ochako accidentally deactivated zero-gravity, she helped Himiko save Mina from falling to her death. Afterwards, Ochako and Himiko had another confrontation where Himiko promised to work together with Ochako on taking down Hades and the HPSC through other methods. However, the railing broke, causing Ochako to accidentally stab Himiko. Although Ochako transfused some of her blood to Himiko to help her survive long enough for the ambulances to arrive, she soon left. Himiko recovered in the hospital, and when she went home, she discovered Ochako waiting for her in her apartment.

Himiko laid down in her bed on one side, and Ochako laid down on the other side.

She didn’t know what the protocol was here. How close did you get to your crush-turned-savior-turned-enemy who then finally agreed to work by your side? The girl you stabbed, then tried to die for, who then gave up her life to protect you, only to stab you back eight years later? A woman who you’ve impersonated for almost a decade but only really knew over the span of a few hours?

Himiko shifted a centimeter closer, testing, and smelled a tinge of panic from Ochako. Heart racing. Sharp breath.

She turned over so her back was to Ochako. Better to not make her uncomfortable and drive her away again. Himiko didn’t dare get greedy, just feeling the heat emanating through the empty space under their blanket, knowing Ochako was safe and nearby, was enough for her.

There were still a few hours until dawn. Himiko closed her eyes, tried to settle her own racing heart, and attempted to sleep.

 

---

 

Himiko did not sleep for several hours.

Once the sun was streaming into her window, she gave up and opened her eyes. They went immediately to the woman she’d been conscious of the entire night. Even though she had heard her breathing, felt her heat, and sensed the weight of her across the bed, Himiko still checked visually to make sure that Ochako hadn’t somehow fled in the night.

There she was. Unlike Himiko, it seemed she had actually fallen asleep, as her eyes were peacefully closed and her breathing had gone slow. Himiko wondered how Ochako had slept after she first released her from prison. She knew from experience that it was hard to find the time, safety, and space to sleep well while on the run, and with Ochako’s recent kidnapping stunt, it was very possible that Ochako ended up awake for over twenty-four hours.

Slowly, Himiko shifted to slip her legs out from under the covers, sat up, and started to leave.

Her shirt was grabbed in an instant, and she was pulled back onto the bed.

Ochako’s hair was a mess, hanging over her face, and there were marks on her face where she had pressed it against the wrinkles of pillow fabric. She croaked out, “No running away.”

“Ochako, I–”

“You can’t just leave.”

“I’m just–”

“I won’t become Uravity, even if you try to disappear.”

“I’m getting up for breakfast.”

Ochako stared a moment, then released her with a cough. “You should have said that.”

Himiko let out a little laugh, and started to reach towards Ochako, eager to brush back that mussy hair.

She met Ochako’s eyes, though, and froze. Ochako’s gaze was sharp, wary. What were they?

Himiko turned and fled to the kitchen. She couldn’t push Ochako too hard. Just because Himiko had been in Ochako’s body all this time didn’t mean that she really knew her. Assuming things was how she had accidentally chased her away the first time. Was acting all intimate with her weird?

Himiko gripped the edges of her kitchen sink and hung her head down. What if Ochako found her weird?

 

---

 

Plain white rice with an egg and scallions on top was super normal. Super duper extremely normal. Ochako eventually joined her in the kitchen, walking slowly and cautiously accepting a bowl from Himiko.

In the light of day, glancing at Ochako as she gobbled down the rice, Himiko could see that Ochako’s hair was a bit messy. Though it was the same general shape as the bob that Himiko had put her form of Ochako’s hair into, up close she could see the sharp planes and juts from whatever scissors she had used, and the back of it was uneven.

Before the awkward silence went too long, Himiko asked, “Can I cut your hair?”

Ochako put down her bowl, then patted at her head. “Is it that bad?”

“No, it’s totally cute!” Himiko rushed to amend. “It’s just a little… uneven.”

 

---

 

That was how Ochako ended up in the bathroom, sitting on a kitchen chair as Himiko circled her with a pair of scissors. Ochako stared straight ahead, expressionless, and Himiko tried to be at least half as nonchalant.

Himiko started from the back. That would be easier, not meeting Ochako’s eyes. She lifted some strands as delicately as possible, trying not to tug on her scalp at all. She wasn’t an expert, but she’d seen some videos of people doing haircuts… and with the state it was in, she thought she could make it look at least slightly more put together.

Ochako spoke suddenly. “I only cut it like this because I was trying to look like you.”

Himiko had the scissors open, but paused. “I cut it like this to look like you,” she returned.

“Me when I was sixteen. It would have been okay to change it up, you know. Tastes change. I grew to like your long hair.”

Slowly, Himiko began snipping at the ends. Himiko’s hair now, in her true form, was long from never being cut. She wasn’t exactly sure how long, as she hated to spend enough time in that form to measure.

Ochako continued, “I used to braid it, in the long hours in between anything interesting happening. Sometimes I’d do a lot of little braids all over my head. Other times, I’d put those little braids into more braids, and into more braids after that. I could spend hours with it. Then I’d take them all out, bit by bit. Even more entertainment.”

“Was it bad, in there?” Himiko asked in a whisper.

She shrugged, and Himiko had to jerk back to avoid brushing her fingers over Ochako’s neck. “It was civil enough. They even trimmed my hair once a year. When I woke up in there and realized what had happened, I was cooperative.”

“You didn’t fight back at all?”

“There was no point, I already got what I wanted.”

Snip. Snip. Himiko’s eyes were trained on the hair, trying to make it neater. “What was that?”

“Your freedom.”

The scissors almost snapped with how fast she closed them, cutting nothing but air. “...I never asked you to give up your freedom for mine.”

“You didn’t have to ask. It was my choice.”

The bathroom went quiet, save for the snipping of the scissors as Himiko continued. She took only a thin sliver of each end, but the little pieces fluttered down, some to the ground, others to Ochako’s shoulders, and some tempting few to her neck.

A pair of scissors was a pair of blades, and just by opening the maw and twisting, Himiko could slice open Ochako’s neck in an instant. With just a flick of her wrists, she could have Ochako bleeding. And when Ochako was laid open for her Himiko could bend over and press her lips to the wound, the way Ochako had sucked upon Mina, and indulge.

Would her blood taste the same as Himiko’s?

“Turn around,” Himiko said.

Cutting Ochako’s throat while facing her would be harder; surely Ochako would see the bloodlust in her eyes and grab her wrist and stop her before things got like, weird.

She carefully assessed the long pieces of hair in front of Ochako’s ears and then the bangs, avoiding meeting her eyes. The front must have been easier, as Himiko saw nothing that she had to trim.

“You’re good,” Himiko said, finally looking at Ochako’s face fully.

There were still bags under her eyes from all the stress, but she was gorgeous all the same. A reflection of what Himiko saw in the mirror every day, but distorted. The weary expression wasn’t Himiko’s brand of exhaustion—it was Ochako’s own unique sag in her features.

And then, a parting of lips, a breath inhaled, a furrow in the brow as something difficult crossed her mine. Ochako began to say–

The doorbell rang.

Both of them froze. It was like cold water down Himiko’s back. This tender morning couldn’t last forever—she was harboring a fugitive, and would have to face it at some point.

But so soon?

“I’ll check who it is,” Himiko whispered, drawing back.

She crept silently to her door, checked the peephole, and got an eyeful of pink.

Mina.

Himiko jumped back, heart racing. She must have figured out the truth by now.

Did she hate her?

There were no police breaking down the door to drag her away though, so Mina must have had a little mercy in her heart. Or perhaps she was still trying to put together the pieces before she brought it all to the HPSC. If that was the case, there was nothing Himiko could do at this point; she didn’t want to kill Mina. And based on last night, Ochako hadn’t really wanted to kill her either.

Maybe she could plead her case.

She scurried to the bathroom and told Ochako, “It’s Mina, hide in the bedroom.”

Ochako’s eyes widened, but she said nothing. She brushed off her shoulders and hurried to the bedroom while Himiko approached the door anew, where Mina was now knocking.

When she opened the door, Mina was not smiling.

Himiko swallowed hard. “Hey. Feeling… okay?”

“Can I come in?”

Okay. No niceties. After what Mina had been through, Himiko didn’t necessarily expect her to hop into the room all perky and considerate. But it didn’t bode well for how this conversation was going to go. Assuming it was just a conversation.

Himiko eyed Mina carefully, checking her hips for any outline of handcuffs against her pockets.

As Mina came inside, Himiko offered, “Tea?”

“No.”

Himiko flinched.

Mina added, “I’m… not really interested in drinks right now. That someone else gives me.”

The club. Himiko must have knocked her unconscious somehow. Surely Mina would have happily sipped from her friend’s cup if “Ochako” had asked her to have a taste.

“I understand,” Himiko said quietly. “Would you like to sit down, at least?”

Wordlessly, Mina sat down on the couch, and Himiko carefully chose a spot on that couch as far from Mina as possible, pressed against the armrest to give her as much space as she was able. Himiko thought she ought to say something, but she was stuck holding her breath, terrified.

Mina had mercy and began, “Eijirou and Kyouka explained a lot of things to me last night.”

“So you know about… me?”

“Yes…” Mina hesitated, then said, “...Himiko.”

She swallowed hard, tingles going down her spine at Mina using her real name. She had fantasized about this moment, but not the tightness in Mina’s voice.

She continued, “The swap, the break out, all of it… they walked me through it. The secrets you’ve all been keeping.”

“I’m sorry,” Himiko forced out in a whisper. “I know the words of a villain might not mean anything to you, but I never wanted you to get hurt.”

“Well I am hurt,” Mina snapped.

Himiko clenched her fists on her lap, staring down. She couldn’t bear to look at Mina and the hate she was sure to find in her eyes.

“For years, you’ve been… you, and in these past few months, it’s been not just you, but our friends all wrapped up in this secret little club, and meanwhile I’ve been… You couldn’t have told me?”

Himiko’s head jerked up, and she saw Mina was staring down as well, fingers digging into her thighs, grimacing but eyes watery. There was something there, something tender and fragile, and the realization that it was still in Himiko’s grasp bowled her over.

“You’re not even that close to Eijirou, but he knew. You know how embarrassing it was to discover that a whole group of my friends have all been sneaking around together, have gotten to know the truth, and despite all the time we regularly spend together, I was excluded?”

Himiko faced the wall, which was easier than facing Mina’s hurt expression. “You were so close to the HPSC, I didn’t want to risk it.”

“I wasn’t,” Mina snapped. “I may have contracted, but you contracted too. I only just became an employee, and this has been going on for much longer. And even if I had been, you really think I would prioritize my fucking employer over everything we’ve been through?”

Mina was fighting, and the fight itself felt like confirmation of something. Maybe this isn’t goodbye forever, Himiko marveled, and the mere thought cut every tension-filled string holding back her emotions and spilled out all the feelings she’d been afraid to confess. “And what exactly did you do or say that would have made me feel like I could tell you? You know what it feels like to sit with a friend who says she loves you and then tells you that she wishes people like you would die?”

Mina scoffed. “You’re hardly a villain. Kyouka explained it all, and you came to save me. After all these years you’ve spent as a hero…”

Himiko stood up, hands shaking with the weight of everything she’d been holding back, every secret begging to be released. “I was part of the group that killed Midnight.”

Fury filled Mina’s eyes, and she stood up as well, facing her. “You think I forgot that?”

“I attacked and murdered people, I committed terrorism, I stole a girl’s identity and imitated her for eight years while she rotted in prison in my place. Isn’t that heinous? Aren’t I a villain worth killing?”

Mina grabbed the collar of her sleepshirt, tugging her close. “All of that sickens me. Knowing that someone who’s done all that has been by my side this whole time, graduated with me, partied with me, indulged in spontaneous pedicure nights, comforted me when I was feeling down…” 

Mina’s hands were trembling.

“How am I supposed to deal with you? When you’ve done all of this, and all of that, and came running in to save me with the worry and desperation in your face that I always thought was Ochako’s…”

Her grip slackened, and Mina fell to her knees. Himiko only caught a flash of the tears in her eyes before Mina bowed her head, pressing her crown against Himiko’s stomach, twisting her hands into the hem of Himiko’s shirt as though unable to let go.

“You make me so fucking confused, Himiko. I thought I knew how I felt about villains, and I thought I knew how I felt about you, but it’s all jumbled together now.” Lightly, she pounded a fist against Himiko’s hip. “Why can’t things just be simple?”

Himiko wanted to grab her and pull her up, dragging her into an embrace, but there was still fear in her heart. Unable to stay still, though, Himiko reached for Mina’s punching fist and wrapped her hand around it.

Slowly, Mina’s fingers uncurled and slotted between Himiko’s.

Himiko let out a shuddering breath. Her eyes and nose were tingling.

“Maybe it could be simple,” Himiko said softly. “What do you want from me?”

Mina squeezed her hand. “I don’t know.” 

Their heartbeats pounded against each other through their palms. Above her, Himiko salivated, but swallowed it down. 

Eventually, Mina said, “I want you to stop lying to me.”

“Okay.”

“I want you to tell me whatever you’re plotting.”

She let out a small laugh. “I’m still figuring that out.”

“...Can you promise to do whatever I ask?”

“Anything short of murder, probably. Those days are behind me.”

Mina snorted. She drew back, wiping her face on the sleeve of her free arm. Her face was flushed, a mess, tear tracks down her cheeks, but she got up and gently tugged Himiko and herself back onto the couch with their interlocked hands.

Once they were settled, Mina reached over and brushed the back of her fingers under Himiko’s eyes. It came away wet, and Himiko realized she was crying too. She brought up her own free hand to wipe at her face, taking in a few more shaky breaths. The tears were a gentle stream, leaking out and following a sedate path down her face.

When they had both composed themselves slightly, Mina faced her again. “Himiko… I was really hurt, and betrayed, and this made me question like… everything.”

Himiko nodded. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s not asking for an apology, I’m asking you to consider how some of the others might be feeling.”

Her shoulders raised up. “It’s extremely risky. Telling everyone is a lot.”

“Let’s not start with everyone, but let’s start with a big one: Izuku.”

Himiko blanched. “We’re broken up. We don’t even really talk…”

“And he’s devastated about it. He still doesn’t really get why the relationship he thought was going great suddenly disintegrated the moment he pulled out a ring. You played with him and his feelings for years.”

“I wasn’t trying to play,” she defended weakly. “I thought Ochako would have wanted to date him, so I tried to fulfill her dream.”

Mina’s lips pursed. “She did like him, but you’re not her. And Izuku deserves to know that he wasn’t really dating her all these years. He… he gave you his whole heart, Himiko, and when it comes to love, I won’t waver. You need to take responsibility.”

“Responsibility?”

“You need to tell him the truth.”

She shook her head. “No way. That’s way too much.”

“Dating him while pretending to be someone else was too much. Like, you really didn’t need to do that.” Mina pulled out her phone, activated it enough to check the time, eleven twenty-seven. “He’ll be coming by around noon.”

Himiko’s panic spiked, and she drew her hand back from Mina’s. “He’ll what?”

“I called him this morning and asked him to come to your apartment today. I said you would have something important to tell him.”

“Mina, what the fuck. I can’t just–-just admit that at a moment’s notice!”

“Yeah? Will you wait until Ochako kidnaps him? I would have much rather you told me beforehand.”

“He doesn’t need to know.”

Mina got up. “He deserves to know, and either you tell him when he comes to visit, or I’ll tell him myself later. Still, you said you’d do whatever I asked, so I hope you take responsibility.”

Hadn’t Himiko been through enough today? Her body felt hollowed out from the intensity of this most recent confrontation, and now she had to deal with that mess she’d locked up and shoved far away from her mind?

“I’ll head out to give you guys some privacy,” Mina said primly, heading for the door. “Unless you want me there for support?”

“No, just… go ahead.”

Mina pumped a fist. “Good luck.”

As soon as Mina closed the door behind herself, Himiko groaned and laid down on the couch. She stared at the ceiling for a minute, dizzy with dread, before she found the strength to get up and go to her bedroom.

Ochako lying on the bed on her stomach, a book open in front of her. After Himiko took a few steps in, she realized the page wasn’t just text, but panels and drawings as well.

She flushed. “Where did you get that?”

“It was in the back of the bookshelf. Interesting read so far.”

She closed Spinner’s book as Himiko got closer though, and set it onto the nightstand.

“Izuku’s coming over.”

Ochako’s eyebrows raised up to her bangs.

“The talk with Mina went… well enough, but then at the end she started to say all this stuff about how it was bad to have dated him as you—”

“Yeah I did not ask you to do that.”

“—and that I needed to take ‘responsibility’, but obviously that’s way too risky, isn’t it? Mina threatened to tell him herself if I didn’t do it now, but maybe I can pass it off as something else now, and then talk some sense into Mina later?” 

Himiko began to bite a nail, wishing she could chew on something more substantial to work out the tension in her jaw.

“Yeah, I just need to convince Mina there’s no way admitting this to Izuku could end well, and maybe she’ll see reason. It’d probably be worse for him to know the truth at this point, he wouldn’t get it…”

“I think he might.”

Himiko blinked at Ochako’s interruption. “...Huh?”

“I… had some conversations with him, during the war, before we switched… I think he has an accepting heart. I would trust him.”

She swallowed hard at Ochako’s quiet confidence in him. Even though Ochako had become disillusioned with all of society, she still believed in Izuku?

Did her feelings for him run that deep?

Himiko turned away, unsure of what kind of expression she was making. “You’re sure?” she repeated, hoping Ochako would backtrack and admit just how uncomfortable and unnecessary telling him would be.

Ochako sighed. “If Mina’s set this up, you might as well take the opportunity. I can’t say I enjoy knowing that you used my identity to date him. It’s probably for the best that things get cleared up.”

Himiko bit her tongue to avoid asking, Are you jealous?

If Ochako were still interested in pursuing a relationship with him, it would be nearly impossible if he was still under the impression that he had dated Ochako. Himiko’s confession would give them a clean slate.

What right did Himiko have to keep this secret and keep them apart?

“Okay,” Himiko said, her words like sludge in her mouth. “I’ll tell him.”

 

---

 

Izuku accepted a cup of tea, one scoop of sugar. He was vibrating the whole way, nerves prickling enough for Himiko to smell. She made a cup of tea for herself, trying to soothe her own nerves.

This wasn’t a performance anymore. She was still wearing Ochako’s body, but she would have to face him as her real self, and the thought made her feel like she was about to strip off all her clothes and expose the naked, ugly secret beneath. So with dread building in her stomach, she sat a cushion away from him and sipped at her tea.

Izuku started. “So, uh, Mina said you had something important to talk about?”

She swallowed hard, working up the courage. “Do you promise to keep an open mind?”

“Of course, even if we’re broken up, I still care for you. Even if there’s something strange going on…”

“Even if I lied to you?”

He frowned. “I… will keep an open mind.”

She stared at her cup instead of him, so she didn’t have to meet his eyes. “I should apologize first. And after I admit it, probably, but I’m sorry. In advance. Please know that despite everything I didn’t… I didn’t mean for things to go this far, or to hurt you in the way I did. But the person I am, is… not necessarily the person I presented to you.”

Izuku reached out suddenly, a hand laid on Himiko’s, and she barely held back a flinch. She looked up at him, and his eyes were clear and confident.

“I had a feeling,” he said. “But you should know… I’ve never had a problem with Jirou and Yaoyorozu, so of course I don’t have a problem with you.”

Her brow furrowed in confusion, and then she realized. “I–I wasn’t… That’s not, like, I mean, it’s not not… but…”

“Being gay is okay, Ochako.”

She pulled her hand away so they wouldn’t be touching. “No, no it’s not about that, it’s like, way more serious.”

He could not anticipate just how serious, so he drew back and tried to give her a wobbly smile. “You can tell me anything.”

She took in a deep breath. One of his legs was bouncing at a quick pace, a nervous habit. The longer she drew this out, the worse it would get, so she launched into it. “There was a big… thing. That happened. During the war with the Paranormal Liberation Front… You read Spinner’s article?”

He nodded. “Of course. I check his blog occasionally, but I read the one about you and Toga especially, with all the news around it. I know you don’t like to talk about it, so I didn’t push, but did something…?”

“That wasn’t the full story. Or, just about everything there happened, but there was one last important piece missing. During the blood transfusion process, both of us… somehow, both of us gained the ability to turn into each other and use each other’s quirks.”

His eyes widened, then lit up. “You gained each other’s quirks? That’s fascinating, I’ve never heard of such a case aside from… well, aside from One for All and All for One, but that’s a set part of their quirks, while your quirk and Toga’s wouldn’t have that as part of their set properties. But with the blood transfusion and Toga’s quirk combined, maybe that activated a particular set of circumstances which allowed it to happen. Perhaps, with some experimentation, that could be replicated, and more quirks could be made to be passed or inherited between people like–”

The ramble would take all day if she let it, so Himiko interrupted. “I don’t fully understand the mechanisms, what’s important is the effects.”

He gasped. “Right! This means you can turn into Toga? And use her quirk?”

She struggled with where to start with that, so she just nodded.

“That makes sense. I mean, quirk transferral doesn’t make sense in the first place, but quirks really are amazing, aren’t they? They can evolve, and I guess Toga’s must have—wait.”

Izuku froze, something dawning in his face. He glanced sideways at Himiko.

“The… the recent kidnapping, that video… did you take on Toga’s form and…?”

“No!” Himiko exclaimed. “That… wasn’t me who did that.”

He let out a breath, almost like a laugh. “Right. Of course, you wouldn’t, I know, this just, having this talk right after all that happened, I can’t help but want to connect the pieces. So that really was Himiko? And…” His face paled. “...did you say earlier that Himiko can turn into you?”

She had to tear off the disguise at some point, but she still hesitated. “...Yes, we can both turn into each other.”

“Could you do it right now?”

At this point, he scooted closer to her, fascination lighting his features. His intent gaze made her hold her breath, and still struggling to confess, she did the next best thing and finally showed him her true form.

He gasped as the shell of Ochako melted away and formed into her. Her yellow eyes, her sharp angles, and her long blonde hair that pooled onto the couch were revealed. For the first time, she felt fully exposed in front of him, stripped raw. He got closer, marveling, and even took up a lock of her hair, feeling the truth of it between his fingers.

“Wow! You really do look like Toga. Though this hair is quite long… does it grow even while you’re not transformed?”

“Yeah…”

“I can’t believe you’ve been able to do this the whole time, and never told me! Did you think I’d judge? Just because it’s a villain’s form and her quirk? You know how I feel about quirks, that doesn’t matter. I’m really interested, Ochako–”

“I’m not Ochako.”

“But of course you’re–”

He froze, eyes darting from the hair he had been examining up to her eyes. She wasn’t sure what kind of expression she was making, but he dropped the hair and stood up.

“Oh,” was all he said.

“You promised to be open minded, so please…”

Panic suffused his scent as he said, “I just… You’re Toga?”

She was scared too. “I’m the same girl who you’ve known for the past eight years, but please sit down, and I’ll explain it all from the beginning.”

For a moment, he stood, staring, shoulders up to his ears, and Himiko’s fear rose. If he ran now, her safety, as well as Ochako’s, was as good as gone. If Ochako had miscalculated, and he couldn’t bear this…

But finally, he sat down, and listened.

 

---

 

“So the woman whose death was faked, who went to prison, and most recently kidnapped and threatened Mina, was the real Uraraka Ochako?”

“Basically, yeah.”

He leaned back on the couch, looking faint. He had stopped drinking his tea long ago, and the half of it that was left was surely cold by now. “Holy shit.”

She barked out a laugh. “That’s an understatement.”

His gaze turned to her. “And you’re… the real Toga Himiko.”

She nodded.

“We… dated. For several years. You and me.”

“Well you dated like, what I imagined Ochako to be. Not me, exactly.”

He breathed deep. “Still.”

She waited, allowing the betrayal to sink in, until the silence became too much. Then she said, “I’m sorry.”

“No, I… I’m sorry, Toga.”

She shook her head. “I was the one who lied to you, there’s no way you could have–”

“Not for that. For Shigaraki.”

Her blood turned to ice. Though she had kept her composure for most this conversation, just that name set her face tingling with the threat of tears. She breathed deep and leaned back.

He continued, “I wish things hadn’t turned out that way. I did what I had to do, but I will never forget him.”

Who could? He was the figurehead and leader of a massive war. He had brought together the League and tried to make a better world for all of them. He had made Himiko feel normal. Just a girl. A friend.

Deep in her heart, she knew that the path All for One had pushed him down during those last few months would have destroyed him no matter what, but even knowing that…

“I can’t forgive you,” she whispered.

Shigaraki had been her friend. Just like Twice, he hadn’t deserved to be murdered.

Izuku smiled softly. “That’s fine. I still believe I had to do it, but… I’ll be genuine, Toga. Although I’m not exactly… well, I’m super freaked to discover the person I’ve known and uh… done some other stuff with all this time was someone else, and I don’t… what I mean to say is, I’m gonna need a lot of space away from you for awhile while I process all of this, but I’m still… I’m glad you ended up here.”

Her eyebrows raised up. “You are?”

He scratched the back of his head, not quite looking at her. “Before that war, Ochako—the real Ochako, based on your timeline—and I had a discussion. She wanted to reach out to you. The two of us thought ourselves a weird pair, both looking at the villains we would be facing on the battlefield, and still wishing we could save them. I could only get so far with Shigaraki, but to see that her efforts meant that you got to live and… and it seems like you’ve changed… I think she must be very happy.”

Himiko swallowed hard. That had been an intimacy between the two she hadn’t known. Was that why Ochako had wanted Himiko to confess? How she knew that he would be willing to hear her out and accept the truth without reporting them to anyone?

Carefully, she tested the waters. “I’m a pro-hero now, but Ochako has styled herself a villain. Do you think…?”

He nodded. “She’s not beyond saving. I’m certain.”

A strange calm descended over her. Ochako had known this of Izuku, that he would have this open heart, and had allowed him to know the truth, and she was right. Izuku still had confidence in Ochako.

All that stood between them now was Himiko. Just like when Himiko first met them, she was just awkwardly shoving herself into their relationship in a desperate desire to feel the scraps of that sweet, tender love they shared.

Himiko had changed since then, though.

She got up. “I know Ochako’s done some bad things since she got out of Hades, but if you could face her now, would you try to arrest or report her?”

Izuku blinked a few times, then began muttering to himself. “Well, I guess it depends. If she were trying to attack me or doing something actively bad, I’d probably want to stop her in some way, but she’s been through a lot, it’s understandable she’d struggle, but… if she was willing to hear me out and talk, then if we could have a conversation, or if I could find a way to help her achieve her goals without hurting anyone…” He looked up. “Probably not?”

“Wait here.”

With purpose. She strode to the bedroom. Inside, Ochako had occupied herself with the comic book again.

“Come with me,” Himiko said, voice firm.

Ochako moved automatically, and only paused once she was standing upright. She stared at Himiko’s true form for a moment, eyes darting up and down. Finally, she asked with a wary expression, “Why?”

Himiko grabbed her arm. “Just trust me. It’ll be good.”

For you and Izuku, at least.

Ochako was willingly pulled into the living room. When Izuku saw them both, he stood up with wide eyes.

“Ochako?” He asked, bringing his hands up to his mouth in shock.

Though Ochako was stiff, she nodded. “Hi… Izuku. Long time no see.”

He took one, two steps closer, and soon he was right in front of her. Despite what Ochako had done recently, there was no fear in his eyes, only excitement. Maybe relief. He cared about her, still.

Himiko let go of Ochako. 

“I’m sorry I got in between you two all those years ago. Izuku, the truth is, I dated you because I knew Ochako had a crush on you, and I thought I had to fulfill that to take her place. I see now, though, that that was cruel. Even though I may have ruined our relationship while pretending to be Ochako, I hope you won’t hold that against the real Ochako. I think… despite what I did, I can see how much you both care about each other. If you’re willing to start fresh, I believe you two can have a proper, real relationship going forward.” She forced out the next part as quick as she could, “I wish the two of you every happiness.”

Izuku’s face went red. Himiko didn’t dare look at Ochako’s face, and turned straight to the bedroom and closed the door behind herself.

She pressed her back against it and took a gulp of air. Everything had flowed out of her like a stream, but now she was emptied out. She slid down, landing on the floor where she crouched down. Her shoulders shook. Through the wood of the door, she could hear the murmur of voices, but couldn’t make out the words. Not wanting to hear even a hint of whatever tender words or actions they might share, she forced herself up to lie down on the bed.

The bed where Ochako had slept the night before. Carefully separated from her, maintaining space. Ochako and Himiko were two sides of a coin, part of each other, but doomed to never quite meet. It was for the best that Ochako get to be with her crush, that sweet love which had never hurt her the way Himiko had. This was for the best.

This was setting the world right, so why did Himiko feel so wrong?

The door slammed open, and Himiko bolted upright in her bed, wiping her face along the way just in case.

Ochako smelled like fury incarnate as she locked the door behind herself.

Himiko swallowed hard. What exactly did Ochako intend to do to her? Was Izuku still in the living room? It hadn’t even been a minute, how could they had resolved their feelings in such a short–

“What the fuck was that?” Ochako asked, stomping towards her.

Himiko got out of the bed and stood as tall as she could. “Were you able to reconcile?”

Ochako planted her feet only a dozen or so centimeters away from her and crossed her arms. “There’s nothing to reconcile. I had a crush when I was sixteen, literally just because he was cute and nice and there, but it’s been almost a decade, Himiko. You really think I’d feel the exact same way and want you to announce it to him like that?”

She sweated, and brought her palms up defensively. “I’m sorry. You just seemed to trust him, and so I thought…”

“You thought it was a good idea to confess for me? That was so fucking awkward, I had to tell him to just go home for now.”

Himiko’s heart dropped. Had she ruined something else in her efforts to be kind? “Was he upset? Will you two be okay?”

Ochako nearly snarled as she grabbed both of Himiko’s wrists and shoved them up and back, forcing Himiko onto the bed. The mattress squeaked as Himiko’s back landed first, then Ochako’s knees on either side of her. “Stop worrying about Izuku when you should be worrying about you and me.”

It was much like how Himiko had pinned her down in the steel mill yesterday, but there was no reason for Ochako to try and keep Himiko’s hands apart. Her long hair was splayed everywhere, a little uncomfortable, but even when Himiko squirmed to get more comfortable, Ochako kept her down. It was strange to feel the heat of Ochako’s palms, one finger raised, when they had so carefully avoided touching each other all day. Himiko’s breath caught when Ochako’s hand slid a bit, as though trying to sample more of Himiko’s body.

“I’m sorry,” Himiko repeated, too dizzy to think of a more articulate apology. “I was just trying to help.”

Ochako clenched her jaw as she stared down at Himiko. “Do you want me and him to date?”

She laughed lightly, and looked to the headboard. “You two would be cute together.”

One of her wrists was released, and for a moment Himiko thought that would be the end of it.

However, Ochako grabbed her chin and forced her face back towards her own. “Look at me. Do you want me and Izuku to date?”

She swallowed hard. “You guys have a right to date, just because of what I did, that shouldn’t–”

“Answer the damn question, Himiko. Do. You. Want. That? Would it make you happy?”

Caught in Ochako’s eyes, for once not in a mirror but in the real woman who she’d obsessed over for so long, Himiko was unable to lie. With a dry mouth, she whispered, “No.”

Ochako collapsed on top of her.

Himiko gasped as Ochako faceplanted just beside her head, and her hands let go to slide beneath and around Himiko. One around her waist, and the other sliding from her chin to go around her cheek, then the back of her head, fingers sliding between long strands at her nape.

Everything around Himiko was hot, burning, melting down from the girl above her into her core. After starving herself from Ochako, trying to avoid making her uncomfortable, this pressure of their bodies against each other was gorging dangerously.

“Don’t worry about anything anyone else thinks,” Ochako murmured into her ear. “Do what feels good to you. I gave you my whole life, and I’ll give you even more, if you’ll just be selfish and take it.”

The blood in Ochako’s neck pounded, and Himiko was hyper aware of the short distance between that skin and her teeth.

Saliva pooled in her mouth, and she forcibly swallowed it. They had both lost a lot of blood yesterday; Himiko had to stop hurting Ochako. She needed to help her, at least an ounce as much as Ochako had done for her. Though Ochako had promised her blood eight years ago, they both had changed in so many ways, it would have been cruel to cash in as if that had been binding.

Carefully, she wrapped her arms around Ochako as well, accepting their embrace. Ochako burrowed deeper into the crook of her neck, as if wishing they could get closer.

Become each other.

Himiko drew a deep breath and said, “I’ll find a way. To take down the HPSC, stop what Hades is doing. I promised you, we would find a way together.”

Ochako nodded against her.

“The HPSC dismissed your accusations during the hostage negotiation as lies, but I have some evidence of what they’ve done. There’s some other avenues we can go down for concrete evidence. We’ll build a case so iron-tight that it’ll be impossible for anyone to look away. Then we can expose the truth to the world, and maybe… just maybe…”

If they could prove the gross injustice, the violation of human rights, was there a way for both of them to survive and escape further imprisonment? And live the kind of life that Himiko had been blessed all these years, integrated into society, not on the run but living in peace and bliss… together?

But Himiko trailed off, not daring to hope too much.

“I’ll make it happen,” Himiko reiterated.

They squeezed each other tighter.

Notes:

4th base: Just a real nice snuggle.

Literally while writing this chapter I was like "It's time for the awkward enemies?/friends?/lovers?/ROOMMATES! arc"

Mina when she discovers her friend was a villain: Oof.....
Mina when she discovers her friends had a groupchat without her: !!!!!!!!!!! BETRAYAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Chapter 32: As Long as You're Mine

Summary:

Previously on The Morning After: Himiko and Ochako woke up together, and Himiko ended up helping Ochako neaten up her haircut. Mina came by, and Himiko and Mina talked through their feelings. Afterwards, Mina insisted that Himiko talk to Izuku as well. Although Himiko was hesitant, Ochako encouraged her to tell Izuku the truth. After she confessed the truth to Izuku, she revealed the real Ochako to him, and encouraged them to give their romance another go despite what she had done. However, Ochako kicked Izuku out of the apartment and confronted Himiko, reiterating her dedication towards her, and Himiko reiterated her dedication to taking down the HSPC for what they've done.

For once, Hawks was sitting at his desk. Not leaning on the furniture, lounging on the couch, or even pacing as was his nervous habit. Genuinely, his butt was in the office chair behind the huge wooden desk, his elbows were anchored on the surface, and his face was stern as he looked at Himiko.

The leftover tingles of having embraced Ochako felt like a cloak over her whole body, no matter how he stared at her, he couldn’t penetrate the happiness she’d gained.

“You went after Toga with no backup. Not even a note or heads-up to us.”

Himiko breathed at an even pace. If she kept her body calm, there would be nothing he could notice. How had he spent months in the League of Villains without expressing his true feelings? Without exposing the hatred in his heart that would turn on them?

She would be the same. No, better. At this crucial time, when Ochako was literally in her apartment, there could be no more suspicions. Telling the truth, for the most part, would keep things straight. The fewer opportunities for discrepancies, the better.

“I’m sorry,” Himiko began. “I’ll admit that I thought she… we shared a special moment, on the battlefield back then, and in my heart, I believed that if I could just talk to her, without anyone or anything between us… that maybe I could have resolved things peacefully. I’m sorry, I was full of foolish hope. If I had known she was going to stab me…”

Thankfully, she had been extremely stabbed, which lent credence to this version of events.

Hawks sighed heavily. “How did you even figure out where she was?”

There was no use lying on this point, as trying to cook something new would just add to the messiness and suspicion. “My father called me. Apparently, his company helped build that steel mill, and he recognized a distinct structure in that video. As soon as he called me, my mind went blank. All I was focusing on was saving Mina and… trying to save Toga too, by bypassing everyone else who might have wanted to hurt her first thing.”

She placed a hand on her recently healed stomach, then bit her lip until tears came to her eyes. The blood which seeped from the wound invigorated her, and she met Hawks’ eyes with tears.

“I’ve learned my lesson, Hawks. She didn’t want to be saved. I shouldn’t have tried to negotiate with a villain.”

Himiko’s words were regurgitated filth, but she was happy to play the puppet awhile longer. So long as she had Ochako, and this could keep her safe, Himiko would say anything and everything to keep her secure.

Hawks steepled his fingers. “I could have told you that beforehand, and you wouldn’t have to have gotten hurt. If you had actually talked to us about all this, we could have had a whole team ready to help. We could have saved Mina and finally caught Toga.”

“I regret it.”

“If you hadn’t injured Toga as well, you might not have even been able to rescue Mina.”

Before going to Hawks, Himiko had met up with Mina briefly to straighten out their stories. Hawks must have already met with Mina and gotten that detail—that “Uravity” had stabbed “Toga” back, then Mina had gotten ahold of a cell phone to call for help, and thus “Toga” had fled out of fear of getting caught while injured.

“I’m sorry,” Himiko repeated.

He shook his head. “This is a serious breach of trust, Uravity. How am I supposed to put you on any mission if you’re liable to go off book like this on a whim?”

She bowed. “I understand I messed up. Take me off of any future Toga missions, if it makes you more comfortable.”

After several seconds, he said, “I have a question.”

She lifted her head. “Yes?”

“What did Toga say to you?”

She blinked a few times. “What do you mean?”

“You said you wanted to have a discussion with her, yes? Surely even if you were fighting, she may have responded to at least some of your words.”

His eyes were sharp. A bird ready to strike if he found a weakness.

So Himiko carefully controlled herself, pursing her bottom lip in a troubled little frown that looked precious on Ochako’s face. “She repeated the stuff from her broadcast, those unsubstantiated accusations. I asked for the truth, but she refused to give it to me.”

Hawks’ face didn’t change. “I see.”

The ensuing silence felt like an interrogation technique. Was he waiting to see if she would offer anything else? She refused to break it. There was no need to give anything else that might incriminate her. Instead, she focused on keeping her eyes watery, playing the role of the regretful hero with aplomb.

Finally, he said, “Uravity, I’m going to have to put you on a performance improvement plan.”

She tilted her head. “A what?”

“Though your employee status is secret, you are still an employee of the HPSC, and when a pro-hero commits such a severe betrayal, it needs to be addressed in some way.”

I can think of some more “severe” betrayals, she thought as the image of Twice running from feathers sharp as knives filled her head.

“The fact that you thought going off on your own without discussing with any higher-ups was a good course of action means that you need a reality check. You may have been an independent hero for years, but when you work for an organization like the HPSC, you need to learn cooperation. We’re not all people just doing our own things—we’re a team, and each member has unique strengths and abilities to offer. To work most effectively, you need to communicate what’s going on with us more proactively. For your performance improvement plan, I am going to assign you a handler who you will check in with every morning and every evening. They will be keeping close track of your missions.”

A handler wasn’t uncommon for employees of the HPSC, but it wasn’t anything that had even entered in the negotiations of her employment contract.

Himiko took a deep breath. Extra surveillance was far from ideal, but she would just have to stay clever to fulfill those obligations without raising any suspicion. “I understand.”

 

---

 

When Himiko entered Camie’s apartment, Camie was chewing bubblegum. “Hey peach, what’s poppin’?”

“Thanks for letting me stop by,” Himiko said, following Camie as she made her way to the cozy living area.

Once Camie was comfortably lounging on the couch, Himiko sat beside her. It reminded her of her conversation with Mina the other day. You know how embarrassing it was to discover… that despite all the time we regularly spend together, I was excluded?

Himiko focused on her mission today. “You were able to…?”

Camie winked. “Obvi, I told you I would, didn’t I?”

She pulled a flash drive out of her pocket, and flicked it to her. Himiko scrambled to catch it, aware of just how valuable this could be.

“I rizzed up Tanaka so hard, he didn’t even notice what I did to his computer while he was giving me his little tour of the NHAL. He tried to describe all the things he did, but it all whizzed right over my head, you feel? So hope that flash drive makes some legit sense to you.”

Himiko lit up, and couldn’t hold back from jumping onto Camie to give her a hug.

“Thank you!” She enthused. “I’m sure this is gonna be a big help.”

Camie patted her back. “No prob, Bob. Anything for my girl.”

My girl.

They were dear friends, but Himiko hadn’t told her the full truth. Even though Camie was one of the few people who got to know more of Himiko’s true personality, who Himiko trusted with her real feelings, she hadn’t folded her into these final secrets.

She drew back, legs up on the couch, facing Camie. She began, “You know I care about you a lot, right?”

“Right back atcha.”

“Would you still care about me if I… did something bad?”

Camie popped her bubblegum. “Like wearing fall colors to a summer shindig?”

She grimaced. “Slightly worse than that.”

Camie shrugged. “Nobody can be mindful and demure twenty-four seven, I’m not gonna judge. Hell, you broke a gal outta prison, and I’m still here aren’t I? You’re my girl, Ochako, I’ll stick by you.”

Himiko swallowed hard. “What if I… wasn’t Ochako?”

Camie blinked at her several times, heavy lashes making the movement slow. She tilted her head. “Huh?”

 

---

 

By the end of the long explanation, Camie’s face was blank. Completely blank, like she was buffering. It was her thinking face, which sometimes took awhile.

Knowing that didn’t soothe Himiko’s nerves, which were prickling at her with a sense of danger that begged her to just get up and run out of the apartment with the flash drive and never look back.

After nearly a whole minute of tense silence, Camie said, “So you can turn into Himiko.”

“I am Himko,” she clarified.

She nodded. “Right. And Ochako, the for realsie one who I guess was in Hades and shizz, she can also turn into Himiko.”

“Yes.”

Camie stared at the wall for nearly another minute, lips pursed ever so slightly in consideration. Finally, she turned to Himiko and asked, “Do you and Ochako both like girls?”

Himiko’s brows rose up, and she choked on nothing.

Technically, Himiko had never come out to Camie, but that was because she had never wanted to assign a sexuality to Ochako aside from straight. Had it been obvious this whole time? Why was Camie asking now? As one of her first questions after Himiko had admitted to her greatest secret?

Once her coughing died down, Himiko admitted. “I… do like girls.”

Camie’s lips quirked up. She leaned over slightly, and the collar of her shirt hung in just the right way that her cleavage was tastefully right in Himiko’s line of sight. “I see.”

Himiko’s eyes bounced up. “...What do you see?”

“Just thinking.” Camie hummed, then continued. “About me. And two Himikos. One room. Three pretty girls.”

Himiko’s face was close to bursting into flames. She shifted her legs, suddenly uncomfortable, though undeniably flattered. “I–we–-Ochako is… I don’t know if she likes girls. And besides, things are so crazy right now, if her feelings are as messy as mine right now, maybe she doesn’t want to deal with complicated things like…”

She glanced towards Camie, who had leaned further forward in a way that exposed more, and immediately looked towards the wall again.

Camie said, “I’m not complicated. I’m a totes simple gal.”

“But it would be complicated for Ochako, for… for me too.” Himiko rambled out, feeling so heady she wasn’t even sure what she was saying. “I still have so much I need to discuss with her before we could ever do… Not that there’s a ‘we’ but if there was, then there would be a lot before we could do something like…”

Thankfully, Camie laughed, allowing Himiko an excuse to shut her mouth. Her stupid, idiotic mouth that was already racing ahead with thoughts and hopes that she had barely even dared to think. Ochako had so much going on in her life right now, the last thing she needed was for Himiko to barge in and force her weird feelings onto her.

“Alright, alright,” Camie said. “You go sort things out with Ochako first. Just imagining the concept is enough for me.”

Spontaneous human combustion seemed feasible in that moment, but by not looking directly at Camie’s expectant gaze and pouty lips Himiko was eventually able to get her heart under control.

“Thank you,” Himiko said. “I know this may be a shock, but you’ve taken it very well.”

Camie shrugged. “It’s not like I was tight with Ochako before you did your lil switcheroo, so I guess it’s not that cray-cray. It’s like learning your bestie has been going by a nickname all these years instead of her real name, but you never knew. Like whoa you were missing something, but what really changes, you know?”

Camie’s straightforwardness was a balm on Himiko’s fraught emotions. She reached out for another hug, gentler this time.

Himiko said, “I really appreciate it, and all your help with the NHAL investigation too.”

“Hey now, don’t say thanks until you take a real look at whatever I snagged. Maybe it won’t even be legit helpful.”

“Still, that you were willing to take that risk… that means a lot.”

She laughed. “Us girlies gotta stick together, after all.”

 

---

 

Himiko entered Skeptic’s apartment while humming a cheery tune.

Skeptic’s shoulders went up immediately. “What.”

She waltzed around, shoes on, letting the dirt of her soles rub into his nice wooden floors. So much weight was off her shoulder, and even though the HPSC had tugged its leash tighter around her, she’d left her phone at home just in case of them somehow tracking it, and now felt emboldened and light as a feather.

He followed her warily. “Seriously, what?”

She landed on his couch, giggling. “The world is beautiful, isn’t it?”

He turned with a sigh. “I have real work to do.”

“Wait.”

She could see him take a deep breath, hold it, then release. He faced her again.

“I need you to extract info from another flash drive.” She waved the flash drive at him. “A buddy of mine was able to get into the NHAL. I wanna know if there’s anything of interest from the computer.”

He snatched the flash drive up, peering at it suspiciously. “You’ve got some dangerous buddies, breaking into HPSC-funded laboratories like that.” 

Her grin stretched so wide her cheeks hurt. “My friends are the best!”

Skeptic backed up slowly, as one might with a bear. “Okaaaay. I’ll go ahead and decompress and sort the files, come back tomorrow…”

Himiko wagged a finger. “Nuh-uh.”

He was backing up faster now, as though he could ever escape her.

“I wanna see results as soon as possible. Do you still have those pudding cups? You go ahead and do your computer whiz stuff, I’ll treat myself to snack in the meantime. Then show me whatever you can. I’m way too excited to wait a whole day to see results!”

He groaned, but Himiko got up and skipped to the kitchen to raid his fridge. There was no counter he could give, though, so he slinked away to his computer, and got to work.

 

---

 

Finally, after she’d devoured a bag of chips and a dip, he waved her over to his computer.

“Check this out,” he said.

He scrolled through various files, but a lot was dense with technical language. She caught snippets: Promising developments, in-vitro trials, rich sample materials… “What does it all mean?”

“I’m not a biologist, but I’ve been doing some key word analysis to try and track materials that might be about Dabi and Toga, and got some promising stuff. They’re never mentioned by name, but I’ve found some research directions that rely on samples which I suspect relate to them”

He clicked around, opening more files.

“Here, you can see this is some sort of research on regenerative cells—even if you destroy half the sample, the other half will slowly rebuild itself… though it seems they couldn’t make it go further than just recreating what it was missing. It reminds me of what we saw about Dabi’s state in Hades, the way he may be slowly regenerating due to his ice quirk interfacing with his wounds, but prevented from full recovery by the continual removal of tissue.”

Himiko grimaced, remembering his situation. Extracting him from Hades would be difficult, as he was going to be reliant on continuous medical care until he could recover to a state of potential independence. She wasn’t a scientist either, so she couldn’t parse exactly how fast he might be able to recover if they somehow stopped Hades from hurting him further.

“And here, the key part that seems to be the crux of a lot of this research, is a particular sample type they’ve dubbed ‘the replicator’. They’ve been trying to extract some sort of quirk factor from it to use with Dabi’s sample, and it seems like a whole host of other interesting quirk samples, to try and do some sort of… quirk cloning?”

She tilted her head. “How does that work?”

He kept scrolling through files. “I’m no expert, but it seems like even though they can see properties of a quirk in samples, that’s not actually that useful unless they can somehow use the quirk. However, transferring a quirk isn’t as simple as splicing DNA—there’s a lot of complicated factors they list which I can’t really parse. But the result is that whenever they talk about that replicator sample, they get all excited. They seem to think it’ll be the key to transferring all these quirks into other living beings. When it’s mixed with other quirked blood, it seems to enable some sort of transference for all cells, and there are a ton of trials with cells and some with mice to try and make it work.”

Understanding started to dawn. “And you think the replicator is…?”

He nodded. “A unique facet of Toga’s quirk, most likely. She was able to use some people’s quirks in particular circumstances. And according to those notes from Hades, she had gained permanent usage of your form and quirk, Uravity. They found two types of DNA in her.”

She breathed out, a strange shock washing over her at the idea their DNA had been extracted, examined, and used for cutting edge research for years while she had been none the wiser. “I see.”

“The funny bit—” He continued, oblivious to her distress, “—is that even though they’ve made some headway, the ultimate limiting factor seems to be the samples themselves. They’ve tried to make the replicator cells multiply, but it doesn’t seem to be effective, so all this research has been going on with an extremely regular shipment of the sample. There’s a calendar here…”

“I think I get it,” Himiko said, feeling slightly nauseous.

Eight years. Himiko remembered the hole in Ochako’s cell, padded in just the right way for an elbow to rest as someone took a syringe to her arm. How often had that been? How much of that precious blood, the intimate mixture of herself and Ochako, had been carted off into cold, clinical tubes? How much of her love had been relegated to an agar plate, poked and prodded by scientists for their own ends while she’d been completely unaware?

Skeptic snapped out of his yappy mood and finally looked at her. There was no concern from him, of course. He just shrugged. “If you’ve seen enough, go home. I can sort this out and get it into a more organized format for you to pick up tomorrow.”

She nodded, now sober. “Yeah. I’ll… I’ll see you tomorrow.”

 

---

 

Finally, everyone was gathered.

All around Himiko’s living room, sometimes on a couch, sometimes on a moved kitchen chair, and a few including herself on the floor, were her friends. Everyone who’d been involved in the prison break, plus Mina and Camie.

Himiko had shared the information from Skeptic already, and called for a meeting to decide what to do from here.

Now Momo was plotting out loud. “...Disseminating this information is a priority, of course, but perhaps even higher priority is securing Ochako for the sake of public safety…”

“Oh, she won’t be a problem anymore,” Himiko said to her.

Some squinted, others tilted their heads in confusion. 

Momo said carefully, “What exactly do you mean, Himiko?”

She grinned, more out of nerves than excitement. “First, you guys have to promise not to get mad…”

 

---

 

“What do you mean, she’s here? She stabbed you!”

“That was genuinely an accident! And I stabbed her before, too, it’s only fair.”

Kirishima stood up. “What about Mina? Do you think she’s happy knowing her kidnapper is in this very apartment?”

Mina put a hand on his shoulder to tug him back down. “It’s… fine enough, Eijirou. Chill.”

He set his jaw. “But…”

“I can’t avoid everything that scares me forever. I’d rather meet Ochako in a peaceful way than… anything else.”

Though Himiko had considered keeping Mina out of this potential introduction, the last thing she wanted to do to her now was exclude her.

“So…” Himiko shifted in her seat. “Can I bring her out? She agreed to not go off on her own, so long as we try to address the issues with society. I think she deserves to be part of the planning.”

As Himiko held her breath, people looked cautiously at each other, nobody expressing a clear assent or dissent.

Then Tsuyu said, “Ochako was our classmate. She’s been through some unimaginable things. If I had been locked in prison for eight years, I’d wish my friends were still willing to give me a chance afterwards, even if I changed. Even though I didn’t recognize the villain she became, if she’s willing to talk to us now… I want to be open to the possibility.”

After a beat, others began to nod and hum acceptance.

She hurried to the bedroom and opened the door. “They’re willing to meet you.”

Ochako, in her true form, jerked to face her. “...Are you sure?”

Himiko nodded.

Slowly, Ochako got up, as though expecting this whole thing to be canceled at any moment. She looked sick as she crossed the threshold of the bedroom, but kept her back straight as she walked into view of the gathered group.

For a moment, they simply faced each other, Ochako and her old classmates who were almost strangers to each other now.

Then, Ochako started, “Sorry for… causing you guys some trouble. Although I still think there’s some shitty stuff going on I had to address, I didn’t think about working with others. I was alone all that time, so when I got out, I thought I had to go it alone, no matter what, especially with all of you being pro-heroes…”

Though Ochako had avoided looking at any one particular person so far, her eyes now landed on Mina.

“And, um, sorry Mina especially. For… you know, the whole kidnapping thing.”

Her eyes narrowed. “It was pretty nasty.”

Ochako physically cringed. “Sorry. Again.”

Mina snorted. “Where did little miss confident go? You sure didn’t feel sorry when you were grabbing my horns to pour water down my throat.”

“I was playing the villain I had to be, then. And I thought… I assumed that as an HPSC hero, you would always be against me. I hadn’t dreamed you would be willing to go against them like… like you are now.”

They stared at each other for a tense moment before Mina sighed. “You better do anything and everything I ask going forward. Extra nice to me.”

Ochako breathed out. “I’ll try.”

Something seemed to loosen in the room. Tsuyu waved a hand, shifted on the floor, and patted the space next to her. After blinking at her a few times, Ochako finally realized what she meant and carefully took a seat beside her.

Once they were side by side, Tsuyu reached out a hand to take Ochako’s, and squeezed her slightly.

The effect was immediate, making Ochako’s lips tremble, and Himiko felt something hot stir in her stomach. So that everyone wouldn’t stare at the intimacy, Himiko changed the topic. “Okay, now that we have our whole crew here, let’s make a plan.”

Momo nodded. “With Ochako taken care of, we can focus purely on how we address Hades, the NHAL, and the HPSC issue. At this point, we have several key forms of evidence, primarily the records from Hades and the laboratory notes from the NHAL. The only thing we’re missing is a clear-cut connection to the HPSC.”

“Maybe there’s not a clear connection?” Mina said hopefully. “Maybe it was just Hades leadership.”

Himiko shook her head. “The way Hawks talks, and the way he tried to pre-empt any of us believing Himiko’s claims, that didn’t feel clueless. I’m confident he’s been making calculated moves, and he’s fully aware of what exactly has been going on with, at the very least, the unjust imprisonment of ‘Toga Himiko’.”

Momo said, “There is a clear motive for keeping her and others in prison beyond public safety or pure punishment—the NHAL needs those samples to continue development. According to the notes I reviewed, trying to stimulate stem cells meant losing potency until eventually the quirk effects were lost, so a fresh and continuous source from the host was imperative. With a secure source, however, the potentials seem limitless. Not just quirk transfer, like All for One, but quirk replication. Just like what happened to you two, being able to access each other’s quirks.”

Himiko frowned. “The circumstances for that were very specific.”

“Well the NHAL has been doing their best to create circumstances where it can occur, and it seems they’ve made some progress. Their ultimate goal is to make it so that, perhaps with some sort of injection of blood with Himiko’s quirk factors, and blood from people with useful quirks, they can give someone else that useful quirk as well.”

Satou gasped. “Like the nomu?”

“They mention the nomu here, but they also acknowledge the nomu had some serious issues. Namely, the more quirks you add to a person, the more their brain and body get overwhelmed, making the characteristic nomu who could no longer remember their own names and lives. By using Himiko’s quirk factors here, their intention seems to be to give others quirks in a stable way that doesn’t harm them. Which would be a huge medical marvel…”

Though Momo had started to sound excited, she met Himiko’s eyes, and then sobered.

“...but requires a constant, fresh source of the quirk factor sample. They’re already having issues since Ochako got out of Hades. None of these notes seem to indicate they know the exact status or even identity of people who they are getting these samples from, but there’s mention of the research stalling due to their supplier having a temporary blockade on collecting more samples.”

Tsuyu said thoughtfully, “And the group funding all this research… is the HPSC.”

“Yes. There’s plenty of potential. Imagine if they could give their employees an injection that gives them a new quirk with minimal negative side effects. Dabi’s regenerative abilities alone would be a powerful protective factor that would increase survival rates and ease the burden of medical care for injured pro-heroes.”

Shouto said, “But would require keeping Dabi the place he is, the way he is, forever.”

Her face darkened. “Yes. To maintain sample supply.”

His brow furrowed deeper, and the room grew quiet at the silent grief.

Finally, Mina broke it. “So we have some evidence, but what’s the best way to spread it? The HPSC had a lot of ties to the media—I saw a real tight relationship when I was going on my interview rounds. Anyone who tries to break this new story is likely to face resistance from higher-ups, who might even warn the HPSC as to what’s coming.”

“What about Spinner?” Himiko suggested. “He could put it on his blog, Blade Edge Thoughts. When I did that interview with him, it spread quickly, so it’s clear he has enough reach to capture public attention. Once he breaks the news, media outlets will be in a rush to pick it up and get the latest info. That rush might help bypass the usual HPSC checks that might be done if they tried to do a thoughtful, breaking piece on the story.”

Kyouka grinned. “Take ‘em by surprise and keep ‘em running to catch up. I get it. Much harder to control.”

“Alright,” Momo honed in. “So we’ll gather up what we’ve got—the Hades records, the NHAL notes, and we deliver it to Spinner to present to the public?”

Though the plan was strong, Himiko said, “No.”

Everyone turned to her, confused. Even Ochako seemed troubled by the rejection.

“All that only implicates Hades and the NHAL. The NHAL being funded by the HPSC doesn’t directly prove that the HPSC knew exactly what they were doing, or even what was going on in Hades. Even if we shut down two branches, if we don’t cut off the head—the people who incentivized and arranged for all this to happen in the first place—it’s just gonna happen again. Maybe a new prison, or a new lab, but the same corruption trickling down from the top.”

Kirishima said, “How are we gonna get concrete evidence, though?”

Kyouka added, “The security for the HPSC is way more intense. If they have records on any of this, it’s gonna be buried deep, probably on computers we can’t access.”

“We’ll focus our target,” Himiko said. “Right at the top: Hawks.”

All eyebrows raised.

“We’ll infiltrate his office, maybe get the information from him directly.”

Mina shook her head. “He’s friendly and all, but that dude is an enigma, and with HPSC security there’s gonna be no way to get into his office without him there and aware.”

“Maybe none of us can do that, but there has to be someone he trusts.”

Everyone looked at each other, considering.

Himiko leaned forward. “Fumikage. His first intern, who he helped mold and grow into the hero he is today. If there’s anyone who would know how to approach Hawks, it would be him.”

Though some people nodded, Kyouka worried her lip. “Are you sure? They’re close, but that relationship goes both ways. If Fumikage doesn’t agree with you, he might snitch to Hawks.”

She sat up straight. “I’ve been scared with each person I’ve involved, but we’re all friends. I'm sure if I explain the whole situation to Fumikage, he’ll be willing to consider what’s right, beyond what his mentor has taught him.”

There were some frowns around the group, hesitations, but Himiko was tired of waiting around and hiding herself. After revealing herself to so many people, instead of being sated, she got hungrier. If so many people had been able to accept and support her, who’s to say all the other people she was holding out on wouldn’t do so as well? She craved the removal of her mask.

Fumikage and she had gotten close. And for the sake of securing a full win, she was willing to bare her heart to him.

“Alright,” Momo acquiesced. “You and Mina discuss it with him, and I’ll help organize what we have so far into something that we can share with Spinner.”

Himiko beamed. “Thank you. We’ll do our best… and together, we’ll tear the whole institution down.

 

---

 

Though the others left, Himiko continued working. She printed out all the relevant evidence, and was organizing, stapling, putting it into some semblance of sense. They had the digital copies, of course, but she enjoyed physical paper she could hold in her hand that couldn’t be wiped or deleted at the click of a button.

Ochako had been quiet for most of the time, in a chair across from the room. Himiko didn’t rush her, knowing she was probably still coming down from interacting with a bunch of her old classmates at once. At the very least, people had responded positively, and they had started some potential path towards forgiveness with Mina.

As Himiko went to refill her stapler, Ochako said, “Are you really going to approach Tokoyami?”

Himiko found a row of staples. “Yes. I want Hawks and everyone who approved what happened to you taken down.”

“It’s risky, if he doesn’t respond well.”

She refilled the stapler and snapped it shut. “I’ve had my doubts before, but he’s our friend. I’ve been afraid, but if I just lay it all on the table, I believe he’ll hear me out.”

“He’s probably closer to Hawks than you. When pitted against each other…”

“When he sees what Hawks is doing, he’ll realize the truth. I believe in his heart. Everyone else agreed that it’s worth a try.”

Ochako was silent for a bit as Himiko tested out her stapler. She hadn’t filled it right–-nothing came out. She opened it up again, and saw the staple at the tip had gotten mangled. Carefully, she pried at it.

When she had removed the broken staple and set the rest right, Ochako said, “This could be our last night together.”

Himiko’s head snapped to her. “...Are you trying to leave?”

Ochako’s face was pinched. “I’m just saying. If you ask Tokoyami to help, and his loyalties lie closer to Hawks, he’s going to go right to him and lay out the situation. If Hawks learns what we’re plotting…”

She relaxed, but only slightly. “I won’t tell Fumikage you’re staying here. You’re not going back to prison.”

Ochako shook her head. “I’m not worried about prison for me, but for you.”

Himiko’s skin crawled, and she returned focus to the stapler to keep her hands busy.

Instead of dropping it, Ochako stood up and walked towards her. “You don’t belong there, Himiko. It’s shitty, it’s boring, and I know you’d hate it.”

“I would hate Hawks escaping consequences because I was too scared to risk asking my friend for help.”

Ochako was in front of the table now, but Himiko kept her head bowed. The stapler was closed now, and she went to test it again.

“So you admit it’s a risk? That there is a possibility of failure?” Ochako said.

“A risk I’m willing to take.” The stapler was working now.

“In other words, you admit this could be the last night we have together.”

In the middle of stapling a set of papers, Himiko looked up. “Ochako, what are you trying to–”

The stapler did not go into the paper.

Himiko drew back, shocked. It hadn’t even really hurt, but when brought her hand up, one end of the staple had embedded itself into her finger. Wincing, she plucked it out and set the errant staple to the side. A single drop of blood beaded onto the surface.

When she looked up, Ochako already had a knee on the table, and was reaching out for her hand. Himiko gasped, but didn’t draw back as Ochako snatched her wrist, and pulled to put the finger into her mouth.

All of Himiko’s blood rushed at the sight. Ochako brought both her knees onto the table so she loomed and Himiko was caught beneath her, staring up as she wrapped her lips around her finger and sucked.

“O-Ochako,” she wheezed, confused but growing hot. “What are you…?”

Ochako’s tongue dragged on her finger, massaging, drawing more blood to that little open wound, and Himiko let out an involuntary gasp.

What was she doing? Ochako? Drinking her blood?

With her mouth remaining secure, Ochako shifted her legs around, kicking all the papers and that damn stapler off the table until her feet landed on Himiko’s seat, on either side of her hips. Ochako dragged her chair closer, and Himiko could not resist. She was drawn into Ochako’s orbit, unable and unwilling to escape.

Still, Himiko was shocked by her behavior. “You don’t… you don’t have to do that,” Himiko reassured her, just in case.

Slowly, Ochako slid her lips back up, from the base of Himiko’s finger, down the knuckles, until she had only the very tip, which she released with a kiss. The hand that had Himiko’s wrist slid so a thumb pressed against the palm, as though loathing to part fully, and Ochako leaned forward so her forehead pressed against Himiko’s.

“They fed me blood in there, you know,” Ochako murmured to her, voice soft since they were so close. “I played their game, drank a hundred strangers, turned into all of them and failed to use any of their quirks because they weren’t you.”

“I’m sorry they put you through that, but… You don’t have to, anymore, if you find it disgusting, you really don’t have to–”

Her grip went tight. “The only way I stomached swallowing all of that for eight years was by fantasizing the blood was yours—that I was feeling you in the way you’ve felt me.”

Himiko trembled beneath her.

Ochako’s other hand came up and cupped her cheek.

“I promised to give you my blood for the rest of my life, but you still haven’t taken me up on it. I’ve tried to be patient, but the thought of losing you tomorrow with you never drinking from me again… What is the truth, Himiko? Are you hiding your feelings again, or do you really not…?”

Himiko thought she might faint. This felt like a dream—no, none of her dreams had ever been this ambitious, imagining that Ochako still held onto that promise, and had carried it even when so much else had changed. That she not only held to it, but craved it, to the level that Himiko desired her. 

Himiko's response was weak, breathy, struggling against the wave of emotions coursing through her. “I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable. I know it’s weird–”

“It’s not. I just want to feel you, Himiko, the way you are, and not the way you think you’re supposed to be. Don’t hide it anymore. Don’t keep me waiting until it’s too late. Please…” 

Her thumb drew over the seam of her lip, prodding it, and Himiko automatically parted them to allow her inside. Her blood surged through her body, screaming. Himiko’s mask, that normal girl she had made herself become these past eight years, was cracking, and if she allowed this to go any further, there would be no putting it back on.

Ochako’s thumb pressed against Himiko’s canine, begging, and her voice went ragged, “Take it. My blood. Me. Everything is yours.”

So Himiko grabbed Ochako’s wrist, steadying them both, and tilted her head to press deeper into Ochako’s flesh until finally, with a pleasant pressure, it tore open and the blood flowed into her salivating mouth.

Ochako gasped, body curling, as Himiko basked in the taste. It was the same blood that she had tasted of herself these past eight years, but it felt different from someone else. It throbbed with the pressure of Ochako’s heart, bleeding her life onto her tongue. 

Her body was hot, head spinning, but there was more. If Ochako was truly indulging her, then there was no need for Himiko to hold back.

Himiko pushed her finger back into Ochako’s mouth, encouraging her, and Ochako took it up immediately. Himiko bled and drank and moaned at the ecstasy of it all—love flowed between them freely, deeply, with no more barriers. Everything she had ever wanted was here in her reach, in her mouth, taking and giving in the way Himiko had thought would never be more than a hopeless fantasy.

When Ochako drew back, releasing Himiko’s finger and pulling her thumb out, Himiko whined, “Don’t stop.”

Ochako cupped Himiko’s face, and the pressure squeezed her eyes in such a way that brimming tears she hadn’t even realized were there began to slip down. In contrast, Ochako was smiling as she said, “Let’s get somewhere more comfortable.”

Himiko would have followed Ochako anywhere in that moment, but tonight she didn’t take her far. Ochako scooted off the table, took Himiko’s hand, and pulled her to the bedroom.

Notes:

Thought it'd be nice for them to have a special moment together before what happens next <3.

Chapter 33: If You Want a Job Done Right, Do It Yourself

Summary:

Previously on Propositions: Himiko met up with Camie to get the flash drive Camie used to hack a NHAL computer, and along the way confessed the truth of her identity. Camie reacted positively, and then Himiko went to Skeptic with the flash drive to extract the information. It revealed that the NHAL was using Ochako/Himiko's blood to extract quirk factors that might allow the transfer and replication of quirks. The team of people who know the situation gathered, and Himiko re-introduced Ochako to her old UA classmates. They discussed next steps, including a plan to reveal information from the Hades computer and the NHAL computer to Spinner so he could post about what they've been doing. However, Himiko said she wanted to wait and get more information that directly implicates the HPSC so they can strike at the source, and decided that bringing Tokoyami into the fold would help, as he might be able to get information from Hawks that they can use. Ochako was nervous about the possibility of things going wrong, and pushed Himiko to admit her true feelings, in case there wasn't another chance. The two of them confirmed mutual feelings of love and drank blood from each other.

Notes:

I do legit have several IRL obligations that have been taking up a lot of my time and restricting the time I can spend writing/posting fanfic, BUT........ I will confess.............. I also perhaps....... may have started playing the first Danganronpa game a few weeks ago, and that has also def distracted me XD. So if you're wondering why my posting schedule has been expanded (to 1-2 weeks between chapters)..... you can blame both Life and Video Game.

I just finished the first Danganronpa game last weekend and WOW. Although at the beginning I was like "Geez this is so #edgy", I ended up wholly invested..... Like damn that ending got to me, I stayed up too late playing bc I just HAD to see how it all wrapped up XD. Also...... Sakura/Hina <3. (Also, Junko <3). I was surprised by how many gals there were in the game, and how all of them had their own unique things going on and clear agency throughout. I hadn't known that Danganronpa was such a gender-balanced game in that way. I'm SO tempted to jump into the fandom, but I'm staying out for now so I don't get spoiled for the next games.

Their bed was warm and comfortable. Enough light streamed in through the windows that Himiko could see the crown of Ochako’s head, but not the face buried against her chest. Idly, Himiko ran a few strands of the rough brown hair through her fingers. The texture was familiar, one she had worn for all these years.

She wasn’t wearing it now. 

Himiko couldn’t remember the last time she’d slept through the night as herself, in her true form. Her long hair was a mess, sticking everywhere, clinging to the pillows, blankets, and her own shoulder as she shifted slightly to take a look at the clock.

It was time for her to get up. Her organizing of the evidence last night had been completely distracted by Ochako. She still needed to finish consolidating it for her meeting with Fumikage today.

Himiko didn’t dare rush, though. She stared down at Ochako, unmoving, and dreaded the thought of letting her go, even if she was sure she would come back to her at the end of the day.

Nothing felt impossible, now that Uraraka Ochako was in her arms.

Gently, trying not to disturb her, Himiko pressed her lips to the top of Ochako’s head. She must have moved too much, as she got a groan in response, and Ochako squeezed her tighter. It drew a laugh from Himiko’s lips, and she kissed her again.

That made Ochako draw back so she could look up at Himiko, and despite the sleepy morning, her heart kicked into overdrive. There was her love, a sliver of a scab on her bottom lip where they had gotten rough last night.

“Don’t get up,” Ochako whispered. “Don’t leave.”

Though they couldn’t stay in that bliss forever, Himiko dragged Ochako up and kissed her once, twice, then caught her teeth on Ochako’s scab and tore it, revealing fresh blood beneath.

Ochako was hers now, to love how she wanted.

 

---

 

Later, when the sun had fully ascended and was blaring through the curtains, Himiko was upright and getting dressed while Ochako put on an oversized T-shirt.

“It’s risky,” Ochako reminded her.

Himiko took a deep breath and transformed, taking on Ochako’s body again. “We have to take risks if we want to get anywhere with getting evidence against the HPSC. Fumikage has the best chance.”

“One of the people who already knows could do what we need. Mina, maybe…”

“If I had Mina try to sneak into Hawks’ office or confront him, I might as well send her directly to jail. No way she, or any of us could get away with as much leeway as Hawks might give to Fumikage.”

Ochako was pouting, and the way her lips looked tempted Himiko to rip off that shirt and delay even further. “But will Fumikage give you the leeway you’re hoping for?”

She could smell the nerves from Ochako, so she approached and took Ochako’s face in her hands. She gave a long, slow kiss. A reminder of how far they’d come, and how much farther they could go once they achieved this and finally revealed Hawks and the HPSC for what they had done.

“Trust me,” Himiko whispered against her. “I’ll do the right thing, I promise.”

 

---

 

Mina kindly hosted the meeting with Fumikage. He had been willing to sit down and view their evidence, willing to listen to Himiko’s confession, that raw truth of her identity, and willing to listen to the whole explanation that went with that with an admirably contained panic that only had him pacing and dark shadow shaking about half the time.

He was not willing to accept their central hypothesis.

“There must be something you’re missing,” Fumikage insisted. “Hawks wouldn’t approve that.”

Mina got up from her seat, stomped and waved at the print-outs. “Well he did, or do you want to read all these notes again?”

His hand clenched around the paper in his hand. Being approached with all of this information and revelations all at once might have been overwhelming, but Himiko wanted to believe in her friend. “Fumikage, I promise you this is all true. I’m sorry that we didn’t involve you earlier, but we were wary of the risks. Now… it’s because we trust you that we wanted to involve you at this point.”

He crossed his arms. “I’ll admit there is a lot here, and I want to believe in you guys, but Ocha–... I mean, Toga, I can’t believe you’re entirely unbiased here. Maybe you wish Hawks and the HPSC to be implicated in this, but I believe in Hawks too. He would not permit such cruelty.”

“You really think the president of the HPSC could be unaware of all this? When the HPSC is the one directly funding this lab? You think Hawks is the type to be clueless of what his underlings are up to?”

Fumikage bristled. “At minimum, there must be a piece we are missing. He may know even more than we do, and if we knew everything he did, it would all make sense.”

“If you really believe that, then prove it,” Himiko challenged him.

He looked at her with furrowed brows.

She brought out a microphone and USB from her pocket. It was similar to the one the HPSC gave her to listen to her conversations with Spinner, small enough to fit in a palm, able to record several hours of audio, but this one was created by Momo. The USB was from Skeptic, another one that would pull massive amounts of data off of whatever computer it was connected to. “Find a way to put this USB into his computer, and we can see if there’s any evidence of him knowing this or not. And if you want to have a conversation with him about it… record it.”

Fumikage did not reach out to take either item. “That would be a betrayal.”

“If you are so confident in him, then it shouldn’t be a problem.”

“It is because I have confidence that I need not play this game. Hawks cannot be a bad man—he fought alongside us, gave up his own wings to protect us, and has made difficult decisions as a leader. Maybe what you’ve laid out is just that—another difficult decision, and trying to trick and reveal him like this would collapse a plot that has been protecting us all this time.”

“And what about us?” Mina challenged. “You don’t believe in us?”

Dark Shadow rippled behind him, disturbed. “You guys are playing with something dangerous. I recommend you drop this foolish quest and trust in him.”

“I don’t trust him,” Himiko snapped. “He joined the League of Villains to murder my friend.”

The room went silent.

Finally, Fumikage said, “He made hard decisions. Decisions he had to make at a split second, while younger than we are now. I still don’t doubt that he has always had the best interests of pro-hero society at heart.”

Himiko clenched her fists, bile crawling up her throat. She wanted to say something, but the only things she could think would have chased Fumikage away forever.

Thankfully, Mina was there to step forward. “So what? All our years together mean nothing? You just trust Hawks more, and are going to snitch about what we’ve been investigating?”

Fumikage’s shoulders raised to his ears. “I said nothing of the sort. You should cease, while you still can. The further you push, the more he’ll suspect you. Already, you’re–”

He paused abruptly, and snapped his beak shut.

Himiko narrowed her eyes. “What? What are we already?”

His eyes darted between them. “...After Mina was rescued, Hawks made a request of me. He asked me to let him know if Ochako—that is, you, Uravity, I suppose—was behaving differently recently.”

Her blood went cold. “Did he, now?”

Mina’s eyes were wide. “Are you going to tell him…?”

His arms crossed. “How could I? This runs deeper than I ever imagined.”

That was a relief at least, but…

Mina articulated what Himiko hadn’t the composure to ask. “But you won’t help us?”

He curled, clearly uncomfortable, struggling. “Please… I can’t choose between you. I care about you guys, but Hawks… he made me the man I am today. I won’t betray you, but I can’t betray him either.”

Himiko’s nails curled into her palm. Spineless, she thought, watching him twist himself into knots to avoid choosing a side, to avoid confronting the reality that his mentor might be imperfect.

She opened her mouth to say so–

But her thigh buzzed. She paused, pulled out her phone, and saw it was her new HPSC handler calling her. She grimaced, knowing the consequences of ignoring it could include more restrictions, and so she raised a finger to Fumikage and Mina, then answered the call.

She swallowed down all the anger and put on her perky Uravity voice. “Hello?”

“Hawks has requested you go to his office. Now. It’s urgent.”

She gulped. “Okay, I’ll head right over!”

Himiko hung up. 

“Hawks has asked me to see him,” she told them.

Instantly, she gathered up the various papers she’d given Fumikage to review, snatching the last out of his hand. All went right back into her backpack.

Their eyes widened. Mina said, “Are you sure you should go? If he’s been investigating you… what if he’s found something?”

That was extremely possible. Still… “I’m not going to run from him.”

Mina pursed her lips. “Don’t do anything rash.”

“I won’t,” Himiko lied. “But Mina, can I ask a favor?”

She narrowed her eyes. “What kind?”

“Can you go to my apartment and warn Ochako that Hawks is suspicious? If he suspects me, keeping her in my apartment is a bad idea. If you can ask the others if one of them would be willing to host her for a bit, and take her there…”

Mina nodded. “Can do.”

Himiko left with the microphone and USB in her pocket.

She was tired of playing this game. If Fumikage wasn’t going to commit to the job, she would have to pick up the slack.

No matter the cost.

 

---

 

Before going to the HPSC, Himiko stopped by an old, rundown apartment and knocked on the door.

After several long moments, the door cracked open, and Spinner faced her.

Instantly, Himiko launched herself at him. She wrapped his arms around his neck, ignoring how he stiffened and flustered. His scales against her cheek felt just as she remembered.

There was no time to marinate in the embrace, though. She drew back, then took off her little backpack. “I love you. I need a favor.”

“The fuck?” Spinner said.

And then, from behind him, a feminine voice: “Is everything alright?”

When Himiko looked past his shoulder, she saw Fuyumi sitting at his low table, a mug of tea in front of her, and another mug to the side.

Himiko blinked.

Spinner pulled her into the apartment so he could close the door. Himiko asked, “Fuyumi’s here?”

Fuyumi smiled. “We’re friends.”

Something deep inside Himiko relaxed at the confirmation. Even if she wasn’t around, there was someone who could continue to support Spinner. Himiko trusted her, and didn’t mind if she saw what would happen next.

“Never mind that,” Spinner said. “What the fuck was that about?”

He was flushed, which made sense, as he didn’t know everything yet. He would soon, though. She pushed her backpack to him. “There’s some stuff in here you’ll want to review. There’s digital files on an external drive, but also some copies printed out. And a letter I wrote on the train here, on the back of some of the printouts. Sorry it’s messy, but you had to know. Some of my friends might contact you soon, by the way. Trust what they say about me.”

He was completely flabbergasted. “You’re not making any sense.”

“It’ll make sense when you review what I’ve given, but I don’t have much time. Definitely not enough to explain. Please, I need you to trust me. When I leave, you’ll look all of it over, alright?”

“Okay, alright!” He said placatingly.

“One more favor—Can you take everything out of your wallet? And give me the empty wallet? Wait—no, leave one thing. Some form of ID. Something that could be used to return it to you.”

His eyebrows raised. “Hey. For real. What are you trying to do here? I’m not gonna give you my wallet and ID, what kinda insanity is that?”

Himiko’s breath picked up. Too much longer, and Hawks would get suspicious of her delay. “Please. I’m going to put something in there later today, but I might not be able to get it back to you myself.”

Now his boggled expression turned to concern. He put his hands on her shoulders. “Uraraka, what are you planning?”

I’m not Ochako, she didn’t dare say. If she told him the truth now, who she truly was, and the crazy plan she had, he might never let her go. At the same time, being a pro-hero, even one who he might call a friend, how could he trust such a suspicious request?

Thankfully, Fuyumi interjected. “Would mine work? I can leave my library card—it has my name, and it’s easy to replace.”

“Yes, that’s perfect.”

Even better, perhaps. Where Spinner was an ex-villain who might be scrutinized by the police, Fuyumi was a squeaky clean civilian as far as public record was concerned, and unless Hawks himself found the wallet, nobody would bat an eye at returning the wallet to its owner.

As soon as Fuyumi emptied it, leaving only a single library card, Himiko snatched it up and headed for the door.

“Wait, that’s it?” Spinner called out.

In an ideal world, that wouldn’t be it. Himiko would be able to sit down and lay it all out to him on her own time, but the longer she dallied the more suspicious Hawks could get about what she might have plotted between the phone call and going to his office. With him hanging over her head, she couldn’t afford the luxury.

Still, she turned on her heel, pulled Spinner into her arms again, and squeezed for one full second. “I believe in you, Spinner.”

Then she released him, and ran out.

 

---

 

Hawks stood facing the tall windows in his office. They took up almost one whole wall, and Himiko wondered if it made him feel like he was flying again—to have that high vantage point, able to look down on all the people walking the streets many floors below.

He turned slowly at her entrance, as though there was all the time in the world. When the door clicked shut behind Himiko, he took a few steps so he could lean against his desk.

She stood a meter away. Her blood had burned the whole way there, and now she was just about ready to boil over.

“Welcome,” Hawks said.

The next words that came were squeezed out from between waves of rage, “I want to know why.”

His eyebrows raised, but he didn’t shift from his poised lean. “Why what?”

“I’ve seen the evidence. You faked her death, locked her up, and used her blood all this time. And you still have the audacity to play the good guy?”

Something twinkled in his eyes, and Himiko geared up to hear more of his hollow objections, but first he looked her up and down appraisingly, with a single eyebrow twitching, then crossed his arms and said, “You really want to know?”

Her breath caught. An admission, however light. She needed more, though. Accusing him was supposed to put him off balance, but he felt too steady at this moment, too much like he anticipated this sort of confrontation.

Himiko stared into his eyes. “You act like a hero, but you’ve signed off on what amounts to infinite torture, just for the sake of the NHAL advancing their research. Do you hate villains that much? That you think they don’t deserve basic human rights?”

He twitched at the mention of the NHAL. Perhaps he hadn’t expected her to know that much detail. “Interesting that you imagine hatred as my motivation first. I am president of a huge organization. Do you believe I have the luxury of allowing my personal feelings to drive such extremes?”

She bristled. “How else can you bear what you’ve done to them?”

“I bear a lot of things. It’s my job. It’s been my job since I was a preteen.” His head tilted slightly, taking her up and down. “Some people are born to sacrifice. Why else would people take up the mantle of a pro-hero? It’s a risky job, but somebody has to do it to protect the innocent.”

“That job is a choice. What you’ve done to the villains is not a choice they made.”

He waved a hand dismissively. “There’s no such thing as pure free will. There will always be pressure of some sort. You think the first hero was pure-hearted? No, they were probably under huge pressure, facing the possibility of the people they loved dying versus giving up their own safety and well-being to protect them. That’s not a choice, just destiny, and those villains have gone down the path they are destined… one that contributes to society in their own way.”

“Not their way. Your way, that you’ve chosen for them. Someone choosing to save people they love is not the same as someone unwillingly trapped, tortured, and harvested for their body.”

He chuckled. “You sure have a flair for the dramatic. They’re imprisoned, yes, for crimes they committed. We keep them more civilly than they deserve, considering the many people they’ve killed. So what if we use them to help the world in a way they wouldn’t willingly do themselves? It’s our imperative to protect society with all the tools we have available.”

“And so you’re happy to bypass a proper trial of justice for Toga? To prevent Dabi from ever recovering his own body?”

His mouth puckered at Dabi’s name. “I’m keeping things simple for us. The benefits far outweigh the costs.”

All these years, Ochako, Dabi, and probably others had been chained and harvested regularly to advance the knowledge of humanity—the modern Prometheus. Hawks had put them there, but he was not a god. He was the vulture, flying high as Icarus with the pieces of villains whose guts he’d plucked to his own advantage.

Now it was Himiko’s turn to bring the torch to the public and illuminate the truth.

Though she wanted to launch towards him and tear him from limb to limb, she didn’t dare even step forward yet. Once he was threatened, there was no walking back. Still, she couldn’t hold back the anger in voice. “How can you be so selfish?”

Hawks leaned forward, eyes looking up intently up from below the ridge of his brow. “Selfish? Me? I’ve lived to serve the world since I was a kid. What’s selfish is deciding the lives of a few villains is worth more than the hundreds if not thousands of lives that could be saved if these biological developments bear fruit.”

Her head swam with the memory of first seeing Ochako in that prison cell. The knowledge that she’d spent eight years in near-isolation, bearing the shitty prison accommodations and tests, not to protect the world, not to protect a vague swath of innocents, but to protect one singular person: Toga Himiko herself.

She clenched her fists. “Every single life counts. Even the life of a villain. They deserve a chance.”

He chuckled once. Twice. Then it became a full laugh. 

It took all of Himiko’s mental strength to not grab one of the pens from his desk and jab it into his neck, letting his blood spurt all over the office. Not yet, she reminded herself. The longer this lasted, the more he admitted, the better.

Finally, he wiped a tear from his eye. “Of course you would say that.”

She stiffened. Narrowed her eyes. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It’s just silly. You’re trying to make me out to be a villain, but I’m really not. Can you imagine a world where people are no longer restrained by the lottery of quirks? The technology sector has made a lot of progress—Deku’s hero suit shows one way to go beyond human limits, but that’s still dependent on tech that can break and malfunction. What if we could give all pro-heroes beneficial quirks to improve their safety and efficiency? Not like the nomu, who lost all sense and suffered all sorts of side effects, but truly replicating and spreading only good quirks to people who would use them well? Can you imagine the limitless opportunity of that kind of world? The sheer volume of people who will have a better life, whose lives will be saved by this? You think I can reject utopia because of one, single, suffering girl at the heart of it? Compared to all the suffering that will reverberate if I choose not to?”

She was looking at Hawks, but it was Ochako who filled her head. The girl who would have been kept underground for the rest of her life if chance hadn’t allowed Himiko to discover what had happened to her.

“I would reject it,” Himiko snapped.

He laughed again, but it was calmer. “I knew you would say that, but you’re rather biased, aren’t you?”

Her heart kicked up. Fumikage said he had been suspicious, but how much did he know? Where had she slipped up? “Why do you keep saying that?”

One of his hands was in his pocket. “That steel mill business was a mess. After Mina was rescued, I couldn’t help but wonder why Toga had escaped when Uravity had been stabbed. Yes, Mina claimed that Uravity had stabbed Toga back, but that doesn’t fit Uravity’s usual move set at all. She’s much more capture oriented with minimal injuries to both civilians and villains… so I got curious.”

His eyes were scanning her the whole time, as though waiting for her to dart at him with a knife. She wouldn’t give him that satisfaction.

“With your stab wound, it was easy to ask the hospital for a sample. I’ve had some researchers testing it for the past few days, and they’ve found the blood is exactly the same as a particular sample they’re very familiar with.”

Himiko forced her breathing to stay calm. She couldn’t panic now—she would need all of her wits for what occurred next.

“Why do you think I told you all of that?” He smirked, almost teasing. “It’s amazing to me how you’ve taken Uravity’s form and imitated her so perfectly, even convincing Mina, but it's the end of the line for you. We may still be parsing out the particulars of how you maneuvered this, and how much Uravity cooperated, but you won’t run amok any longer. There are guards outside waiting for my signal, and investigators are already en route to your apartment.”

Her heart lurched. Ochako. Would she be able to dodge them? She should have told Mina to run there, just in case. Himiko had been so focused on herself, her goals, what if Ochako…

“I expected to have to draw out the truth to confirm which one of you entered my office, but it’s clear from the way you’ve confronted me just how much hate you have for me… and who you really are. You were so desperate to satisfy your hatred by confronting me that you’ve revealed everything. You’ve been caught, Toga Himiko.”

She launched.

He brought up his hand, activating a ring or some tech device that immediately surrounded him with a barrier, and shouted “Now!”

Hawks wasn’t her target, though.

The doors slammed open, but she had her hands on Hawks desk. She heaved it up with zero gravity, then flung it towards the window, and followed it while pressing her hands together. The window smashed, glass scattering outwards, and she went sailing through the air.

She saw several uniformed officers on the ground head for her, along with two pro-heroes she had seen but never talked to in the HPSC cafeteria. Hawks had anticipated she might try to escape out the window.

Himiko didn’t need a full escape, though.

She ran onto the first roof she could, but there were too many witnesses, Hawks looking through the window, another pro-hero flying up to chase her down, so she tumbled down into the nearest alley between buildings.

In that brief moment of respite, she shoved her hands into her pockets and pulled out Fuyumi’s wallet and the tiny microphone. She turned off the microphone, stuffed it into the depths of the wallet, and flung it towards one end of the alley while she ran towards the end, kicking over garbage cans along the way.

Himiko was able to turn the corner and get down one more street before she was completely surrounded.

“Toga Himiko,” someone shouted through a megaphone. “Surrender now!”

Her mind raced, looking through the crowd of officers and pro-heroes that had been mobilized to take her down, the pincers of the trap Hawks had set out for her, and she knew what came next.

From the moment she left Fumikage’s apartment, realizing he wouldn’t help them, realizing that there was nobody that could get them evidence of Hawks’ wrongdoing without risking themselves, and certainly not in the brief time they had before Hawks caught up to what they were doing, she had already committed to her fate. She had been running for over a decade, but now she was surrounded, and with her last effort complete, it was time to face her worst nightmare.

Himiko went to jail.

Notes:

Lol ngl I'm still finishing up the last chapter and epilogue. Depending on vibes I may split up the two, but if not, the next chapter will be the final one.

Chapter 34: Freedom

Summary:

Previously on Gamble: Mina and Himiko explained the situation to Tokoyami and asked him help spy on Hawks to gather evidence, but Tokoyami refused to choose between his mentor and his friends, though he revealed that Hawks was already suspicious of "Uravity". When Himiko was called in to Hawks' office, she made a split-second decision. She told Mina to go to her apartment and try to hide Ochako elsewhere, then hurried to Spinner's apartment. Himiko visited Spinner and gave him a bag full of evidence, then asked for his wallet. Although he refused, Fuyumi, who was visiting, offered her own. Ochako took it and went to confront Hawks. After confronting him, Hawks admitted he knew what Hades and the NHAL were doing, and said it was all worth it to improve pro-heroes. At the end, he demanded Himiko be arrested, but Himiko jumped out of a window. She took out a microphone from her pocket, put it in Fuyumi's wallet, then threw it into an alley. In the end, she was arrested, and went to jail.

Notes:

Here we go. I decided final chapter + epilogue in same chapter.

Jail was boring as fuck.

Less than a day in, Himiko was already craving some sort of stimulation. The cell she was in was bare, with three thick walls enclosed around her, and one wall barred with a locked door and a slot for meals to be passed in. There were several cells, but across from her, she could only see two of the unoccupied cells and a camera in the ceiling that made it clear she would not be able to get away with anything without notice. In her cell, there was a single cot, a toilet-and-sink combination… and nothing else.

She had already received dinner, and hated it. Mushy rice and a bland curry made her wish she had her kitchen. She hadn’t tried to talk to the jail staff who had given it to her, but as she pondered what the rest of her life was going to be like, she was tempted to wring a little human interaction out of whoever gave her meals. There had been an initial interrogation attempt before they put her here, but she had remained silent throughout, terrified of letting something slip that could implicate any of the others. She wondered if they would try again, and if she would eventually break her silence just to talk to another human being.

Jail wouldn’t be forever, though. It was just where she was going to be held until they decided which prison to put her. She shivered at the thought of going to Hades, underground, locked away forever and drained of her blood…

She took a deep breath and leaned back on her cot. Ochako had gotten through it, Himiko would get through it.

But what was “through it” when there was no end date for her imprisonment?

She put her head in her hands. Unlike the original situation, where her death had been faked, this arrest was public. People would expect some sort of trial, and a verdict as to how many years she would be locked away. Villain trials were notoriously quick and at the mercy of the judge, though. With the evidence of their wrongdoing obvious, the only debate was exactly how much punishment she deserved, and considering she didn’t have her own lawyer, she was sure the HPSC would maneuver one that would be happy to allow a life sentence.

Himiko forced herself to breathe at a steady pace. It wasn’t decided yet. And even if the worst happened, at least Himiko had given her friends the tools to pursue the HPSC, Hades, and the NHAL for their human rights violations. Even if Himiko lost herself here, she would save many lives down the line. And most importantly: Ochako was free.

As she deserved to be.

The thought brought her heart’s pace to normal, and she was able to lie down with a modicum of relief. All of this fucking sucked, and she wasn’t looking forward to any part of it, but there was no choice now. She was at the mercy of the corrupt justice and prison system, under the purview of the HPSC, and she wasn’t getting out anytime soon… but it was her, instead of Ochako.

Footsteps echoed. The hall between the cells was long—Himiko had walked down it on her way here—but with the solid wall in her cell the direction it went, she couldn’t look at what was there. All she could parse were two, no, three sets of footsteps, and the scent of anger. No wonder, in a place like this.

The footsteps got close to her, but just before they came into view, there was rattling of a cell door opening—the one just beside Himiko. She couldn’t see through the thick wall between the cells.

“You missed dinner. Expect breakfast in the morning,” a guard said.

The shutting of the cell door echoed so loud that Himiko flinched. 

Her fellow captive said nothing, and even once the guards walked away, Himiko waited several minutes to let their heavy breathing calm before broaching any sort of conversation.

“So… come here often?” Himiko said.

There was movement, the person getting up in the other cell, and a familiar voice called out, “Himiko?”

Her stomach dropped.

Ochako.

Urgently, Himiko tried to shove her hand through the bars, right by the measly wall that separated her from Ochako, but all she could get was a few fingers before the base of her knuckles blocked her going further.

“They got you?” Himiko whispered, horrified. “But I asked Mi–...”

She froze, glancing at the cameras. Were there microphones here?

Were they jailed beside each other for a reason?

“I couldn’t get away in time,” Ochako explained. “By the time I realized something was going on, there were already people surrounding the apartment who caught me. I’m your accomplice, apparently.”

Himiko pressed her forehead against the wall, struggling to take deep breaths.

“I’m sorry,” she murmured.

“I know I can handle it,” Ochako said blasely. “I’m more worried about you.”

There was so much Himiko wanted to say, but she didn’t dare provide evidence that could be used against them later. Though Hawks had figured out there was an issue, he still didn’t know the particulars, or even the core truth of the matter—that the real Ochako was the one who he had kept in Hades all those years. The less he knew, the more off-guard he would be when the truth came out.

It was in the hands of her friends. now.

 

---

 

#new-posts:

Spin-the-Lizard: This is a big one, guys. https://www.blade-edge-thoughts.com/the-real-story-of-toga-himiko-and-uraraka-oc…

 

---

 

The next day, Himiko was taken to an interrogation room.

Hawks stood across from the table, smirking. At the very least, she no longer needed to wear her mask with him, so she could stop putting on that saccharine smile and instead glare freely.

“Did you really think you would get away with it?” Hawks said.

She didn’t respond.

“You thought you and Uravity could fool everyone? You may have Uravity’s form, but you’re not her. It was inevitable you’d be caught. And now, you’ve dragged her in with you. Are you happy about that?”

She held back a grin.

“Of course you are, you’re a villain. I bet you gave her a sob story, didn’t you? She cared about you. Someone had to have broken you out, and we’re compiling all the evidence. Uravity will not only be an accomplice, but someone who committed a prison break. We can have her behind bars for life if we want. If there’s no reason to think otherwise, we’ll blame her for everything. The stabbings, kidnapping, and more will all be her fault indirectly for breaking you out. But…”

He leaned forward.

“...If you give us information, speed up the investigation, we’ll be merciful towards her. She might even get parole. If we know exactly how things went down, we don’t have to blame her for everything. If you want, we could pin all the blame on you. We’ll push the case as you threatening or manipulating her, and you can ease some of the blame. You’re going away for life no matter what, after all. Don’t you want to give her a little more freedom than that?”

As if Himiko could trust Hawks after what he’d done. She said nothing.

He scoffed. “Of course you don’t care. Luckily, Uravity’s already confessed everything.”

Himiko raised a single eyebrow.

“It’s true. I just wanted to see if you would cooperate so we can confirm her testimony. But be serious, Toga, you really think Uravity would keep her lips shut? When she’s facing prison? Of course she admitted it all. But tell me your version, and we’ll confirm what she’s said. If you want, you can twist it so you take more culpability. I really am willing to work with you here, Toga.”

When she said nothing, he sighed.

“If you won’t cooperate, we’ll have to throw the books at Uravity. This silence tells me you don’t care about her. I don’t know what I was expecting from someone who’s killed people.”

“You killed Jin.”

His lips parted, and he drew back as though he’d been stung. For several long seconds, they were both silent aside from Hawks’ ragged breathing.

Finally, he said, “I had to do my job.”

She said what she needed to, and wouldn’t say anything more. She simply stared him down, smelling the sweat emanating from him.

He brushed off the top of his suit, as though there was any dust there. “You’re trying to distract me from the point. The point being, if you provide testimony, we can sort out the truth and–”

There was a knock at the door, fast and hard.

Before getting any response, it opened and a man with dark circles under his eyes peeked in. “Uh, Hawks?”

He frowned. “Do you mind? I’m in the middle–”

“It’s urgent. You’re gonna want to see this now.”

Hawks glared at Himiko one more time before following the man out. She waited a minute in the empty room until a guard came by and led her back to her cell.

There was no more attempt to restart the interrogation.

 

---

 

Image of Utstushimi Camie and Uravity at a blood drive, their faces pressed together and smiling.

Illus-o-Camie: Hey girlypops! Have you heard the hot goss about Uravity, AKA Toga Himiko? Well I am here to SPILL. THE. #TEA. Himiko and I have been besties for YEARS, and I gotta say: I am 100% on her side. If you don’t know the deets, then check out the link in my bio to the Blade Edge Thoughts blogpost which has the REAL story. You all know me, I am a GIRL’S GIRL, and seeing how the HPSC and the legal system has treated who they thought was her and may plan to treat her now… I can NOT just sit here like it’s all legit. Uh, hello? That’s my bestie. And that’s why I gotta make a hard decision: As of tomorrow, I am going on STRIKE. That’s right, while Himiko is in jail and not allowed to do her job, I’m not gonna do my job either! Don’t expect Illus-o-Camie on the field! Don’t worry, I’ll be on all my soshes to spread the word, but I’m not gonna work for the suits when they’re tryna punish my girl who’s already been THROUGH it. Got it? If you really get it, then join the club: Post YOUR tea on the situation with the #FreeUravity tag, and if you’re a REAL fan, get in here and join my strike!

 

---

 

A live video, pro-hero Shouto stands behind a podium with a microphone. There are flashes of lights as photographers take pictures. Shouto reads off of notecards, slightly stiff.

SHOUTO: Thank you all for gathering here today. I don’t normally hold press conferences like this, but some friends of mine helped me organize my thoughts here. If you have not had a chance to review the latest post on Blade Edge Thoughts, you should do so. That will provide important context for what I’m going to say next. Not only has the HPSC put my friends Himiko and Ochako through suffering, but they have hurt my family. My brother Touya has been kept in Hades for eight years with his body being unwillingly experimented on. He may be capable of recovering some of his health and mobility, but the HPSC chose to hide this from us and force his body to…

Shouto pauses. Several notecards fall.

SHOUTO: I’m sorry, but what use is heroism if it doesn’t allow me to save my own brother? What I’m trying to say is, I’m going on strike. I will not be returning to pro-hero work until there is a plan to transition my brother to care elsewhere, and my friends Himiko and Ochako are released. Um.

He squints at a final notecard

SHOUTO: Hash-tag-Free-Uravity. Thank you.

He bows, not responding to shouted questions from reporters in the audience, and turns away

 

---

 

“Get up,” one of the guards tells Himiko. “You have a visitor.”

Her door was opened, but a pair of handcuffs were immediately put on her to discourage fighting any of the several guards who had come to accompany her. Not that she was inclined to do so, at least not until she could find a way to release Ochako as well. The guard led her away from the cells, and she was blessed with a brief view of Ochako in her cell as they passed her by.

It was nice to see her face, however briefly, after nearly a week of sitting beside each other. They had been able to speak, and it had been nice to hear Ochako’s voice, but they hadn’t even been able to talk about the truth of things, not with the ever-present camera.

“Come on,” a guard urged her forward.

Himiko pouted, but continued. “Who’s my visitor?” she asked.

None of them responded verbally, but one shrugged.

There was no way it was her friends. If they had been allowed to visit, they would have come days ago. Maybe it was Hawks again, or some HPSC interrogator ready to drill into her earnestly.

So she sullenly followed until she was pushed into a small room with a table, one chair for her, and some sort of glass with holes that separated her from her visitor across the table. She faced them squarely, and found an older man peering at her through a pair of tiny spectacles.

He smiled at her, and she blinked several times while trying to recall his name.  “...Yama…?”

“Yamazaki,” he completed for her, “from book club.”

She nodded slowly. “Right. And…. how are you visiting me?”

It wasn’t that he was unwelcome, but rather that he was entirely unexpected. She had met him exactly once—at that book club meeting she accompanied Spinner to.

He grinned. “If you’ll allow it, I’m going to be your new lawyer!”

She blinked several times at him. “...You’re a lawyer?”

He nodded. “While I was in prison, I was given the opportunity to read some law books, build up my skills, and after I got out I worked my way through law school to advocate for others who end up in here. Now, I’d like to take on your case, if you’re willing to have me.”

Her eyebrows raised high. She hadn’t even thought of what kind of lawyer she would want for a trial, assuming that the results would be set in advance. Before she could think better, she said, “Why? We’ve met like, once. You don’t need to go this far…”

“I do, actually.” He took off his spectacles to wipe idly at them with a cloth. “Ms. Todoroki called upon me with the particulars of your case. She is extremely invested, and it’s already quite high-profile. The news is going crazy, and with all eyes on your eventual trial, we were able to force the opportunity to get you a proper lawyer of your choice. People are debating the best way to handle this situation all over. It’s a peculiar set of circumstances involving some household names.”

Himiko straightened up, suddenly realizing that this man had a connection to the outside world she currently didn’t, and knew what was actually going on. “What does the public know?”

He snorted, putting the glasses back on. “What don’t they know? Iguchi posted an excellent piece on his blog, along with evidence of everything the HPSC and their connected organizations have been up to. The news stations have gone rabid, and even though Blade Edge Thoughts was briefly taken down, people archived and spread it everywhere, and the blog just got back up and is available again.”

“So they know just about everything.”

“It’s a crazy story. A villain living as a pro-hero for eight years? A pro-hero imprisoned with no due process and treated like a villain in that same time? That same pro-hero being driven to villainy the moment she was broken out of her prison, only to be talked down by her ex-rival? Plus, a recording of the president of the HPSC monologuing like a supervillain? The drama! And of course, the moral and philosophical implications. It’s a juicy situation—the news can talk for hours by just bringing in a debater or two on the subject.”

If all this had been exposed, that meant Himiko could speak more freely with Ochako. Not about the break-outs, assuming Spinner skimmed the details to avoid implicating the other pro-heroes, but just about everything else.

“Fortunately, there’s a decent subset of the public that are sympathetic to you guys, and pressure from them was how I was able to weasel my way in here. After all, doesn’t a woman who’s been so woefully mistreated deserve proper representation that is not given by the HPSC?”

After a week of tense stasis, things changed all at once. Just this one connection to the outside world, knowing that her plot with recording Hawks and using Fuyumi’s wallet had worked, knowing that there were people out there still advocating for her, that Fuyumi had specifically requested and pushed for her to get legal counsel despite the HPSC keeping her locked up for a week with no explanation so far… it made that week of shriveling up into a bored mess unfurl into… something.

Something hopeful.

“Ochako needs a lawyer, too,” Himiko said, instead of just accepting.

He chuckled. “I’m scheduled to talk to her next.”

She breathed out. “Thank you.”

“So? Will you accept me as your lawyer?”

She sat up straight, and nodded firmly. “Yes.”

 

---

 

Vertical video of Ashido Mina. She’s holding her phone up to record her face.

Pinkie-Official: FINALLY I’ve officially ended my relationship with the HPSC! Unfortunately, even though I’m sure you guys are curious, my lawyer has advised me that my NDA and other contract stuff kinda still applies for some of the stuff I wanna say. So instead, I’m gonna talk about some very special people to me. I don’t have a head for complicated moral questions and stuff, but I’m pretty good at friendship. And, despite everything, Himiko and Ochako are still my friends. Yes, even Ochako, even after that whole kidnapping thing. I still wanna reconcile with her properly… but that’s impossible while she’s in jail. Until my friends are free, I’m going to go on strike from pro-hero work[…]

#Pinkie #fyp #HeroTog #FreeUravity

 

---

 

It was Himiko’s habit now to take a seat on the floor beside the wall separating her and Ochako. She had moved her cot there as well, so she could sleep near her. The only times she got to see Ochako were glimpses passing by when she went to meet Yamazaki, but at least they could converse freely. The cat was out of the bag, so even if they were being recorded, there was plenty they could say without giving anything new to the investigation.

“Why Mina?” Himiko asked one evening.

“...What do you mean?”

“For the kidnapping. Why her over any other HPSC pro-hero?”

“It was good timing, and a few other things. She was all over the news already, so I figured the punch would be bigger. And I knew her well enough to be able to lure her into a bathroom and take a drink from me. And probably most importantly—I knew her weaknesses. Trying to keep someone drugged and unconscious for multiple days in a row is dangerous, according to my drug supplier, and I didn’t want to kill her, so I knew I’d have to have her conscious at least some of the time. Knowing what her weakness would let me keep her without trouble.”

Himiko recalled the scene she’d encountered when coming to rescue Mina. Mina on her knees while Ochako held her horns, forcing water down her throat. “But did you have to treat her that way?”

For a minute, Ochako didn’t say anything. Himiko waited patiently. In here, the only thing they had in abundance was time.

Eventually, Ochako said, “She needed water, but refused to drink. I wanted her dehydrated, but not dead.”

Her head was full of Mina, the sound of her sob after Ochako held her mouth closed and forced her to swallow. She couldn’t help the sass in her voice as she responded, “So you had to do all that?”

“She– I…” Ochako groaned. “She didn’t give me any choice. I just had to, alright? Lay off, you’ve done worse.”

Himiko bristled and went silent. She couldn’t argue with that.

 

---

 

The camera follows two people walking down the street. There’s a green-haired man in a suit and a lanky man in black with dark, shaggy hair. The camera approaches them from the side.

REPORTER: Hi, Mr. Midoriya? I’m with Channel 6 News, we just heard about your walk-out from UA due to the recent Uravity controversy. Would you speak with us for a minute about your decision?

Midoriya turns to face the camera. There’s already some sweat on his brow, but he smiles at the reporter and shakes her hand.

MIDORIYA: Oh! Nice to meet you, really, it’s, um, sorry I wasn’t expecting this, it’s not just me, there are a few teachers who, uh, we all ended up coming to an agreement, considering the circumstances, and what the right response might be…

REPORTER: What made you choose to walk out of UA?

MIDORIYA: It’s kind of personal, sort of, in a way, well, I guess my choice to walk out is more about the fact that what’s going on now is wrong, but there are some complicating factors personally in regards to my feelings towards Toga. Not that that matters, really, I mean, even if there are some weird feelings, the core of the issue really doesn’t change. It might have taken me some time to figure out how I wanted to respond to the news that came out, and the news of the imprisonment, I mean they were refused legal counsel for almost a week initially, which seems pretty bad, and I thought well even if things are messy, there has to be something I can do, because everyone can be a hero in their own way, and although this is a bit tangential to the original point…

The reporter’s smile is stiff as Midoriya rambles, but then the shaggy-haired man leans forward into the microphone and takes over.

AIZAWA: What Midoriya is trying to say is: Both Toga Himiko and Uraraka Ochako are alumni of UA high school. Although Toga may have a villainous history, she ultimately earned a hero license and has been working diligently with no issues. Uraraka, a student of UA, was stripped of her rights and imprisoned with no trial for eight years. As educators, it’s important to consider the world we are going to release our students into. In this situation, with the HPSC unchecked and allowed to commit these human rights abuses against our alumni, several UA teachers have chosen to walk out until UA takes a stand against the HPSC and supports their alumni. We are a beacon of the future, and we have the opportunity to take a stand. I have encouraged all my colleagues to walk out, and we will see how UA responds. We are answering no more questions.

Aizawa pushes Midoriya, and Midoriya waves with a smile as they walk away from the reporter.

 

---

 

“What was UA like?” Ochako asked.

Himiko snorted. “You know.”

“I knew my first year, but nothing else. Nothing about your life there. I’m curious.”

She leaned against the wall. How could she sum up that whirlwind of two years? “I guess it was stressful… but mostly good.”

“Lotta homework?” Ochako asked, smirk audible.

Himiko chuckled. “Sure. That sucked, but I… I got help with that. There were so many helpful people, though I still struggled a lot. Probably more stressful was the whole ‘I have to act like Ochako no matter what’ thing.”

There was no response, and Himiko’s nerves bubbled up.

“Not that I didn’t like acting like you, you’re cute and fun, you were a great person to embody, it was just…”

“You’re not me,” Ochako completed the thought.

Himiko swallowed hard and stared at her cell wall. Though she often wished she could see Ochako during these conversations, there was something freeing about not seeing each other’s faces. Like a discussion in the dark.

Ochako continued, “Maybe you were better than me.”

Himiko barked out a laugh. “As if. I was so unstable at first… always on edge, trying to look totally normal about everything. Apparently your classmates thought you were traumatized from the war, from how I was acting. I was always scrambling, desperately clinging on to the little snippets your friends used to say. ‘I got you this keychain, you like this character, right?’—I would look up that character and make sure I mentioned I liked them the next time I hung out with your friends. I didn’t even know—what’s your favorite color?”

“My favorite color?”

“What is it?”

“I don’t have one.”

Himiko bit her lip. Another imperfect piece of the amalgamation she made of Ochako. For eight years, she had performed an imperfect rendition. She admitted, “Your friends said you loved pink.”

There was an amused huff that echoed on the concrete walls. “Did they? I guess I wore it. The designer for my hero suit said that a pastel pink contrasted well with my brunette hair. It’s not like I hate it, but I don’t love it more than any other color.”

How many things were there about Ochako that Himiko hadn’t gotten to know? That even Ochako’s own friends and classmates had been deprived of getting to learn?

“I wish this all hadn’t happened,” Himiko said. “I wish that you had gotten to continue attending UA. I wish your friends got to actually spend the past eight years with the real you. I wish–”

“I don’t,” Ochako said.

“I wish we both got to survive and be happy for all those years,” Himiko completed.

Ochako didn’t counter that.

After some time, she said, “That was impossible. What happened was the best-case scenario.”

“You didn’t get to finish high school. You were cut off from your family, your friends–”

“Clearly they liked you, enough to accept–”

Before Ochako could say anything incriminating, Himiko said “They didn’t like me, they liked me playing you.”

“But it was you playing me, not me. And with how well you played me, I wonder if I even…”

Himiko waited, breath held as Ochako strung her thoughts together.

“I’m not the Ochako they know—the one you made. Or even the Ochako they knew back then. I’ve changed.”

Though Ochako had gotten to see some of her old classmates while planning the HPSC takedown, she’d hardly reintroduced herself to them before she ended up in this jail with Himiko. 

“I’m not a normal person anymore. Maybe… it might be for the best that I go back to prison. To stay.”

Himiko sat up straight. “No.”

“I’m just being realistic. Even with Yamazaki arguing my case, there’s no way we’re getting off scot-free. And even if, by some miracle, I was set free… how could I ever like, exist? Like you said, I never finished high school. There’s no way I’ll go into hero work, but who’s gonna hire someone like me? I don’t even know how to pay a bill, or do taxes, or whatever else adults do. As soon as you broke me out, I turned to villainy, because there’s literally no other option for someone as clueless as me. I’m better suited for prison, where I’ve always been, where I know how things work. Outside, there’s not a place for me, not this pathetic me who doesn’t know anything.”

Her heart clenched tight at how much Ochako had missed out on, how much she should have gotten to know and learn.

All stuff she had allowed Himiko to take and learn instead.

“If you stay in prison, I want to stay with you,” Himiko said.

“What? No, you should be free. You deserve freedom.”

“Then I guess we should both aim to get out of here, huh?”

Ochako sighed. “It’s just not realistic. You could handle it, but there’s not a place for someone like me.”

“You’ll have a place,” Himiko stated, firm. “Just ‘cause you’ve been isolated doesn’t mean you aren’t capable of learning. I’ll make a place where you can learn all of that, and we can face it together.”

Ochako went silent after that, but Himiko didn’t push. Himiko’s mind had already started to drift, remembering Spinner’s apartment, the mess it had been, his nervousness at going grocery shopping with her.

When she last saw him, the apartment had looked better, and he had Fuyumi over. He was going to the book club regularly. Even if it had taken time, he found his footing. Himiko tried to imagine Ochako taking her first, proper steps into civilian life. Grocery shopping for herself, visiting a friend, maybe getting a whole new haircut if she wanted a change.

Yamazaki had talked to Himiko mostly about her individual case, but she always brought up Ochako as well. He claimed there was promise in her sentencing—Ochako had been wrongly imprisoned for eight years, and since escaping, non-fatally stabbed just three people (four if one counted Himiko), kidnapped one person, and generally caused terror. Yamazaki seemed to believe some mix of arguing that Ochako only committed such acts due to the cruelty of being imprisoned so long, and that she had functionally pre-emptively “served time” that she might be expected to serve for these crimes could mesh into a defense that Ochako deserved to walk free. Though Ochako was scared of living a civilian life, there was a real possibility it might be in her future.

Himiko curled in on herself, thinking of her own charges. She had murdered people, joined a villain group that had terrorized Japan, functionally committed identity theft for eight years, and had never served any time for what she did. The public might accept Ochako’s release, but how many could accept Himiko’s?

She swallowed hard. She wanted to be there for Ochako, to hold her hand as they walked through the world, and help her through the complexities of learning how to handle this world, but the chances of that…

She steadied her breathing. It wouldn’t do any good to make Ochako hear her crying when they couldn’t even reach over to touch each other. 

Himiko was sure that their friends and Ochako’s parents would be willing to help her.

Still, she hoped for a miracle.

 

---

 

SUPPLY CHAINS DISRUPTED BY YAOYOROZU CORPORATION SHUTDOWNS

Distributors are scrambling to pivot their supply chains due to the Yaoyorozu corporation breaking several contracts. The Yaoyorozu corporation is known for their wide-reaching involvement in many industries, including entertainment, medicine, and business. They are not known for publicly involving themselves in controversies such as the recent case of Toga Himiko and Uraraka Ochako. However, they released a public statement that they are shutting down operations that interact with the HPSC and their partnered organizations until the case is resolved and the two women are released. Although this is a shocking decision, a factor in this decision may be the current only daughter of the Yaoyorozu CEO—Pro-hero Creati, who graduated UA with Uravity (recently revealed to be infamous villain Toga Himiko) and who has collaborated with her on many occasions.

The Yaoyorozu corporation is not the only group who has protested the current treatment of the two women currently jailed and facing one of the most exciting court cases in recent memory. This comes less than a week after UA has temporarily shut its doors due to a teacher’s strike protesting the treatment of their alumni by the courts and the HPSC. Beyond that, many pro-heros have chosen to individually strike and have been sharing their support for both women currently jailed as they await their sentencing. Other pro-heroes have been scrambling to fill in patrol gaps, and the pressure currently on the HPSC to address their apparent corruption is immense.

After all, the core issue here stems from the way the HPSC treated the woman they believed to be Toga Himiko. If the evidence that Iguchi Shuicihi revealed is to be believed, the HPSC faked Toga Himiko’s death and kept the person they believed to be her imprisoned for eight years with no trial or public acknowledgement. The fact that they actually imprisoned an innocent teenage girl who had been training to be a pro-hero is an egregious error that has led to many on social media to question whether the HPSC can be trusted in general. The way they handle this upcoming court case will be watched closely by all of Japan.

The Yaoyorozu corporation, UA, and many pro-heroes have already expressed what they want the outcome of this case to be. However, it will be up to the courts to determine what the appropriate sentencing will be, and potentially consequences that the HPSC may have to face.

 

---

 

“I’ve been thinking about Mina,” Ochako started abruptly, late one night. 

The lights stayed on 24/7 in this jail, but Himiko had her arm slung over her eyes in an attempt to simulate night. She barely recalled their previous Mina conversation, days or perhaps even a week ago, but she responded, “Oh?”

“You asked me the other day about why I treated her that way, forced her to drink the water. And it pissed me off because you were acting like I shoulda been nice about it or something, but she kept resisting! And the more she resisted, the more she sealed her lips and glared back at me, I felt… I had to…”

She trailed off, and for another minute or two, they were quiet. There was no rush.

Ochako sighed, and seemed to change the subject. “Back in Hades, I had no control. I knew it from the start, and I mostly cooperated. But… occasionally, I would have… phases.”

“Phases?”

“It gets boring, Himiko. I can tell you’re already bored here—”

“It’s not so boring, with you next door.”

“—but imagine I wasn’t here, and you were just by yourself. And maybe one guard who refused to respond to any conversation attempts. I never really wanted to escape, knowing what that would mean for you, but sometimes I wanted something… different. But what could I control? They had me locked up, but on rare occasions, like with the doctor visits, there were… opportunities.”

Himiko wished she could see Ochako’s face to help her understand what she was dancing around. “For?”

“For lashing out. At least then, I was getting a real response from a human person like, actually seeing me. It changed things up, even if it usually made things worse. It made me feel like I was in control, however briefly. They used to make me drink blood, to see how your transformation worked, and for the first year or so I cooperated, but then one day I refused just to see what would happen, and…”

Himiko swallowed hard, waiting to hear.

But again, Ochako changed the subject. “When you broke me out, I suddenly had control again. Of my life. Of your life. I was able to threaten you and Kyouka to do what I wanted, I was able to just… I had weapons! I could stab people! I could stalk an old classmate into a club and just take her. It was terrifying but also so, so amazing to feel like, after my world was a single cell for eight years, that suddenly I could bend the whole rest of the world to my will. So I had Mina restrained and everything, and she should have seen there was no use resisting, but she kept refusing to drink, and I knew that when someone gets stubborn like that, the only way…”

Her breaths were audible, ragged.

“Violence gave me the control I needed.”

Himiko couldn’t help the quirk of her lips, and let out a little chuckle. “I know that feeling.”

When she had been homeless on the streets, violence had been her language as well. Creeps who followed a young girl in a school uniform into an alley believed they had the control, but she always felt so good twisting things around with just a pretty knife aimed precisely at their vitals. Then she was free to drain their blood and wallet. No need to beg or negotiate or try to navigate their intentions. Violence was delicious when it was in her favor.

Ochako continued her thoughts, “Even when I was scrambling, seeing the media so terrified by what I was doing with the stabbings, taking Mina, seeing Mina scared of me… I liked it. I liked knowing that even though I had been rotting for eight years, that even though Mina was living her life, accepted, and knew all sorts of things I never got to learn, with just a little dedication and power I was above her. At least for that moment.”

It only ever lasted a moment, though. And the only way to keep that feeling, to continue feeling any sort of safety or confidence, was to rely on that violence again and again.

A ruthless lifestyle.

“Once you start, it’s hard to stop,” Himiko confessed quietly.

There was always a bigger fish in the ocean, and it could change at a moment’s notice. The pro-heroes and the HPSC were on top of the chain, and then the Paranormal Liberation Front tore them down and lived their lives with no regard for anyone else. Eventually though, the scales tipped again, and the Paranormal Liberation Front was sent scrambling. There was no stability, only the illusion that if you could just get strong and stay stronger than everyone else, you would never have to be afraid ever again.

Ochako said, “I didn’t want to stop, not until I saw where it led. The knife in your gut…” Her breath out was shaky. “You’re stronger than I am, giving it up.”

Himiko snorted. “Give it up? Not at all. I became a pro-hero.”

There was good work the pro-heroes did, but they were another arm of violence.  A threat enacted. If you fight the state, the state fights back. 

She continued, “I still hurt people, but as a pro-hero, I didn’t have to worry about being arrested for it.”

There were regulations and expectations and in theory the law demanded she wield her power wisely. There were theoretical limits—on paper, she wasn’t supposed to murder villains, but she had seen how Hawks evaded consequences. If Himiko had wanted to be more ruthless…

She had specialized in rescue operations to avoid what she could, but in her position, it had been inevitable that she be involved in battles and arrests. There was an element of defense, violence only made “acceptable” by the existence of innocent people endangered who didn’t deserve to be hurt.

She also knew very well that the villains had probably been hurt first. By society, or by people who would never face consequences for their cruelty. Pro-hero work didn’t allow her to figure out the source of their pain, though. All it allowed her was permission to flex her own strength until they were forced to stand down.

“When you get out of here… do you still want to be a pro-hero?” Ochako asked.

The “when” was awfully confident, but Himiko indulged the thought. “Even if I got out, even if all this controversy didn’t force me to retire… I was only a pro-hero to be you, Ochako. It’s not even my own dream.”

“It’s not my dream, either. Not anymore.”

“What do you want to do, then?” Himiko asked.

When she went quiet, Himiko regretted the question. Ochako had been focused on just surviving, she had even talked about wanting to stay in prison because she didn’t know what else to do. When would she have had time to come up with what she would want to do with a free life?

Eventually, Ochako said, “I don’t know. But… I’ll want you by my side. No matter what.”

Himiko swallowed hard, the distance of the wall between them feeling insurmountable. She wanted to reach over and hold Ochako, or even just see her, but they were separated. Maybe if they both went to prison, one where they could be bunkmates instead of neighbors…

No, Ochako deserved to be free. And although Himiko desperately hoped for her own freedom, she had known where she was going the moment she walked into Hawks’ office. 

The chance that a villain like Himiko could be released was too small for her to seriously believe in that future.

Still, she responded, “I’d like to be by your side, too.”

 

---

 

A tall, well-dressed gentleman with thick, dark eyeliner and a magnificent mustache stands at a podium.

TOBITA DANJURO: I would like to thank the press for coming here today, as I want to make an official statement. For anyone watching who hasn’t had the opportunity to see me before, I am Tobita Danjuro, co-CEO of GeL Incorporated. You may know of GeL inc from our tireless efforts in the Cyber War nearly six years ago. I would dare to say that we were instrumental in fighting off hacks that could have endangered the entirety of Japan, and perhaps even the world if those cyber-attacks had gone unaddressed. What you may not know, or may have forgotten, is that I was once Gentle Criminal—that’s right, a villain. I was charged with villainy and imprisoned for crimes I committed in an attempt to garner attention that I had been unable to gain via other channels. I was set to spend years and years in prison, but during the Paranormal Liberation Wars, there was a prison break. Deep down, I had always wanted to be a hero, and I finally saw my chance to prove my worth. When my prison, Mikuzu prison, was broken into by the villain All for One, I personally restrained all of my fellow prisoners as a sign of my dedication to turning over a new leaf, and as a result Mizuku was the only prison attacked that had no escapees. Those wars were a tumultuous time, and instead of throwing me back into prison, I was blessed to have people with authority who recognized my efforts and asked me what I wanted—which was to help. I helped with the rest of the Paranormal Liberation Front, founded this company with my brilliant and lovely wife, and changed the world, in my opinion, for the better.

His expression turns serious, thick eyebrows pressing down.

TOBITA DANJURO: I was a criminal, a villain. Please do not forget that. Do not forget that I flunked out of hero school, that I endangered people, and that I was slated to stay in that prison for many years. That was a decision made by the justice system, and I thought it was an unchangeable sentence. However…

He chokes slightly, but composes himself.

TOBITA DANJURO: I was pardoned. I was given a new chance to prove myself, and I have lived every day proving the miracles that happen when you give people an opportunity to rejoin society. I was finally reunited with my wife, and with her at my side, I have never stopped trying to be better.

He stares into the distance a moment, as though lost in thought, then focuses back on the cameras.

TOBITA DANJURO: All of this, of course, is old news! So why am I rehashing the same old stuff? Well, I must confess I’ve been keeping my eyes on the Uravity case, or rather, the Toga-Uraraka case. I read of Toga Himiko’s situation, and I see myself in her. Was she a villain? Yes, but what has she been since then? The way I see it, her eight years of stellar hero work, the records of which are publicly available, are a more certain testament to her character and the kind of work she could continue to do if she were released than the crimes she committed as a teenager almost a decade ago.

He looks straight into a camera, eyes serious.

TOBITA DANJURO: These are extraordinary circumstances… for both of the women involved, and the people in Hades who have been abused all this time. Let us not forget that pardons are a precedented action that can be taken in these sorts of extraordinary cases.

 

---

 

The guard came to their cells. “It’s time for your trial.”

 

---

---

---

 

She woke up alone. 

She patted the space beside her in the bed, hoping for something different, but nope, the bed was all hers. Blearily, she opened her eyes and let the sun stream in. It was probably midmorning by now.

With a yawn, she stretched and considered what her outfit for the day was going to be. It was a big day, after all, she couldn’t wear her frilly pajamas to the courthouse. In the past two years, she’d gotten into more retro fashions—leg warmers, chunky boots, even bell-bottoms—that hid her ankle monitor. Although she had gotten comfortable allowing it to be seen in the sweltering summers as she shed layers to stay cool, if she had a choice, she preferred to cover it up. It was a grip, a final mark from the state reminding her that in spite of everything, she was still under their rules.

Today, though, she wanted it on display. She wanted to walk out of that courthouse showing off her ankles.

Her free ankles.

She found a nice pair of light blue flats buried in the closet. Paired with a breezy skirt, maybe a fun blouse… yeah, it was all coming together.

There was no need to rush, though, as her appointment was many hours away. She’d put the clothes on later. First: breakfast.

She walked out into the kitchen, and heard sizzling.

With a grin, she snuck on her tip-toes, erasing her presence, until she was right up behind the person gripping the handle of a pan and poking at some eggs with chopsticks.

“Boo,” Himiko whispered.

Ochako jumped and swung an arm out towards Himiko, but Himiko ducked and tucked into the space between Ochako’s arms, pressing their bodies together before planting a kiss on her nose.

“Gotchu,” Himiko murmured.

Ochako harrumphed and turned back to her pan, but didn’t shove Himiko away. “Unfair, I was focused on doing something nice for you.”

Himiko curled her arms around her and rested her chin on Ochako’s shoulder. “Mmm, that for me?”

“Who else would I be cooking for?”

“Yourself?”

“I had some rice earlier. You sure slept in late.”

Himiko yawned. “It’s not that late.”

Ochako was shaking the pan and using the chopsticks to slowly ease the omelette into a shape. It stuck a little on the edges, and Ochako jabbed hard to loosen it. Some soft parts of the egg spilled through a hole in the firmer parts and pooled onto the edge of the pan, making a new extension off of the round shape Ochako had been building. Ochako cursed and tried to shove it up against the main shape, but spilled more in the process.

Once Ochako seemed to have it under control, Himiko said, “I ought to sleep in anyway, since I’ll be staying out late late tonight.”

“Yeah, yeah, no more curfew, now it’s party-girl Himiko’s era.”

Ochako puttered around the kitchen, pulling out a plate and scooping some rice onto it. It took all of Himiko’s self-control to not hang onto her and drag as she moved between cabinets and appliances. “You don’t get it, even after you got yours off last year, you didn’t even want to go out. It sucks to see Camie, Mina, everyone else posting about their nights at the club…”

“They reserved a table for you tonight, right?”

“Yes!”

There was a party Momo and Kyouka were hosting too, a dinnertime one that the non-clubbers would be attending to celebrate, but after some of her friends were going to go out with her.

Out. Clubbing. After 11pm! After two years of court-mandated curfews, she was finally going to get back to one of the highlights of her pre-conviction life.

By now, Ochako had the plate on the table, and had carefully eased the omelette onto the rice. After a moment of frowning at the misshapen lump with odd bits sticking out in every direction, Ochako went to the fridge and pulled out the ketchup. She squirted the shape of a red heart onto the yellow, and carefully began filling in the shape.

“Aww,” Himiko cooed as she sat down in front of it, smoothly grabbing a charger from the nearby outlet and plugging it into her ankle monitor to charge while she ate.

Ochako’s cheeks went pinker, but she continued squeezing the bottle. Even after the heart was filled in, she squirted the red over every odd ridge and discoloration, then began to fill it in even more… more…

Himiko laughed. “You think that’s enough ketchup?”

“Just trying to cover up the mistakes,” Ochako said, lips pursed in concentration.

She giggled and got up just enough to press a kiss to Ochako’s head. “It’s fine, Ochako. It’s cute all red like that.”

Finally, Ochako gave up the ketchup bottle, and Himiko was allowed to dig into the meal.

As she did so, Ochako began to outline her schedule. “I’m going to the gym with Bakugo and Sero pretty soon, and after that, I’ll be meeting Fuyumi and Spinner to sort out some logistics with the book club…”

“How is Fuyumi?” Himiko asked after a swallow.

Unfortunately, having to report to and request allowance from a case worker for any departure from her usual schedule meant that visiting people was a whole hassle. Although she had made an effort to see Spinner when she could, she hadn’t been able to attend many book clubs. Besides, the classes she was taking often conflicted with the meeting times.

Fortunately, Ochako kept her updated on most their activities. “She’s alright. She’s trying to figure out a way for Dabi to do a book signing for his poetry anthology—he’s got some mobility in his hands now, but he still gets fatigued easily.”

Himiko nodded. That aligned with how Dabi was when she last saw him—far better than when he was first released from Hades, but the recovery was slow going.

“I’ll let you know if she says any more about it today. And after that, of course, I’ll be at the courthouse with you.”

She grinned. “You better be.”

Suddenly, looking at Ochako’s soft smile, the temptation of a free life dangling in front of her, she felt the true weight on her ankle and doubts swirled.

Her plate was almost empty. She nibbled the last of it as she said, “They should get it off, right? I’ve been following all the rules they set out, even the shitty ones. I’ve been on my best behavior, I never go anywhere without requesting first, I answer all my case worker’s calls, I’m like, a textbook-case for rehabilitation at this point. I know how important it is for Yamazaki and the others to be able to use me as like, a good example or whatever, so I’ve been trying, but if the court decides at the last minute that there’s an issue and I need an extension…”

Ochako’s hands were on her shoulder, grounding her, and Ochako bent over to bring their faces close. “Hey, Himiko, come on. You have been great. What the fuck could they claim? You haven’t been caught breaking any of their stupid rules, and you’ve even been getting an associate’s degree in social work despite all their restrictions, they have no grounds…”

“If they twist it, find a bunch of loopholes like how Hawks’ lawyer twisted things around while he was on trial…”

Her hands squeezed her shoulders. “Then we’ll fight for you, Himiko. All of us, until you’re fully free again. Just like we fought for Hawks’ resignation and the deconstruction of the HPSC.”

The knot in Himiko’s gut loosened.

Ochako’s eyebrows were furrowed. “Are you sure you’re up for going to class today? If you want to skip…”

She shook her head. “It’ll be good to get some routine in. And my teacher will be excited, she thinks it’s a hoot that someone who wants to work with incarcerated people is on probation herself. I wanna update her that today’s finally the day.”

Ochako snorted, pulling back a bit. “‘Wants to’ work with? You’ve already got a good track record with transitioning me to post-prison life and shit.”

“I’ll put you down as a reference.”

As Himiko got up, she was abruptly surrounded. Ochako’s arms around her, face against her shoulder. Ochako’s teeth grazed Himiko’s collarbone, a reminder of their connection, and Himiko started to daydream about what they did last night, the tender kisses, a trail of blood dripping down her chest…

“Seriously,” Ochako mumbled against her, bringing her back to the now, “it’s gonna work out. It better be, or else.”

Himiko put her fingers into Ochako’s hair. She had been growing it out, and it was to her shoulders now, longer than Himiko’s bob. Neither of them looked like how they used to, anymore.

This was a new beginning for them.

 

---

 

The ankle monitor removal was a lawyers-only affair, done with no fanfare.

Himiko barely felt anything as it unlatched and fell off. Her heart didn’t even race as she stood up and walked down the halls of the courthouse, Yamazaki at her side, prattling about how excited he was, and praising her efforts to get to this point. It didn’t feel real—that from now on, she wouldn’t have to constantly call in with her class schedule to get permission to attend, and that she wouldn’t be called if she ever lingered too long in the building chatting with her classmates. She wouldn’t have to revolve her schedule around charging the damn weight that had her ankle in a chokehold for two years. No more check-ins, no more curfews, no more getting permission for every outing, no more constant surveillance from the state.

When she exited the courthouse and saw Ochako waiting outside with some of their friends, eyes immediately meeting hers, the emotion finally bubbled up. This was real. Now their truly free life together could begin.

Everything suddenly felt too slow. Himiko sprinted, and instead of descending the steps of the courthouse, she leapt. Her friends were already laughing, and Tenya shouted out a “Careful!” but Ochako’s arms were spread and waiting for her.

She dove in, and Ochako embraced her full-handedly, making her weightless. They spun, Ochako twirling Himiko around as they pressed their bodies together.

“I’m free!”

“You’re free!” Ochako exclaimed.

“We’re free!”

As they spun around and around, Himiko decided to embrace the moment for the miracle it was, even though there was so much more to do. When Himiko thought of helping people who had been forced through the trauma of the prison system, she felt a certainty and passion that had never quite clicked with her hero work. When Ochako talked about plans and movements for prison abolition, her eyes shone with an excitement that Hades had made rare. Their paths might pit them against the state, and they might have to face the justice system again in the future, but together? Himiko felt like they could achieve all their dreams.

When Ochako finally let her down, she was surrounded again by others. Tsuyu squeezing her hand, Camie taking a celebratory selfie with Mina and others squeezing into the frame, and Shouto giving her a thumbs up. Others crowded around, blurring as Himiko’s eyes filled with tears.

Several doves suddenly fluttered up into the sky—Kouda’s celebration. Himiko was mesmerized by the birds, released and free to go where they wanted, do what they wanted, and love how they wanted. Once they had flown out of sight, Himiko looked back at Ochako, who was still holding her hand. Ochako looked back, big brown eyes crinkling with a smile. 

It took a decade, but here they were, standing side by side, smiling. Himiko thought of every moment of despair that had made her wonder if it was all worth continuing forward… and decided that it was.

Now, their whole lives were their own.

Notes:

Thank you for reading all the way to the end! TogaChako is such a fun ship, and after reading the canon epilogue, I knew I had to give them my own spin to get to their happy ending. Sorry for putting them through SO MUCH along the way.... but now they have some peace. I appreciate everyone who read through and saw the vision I've had for them as well, and left such kind and thoughtful comments along the way.

Now, it's time for me to take a break from posting fic(s)!! There have been some various commitments and impending life-transitions that slowed me down towards the end of this fic, but I vowed I would keep on keeping on to the very end, and now I've reached it! The gals have reached a safe state, and the happy ending they deserve <3.

Once again, thank you for reading!!!!!!!

Notes:

Update schedule is Whenever I Want, but for now probably maybe about once a week?

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