Himiko stumbles through the alleyway, her mind wrapped in a foggy haze. She has lost track of time how long she's been wandering through back alleys and streets, she just knew she had to keep going, to get away.
It had been hours since she stopped to take a break, to scavenge for something to eat or drink, she just wanted to keep going. Eventually, her attention was drawn to a commotion in the distance, the wonderful smell of blood in the air catching her attention. She stumbled her way towards it, filled with a deep need to find the source of the blood. As she approached she began to hear the sounds of fighting and hearing the words 'hero' and 'villain,' but she never managed to make it out of the alleyway. As she stumbled and fell, her strength leaving her and things fading to black, the last thing she saw was a small kid with a mop of green hair walking towards her. She could barely pick out his question "are you alright?"
As she fell unconscious, the last thought on her mind was 'why did he care about her?'
Inko was looking around frantically for Izuku. As they were headed out to a shopping trip, a villain whose quirk allowed him to create razor blades from his body started threatening people in the shopping district. Heroes responded quickly, but whenever a villain attack occurs there is always chaos. She knew her son had definitely rushed off to watch the heroes in action, but she couldn't find him in the crowd that was forming.
"Mom!" After a few tense moments Inko breathed a sigh of relief as she saw Izuku coming out of an alleyway. "There's a girl back here, she needs help!"
Filled with concern over his words, Inko followed him to the alleyway and gasped at what she saw. A girl with disheveled ash-blonde hair was laying passed out on the ground. She was pale and thin, with dirty, torn clothes. On top of that, there was a worrying amount of dried blood on her clothes - too much for all of it to be hers, if Inko had to guess.
"We have to help her!"
"EMS should be coming soon. We can tell them about her dear. In the meantime we need to see if her parents are here." Although something told Inko that she wasn't going to find them.
Izuku just looked up at his mom from where he was kneeling next to the girl. "I'm going to stay here and wait with her!"
Inko sighed and gave her son a soft smile. Always the hero. "Ok, but if there is any trouble you come running, alright?"
Izuku nodded vigorously. "You bet!"
Inko then left the alleyway and was asking around if anyone was missing a daughter, the weight in her stomach growing as she was forced to acknowledge the fact that her parents were not there.
It only took a few minutes for EMS to arrive, and they began to treat the people caught up in the attack. Fortunately most of the wounds were just cuts and bruises, nothing too serious. It took her longer than she would have liked, but eventually Inko was able to speak to one of the EMS workers. "There is a girl in the alleyway with my son. She looks like she is in serious condition and needs help."
"Why didn't you say so sooner? Lead the way!"
The paramedic followed Inko to the alley where Izuku was, and after taking one look at the scene ran off to get extra help. Izuku had sat down and adjusted the girl so that her head was resting in his lap. Inko looked at her son in concern when he looked up at her, embarrassed. "She just looked so uncomfortable the way she was laying there."
It didn't take long for the paramedic to return with a partner and a stretcher, and they carefully loaded her onto it. While the second paramedic was busy wheeling the stretcher out of the alleyway, the first paramedic turned to Inko.
"What happened here?"
Izuku spoke up. "When the fighting broke out I was trying to get a better view of things, and happened to hear my friend in the alley. I don't know what happened to her, but I couldn't just leave her!"
The paramedic looked at Izuku, and then back at Inko with skepticism in his eyes while she looked down at her son. "Yes, that's what happened. She is a friend of his, but we haven't been able to get ahold of her parents. If you let us come with you, can we try again at the hospital?"
The paramedic just sighed. "Ok, come with us. Whatever happened to her is completely unrelated to this incident, and she is going to need medical attention."
Izuku at least had the shame to look guilty when Inko looked at him, as they followed the medics to their ambulance and got into the vehicle to travel to the hospital.
Himiko woke up, and found her head felt less foggy than it has been in months. Unfortunately, when she looked around the room, she realized she was in a hospital bed. Oh great, they found me.
"Mom, she's waking up!" She heard a voice coming from the chair next to her as she started pushing herself up, and when she looked it wasn't her parents, or the police, in the room with her, but rather a green-haired boy and a homely looking woman with matching green hair.
"Wait… what is going on?" Himiko asked, confused by what was going on.
"I saw you collapse in an alleyway!" the boy said. "We thought you were a victim of the villain attack that we saw, but when the medics checked on you they said you actually had other problems?"
The woman put a hand on her excitable son. "They said you were delirious from malnutrition, and had additional injuries that forced them to admit you. When we asked around there was nobody in the area who knew who you were, so they let us come along. Even if they didn't, I'm sure my son would have forced us to come to the hospital anyway."
Himiko let out a long breath, her eyes avoiding the woman's. "Even if you could find someone, they wouldn't care."
The expression on the woman changed, and she looked like she wanted to say more, but they were interrupted by a doctor and nurse entering the room.
The doctor looked at the two guests with a look of concern. "Mrs. Midoryia? Can you and your son step into the hallway for a moment while the nurse checks on our patient?"
A look of terror flashed across Himiko's face as the woman left the room. On impulse - or maybe because the boy reminded her of Saito - she reached out to the small boy. "Don't leave me."
Concern flashed across the boy's face as he locked eyes with her, seemingly looking for something before he gave her a determined nod. "I promise, I'll be back!"
He then left the room as the nurse began to check her vitals.
In the hallway the Doctor ushered the two away from the room, and led them down the hallway. "Mrs. Midorya, it took some effort but we found out who this girl is. Her name is Himiko Toga. Unfortunately it seems like her situation is complicated. First off - when we tried to contact her family they claimed to have no such daughter and hung up on us. And on top of that, we have learned that there is an active manhunt out for her."
Inko gasped and gripped onto Izuku's shoulder. It was hard to reconcile the image of the girl with a wanted criminal. "What could possibly have happened to cause that?"
"Apparently she attacked another student and… drank his blood. It caused quite the scene." The doctor said, a look of concern on his face. "She has been on the run ever since, with police and Heroes both looking for her."
"She is being abused at home." Izuku spoke up, causing both adults to look at him with surprise.
"Izu, why would you say that?"
He looked up at the doctor with a determined face. "You missed it, but after you told us to follow you she had a look of absolute terror and she made me promise that I wouldn't leave her alone. I think there is more to the story."
The doctor looked down at the boy. "Well, what do you think we should do? I have to help people, but I can't just let this go - we will be contacting the authorities."
Inko kneeled down in front of her son. "I know you are concerned, but the doctors have to do their job. We can't interfere with that."
The doctor watched as the small boy stood there wracking his brain for a solution, before inspiration seemed to hit and he pulled out his phone and began looking up something. "You said heroes are looking for her right? Instead of the police, could you contact a specific hero about her?"
"If you think that would help, I could call in a hero before contacting the police, yes."
The boy nodded enthusiastically before holding up his phone. "Yeah! Can you guys contact Vlad King about her?"
"The blood hero? Why him in particular?" The doctor asked, his curiosity piqued.
"Before she passed out and in the ambulance, I heard her mumbling a lot, and one of the words I could clearly hear was that she was saying the word 'blood' a lot. And then in the room I saw you guys are giving her additional blood through her IV. Plus you just told us that she was wanted due to something about her drinking blood. All of those signs indicate she has a blood-based quirk, which is rare, and why I can only think of one hero who may be able to relate to her." He bowed his head to the doctor. "I am sorry I couldn't think of anyone else, but I think if you called him, he may be the best hero to handle the situation."
It was now the doctor's turn to kneel down to reach eye level with Izuku. "You are quite the observant one, aren't you? Just for that, I will try getting ahold of Vlad King, but I can't make any promises."
"Yes!" the kid pumped his fist into the air. "Thank you mister! I am sure he will be able to sort this all out. He's a hero after all!"
Izuku then sheepishly turns towards his mom. "Umm, I also promised her that I would come back and stay with her. Can I go back into the room now?"
Concern on her face, Inko looked at the doctor questioningly. "Is it ok to be in the same room with her? She doesn't seem like someone who would attack us, but what you said…"
"I think even if she is dangerous, she currently is in no state to harm anyone. Be careful, however. If she starts acting out, hit the button to call a nurse immediately."
"You heard that Izu?" Inko waited for Izuku to nod enthusiastically. "Ok, you can go keep her company, I will be back in a few minutes."
He dashed back off to the room.
After the nurse checked on her and left. Himeko was left alone with her thoughts, staring at the door trying to fight the pit forming in her stomach. They are not coming back. They are going to leave you and then you are going to be taken away. You are going to jail and there is nothing you can do about it.
Suddenly her thoughts were interrupted by the door opening again, the boy coming back in. "Umm, hi again. Do you mind if I sit next to you?"
Himiko found a smile creeping onto her face. "Yes, you can sit here."
She watched as he carefully walked over and sat down in the chair next to her bed. "You are nice, what is your name?"
"Oh yeah, we never got a chance to introduce ourselves, did we? I'm Izuku Midoriya. What's your name?"
"My name is Himiko Toga."
"Nice to meet you Toga!"
Hearing her last name, Himiko found herself involuntarily wincing. "Please, call me Himiko. I don't really like my last name right now."
"Oh… Is this why we found you by yourself?"
Himiko looked into his earnest eyes, full of caring and no judgment. Somehow, she felt calmer just looking into them. It was a different look than what she has experienced for as long as she can remember. "Yeah. It's.. a long story."
"Well don't push yourself if you don't want to. I told you I'm not going anywhere!"
Himiko was filled with confusion. "Why are you being so nice to me?"
"Because it's what heroes are supposed to do!" Izuku pumped his hand into the air, as if to emphasize his point.
Himiko found herself smiling at his earnestness. After introductions, the two sat there and Izuku kept her occupied with small talk, which mostly ended up being Izuku gushing about heroes and Himiko listening. After a short while his mother, who introduced herself as Inko, came back as well, and the three continued to talk.
Eventually they heard a knock on the door, and a tall man wearing a red jumpsuit with white gauntlets entered the room. Inko felt her heart breaking as she watched realization crawl across Himiko's face, only to quickly turn into a look of absolute betrayal and panic before she tried to scramble off of the bed.
"Nonono! I don't want to go to jail! I don't want to go back to them!"
Izuku jumped into action and grabbed Himiko's shoulder. "It's ok. This is Vlad King. I think he can help you!"
Kan observed the girl in the bed as she appeared to be having a panic attack, folding his arms and keeping a respectful distance. "The boy is right, I am not here to take you anywhere - at least not yet. Allow me to introduce myself - I am Sekijiro Kan, better known as the blood hero Vlad King. But you can just call me Kan"
The girl seemed to pause at the word blood. "You are a blood hero? But blood quirks are cursed and villainous."
"Who told you that?"
"My… parents." Himiko bit her lip and looked back and forth between the three people in the room.
"I see. The boy was right after all." Kan quietly said to himself. "Maybe I can help you. How would you feel if I told you that you never will have to go back to your parents?"
"Really? You can do that?" Himiko seemed to perk up at that offer.
Vlad King was taken off guard by her enthusiasm, and he could swear he heard Mrs. Midoriya's heart breaking at the girl's response. More evidence to support the boy's theory. "Yes, but you will have to be honest with me."
Himiko bit her lip and glanced towards both Midoriyas hesitantly.
Inko was the one who spoke first. "If you don't want us here for this we can leave. But I want you to know we won't judge you for what you say."
Himiko looked at them. If they are going to leave because you're a monster, better to do it quickly and get it over with. They are too nice to associate with the likes of me. "You can stay." She swallowed and looked back at Kan. "What do you need to know?"
"I haven't had a lot of time, but before I came here I took a look at the police report to get an idea of what happened two weeks ago at your school. But that is only one side of the story. Can you tell me what happened from your perspective?"
Himiko's eyes darkened and she gulped. This is it, I'm going away forever. "There was a boy, Saito, at my school. One day he got in a fight and was battered and bloody. I.. I fell in love with him that day. I wanted to be close to him. I wanted to be him, to be popular, with a cool quirk and not my curse. A few weeks later - after classes I discovered a box cutter a teacher left out and I... stabbed him. He bled such a beautiful color of blood, and I drank as much as I could. It felt amazing! But then some teachers caught me and I ran. Everything is a blur after that. The last thing I can remember is smelling blood in the air, hearing a commotion. I tried to find it but I was too weak. When I blacked out Midoriya over there sounded like he was trying to ask me a question."
Kan had a serious look on his face. "That does sound bad. But you only leave me with more questions. First, your quirk, what is it? I assume it is blood based?"
"It is. If I drink somebody's blood, I can become them."
"And why do you call this a curse?"
"Because… that's what mom and dad told me it was. I wasn't normal, I was cursed, they were supposed to have a normal girl with a nice normal quirk and instead they got me." Himiko was looking down, trying to curl in on herself, her voice small.
"Didn't you have a quirk counselor to help?"
Himiko shook her head. "No, I had a counselor, but my parents had him teach me how to suppress my quirk, so that they could have a normal daughter."
"And were there other incidents when you drank blood?"
"Yes. When I was younger I would drink the blood from birds and small animals. Every time I was caught my parents would ground me, and keep me locked in my room as punishment."
Inko and Izuku both looked horrified as she told her story, but she was afraid to look and so she missed their expressions.
Kan continued. "After you drank this blood, how did you feel?"
"I always felt good. My head would feel clearer, and I felt stronger for a time. But the headaches and fog would always come back."
Kan grunted, "And how do you feel right now?"
"My head still is a little foggy, but I am feeling better than I have been in a long time."
Kan rubbed his chin as he thought. "Well, I have a theory." He pushed the call button and asked the nurse to bring an extra blood bag to the room.
When the nurse brought the bag for Kan, he wrapped it in a towel. Keeping his movements slow and obvious, he approached Himiko, before kneeling down beside her. "Now I need you to promise me something ok? I want you to drink this, but I need you to do two things for me. First, drink it slowly. And second, don't activate your quirk while drinking it."
Himiko stared at the bag with wide eyes, and she could feel her urges rising within her. It took all of her effort to tear her eyes away from the bag and look at Kan. "It's ok if I… drink this?" The words sounded almost foreign to her. "I won't change, I promise!"
He then handed her the bag and she bit into it, her fangs easily piercing the bag and allowing the blood to flow into her mouth. She quickly sucked the bag dry, and was so happy that she even began to lick the towel, trying to gather any drops that spilled. It wasn't until she was done that she realized that the four people now in the room - the doctor had returned - had been watching her. She couldn't help but feel shame, and began curling in on herself.
"I'm sorry."
She saw Kan slowly lift his hand and rest it on her shoulder. "There is no shame in having to eat. How are you feeling now?"
"Better. My head is clearer, like after I drank Saito's blood. And I'm not tired."
Kan turned towards the doctor. "It appears to be as I thought. Her parents were starving her."
Himiko snapped her neck up and looked at Kan. "Starving me?"
The doctor was the next person to speak. "Some specialized quirks come with additional dietary requirements. Your quirk, which is based on ingesting blood and has given you elongated canines in your mouth, has also given you one of these dietary requirements. You are required to ingest blood regularly due to your quirk."
Kan continued. "Given your parents' horrific treatment of you, I am honestly surprised you are as well off as you are. You must be a strong girl."
Himiko looked down on the bed, tears threatening to come out. "No, my parents were right, it is a curse!"
"Not necessarily." The doctor proceeded to talk again. "Your extreme urges are typical in any person who is living a life of borderline starvation. If you were in a desert for too long and dehydrated, the promise of water would be just as overwhelming, for example. This is no different. If you were regularly getting a small amount of blood in your diet, you wouldn't have had the reaction you did. Although, due to the extreme conditions you have been forced to endure, you may react this way out of habit. However, with a proper quirk counselor you could easily be the one in charge of your quirk, rather than your quirk causing you to do things you do not want to do."
Himiko looked at the doctor, with disbelief in her eyes. "But what about everything I've done? Aren't you going to throw me in jail? Or send me back to my parents?"
Kan lowered himself so he was at eye level with Himiko. "Ms. Toga, I can't promise you the next few weeks will be easy. But if you are willing to be strong and to trust me, I can ensure that not only will you stay out of jail, but you will never have to see your parents again."
Himiko pushed herself forward and wrapped Kan into a hug, much to the doctor's protest. "Yes! I don't care how hard it will be, I will do it!"
She felt Kan hug back. "I am sorry you had to endure so much, but if you can hold on for a little longer we will make sure you are taken care of." He then released her and gently laid her back into the bed. "First I will be using my authority as a hero to put you under the hospital's care. You will not be allowed to leave until I release you, but that also means when your parents find out you are here, they cannot see you nor can they take you away from here."
"What about other people?" Himiko asked, glancing towards the two other occupants of the room.
"Normally the only visitors you would be allowed are the hero in question, the police, and a short list of people to help with the case." the doctor spoke up. "However, with Vlad King's approval, we can allow additional visitors."
"It will be up to Mrs. Midoriya if they will continue to visit you, but I can allow it." Kan said, looking at the two before he pulled away and stood up. "I know it may be scary, but you will have to speak to a lawyer and the police - you will have to tell them the same things you told me, and they will have even more questions for you. But as long as you tell us the truth, we will be able to help you."
Himiko began nodding enthusiastically. "I can do that!"
Vlad turned to the others in the room. "Doctor, can you come with me? I have to start making phone calls, and I believe you have paperwork I need to fill out?"
Inko stood up from her chair as well, breaking her own silence. "Mr Kan? Can I speak to you as well?"
"Yes, Mrs. Midoriya. Would you like your son to accompany us?"
"No, I think it is better for both of them if he stays here for now."
Kan looked between Himiko and Izuku and nodded. "So be it, let's go, I have a lot of work to do."
Everyone left the room, leaving Himiko alone with Izuku again. Himiko didn't have the courage to face Izuku and tried looking everywhere else, until she felt his small hand grab onto his arm. "Are you ok?"
Himiko looked at him with a confused look on her face. "Why are you still here? Didn't you hear what I did?"
"Yeah. But it's not your fault! I'm sure other people will see that too."
"Are you sure about that? You probably have an amazing quirk, and never had to deal with people judging you on it."
"Actually… I'm quirkless?" Himiko whipped her head around to stare at Izuku, who winced from the sudden movement. "So I know what it's like to be looked down upon. I'm just a useless deku."
Himiko frowned at that. "You saved me though… That counts for something!"
Izuku brightened a bit at that. "Yeah, maybe." He looked at the door. "I am glad the doctor was able to reach Vlad King, I knew he was the right one to help!"
"You know about him?"
Izuku's eyes brightened up. "It's kind of a hobby of mine, to research heroes. Since I want to be one it helps if I know as much as I can about them."
"That is really cool! Can you tell me more about Vlad King?"
Izuku's face lit up and he began to tell Himiko what he knew about the blood Hero, occasionally having to pause to look something up on his phone and show her. A few minutes later Inko returned and just quietly sat back down, letting her son continue to talk.
The three of them stayed that way for a few hours, with Izuku happily chatting away, Himiko listening, and Inko just quietly watching the pair, with only the occasional interruption from a nurse. As Inko sat there, she couldn't help but notice how happy Izuku was. It made her wonder about the girl's parents - given her own struggles with Izuku's quirklessness, she couldn't help but wonder what possessed them to treat her so horribly.
Eventually their routine was broken by a loud rumbling coming from Izuku's stomach, a reminder of how late it was getting. Seeing the time, Inko stood up and collected the bags from their earlier shopping trip before turning to the two teens.
"I'm sorry Himiko, but we really must be going. It's getting late - and the hospital will force us to leave soon anyways."
Himiko's face fell when she heard that. "Can you - will you come back tomorrow?"
Inko looked at Izuku's enthusiastic face, and then back at her. "I think we can, yes. It's the least we can do for you."
"Thank you!"
Himiko felt herself tearing up as she watched the two leave. It was a strange feeling, knowing that someone genuinely cared about her.