Chapter 15: Fire and Water
It was extremely hot, and sudden plumes of smoke and bright, shifting light disoriented Himiko. The fact that she was in free fall hardly helped, but she quickly sharpened her senses and regained her bearings.
'No Izu. New area. Fire, smoke, and buildings. A transportation quirk? No, for now, safe landing; then threat assessment.'
Himiko turned her head, looking for anything that would slow or completely halt her descent. Nothing became apparent for a few seconds, but then she saw a flagpole just a few feet below her.
She quickly coiled her body and tensed her arm muscles. As her hands connected with the metal, she continued her downward momentum into a forward thrust and spun herself so that she was now perched atop the pole.
Himiko turned her gaze around at the area; she could see a few figures stalking the streets below. They were no doubt enemies, and while her new classmates might not have had any battle experience like her and Izu, they weren't foolish enough to stand out in the open.
Himiko pulled out a knife from beneath her U.A. jacket, resisting the urge to smile gleefully. It had been a while since she'd cut someone.
Himiko shook her head.
'No, I need to be better, for Izu!'
But where was Izu? He wasn't in the same place as her, that was for sure. They were close to one another when they were transported, and if he had been sent to the same area, they most likely would've been just as close as they had been. But that wasn't a guarantee.
Himiko growled and glared down at the figures below, "If Izu gets hurt because I'm not with him, I'm cutting that smoke guy and then the one with all the hands."
Himiko flipped the knife in her hand and held it in an ice-pick grip. She swung herself on the pole with her free hand and, at the arc of her third swing, launched herself from the pole to the ledge of another building.
'Just wait for me, Izu! I'll find you, no matter what!'
'This is bad; I think that guy has a warp quirk! Those are super rare, and if he teleported so many villains in and then scattered the rest of my class, he's extremely powerful. And to top that off, it would mean he's extremely proficient with his power.'
Izuku looked down at the rapidly approaching water.
'But that will have to wait. For now, I need to swim to shore and regroup with some of the others. If at all possible, I need to find Himiko.'
"Look, boys! It's the first catch of the day!"
Izuku looked down at the water again, startled to find that it was filled with aquatic and water-type quirk users.
'More villains? So that force in the square wasn't all of them? How organized is this? I know Himiko turned in that note about some League of Villains planning an attack, but something this coordinated? No, this isn't the time to be thinking about stuff that doesn't matter right now! I need to think.'
Izuku turned his gaze to assess his situation. There were about twenty villains in the water, all of them aquatic types. So, they had enough information to prepare troops that would have advantages in certain areas.
There was also a large boat in the middle of the water.
'Could I swim fast enough and get aboard before they get me? Probably not. But what else can I do?'
Izuku looked at the water and realized his time was running out.
'The measly five percent I can use won't be much help here, so should I sacrifice an arm to blow them all away? But what if I need both arms later to help Himiko? Damn it! Why am I still so useless?!'
"This one's mine!" One of the mutant types down below yelled, his razor-sharp fangs gleaming in his shark-like jaw, "It's nothing personal, kid, but you gotta die!"
"Crap! I guess I don't have a choice!"
Izuku reared back his fist and prepared himself to swing with all of the might of One for All, but suddenly, a long rubber thing wrapped around his waist and pulled him away.
"W-What?!"
"Hey, Midoriya! Glad to see you're still alright!" Asui greeted him like they had met at a convenience store on a rainy day.
She was carrying a very annoyed-looking Ashido, who was shaking her fist down at the villains, "You creeps, stay away from my classmates!"
"U-Uh, Ashido. I don't think it's a good idea to provoke them." Izuku sighed as Asui set them both down onto the ship's deck.
"Screw that! I wanna melt these guys!"
Her eyes glowered through the eye mask, and the yellow hew again reminded him of Himiko.
'I hope she's okay.'
The idiot squirmed beneath the knee she had planted into the center of his back. Himiko had been smart enough to steer clear of the streets and chosen to duck into a row of buildings that looked less on fire and more burned out. Her decision paid off when she noticed one of the villains stalking the halls, his fists engulfed in flames and his guard completely down.
These villains were amateurs at best and civilians at worst. She had easily ambushed the idiot, and it was his unawareness that had allowed her to slip the knife in her hands against his throat.
"Now you're gonna tell me exactly how many of you there are here." Himiko pressed her knee down harder when he tried to push himself up, "And if you keep struggling, I'll slit your throat."
"Y-Yeah, right! You're a U.A. student; there's no way you would kill someone!"
Himiko pressed the knife harder into his throat, drawing a thin line of red that dripped down the length of the knife, "I guess you're right."
The man started to relax a bit as Himiko withdrew the knife, but she quickly pulled it back and stabbed directly through the man's hand, "but that doesn't mean I can't stab you a little."
He howled in agony, but the noise was lost in the equally loud roar of fires outside, "y-you crazy bitch!" Himiko started to twist the knife in the man's hand, making him squeal all the louder, "O-okay! Okay! There are twenty people in each zone, and at least more than half of them have quirks that will give them advantages! N-Now p-please pull the knife out!"
Himiko smiled and yanked the length of metal from the man's hand, "good boy!" She placed it back against his throat and leered down at him, her eyes turning into dangerously thin slits, "now, what's your goal here? And who's in charge?"
The man gulped heavily.
"We need to find a way to the shore," Izuku gripped the side rail of the ship. His knuckles cracked, and the bar squealed under his fierce hold.
"But how?" Asui held a curious finger against her bottom lip; it reminded Izuku strangely of Eri.
"That's what I'm trying to figure out," Izuku looked out over the water and noticed the villains hadn't approached, "but it looks like they're just as nervous as us. We don't know their powers, except they're most likely water-based, but the same can be said about them. They don't know ours to a greater extent. While we have the luxury of knowing theirs are water-based."
"Right, so for all they know, we could just blow them all away without any issue!" Ashido grinned evilly down at the villains and acted like she was about to fire off some big attack. The villains scattered, and she laughed at them, "Ha! You guys are big, scaredy cats!"
"To be fair, Midoriya probably could blow a few of them away," Asui gazed at Izuku unblinkingly, "the way you threw that ball at the end of our assessment test was powerful, and it ripped the muscles, so you must have more strength that you can use. But I'm guessing it'd be a lot worse on your body than what happened during the test."
'Whoa, Asui is super observant!'
"Y-You're right. I don't use my quirk at full power because the amount I put out is way too much for my body right now. If I use one hundred percent, I'd need to use it in one limb, but once I do, it'll be broken, and I won't be able to use it again."
"Hardcore." Ashido was looking at Izuku as if he were an explosive primed to detonate.
"I think I have a plan, but it's going to take all three of us to pull it off." Izuku motioned for the two girls to come closer.
'This is bad!' Himiko ran as quickly and quietly as she could, trying to make her way to the square where Mr. Aizawa was most likely fighting with the leaders of this raid.
'These guys have someone to take down All Might? And what did he mean by monster? I really need to find Izu, and quickly! But warning that jerk teacher comes first."
"Hey! One of the brats is running!"
Himiko snarled and pivoted instantly to rush the one who had spotted her. A ball of blue fire shot toward her; Himiko vaulted over it, slamming her foot into the man's jaw. And, to add insult to injury, she landed, slamming both her feet down into his stomach, knocking the air out of him.
He was unconscious now, and his shout had thankfully gone unnoticed.
'It's best if I disguise myself,' Himiko hesitated for a moment before licking the blood from her knife, and she shifted into the man she had interrogated.
Her stomach churned, and she could only hold back long enough to reach the tree line before the contents of her stomach emptied.
'Still can't hold down any blood other than Izu's.'
She panted and rose shakily to her feet, "I'm pathetic."
If her memory was correct, from the brief view she had of the place, she had exited the conflagration zone into the woods on the back side of the zone. If she followed it, she would emerge on the edge of the flood zone and be able to see the square where their teacher should be.
"That's your plan!?"
If the look she was giving him was any indication, Ashido seemed to have upgraded Izuku from imminent bomb threat to active explosive.
"I-It's not the best, but with the three of us, it's all I could think of. A-At least, in the moment, anyway."
Asui nodded, "it's the best plan we have right now, and besides, I think those villains are getting—"
A sudden sharp line of pressurized water split the boat they were on in half.
"Impatient." Asui finished as the boat began to sink.
"Aww, man! Looks like we don't have a choice now! So, Midoriya, you're up first."
Ashido didn't seem too pleased with the turn of events, but she seemed just as determined as Izuku and Asui.
"Right!" Izuku planted a foot against the railing he'd twisted into a deformed lump of metal and glared down at the villains in the water, "here I come!"
With a side thought, he pushed five percent of One for All into his entire body and shot out halfway over the water, all of the villain's eyes watching him.
"Now, die!"
Izuku flooded his middle finger with one hundred percent of One for All, and all at once, an intense pressured jet of air pushed gallons upon gallons of water away from the center of the force. The villains flailed as the waves and buffeting wind slammed them, but just as suddenly, they panicked when the displaced water rushed back into a whirlpool that sucked them in.
"N-Now, Asui, Ashido!"
"It's Tsu," the frog girl chastised Izuku as she grabbed hold of him around the armpits, Ashido dangling beneath them, wrapped in Asui's tongue.
"Right, and you can call me Mina! Now it's my turn!"
Ashido's palms splayed down toward the villains being pulled together below, and all at once, sprays of acid rained down upon the now-screaming villains.
"Acid Rain!" Ashido whooped as the villains were burned, tumbled, and pulled under into the whirlpool below.
They were soaring over the water now and would almost clear it entirely. It seemed they would be approaching the edge of the water closest to the square where Mr. Aizawa was fighting.
Dozens of villains surrounded him, and many looked like they had transformation-type quirks that even his Erasure couldn't disable. But surprisingly, he was mopping the floor with them, and pretty handily, too. One villain with long squirming hair had her quirk disabled, and then she was thrown bodily by the hair into a group of her unsuspecting comrades.
"Whoa! Mr. Aizawa kicks butt!"
Ashido squirmed as she mimed an air punch, and Asui tightened her tongue's grip on the girl, "Stop squirming so much, please."
'He's doing alright for now, but he isn't used to long, drawn-out fights like this. Eraser Head is an underground hero specializing in stealth takedowns. It's only a matter of time before he loses the upper hand!'
A sudden blast of wind and water startled Himiko, but what she saw dumbfounded her when she looked to the source. A huge whirlpool was forming in the flood zone, and right above it was Izu. If the way he was clutching his hand was any indicator, he seemed in pain, but then two other girls swooped in to help fly him toward the shore.
'Oh, thank goodness! I found you Izu!'
Himiko deactivated her quirk and made her way over to the trio so that she could assess her boyfriend's injuries.
She suppressed the dark desire for him to be a bit more bloody than usual and grimaced when the flush on her cheeks rose at the thought.
'Later. I'll get some blood later.'
The fight in the square had intensified, and from the looks of their teacher, he was winning by quite a margin. What was worrying was that two of the villains hadn't joined the fray. The large, dark one with an exposed brain and bulging eyes left no one wondering what the man she had interrogated had been talking about when he said they had a monster.
Izuku and the two girls were in the water now, slowly approaching the edge of the flood zone, using the concrete lip as a poor hiding place.
'I really need to beat stealth into Izu sometime. That spot isn't fooling anyone.'
And, in fact, just as she thought it, the villain with the hands rushed all at once, his own hands outstretched and reaching for Izu's face.
Himiko acted in an instant, and she was feet away when she launched a knife at the man; it buried itself halfway into his forearm. He leapt back all at once and observed Himiko as she now stood over Izu; her legs coiled to spring, her arms outstretched to block him, and her fangs bared in a snarl.
"You won't touch my Izu!"
"H-Himiko!"
She could hear the joy in his voice, and she longed to turn and see the spread of teeth as he smiled at her, but she couldn't look away for even a second. She could feel the man in front of her was dangerous, far more dangerous than herself. But she had also seen his speed; while he was quick, she was faster.
"That really hurt. You brat!"
The man yanked the blade from his forearm, and as soon as it was clear, the metal rusted, cracked, and fell into shards of metallic dust.
"Disintegration quirk? No, it's too slow. Maybe decay? Does it have to contact his skin to work? No, it didn't fall apart until his hand touched it, but even then, he had to put all his fingers on the knife. So he's got to touch something with his whole hand for it to decay." Izu muttered from behind her, inadvertently giving her vital information without her needing to stop and analyze herself. She silently thanked her quirk-nerd boyfriend.
"I thought U.A. kids were supposed to be heroes, but you stabbed me without a second thought! This school's standards have really fallen," the man's manic red eyes swirled beneath the hand on his face, and Himiko could make out an insane grin.
"I'm a new student, so I'm still a little… rough around the edges," Himiko withdrew two more knives from her jacket and spun them in her hands, "so you might get stabbed a little."
"Your girlfriend is nuts," one of the girls behind her whispered.
"S-She means well," Izu's nervous laugh made her heart flutter.
The hand villain scratched furiously at his neck and stared intently at Himiko, "Wait a minute. Weren't you on our recruitment list? Yeah, I remember now! Himiko Toga, you're that crazy girl who's been running around stabbing any criminal who crosses your path."
The grin beneath the hand was wide and was plainly visible for everyone to see, "why are you hanging out with these school kids? And did you say that plain-looking one is yours? Aww, is he your boyfriend? Does he know the stuff you've done? Does the little hero know how many people you've put in the hospital?"
"Of course I do!" Izu was furious, and he was now standing right beside her, his middle finger on his right hand purple and bent, but he clenched both fists all the same, "I know what Himiko-chan has been through, and I know she's suffered every day because of how her quirk affects her! But I won't abandon her just because some asshole with a hand fetish says some bullshit!"
All of them were silent; Himiko had heard Izu cuss before, but never that much and certainly never that scathingly.
The girls behind them seemed just as shocked. They clearly had seen Izu as a shy and timid boy, which he was, but they clearly hadn't seen this side of him.
The hand villain seemed irate. His eyes stared hatefully at Izu, and his own hands twitched as if he would love nothing better than to close his dirty hands around the boy's throat.
"Alright, so she's told you about the criminals she's out in the hospital, but has she told you about the innocent schoolboy she attacked?"
Himiko's blood ran cold. How did he know about Saito?
"W-What?" Izu was startled now; he looked as if he had been slapped. "What are you talking about? H-Himiko would never hurt an innocent person! R-Right, Himi-chan?"
Himiko couldn't bring herself to look at him; she couldn't bear to show him how shameful she was.
"Your girlfriend there snapped one day and attacked one of her classmates, and I gotta say, you look a lot like him," the hand villain was clearly eating up all the drama he was stirring because his voice was jubilant, "so I guess your girlfriend's got a type!"
"H-Himiko?"
"I-I couldn't stop, Izu. It had been so long since we'd been apart, and I thought since he looked like you, maybe he would understand like you did. But he didn't, he called me a freak, a-and I snapped."
She was terrified to look at him. Himiko was certain his face would be a twisted mask of disgust and horror, and if she saw that, she knew her sanity wouldn't survive.
A firm hand on her shoulder made her flinch, but she hesitantly looked to Izu, expecting the revulsion to send her spiraling. But he didn't look repulsed or angry; he was crying, and the sad, reassuring smile that spread across his face was all that she had ever wished for.
How could she have ever doubted him? How could she have ever thought Izu was anything but kind?
"I understand, Himi-chan. I still love you, no matter what."
Himiko smiled through the tears, "I—"
The hand villain was upon them at once, and Himiko was startled to realize she hadn't been paying attention.
"This is sweet and all, but I think it's about time you two die."
His hands were raised, and he reached for the two of them. But a sudden ripping noise startled the villain as Izuku's right arm came up with lightning speed.
"SMAAAAASH!"
The force of the blow buffeted Himiko, and she was frightfully certain that with that much force, the villain had to be dead.
Izu smiled.
"Whoops, that was a close one!"
Her blood ran cold as the villain smiled from around the bulk of the hulking black monster. The thing had caught Izuku's punch in its hand, and not a single scratch had been made despite the force of the blow.
"I think it's about time we stop playing," the villain said, pulling back the hand obscuring his face. He then showed Izuku and Himiko his cracked, scarred lips, the spread of an awful distorted smile, and his simmering red eyes. "Nomu, kill them."
Chapter 16: Victory?
'What?! My arm isn't broken? The big guy isn't even hurt! I missed? No, I definitely hit him. Is it his quirk? Damage nullification? Kinetic energy dissipation? No, don't think about that! Get Himiko away from him! He's way too dangerous!'
Izuku went to leap back, but the hand of the large, disfigured villain closed around his arm, and he wouldn't budge. The bones in Izuku's arm weren't shattered, but his broken finger still hurt, and he cried out in pain.
"Izu!"
Himiko rushed forward and stabbed at the monster ineffectually, her knife bouncing off and sending sparks flying. The creature turned its bulging eyes toward Himiko and slapped her away without a second thought. She cried out as she landed in a heap in front of Asui and Ashido.
Izuku saw red.
One for All crackled through his body, and his heart thundered as he rained blow after blow on the villain with his free arm. Izuku snarled, spat, and cursed; his gloves were tearing, his knuckles were turning bloody and raw, and his arms were squealing in protest.
In a last-ditch effort, Izuku used the leverage from the villain's grip to swivel and slam a kick into the gray matter of its exposed brain.
This got a reaction. And the thing roared in his face.
The villain stood up and slammed Izuku to the ground once, twice, and three times, and then he threw Izuku away, landing painfully beside Himiko.
"I-Izu?"
Himiko crawled painfully over to him, trying desperately not to pass out. Izuku took her head in his hands and cradled it lovingly, "I-I'm sorry, Himi-chan. I couldn't… even stall him long enough for you to… get away."
She cupped his cheek and hovered above him, her hair spilling into his face from the bun that had come undone atop her head.
"I'd never leave you, dummy." She leaned down and kissed him; their blood mixed in their mouths as his vision blurred. It took all his willpower not to pass out.
"Aww, a lover's last embrace. How sweet. Nomu, kill them."
The monster was poised over them, but Himiko didn't draw away from the kiss; instead, she intensified it. Izuku could feel her trembling, and with the last bit of strength he had, he flipped her over so that he could shield her from the attacks as long as he could.
One for All crackled to life, but instead of using it for offense, he poured all of his energy into tensing so hard that his back might as well have become a shield.
'I at least want her to live!'
As the villain's fist approached, a whoosh of air made Izuku tense all the harder, but the blow never came, and a booming voice filled his ears, "I am here!"
Izuku and Himiko both opened their clenched eyes, turning to look at the looming figure of All Might. For once, he wasn't smiling, and his entire focus was on the bloodied figures of Izuku and Himiko.
"League of Villains! I will never forgive you for this!"
He was between Nomu and the pair on the ground in an instant, his fist slamming hard into the creature's face. The wind from the blow far outstripped the powerful one that Izuku had landed earlier, but somehow, All Might had kept the force of the wind focused mostly on the villain.
"You won't forgive us? What about those two? They aren't exactly blameless angels. The girl stabbed me in the forearm, and that plain-looking one; he would've killed me if Nomu hadn't caught the punch he threw a second ago."
All Might grit his teeth as the creature called Nomu dug its clawed hand into his fist, "They are blameless in that! They would never have had to do such things if you and your monstrous cohort hadn't invaded this rescue training! And besides all of that! Look at the state of those two while you and your monstrosity remain almost unharmed."
The hand villain scratched at his raw neck, "that's true; despite that green one's power, he was laughably weak, like a low-tier mob in an RPG. So Nomu blew him away easily, and that blonde was even weaker than him. But I guess she can have a pass; her quirk obviously isn't power-based."
"You are a child. Gloating over defeated foes, even though it's not your own accomplishment. Why don't you call off this monster and see how long you can last against me!" All Might's glowing blue eyes simmered beneath the shadows of his eyes.
"Yeah, no. I'm not an idiot; I'm not a playable character. I'm the one who controls one." He pointed at Nomu, "That being said, Nomu, attack."
Nomu's free arm swung around. It was almost as fast as All Might's, but it was just slow enough for the number one hero to catch the blow.
"Strong and fast! You've got quite the ability there, big guy, but—" All Might thrust the monster's arms above its head with a decisive blow, and then when its chest was exposed, he rained a flurry of blows down. "I am faster and stronger!"
Ominously, Nomu didn't budge an inch after the blows, aside from his head being thrown back after a hefty punch. But the creature turned its head back down to All Might, not a single scratch apparent on its bulky body.
The hand villain chortled, "That won't work, All Might! Nomu doesn't have just one quirk; he's got super regeneration—" one of All Might's surprise blows landed with great force, "and shock absorption."
All Might grimaced in understanding, "So I can wail on him all I want, no matter how hard I hit him; even if it gets through, he'll just regenerate."
"That's right! He was made to be the ultimate counter to you! He is the Anti-Symbol of Peace, Nomu!"
The mist villain shifted closer, "Tomura Shigaraki, it serves no purpose to disclose the powers of our ace."
Izuku turned his head painfully to get a better look at the villain he could now identify; it was the same name the mist villain had said earlier.
'Tomura Shigaraki,' he looked down to Himiko and was relieved to see she was still alright. Her side seemed bruised where Nomu had battered her away. She had fallen unconscious, but thankfully, she didn't seem to have any trouble breathing.
Izuku grit his teeth and glared at the villain, wishing he could punch the bastard in the face.
But Himiko came first, so Izuku stood painfully on his feet, his back screaming in protest. One for All reinforced his joints and muscles, giving him the strength to lift Himiko in a bridal carry.
"All Might! I-I'm taking Himiko up to the others! I'll be back to help… once I'm done."
All Might waved him off, "That's quite alright, young Midoriya! Just get young Toga and yourself some help; you don't need to worry about me!"
The memory of Thirteen holding up three fingers, referring to All Might's lateness earlier, made him pause. "B-but the time—" he cut himself off and looked at the villains.
All Might seemed to catch his worry, but he just gave Izuku a thumbs up, "Do not fret, young Midoriya! I am more than a match for these hoodlums."
"Hoodlums?" Shigaraki scoffed, "We aren't some graffitiing school kids, and we definitely aren't letting any of the kids here go. Hey, greenie! If you take even one step toward your remaining classmates at the entrance, I'll kill your girlfriend and then you."
Izuku trembled under the man's stare, but he firmed his resolve and glared right back, "The minute your hand touches her, I'll crush it and slam you against the ground just like your monster did to me."
Shigaraki seemed put off by Izuku's lack of fear, but he quickly recovered, "Fine then, Kurogiri, send the brat and his girlfriend away. Preferably separate."
"As you wish, Tomura. My apologies, young man, but orders are orders."
Izuku panicked as the mist stretched toward them, and all Izuku could do was stare in horror. There was nothing he could grab onto to push the villain away, and he couldn't run; he was already barely able to walk.
'No! I won't be separated from her when she's like this,' Izuku drew Himiko as closely as he could, crouching down and curling around her to shield her.
"Die!" Izuku's eyes opened wide, but not because of the threat, because it was Kacchan who had yelled it.
Looking up, Izuku saw that Kacchan was restraining the warp villain, his palm planted firmly against a metal apparatus. His palm sizzled, and he was smiling menacingly down at the villain, "Move, and I blow your ass up, ya smoky bastard! I noticed earlier that your smoke doesn't go far from this thing, so I figure it's where you're vulnerable and why you keep it obscured."
"T-Thank you, Kacchan. He almost got Himiko and me," Izuku stood back up with the girl in his arms.
He always thought it would be a cold day in hell before he ever thanked his old bully for anything, but it seemed hell had frozen over.
Either that or maybe Todoroki's creeping ice rising up Nomu's body was causing Kacchan's sudden magnanimity.
"Shut up, you damn nerd! I could give less than two shits about you and your blonde skank!"
"Whoa, that's not very nice, Bakugou," Kirishima grinned apologetically at Izuku.
'And there goes my gratitude.'
"Whatever, I'm taking her to the others near the exit. I'll come back to help you guys!"
"I don't need your damn help, Deku! So fuck off!"
"I hate to agree with Bakugo, but you look far more injured than Toga-san, so I think it's best to stay with the others and wait for emergency aid." Todoroki was far more polite about his dismissal of Izuku's help than Kacchan.
"All the same, I'm not leaving you all down here with these guys. Ashido! Asui! Unless you two wanna stay, follow me!"
Izuku turned and ran as fast as his aching body would allow, the two girls following behind. Himiko groaned as she rocked with his hurried stride, "I'm sorry, Himi-chan. We'll get you help soon."
Her eyelids fluttered, and her eyes searched for a second before they fell on his face. She smiled goofily up at him, her teeth stained with blood, "I'm glad you're alright, Izu."
He smiled back, "I'm glad you're alright too. Just a little farther, and the teachers will be here with help in a few minutes."
"Thas good," she blinked blearily. "When we get back, we should take Eri out. She needsh her mama and papa."
"Of course, just try and stay awake. You might have a concussion; you're slurring your words a bit, so it's best you stay conscious."
Izuku pumped his legs harder and dialed up the power of One for All. If he had to guess, he was operating at about eight percent now. His movements were a bit faster, but it felt like his sinews were slowly unraveling under the unfamiliar strain.
'Whatever it takes.'
"Midoriya!"
Uraraka was smiling down at him in relief, but her look quickly changed when she caught sight of Izuku's ragged and bloody appearance. And she looked even more worried when she saw Himiko, half-conscious, in his arms.
"What happened?!"
Izuku passed Himiko to Shoji, giving the larger boy an intense look. "Guard her with your life."
"Of course," he nodded, carefully lowering the blonde girl to the ground.
"I'm heading back to help Kacchan, Todoroki, and Kirishima," Izuku said, turning back to Uraraka. "When help gets here, tell them Himiko has bruised ribs and a possible concussion."
"O-Okay, but don't you think you should stay back too?"
"I can't. All Might and the others need my help!"
Before she could argue for him to stay again, Izuku shot back toward the square. Eight percent was far faster without needing to worry about jostling Himiko, and he was able to rejoin everyone back down in the fight.
It seemed things had deteriorated quickly in his absence because Kacchan no longer had the warp villain restrained, and Nomu had shattered Todoroki's ice.
All Might was wailing away at the monstrosity, and the flurry of blows he exchanged with the creature created a buffeting wind that kept everyone away from the melee.
Shigaraki yelled over the wind, "Are you an idiot! Nomu has shock absorption! Your punches aren't doing anything!"
All Might grit his teeth as a smear of blood dripped from his pained grin, "exactly! It's shock absorption, not nullification. I figure this guy can only take so much punishment before I send him flying!"
It didn't seem possible, but All Might's fists somehow multiplied. A flurry of blows was suddenly a storm, and where Nomu had kept up before, now he was quickly outpaced and overpowered.
Fist after fist slammed into the creature's rippling black hide, and craters started forming in the flesh as they did. All Might threw the villain up into the air, followed swiftly after, and slammed it back down. The creature's body bounced and as it did All Might landed with a concrete shattering stomp, the very air around him distorting with a haze of heat from how much friction he generated.
"You may have heard these words before! But allow me to show you what they truly mean! Go beyond! PLUS ULTRAAAAAA!"
The final blow slammed into the villain's chest with such force that the surrounding ground cratered. The shirt All Might wore ripped, leaving him in a white undershirt, and Nomu was sent flying. The villain shot through the glass dome of the U.S.J., up into the distant clouds, and then was gone without another sound.
Everyone looked on, dumbstruck, until All Might turned to the remaining two villains and glared menacingly.
"You're next, Tomura Shigaraki!"
The villain seemed to fall over himself before he stumbled back to the one called Kurogiri, hiding behind him like a scared child.
"This isn't possible! Nomu is the perfect counter to you! You cheated!"
All Might took a single step forward. The villains stepped back.
Izuku wasn't sure, but he could swear there was far more smoke around All Might than there should be. And he couldn't be sure, but Izuku thought he saw the pro stumble a bit after that last step.
Suddenly, Izuku remembered the time limit, 'oh no, All Might used up all his time earlier! He only just recovered; he must be about to change back! But if he does, then… he'll be helpless!"
"This doesn't make any sense!" Shigaraki was fuming, his red eyes frenzied and bulging. "You should be dead! This is so unfair! I hate games that give the final boss a second faze!"
He was scratching madly at his neck, the skin turning bloody and raw as his nails dug harshly in. Just when Izuku was sure he would lose it, Kurogiri spoke, "Calm down, Tomura Shigaraki; Nomu's attacks were not ineffectual; look at All Might. He is wounded, and I'm sure, with the two of us, we can finish what we've started!"
Shigaraki scratched thoughtfully at his neck, and All Might took the hesitation as an excuse to bluff, "Well! Come on, then! Test your luck, villain!"
That threat made Shigaraki step back and rethink his sudden burst of courage.
"This is bullshit! If Nomu were here, he would rip your arms off and beat your precious students to death with them!" He paused, hunching forward with an annoyed sigh, "But you really do seem weaker now that I think about it, and we went through all the trouble… so I think we'll kill you now."
Kurogiri burst into motion, his misty form shooting at All Might. Shigaraki was seconds behind, and they were only feet away from All Might, who hadn't moved. Izuku could see sweat breaking out on All Might's forehead, and steam poured off of his body, reminding Izuku of the day he had met All Might when he had returned to his skeletal form.
'He's out of time! And the others won't last long against those two. I need to help, but five percent won't be fast enough to get me to him. So—"
Izuku upped the wattage of One for All and filled his legs with the full force of All Might's quirk. In an instant, he was right next to Shigaraki, his arm cocked back and ready for a bone-breaking punch.
"Get away from All Might and the others!"
He swung his arm forward, the air from the strike retreating so fast there was a sharp crack. The mist of Kurogiri's body swallowed Izuku's arm, and it was redirected to open air, where the strike was made ineffectual.
"We won't fall for sneak attacks again, little boy." A pale, cracked hand filled Izuku's vision, and he was sure he was dead.
Oddly, he was able to think one thing before all hell broke loose, 'he really needs to trim his nails.'
Blood sprayed, and someone yelped and retreated from Izuku. He could taste blood, and his vision was tinted with the reeking iron liquid. Izuku looked down at his shacking crimson stained hands, 'What happened? I-Is this mine? Did Shigaraki touch me?'
Izuku looked around himself, but everything was tinted red; Shigaraki and Kurogiri were nowhere to be seen. All Might was safe and still standing. Kacchan, Todoroki, and Kirishima were safe too.
'Oh… that's good.'
And then he fell unconscious.
Chapter 17: Back to Normal, almost
"Regular speech,"
"Flashback speech,"
'Inner dialogue,'
'Phone Text Chat'
Himiko hated hospitals. She hated the stupid white sheets, she hated the ugly hospital gown they'd put her in, she hated the smell of medicine in the air, and she hated the doctors who always told her she wasn't normal.
But she hated this hospital because it was where her Izu looked the smallest.
It was strange, but Izu had always been larger than life for her. Even when they were children, she loved and idolized him. He was her best friend, her hero, and now her most loved person.
But in this hospital bed, he was small, hurt, and vulnerable. She didn't like this at all, not the blood he was covered in when the teachers brought him to the ambulance and not the way his legs were mangled and twisted.
He had been so pale under all of the blood; she was sure he was dead. For a terrible instant, she felt nothing but unbridled animalistic rage. She wanted nothing more than to peel the skin from that bastard Shigaraki's body, flay him in front of his minion Kurogiri, and gorge herself on his blood until her thirst was slaked.
But Izu wasn't dead, and she had been by his side the entire time, except to have her own wounds treated and for the surgeons to operate on him. Thankfully, Recovery Girl was on standby, and the worst of his injuries had been treated, but they had been bad. He'd had twelve broken ribs and two broken legs, his middle finger on his right hand had been fractured, the arm itself had been dislocated, and his spine had been severely bruised where Nomu had slammed him against the ground.
Recovery Girl and the doctors had also said one of his ribs had come so close to piercing his heart that it was a miracle he hadn't died from all of his running, jumping, and even carrying her.
'Even when he's half dead, the dummy worries about me.'
Himiko brushed a stray lock of hair from his face and repressed the urge to cry. She'd cried so many times since Izuku had come out of surgery, and she'd cried even harder when they'd told her he would pull through. Eri and Inko had been by, and the tears had only flowed ever more freely once they had seen the state Izu was in.
Himiko wished Inko would never have to see Izu in such a state, but she knew it was an inevitability he would be hurt badly eventually. She just wished it had been after he was out of school and doing hero work.
"H-Himi-chan?"
His voice was a whisper, but it was the most beautiful sound she had ever heard. She didn't know how long it had been since she'd heard it, but it had been too long.
"Izu!" Himiko rushed to her feet and stood over him, her tears spilling again in relief.
He smiled weakly at her, "You're alright; that's good."
"Idiot! Of course, I'm alright! You protected me even though you were so badly hurt. I-I c-can't lose you, idiot! So don't ever do anything like that again!"
Himiko wished she could hit him, but he was far too injured. So she settled on lightly resting her head against his chest and trying to suppress her frustration.
"I-I'm sorry, Himi-chan."
He was apologizing, but he wasn't promising her, "You better promise me you won't throw your life away like you tried to! I'm not worth something like that."
Izu was silent, and for a second, Himiko was sure he'd fallen unconscious, but he shifted under her and sighed, "I won't promise that. You're worth more to me than anything, and I won't abandon you, not as long as I can protect you. Even if that means I die." She was shaking, and Izu was staring at her with eyes so wide they were dinner plates. "H-Himi-chan? Are you crying?!"
"O-Of course I a-am! How could I not? E-Even after everything I've done, every mistake I've made, you still think I'm worth saving."
It was too much; she couldn't believe him. He was too good and had far more forgiveness in him than he should.
"You'll always be worth it, and I'll always save you."
"Ah, I see you two are as lovey-dovey as ever," All Might's booming voice startled them both, and Himiko jumped, pulling a knife from underneath her hospital gown.
"Good gracious! Where do you keep those things?"
Himiko glowered at him.
She had mixed feelings about the number one hero because, on the one hand, he hadn't been there when Izu needed him, but on the other, he had come and saved him before he could be killed. It wasn't in her to forgive someone like Izu could, but she could forgive him just a little since he had saved her reason for living.
Himiko spun her knife in her hand and stashed it in her hidden knife belt around her waist, "I always have a knife on me, but you didn't come here for that. Did you, All Might?"
He smiled through a grimace and shut the door behind himself, locking it, "Afraid not, but I'm afraid the news isn't g—"
All Might suddenly shrank, his body becoming skeletal and frail. A plume of smoke shot out, blood poured from his mouth, and he started coughing furiously.
Izu had told her about All Might's diminished form, but this was the first time she had seen it for herself. He didn't look much better than Izu.
"You look awful."
"H-Himiko! I-I'm sorry about her, All Might! I made her mad, and she's taking it out on you."
Izu was stumbling over himself, and Himiko was quick to push him back down into his bed, "Oh no, you don't, mister; keep moving like that, and your wounds will only get worse."
"She is right, young Midoriya. Just sit back and let me tell you what's happening." All Might sat in the chair opposite the one Himiko had been in, "before the battle at U.S.J., I could use One for All for roughly three hours, but now I'm cut down to only one-third of that time. So my time as the number one hero is slowly reaching its end."
Izu's paled complexion worsened at that news, "B-but All Might! W-What do we do? S-Should I give One for All back? Maybe it would give you your time back! Maybe—"
All Might held up a forestalling hand, "Don't even think of it, young Midoriya. I gave you One for All because I trust you with it and the future you will use it to shape. I will not take the power merely because my time with it is waning. Now that you understand the dangers of becoming a hero, what will you do?"
Izu looked down at his arm that had been put in a sling, and then he looked at Himiko, "I… I want to be a hero and protect everyone even more than ever now. So, if you'll still have me," Izu turned to All Might, conviction shining in his eyes, "I want to keep being your successor!"
All Might's skeletal grin was an odd juxtaposition to his usual smile, "I couldn't have said it better myself!"
All Might and Izu were staring at one another, both of them smiling like idiots who had uncovered some unfathomable truth.
"You're both crazy," Himiko sat down next to Izu and glared at them both.
It was two weeks before Izuku could leave the hospital, and it was even longer before his arm was removed from the sling. But there would be no lasting damage thanks to Recovery Girl and the doctors.
Although, they had said he was extremely stupid for putting his body under so much strain. And Himiko seemed to be of the mind that she agreed with them because she reminded Izuku just how big of an idiot he was. But that didn't stop her from kissing him just as much as she chastised him.
'Girls are confusing.' Izuku thought to himself as he walked into his and his mother's apartment for the first time in weeks.
A streak of white slammed into him, "Papaaaaaa!"
Eri's tears stained Izuku's school shirt. His arm throbbed inside the sling, but he crouched down and put a hand on her head. "It's okay, Eri. I'm here."
He wrapped her small frame In a large hug and let his own tears fall. He'd tried desperately to keep them in, for Himiko's sake and All Might's. But it was all but impossible hearing Eri sob now.
A pair of thin arms circled the pair, and Izuku knew it was Himiko. She was the only person who could have such delicately small arms but a bone-crushing hug. She had carefully placed her arms so that they circled his uninjured ribs and his arm in the sling.
"H-Himi-chan, you're c-crushing Eri and me." Izuku grimaced through the pain and pulled Eri closer so most of the pressure would be on him.
"I'm just happy you're home," she whispered, planting a kiss on his neck that made him shudder.
Goosebumps rose on his skin, and the heat climbed into his cheeks, "uh, maybe now isn't the time for that, Himi-chan."
She pulled back and puffed out her cheeks, "fiiiiiiiiine. Your mom is making your favorite anyway, so we better hurry."
As she stood, Izuku noticed Himiko was paler than usual, and her usually present blush was absent. "Hold on," she said.
Izuku spun her around, placed a hand on her forehead, and winced, "Y-you're burning up! You need to lie down!"
"I'm fine, Izu, it's just… I haven't—"
He frowned and realized something, "you haven't taken any blood from me this whole time. Himiko, that isn't good; you need blood, or you'll—"
"Go crazy? I know, but… I don't want to hurt you." She smiled, but the expression was dull and diminished, "I know my limits, so trust me."
Izuku wasn't sure about that; if she knew her limits so well, why did she take blood from him so often? Maybe it was because they were dating, and his blood was special to her. But he was sure even if that was the case; it couldn't be good that she hadn't had any for two weeks, and it must be torture for her.
"Even if you say that, I can see you're suffering, so please," Izuku held up his good arm," take some."
Her pupils shrank to the thinnest of slits, her cheeks turned bright red, and she gulped heavily. Himiko's parted pink lips revealed her sharp and gleaming fangs in the apartment entryway's light.
Izuku's heart raced, and it thundered even louder as she slunk forward, her eyes almost completely golden with the tiniest amount of black from her pupils visible. Her sharp cat-like eyes made him shiver, and her teeth grazed the flesh of his arm before she pulled back.
She shook her head, and it seemed like a monumental feat for her to shut her mouth. Izuku had seen thin trails of saliva trailing from her fangs, so he could tell she desperately wanted his blood. But she still turned away.
She seemed to want to say something, but when she looked down at Eri, she turned and said, "Come on, you two. Inko is waiting for us."
That was strange; Himiko was never the type to restrain herself in anything. She always did whatever she wanted without restraint unless the situation called for it, that was. He would have to ask later.
Himiko sat on top of Izu's apartment building, her hair whipping and thrashing in the cool spring night air, irritating her nose. She couldn't believe herself. She had nearly attacked Izu; she hadn't been this blood-crazed since Saito, and she couldn't attack Izu like she had the other boy.
'Maybe I should leave. '
The thought had come and gone instantly; if she left, it would break Izu's heart, and she would be all alone again. Not to mention, the heroes and police all knew her name, and after all the trouble she had gone through to keep her identity a secret. It was annoying, but it was what Izu wanted.
"There you are!"
Himiko looked to the side and saw Izuku hoisting himself up on the ledge she had used to climb up. His eyes were crinkled and worried; his freckles creased as he frowned. He had used One for All to hoist himself up with his one good arm.
"You should be asleep, Izu. We're going back to school tomorrow."
"I could say the same to you," he huffed and sat beside her, "but I don't think you'd listen."
Himiko turned her gaze up to the moon.
"I was scared."
A second passed before Izu said anything, "of going to sleep?"
She tore her gaze from the sky and glared heatedly at him, "No, not of falling asleep!" As soon as her anger had come, it all evaporated and made her deflate, "I was scared I would hurt you if I took blood."
He blinked and looked at a few bite marks on his good arm that had healed long ago. "It hasn't stopped you before," he said.
"That was before you almost died! I-I always… I mean… I've always seen you as something larger than life. Someone even stronger than All Might, you were the one thing that kept me alive when all I ever wanted to do was quit. But seeing you like that—" Himiko trailed off, and she pulled her knees to her chest and buried her head in them. Her shoulders shook violently as she cried silently.
The arm he wrapped around her was strong, and his chest, where he pulled her head, was muscular. It was so different from the thin frame he'd had before his training with All Might. She wished he didn't feel so sturdy; it was tricking her again, making her think he was unbreakable.
"I'm not that amazing, Himiko. I'm not some infallible demigod; I'm only human, and you are, too. That's why I want you to lean on me, and I'll lean on you so that we can be stronger than we would be alone. I wouldn't promise I wouldn't risk my life to save you, and I still won't, but I won't make you promise not to try to save me, either."
Izu smiled down at her; his eyes were the same as they always had been: large, watery, and quivering. He was her Izu; even if his exterior changed, his character never would.
Himiko suppressed a sniffle and nodded, "Alright."
He leaned down and captured her lips; the contact brought a roaring heat up to her cheeks, and her teeth grazed along the tongue he had slipped into her mouth. The sharp edge of her fangs sliced a line in his tongue, and while he winced, he continued the kiss.
It was too much, and she gave in. She forced Izu to his back and ran her tongue greedily along his. She gulped down the blood that was filling her mouth, and her hips ground involuntarily into his crotch.
The whimper he let out made her all the more excited, and she growled into his mouth. She sucked greedily on his tongue and yanked at his hair with one of her hands.
She broke the kiss, and they both panted, staring into each other's eyes. Blood dribbled down her chin, and instead of the fear she expected to see, he was smiling up at her with a wild blush.
His eyes were gentle and reassuring as he pulled the neck of his hoodie down. "Go ahead; I know you need more than that."
Bloody saliva filled her mouth as she shot down to the mark on his neck. Her mark.
"I told you, you needed blood," Izuku grimaced as he rubbed at his neck; he wasn't regretting letting Himiko have more blood than usual, but he still felt woozy. His step was unsteady as they made their way toward U.A.
Himiko, for her part, smiled brightly next to him as she always did, her complexion back to normal and her blush back in place.
"Yeah, yeah! You were right, and I was wrong!" She giggled and skipped ahead of him.
'I'm glad she's better now,' he smiled at her; this was the happiest she had been in days, and he wasn't about to ruin that.
"I wonder what we'll be doing."
Himiko skipped around him once before stopping to walk at his pace, "I don't know, but… oh! I know I've got detention!"
"What?! Why? How could you possibly have detention!?"
"I skipped two weeks of school to be with you in the hospital." Her grin was unapologetic and wide, "but eh, who cares?"
"Who cares?! Himiko!"
She winced at his volume, "cut me some slack! I couldn't leave your side, could I? Can you honestly say you wouldn't do the same?"
He opened his mouth to yell that he, in fact, would not do the same, but memories drew the words up short in his throat. Himiko slapped away by Nomu, and her passed out in his arms made him wince.
"I-I guess you're right, but I'll wait for you until your detention is over. I want to walk home together."
They walked along in silence, the hill to U.A. seeming steeper under the pair's heavy thoughts.
It was strange for the pair to be silent. Normally, Himiko would run around him, make a crude comment or innuendo, and turn him into a stuttering mess. But ever since their rather serious conversation in the hospital and now their talk on his apartment roof, their relationship had taken on a more serious undertone. They both knew how much they cared for one another, and it was an intense feeling for both of them. The level of affection was foreign to them both.
Izuku had only known his mother's love, and now he was surrounded by people cheering on his dream. Loudest of all was Himiko and her overzealous training sessions, which almost killed him. But he couldn't say he hated seeing his girlfriend and her amazing battle sense at work; it was like she had a second sense for battle. And her kisses weren't half bad either, or the other things they did together.
Izuku went red.
Himiko's grinning face came into view, barely an inch away from his, "You're bright red! What are you thinking about? Something naughty?"
"I-I a-am not!" Izuku silently cursed his stutter and the effect she had on him.
Her wide-fanged grin made him gulp, "Sure you weren't, Izu!" She ran forward, starting to skip and singing, "Izu's a pervert! Izu's a pervert!"
Izuku rushed forward and slapped a hand over her mouth, "Stop that!"
Himiko gripped his hand with both of hers and moved it down a bit, "Ah! Someone help me; I'm being attacked by a pervert~!"
Izuku broke out into a furious blush and pulled away from her so quickly that it looked like he'd used One for All, "s-stop that! People are looking at us!"
Himiko stopped suddenly and looked around. She saw that many students on their morning commutes had stopped and were watching the pair. She blushed just as red as him and pulled him by the hand toward the U.A. barrier.
They walked in silence all the way to class 1-A, where the pair stopped to stare at the door. Izuku looked at Himiko, who was staring at the door, her face free of her usual blush, and her usually smiling lips turned down in a frown.
"What's wrong? Himi-chan?"
She played with the hem of her U.A. blazer, clearly annoyed with the material. "It's just that this is the first time I'll be back in class since that day. I don't know how to handle it."
His girlfriend was so strange; she attacked the hulking Nomu with absolutely no hesitation, but she flinched at social interaction with people her own age. But he knew how she felt; he himself had been extremely nervous when entering the class for the first time, and while this wasn't the first time for her, she seemed just as hesitant.
He hesitated for a moment, blood rushing to his cheeks, and took her hand. "It'll be alright. I'm with you, no matter what."
She seemed to expand at his words of encouragement and nodded as she placed her free hand on the door, sliding it open.
A wave of noise slammed into them, and Himiko's free hand twitched toward her waist, where he knew she kept hidden knives. Izuku stopped her when he saw it was only their classmates making the noise, although it was uncomfortable how close everyone was.
"Dude! The way you protected Toga with your body was super manly!" Kirishima yelled, pumping his fist with tears in his eyes.
"Toga, you were so quick with those knives! That was super cool!" Mina bounced in place with a large grin on her face.
"You two were really impressive how you handled those villains," Tsu complimented them in a monotone that made the pair think she was teasing them.
"Yes, Midoriya! I noticed how quickly you jumped at those villains near the end. How did you move so quickly?" Iida was uncomfortably close, smiling very stiffly.
"Uh, guys, maybe we should give them space." Uraraka tried to pull everyone back from the pair but failed.
They were overwhelmed; they had both been expecting the noise, but they had thought it would be more along the lines of them being condemned for their openly brutal display to protect one another. This was the exact opposite; they were being outright friendly, even complimentary.
"All of you sit down and shut up!" Mr. Aizawa's voice startled Izuku. And he was even more startled when he turned to see the man covered up in bandages like a mummy. Since the incident, this was the first time Izuku had seen their teacher, and he was sorry to say he hadn't paid much attention to their teacher during the whole thing. He had been worried about Himiko, but now that he could see the man, he could tell he had been badly hurt.
"S-Sir! Shouldn't you be in the hospital!?"
"What sort of dumb question is that?" The teacher stared at him as if he were an idiot, "I'm completely fine. Now, you two sit down and get ready for class."
Izuku looked to Himiko, who was looking back just as skeptically as him, but they made their way to their seats.
"Good. Now I know I've told the rest of you this, but since these two problem children haven't heard, I'll say it again. The U.A. Sports Festival is coming up, and I'm sure I don't need to tell the two of you why it's so important.
Izuku nodded, "I know, sir."
Himiko grinned at him, "No idea!"
Izuku's forehead impacted his desk and drew everyone's attention.
Mr. Aizawa sighed heavily, "The U.A. Sports Festival is important, because it will be the stage you students use to show yourselves off as potential heroes. It will be your debut in the hero scene, and your showing will greatly affect you after you finish your schooling. Not only that, but this year, we are starting hero work studies for first-years, and the invitations you receive after the sports festival will give you your first taste of real hero work. So, the better you do in the festival, the more invitations to different agencies you get."
"Oh! So it's like free advertisement?!" Himiko smiled at her over-simplistic summary of the topic, and Izuku grimaced at her childishness. She had done that on purpose to piss off Mr. Aizawa.
"Yes," Mr. Aizawa hissed, "free advertisement."
It was clear the man hated the media side of hero work, and he wasn't pleased that the sports festival was exactly that: an advertisement for the next generation of heroes.
Himiko's breath tickled his ear and made him shudder as she whispered, "I think I need to amp up your training. You've gotten better with your quirk, but you could be more fluid with your movements. Don't think I didn't notice how stiff you were during U.S.J."
Izuku gulped, 'amp it up?! I'm always half dead during our normal training!'
"Hey, problem children, you better pay attention," Mr. Aizawa glared at the pair through his thickly wrapped bandages.
"Y-Yes, sir!"
"Okay!"
Izuku slammed into the ground, One for All's crackling energy dissipating. He groaned heavily, "Why the heck did you throw me so hard?"
Himiko stared down at him impassively, as if she were a cat staring at a cornered mouse, "because you need to get it in that thick head of yours not to attack head-on every single time."
"But that's how All Might handles things!" He whined, struggling to his feet.
"Oh, pardon my rudeness! I didn't know I was standing in front of All Might, but I could've sworn I just threw you on your ass without any trouble. Sorry about that, All Might!" She was now openly mocking him and making a mock mother-hen impression.
Izuku growled, "I get it. I'm not All Might, so stop acting like him."
Now she smiled down at him brilliantly and pulled him up by his hands, "So let's try it again; this time, try something other than charging me from the front."
Izuku nodded, and while it had been a mean way to say it, she was right that he couldn't plow through everything the same way the number one hero did. So he looked around them.
The clear dusk darkened Takoba Beach, and its now trash-free sand was all he could see. The waves were a pretty crystalline blue near the shore but a downright mesmerizing pinkish red in the setting sun's light. That wouldn't help him, though, and there wasn't any debris to hide behind, but there was one thing there was an abundance of. Sand.
Himiko lunged at him, her plastic training knife swinging quickly toward his arm. Izuku let One for All crackle to life, and he shot backward into a flip, the knife barely grazing his cargo shorts.
When Izuku landed, he was startled to see Himiko hadn't missed a beat and was right in his face again. This time, the knife flashed at his face, and he shot down into a crouch. His leg shot out in a sweep to knock her off her feet, but she simply jumped backward and started to analyze him. Her sharp, slit eyes traveled all around his body, seeking out his every weakness and forming a strategy to incapacitate him.
A shiver ran down his spine at her downright predatory stare, and embarrassingly, he found himself strangely aroused.
He kicked the sand at his feet with the power boost five percent of One for All gave him in her direction. Just as the large plume of sand obscured his body, Izuku shot to the side and swiveled on his feet as he rushed to Himiko's exposed right.
His back hit the sand again, and Himiko straddled him with her training knife to his throat.
"A little better, but obvious." She smiled down at him, her bangs hanging over her glowing yellow eyes, "Next time, try more than one smokescreen, or I guess sandscreen."
"G-Got it, now um, could you get off." Izuku tried not to squirm under her, but if he didn't move her, she would feel his shameful arousal.
"Hmm," Himiko shifted from her crouch, and her bottom brushed against his crotch, making him go red, "oh, I see what you're so embarrassed about."
She ground her hips into his crotch and made him groan in part embarrassment, part arousal, "P-please, Himiko."
"Please, what?" She pressed her chest into his, and electricity shot up Izuku's spine, "Please stop? Please keep going?"
Izuku wasn't sure his mouth would move, not when she kept pressing herself against him like she was. So he threw his arms around her and flipped her over, his knee pressing into her skirt and his hands buried in the sand beside her head. His breaths came out in ragged gulps, and her own breaths were just as heavy.
His lips slammed into hers; she yelped at the sudden assault, but quickly, her arms came up to circle his shoulders as she kissed back. Their kisses had taken on a frantic and frenzied aspect ever since their near-death encounter, and this one was no exception.
Izuku pressed into her. He needed this; he needed to be close to her, and it seemed she felt the same. He was terrified he would lose her, and their previous escapade on his roof had been for him just as much for her. He couldn't imagine a world without Himiko because she was his hero just as much as she said he was hers.
She had saved him at his lowest moment, seconds after his suicide attempt, and even after learning he was quirkless, she had still called him her hero. That alone had saved him.
Having lost focus, Izuku was startled when he was thrown onto his back, and Himiko straddled him again. Her lips crashed back into his.
"I… love… you." She said each word in between crushing kisses and trailed her mouth along his neck, leaving a line of fire in its wake. His face felt like it was on fire, and the feeling only intensified when her hand slipped under his shorts.
"H-Himi-chan," Izuku panted, his member jumping as her hand closed around the shaft, "W-we can't! Not h-here."
Her growl was very feline in nature at that, but she also pulled back and stared into his eyes, annoyed and... hungry, "where then?"
Izuku had to think about that. "What about your apartment? The authorities let you keep it, right?"
Himiko seemed to think about that and then nodded, "Fine, but we need to hurry. Inko will worry if we're out too late, and I really don't know how long I can control myself."
Izuku looked around them. The sun had set sometime between their fight and the subsequent make-out session that he had initiated. The surrounding beach and sidewalk were vacant of passersby, so Izuku had a bit of a dangerous idea that she was sure to like.
"Climb on my back, and hold on." Izuku crouched down in front of her and grinned.
She raised a quizzical eyebrow but obliged all the same, "What're you planning, Izu?"
When he was sure she was in place and wouldn't move, he allowed One for All to crackle to life, the strain of eight percent making his muscles groan under the strain. But maintaining the output was far more manageable without the strain of a broken body, and Himiko felt far lighter than she had back at U.S.J.
Izuku stood out of his crouch and tested his balance with a quick lap around the beach. Himiko giggled as he zipped from one end of the beach to the other in half the time he usually would.
He grinned back at her, "You ready for this?"
"Ready for wha—"
Izuku shot out of the beach like a rocket, clearing the flood barrier in a single leap that whipped the wind through both of their hair. Himiko squealed as his feet met the concrete, and they flew even faster than they had while on the beach. Running One for All through its paces at the new level he had achieved felt amazing. But as he grew closer to the city's center, he could see that it was more populated. He took to the rooftops and back alleys, using Himiko as a guide.
"If you go through there, it's usually deserted. It should be right behind my building." Himiko pointed to an alley, and Izuku jumped down into the dark path from the roof they were standing on.
Izuku set her down and let One for All's crackling energy dissipate.
"That was so fun! How are you not constantly bouncing off the walls using that power?!" Himiko grinned at him, her childish wonder making him laugh.
"I have to admit, it is a little hard not to since I had that breakthrough when we fought that crystal villain. Now that I'm able to use eight percent, it's even more thrilling how fast and agile I am, but like you showed me earlier, I'm still stiff." Izuku looked down at his hands, frowning. He didn't know how he could become more proficient with the power, but he had a feeling Himiko would be a huge help.
"Let's go inside," Himiko pulled Izuku toward the building's side entrance and opened the door," how about you show me just how powerful it is?"
"N-No way! If I lose focus for even a second, I could kill you or blow my—" Izuku grimaced and entered the elevator with her, "I could blow little Izuku off."
Himiko winced, "Yeah, maybe we put off super sex until you've got a full handle on it. Although, our regular sex is already pretty super."
He blushed at her and sighed in relief when the elevator opened. He wasn't too sure her flirtatious teasing would keep him sane much longer. It was strange being back in her apartment building. The last time they had been here together, the pair had left escorted by police, and Himiko's future back then hadn't been certain. But now they could be together, pursuing a future they could both be proud of, and Izuku had never been happier.
"Oh, hey, psycho girl!" Izuku blanched at the man. It was the broker who had given Himiko the note about an attack on U.A. that they now knew was talking about the U.S.J.
"What do you want, Giran?" Himiko glowered at the man, her hands twitching toward her hidden knives. Izuku let One for All crackle to life.
The man put his hands up placatingly, "Hey, hey! None of that kids! I just came by to relay a message."
"What message?" Izuku studied the man closely. He didn't appear to have any weapons, but what was his quirk? Could Himiko and him take the man down?
"Shigaraki has an invitation, this time for both of you." Both Izuku and Himiko looked at the man as if he were insane, "I know! That was exactly my reaction! Offer the kids who almost punched his head off and stabbed him a place in the league? But he was adamant there was more to the both of you. He says the way you both acted wasn't particularly heroic and that you would both make good allies."
Izuku and Himiko looked at one another and nodded.
"No." They both said in unison.
"He also said you'd say that, but don't worry, kiddies! Shigaraki has plans for the both of you, and he said you'll see him again soon enough."
Giran made to walk past the pair, but when Izuku's hand shot out to stop him, he smiled, "Inko Midoriya, Musutafu Heights, building two, Apartment five hundred and six."
Izuku paled at the implication of the broker knowing his mother's apartment number, "how do you—"
"I'm a broker kid; it's my business to know information. You won't live long in this world if you don't know all the movers and shakers, and kid, you've got one of the biggest shakers interested in you."
Izuku digested that information. "Shigaraki can't be that important in the underworld; he's too childish."
Giran smiled, and the gap in his teeth was prominent. "Good instincts. No, it isn't Shigaraki, but it's someone close to him, that's all I can say. That being said, since I know where your family is, that also means some very bad people will know if I don't leave here, so…"
Giran trailed off, motioning to Izuku's hand, which had stalled him. A long moment of deliberation passed in Izuku's mind, but he couldn't endanger his mother or Eri. So, he put his hand down and let the man walk past them down into the stairwell.
"You kids have a nice night!" He called just as he shut the door behind himself, his smug grin making them both all the more enraged.
Izuku was silently seething for long minutes before Himiko broke the silence, "We should go back to your apartment."
He nodded numbly and turned away from Himiko's door, all excitement gone at the previous reason for their arrival.
'Tomura Shigaraki! I won't forgive you for threatening my family! I will never join you."