Chapter 28

Himiko was humming a cheerful melody to herself, ignoring the muffled cries of her victem. She giggled as she felt blood pool into her hand. Delightful. She pressed harder, twisting the knife in her victem until they lost all struggle. The blade was retracted and the her victem crashed to the floor. Himiko's eyes were glued to the blood dripping off her knife. She smiled brightly and licked the liquid off her blade, savoring the taste. She giggled again. Delicious. Not as good as Kuriko's but still very good. Normally she would not do such a thing. She was content with Kuriko alone. She had no need for anyone else. The only reason she targeted this girl is because she planned on following Kuriko to UA. She would need to use her quirk at such a school. She might need to use her quirk during the exam. She didn't know much about her quirk so she decided she should experiment. She knew what it could do, while at the same time she didn't. Did the amount of blood she took matter? Would it affect her transformation? How complicated is the transformation? How well does this transformation work? She didn't know this. She never really used her quirk. She used it once and remembered the feeling. She knew what it would feel like, what it should feel like. That's about it. She didn't know much about it. She didn't remember how much blood she ingested or how long the transformation lasted.

So she did this to experiment.

She also liked the feeling it brought. It was exhilarating.

While she was filling up a vile full of her victem's blood she wasn't paying enough attention to notice someone standing behind her. It wasn't until she was smacked on the back of her head that the person was noticed.

"Hi Riko" she greeted cheerfully and received another slap at the back of her head.

Kuriko glared down at the girl. Of all the things. They were still in school. It may have ended but the clubs were active. Anyone could've walked out here and saw this. That would be too troublesome. Why does Himiko not think about these things?

Kuriko eyed the girl on the floor. She wasn't moving. She crouched down next to her and placed two fingers at her pulse. She was still breathing. Kuriko trailed her hand down to her stomach and began healing the girl. The wound closed up. Her clothes were restored to their former state. Kuriko gripped the unconscious girl by the collar and carelessly dragged her across the floor and placed her against a wall. She touched her forehead and succesfully altered her memory, before returning to Himiko. Kuriko had left the pool of blood on the floor, to Himiko's delight.

"Hey, hey, can you collect all this blood for me? I wanna experiment ,I could use the blood"

Kuriko kept a good distance from Himiko. She was very giddy and cheerful. It made Kuriko uncomfortable. It sickened her to a degree. She had sighed at the blonde's request, but she fulfilled her request anyway. With an almost unnoticeable twitch of her fingers the pool of blood started to rise into the air.

Himiko giggled in her joy and produced a water bottle. She watched happily as Kuriko directed the blood into the container. She had only planned on getting a small amount. It's a good thing Kuriko found her.

"Thank you! " Himiko almost squealed and latched onto Kuriko's arm. She ignored the other's obvious annoyance by the action. "Can I stay with you again? You can help me learn more about my quirk"

Kuriko shook her head no and tried to pull her arm away from the blonde. She cursed the girl's strenght, for she would not let go of her.

"But Kuriko"

Said girl ignored her whining. At some point she gave up on trying to pull away from the clingy blonde and instead jabbed her side . When she flinched away due to the pain Kuriko increased her walking speed and folded her arms.

"You're so mean! "

What else did she expect from her? Kuriko stuffed her hands in her pockets as she trudged through the hallway. Himiko made things so bothersome since the early morning. Apparenty she had stabbed her counselor multiple times. It's a wonder the man was still alive. Of course this brought problems, because she stabbed a man repeatedly. Something had to have happened. This man planned on suing her parents and getting Himiko sent to juvenile detention. That was all too troublesome. Kuriko swiftly took care of the situation. She wondered why the man even showed up at their school. should he not have went to her parents with this? Thinking about it, it wouldn't do him very much good. Her parents could care less. Either way Kuriko handled it. She altered the man's memory. Of course by doing that she would have to mess with multiple individual's memories, so she had a busy morning.

She was still a bit angry about it.

Kuriko was soon outside of her school and Himiko caught up to her. The silent girl was still ignoring the blonde as she walked off the school property. She was on her own today. Nozomi And Nemuri had work so she would be going home on her own.

"Kuriko can I spend another night? "Himiko asked again, sounding hopeful

Kuriko shook her head no. One night was enough.

"Fine" Himiko mumbled but still beamed.

Of course. Kuriko realized that the girl now knew where she lived and would be coming whether she liked it or not. This is the reason Kuriko regretted it all.

Such a bother.

~~~~~~~~

A sigh left Inko's lip as she closed the door behind her. She had another unsuccessful job interview. What was she to do? The handful of money she had wouldn't last her very long. She needed to find a Job as soon as possible. It was harder than expected. She had been a nurse for so long. She didn't know if there was anything else she was good at. She loved her job. It made her useful. She was needed. She could help. Now she was just...

She didn't bother thinking about it. She needed to get dinner ready for Izuku. He has been coming home later these past few days. He always goes to Dangobah park. He never told her what it is he was doing there. During the weekend he would be there from six in the morning to six in the evening. On school days he would come home for a short amount of time. She didn't know what he was up to, but she did notice a few changes. They were mostly physical changes. He was building muscle. She hardly noticed it at first. Izuku tended to wear baggy clothes. Either way she noticed and figured he must be doing some form of training. She connected that with the beach and deducted that he must be cleaning it in a form of exercise. It was logical, she supposed.

Her thoughts remained on her son as she gathered ingredients. Izuku was still trying to get into UA. It was a relief because he had been acting so differently that she feared she had lost him completely. She didn't know how to help him. He was trying to process something and she could do nothing . He didn't like talking about it. He never tells her how he feels. What he's going through. Nothing. She didn't push him. She let him be, but kept a close eye on him.

She sighed when she almost cut her finger. It's best she focused on what she was doing with the knife.

Things were suddenly harder than usual and she couldn't ask for help. She could never ask for help. No one would help her. She had to learn to do things on her own and things were going great until now. Suddenly everything is going downhill. What had she done wrong? She had to have done something wrong. She always does something wrong. She always messes something up.

Everyone always leaves.

She lost her mother. She Lost her father. She lost her brother. She lost her husband. She almost lost her son.

it was frustrating to think about, but sometimes it's all she could think about. It was painful. She couldn't lose Izuku. She would do anything for him. She wanted to be the best parent, but she obviously wasn't. She made multiple mistakes. Those mistakes lead to Izuku becoming who he now is.

She almost cut herself again and snapped out of her thoughts. She should really be careful, lest she worry Izuku.

It's best she not drown herself in her thoughts. She might not resurface.

~~~~~~~~~

"What in the world are you doing? "

Mitsuki stood near a window overseeing the backyard and watched her son constantly punch their poor tree. Why was he doing that? His knuckles and fingers were already bruised. He would be bleeding soon and yet he refused to stopped. He seemed highly determined. What did he want to do that required him to hurt himself like that? Recently he had been leaving the house at a certain time and returning at dusk. She never asked where he was going. She figured he wouldn't want to tell. Today he didn't leave the house. He spent most of his days in his room, as he usually did nowadays. Around the late afternoon he came out to the back yard and starting hitting their tree.

"Why is he doing that? " Masaru asked in worry as he leaned over his wife's shoulder. "He's hurting himself"

Mitsuki sighed and looked away. She should stop him but knew it would be futile. She'll at least be ready with a medkit to fix him up.

"He's feeling guilty, isn't he? " Masaru asked knowingly as he watched his son. "He blames himself for what Izuku did"

"Yes"

Mitsuki still had not told Masaru of what had happened. Katsuki didn't want his father knowing and she couldn't betray the boy's trust like that. It wasn't something she liked doing. Inko needed to know, but she could not tell her . It hurt seeing her best friend go through all of this. She blamed herself and questioned why her son would do such a thing. She tried to reassure her, but nothing worked. It's been a while since they last talked. She hoped Inko was doing well.

"You're worried about Inko, aren't you? " Masaru asked as if sensing his wife's worries and thoughts. He was always good with people.

"Of course I am, she's practically my sister" Mitsuki sighed as she retrieved the medkit. "She wasn't doing so hot the last time we talked. I don't even know what's going on with her now "

"Why don't you call? "

"It's no use. She hardly answers the phone and when she does she doesn't want to talk about her struggles"

"Then go over"

"I should, shouldn't I? "

~~~~~~~

His hands were bloodied now. He could hardly feel the pain. His hands were almost numb from constantly hitting the tree. Why had he done that? He planned on training. Seeing as Izuku was going to UA he felt like he needed to continue to persue his dreams too. For some reason he felt as if he owed it to the boy. As if he had to prove himself or something. He didn't know what convinced him to hurt himself as he did.

He went back into the house, planing on going back to his room. Someone grabbed him by the collar and dragged him towards the living room with a strenght he was not expecting.

"Let go"

"No, I need to fix you up"

"I'm fine"

"Oh and the blood on your hands is of no concern?"

Katsuki said nothing and let his mother seat him on their couch. She took his left hand in her right and proceeded to clean the blood off with a wet cloth. At the touch he flinched, finally feeling the pain. His mother apologized and continued very gently.

"Why did you do this, Katsuki? "

"I don't know"

He really didn't. He didn't intend to. He was going to train. He didn't plan on hurting himself. He just ended up doing it. He let himself be overtaken by his emotions.

"Don't do it again" Mitsuki's voice wasn't as stern as usual and Katsuki noticed. It was more of a plea than an order. She was worried.

Katsuki didn't say anything to that. He just stared at his bloodied hand.

He felt pathetic, but that was nothing new.

~~~~~~~~~~

Izuku sat in front of his computer, scrolling through the results he had gotten. He had four months remaining. Four more months and he would get a chance at UA. He had been training his body for five months and has seen improvement. Despite that he was still not very proud. His achievements didn't matter to him. He didn't know why he couldn't be proud of himself. He just couldn't. He figured it's because he's not doing things correctly. He can't just train his body. It would do him little if he did not know any form of martial arts. What would be the point of his training if he couldn't fight to defend himself. He didn't know how to fight. It's best he learns from an expert, so he looked up classes online. It didn't matter much to him what he would be learning. He just needed to fight.

After some time of brushing over most of what he saw he stopped at some point. Free martial arts training is what he saw. He stared at the words his computer displayed. He looked skeptical. Why would someone train others for free? Why so generous? Despite himself he clicked on the words and watched an ad pop up. He paid little attention to it and only focused on the address.

He raised an eyebrow when he read it.

"An abandoned warehouse? " he leaned back in his seat and eyed his window. Well, isn't that the most perfect place for free training. It was very fishy.

He shrugged. What's he got to lose except for his limbs and his life?

"If I die I die"

~~~~~~~~~

Kuriko was ignoring the tug on her arm as she made her way back home. Himiko was trying to get her to stop . She spotted a couple of bullies harrashing a pregnant street dog and told Kuriko. Of course the girl didn't show much.

"Kuriko, the dog"

It's a dog. A street dog. These things happen every day. What's the point of stopping the bullies if the dog will have to go through the same thing the very next day? They'll just be giving the poor animal false hope.

"But she's pregnant" Himiko protested as she tried to pull Kuriko towards the scene. Since when was the silent girl so strong?

Kuriko didn't budge and continued her walk. She didn't even chance a look at the blonde when she released her arm. She heared her footsteps retreat and had an idea of what she would be doing. Kuriko sighed and stopped when she heard some panicked screams. Himiko was lucky no one was actually around except for those bullies. Of course she would go and kill the fools for bullying a dog. Of course Kuriko didn't bat an eye at the bloody scene. She just watched with an exasperated expression as Himiko gleefully stabbed the boys with the knife she carried around. Kuriko didn't understand how they could fail to restrain her. There were four of them and just one Himiko.

The blonde was covered in blood when the boys were taken care off. There was the familair crazed smile on her face and look in her eyes. She giggled with joy as she licked the blood off her knife. Five hunts in one day. How joyous.

Kuriko eyed the brown dog that was coweromg in a corner. She was malnourished and hairless in a few regions. Kuriko could easily see her ribs and wondered how this dog survived. She was pregnant no less.

With a sigh Kuriko retrieved a sizable box and placed the dog within. She refrained from touching her, knowing that the thing had fleas . With the frightened dog in the box she willed the darkness to take her and Himiko.

She didn't know what the hell she was going to do with the dog, but she took the dog.