Izuku came to an abrupt stop as he reached yet another intersection between the shipping containers. The commercial shipping area was a maze of metal, the tall, rectangular containers blocking out any sound. It was a perfect and oft-used place for crime. Predictable. Easy. He looked around, his breath rising as a small cloud in the mid-February chill. Despite the tall, fluorescent lights that lined the dock and the full moon overhead, the giant steel boxes cast the darkest shadows in the lanes between them.
To his left, the lane continued all the way to the wharf where large, commercial fishing vessels were moored. He knew his adversary very well by now. She was crazy and chaotic, but she seemed to repeat herself often enough to give him the edge. She'd probably look for a place to trap him and that was what he was banking on. The open air would carry screams too well to the rest of the hero team, and she preferred a one-on-one fight. So, the wharf was out. He carried on running forward to the next intersection, his footfalls the only sound. His eyes scanned the edges of the containers. She could always pounce from above.
Although an onlooker may have boiled down the chase to one between cat and mouse, Izuku was keenly aware this was a cat versus cat kind of fight. They were two predators seeking out their enemy. However, his enemy probably chided herself into thinking this was indeed cat and mouse. After all, she was the one out for blood. His blood. His only goal was to get her into a jail cell to mull around the atrocities she committed. She'd probably laugh at it, but at least she'd finally be defanged. He hoped.
The League of Villains was getting their hands into all sorts of contraband lately. Yet again, Izuku had been on the case with a number of other heroes and former classmates to dismantle this latest operation. When the villains scattered like cockroaches in the bright police searchlight just an hour ago, Izuku had bolted for Himiko Toga, knowing full well he'd be the only one to convince her to stick around and play instead of disappearing into the shadows. He had made it obvious to her he was the one chasing her. Now the game was on. She was easy like that. Too easy.
As he came to the next intersection, he stopped again. To his left was another wharf. To his right was a large cleared area where one container had been removed from among the pack. That was probably the trap. No, it was definitely the trap. It was the best place for an ambush. He walked toward it, slowly, putting all of his concentration into listening. It wasn't that he was stupid, but Izuku knew he'd never find her if he didn't cast the line with himself at the end of the hook. She could be so silent, just like a cat stalking its prey. He knew he had to put himself in her cross-hairs if he was going to make her pounce. He walked into the empty space. It was quiet. So damn quiet. His eyes darted to each dark corner and each metal roof top. Nothing. Yet.
"Deku?" came a familiar voice from directly behind him and he jumped back instinctively.
Ochako stood there, dressed in her Uravity costume, staring at him through her pink visor with those big, bright eyes in confusion. She had been on the sting operation, but he could have sworn she had run after another villain when he had given chase to Toga before. Then again, Ochako worked fast and was always worried for him, especially when it came to Toga. Perhaps once she was done with her quarry she chased after him to ensure he had the back-up he needed, just in case. She was like that. It was totally plausible. Now she was standing before him, her hands behind her back inadvertently accentuating how skin-tight her costume was. The shape of her body made him ache.
This very well could be Ochako.
Or it could be Toga.
He kept his distance. He felt awful for not trusting her without question as they always did, but, they both knew Toga's quirk. Ochako would understand, in this situation, if he was hesitant, and she seemed to now. A giggle escaped her throat. It sounded real. It sounded like a genuine Ochako giggle. It relaxed his muscles to hear it. It disarmed him. He tried to reel it in. He tried to stay vigilant.
"Don't worry! I promise, I'm not Toga," she said through her giggles as she approached. "No need to be so scared!"
"I'm not, but Toga could appear at any moment," Izuku reminded her, trying to keep his defenses up. He kept his eyes on her.
There was something just slightly off about her that made him tense. Her smile seemed a little fake for this situation. Normally, he'd have expected Ochako to give him a brief about the other villains' statuses before joining his side. She would be more than serious. Then again, it could be nerves. Maybe she had run after him to begin with. Maybe she hadn't fought anyone yet and had followed him out of worry. She would do something like that. It was hard to tell. He found himself needing to jump through more and more hoops every time he faced Toga. The mental gymnastics made him crazy. The strain made him weary. It made him endlessly paranoid.
Toga had gotten so good at being Ochako lately, for no other reason than to deceive him into letting her into his space. She had even learned to call him "Deku", mimic Ochako's bubbly personality, and reproduce all the slight nuances in her voice. It made him absolutely ill. As much as Toga had learned to duplicate Ochako inside and out, though, she could never match the loveliness of the real thing, and he had been able to see through it as long as he expected it. Recently though, it was getting harder and harder to separate the girl from the ditto.
Sensing his tense stare, Ochako stopped approaching, and gave him a worried frown. She revealed her hands. Empty. "Really, Deku, it's me. I came to check up on you"
He loosened. Maybe it really was her. By now, Toga would have grown impatient. She would have giggled her disguise away. Would have been just too creepy to be anyone else. Would have been too easy. This was very unlike Toga, at least in recent memory, and it hurt him to doubt Ochako.
"Okay," he backed down just a tad more. "Sorry about that."
"No, I get it," she answered, nodding.
Like he predicted, she understood his apprehension. Finally granted access to his personal space, Ochako approached again. "Have you found her yet?"
"Not yet," Izuku answered, scanning the containers again, his eyes leaving Ochako for just a moment.
"Are you sure about that?"
She was too fast. By the time his brain processed what was going on, Ochako lunged forward, a long, pointed kitchen knife in her hand. She swiped up at him, her blade a reflection of the fluorescent light as it made contact with him. Its sharp edge easily sliced through the fabric of his hero costume, through to his chest, opening up a gash as he jumped backwards from her in a panic.
He grit his teeth as he landed some ways away from the skirmish, holding his chest where she had cut him. Bringing his hand away he could see the blood was already pouring from the wound in a slow ooze. He was practiced enough to know this meant she hadn't hit anything too terribly important and she hadn't pierced through to his body cavity. Still, the size of the cut was worrying.
Shit.
The pain suddenly hit him, a sharp ache in his left pectoral muscle and a stinging, burning sensation he could only liken to the worst paper cut imaginable. His heart throbbed at the pain and he felt himself start to sweat, the panic washing over him. The cat had caught her mouse.
He looked up, staring into the darkness where she had been standing, but, all he saw was empty space. Toga was hiding again, but now the game was getting too interesting for her to just leave. As crappy as this situation was turning out, he had imagined he'd have to spill some blood to lure the shark in.
She cackled into the night. Toga's voice seemed to be everywhere. "You really do get such a hard-on for that floaty skank."
Izuku grit his teeth again. That was another thing Toga had picked up over the years – the fact that he had slowly but surely developed feelings for Ochako. And, oh, how Toga hated that. He'd done his damnedest to ensure Toga never got a taste of his blood for a myriad of reasons, one being to spare Ochako from this insane sort of hell. He imagined if Toga was ever able to transform into him, she'd use it to outright kill Ochako or worse. He didn't doubt her on that. Didn't doubt it was something she might have done before to another pair of victims...
Although the pain from the gash in his chest was excruciating, he knew she was just playing with him. Otherwise, she would have driven the blade straight, not swiped up. It disgusted him to think it, but he trusted Toga to do things a certain way much in the same fashion he trusted Ochako. He may have been injured, but it was all part of the plan to catch her. He had to be bait.
He swallowed the instinctual fear away to concentrate on where she was coming from next, but the dizziness from the pain lingered. He knew he was at a disadvantage.
"It makes me so, so jealous, Izuku, baby," Toga whined again. "How could you do this to me? On Valentine's Day?"
Her voice suddenly seemed focused and he whipped around in time to come face to face with Toga in her original form, the knife coming first. He grabbed her wrist, stopping the knife, but didn't predict the knee to his abdomen as she kicked him down to the concrete.
His shoulders hit the pavement first, with his hips coming down second with the added weight of Toga on top. She tried to use the force of the fall to drive the knife home, despite him clutching it for dear life. She whined and grumbled when he overpowered her. She tried with all her might, then, to tear her arm away, but it was no use either. When she felt him concentrating his strength on keeping her in place, she tried again to drive the knife down, only for him to stop it again, locking his elbows. She feinted defeat, only to try again when she thought his guard was down. It was an awful kind of dance, this struggle. He never let go of her wrist and he had to use both hands to stop the blade's descent into his chest.
"You didn't send me a Valentine's Day card!" Toga hissed as they struggled, her voice poisoning the meaning of the holiday. It sounded so vile, so awful, so wrong.
"What were you expecting me to send?" Izuku grit his teeth as he held her at bay.
"I expected a big, red heart telling me how much you love me, darling," she hissed again.
"Not on your life," Izuku choked out.
"I know, I know," she said, struggling with him. "You're so in love with Ochako, it makes me sick!"
She was using all her weight and Izuku was using all his strength to keep her above him. His chest heaved with each breath, as if each gulp of air were no longer enough. It was surprising to him how exhausting it was to keep this girl at bay, and he feared any loss of concentration to power up One for All would give her the edge. Instead, he dragged himself across the rough concrete, pushing his legs to try and escape from underneath her, but she just stayed saddled, riding him like a pony. When he stopped in exhaustion and blood loss, she just giggled.
She slipped her free hand under his metal face mask and clutched the zipper at his neck, gently bringing it down to reveal her handy work. The movement stung the corners of the gash, and he winced.
"So, I got to thinking," Toga spoke sweetly as she did this, almost drooling, her grip softening in her distraction. Izuku relaxed.
She noticed this.
"Oop! I wouldn't do that if I were you!" Toga giggled and applied pressure again. Izuku tightened his grip to stop the knife. Then she stopped and chuckled more. "Anyway! I got to thinking!"
She applied pressure again to make sure he knew she was serious about driving the blade down the minute he relaxed.
"About what I really want."
Izuku stayed silent, still gasping for breath. Her free hand opened his suit wider and wandered across his skin like a freezing cold spider. The blush on her face became redder. As red as his blood soaking into her sleeve.
"I've been in love before. So many boys have looked so delectably broken in the past. So much so, I made them bleed...maybe...too much. But that's okay."
"It's really not," Izuku grit his teeth and Toga applied pressure to the knife as a punishment for his insolence.
"Quiet, honey, I'm talking!"
She smiled wide, her long canines shining in the moonlight. She continued on. "But I've never wanted a piece of one before."
She leaned down on the knife heavily, the blade shaking in their struggle. Toga snickered.
"I just want all your love...and all your blood...so, I thought...I'll just take your heart!" she gave him the widest, sickest grin, as if she had done all the research herself to come to this epiphany. She continued in her mania. "What a perfect Valentine's Day gift, huh?"
"That makes no sense!" Izuku exclaimed through gritted teeth, fighting against her murderous intent.
She just chortled through her sharp teeth as her hand found the deep laceration she had opened in him. She thrust the tip of her index finger into the wound. Izuku growled through his clenched teeth, keeping in a yelp as the sudden accumulation of stinging, burning, and soreness came together into an intense agony. He had broken bones into splinters before, but unlike those times, his body was doing nothing to blunt the pain at all. It only flinched and convulsed as Toga tormented the cut further, running her ice cold finger up to the corner and stretching the skin there.
"Well, it's in there!" she said sadistically. Izuku groaned and clenched his teeth harder as she tore her finger out. "I promise to be gentle as I cut it out. I'd like it to keep beating for a while, ya know?"
She relaxed again. This was simply a war of attrition and she literally had the upper hand in this. He wouldn't be able to keep this up forever, the fatigue already settling in. Her icy fingers ran across his skin again, and he shivered. It was such an awful, toxic touch. The sick obsessiveness was communicated to him through her fingertips and it occurred to him how deadly serious she was. Up until this point, he could always count on one thing – the league wouldn't kill him precisely because Toga wouldn't have it. She pined for his blood and his image, and once he understood that, he could manipulate their interactions. He'd never suggested anything to her, but her protectiveness of him was all it took. It was nauseating to say the least, but it had saved him and numerous others time and time again.
Now the tables had turned. Toga had descended into the final, morbid stage of her obsession, one that dictated if she couldn't have him, then no one could. Knowing Toga, she would revel in the thought of keeping him all for herself in this way and finally obtaining all the blood she would ever need. The possibilities were really endless after his life ended. Yes, this whole plan was really quite beneficial for Toga, and if he didn't think of something soon, she would gladly dissect him right here on the concrete. If she would just get distracted again for a few seconds...
In his exhaustion and desperation, he breathed deeply during another bought of struggling with the knife. It seemed to do the trick as she watched his chest rise and fall. Toga exhaled suggestively, resting her eyes on his body in a way that could only be described as a school girl facing her sexual desires for the first time. He'd throw up later.
"It really is such a shame," she said breathlessly, in the sweetest voice she could muster, which, in her case, only ever made her more terrifying. "You really are quite beautiful alive."
Her grip loosened and he waited for her interest to fully fall away from the knife hovering just inches from the prize she had come for. The freezing cold spider ran across him again. Somehow the blush upon her cheeks became even more rosy and her eyelids grew heavy. "Seeing you like this just makes me so wet..."
At that, her focus shifted enough for him to feel her strength in the knife completely dissipate. She never was too good at keeping her eye on the prize, at least not when it came to him. This war of attrition was over. With his right hand his swiped the knife from her grasp and threw it across the empty space. With the threat gone and his adversary frozen in shock, he pulled her to the ground away from him, flipping the circumstance so that he was now on top of her, her face in the concrete, her arms pinned down.
"Oh! Oh, I see! Do you prefer this position, my love?" Toga cracked up.
Izuku sighed in annoyance. "Please, Toga...please...just stop."
He brought her hands to her back and attached handcuffs to her wrists, praying to God she didn't make another sexual joke of this, too. He cuffed her ankles as well, for good measure. She wouldn't stop giggling as he patted her down, looking for any more knives. Truth be told, he had a hard time figuring out where she had hidden the first one in Ochako's skin-tight suit...probably behind her back in the belt if he had to guess. Good to know, if there ever was a next time.
Toga's voice penetrated his thoughts again, unwelcome. "Do I make you uncomfortable?"
"Very." he answered flatly.
Izuku moved a few feet away from her and sat down against the metal wall, throwing his head back in exhaustion. The pain in his chest was still excruciating, but somehow he was coping with it. He just needed a few minutes to finally relax, let the blood flow back into his wearied arms, and breath normally. He scanned the area. It was still night, but the dawn was slowly coming, the light from the sun already brightening the edge of the far shipping container.
"Oh," came a familiar voice from the lane Izuku had emerged from prior to his and Toga's scuffle. He turned his head to look. It was Ochako. The real Ochako. As per usual, the girl had lost her helmet in her own skirmish, and, like clock work, had run to find Izuku as soon as it was over. She seemed roughed-up, dirt clinging to her costume. "Deku, you're bleeding!"
"Y-yeah..."
She ran to his side and plopped down on her knees next to him, worry sweeping over her normally happy face. He couldn't help but feel comforted by it. It was the assurance that the danger was over now that she was here. He felt a sudden heat fill his cheeks, his heart fluttering in the elation of being in her care.
Ochako could immediately tell where the blood was coming from, given by the torn fabric. Her eyes met his in a silent request to enter, for which she was met by no denial. She gently pulled his suit away to reveal the wound and grimaced.
"Oh...I think that's gonna need stitches..." she said regrettably. "But...I can cover it up in the meantime!It's quite a walk back to the entrance."
Ochako got to work retrieving some supplies from her fanny pack. She put on some gloves and attached two gauze pads together to create a larger one that could adequately cover the opening. She then paused, mulled over something as she bit her lip, then nodded to herself as she retrieved a tiny vial of clear liquid.
"Hm?"
"I'm thinking we ought to clean it as soon as possible..." Ochako trailed, spilling some of the liquid onto another piece of gauze.
"That would be good. Who knows where Toga's knife and fingers have been," Izuku answered absentmindedly, his statement causing Ochako's eyes to widen and stare at him in disbelief and concern.
"Seriously?" she exclaimed. Toga just laughed and laughed from her spot on the ground. Ochako shook her head. That counted as torture, didn't it? "You shouldn't have gone after her by yourself! You should have gone with someone! You should have waited for me!"
Ochako was visibly upset. Izuku tried to assuage the situation with logic.
"We needed to catch her, you guys were busy-y-," he was caught off guard by Ochako's application of the alcohol onto the sore cut, the sting of the chemical racing up into his brain. His hands instinctively raced to cover the area in agony.
When the sting subsided and he opened his eyes, he was met by Ochako's brown ones, her cheeks underneath them painted a deep scarlet. It took him a second or two to realize that in his action to protect the torn skin, he had pressed Ochako's hand flush against his chest. Her hand was such a welcome, warm contrast to Toga's ice. Her lips were so close, he could feel her hot breath chase the late winter air from his bare neck. He wondered for a split second if he ought to just tell her now, as if his racing heart under her palm wasn't spilling the beans already.
Instead, he disengaged, and put his hand back onto the cold concrete. He faced away from her, unable to make eye contact anymore. "S-sorry..."
"I-it's okay...anyway..." she squeaked, as she attempted to finish cleaning the area, the used gauze gray from dirt. She then went on to apply the makeshift bandage she had made for him prior, all while recounting to him the status' of the other villains and that their friends on the call would be here momentarily to pick up Toga. He listened to her intently, peaking back at her as she concentrated on her work. How could he have ever mistaken the fake Ochako before with the real one? He definitely had paid for that mistake, but this certainly felt like forgiveness.
He knew he was staring...he knew he was obvious, especially to those sensitive to the ways of the heart. He could see Toga from the corner of his eye, stewing in her hatred for the pink and black clad heroine putting him back together where she had torn him apart. The deranged girl was surely the textbook definition of envy. Maybe this was torturing Toga as much as she had just tortured him. The pettiest part of him hoped so.
Toga's blush from before hadn't gone away, though, and in her psychotic mind, she always clung to the narrative that somewhere in the heart she just attempted to steal there could be love for her someday. She smiled sadistically.
"Well, when you're done fooling around with the gravity whore, I'll always take you back, sweetie!" Her voice so sickly saccharine, it was obvious it was still laced with poison. She grinned wide and couldn't contain her spastic giggling. Izuku often wondered if she meant half the things she said or if everything was just a joke to her.
"Oh, I'm a gravity whore, now?" Ochako asked sarcastically as she finished applying the bandage. "Gee, Toga, I thought we were friends!"
"Secret's out!" Toga announced gleefully, then went immediately cross. "I can't be best friends with a skank that steals my boyfriend! Friendship over!"
Ochako rolled her eyes and helped Izuku to his feet.
It was then a few police officers and Iida stepped into the clearing from the lane Ochako had appeared from. They got to work hauling away Toga who continued to laugh and whine. Iida hung back to dote over Izuku like a mother hen, and scold him like one as well.
It would still be a long day of recounting what had happened and ensuring all the villains were slapped with every count they were guilty of. Izuku could only hope that Toga's attempted murder became a charge that kept her behind bars for a very long time. The paranoia over when and where she'd worm her way into his life in Ochako's skin was becoming more than he could stomach. He wanted to at least fret and ponder over his budding feelings in peace without an insane admirer muddying them.
But what of these feelings? Izuku wasn't stupid. He knew exactly what they were, now. A year or two ago, they had been confusing – was it just appreciation or admiration? Was it just a close friendship, something he had never experienced before her, or was it really romantic love? Was he really going to crush on his best friend? Was that even allowed? Was it really okay? As his brain examined it, his heart had gone on without him. Ochako had become everything. He loved being near her. He loved her laugh, the way she lit up for the littlest delights. Her eyes melted him when they stared just a bit too long, and her smile and encouragement were intoxicating. He even loved her when she was crying, when she messed up, and when she was cross with him, although rare. There wasn't anything she could do to stop it and nothing she could do to change it...even if she didn't feel the same way. He'd just love her this strongly platonically, then. There was no one he wanted to lose less. That was love, wasn't it?
Izuku watched as Ochako spoke with the police, detailing her fight with the other villains. She sure was incredible. After something like this, she'd amble her way over to him to discuss things and ensure he was all right. He'd need stitches and a few days, perhaps even a week off to heal from this latest encounter, and she would be at his apartment perhaps three or four times with take-out. Izuku could count on Ochako that way.
He wondered as she approached if today was the day, but then declined. He was injured, and the encounter with Toga left an awful taste in his mouth. It was Valentine's Day, but that would just be too cliché anyway, he argued with himself. It was easy. Too easy. Predictable.
He could wait for the perfect moment, one not so polluted by outsiders. There would be better days to tell her how he felt. In the meantime, he could bask in her warmth, a welcome contrast to the mid-February chill.