Thicker than Blood

Chapter 2

The Brother Watches


On the day she returned to school, Chiyuki didn't say anything about the details of her hospital stay. Everyone asked why she had been gone, and everyone clearly was curious when she said she was in the hospital, but Chiyuki was rather tight lipped. She didn't even tell her friend, Itsuka, about it. She wouldn't tell anyone about her quirk, not yet. Not until she knew if anything else would change.

At lunch, Chiyuki caught sight of her brother in the nurses office. She wanted to wave at him but he was clearly talking with the nurse about her updated health card. Instead she and Itsuka sat down to eat their bentos together. Chizome had worked hard that morning to give her a special bento for her first day back. He tried to make little cats out of the rice balls today, and he went for the octodogs that were popular. The broccoli was set up to look like trees and he had decorated them with colorful little dots. Maybe those were lights? Or birds? Regardless, it was a calming sight that almost cheered Chiyuki up when she had to sip at her thermos.

"Shiro-chan, look who's coming." Itsuka whispered, nudging her friend. Chiyuki screwed the top back on the thermos and looked up. She saw Gensuto walking towards them rather meaningfully. He had his bento in his hands and while his face conveyed he was nervous, his body seemed to have some kind of confidence.

Gensuto stopped a few meters in front of the girls and asked, quickly and a little loudly, "Can I eat lunch with you?"

Itsuka blinked and looked at Chiyuki. When neither said anything Gensuto looked a little put off but Chiyuki shrugged after a moment, saying, "Sure."

Gensuto sat next to Chiyuki rather stiffly and unwrapped his bento. Chiyuki and Itsuka both watched attentively and Gensuto's face turned a little pink as he unveiled his lunch. His bento, a nicer more expensive box that was a little bigger than Chiyuki's ordinary and cheap bento. His was also layered into three parts while Chiyuki had only the one section.

"Ohh, Suto-kun, that's a nice bento." Itsuka said and Chiyuki nodded in a quiet amazement. His mother clearly had a talent for decorating bento.

He looked down at the well crafted anime character in the top section and his face was fire red after Itsuka's nickame, "Thank you. My Onee-san made it for me."

Chiyuki thought on that for a second. She was a little glad she didn't have to compliment his mother, since his mother had been a bitch. But his sister making his bento made Chiyuki only a little angrier when she thought back to those bullies. His older sister made that bento for him, just like how her older brother made her bento for her! Chiyuki was almost tempted to go back and start another fight with them. Almost.

"That's cool! I wish I had an older brother or sister." Itsuka mentioned, taking Chiyuki's attention away from her thoughts, "Then they could teach me cool things!"

"Nii-san taught me how to read." Chiyuki replied, smiling proudly. It was relaxing to talk with Itsuka, they didn't have any serious conversations yet. Of course some conversations were very fun because Itsuka, as an actual child, had a great imagination. Turning to look at Gensuto, she wondered if he was trying to start a friendship here. He was a bit of a loner, and he seemed to have lost the attitude he had when they first started school.

Gensuto noticed Chiyuki looking at him and he swallowed his rice quickly.

"Oh, that's right. You're good at reading, Akaguro-chan." Gensuto said, a little awkwardly. It was fine if conversation was stilted now while they were kids, Chiyuki figured as she looked back at her bento as if she hadn't just stared at him while thinking. She doubted either of them would really remember a lot.

Gensuto didn't add anything else to the conversation, so Itsuka spoke up to save it, "My Kaa-chan taught me to read!" Then she looked at Gensuto. He seemed to get the message that it was his turn to share.

"I had a tutor." Gensuto stated, stiffly.

"Ohh, then you must be good at reading too." Itsuka decided, smiling, "I need to get better so I can be good too!"

The trio continued with this type of conversation, getting to know Gensuto a bit more as they ate. Most of it was superficial kid things, nothing truly interesting for Chiyuki. But she definitely enjoyed talking to Gensuto because he made the best expressions when he wasn't comfortable in a conversation. Soon the bell rang, signaling it was time for class again.

Gensuto ate with Itsuka and Chiyuki again the next day, and quickly joined the duo and made them a trio.

.

One night at dinner, Chiyuki was sipping at her thermos and nibbling on the grilled fish her brother had made them. Chizome was already done but he was sitting there, doing maintenance on one of the swords he usually kept high up and away from her.

"Nii-san, is that your sword?" Chiyuki asked placidly. She recalled their father had collected swords and her brother had taken all those swords with them when they moved into this apartment.

Chizome nodded, "Yeah, Otou-san gave this to me when I entered high school. I was in a hero course."

"Ohh," Chiyuki said, and she thought this was a good way to show she was interested in being a hero, throwing out the off hand remark, "Mm, I'm going to be a hero too, then."

Almost dropping the sword and rag, Chizome looked up suddenly at her. He squinted at her for a moment before sighing and smiling, "Well, I'll have to see if you're made of the right stuff then."

Chiyuki figured her brother wouldn't accept it too easily, especially since she had mostly avoided speaking about heroes to her brother. But she knew that somehow, some way, she would become a hero. To be reborn into this world meant Chiyuki didn't really have much of a choice. To be reborn as the younger sister of someone who would become the Hero Killer, Stain, meant Chiyuki didn't have much of a choice.

Despite feeling like she had to be a hero, Chiyuki wanted to be strong, to be selfish and cold. She was a bit standoffish and aloof to people she didn't know. But that was in speaking terms. Chiyuki knew that deep down in her soul, if someone in front of her was in trouble, her body would move to save them. Even if Chiyuki was thinking to herself, 'I shouldn't save them. I would get hurt', her body would still move. So she knew she needed to be as strong as she could be in this world full of superheroes.

'Unless,' her subconscious reminded her, 'You want to die again?'

Chiyuki had to shove those thoughts down. She forced them away, thinking back to why she had to be strong. There were more reasons than Chiyuki being an upstander, of course. Chiyuki figured she had to be strong to survive in this world. And Chiyuki had to be strong because of her brother. Because of who he could become.

But she didn't want to think about that yet. She still had years of her Nii-san being the loving, doting older brother that he was now. Chiyuki wanted to stop thinking about these things that were so far in the future.

"What do you mean, Nii-san?" Chiyuki questioned after an unintended awkward pause, setting down her chopsticks and spitting out the bone she had been crunching on for almost two full minutes. It was a bad habit of hers, disassociating during slow conversations to think a little too seriously.

"Heroes have to do a lot of hard work. You're super smart Chi-chan, and you stuck up for the mother's boy against bullies so I'm sure you'd make a great hero. But you need to be strong too, because I don't want you to get hurt. When you're ready, I'll teach you some self defense and exercises, and we'll see if we can figure out what your quirk can do. Then we can see if you can be a hero." Chizome explained, very seriously. He made sure he was clear and that Chiyuki understood before he went back to running the rag up and down his sword.

Looking down at her plate, Chiyuki thought she had been blessed with a very caring older brother in this life. She felt safe in his presence, as if the world itself couldn't touch her if he was there. She didn't want to be reminded of what he would someday become, nor did she want to think about how she would cope when everything fell apart.

Chiyuki slipped off the chair and put her dish and chopsticks on the counter by the sink. She went to go find the stool she needed to stand on to be able to wash her dishes. Chizome watched, smiling at the white ponytail that swung merrily as his sister ran around the apartment. She finally found the stool under the kotatsu.

"Ahh, what's this doing here?" Chiyuki mumbled to herself. She carried it by the handle to the sink and set it down, ready to do dishes.

Watching her, Chizome quietly whispered under his breath, "Chi-chan, do you really want to be a hero?"

She didn't hear him as she turned the water on and began to wash the plates.

.

Ever since Chiyuki had said she wanted to be a hero, Chizome had felt conflicted.

Chizome thought his sister was rather responsible for her age, and he wanted to start teaching her how to fight now. They lived in a bad neighborhood so it would potentially save her life when he started to work more and he wouldn't be home as frequently. It would also give her an edge over her potential classmates if she truly wanted to be a hero, and it wasn't just his little sister wanting to be like him in that moment.

But on the other hand, Chizome wasn't sure if he should start teaching his cute little sister to fight. She was already trying to stand up to people bigger than her, and while Chizome respected his sister wanted to help others, she was too little now. He really didn't want to give her the confidence that could lead to her stepping into a situation bigger than her.

As a happy medium, Chizome thought he could potentially start her on some kind of conditioning. Maybe some stretches and exercises that would get her comfortable with exerting a lot of energy. Chiyuki was a quiet, studious girl and Chizome predicted that she would struggle with actual physical training. Her mind may be sharp but her body was unconditioned and still growing.

Despite feeling conflicted about teaching Chiyuki how to fight, he knew one thing for sure.

She definitely needed to learn more about what her quirk could do.

Chizome wasn't as worried as he had been when Chiyuki had been in the hospital. That had been the second scariest thing that had ever happened to him, the first being the incident that killed their parents and almost took Chiyuki away from him. Now that he was calmer, and had more time to think, he was only concerned about what her quirk actually was.

Blood Thirst. It was an ominous name that Chizome hadn't liked when the doctor had named it. But considering Chiyuki had to literally drink blood to survive, it wasn't entirely wrong. He wanted to know what her actual quirk was, though. Clearly the trade off for whatever power she had, was she had to replenish her blood. Chizome knew something about her blood was the key to quirk, but he couldn't think of what her quirk could be.

Before Chizome could think more, someone called his name. He was waiting outside the staff room at Chiyuki's school, using the time to think carefully. At least he had been productive during the wait. He hated taking off work, especially when the teacher's note had said it wasn't urgent.

"Akaguro-san, thank you for coming." Chiyuki's teacher greeted him. To be honest, Chizome had forgotten her name already. She wasn't as memorable as Chiyuki's first year teacher had been.

As they sat down in the staff room the teacher got right to the point of their meeting, "Don't worry, Akaguro-san. Chiyuki-kun isn't in trouble. In fact, she is very good in school. Chiyuki-kun is very intelligent and mature and all the teachers are in agreement that she should be elevated a grade or two. Maybe more." The teacher started to pull out paperwork.

Chizome instantly shot the idea down. He hadn't even needed to give it any thought, merely stating, "Absolutely not."

The teacher sputtered and nearly dropped the paperwork, "But, surely you realize that Chiyuki-kun comprehends things at a much higher level than a second year. She could be elevated to potentially fifth year!"

Chizome snorted, "And then she'd end up with a bunch of older kids who would bully her."

"I'm sure that wouldn't happen." the teacher said, "Chiyuki-kun is very-"

"Listen, I said it isn't happening." Chizome grunted, leaning forward, "She is perfectly happy where she is. If she's so smart, then give her assignments you think would be better for her."

"Akaguro-san, Chiyuki-kun is wasting her potential in this class!" the teacher, very frustrated, huffed. Clearly the teacher hadn't expected Chizome to say no.

Rolling his eyes, Chizome stood up and glowered down at the teacher, "If I hear you do anything to try and get her into another class, I'm not afraid to make trouble, sensei. Got it?"

The teacher went to argue more but Chizome's sudden change in aura almost made the room drop a few degrees. The teacher felt her legs start to shake and she glared at Chizome's back as he began to walk out of the staff room. He looked over his shoulder and grinned, knowing he was in power here, "Have a nice day, sensei."

Walking down the hall Chizome checked the time. He wanted to wait for Chiyuki but there was still an hour before class was over. He figured he could kill some time outside the school in the cafe across the street. Maybe he could buy Chiyuki something sweet, as a reward for doing so good in school. He walked over and observed the pastries, trying to figure out which one would be the best for Chiyuki. She liked dark chocolate more than milk chocolate, but she also liked caramel things. She wasn't a fan of things with cannoli cream though.

Focused on his choices, he only noticed a commotion outside when someone yelled, "Villain!"

Turning to look out the window Chizome swore. It wasn't an especially interesting fight outside. It was a hero fighting against a villain who didn't seem to be too tough. But the thing that caught Chizome's attention was that the villain was growing in size. By the time Chizome got outside the cafe, the villain was three stories tall and seemed to have capped at that height. Chizome, a little worried because the elementary school was right there, scanned the area for other heroes.

"Don't worry, please stay back." the recent pro hero Manual called to the civilians who had stopped to watch on the sidewalk, "Ingenium has everything under control."

Chizome disagreed. Ingenium, quick and propelling himself by his arms, looked more like a fly that the villain was trying to stomp on. Chizome really wanted to get to the elementary school but the villain was in his way. Then Ingenium got a hit on the villain, knocking him back a few steps and landing his foot on the sidewalk by the elementary school. It looked like the school was in lockdown which Chizome thought was a good sign. Fights like these were actually relatively common in nice areas like this because purse snatchers found better targets. A cornered purse snatcher was a relatively dangerous villain if spooked, and often turned out exactly like this.

After Ingenium was on the receiving end of a hit, Chizome ducked through the crowd and started to cross the street. Manual sputtered and tried to grab him, "Wait, that's dangerous!"

Not caring in the slightest bit about what the pro hero had to say, Chizome ducked away from his grab. He jumped across the street and avoided a piece of debris that was tossed in his general direction. Chizome stood in front of the school now, watching carefully as Ingenium did seem to be trying to get the villain away from the elementary school. Considering Chizome was in his work clothes and didn't have his sword, he wasn't very useful in this situation. He always had a few knives on him, just in case, but the villain didn't look like his skin would break very easily.

Also, Chizome wouldn't be able to help legally because there was a pro on the scene. The laws were a little sketchy in regards to self defense. Some people could get away with defending themselves with their quirk, some couldn't. Because there was a pro on the scene Chizome wouldn't really be protecting himself, but Chizome also really didn't care about that. The only thing stopping him from trying to take this villain down before it hit the elementary school was that if he got in trouble with the law, he would lose custody of Chiyuki.

That couldn't happen. That wouldn't happen. He would die before he lost Chiyuki.

Chizome was willing to stand guard and try to redirect anything that came towards the school. Ingenium got another good hit in, a little too good, because the villain took several steps back. One foot landed in the playground of the elementary school and Chizome had to make a decision.

Fight? Or watch.

He always chose fight, but in this case, another pro hero came forward first, fire burning around him. Endeavor broke onto the scene, landing a fiery hit to the villains face. The villain fell forward into the street, but Endeavor either didn't notice there was a school or didn't care. His fire was flashy and when he tried to hit the villain the elementary school was a minor casualty. Some of the shrubs caught fire and Chizome could see children in the windows that reflected the fire. The bushes were so close to the school, Endeavor might as well have set the school alight.

Chizome hated heroes like Endeavor.

But because Endeavor arrived the fight was mostly over with Endeavor defeating the villain easily. Manual, who had eyes on Chizome since he had crossed the street, was marching towards him immediately once the villain started to minimize.

"You! You could have been hurt!" Manual huffed, approaching Chizome with a disgruntled expression, "What compelled you to do that?"

Chizome gestured over his shoulder towards the school, "My little sister is in this building. Like hell I was going to let a villain fall on it."

"There are pro heroes here for a reason." stressed Manual. He was a new pro hero and was a little more nervous than someone who had been a pro for longer.

Before Chizome could argue with him, a silver hand clapped down onto Manual's shoulder. The turbo hero Ingenium stood there and turned his head towards Chizome for a moment. Chizome wasn't happy that Ingenium's suit made him hard to read.

"Relax a bit, Manual. He had a good reason, and you could tell by his movements he knows what he's doing." Ingenium said, tilting his head. He gestured towards Chizome, "I can understand why he did it. If my younger brother had been in this building then I would have done the same thing."

"But you're a pro hero, he's a civilian." Manual grumbled. Ingenium laughed.

"Regardless, no harm was done. Why don't you go put out the fire Endeavor caused?" suggested Ingenium. Grumbling, Manual walked towards the fire hydrant to get the water he needed to use his quirk. Chizome stiffly nodded his head towards Ingenium and tugged on the door to the elementary school, surprised and a little angry that it was unlocked. What kind of lock down didn't have the front door locked?

Upon entering the building, a flash of white charged him and hugged his leg. Chasing the white blur was the teacher Chizome had been arguing with earlier.

"Nii-san, time to leave?" Chiyuki asked, beaming at him as if she hadn't just tried to escape.

The teacher huffed, crossing her arms and giving Chizome the stink eye, "Chiyuki-kun, please don't run out during a lock down like that."

"It's okay. Nii-san is here so everything is fine." Chiyuki retorted. Chizome lifted her onto his shoulders. He looked at her shoes, a little amused she had enough time to escape the teacher and even switch from her slippers to her shoes.

Sighing, the teacher let them go. The day was over as soon as the lock down had started. Parents were called and would be coming to collect students soon. Chizome just happened to be in the area to get her first.

Chizome left the building with Chiyuki very excitedly telling him all about the lockdown. As they stepped out Ingenium gave them a wave and Chiyuki gasped.

"It's the pro hero Ingenium! Nii-san, why did he wave to us? Do you know him?" Chiyuki questioned. Ingenium looked like he was going to come closer and say hi but Chizome turned around and abruptly started walking away. He wasn't sure where Chiyuki had learned about the hero, but he was a little jealous that someone else was worthy of her excitement.

Chiyui gasped, "You do know him. Why are you walking away, then?" Chizome cursed her intuitiveness for a moment.

"I'll tell you later. I want to hear about your lock down. Could you see the fight?" he grunted, trying to change the topic.

Allowing the topic to change, Chiyuki started to continue her story on the lock down and how Gensuto had started crying when the villain made the school shake with his steps.

When they got home, Chizome had made the decision that Chiyuki should learn some self defense in case of a stray villain. If she could even just dodge or move, that would be fine. He would teach her how to counter, too. And he also decided they needed to know what her quirk did as soon as possible. A quirk could be the difference between life or death, and the laws be damned Chizome would prefer his sister alive.

.

For Chiyuki's seventh birthday, Chizome really wanted to have a birthday party for her. She didn't really have much of an opinion on having a party but she went along with it since her brother insisted. It was hard but he figured they could have a picnic at the park and maybe he could grill something and get her a birthday cake. She could invite her friends.

"Nii-san, it would be a small party." Chiyuki informed him as he stared at his recipe book outside the supermarket.

"That's fine." he replied, "I just want to give you a birthday party this year. Invite Itsuka and that kid you lost a tooth for. Tell them it's at Center Square Park this Saturday."

Chiyuki shrugged, "Okay."

The next day in school, Chiyuki told Itsuka and Gensuto over lunch that they were invited for her birthday. Both of them, a little surprised, stopped eating and looked up at her in unison. Itsuka reacted first, being very excited.

"I'll tell Okaa-chan! What do you want for your birthday, Shiro-chan?" Itsuka bounced in her place, "New hair ribbons?"

Gensuto looked up a little nervously, "Are you sure I'm invited?"

"I only have two friends, so, yeah. You're one of those two." Chiyuki informed him. He looked a little thoughtful after that.

"Okay." Gensuto said. He smiled after a moment and both he and Chiyuki turned to look at Itsuka, bouncing in her spot.

Itsuka seemed to be more excited for this than Chiyuki, "C'mon, Shiro-chan, what do you want?"

Laughing a bit, Chiyuki demurred, "Anything from you, Itsu-chan, would be nice. It's the thought that matters to me."

A little starry eyed, Gensuto whispered, "So mature, Chiyuki-san."

Itsuka made a noise in her throat, "Don'tcha mean Shiro-chan, Suto-kun?"

Turning red, Gensuto insisted, "No! I will not call Chiyuki-san by your nickname for her, Itsuka-san."

"Ah, so boring, Suto-kun. Just call us by our nicknames." whined Itsuka, pouting.

Smiling, Chiyuki found she was actually a little excited for her birthday.

.

The weekend came fast and it was hard to tell who was more excited for her birthyday: her or her brother.

"Okay Chi-chan, I have a cake and some food to grill. I'll see if Itsuka-chan and the boy's mom want to stay and keep me company." Chizome hummed and turned to his sister, holding a hand out as she brushed her hair, "Alright, I'm going to do a nice braid for your birthday. I was reading a tutorial and I think I figured it out."

"Oh, what kind?" Chiyuki asked as she handed her brush over.

He started to brush her hair back, and then answered her, "A french braid."

Chiyuki smiled, "Sounds cool!"

"It'll be so cool, Itsuka-chan will want one too." Chizome agreed, "She's growing her hair out right?"

"Yeah. She doesn't look like a boy anymore. Her mom can do pigtail braids now." Chiyuki informed him. She kicked her feet as she felt Chizome reach for strands of hair. It was a relaxing feeling, having someone braid your hair. Chiyuki was really glad her brother had been willing to learn to braid for her, "Thank you, Nii-san."

"For braiding your hair?" Chizome asked, a knowing smile on his lips that Chiyuki couldn't see.

Chiyuki hummed, "Yes. And for everything else too."

"I'm your big brother. It's my job to be awesome." Chizome informed her, as if she wasn't aware.

Giggling a bit, Chiyuki didn't argue. She thought her big brother was incredibly awesome.

After they got to the park, Chiyuki sat at the picnic table pulling her bangs out of her braid while Chizome tried to light the grill next to it. They had wheeled a cooler that Chizome had borrowed from work to the park with them. Inside was all the food and beverages they would need. Chiyuki only had two friends after all, and that made for three young children and potentially three adults.

Itsuka showed up first, zooming at the table and dropping a box wrapped in sparkly pink wrapping paper in front of Chiyuki, yelling, "Happy birthday, Shiro-chan!"

Her mom followed behind her at a slower pace, adding, "Happy birthday, Chiyuki-chan."

"Thank you." Chiyuki blushed a little.

Chizome waved to Itsuka's mom, "Hello Kendo-san. Thank you for coming. Please stay and have something to eat."

"Oh thank you, Chizome-san." Itsuka's mom smiled, sitting down as Itsuka bounced next to Chiyuki and told her to open her present.

Chiyuki looked up a little nervously and Chizome nodded to her, giving a thumbs up. She put her finger in the crease by the tape and pulled up. Out of the corner of her eye she saw her brother make a 'Rip it open!' motion so she tore at it a bit more energetically. Eyes wide, Chiyuki picked up the box and was surprised to find not hair accessories like Itsuka had been saying, but a small art set.

Chizome let out a grunt of approval, saying, "You can draw pretty pictures like Okaa-san now, Chi-chan."

Itsuka smiled when Chiyuki was still too stunned to speak, "I saw you were really happy when we had art time!"

"Thank you, Itsu-chan. I do really like art." Chiyuki admitted. She hadn't really thought much of the crayons and paper craft they did for art time. It was true that in her past life, Chiyuki had been an artist. She had loved art. But having not done it in the years she was a baby, she hadn't really felt the need to come back to it. As her motor skills developed she would probably return to it, but it wouldn't be her main source of income in this life.

Chizome put the art set to the side and Itsuka and Chiyuki spent some time talking with Itsuka's mother. Kendo Sumiko looked a bit like her daughter, sharing the same eye shape and hair color. Itsuka's face definitely came from her father though, because Sumiko's face was round and wide. Sumiko was very pretty though and Chiyuki was sure Itsuka would take after her.

Gensuto arrived a bit later, looking very embarrassed as a young woman followed him. She looked like she was in high school, and Chiyuki was willing to bet this was his older sister. They looked similar to each other, having the same brown hair and their mother's stern built face. But Gensuto had acid green eyes while his sister had pretty lavender ones. Both had light blue rings around their irises though, which Chiyuki thought could potentially allude to whatever quirks they had. She had never gotten around to asking Gensuto about his quirk.

"Hello, I'm Gensuto's older sister, Gemma. Pleased to meet you." the girl bowed politely.

"Oh, this is your older sister, Suto-kun! She's very pretty." Itsuka hummed, and Chiyuki nodded in agreement.

Chiyuki bowed her head, "Nice to meet you, Gemma-san. I'm Chiyuki."

Laughing, Gemma looked at her little brother, "Oh, your friends are very nice and polite."

Huffing, and looking a little red, Gensuto muttered a quick 'Happy birthday' to Chiyuki and handed her a nicely decorated bag. Opening the bag Chiyuki pulled out a rather fancy bento box that was red with white cherry blossoms patterned on it. Opening it, Chiyuki found a pair of chopsticks that folded for storage that matched the bento. Underneath it there was a cloth that matched the set.

"You picked that as a birthday present for your friend, Gensuto? Kind of boring, don't you think?" his sister whispered into his ear, but everyone in the quiet group heard it.

Chiyuki smiled and insisted, "No, this is great! It's very pretty, Gensuto-kun. It's bigger than my old bento."

Chizome took the new bento gently and played with the compartments, "I'm going to new to learn how to make more rice shaped animals to fill this."

Looking pleased with himself, Gensuto explained quietly, "The red was the same color as your eyes."

Chiyuki beamed at her friends, "I have good friends. Thank you both."

Both Itsuka and Gensuto had different reactions, with Itsuka grinning and Gensuto looking rather embarrassed. Chizome took this moment to announce, "Guess what, time to eat!"

The birthday party went well after that, the children playing on the playground and running around. Chizome presented his present right before they had cake. As every year, Chizome had done multiple small gifts with one main gift being a stuffed animal. Chiyuki, holding the new soft wolf against her chest, named him Wolfy-kun. The party ended nicely with Chiyuki feeling as if she had become closer to both Itsuka and Gensuto.

That night, as they were getting ready for bed, Chizome presented her the final present. This one was wrapped differently than the others and was in a small rectangular box. Chiyuki thought it would be a necklace, but when she opened it up she found a thin, but sharp knife inside.

Chizome watched her gingerly lift it by its handle. The knife had a smooth edge and the blade retracted into the handle that had the characters for her name carved into it.

After a few silent moments, Chizome said, "Someday, I'll teach you how to use that. Just wait a bit longer, okay?"

Then he put the knife up with the swords, where Chiyuki could see it but not touch it. For days she felt like it taunted her from there until she got used to its foreboding presence. It reminded of her of the future that would bear down upon her eventually.

.

As soon as Chiyuki ended her second year of elementary school in March, Chizome brought her to the wooded park at the edge of Hosu City. She was a little confused because this park wasn't really used by most people since it wasn't taken care of. There was no playground for children and it was mostly used by joggers. Then her brother surprised her even more by letting her off his shoulders and plopping her on the ground.

"Follow me, Chi-chan." he told her, striding off in the direction of the path that ran through the woods. She jogged after him.

He had much longer legs than her, prompting her to cry, "Nii-san, slow down!"

But he didn't. Not until a few minutes later when they tapered off the trail and found a clearing in the woods. It wasn't a very big clearing, maybe the size of the yard at the school. Chiyuki looked around, very confused and a little tired from chasing her brother. Were they camping?

"Today," her brother suddenly announced, "Begins your training."

Chiyuki instantly grinned and felt excitement pooling in her stomach, "Hero training?"

"Self defense training." her brother replied seriously, "I've been planning this out for a few weeks now. By the time you're in middle school, you will know how to defend yourself properly."

"Nii-san, middle school is still a few years away." Chiyuki informed him. Of course they both knew this. But Chiyuki suspected the brother she was dealing with at this moment was closer to Stain than her Nii-san.

He nodded after a moment of hesitance, "Yes, but villains won't wait until middle school. Or have you forgotten what happened to scar your ear?"

Chiyuki put a hand to her left ear where it had never really healed after the incident that killed their parents. She was a little ashamed of the missing chunk and long rigid scar. She often hid it with bangs and fly away hairs and as far as she knew, no one had noticed it because she was positive someone would surely ask if they did see it. Frowning, and now sure of her suspicions that her brother was more Stain than Nii-san in this moment, she murmured, "Nii-san, you're being mean."

"I'm not going to be nice during training." Chizome informed her, looking down at her patiently, "When I train you I am not your favorite older brother. I'm your teacher, the one responsible for making sure you can fight."

"You're my favorite, forever and always." Chiyuki retorted, wanting to get a message across. She wanted her brother to know that she would love him, regardless of who he was. Or who he became. Because Chiyuki loved her Nii-san.

Chizome let a smile cross his lips, "Thanks, Chi-chan." But then he got serious again, "Right now, your self defense training begins. The first lesson, training your body. Then the second lesson, dodging. If you can learn those then lesson 3, counterattacking. These are the lessons you will undergo during this break and when I am satisfied, whether it be this year or next year, I will teach you how to use the knife I got you for your birthday."

Chiyuki nodded, "I understand, Nii-san. Please teach me well."

"Of course I will. I'm strong, and someday, you will be too." Chizome promised her. Chiyuki always believed in her Nii-san's promises.

The first day was hard. Chiyuki's body wasn't prepared at all. In the end, Chizome carried her home when she couldn't move her legs how she wanted. The second day was equally hard but their focus that day was her upper body, resting her lower body. Her brother had her walk home despite her legs feeling like lead from the day before. The third day was a rest day, spent at home where her brother turned on the small box TV they had and pushed a CD into the old player.

"Rest days will be spent studying. How people move, how people react... this will be important when I teach you how to dodge and counter attack. You're smart, Chi-chan, but I'm here to help you." Chizome informed her. The first videos were from professional sports. Generally in professional sports, there were two categories. There were professional sports where quirks were not allowed, and there were professional sports where quirks were allowed. Chizome focused on fighting sports like MMA, boxing, judo, and the like with no quirks, pointing out little details Chiyuki had never really noticed before.

"You can tell that one's an amateur," her brother pointed out quietly as one of the men got a right straight to the face, "Why?"

Chiyuki squinted as they replayed the hit, closer. She hummed, "He looks like he's going to cry."

"Close. Someone who has trained will not blink if you strike towards them. You need your eyes to be wide open to fight." Chizome explained, pointing to his own eyes. Chiyuki, experimentally, flicked her hand towards her brother's face and was impressed when he didn't blink, even when her small fist tapped his cheek bone.

Suddenly her brother's hand shot out towards her and Chiyuki flinched backwards, her eyes blinking before she could even consider what he was doing. Her brother hummed, "You'll learn, Chi-chan."

.

The cycle of two work days and one rest day repeated throughout the break. Every day Chiyuki felt like her body was going to give out at any moment. But she worked as hard as she could despite the fact she had never been one to exercise in her past life. She wondered if her brother ever thought she was too precocious, too mature, too unnatural. Chiyuki doubted other seven year olds had the discipline required to train like her brother wanted her to.

But she was also reminded that her brother was young and he was learning how to raise a child. He still made mistakes, even if he tried his hardest.

Towards the middle of the break, Chizome turned one work day into a quirk day. Chiyuki was a little afraid when her brother produced a knife when he was still not satisfied with how many foam bullets she could dodge from a toy gun.

"Nii-san." Chiyuki murmured, a little nervous that he didn't pull out any of the gear he had stashed around their clearing. He held up the knife and let her look at it.

"Sorry, but today is going to be a quirk training day." her brother said. The light glinted off the knife as he waved it.

Chiyuki wrinkled her nose, "Blood."

"That's right." Chizome confirmed, taking the knife and pressing it to his palm. He dragged it lightly and presented his hand to Chiyuki. A fine line of red bubbled out from the middle of his palm. She watched it dribble down towards his wrist. He added, "It doesn't hurt."

"Says you." huffed Chiyuki. She could handle needles. But cutting ones own hand like that? She really wasn't a fan of that idea.

"As a precaution, I brought some extra blood for you to drink as we work. I think we need to talk about ideas on your quirk, first. But today we will be drawing some blood so prepare yourself for this." her brother warned her as he produced three water bottles of blood from his backpack. Chiyuki eyed them.

Chiyuki liked to explain her blood issue like this:

Hypothetically if Chiyuki, at seven years old, contained ten gallons of blood, Chiyuki could function properly until she dropped to about five gallons. There were side effects of dropping from eight to six, but at about five she would start to lose function. Chiyuki could move until four, and three would be where she would likely need the hospital to intervene. Her blood didn't disappear like nothing, rather it thinned over time. It would slowly disappear if it thinned too much. Chiyuki really, as she got older, lost less blood as her body got used to it. But she still needed to drink at least a cup a day as she lost a few cups per day. Anything less than ten gallons would be less than another, normal seven year old.

There weren't pretty numbers to actually mark how much Chiyuki needed, but she also couldn't over drink blood because then her body would just treat it as another drink instead of replenishing her blood. Thus her prescription for blood gave her about ten quarts a week, enough for a quart per day and a little extra in case she, as a child, spilled some or needed more because of some kind of accident.

Now, her brother having three water bottles was a little out of the ordinary. Three water bottles were a lot of blood that she wasn't sure they had. Considering she drank a lot per day to keep healthy, Chiyuki had to wonder where this extra blood came from. She was sure he wouldn't use this much of the blood she needed throughout the week.

But she didn't say anything, as her brother started to talk first, "Blood Thirst. That is the name of you quirk, and so far all we know is you need to drink blood to keep your own blood from thinning. I've been speculating about what this is the trade off for, so, what is so substantial about your quirk that the price you pay is this big?"

Chiyuki, interested in her brother's line of thinking, asked, "Does your quirk have a trade off?"

"My quirk, Bloodcurdle, only affects other people based on their blood type, so that is what balances it. If you don't remember, my quirk paralyzes whoever's blood I ingest, well, lick." Chizome scratched his head, a little sheepishly, "Let me know if I don't explain something well, okay? Training is a serious matter, so I might be using big words you don't understand. Let me know if you can't keep up."

"It's okay. I like to read, so I know lots of words." Chiyuki promised her brother, internally proud that she had picked up Japanese so well. Immersion was the best teacher, she supposed.

Chizome ruffled her hair fondly for a moment, "Good. Okay, moving on. My theory is that because you have such an extreme drawback, whatever your quirk can actually do is likely something big."

Chiyuki thought about it for a moment, "That makes sense. What could be that 'big' something, though?"

"That is what this," Chizome held the knife up again, "is for."

"I don't like the idea of cutting myself." Chiyuki confessed, eyeing the knife. Her brother gave her a grim smile.

"Sorry, Chi-chan. But it's important we figure out what your quirk can do." he told her, then continued on, "Because you haven't done anything different from someone who is quirkless, we can assume that your quirk affects others."

Chizome offered her the knife, red eyes looking down at her as he said, "You can do it. Or I can."

Biting at her lip Chiyuki took the knife and gripped the handle firmly. Her hand trembled a little as she put the edge to her palm and pressed down, gently.

When she couldn't bring herself to press further, she looked up at her brother. He was already moving though, his hand covering hers and pressing down and pulling. Chiyuki felt the sting and clenched her teeth for a second. But after that moment was over it wasn't too bad. It was actually a bit like having blood taken with a needle.

Frowning at her palm, Chiyuki thought her palm was probably a very inconvenient place for Chizome to have her cut.

"Feel anything different with an open wound?" Chizome carefully asked, kneeling so that he was about her height. Chiyuki stared at the blood that was welling up along her cut. Nothing felt any different, but was anything different?

Chiyuki shook her head, "Nothing."

Chizome hummed for a moment, then said, "I'm going to use my quirk on you. Your body is going to freeze but it will be for less than ten minutes."

"I trust you, Nii-san." Chiyuki replied. Her brother licked her palm and immediately it felt like her blood was going to freeze in place. Her heart skipped a beat and then, she flicked her eyes to look into her brother's.

Something felt different. Everything looked different. As Chiyuki looked over her brother she felt like there was a red haze falling over her vision. She could feel her brother's body as he stood a foot away as if he was a part of her. She could feel his blood running through his veins, his heart beating, his lungs moving. Chiyuki felt overwhelmed as her mind tried to process the information. Chizome frowned, and asked something but the blood was pumping in her ears.

Concerned, her brother reached out towards her. Then he stopped, looking down at his shaking hand.

"Chi-chan?" he whispered, and this time she heard it. The red haze was fading and she could taste something iron in her mouth.

She looked at her brother, her body trembling and she replied, "I felt it. My quirk."

Then her eyes rolled back into her head and she collapsed.

.

Chiyuki didn't wake up in the hospital. She woke up in the bed she shared with her brother, a heavy arm across her torso as she heard light snoring. Processing where she was a little slowly, Chiyuki lifted her hands up to look at her palms. One hand was wrapped thickly with a bandage that she was sure her brother had done.

She slipped out from under his arm and sat at the edge of their futon, trying to collect herself as she tried to remember what happened. Her memory, tinged with a red haze, was a little fuzzy. She looked at her brother and took note of the bandages he had around one arm. She tried to remember anything but couldn't. She didn't want to wake up her brother to ask but it felt like the anxiety would kill her.

So she knelt next to the futon and whispered, "Nii-san." The only response she got was a disgruntled snore, so she tried again, a little louder, "Niiii-saaaan."

One of his eyes opened and for a moment he looked at her. Then he sat up quickly, his hands reaching for her as he pulled her into his chest.

"I'm glad you're alright." he confessed, sounding tired, "You worried me, Chi-chan."

Chiyuki wrapped her hands around his neck and pressed her face into his neck, "What happened?"

She felt a sigh rumble through his chest, then he said, "A lot."

"A lot doesn't say much." Chiyuki huffed. Chizome gave a short laugh at that answer.

He agreed, "No, it doesn't."

When he didn't give her more, Chiyuki pushed, "Nii-san, I won't be able to sleep if you don't tell me."

"You terrified me. You told me you found your quirk, then you collapsed. Your hand was bleeding more than a thin cut should ever bleed so I wrapped your hand up. While I was doing that you woke up briefly. You asked for blood and then started to bite my arm. I thought you were going to rip my arm apart." Chizome explained a little briefly.

"I don't remember that." she admitted. Chizome let go of her and she rolled onto her back and looked at the thick bandage around her hand. There was dried blood peeking out from under it.

Before Chizome could say anything else, she said, "My quirk. I think I felt it."

"Well, that is what you said." Chizome agreed simply.

He must have known she would elaborate, and she did, "I couldn't move under your quirk, but something started to feel different. Everything started to turn red and it was like everything was hazy. I could feel your body, everything in it. It was like everything in your body I could individually feel as if it were a part of me."

They were silent for a few minutes as Chizome processed what she said and started to think.

Chiyuki was dozing off when he spoke again, saying, "I'm sorry I'm making you do something so dangerous, Chi-chan. But I have more ideas for your quirk now. We're definitely going to keep practicing."

"Did you figure something out?" Chiyuki asked, yawning.

Chizome wrapped an arm around her again as he settled in to sleep, "Just theories. We'll practice with your quirk once a week until school starts again. Get some rest, Chi-chan."

Chiyuki wanted to know what he was thinking, but Chizome was fast asleep before she could verbalize anything. So she allowed herself to drift off, her thoughts being she had plenty of time as a child to figure her quirk out.

.

The next time they practiced Chiyuki's quirk, they did it in their home. They figured walking to the park just to cut hands and stand there was a bit pointless, so they did it in the comfort of their own apartment. This time, Chizome patiently waited for her to be able to cut her own palm. It took her a bit of stalling but eventually she nicked herself in more so an accident than a purposeful cut. The cut oozed blood quickly and Chiyuki almost panicked.

Chizome hummed, "I see. I think your quirk is responsible for that. The doctors might have to put you as anemic in your next appointment." he paused, "Do you know what that is?"

"It's when you bleed more." Chiyuki answered. She did all that vocab and reading as a smaller child for a reason. Her brother seemed impressed she actually had some kind of idea and Chiyuki added, "I don't think I'm actually anemic though, so they might not put it in."

"Quirks make everything a special case." Chizome responded evenly, "Even simple quirks can have the strangest and unnoticed parts to them."

Nodding along, Chiyuki listened as Chizome explained what they would be doing that day. First, he wanted to find out the trigger that caused her to 'feel' her quirk. Then he wanted to see how long she could hold her quirk. That was all he wanted to do that day.

Chiyuki looked at her bleeding hand, "I want to know everything now."

"I know, but everything in moderation. We'll find out soon enough what your quirk does. But we need to find out how to get it to be second nature to you since you're a late bloomer developing your quirk." Chizome sympathized with her, that much she could tell. She was sure he wanted to know everything about her quirk too.

Chizome took her hand and licked her wound. She felt the paralysis fall over her but even after her brother stepped back, she could still feel him. Her vision started to fade red and she could hear her heart beating in her ears. Again, she could feel everything in her brother's body as if it were a part of her body she had always had. Every individual blood cell felt like it was like a hand to her. They were hers. She could feel them. She knew them.

She could control them.

Then she tasted iron and she lost the feeling on her brother. Her own body came into complete focus and when she looked at the cut on her hand, she could feel the sting again. There was a pain in her mouth and when she parted her lips, blood dripped out. She had somehow bit into her tongue without noticing.

Chizome knelt down to look at her new injury, "Why did you bite your tongue so hard, Chi-chan?"

"I didn't feel anything." she replied, sticking out her tongue.

Frowning, he said, "I'm going to lick your cut again."

And he did so. Chiyuki, for the briefest moment could feel him again. Everything in his body was hers now. But then the taste of blood was in her mouth and she could feel everything again. She looked down at her arm where she felt a new cut. She blinked at her brother who had just pulled a knife across the top of her bicep.

He frowned even harder, his eyebrows knitting together, "That's... good and bad. It looks like you don't feel pain when you taste my blood. Did you actively do something to release your quirk?"

Chiyuki shook her head, "No, I barely had any time to really understand anything. But... I have an idea."

"What's that idea?" Chizome pressed, taking out a bandage and wrapping it around the cut on her bicep.

"I think... my blood releases it." Chiyuki answered, and when Chizome gave her a curious look she added, "Each time I've ended my quirk I've tasted blood in my mouth."

Humming, her brother said, "Well, we'll have to test that next time since your tongue is bleeding today. If that is what causes your quirk to cancel, we'll probably have to switch to exercises today."

Chiyuki... really didn't want that. She pouted, flexing her tongue around and wishing it would heal. But Chiyuki, more aware of her body now that they were quirk training, felt a pulse. For a moment she tasted blood. She tasted so much blood it was like she was drinking from her thermos. She staggered after a second and Chizome quickly grabbed her before she fell over.

Very tired, and now very thirsty, Chiyuki reached for a water bottle of blood. But that was further and Chiyuki eyed her brother's arm. Without much a mind of it, she opened her mouth and bit right down on his arm.

Blinking, Chizome sighed, "I don't mind you doing this but, couldn't you have waited-" he paused, "You are very pale, Chi-chan. Hold on take a water bottle I think you need more than a single bite of my arm."

He stretched to reach one of the blood bottles and Chiyuki felt like she was on another plane of existence for a moment. She was dizzy and it felt like her body had just lost a a portion of blood. She was supporting herself on her brother because she was sure if he wasn't there, she'd be on the ground. She grabbed the bottle when he handed it to her but she paused before she could drink.

"Nii-san," she whispered, "I think it works like that too."

"Chi-chan?" Chizome prompted, a concerned look on his face.

"I can feel you. It's not as strong as when you lick my hand but, I can feel you. I can..." Chiyuki could feel the red haze starting to take affect. Before it could fully settle she took a chug of the water bottle. She had expected the haze to go away when she did that but it kept growing. It was delayed a bit but she could feel her brother again and while she felt like she couldn't control every single thing in his body, she definitely had an influence.

Chizome hissed and grabbed his shoulder. Chiyuki stared at it, concentrating very hard. When he pulled away his hand there was a splotch of red as a very fine line of blood dribbled from a small hole. It only took him a few moments to connect the dots of what had happened, and Chizome in that moment decided he needed to sit down. He sat both of them down on the couch and they settled there.

Chiyuki stuck her tongue out after a moment. Chiyuki had expected what they saw, and Chizome swore for the first time in front of her.

"Fuck." he blurted out.

Swallowing, Chizome said, "First of all, don't repeat that. Second of all, Blood Thirst is terrifying. Chiyuki, release it. Use the cut on your hand."

Because of how he used her name she knew he was serious. Chiyuki licked her hand with her tongue that was certainly not bleeding anymore. The cut was gone and Chizome looked like he had seen a ghost. She felt the red haze fade and she chugged her blood bottle before grabbing the second and sipping at that one for good measure.

Chizome collected himself again, "Okay. We learned a lot more than we wanted to, today. I... Actually, tell me what you think, first. Blood Thirst is your quirk."

Chiyuki actually did not want to talk about what she thought, but she figured she didn't have much of a choice at this moment. So she breathed in deeply and put her hands on her knees. She wanted so badly to talk to Chizome as an equal in that moment. She was terrified of her quirk. She didn't want to have to sound like a child. But to him she was a child, so she couldn't sound too mature.

"My quirk," she said quietly, "Is scary. I think... well first, I think I can control you when I lick your blood. I could feel everything in your body like it was a part of my body that I've always had. When I taste my own blood I think it ends my control. I think I can heal myself, but I felt a lot of my blood disappear when I did that. Like, a lot of it. Also, I see everything in red when my sense of pain is gone and I can feel your body."

Chiyuki paused for a moment before shakily adding, "Nii-san, I'm scared. My body feels different now. It's like I'm more aware. I can feel my blood moving in my veins. I want it to stop."

Chizome hugged her, rubbing her back, "I know it's scary, Chi-chan. I'm scared for you too. If I had known your quirk was something this dangerous... I think the best thing we can do from here is let you grow more before we try this again. No more biting me or me ingesting your blood. But I do want you to practice things you think you can do on your own. It's your quirk, it's part of your body. You just have a quirk that requires more practice than something like mine."

"What if I accidentally kill you?" Chiyuki sobbed into her brother's chest.

"You won't." he promised her, rubbing her back a little harder.

Chiyuki shook her head, "I could have earlier. What if I hadn't controlled it as well, and instead of making hole in your arm, I made a hole in your heart?"

"That didn't happen, and the more you practice with yourself and understand the feelings you get, the more control you will have when we practice on me again." Chizome soothed her, "Don't worry about your quirk Chi-chan. Your quirk is something special."

"I don't want special." she huffed and Chizome squeezed her to his chest harder.

Chizome whispered into her hair, "You're my special little sister. Even if you were quirkless, you'd be special to me. So don't worry, things will be okay. I'm here for you."

.

It was late at night when Chizome hopped the fence into the graveyard. His late night shift had ended and he was feeling stressed after the events of the other night. Chiyuki was quieter and more withdrawn than usual ever since they had learned what Blood Thirst had the potential to do. She still followed the exercises that he wanted her to do but it was like her mind was always elsewhere. It was a time like this that made him wish their parents were still alive. His parents would have known what to do, but he was at a loss.

He knelt at their grave when he found it in the pitch black night. The flowers they had left there were withering now but Chizome hadn't brought new ones since this was a spur of the moment visit. He pressed his forehead against the cool stone and exhaled.

"Okaa-san, Otou-san, Chi-chan is growing up too fast. I think I made a mistake, though." Chizome admitted. There was no answer from the grave and Chizome closed his eyes, "I want her to be able to protect herself when I'm not there to protect her. She walks to her little friends house, and then walks back through our shitty neighborhood all by herself. If something happened to her... I would never forgive myself."

He leaned back, "But now, I wanted Chi-chan to learn more about her quirk. I've been giving her self defense lessons and she's a little slow and not very fit, but she's still a growing kid. She picks up on things so quick so I thought she should know what she could do. And, we definitely found out some things, but fuck, neither of us were ready for it."

Chizome turned to lean his back against the grave and he looked up at the night sky, whispering, "Blood Thirst. Her quirk is like a mutated, scarier version of what you could do Otou-san. While you had to hurt yourself to hurt someone, Chi-chan... You could either ingest blood or infect someone. She's like that, from what I'm guessing, but all she needs to do is will someone dead and they'll die. I'm just so glad that she can heal herself like you." He put a hand on his shoulder where Chiyuki had pierced his skin without even touching him.

"That's not it though. She can't just do all that. I already told you she has to drink blood, but I have a suspicion that everything she does costs her own blood. What if she accidentally kills herself? I kind of want her to stop messing with her quirk all together, but.." Chizome hid his face in his knees, uttering, "She said she wants to be a hero. Like I wanted to be."

"I want her to follow whatever dream she has, and if that's to be a hero then for her to be a righteous, selfless hero. A true hero, not like the fake heroes today. And with her quirk... she could be someone so strong villains would put themselves away. If I could teach her to fight like me, and use her quirk, she could be... well, a killing machine to be honest. I don't know what else her quirk could do but, I'm so unsure how to go on from here." Chizome leaned his head back against the stone again. He closed his eyes.

He felt tears well up in his eyes and he wiped them away, "I don't want Chi-chan to be messed up by all this. I know she's confused and scared. I'm confused and scared. But I don't want my precious baby sister to have hands that are stained like mine. Once you kill someone... it's so easy to kill again."

Chizome was silent for a few minutes. Sometimes he dreamed about the first time he killed someone. He could still feel the grip of his sword in his hands sometimes when he couldn't sleep at night and he could hear the noise of his sword piercing the man's flesh in the wind. But then he remembered the still warm bodies of his parents and then his little sister, covered in their blood. He would never regret killing those men. He didn't even hesitate back then, and he doubted he would hesitate if he killed again.

Something had changed in him that day. Stray thoughts about how much he hated fake heroes and how they should be purged to allow the true heroes to exist. How he knew killing a villain could solve future problems that villain could cause. Chizome knew he would never be a hero, not like his sister could become. She was a gentle, kind person. She stood up for a boy who she had once fought with. Heroes were supposed to subdue villains, not kill them.

Chizome was a killer, but he was alright with that.

"What do I do?" he asked the grave, "Do I let Chi-chan try and become a hero? Do I try and push her on a civilian path? Or... should she be like me?"

The wind blowing was the only answer he got. Chizome stood after another half hour and he felt calmer, having talked about his worries. He still wasn't sure what to do but at least he could breathe a little easier now.

Whatever he would choose, he figured Chiyuki also had a decision in her own future as well.

.

The end of the break came with Chiyuki having gotten a little bit more fit, and she was very capable of dodging now. They hadn't actually gotten to counterattacking so Chizome promised her he would teach her that during their next break if she kept up her conditioning.

Chiyuki began her third year of elementary school nervous about her quirk. Itsuka and Gensuto noticed a difference in their friend but Chiyuki didn't say anything to them. She just drank her thermos like she was supposed to and sometimes at night, she considered trying to heal herself as practice. When she tried to fall asleep she could follow her blood and fall asleep to the rhythm of her body. Her brother wasn't wrong in that she felt like she was gaining more control over her body as she did these things.

But she was very careful not to bleed anywhere near someone if she got a cut or scrape. She was also careful that she didn't accidentally bite someone when they were playing. She was a little overly careful, but Chiyuki wanted to be absolutely sure she couldn't accidentally hurt someone with her quirk.

Chiyuki kept motivated despite her new fears. She wanted to be a hero still, and she would find a way to conquer her quirk.


AN:

This became a MONSTER chapter. Honestly, this chapter initially was supposed to end at the end of elementary school but I had to end it here. The next chapter will likely be Chiyuki's remaining years in elementary school. It will also likely be a monster chapter, so it might be a week or two of writing and editing.

I want to talk briefly about how I've chosen the POV in each section. When writing I try to either write from a 3rd person with Chiyuki's thoughts, or 3rd person with Chizome's thoughts. I focus mostly on Chiyuki, as she is the protagonist, and as she gets older I probably will have less Chizome POV. But for now I really want to highlight how both characters are feeling about each other, their lifestyle and events that happen.

So Chiyuki! I'm a little concerned that the POV makes it hard to show who she is because she's trying to act like a child while thinking as an adult. Her personality is a little aloof and she has a habit of disassociating. She's restraining herself a lot to try and keep herself as childish as possible, but as she grows and can talk to people as more of an adult she'll be able to relax and actually be personable. So please bear with me, I'm trying to add as much Chiyuki thoughts I can without there being too much thought and not enough action. I'm focusing a lot on dialogue, too.

Fun Fact: I can't math and actually went back and aged Chiyuki down a year. It didn't change much. I accidentally had her as the oldest in the year instead of the youngest like I intended and stated. Lmao.

Please let me know if you find any mistakes! Large chapters are hard for me to edit.

Thanks to the following for reviewing (:

jmb1rdb
TMTMTM (I hope you like Chiyuki as she grows :D)
SesshyXKagomeLover
MarvelGeek13
Lee
LightFun27
bloodplus103
Hell Province