Himiko felt disappointed when Izuku stopped moving. So much of his wonderful blood covered her from head to toe as he laid still on their bed and he screamed in such a lovely way when she bit down into his side. He just wouldn't keep going, damn it this was the fifth time she put him to sleep this week. Oh well, it was getting late anyways. She cuddled up to him with a syringe in her hand, the pink liquid inside glowing radioactively as the metal tip penetrated his skin. Himiko felt a pit in her stomach as Izuku twisted in unconscious agony while blue light surged out from his body in massive tides of power before being sucked back into its host.
She wrapped an arm around his body and undid the spiked collar he passed out in, caressing the bumpy surface which was a sea of bruises and scars. Some bled fresh blood while others began to fade into the corpse like pale of his beautiful skin. Green curls tickled her hands as she stared unemotionally at Izuku's eyes. All the manic energy she possessed was gone after bearing witness to what they had done. It felt good and made her complete as the scars dancing across her porcelain flesh radiated a sweet pain that reminded her of the things her hero did. The way his teeth dug deep into her as he… oh it was too much to even think about.
Things had gotten so much better for everyone, yet that quirk of his had started to become a constant worry for her despite knowing Izuku wouldn't abandon them for anything. It was easy at first to keep it asleep but over time the serum was becoming less and less effective, no matter how much she enlarged the dosage. If she didn't know any better Himiko would have believed the quirk was actively fighting the drug.
Ice formed in her soul when she considered what would happen if the concoction stopped working all together. She could see the look of betrayal and anger her hero glared at them, with her being the center of his ire as blue lightning crackled around his perfect body. Himiko shrunk away from the image as her Izu-kun turned away from the League, never to give her the love she needed again. Her nails dug into his torso in a desperate attempt to pull him closer while she fought back waves of guilt and fear.
No, this wasn't manipulative, she was helping him achieve things that stupid quirk kept him from doing. Izuku needed her to keep those chains off him which that light connected him back to. Honestly it was the most selfless thing she could do for him. Himiko ran a finger over the scars she made, committing their rough texture to memory. How much longer could this last? The past year had been the happiest of her life, but now it was as if there was something slumbering deep inside Izuku that refused to allow him to remain as he was.
Every time she suppressed his quirk the pain got worse and worse until she had to beg Tomura to find a new way to keep it locked away without making him scream out in his sleep. The new formula worked as she asked but the light seemed to almost reach out in an attempt to wake him up sometimes. Himiko bit her lip as the idea of what she nearly asked Handman to do, or rather have him pass up the chain of command, came back to haunt her. It was a rule to never talk about Sensei since he had eyes and ears everywhere but she knew that man was the one person who could let her stay with Izu-kun forever. The only downside being that she also heard the legends of what he did to people he didn't like and she would never risk her hero's safety like that.
A murrer came from Izuku's sleeping form as he shifted away from her as sweat beaded off his brow. Another nightmare rumbled in his mind as she sat helplessly to intervene. Waking him up would only add to the terror when he eventually jolted awake, crying for some reason he told no one of, not even her. Sighing as she arose from the stained sheets, Himiko kissed him before leaving for the sanctuary of the bar. Staying would just make Izu-kun ashamed when he woke up, despite her insisting otherwise. The steps were worn as the months of heavy use warped the hard wood into scuffed slabs that added to the rustic atmosphere as Himiko descended the stairs. Jazz played off the jukebox in a low hum while the smell of freshly brewed coffee mixed with the reek of blood from up above in a delightful aroma like no other.
Kurogiri stood alone by the counter, a glass in his hand that shined to perfection. He turned to the newcomer and acknowledged her with a nod.
"Good to see you can still think straight, ."
Himiko raised an eyebrow at the spector as she took a set on a bar stool.
"Whatcha mean by that Giri?"
Kurogiri placed his newly minted mug down as he began to clean another one that clearly required no further care.
"You have not allowed yourself to relapse into old habits, a great and noble achievement most never grasp."
Himiko narrowed her eyes at the older villain.
"What habits are you talking about? Cause I have a lot of them."
The squeaking ceased when Kurogiri shifted to wiping down the countertop.
"I am referring to your alarming desire to maim the people you claim to love."
Feline teeth peeked out from the slipping mask of civility as Himiko fought back the urge to shout in protest.
"That happened because I didn't have any blood to balance me out."
Bottles began clinking with every twist of the hand Kurogiri made to create a single glass of what Himiko lovingly named a "Screaming Mary."
"And yet you still revel in that boy's pain."
The taste of blood with vodka served to lessen the blonde's ire towards her fellow criminal.
"Yes I do, but Izu-kun gets his jollies, besides it wouldn't be any fun if he didn't return the favor once in a while."
The sound of air being inhaled came from Kurogiri as he ceased any action other than staring at the young woman in front of him with an expression none could see with his incorporeal body.
"If I may ask you something a tad...personal, did Moonfish have a hand in… shaping events between you two?"
Himiko shrugged as she finished her drink.
"In a manner of speaking. He taught me how to make Izu-kun into my partner. Well that, and he also told me a story that made me love my baby even more."
Kurogiri had to force himself to speak as disgust warred with curiosity.
"What did he tell you or more to the point, why did he know how to make someone like Midoriya so-"
The glass hit the counter with a loud THUD that interrupted the ghostly villain's line of speech.
"Moonfish has been around the block a few times, and the answer is simple, if I give Izu-kun more positive stimuli then negative, his brain is going to link the two together until he gets hardwired to instinctually associate pain with getting laid. Think of it like this, If I slap him across the face, I immediately follow it up with a kiss and so on up to the point when I sink my teeth into his skin and things become more… conventional."
Kurogiri shook his head in pure disappointment.
"I think your obsession with him is both harmful and toxic. A cocktail of trauma that will end very badly for everyone."
Himiko rolled her eyes as she flipped open her butterfly knife.
"Oh what do you know , me and Izuku are happy with each other."
Kurogiri held the girl's gaze, not paying any heed to the weapon.
"Yes, but for how long? Love is an ever shifting idea that requires sacrifice and sometimes even that will still lead to a horrible fate."
Any attitude vanished from the blonde as her teeth grinded in a show of repressed emotions.
"It'll all work out. It has to."
Another Screaming Mary hit the table while Kurogiri remained impartial.
"What do you think is going to happen when he finds out what we've been doing to him, hmm? Izuku will not be pleased, but even if he never discovers our little secret, his old life will eventually come back to get him and no one can defeat so many heroes desperate to sweep this embarrassment under the rug before the public realises how badly UA failed."
Himiko slugged down her drink with an all consuming urge to shout down her peer.
"I don't know alright!? We all understand that Izu-kun is going to face those assholes one day, but I'll stand by him through it because he's the only person I have and I'll kill any fucking fake who tries to touch him."
Words came in a low hum that passed gritted teeth transformed into a deadly whisper, giving life to the oath in a way that normal speech could never hope to do. The only witness to this was unmoved by it however as he returned to cleaning his mugs.
"Have you considered what he might do when confronted with the reality of the situation? He didn't join the League of his volition if you recall."
A dangerous edge grew in Himiko's eyes.
"Are you doubting my Izuku after all he's done for us?"
Glassware began to squeak under the washcloth running along the dull sides of the stine.
"No, in fact I believe he has the greatest potential to make something of himself out of all you young ones, but you have to remember that he hasn't seen these heroes that he once worshipped for nearly a year and a half. Being faced with someone like All Might who had absolute power over him by way of virtue is a shocking encounter that would leave anyone vulnerable, enough that suggestions carry far more weight then if they came from another source."
The implication lingered in the air like a toxin as both villains grappled with what they knew was coming.
"You think All Might is going to steal him?"
Kurogiri looked back at her with a new glass in his hand.
"It wouldn't be theft since we stole him in the first place, I'd consider it reappropriation of lost goods. It isn't just All Might that worries me, any of those brats at UA could ruin things if they found us."
Himiko bit her lip at the clear stress in her fellow's voice.
"Well...whatever happens, I'll make sure he's safe, even if I gotta hurt him to do it."
There was an uncertainty in the villainess' statement that drew Kurogiri's ear.
"What exactly do you plan to do if he turns away completely? No more heroics or villainy, just becoming a normal civilian with no intention of returning to either side of this endless conflict."
Kurogiri's tone caused curiosity to bloom in Himiko's rattled head.
"Why would he drop out? Is there something you're not telling me Ghostface?"
A moment of hesitation came before the man spoke.
"...I've been charged with surveying his mother ever since he first arrived and it breaks my heart to see someone so… innocent destroyed by the things we've done. That woman can barely do more than get up from her bed and sob most days and we keep damaging her son despite the fact that this kind woman wants nothing more than to see him again."
Himiko raised an eyebrow as she noticed a crack in Kurogiri's voice when the topic of came up.
"So what? That bitch deserves it for everything she allowed Izuku to go through at the hands of those fakes. I'd kill her just for thinking she has any right to get him back after we've set him free."
Knuckles cracked under the purple mist that covered Kurogiri's body at the audacity of the statement.
"Inko Midoriya is a mother who loves her son dearly while you are nothing more than a literal leech on a boy who wanted nothing to do with the insanity of this disaster!"
Himiko flinched when the typically silent villain lashed back with enough force to shock her.
"What's got you all twisted? You have a thing for chubby old women or something?"
Kurogiri's posture became rigid as he slowly regained his usual calm, the anger still lurking behind a thin wall of self control.
"I did not join this group of bastards to harm children."
Ire replaced Himiko's shock with a desire to rebuke this ridiculous claim.
"We haven't hurt Izu-kun, we freed him."
Words came from the spectral barkeep's throat in a low pitched growl through clinked teeth as he tried to keep himself from acting on his urge to strike the girl in front of him.
"No we haven't, he is in a far worse place than ever before. All that happened is his trauma finally surfacing with no support system to help him other than individuals who are even more damaged then he is."
Nails dug deeply in pale skin with every breath Himiko took to remain in control at the blatant insult to the only thing she had.
"Then why the fuck did you help if you're against him being here?"
The darkness surrounding Kurogiri grew with his swelling to such a size that it threatened to block the lighting of the room.
"I thought Tomura would fail like he always has before now. The reason I went along with his childish vendetta is because I knew he'll fail to do any real damage. I have no love for heroes but I can't stand the idea of those who do not have a place in this pointless war dying for such idiotic ideals that orignated from fiction. My duty is to ensure Tomura is safe and healthy no matter how much he hates me, not to enable his self destruction with these battles that serve no purpose."
Kurogiri's size shrank back to normal the more he spoke about what had bothered him.
"I raised that boy since he was ten and my wish is that he could get past this damage life inflicted on him. Izuku has been an astoundingly positive influence on him and everyone here but I planned for the heroes to arrive after he was taken so that Tomura could move on from his suicidal quest. Granted he's making progress to go beyond his issues thanks to whatever happened between him and Izuku, which gives me hope for them both."
That was true, no matter how much Himiko wanted to deny it Izuku had become close to the leader of this misfit family, almost enough for her to feel threatened by the trust he and Tomura had after he was carried back when he passed out from getting too drunk. She saw him grinning whenever they went out on missions, and didn't return until late at night. An affair was her first guess, an outlandish idea born from her fears and insecurity which tried to reaffirm the damage done by her parents that was swiftly forgotten when Izuku took her by the hand and whispered all the things he wanted to do with her when they were alone. His hands proved that theory more than wrong with each twitch of his fingers digging deep into her skin as she nipped at his torso. Himiko could barely repress a shudder at the memory of what came after.
Still, the fact that she now had to compete with not only the gimp in the basement but the resident man child as well made her silently wish for an apartment for just the two of them so Izuku could keep giving her that fiery warmth which burned away her doubts with his passion. However she did want to know what the hell happened to shift Tomura's perspective so much. He stopped wearing his hands and scratching himself all the time, even his quirk changed to where he could activate it with his feet by touching the ground with his toes, a fact they found out when Izuku gave him a pair of boots with slots for such a test. But by far the strangest thing was that Tomura started calling his quirk "Cleansing" instead of "Decay" which confused everyone, Izuku included.
Himiko knew she'd never know since the only person who could tell her didn't remember anything from that night. Tomura did since he began openly asking Izuku for more and more advice regarding human relations and ethics. Something that became of greater importance the less he wore the hands. If it was anyone else she would have written off as Izu-kun being his good natured self, but this wasn't anyone. Even by her low standards Tomura was a hard person to stand, not for an inherently dangerous reason like herself or Moonfish but more that his personality (or lack of) made him insufferable most days with the endless hissyfits. Yet that was her Izu-kun, bringing the good out of even the worse people.
He was truly an example of what it meant to be a hero and she had the honor of being his side kick. All she needed was to keep that position secured from any "rivals" lurking around, be they villains or fakes.
"Sounds to me like you have a crush on Izuku's mama."
Silence came over the two for the time it took Kurogiri to orientate the thoughts that woman conjured.
"...Not romantically speaking, but she is one of the few I would trust to watch over Tomura if I were to ever be unable to guide him."
The topic of so much seemingly parental concern for the manbaby left Himiko more than interested in why someone so indifferent to the going ons in the world would be bothered by the idea of leaving the brat by himself.
"Oh, maybe you could move in with her and raise some nice little ghost babies, Izu-kun always wanted siblings."
A chuckle escaped Kurogiri's nonexistent lips as he lost the built up tension of the moment with Himiko's jab at him.
"No,no I don't think that could even work, but I do find her purity rather...fetching at times. If only Tomura had a person like that in his life, maybe things could be better for him."
Himiko traced a thumb over the edge of her blade while a question came from the well spring of curiosity bubbling in her head.
"If you're against Handman being a villain then why do let him even try to do this whole thing in the first place?"
Kurogiri ceased smiling behind his shapeless form as memories of his "employment" came back in vivid detail. The way life returned to his destroyed body as needles and wires played with his brain like puddy, all while the good doctor watched amazed at how his abomination reacted to the torturous surgery placed upon him to enhance his quirk past it's natural limits. His body ached even now at the phantom pain.
"I have no qualms about him choosing a life of crime, my issue stems from his reason behind it. He has such great potential yet he is stifled by the past."
He cast a glare at the monitor at the end of the room for a mere second as he restrained himself from openly distaining his keeper.
"Among other things that hinder him from growing."
The aggression harbored in the words took Himiko aback with how brazen Kurogiri acted. It was a fool who suggested anything regarding that man in a negative way if they wished to live. Nothing came of it however, given that they were both still alive and free to speak. Her expectations were shattered once again when he asked a question that caught her off guard.
"Tell me why do you act as you do? Is it out of some deep seated desire to wring suffering from those that hurt you or are you simply a sadist with no care for who pays for your pleasure?"
Himiko stammered for a single minute to gather her thoughts from the jumbled mess created from what she heard. Anger should have been her first response but there was a quality to the question that agitated her justification in a strange way, almost like when Izu-kun asked about her issues.
"I was just crazy back then since my parents never wanted to control the urges my quirk made, they suppressed it until I snapped and started killing. The brain is a funny thing with how it can twist things to fit what you want to believe like how I always thought that I was showing my love for others by cutting them when I was actually harvesting to stop this craving that destroyed my mind. It wasn't until I had some of Izu-kun's blood that I started to understand my problems and manage them."
Kurogiri listened impassively as he began to sort his stock of alcohol, taking heed of what was said without turning away from his task.
"I take it that he isn't too thrilled when you ask for a pint then."
Himiko waved a dismissive hand in the air at her elder's assumption.
"I don't need that much to stop the thirst and Izuku keeps giving more than what I ask for since he enjoys watching me get loopy off it. One time he gave so much blood that I was a gibbering idiot for a while, he recorded the whole thing and showed it to me. He always liked hearing me giggle."
Kurogiri looked up from his work, a slight bit of concern hidden behind the shifting mist that covered him.
"Izuku doesn't...take advantage of you when this happens, right?"
Himiko rolled her eyes once again at the worry in her friend's voice.
"Please, he isn't sort to do that and even if he was, we have a very good thing going with the trust we share. If that gets broken then everything else goes with it."
A tinge in the air left Kurogiri uneasy at the prospect of what wasn't said regarding what went on in that room. He knew Izuku had a good character about him (for a villain at least) but the wanting glint in Himiko's eyes suggested that there were far darker things between them, things this young lady wished for. He could see the desire for more disturbed acts of violence to be inflicted and received in her almost sorrowful tone as she spoke of Izuku's restraint. Her hands clutched the knife in a vice like grip as she ran the edge over her pale flesh until a sore red colored the usual ceramic white.
"That's why he never lets me cut him or ask him to… you don't wanna hear me complain about my love life, Giri but a guy like him is so...fucking perfect that it's a shame he doesn't act on his intstincts more."
Discomfort filled Kurogiri as he watched Himiko's eyes become distant and cold the longer she scrapped the knife along her skin. Just what happened to make someone so cheerful transform into a husk of a person, completely disassociated from reality despite their flesh threatening to peel off the deeper they removed themselves from physical sensation. He leaned over the counter, a hand cupped over her knife hand as he moved her fingers away from the weapon and placed it in his pocket. Light returned to her when the knife stopped contacting her skin, a brief look of shame replacing her expected ire as a hand rested on her shoulder.
"I believe your heart is in the right place, but ask yourself if you truly wish to see him treat you like you claim to. That would only harm the bond you share by allowing a fear to nest in your souls for each other's safety. A man of my standards can not quite see exactly where or why you desire something so destructive but if you wouldn't mind an old man's advice, take a moment to consider what your partner may want and perhaps imagine what your goal is. That way you can temper emotion with logic, however fleeting it is."
Himiko gazed back at Kurogiri, grateful he stopped her from doing further harm to herself. She grabbed onto his wrist as she fought to look past the blood and pleasure that formed her surface desires. One moment, two moments, three moments of trauma attacking her when the shield of dopamine sank under the tides of guilt, regret and sadness that slumber beneath the boat she crafted from her acts of debauchery to hide from the things that happened to her. Tighter and tighter she held on to Kurogiri as tears streamed down her face, desperate to find anything to remind her this wasn't real. Eventually something appeared before her, an image she always wanted to see but never could realise it into reality until now.
A baby was asleep in her arms, it's fanged teeth leathally sharp as they poked out of the snoring mouth. Warmth filled her as she took in the surroundings of this possible future with all the comfort and love she never had. Wonderful red painted the walls while pictures and mementos dotted the rooms with reminders of her past. Himiko smiled at this, it was what she wanted, what she needed. Her eyes opened as the grip on Kurogiri's arm faltered.
"Did you figure out what you wanted?"
The innocent smile grew to encompass her entire face when the vision of what could be played out in her mind. It gave her hope for her future and somehow, it gave birth to plan. A detailed, evil plan on just how she could make her fairy tale ending come to life.
"Yep, and I know exactly how to get it."