CHAPTER 8:

GRAVITY AND BLOOD

Should we have been worried when Izuku saw the green fires coming from Katsuki Bakugou's eyes? I have to say, Ariel and I, as did Izuku, dismissed it as a trick of the light. We had stopped the Hylden shortly before the Elder God sent us to this world, and I believed, in my hubris, that, while the Elder God may have begun to reach out into this world, the Hylden had not. In any case, we had seen other Quirk users seemingly with fire flaring from their eyes, and they were not possessed, so we became lax, complacent.

It was a mistake. The Hylden had had a foothold on this world for some time now. And Bakugou's actions were a warning sign we should have heeded. But we had more on our minds than a possible Hylden incursion, so we could be forgiven for dismissing it, even if it was mistaken…

"Gonna make him bleed," Himiko hissed as they looked at Hitoshi's supine and unconscious form on the bed. "Gonna stick it in him and slurp up every last drop of blood…"

Izuku grimaced at his girlfriend's vehemence. He, Ochako, Tenya, and even Shouto had come down, as had Itsuka Kendo, Tokoyami and Ibara Shiozaki. He was surprised at the presence of the Class 1-B students who had come down.

"Himiko, please," Ibara said. "I understand that you are angry, but violence is not the answer."

"Well, clearly to Bakagou, IT IS!" Himiko snapped, only to be rapped on the head by the hypodermic-like walking stick of Recovery Girl.

"I will not tolerate such a disturbance in my infirmary, Toga! And you're not the only one who is angry. Bakugou was thankfully stopped before anything truly grievous occurred, but Shinso has a rather nasty concussion that will have to be monitored. My Quirk can't work miracles, and brain injuries can be tricky," the wizened Pro-Hero remarked, before looking at Hitoshi solemnly. "I have a monitor feed to the stadium so I can tell whether I need to truly treat something, and I have to say…that was not just vicious, but vindictive. Bad sportsmanship is one thing, but…"

"He has a grudge against me," Izuku said quietly. "He probably despises my friends. And Hitoshi taking control of him like that…still, how did he break free?"

"No Quirk is perfect," Kendo said with a sigh. "Anyway, I'm glad to see you two down here. I knew you'd probably be down here, Himiko, but I'm glad you're as good a friend as these two say, Midoriya. I saw you take Monoma down a peg or two. He needed that. He's been stirring 1-B up about how 1-A seemed to get the glory…until you did your little speech."

Izuku nodded. "I meant every word. Tokoyami, Ochako and Iida were there. They can tell you what it was like…well, I sent Iida to get help, but still…they wanted us dead, Kendo."

"…'Twas a banquet of malice and fear," Tokoyami said quietly, his chuunibyou wording nonetheless sincerely conveying the solemnity of the statement. "That we made it through with our integuments intact was a minor miracle."

"Hmm. They were back-alley thugs, most of them not much of a threat to someone trained enough…but it would only take carelessness or bad luck, even then, to fall to them," Shouto said.

"And you'd know, given who your father is," Kendo said.

Shouto glared at her. "Do not compare me to him, Itsuka Kendo. I am not fond of him."

"Sorry, got it…Endeavour's a trigger for you. Heard he was an arse, but still…" Kendo rubbed the back of her head. "Sorry. I'm still a little miffed I didn't make it through to the finals. Vlad King put us through the wringer for this, and only a couple of us even made it to the tournament."

"Your training did not go to waste. Any good training is never wasted training," Shouto said, probably his closest thing to offering an olive branch.

"Anyway, a good lot of you made it through the obstacle course, which is better than nothing," Izuku said. "Hell, a lot of them gave my team a hard time. And you've got Shiozaki in the finals."

"It is some consolation," Ibara said, before glancing at the monitor. "And Tetsutetsu is fighting Kirishima. And we've had Shinso in the finals…and of course, let us not forget Toga."

"Yeah, but I'm up against Ochako. And don't let her cute looks fool you, she's got a good Quirk and she knows how to use it," Himiko said.

"Yeah, but you're a better hand-to-hand fighter than I am, Himiko," Ochako said.

"Maybe, but I'm better with a knife in my hand, and that's not exactly on for this sort of thing," Himiko shrugged. She then looked at Tenya. "Oi, Tenya…you've been rather quiet. What's up?"

"…Nothing, I hope," the bespectacled teen said. "In any case, what Bakugou did to Shinso was beyond the pale!"

"And in other news, the ocean is wet," Himiko snarked, before she looked at the monitor and winced. "Ooh, double KO! Hey, will they declare it a draw, or will they do a tiebreaker?"

"In all likelihood, the latter, once they're healed up," Recovery Girl said with a harrumph. "Now, I think you'd better shoo. Toga, Uraraka, your match is after the next one. And don't get too rowdy while fighting. I like healing others, but I don't want people to be reckless…"

Ochako and Himiko waited in the waiting room, as their match was up soon. The round-faced gravity manipulator sighed as they waited. "…So…we're up next, huh?"

"Well, yeah. You're not getting cold feet, are ya?"

"…Sort of. I mean, I only really started training in close quarters combat shortly before this, whereas you've been training with Janos Audron and Izuku and the others for years."

"True, but you've actually got a Quirk that's useful at close range. I mean, so is mine, but it's not like I can drink your blood during the fight, and I'm holding off on using the blood I got from Hitoshi because I want it to be fair on you. Besides, even if I could use my Quirk and thus yours by drinking your blood, you have, like, years of experience with it over me." She chuckled. "And your parents were never afraid of you and your Quirk, were they?"

"Not really. Not that I know of," Ochako said. "But…you said yours were."

"…Blood fascinates me, Ochako," Himiko said solemnly, a faint blush coming to her cheeks. "That crimson colour is the most beautiful thing in the world to me. Quirks can influence the psyche of those possessing them. It was Janos and Izuku who stopped me from becoming the Villain my parents thought I'd be. Janos and Izuku believed in me. But…it's a daily struggle. My Quirk's not exactly conventionally heroic, even without the urges it gives me. The urges have died down somewhat, but they're still there. To drink blood. To become that someone. Or, in the case of someone like those bastards who attacked the USJ, I want them to bleed out and drink up. So, as you can imagine…I have issues."

"Yeah, you do," Ochako said. "But…you also have friends who are willing to help you, Himiko. I mean, we're friends, right?"

"I guess. It's just…until UA, the only friends I had my age were Izuku and Hitoshi. Just about everyone else were friends with the mask I had to put on, of the perfect girl who didn't have a thirst for blood. And when it slipped…well, they buggered off. So you're still friends with me, despite me having this creepy thing for blood?"

"I'd like to think so. Himiko, your Quirk is creepy. But while you're a little creepy too, that's outweighed by your own decency. My Quirk, if I let it, could hurt or even kill someone if I dropped them from a great height, or sent them into orbit. You only have to look at the students here, and even if you don't have Izuku's brain, you can think of the ways they can be used if they were Villains. Bakugou's a case in point, especially the way he acts, but there's so many others. Hitoshi's got the Brainwashing Quirk, Tokoyami has Dark Shadow, and if Todoroki went all-out…my point is…I trust you, Himiko. Izuku trusts you, and so do I. Actually…you know what? I saw you using that phlebotomy kit on Hitoshi. You want to use it on me?"

Himiko blinked. "Huh?"

"…I want to make this challenging. Think of it this way. This is kind of like fighting myself, to overcome my shortcomings. But you need to show what your Quirk is capable of too. We need to both show what we're capable of, Himiko."

After a moment, Himiko went over, and gave Ochako a hug. "…Thanks, Ochako. I didn't want to ask, because, well…it's weird to ask a friend to allow you to drink their blood. Plus, it's a bit weirdly intimate, becoming my friends. Seriously, turning into a boy is weird." She fished out her phlebotomy kit. "I'll promise to only take a little. Just enough to last for the match…"

Izuku looked down at the arena. Yaoyorozu had just managed to win her match, but it was a hard-won battle, as Ashido was by far the superior fighter, and it was only because Yaoyorozu had managed to play defensively (using acid-resistant shields and weapons she had formed with her Quirk) that she made it through. Still, Yaoyorozu was one of the smartest students in 1-A, with a versatile Quirk, and to Izuku, it was a vindication of his own belief, that a good Quirk was nothing without the intelligence to use it, and indeed, intelligence was better than any Quirk.

Not that Ashido was stupid, but…she had a flashy Quirk and distinctive appearance. She was a bit like Bakugou: for all his intelligence, Bakugou brute-forced his way through things, and while his intelligence allowed him to adapt to any situation in combat, Izuku knew that was pretty much all his intelligence was good for. Ashido, while she lacked Bakugou's malice or any of his character flaws, was pretty much the same, focusing on offense and alacrity over creativity. Well, aside from what she showed during the Quirk Assessment on their first day here.

Izuku felt guilty about the comparison, though. Ashido was leagues above Bakugou in terms of character, and he knew she'd make a fine Pro-Hero someday. Hell, virtually all of 1-A were better than Bakugou was in terms of character…save, perhaps, for Minoru Mineta, and Izuku reckoned the perverted boy could be taught to keep his perversions to himself if nothing else.

His thoughts were banished when he saw Himiko and Ochako emerging from the entrances into the stadium. "Now, for our next match, we have the girl whose Quirk will take you to infinity and beyond, Class 1-A's very own Ochako Uraraka!" Present Mic was announcing. "And in the opposing corner, she's the cutest bloodsucker you'll ever meet! Give it up for Class 1-B's Himiko Toga!"

The applause for Himiko was a bit more muted than that for Ochako. But as they reached the arena, Himiko looked to Midnight. "By prior consent," she said, "Ochako allowed me to draw a small amount of her blood so I may use my Quirk. If I may?"

Midnight, after a moment, nodded. "If you two have come to an arrangement, go right ahead!"

Himiko nodded, before taking out a vial of blood and downing it. Greyish goop covered her, and soon, a doppelganger of Ochako appeared, though Himiko fished out a scrunchie, and tied her now light brown hair back. "Just so you can tell who's who," she said.

The match soon began, and Izuku found himself vivisecting the match. Himiko was by far the most experienced combatant, what with her training under Janos, but Ochako was no slouch either, and she also had more experience with her Quirk, and she got close to using it on Himiko. The advantage was to Himiko, somewhat, given her experience in general.

After a couple of minutes, Himiko managed to grab Ochako in a hold and bore her down to the ground of the arena, pinning her there. After a few moments of struggle, eventually, Ochako said, "I forfeit."

The cheers that went up around the stadium were somewhat muted, but as Himiko helped Ochako to her feet, she discarded Ochako's appearance, and looked around them. "Midnight, can I say a few words?"

"Go ahead."

Himiko looked around the stadium. "I see so many of you looking at my Quirk, and calling me a Villain in your heads. Maybe I might have become one, once upon a time. But I chose to become a Pro-Hero. I chose to come here to UA! I chose to say no to anyone who thought I would only be a Villain! Quirks don't make you a Hero or a Villain! These do!" She pointed at her chest, and then at her head. "Your heart and your mind do! Even a Quirkless person can be a Pro-Hero if they have what it takes within! And if you think otherwise, then I have nothing more to say to you. Ochako and I both deserve to be here, and we're going to show you that we'll be the best Pro-Heroes ever!"

Silence filled the arena, but Himiko and Ochako walked out together, and as they did so, the faint stirrings of applause building up into an avalanche of sound. And Izuku was clapping very loudly indeed. Himiko's little speech was a big, raised middle finger to the status quo.

Still, this was only the first lot of the tournament. And once the last matches were over, as well as whatever tiebreaker was between Kirishima and Tetsutetsu, he'd be facing Shouto. Shouto, even if he only used his ice abilities, was a formidable foe.

And then, after that, assuming he won…Bakugou. Izuku could have ended his matches so far pretty easily using telekinesis. But he intended to ensure that Bakugou was defeated…but with ease. Bakugou was going to get some payback for what he did to Izuku, and to Hitoshi. Not that this was a particularly heroic line of thought…but after seeing what Bakugou did to Hitoshi, Izuku wasn't feeling particularly heroic…

CHAPTER 8 ANNOTATIONS:

And there you have it. Himiko's beaten Ochako, and Izuku's about to face his toughest match.

Now, Ochako being beaten by Himiko…well, it's fairly logical. Himiko has the edge in close quarters combat, having been trained by Janos for far longer than Ochako. Even without her blood, Himiko is a better close-range fighter. This is Ochako before she ended up interning under Gunhead, and while she's more competent here thanks to her own training with Janos, Himiko won simply because she was better overall. And unlike the fight between Ochako and Bakugou, there's no rancour, no feelings of failure, as Himiko cares about Ochako enough to reassure her afterwards. It's a lovely difference in the dynamic to the one she and Ochako had in canon…or that she had with Tsuyu, for that matter.

I guess, in a way, this is like a more positive spin on her attitude towards love and her Quirk in canon. In canon, she has this bizarre obsession with becoming the people she loves, in her twisted way. She still has the same urges here, but it's tempered and even changed by empathy, meaning she uses it to understand her friends, as well as to help them.

Review-answering time! ZLC genesmith: It's less writing good ones and writing ones that keep my interest, at least long enough to write a substantial story.

Jose19: There were a number of mitigating circumstances. Izuku was seen by multiple witnesses, including several Pro-Heroes of good standing, that his actions were in self-defence. In addition, the Nomu, being a bio-engineered being with little remaining sentience, probably didn't quite count as a sentient human being anymore. Finally, Tsukauchi, with his Quirk, determined the truth about the incident.

However, Izuku is made to undergo counselling. As mentioned before, I have trouble believing that Pro-Heroes won't occasionally kill in the line of duty, and they need to be held accountable, as well as undergo counselling. Janos is handling the counselling part.

WearyCurmudgeon: Harmony Gold? As in one of the dubbing companies? It was a bit of an offhand joke about Destro. As for Izuku not kissing Himiko, he's rather passive in their relationship. Himiko is the one who initiates things normally. He's an attentive boyfriend, but he's not just going to snog her out of the blue, though if she asks for a snog, he'd oblige, albeit with blushing and stuttering.

As for Shouto, I think canon Shouto never considered that, though he has gone to see her in person. Then again, it's heavily implied in canon that he's worried he might trigger her, so that's why he stayed away at the time.

Finally, the comparison between sport and war was actually my allusion to a quote attributed to author George Orwell of Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four fame. He once claimed that sport was war without the shooting.

Dragon Man 180: No, it's not wrong to want to see more of Eri cuddling Dark Shadow. This version of Eri is a little better-adjusted, as she's been out of Overhaul's clutches for some time now. She's still got some PTSD, but she's better able to control her Quirk, or at least turn it off before it goes out of control. It helps that Janos is a calm and decent person, and is a good argument that despite looking monstrous, he isn't. Janos is easily the nicest guy in the Legacy of Kain games, so making him Eri's adoptive father sort of flowed naturally.

As for Gentle and La Brava teaming up with Izuku and the others to help, well, you've given me some interesting ideas for a later part of the story, so…thanks…

No numbered annotations this time.