"I looked up your mom the other day."

Himiko perked up, looking up from her math homework as a huge smile spread across her face. "You did? Isn't she super cute? And so cool too-"

"She's totally a freak." Aimi interrupted her friend, a bubbly giggle slipping past her lips. "I guess we know where you got it!"

Himiko's smile fell, oh-so-slightly, but she forced herself to laugh along. She swallowed the syrup, disgustingly sweet, and tried to ignore the taste. Just smile. Just smile and laugh. This is what friends do. "Mm-hm! I'm just like her, you know!"

"By the way," Aimi pushed her pink, sticker-covered workbook towards Himiko, along with a pen. "Can you solve these problems for me? It would be super nice of you!"

"Sure!" Himiko answered with a smile, but was careful not to show her teeth. Aimi didn't like her teeth. She said they didn't look cute.

"Thank yooou!" Aimi petted Himiko, almost like a dog, before letting down her own dyed blond hair and combing it. Himiko watched the girl for a moment, a blush spreading across her cheeks, before setting to work on the problems.

Aimi was such a pretty girl. Himiko was jealous, really. Curly blond hair, long pink fingernails, perfect eyeshadow and contour. Not to mention her cute outfit, a cardigan tied around her waist and a girlish pink bow in her hair.

She wished she could be like Aimi. But her hair was thin and stringy, and she didn't know how to paint her nails. They always came out messy and splattered. And no matter what she did, her makeup would never look as good as Aimi's. She wished she could be just like her friend. Look like her. Talk like her. Be popular like her.

"Oh, Aimi-chan, look what I made!" Himiko pulled out a crumpled piece of paper out of her cardigan, and passed across the table to her friend.

"A poem?" Aimi quirked an eyebrow, frowning softly as she continued to bush her long hair.

"Yep! I thought you'd like it!" Himiko tugged at her sleeves, unable to keep still. She had actually written it for Aimi, but she couldn't say that! That would be too embarrassing!

"Well…" Aimi looked it over for a moment, her bored expression unchanged. "It would be better if you did it like this, I think." She plucked up a pen, beginning to scribble over Himiko's chicken scratch with her own graceful characters.

"... Ok…." Himiko watched nervously as her friend rewrote her poem. Himiko might've written it, but… it had been written for Aimi, so this was ok, right? And even Himiko knew her poetry was awful, so...

Math was easy, Himiko had found. Her math and science classes came naturally to her, from biology and chemistry to algebra and trigonometry. She loved studying them! Spending time with her nose in a biology textbook, unravelling the mysteries of the human body, it felt like home. More of a home than anywhere else, at least.

But Aimi had told her that biology wasn't cute. The diagrams were gross, and the words were hard. And Aimi was super cute, and really popular, so… She had to be right, right?

So instead, Himiko tried to write poetry. Aimi loved writing poetry, and Himiko thought she might be cuter is she wrote poetry too. But she was no good with words. Her handwriting was messy, her prose was awkward, and the poems didn't make any sense… That's what Aimi said, at least. And Himiko knew she still had a lot to learn if she wanted to become popular. If she wanted to be like Aimi.

So the freak continued on, struggling to resist temptation.

)ooOoo(

"And today, in breaking news," The newscaster on the Augur's screen, with one horn and salt-and-pepper hair, readjusted his glasses and looked at the papers in front of him. "Yet another terrorist cell was found, this time in Fukuoka. The investigation was headed by the Fukuoka Heroes' Alliance, along with assistance from local police forces, and uncovered a plot by the group to bomb a local train station."

The Augur quirked an eyebrow, but didn't look up from his paperwork. More terrorists? They all seemed to appear in Kyushu too, which only piqued his interest more. He slipped a pen out of his coal-colored suit jacket, and continued to mark up a sheet on a recent case.

The newscaster continued. "Though no group has taken responsibility, the FHA's spokesperson has publicly stated that it was an anti-hero cell."

The Augur held back a groan, and cast a glance towards his laptop. A euphemism, of course. Anti-hero was such a quaint term, wasn't it? The Augur had never, and would never, agree with the barbarous ideology, but even he knew it was more than just 'anti-heroism.'

"I think we can all agree that this is, in fact, just part of a much larger trend." The female newscaster spoke up, undoubtedly at the insistence of a teleprompter. "The number of quirkless terrorist cells has increased in the past few years, even as other forms of crime have steadily declined. So, what have heroes been doing to fight this threat to public safet-"

Ah, there was what they really meant. The Augur sneered, and clicked off the television. She didn't even go through the effort of hiding it with a dog whistle.

He felt a pang of sympathy for the investigative department in Fukuoka; a few more cases like this handled by the FHA, and they'd undoubtably be downsized yet again. Last time he checked, they only had six investigators, not including the forensics and legal teams. It was pitiful, and not nearly enough to keep up with the crime in a city half the size of Fukuoka. He wasn't particularly close with anyone there, but he had worked with them before. They work good investigators, got the job done.

Well, so long as the heroes didn't stop them from getting involved.

The Augur sighed, a tired sound, and scratched at his thick stubble. He needed to trim it, didn't he? The short beard he normally kept seemed hopelessly overgrown with all the stubble he didn't want. Then again, when wasn't he a mess? His charcoal hair had grown just long enough to become a knotted, curly mess, and his suit was crumpled and unironed. With a sharp jawline and a naturally lean figure, he could look quite dashing, but his time in the Criminal Affairs Bureau had led his hygiene standards to only exist insofar as to prevent illness and body odor.

He rubbed the bridge of his nose, and took a long sip of his coffee. He had a headache, though he wasn't sure if it was due to the lack of sleep, the copious amounts of coffee he drank to deal with the lack of sleep, or the fact that it was office hours and his cubicle blocked out his coworkers' voices about as well as a piece of tissue paper. God, he hated office hours. Too many people, too loud, too hard to focus. But that was life, and he just had to deal with it.

"Hey Shou," There was a knock at the entrance to his cubicle, and the man turned to find Tsuruko standing there, a bundle of papers in one hand and a metal water bottle in the other. She jerked her head towards the exit of the cubicle area. "Come on. We gotta meeting."

The Augur sighed, disappointed that his throbbing headache had yet to dissipate, and nodded, setting down his coffee. "Sure, I'll be there in a moment." He scooped up his paperwork, and joined her on the way to the meeting.

"So what's so important that they'd invite me?" The Augur fiddled with a pen as the two walked, but his eyes were locked on the path in front of him.

"Not sure, but boss said it's important. Don't really know what his standards of 'important' are, though, considering how he reacted to someone breaking the coffee machine." Tsuruko snickered at the thought, but the Augur just rolled his eyes at the memory of that half hour lecture.

"Anything else of importance?" Sadly, the Augur was unlikely to escape, as much as he wished he could. Any further efforts to slip away were likely be met with near-lethal force by his coworker, and he didn't have the energy for that.

"Oh, remember the notes you took on the Osaka Slasher case?" She reached into the bundle of papers she was holding under her arm, and extracted a small packet. "About unresolved cases in the Osaka area?"

The Augur scowled, but nodded. "It's not called 'the Osaka Slasher.' We're investigators, not reporters."

"Yeah, yeah, sure. 'Case number 907735' is real easy to say, really rolls off the tongue." Tsuruko smirked, but her expression soon shifted to a more serious one. "But, anyways, I narrowed it down to this one. There are a few other potential cases, but this one has the most overlapping factors." She passed him the paper, and smiled, satisfied with her work.

The Augur raised his heavy eyebrows, surprised. It had only been two weeks, and she already nailed this down? Color him impressed. But looking at that cocky smirk on her face…

"... Thanks." His voice was dry and subdued, not betraying an ounce of thankfulness.

"You're awful at showing appreciation, you know that?" The smile on Tsuruko's face stayed the same, but the one in her eyes died, giving her a dry, cynical look that the Augur took pride in knowing came from him.

"I can't let you get a big head just for doing your job. Gotta teach you the right mentality." They reached the meeting room, and the Augur cracked open the door.

Tsuruko made a sound halfway between a grunt and cackle. "Which, should I follow your example, is avoiding people, staying up until early in the morning punching a bag of sand, and drinking more coffee than all your coworkers combined?"

The Augur grinned in such a way that only family wouldn't perceive as a grimace. "Indeed. Work on going to the gym, and then we can talk about me showing appreciation."

Tsuruko shook her head, but kept her sardonic smile. "Come on, the meeting's starting." The Augur nodded, and turned his attention to the meeting.

The conference room was was large, or at least larger than every other room in the office area, but all that space was squandered by the fact that nearly everyone in the investigative subdepartment was shoved in. The table had space for ten; there were currently over two dozen crammed into the room. The Augur grumbled, but squeezed past the door, quickly making his way to the corner on the other side of the room. Thank the lord he was taller than average; perhaps he wouldn't ever tower above anyone like Toshinori, but he could peek over everyone from the back of the room, and that was enough for him.

A portly man who had somehow managed to wedge himself both into the crowd and into his skinny suit stood at the head of the table, preparing to speak. "Thank you everyone, for coming, and I first wanted to thank you for your hard work..."

The Augur simply tuned out, uninterested in the pleasantries. He already had a gut feeling what this was about; budget cuts were not so much of a 'constant threat' as they were 'regularly scheduled programming.' And, in all honesty, it was unlikely to apply to him. As head of the Special Investigations Squad, he was unlikely to be cut, and a budget cut to his squad was unlikely too; after all, what more could you cut from a department that couldn't even afford to restock on staples and pens? Cut any more, and he'd just be losing manpower. So onto more pressing topics…

He looked down at the report Tsuruko had passed him. A picture of a girl with stringy blond hair and yellow eyes was stapled to the top left corner, her name written across the top. It obviously wasn't a profile shot; it looked like whoever filed the case just cropped a family photo that had a decent angle on her face.

Let's see… Attempted homicide, and a missing person… specifically the suspect being the missing person. That matched up. It seemed that it occurred a few days before the first murder case, too. Apparently the suspect had fled her foster care center after attacking another child.

The Augur held back a heartbroken sigh. A murderous orphan. His eyes flickered towards Tsuruko. It wasn't the first time he had worked on a case involving a kid with underdeveloped emotions and an overdeveloped quirk. He flipped to the suspect's medical history.

No physical issues; apparently some scarring, but nothing other than that. And the quirk… Well, he knew he shouldn't judge people for having "villainous" quirks, but it at least explained a few things. But the mental issues… Jesus, that was a long list, and none of it was pleasant. It appeared the suspect had spent quite a bit of time in a room alone with a sofa and a shrink.

Depression. Self harm. Harming other students. Abusing animals. Poor performance in school. The list went on. The noted behaviors were… unnerving, to say the least. Don't let them within arm's length of anything sharp, to say the least. The Augur was afraid to see what went on inside that girl's head.

Fertile ground for Renfield's, though.

"... And for those reasons, I regret to announce that we will have to let many of you go in two weeks." The Augur glanced up from his documents, surprised in a less-than-pleasant manner. People were being cut?

The man forced a smile, but it did little to conceal the genuine regret in his voice. "While I'm afraid there's very little we can do for you, we have arranged for several hero agencies to send representatives before you leave. This should at least give you a chance to find work with them. Those of you who are… being let go of… will be informed personally later today."

The Augur scowled. His squad was already too small; just a half dozen, including himself and Tsuruko. Even if he lost just one member, it could double the time it took his team to solve the dozen cases they were working on. He had been focusing on the Osaka Slasher for the past few weeks, out of the hope that he could gather all of the necessary evidence, but if they had to downsize…

This did not bode well.

The meeting dispersed quickly, most barely speaking a sound. No one wanted to break the silence. The Augur appreciated it.

As he left the conference room, Tsuruko jerked her head, pulling him aside. She unscrewed her water bottle, and took a long sip, before holding it out to the Augur. He quirked an eyebrow, an unspoken question lingering.

Tsuruko shrugged. "I thought you could use some."

"Water?"

"Vodka."

The Augur studied the bottle with half-hearted suspicion, before letting out a long, tired sigh, and taking a swig.

"Damn right I could use it."

)ooOoo(

"Come on, one more!" Toga cheered him on, but that did little to ease the massive weight on Izuku's back. "You can do it!"

Just… oh god, his muscles burned… just one more..!

Biceps, please don't give out now!

Izuku growled, a pained expression on his face as he forced his shaking arms to follow through with the final push up.

Up… aaaand… dow-

His arms gave out under him, and his jaw met the pavement.

"Yay!" Toga leapt off his back, a huge grin on her face. "That was a new record, Izu-kun!" She quickly reached down and dragged him to his feet, not giving him even a single moment to rest his searing muscles or nurse his sore jaw.

Izuku sucked in a long breath of air, rubbing his chin, but smiled in spite of the pain. Or maybe because of it. He wasn't really sure, if he was perfectly honest.

What he was sure of, though…

"... A hundred Toga push ups!" The mossy-haired boy gave his companion a high five as she bounced up and down, possibly even more excited than he was. He took a moment to relish in the stillness, having finally finished his exercises, while Toga took a few steps back, a wide smile on her face and a sly sparkle in her eye.

"You won't rest that long, right?" She held her hands behind her back, and leaned forward in such a way that she was forced to look up at him. "I'm not thaaaat heavy, really."

"You, uh, you don't look like you'd give me a workout, at least." He averted his gaze, and laughed nervously. That sounded weird, come up with something to add! How do you respond to talking about a girl's weight? The gears in his tired mind groaned as they attempted to process the curveball of a situation. He forced a smile onto his blushing face. "You're heavier than you look, though!"

Wait.

Wait no.

Toga pressed her lips together, as though trying to hold back a flood of words leaving her mouth.

Bad response! Quick, uh, say something to fix it! Change the topic or somethi-

The blonde burst out laughing, unable to contain the happy, high-pitched sound. She held up her hands, hiding her canines as she laughed, while Izuku's face felt so rosy red it might pop.

"I, uh, well, um, I-" He waved his hands in front of him, trying to somehow defect her laughter. "I-I'm sorry!"

She forced her mouth into a tight-lipped smirk, attempting to contain her laughter but doing little to hide the mischievous twinkle in her eyes. Izuku could practically see the machinations forming in her mind, the endless plans. He tried to swallow his fear, but his mouth was far too dry for that.

"Well…" She drew the word out, as though considering exactly what cards to use before she revealed her hand. "I'll accept your apology, but only if you're willing to try something new today."

"Huh?" Izuku reached down, grabbing a small exercise towel off the ground and wiping the sweat off of his shoulders and chest.

"Today's lesson is going to be a biiiit different than usual! So make sure you're ready before we start!" Toga smiled coyly, leaving her companion with more questions than answers.

Izuku watched her for a moment, attempting to decipher her meaning, but he couldn't glean anything from her toxic yellow eyes.

Well, she wouldn't tell them until they started. He know that, at least. Over the past few weeks, Izuku had discovered quite a few things about Toga; Her favorite flavor was plum, her phone had nineteen phone decorations hanging from it, and knew the answer to each and every one of the questions on his biology homework. He had also found, however, that she also had the uncanny ability to easily sidestep answering any and every question she might not want to answer. It… well, it didn't make Izuku comfortable. But he could understand. Some people had things they didn't want to talk about, and he didn't have the right to force it out of her. And if he did try…

Toga was a stray cat, that was the best way he could put it. She popped into his life with no explanation, disappearing during the day and reappearing whenever she wanted to see him. And he had the very distinct feeling that, should he try to force anything onto her, she would simply vanish into thin air.

They had only been together for three weeks, but the the potential of her leaving… He tried to ignore how much his heart stung at the thought.

He snagged his water bottle from the inside on the garage, and took a seat on the rusted out desk, throwing open his mouth and pouring the ice cold liquid down his throat.

Izuku had never really drank a lot of water; the stuff from the tap tasted vaguely of metal, and the stuff from the store was just as expensive as the soda. It was tasteless, so why not just get another drink?

But, at that moment, nothing would quench his thirst like water could. His exhausted brain existed in a slow-moving cloud of euphoria as the crisp liquid passed his lips. He drank half the bottle without coming up for air.

Every part of him hurt. Biceps, triceps, quads, gluts, abs; all of them burned with lactic acid. But it was the good type of hurt. It was the type that came with an intoxicating mix of adrenaline and testosterone, the type that let Izuku know he was working hard. He had been working almost all of his muscle groups daily, not to mention jogging in the morning. He knew it wasn't enough, not yet… But he was on his way. And he wouldn't let himself fail. With Toga in his corner of the ring, he was sure he could do it.

Speaking of Toga…

He felt her gaze burning into him, her yellow eyes tracing his thin frame. But he didn't need to look to know what she was staring at. She had developed… a habit of looking at his neck. A very specific part of it.

He drank some more of his water, this time in the form of a small, controlled sip, and ran his fingers across the left side of his neck. He could feel it, the small rift of skin that was slightly paler than the rest. It was hardly noticeable, but Izuku often found himself feeling for it when he had nothing else to do with his hands.

It was the scar from when Toga attacked him. The scar she had given him. Her mark.

His heart sped up at the thought, and he blushed, ashamed. He knew he shouldn't think of it that way. He knew he shouldn't get excited every time he saw her knife. It was wrong. And it was scary. But his mind simply would not listen to reason.

He shook his head, as though the movement would dislodge the ideas and toss them out. Just… just think of something else. His breath was slowly returning to normal, his chest having been heaving from the exercise.

What had Toga meant by 'a bit different?' She had taught him how to use a knife for self defence, though he wasn't the least bit good at it; the knife still felt far from comfortable in his palm, and he was far too slow and clumsy. Maybe she'd teach him another few movements, or switch up how he was using it? That would make some sense. A new technique would most certainly be different. His other training had come much easier to him; hiding was, sadly, his specialty. She still made him practice, but she seemed pleased with his natural aptitude for it.

"Are you ready?" Izuku was shaken out of his thoughts by a Toga who was thoroughly done with waiting. She casually lept on top of the desk, firmly placing her hands on his shoulders in playfully pushing him off. "Come on!"

"Wha-?" He stumbled off the desk, quickly regaining his footing on the stained concrete. "What is it?" Toga stepped off the desk, dropping down in front of him as she gracefully twirled her knife between her fingers.

Her knife.

Shimmering in the dull orange light of the late afternoon.

Passing between her fingers so casually and with so much control it seemed effortless.

His muscles tensed, but he dragged his gaze away from the blade. Slow down, heart. Please, please slow down…

"It's time for your lesson!" She smiled, making no effort to hide her canines, and a sparkle in her eyes. "I want you to cut my neck!"

…. Huh?

Izuku furrowed his eyebrows, trying to somehow translate her message into Japanese. She had said it as though it was completely self evident, but… what?

After a moment of silence, Toga's giggled. "You have to take out your knife, don't you know that?"

"Well, uh, yeah, but-" He rushed to grab his knife, fumbling as he took it out of his pocket, but paused before unsheathing it, glancing up at her. "But what do you mean?"

"Hm…" She trailed off, her eyes wandering as she searched for an answer. "Today is special. I've showed you self defense, but that won't help you very much when fighting villains! You'll just get worn down eventually, and then they can have all the fun they want snapping your bones!" She giggled, as though what she just said hadn't been one of the most terrifying things Izuku had heard come out of her mouth.

"So!" She held the edge of her blade against her throat, as though to give a visual guide. "Let's play a game! If you can cut my neck, than I have to get you a snack!"

Izuku stared at her, dumbfounded by her apparent priorities. "B-... but why your neck?" The gears in his head spun, attempting to realign with any form of logic that explained this situation.

"You're not going to beat me by stabbing me in the butt, are you? You have to go for the kill!" Toga giggled, shifting from one foot to the other as she failed to contain her boundless energy.

"Why am I trying to stab you at all?" They went from learning basic self defence to this? 'Ok, now that you know how to protect yourself, kill me!' It… it wasn't right. Heroes didn't stab people! They didn't attack, let alone kill! They protected and defended people, not whatever this was!

"Well…" Toga slowed, balancing on the back of her heels, and a knowing smile came to her face. She blinked, slow and lazy, as her toxic eyes lingered over him. "... Are you going to use a quirk instead?"

How did quirks relate to..?

… Oh.

"N-no…" He raked his mind, trying to think of something, anything, more intelligent to say, but came up empty-handed. He didn't have a quirk, and going unarmed was out of the question. Izuku didn't want to fight if it wasn't necessary, but he wasn't going to lie to himself and say he didn't need to be prepared for a battle. He wasn't going to lie to himself anymore. He had cracked the bottle, and he refused to seal himself back in it.

And she knew that. That's why she asked.

"Then you gotta use something else." She shrugged, weaving her blade between her fingers as she watched him. After a moment, however, a light frown spread across her face. "No one would sell me a gun to teach you with, though. It was soooo annoying!"

Izuku's gaze shot towards her, his green eyes wide. "You were trying to buy a gun?!"

"Yeah, but no one wanted to sell one to me. They said they don't like selling to 'kids.'" She pouted, as though her parents had simply refused to give her dessert. But she pushed aside her frown, and gave her signature sharp smile. "But knives are more fun anyway! So I got these!" She caught her knife's handle in her palm with relaxed ease, and pointed the tip of the blade at identical knife in Izuku's.

"Normal citizens aren't allowed to have guns!" Why on earth was she trying to buy a gun? It's illegal to have one at all, let alone as a minor! This wasn't America! And… And where had she even found a place selling them? Did she go to a black market? How do you even find a black market? "They're too dangerous!"

"A lot of things are dangerous." Toga cocked her head, seemingly unaffected by Izuku's panic. "Quirks are dangerous. How is this any different?"

"Only certified heroes can use their quirks!" His head spun as he tried to organize the reasons in his head. Of course normal people couldn't have weapons! They… they could be dangerous! And there were laws in place about quirk usage! If it was considered dangerous by the government, you had to be certified to use it! And you weren't allowed to use it most in public places!

But…

His mind wandered to Kacchan. His quirk was dangerous, wasn't it? He sweat nitroglycerin, after all, and that was nothing if not a public safety hazard. And yet, had anyone ever actually stopped Kacchan from using it?

How many times had Izuku been burnt by the boy, intentionally and with the sole goal of hurting him? How many times had the boy used it without restraint, breaking school rules, only to get a slap on the wrist or turned a blind eye? In some classes, Kacchan had even been encouraged, in direct defiance of school policy. No one had stopped Kacchan, or any of the others, from using their quirks whenever they wanted.

The rules were in the books, but no one ever bothered reading them.

Quirks were everything to some people; even for Izuku, when he was a kid. He remembered wishing and hoping that one day, he'd wake up with a cool quirk like Kacchan's. But now, Kacchan and so many others had amazing quirks, dangerous quirks, and felt superior because of it. They were encouraged and admired, despite how much they bullied and pushed others around.

It...

It was wrong.

"Izu-kun…" Toga spoke softly, as though any louder might shatter the boy in front of her. "A hero's quirk is their weapon. When a villain attacks someone, a hero has to protect that person, even if it means hurting the villain. But you don't have a quirk. So what can you use to defend those who need it?"

Izuku stood in silence for a moment, not wanting to answer that question. Knives and guns weren't heroic. They were weapons, their only purpose being to harm people. But… But wasn't that what heroes had to do? Snipe used guns; countless heroes used sonic attacks and weapons that grew out of their body. Even All Might, the number one hero, was famous for his powerful punches. Izuku had seen them in action, and they were… terrifying. He didn't dare imagine being on the receiving end of one. Heroes hurt people, because… because they had to.

Izuku readjusted the knife in his hand, letting it slip more comfortably into the grooves of his palm.

"You can't be afraid of weapons. You can't be afraid of hurting people. Because, if a hero refuses to fight, people…" She spoke quietly, but firmly, with a level of seriousness that seemed totally alien to her. Her voice caught for a moment, but she forced the words out. "People will get hurt. And not in the good way."

Izuku struggled for a moment, but nodded. His jaw was clenched far too tight for him to say anything. He wasn't sure what would come out if he opened his mouth. So instead, he spread his feet, and flicked his knife open.

Toga cocked her head, surprised. But after a moment, her face split open with a large smile. It wasn't a pleasant smile. It was too wide, too sharp. A cannibal's smile. Just looking at the pearly daggers, seeing the hungry gleam in her rotten yellow eyes, Izuku's skin crawled. But seeing her like this… even as his breathing slowed, his heart only beat faster.

"That looks like Mr. Wolfy…" Toga licked her lips, and lept backwards, out of the garage.

To put distance between them.

To get out of slashing range.

Fine then. It seemed she wouldn't even say 'go.' But heroes never got warnings. Why should he?

Goal: land a hit on Toga's neck. His hand squeezed around the knife so tightly his knuckles turned white.

Go.

He charged at her, shoving his fear and hesitation out of his mind. That didn't matter. Ignore it. There was only Toga, and the blade in her hand.

He stabbed forward, aiming for her neck, but the sound of steel against steel rung through the air as she redirected his attack with her own blade. Her smile didn't budge, wide and teasing as she slipped under his arm with the lithe grace of a panther.

He growled, and spun on his heel, refusing to let the girl see his exposed back. If she got a chance to strike-

A sharp kick caught the back of his leg, and he just barely caught his footing before hitting the ground. He stumbled backwards, coughing. No! He tried to refocus-

Another slam to his chest, this one sending him to the ground. Metal struck stone as his knife clattered to the ground, and his chest heaved with labored breaths. Toga sat atop him, pinning him to the ground. Knife resting against his jugular. Legs wrapped around his chest. Her hot breath tickling his ear.

Just like before.

But unlike before, he didn't hesitate. She rolled off him, just barely dodging his fist, as she put a pace of distance between them. Izuku didn't spare a moment, snatching his knife up and staggering to his feet.

Stance; legs at shoulder width, head ducked low.

Blade; tip facing towards Toga, thumb held against the spine.

Eyes; narrowed, not daring to leave the girl in front of him.

She quickly regained her footing, and and began to circle around him with slow, measured steps. Izuku scowled, mossy green clashing with poisonous yellow as he held her stare.

Toga's eyes never left his, but Izuku knew she was looking for something. Her expression, a hungry smile and an excited blush, never wavered. After all, she was wearing a mask. A mask to hide her true intention, as she sought out an opportunity.

One Izuku had no intention of giving her. His heart throbbed against the inside of his rib cage, and his mouth was dry as a century-old skeleton in the Sahara.

But the point of the game wasn't to stop her from killing him; it was to hurt her.

… Putting it that way made his breathing catch. He didn't want to hurt anyone, let alone her. She was many things, a bit unhinged, a bit odd, but she was his friend. And he couldn't see his friend as a villain. He tightened his grip on the metal handle. Imagine if he did have to attack a villain...

The image of Toga's thin neck sliced open came to mind, fat swells of blood pumping out of her veins as sick, wet gurlges replaced what had been screams.

No! No, stop! How could he even think something like that? He banished the scene from his head, his lunch vying to meet the pavement.

Focus, Izuku! He… He would never do that. He'd never do anything that... villainous. He just had to focus!

"What's wrong, Izu-kuuun?" Toga's grin, feral and feline, spread wider. "Afraid to attack a big, bad villain like me?" She snickered, but Izuku didn't fall for it.

The mask was still there.

She was just trying to distract him.

He grit his teeth, and furrowed his eyebrows. He didn't need to hurt her. He just needed to touch her neck.

She was faster than him; stronger too. She could strike, and then easily get out of range before he could hit back. He needed to pin her down. He needed a plan.

But how? He took a step back, and Toga took a step forward. How could he pin her, let alone without hurting her? A plan did come to mind, but… he had no idea if it would work.

Well, he wouldn't see until he did. And no one else was going to do it for him.

Trial number two, start.

He stumbled forward, caught his footing, and rushed towards her. Ducking his head and narrowing his shoulders, he aimed the tip of his blade at her gut. If she moved like before, then now she'll...

Sidestep to the left! Just as she started the movement, he stuck his leg out, tripping her as she tried to slip past him once again. He heard a yip as she tumbled to the ground, and he twisted, straddling her before she could slip away.

He had done it! Now he just needed to-

His eyes went wide as he saw the cold glint of steel coming at him. He threw up his hands to hide his face, squeezing his eyes shut, and-

Toga yelped, practically nothing more than a small 'eep!', and a set of knives clattered to the ground, the sharp sound cutting through the still air.

Izuku's eyes shot open, and below him, Toga clutched her hand, blowing on it and hiding her palm. Her smile was gone, her gaze instead filled with shock and pain.

Izuku's stomach dropped like a stone.

He-

He had hurt her. He had hurt Toga.

No! Nononono! Izuku scrambled off of her, reached out to grab her hand. But he stopped himself, his hand caught in midair as his mind tried to make a decision.

"A-" Izuku stammered, his eyes darting between the girl's small hands and her pained expression. "Are you ok?"

She bit down on her lip, but nodded, and forced a smile. "I'm ok, Izu-kun! This isn't the first time, after all!"

His eyebrows furrowed in concern, but he let out a small sigh of relief. "Can… Can I see your hand? T-to make sure it's ok!" He tacked on that last part, completely unsure of what he was saying. He couldn't believe himself. He had gone too far. He had gotten caught up in the moment, and hurt the girl who only wanted to help. Shame welled up in his chest, a heavy, sickening feeling.

Toga dropped her smile, sucking in a sharp breath in pain, but turned over her hand nonetheless. Palm face up, she laid her hand on top of his.

Izuku gasped, his mind attempting to resolve the stark difference between the girl's pale skin and the thick red liquid that coated it. His hands shook, and Toga choked back a winter as he wiped the blood out of the cut.

"Ah, s-sorry!"

"It's… it's ok." She spoke softly, which only unnerved Izuku more.

The cut wasn't deep; it didn't look deep at least. But it was plenty long, the blade having sliced the entire way across her palm like warm butter. No, not just 'the blade.'

His blade.

His fault.

He glanced towards the two knives, easily able to tell which was his by the thin coating of blood. His throat tightened, and his eyes refused to leave the ground.

They needed to get her a bandaid. No, that wasn't enough. They needed a full bandage. The 7/11? That… that would have to do, he supposed. And she'd have to clean out the wound, of course. They couldn't risk it being infected. That would only make everything worse. How would they explain it to the girl at the store though? It would be the second time they-

"Izu-kun…" Toga smiled, this time a bit more genuinely. "You're muttering again."

"Oh, I, uh," His gaze flickered up towards her, then shot back down, afraid to meet her eyes. "... Sorry. This, this is my fault. I was… I was too aggressive. I hurt you."

Toga giggled, almost as though they were having yet another normal conversation. "Well of course you were being aggressive! You were doing exactly what I asked, after all!"

"But-" It didn't matter if he had been doing what she had asked! It didn't change the fact that her hand had a massive cut! "But I still hurt you!"

"Just a wittle scratch!" She held up her bloody hand, talking like a child.

Izuku just stared at the girl, almost… almost impressed. He could tell she was still in pain. He could see it in her eyes, in the way her smile didn't quite reach as wide as usual. But… but this was his fault. And he wanted to make up for it somehow. But how? A snack? That was to normal, barely an apology at all considering how he bought her one every day. A… a knife? He knew she liked knives. But that would just be wrong, like buying someone a car after they got hit by a bus. A little idea niggled at the back of his mind, though, one that refused to be quashed.

A twisted idea that was wrong in every way. An idea no one would approve of.

But one that just seemed right. One that felt right on an instinctual, animalistic level.

It sickened him, or at least, the part of him that was even willing to admit he was considering it. Not the idea, but the thought that he wanted to.

He wordlessly reached out, grabbing Toga's hand and holding it in front of his face, close enough that the sticky, metallic scent of blood filled his nostrils.

He gulped down his fear, and glanced up towards Toga, only to find her watching him with a mix of confusion and curiosity. His face was so red, it felt like it had been sunburnt.

She had done it too. So… so maybe it would comfort her? Like, like a kiss! Like how someone kissed a person's cut to make them feel better. Mom did that when he when he was a kid, and it made him feel better.

But what if this didn't make her feel better? How… how would she react? If she said no, how would he even explain himself? Could he explain himself? Would she be scared? He… he hoped not.

But he couldn't do it.

He couldn't risk hurting her again.

He was a freak. A quirkless freak. Looking down at her tiny hands, soft and doused in her own blood, some part of him pushed him to lean down and… and do something absolutely disgusting. But some part of him, the part that clung to society, the part that clung to morality, refused to allow it.

Why? Why were these thoughts coming to him? Why were these feelings forcing their way into his mind?

They were… wrong. And confusing.

Just… just ignore them. Maybe they'll go away.

Standing up, Izuku lifted Toga to her feet, and forced a smile. "Let's… let's go get this cleaned up, ok?"

Her gaze burned into him, sifting through his thoughts, even as he tried to hide them from her. From everyone. From himself. But after a moment of studying him, she smiled too. "Sure!"

Izuku's heart hurt, overworked by both exercise and Toga.

A/N: Good evening, all! Jesus, that was a long chapter. Three scenes, 7,100 words… Yeah, not that long compared to other people's chapters, but my normal one is about 4,500 words. I hope this sated at least some of you guys' bloodlust, in whatever form it may take. But, due to a fear of me spoiling everything if I open my mouth now, I'm going to keep my lips firmly shut. Feel free to leave reviews, though!

A side note, though; I'm considering changing the title, mostly due to me choosing it more or less at random when I posted the first chapter. Current ones I'm considering are "The Wolf," "Wolfpack," "Temptation," and "Temptation / Compassion." What are you guys' thoughts? Should I keep it the same? Change it? And what ideas do you have? Just puttin' it out there.

With only the worst of intentions,

Imp the Nefarious

Beingwithu: Bro… You should turn these into a poem. It'd be like Dr. Suess, but super messed up.

ChildishGuestino: Thank you for the vote of confidence! … But, I really hope this "knife virginity" term doesn't stick around. I'm afraid it's what I'll get known for. Then again… Hey, branding is everything, isn't it? Just imagine a baseball cap with the words "Not a knife virgin" written across the top. I'd buy it.

Noble graysin: That does make sense, I suppose. A tad bit repetitive, perhaps, but reasonable. So, let this be considered my disclaimer: "Of the work featured above, only the plot and characters I have personally created belong to me. All other assets belong to their respective owners. If any entity is considering the possibility of suing me, please don't; I have nothing left to lose, short of a two granola bar, a very well-worn copy of The Devil is a Part Timer Vol. 4, and a laptop. You are unlikely to recuperate the funds you spent in the legal process." *takes a bow*

Zaraki999: You bring up a very good point, actually; that fact always stuck out to me like a sore thumb when reading the manga. But, from what I can see, Izuku was hyperfocused on quirks and their application. This meant that he became amazing at analyzing quirks and their uses at an extremely fast rate, but he got caught in a mentality that could do little other than focus how heroes used quirks, and how he did not have one. This was at least my understanding of of his perception, and a perception he must be forced to change if he is to every become a hero.