A Blood Stained Path

Chapter 1: Instincts

"Kacchan, be careful… what if-" I tried to warn my friend, who had started running across a fallen log above a stream.

"Stop whining, Deku! It's fine!" Kacchan jumped as high as he could, still on the log. "See! What did I tell- AAAAHHH!" He had jumped again, this time his foot catching on a divot in the log, causing him to fall into the stream below.

I rushed down to see if he was okay, holding out my hand for him to take. "Are you okay Kacchan? Did you hit your head?" he hit my hand away, lifting himself out of the water with his angry expression meeting my concerned one.

"I'm fine Deku! I could never need help from a quirkless nobody like you!" He yelled at me whilst letting loose an explosion from his palm, intent on replacing my worry with fear. He walked away, passing by me with his carotid artery right in front of my eyes.

That was when I first felt the pull of hunger, and as he walked further away from me, I could see a small trickle of blood on the balk of his calf. Then, I knew nothing but a deep, ravenous thirst that I could do nothing to resist. My mind went blank.

The next thing I knew, I was on the ground with Kacchan and the others looking down at me with wide, fearful eyes. I didn't know what had happened, then I saw blood on Kacchan's neck, and a sweet taste like nothing I'd ever experienced before in my mouth.

"M-Monster… He's a monster!" Kacchan yelled, backing away slowly.

"Kacchan?" I got up and reached out for him, still confused. It sounded wrong, like my teeth had changed. I tried to grab him, but he backed away, I tried again, but instead of my fingers closing, a small pop emerged from my hands.

"That's my quirk… That's my quirk… That's MY quirk! What did you do!? Freak!" He started to run away, his goons following shortly behind him but not being able to catch up.

I ran after him, but inside I knew it was futile. I'd never been able to keep pace with his goons, not to mention him. So, when I caught up to him, I didn't know what had happened, adding to my already confused state.

"Kacchan! What happened!?" I yelled, grabbing onto his arm to try to stop him from running.

"What happened? WHAT HAPPENED!? What do you think happened!? You attacked me! You bit my neck and enjoyed it!" He screamed back at me, the fear still coursing through his eyes.

"I… I bit you?" I asked, my confusion growing by the second.

"Yes! Now get away from me you monster!" He continued running, and I stood there for minutes, trying to comprehend what had happened.

Outside the forest

By the time I made it out of the woods, it was sundown and my mother stood in adjourning park, a worried expression quite clear on her face.

"Izuku! Where are you baby!?" she yelled, panic lacing her voice.

"Mummy? Mummy!" I ran to her, clutching at her leg as if it were more valuable than gold.

"Izuku? Is that you? Oh, my baby! What happened to you?"

"I don't know, one moment I was trying to help Kacchan out of a stream, the next I was on the ground and he was calling me a monster, saying that I bit him and that I was a freak!" I grasped her leg harder. "T-then I… used his quirk?"

"What are you talking about? Show me what you did?"

I let go of her leg and focused on the feeling of making that pop. It had felt… warm, violent and chaotic, but so… satisfying?

I tried to replicate it, and tiny pops erupted from my hands.

"Izuku? We're going to the see the quirk doctor again. Get in the car."

At the Musutafu General Quirk Clinic

The doctor returned from a side room, a clipboard in hand and a grim expression on his face.

"Well, Doctor? Do you know what happened?" My mother asked.

"Yes, and it appears our prior assessment was wrong. Today, Izuku awakened his quirk." The doctor said, his grim expression lifting for a moment before returning in full force.

"So, he has a quirk? Could you tell us what it is?"

"Surely, though you may not like it Mrs Midoriya." His face became more severe. "Izuku's quirk is called Vampire. As the name suggests, he has the attributes of a vampire. He can only take in nutrients from blood, though he can eat normal food as well, and he becomes stronger the more he ingests. However, unlike how vampires are generally portrayed, he can walk in direct sunlight quite comfortably." He adjusted his glasses. "What's more is that whenever he ingests someone's blood, he gains a weaker version of their quirk. This is what caused him to gain explosion earlier, and it seems like it is 75 percent weaker than the original."

"What!? How is he supposed to live normally with such a quirk!?" my mum screamed at the doctor, clearly outraged.

"He'll have to feed once every 2 months, and if he doesn't eat for a month and a half, he will start to lose control of his body and will eventually succumb to his instincts and feed off of anyone he sees. We will send you a blood bag for him once a month, though we suggest you isolate him from society."

"I understand, thank you Doctor." My mother got up and yanked me out of the room and to the car, driving directly away from home.

"Mummy? Where are we going?" I asked her.

She didn't reply.

She stopped the car deep into the forest around Musutafu, and dragged me out of the vehicle.

"Mummy, why are we here?" I asked again, scared of the pitch black around us.

There was no reply this time either. She simply grabbed my arm and through me into the underbrush before driving away.

The next day

I jumped up and out of the divot I had landed in. "Mummy!? Mummy where are you!?" I yelled before recalling the events of the prior night and began to break down crying.

A snapping twig alerted me to another presence and I looked around before seeing what was behind me.

The mountain lion pounced at me, slashing me with its… metallic claws? I knew about quirked animals from seeing Nezu on TV, but never thought I'd see one myself.

The strike forced me to the floor, with the beast climbing over me, about to rip my throat out. I closed my eyes, preparing for the worst but then my body just moved. I let out an explosion into its eyes from my palms before sinking my new fangs into its neck. I drank its blood, the taste oh so delicious before climbing onto its back and piercing its skull with my now metal nails, which had extended into claws.

The feline collapsed to the ground and I heard its heart stop beating. My mind returned to normal and I looked down at what my instincts had caused me to do. I felt the tears well up in my eyes and fell to my knees before the floodgates opened.

I don't know how long I knelt on the ground, bawling my four year old eyes out, but by the time my eyes were dry the sun was directly overhead. Picking myself up off the floor, I looked at my surroundings, seeing that I was in the middle of a forest.

I'd been in forests before, and could remember their sights, smells and sounds well, however, this time the colours were deeper, more vivid, the normally weak scent of greenery filled my nostrils with new vigour and aggression, and the once faint sound of streams was oh so clear.

Unsure of what else to do, I walked in the direction of the loudest flow of water, and after 5 minutes reached the source. Water had never looked so good before, and I couldn't help but indulge myself.

I drank from the stream, desperately trying to scoop it up in my hands but just dunked my head into the shallow depths when I couldn't get it fast enough. Slowly raising my head, and seeing my reflection in the glassy mirror.

My previously green hair was now black, my also green eyes now blood red, my once light skin was now ghostly pale, my irises were slitted like those of a cat, and when I opened my mouth, I wasn't greeted by my once normal teeth, but with pronounced canines that were as sharp as daggers.

I didn't recognise the person who looked back up at me, and they didn't recognise me either. So I did the only thing I could, run.

I ran downstream as fast as I could, not bothering to look at where I was putting my feet due to my eyes being closed whilst I tried to purge the image of my reflection from my memory. This came to be my downfall, however, as I soon tripped over a large root, hitting my head as I succumbed to the grasp of unconsciousness yet again.