Izuku swallowed as they entered the packed cafeteria, taking a deep and slow breath as he tried to block out the smell of the hundreds of students milling around and eating. Tsuyu gave him a worried look for a moment, before he smiled at her reassuringly, stepping further into the room. The three of them quickly got their lunch, walking over to a couple of free seats as they chatted.
"Sorry, can we sit here?" Izuku asked the guy that seemed to be sleeping at the table, his head down on the surface as his lunch cooled in front of him.
"Huh?" a tired voice said as Izuku smiled at the stranger, his wild purple hair standing tall, "Sure, whatever."
"Aren't you the guy that declared war on our class, kero?" Tsuyu suddenly said as they sat, "I recognize your hair."
"Declared war?" Izuku asked, the boy blinking a few times before looking at them more closely, "When did he do that? Why would anyone declare war on our class?"
"You were still in hospital when he did it," Ochako explained, "A bunch of General Education students came to look at us, and he declared war for the Sports Festival."
"Oh, you're Hero Course kids," the stranger muttered, getting up as he grabbed his tray of food, "Whatever. Yeah, I declared war, what of it?"
"Izuku Midoriya," Izuku said, making the boy blink as the teen thrust out his hand awkwardly, "Sorry, my Si-…I mean trainer, says that you should at least know the names of your opponents. It's a sign of respect."
"Respect, huh?" the boy snorted, turning away as he spoke, "And why should I respect you? Prepare to lose, Hero Course kid."
"I look forward to facing you," Izuku nodded as the boy walked away.
"He's weird," Tsuyu hummed as Izuku sat back down.
"Sort of, but I can understand him…" Izuku muttered, "I think…"
"Hey! Hey you!"
Izuku ignored the shouts as he walked towards the gates of UA, talking to Ochako and Tsuyu as they made their way home for the day.
"Hey! Vampire guy! I'm talking to you!"
Izuku froze, looking around as the other students that were heading out glanced in his direction, a slight sweat running down his back. He turned slowly, blinking as he saw a grey-skinned girl with bright blue hair running towards him, dragging someone behind her. She slowed as she drew near letting the person she was dragging catch up slightly, Izuku recognizing Pipi Vesper from Vlad King's Blood Quirk Support group.
"Amaya!" Vesper panted slightly, "Stop, please! You don't have to do this!"
"But I do!" the blue-haired girl grinned as she pushed her square-framed glasses back up her nose, "Hey, Vampire guy! The name's Amaya Kirine, and I'm friends with Pipi over here. She was just telling me about how happy she is to have someone else who has to drink blood around!"
"Oh," Izuku said, looking back at the two girls behind him, who shrugged, "Okay?"
"Amaya!" the bat-like girl gasped, hiding her face behind her hands, "Please stop!"
"Why? Oh, is it because of your mom?" the other girl asked, Izuku noticing the two moles on her face, one under her right eye, the other on the left corner of her mouth, "Oh come on! I keep telling you to stop worrying about that! She's a really popular author."
"It's not about that! And I don't need everyone knowing about that!" Pipi hissed back, "It's kind of embarrassing!"
"Uhm…" Izuku tried to say as the two girls argued, seemingly ignoring him, "Can I help you?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah!" Kirine said, breaking off the argument as Vesper sighed, "We were wondering if you were busy, Pipi wants to talk to you about something."
"It doesn't have to be right now," the bat-like girl added, "But soon would be good."
"I guess I'm free," Izuku said slowly, looking back at Ochako and Tsuyu again, the two of them nodding, "We don't have to catch out trains for a while."
"Great! Let's go get ice cream then!" the grey-skinned girl said happily, grabbing Izuku and Pipi by the hands and dragging them towards the gate.
"Okay," Kirine said as she sat at the table the group had occupied in the small ice cream parlour she'd dragged them to, placing her bowl on the table, "Take it away, Pipi!"
"What?" the girl said in surprised, her tongue halfway up the scoop of pomegranate ice cream in a sugar cone, "Right now?"
"Didn't you say this was important?" Kirine huffed, "Come on, start talking or I will."
"And what will you talk about?" Pipi replied, giving her friend a flat stare.
"I don't know…" Kirine hummed, a mischievous expression crossing her face, "Maybe how your mom's pen name is Sage Blo-."
The small hand slapped over Kirine's mouth loudly, Pipi blushing furiously as she glared at the other girl, who was grinning widely behind the palm. After a moment, the bat-like girl dropped her arm, letting out a tired sigh, before turning to look at the other three teens sitting at their table.
"Sorry," she said, "Amaya is a little…excitable."
"Hey, don't talk about me like I'm not here," the girl huffed, crossing her arms as she stuck the spoon of ice cream in her mouth.
"It's okay…I guess," Izuku nodded, taking a spoonful of his own ice cream, blinking at the strangely bland taste of the lemon sherbet. He glanced over to Ochako and Tsuyu, who were happily eating their Mochi and Green Tea flavoured ice cream. Shaking his head, he took another bite before continuing, "So, what did you want to talk about?"
"You," Vesper said, making Izuku look at her in confusion, "Well, your quirk, really. It makes it so you need to drink blood, right?"
"Yes?" Izuku said slowly, raising an eyebrow.
"And it has a really nice taste to you, right?"
"What are you getting at, kero?" Tsuyu asked, a flash of annoyance crossing her usually blank face.
"And the reason you ordered lemon sherbet on its own is because it's got a strong flavour," Pipi continued, "Right? Because normal food has started to taste bland for you?"
Izuku stared at her for a few moments, then looked down at the sherbet in front of him, before nodding slowly.
"I thought so," the girl hummed, tapping a finger to her lips, "So you're becoming more Vampire-like. The rumours of your quirk only awakening recently are true, aren't they?"
"What? How'd you know that?" Izuku gasped, the two girls at his side stiffening slightly.
"Educated guess and good hearing," Pipi replied as she pointed to her ears.
"And her mom is something of an expert on Vampires," Kirine chuckled, "Writes all sorts of stories about them."
"Stories?" Ochako hummed, looking at Pipi for a moment, "Like…romance stories?"
"Oh no," the bat-like girl muttered, dropping her head into her hands.
"She knows, Pipi, she knows!" Kirine chuckled, prodding the other girl in the side before looking at Ochako, "That's right, her mom is an author who writes romance novels about Vampires!"
"Please stop," the girl squeaked, shaking her head behind her hands, "I don't need this now."
"What do you mean, kero?" Tsuyu asked as Ochako blushed slightly, "Is something wrong with the books?"
"No, not really," Pipi sighed, "It's just people treat me differently when they find out who my mom is. She's a really popular author in certain circles."
"I only started reading them recently, though," Ochako said, poking her fingers together, "They're really good. Sort of…educational."
"Wait, really?" Izuku asked, "What do you mean "Educational"?"
"Well, it explained a lot of stuff about Vampires, so it feels like I understand you better now," the brunette replied, blushing harder, "And they're…well, not dirty, just…"
"Really spicy," Kirine finished for her, "Pipi's mom has a talent for writing spicy romance without all the icky stuff. Like your girlfriend said, educational."
"Oh," Izuku hummed, absentmindedly putting another spoonful of ice cream in his mouth, before freezing, "Wait…girlfriend?"
"Yeah," Kirine replied, "Isn't that what you guys are? Like a polycule or something? You act like you're all dating."
"N-no!" Izuku squawked, drawing some attention from the other customers, quickly apologising as they went back to their treats, "No, we're not dating."
"Then what are you?" Kirine asked, "Like seriously? You act like you're all in love."
"Oh my gods," Pipi suddenly gasped, staring at them as Izuku and Ochako blushed, "It's that, isn't it?"
"What?" Kirine asked, "Pipi, you're doing the thing again. Use all your words."
"Yes, it is," Izuku replied quickly, "And I'm still trying to fix it! Please don't say anything."
"Of course!" Pipi nodded, "Unlike some people, I know how to keep my mouth shut."
"Hey!"
"It's true and you know it," the bat-girl shot back at her friend, "Anyway, that was most of what I wanted to talk about. Do you have any questions?"
"Questions?" Izuku asked, "About what?"
"Vampires," Pipi said, before sighing, "I'm…pretty knowledgeable."
"Her mom makes her proof-read her new stories," Kirine snickered, "Pipi knows everything about Vampires there is to know. At least according to her mom's books."
"Oh," Izuku nodded, "Uhm…well…would you know why I'm not affected by sunlight?"
"This is worrying," Recovery Girl sighed as she looked over the results of the blood tests, "One case is bad enough, but two? How am I supposed to explain this?"
"We will need to talk to all those affected," the cloaked man hummed in response, "It is important that they know as soon as possible."
"You are right, Sire-san," Nedzu said as he sipped at his tea, "Now, do tell, how has the training of young Midoriya been going?"
The teen looked up at the large gym, the dark sign reading "Gym Gamma", Izuku able to make it out clearly through the shadows.
"Sire," he almost whispered, looking around UA's currently empty campus nervously, "Why are we here?"
"I asked a favour," the man replied as they approached the building, Sire confidently pushing the door open as they entered, "Due to recent occurrences, we shall be increasing the rate of our training. As such, we need better facilities than a rooftop."
"Oh, okay," Izuku replied, following behind the man as they entered the main gym.
"You're finally here," a familiar, and tired, voice growled, Izuku jumping as his homeroom teacher rose from the floor, shedding his sleeping bag like a cocoon to reveal the bandages that still cocooned him, "Good, let's get this over with."
"S-Sensei?" Izuku squeaked, "What are you doing here? It's past midnight! Shouldn't you be sleeping?"
"Shouldn't you?" the scruffy man growled back, making Izuku blush slightly, Aizawa simply turning to Sire, "Whatever, are you sure this kind of training will help Midoriya?"
"In a way," Sire replied, "Has everything been prepared?"
"Yes," Aizawa replied, pointing to the middle of the room, Izuku following his cast as he saw the thick chains and manacles that were embedded in the concrete of the floor, "Just like you asked. Now, let's get this over with."