The putrid mixture of blood and bile wafted through the air of the beaten and battered apartment kitchenette, the cracked blood smeared tile of the floor breaking any semblance of normalcy, shattered bits of a glass table were strewn about the floor depicting a sense of chaos that seemed to permeate the room and adjoining hall. In fact, save for the silence, the small apartment almost seemed to try and be as hauntingly chilling as possible; look as you might, you would be hard pressed to see anything that could be considered even remotely ordinary. Everything, while well maintained, seemed to have been showered in a speckled red coating of blood and guts. It was as if someone's entire life had been ripped out and spread over the contents of the room.
A lone figure entered the building, he was tall and sinewy sort with silver hanging low and appearing unkempt, his shoulders were hunched forward giving him an elderly presence even though judging by his face he couldn't of been that far into his twenties. A smile of pure childlike glee spread over his face as he gazed upon the slovenly state of the room, his face slightly reddening for an instant before being sheltered by his hand. Composing himself he returned to his examination of the room, his eyes slipping over the grisly scene until they stopped, resting on a necklace of bells faintly speckled in the crimson that decorated most of the room that hung from the cabinet by the door. Reaching up he brushed a weathered hand against them listening to the melodic tinkling sound it produced, sighing he strode forward and stopped at the source of the mess. A rather large body that lay slumped across the floor with a giant gaping hole sprouting from where the chest had been. Crouching down beside it the man's eyes settled on a streak of blood, roughly the size of a child, that seemed to smear away from the man a short distance before turning into a pair or foot prints. A small smirk slipped across the man's face before erupting into a giant open mouthed smile, his tongue licking his lips in a hideous fashion producing a somewhat macabre looking expression. Donning his mask of calm once more the figure straightened and silently stalked after the trail of footprints. Following the trail of bloodied glass and footprints down the hall he realized he could hear the pitter patter of falling water and as he pursued the noise, the hushed murmur of someone muttering.
Coming to the foot of what he assumed was the bathrooms entryway, the man peered into the misted room barely making out the bandaged form of a girl through the warm rising vapours. The guaze was wound tightly around most of the girl giving her the appearance reminiscent of the mummified egyptians of old, she held one of her arms close to her body while the other scrubbed violently against the vacant areas of where her skin surely had to be but the wrappings failed to cover. The muttering ceased and he realized that her face appeared to be facing him now.
"Oh, hello there sir. I apologise but the house isn't very presentable at the moment...neither am I for that matter. I seemed to have made a rather large mess in fact and father wouldn't like it if someone were to see it, you see, so if-f it isn't any trouble could you, c-could you..."
Her voice caught in her throat and she seemed to fall forward, catching hold of the adjacent wall and shuddering against it. The sound of retching could be heard from her direction as her body convulsed, the man stared down at the small pitiable figure with a grim smile splayed over his features. Moving over to her side the man reached out and patted her back, his hand purposely avoiding her right shoulder. Suddenly his crackling voice broke the soft padding of falling water and echoing against the tiled walls.
"Shhhh, there, there. Everything's gonna be alright, we have a mutual friend, I believe you spoke with him tonight. I'm here to bring you home, don't you worry bout this mess, it'll be sorted by the morning"
The hand seemed to bore a hole into my back with each pat, each slight touch sending chills throughout my body, the slapping of skin on skin contact reverberating against the slick walls. I wanted to tell him to stop, tell him that I'm unclean, dirtied, unwanted. But I was frozen, my voice silenced and drowned out by the rising sound of sniffling and wailing. Whoever was making that racket had better quiet down before the neighbors heard, there would be hell to pay if father found out.
But he's dead, you killed him. You felt his weight upon you when you awoke, saw his blank look as you crawled out from under him slick in the crimson red blood that could never of been yours. Did you not Tooru?
No, no! It hadn't gone like that, I had only meant to push him away from me, my quirk doesn't have that kind of power, he should be fine! The wailing seemed to hitch for a moment and settle down into muffled whimpers, it sounded like someone had finally silenced whomever had been making that distracting commotion. Ignoring the sense of weightlessness that enveloped my body, I continued ranting out my justifications, It wasn't me, I didn't kill him, I was going to go to U.A., become a hero that all could respect and go to for comfort. I was going to make a difference, help people get out of homes like mine.
But isn't that what you did? You got out of your household, you're free. He can't hurt you anymore and it's all thanks to The Master. No one else helped you, but he did, he gave you this power. And don't forget Amari, she did all of this for you.
That's right Amari did help me out, someone actually did something for me when I had asked for help and now I was free of that man forever. Gently a hand that I had been oblivious to removed itself from my mouth and a rush of air filled my lungs. With a start I realized that the one that had been crying had been me, how absurd. An open toothed smile parted my tear streaked lips as laughter expelled itself from deep within my chest. My eyes glistened with unshed tears my manic laughter threatening to dislodge them from their perch. Feeling oddly energetic as my laughter quelled down to a light giggle, I glanced around at my surroundings slowly becoming aware of the unfamiliar walls and bed that I was now laying in. Still chuckling to myself I sat upright and peered around the room, it was drowned in pink with heart shaped pillows and stuffed animals littered about but decidedly not in a disheveled or messy way, the windows were decorated in cherry patterned curtains barring most of the dim light of the early morning from invading the small room. Dismounting the bed I found my way over to a spotlessly white painted bureau, reaching out a tentative hand I began to pull at one of the drawers when a familiar cheery voice stopped me.
"Not even being a little shy about it huh? You'd think a girl would at least be a little sly about stealing a glance at another girls panties."
Halting in my tracks I turned my head to see Amari standing in the room's entry way, her hands planted squarely on her hips and a warm grin brightening up her face where it reached all the way up to her eyes. A wave of shame hit me and I slid down to the floor, head bowed to her.
"I'm so sorry A-amari, I won't do it again I swear! I was curious an- OH GOD! I was laying in your bed! It's surely a mess now, I'm a mess! I-I'm dirty! Please forgive me, I don't know what I'm doing or how I got here!"
Gentle hands grabbed hold of me, silencing my protests and apologies, drawing me up into a tight warm embrace. I felt my raw eyes begin to sting with tears that had fell all too frequently this night, but I couldn't find it in myself to care. I cried into her shoulder for what seemed like an eternity, I cried for my shattered goals, I cried about the life I had lived up till now that would no doubt be forever changed, I even cried for the horrible man who had once been my father. Lifting my head from her tear soaked shoulder I gazed into those deep, understanding yellow eyes and without a single thought leaned in for a sloppily planted kiss on the lips.
The kiss was cut short as Amari backed away from me her hand flying up to her mouth in confusion, her eyes widening in shock. An awkward silence passed between us as the gears in my head slowly processed what was happening, fear began to set in as she continued to look at me with that surprised expression.
"Did you just kiss me?"
Her tone was decidedly less than pleased, breaking whatever spell I had been under that led me to kiss her on the mouth, why had I done that?
Yeah, spell, good one. We both know you have been pining for her touch for quite awhile now.
Shut up, she's a friend I don't think of her that way! Wringing my hands out as I searched for the correct answer to her question, my eyes darting along the gap between us. Trying to rationalize my split thoughts, I opened my mouth to speak but my throat decided to close in on itself making it impossible to produce anything other than a sort of blubbering sound that caused Amari to lift an eyebrow at me in amusement.
Closing the distance between us with a coy smile bubbling up to replace her once baffled expression, her sharp yellow eyes flashing dangerously with something indescribable hidden within them. Her arms wrapped around me again but something was different about them, it felt more sensual, provocative even. A shock went down my spine as her breath brushed along my neck, a silky whisper pervading my senses as she passed my ear.
"You're too cute when you're flustered Tooru. Here, let me treat you to something nice."
Delicate lips pressed themselves against the crux of my neck, softly making their alluring advance up past my jawline. As her mouth found mine, I could immediately tell that it was going to be a different experience than my crude attempt. My muscles slackened as I caved into her my eyes closed and fully determined to lose myself in her delicate embrace. With a slow drawn out caress of my jaw Amari backed away, something predatory in her bewitching gaze. Rising from the floor she left me in my stupor, a look of satisfaction playing across her face.
"You did such an amazing job today Tooru, but you need your rest. Maybe we can continue this tomorrow?"
My cheeks grew hot as I realized the implications behind her statement, my tongue grew slack and wagged uselessly in my mouth as I tried to respond. Thankfully she did not wait for it, her cheerful voice drifting back to me as she sauntered over to the door, turning towards me as she slipped the door open a crack.
"I don't want there to be any secrets between us Tooru, so I feel like I have to come clean. My name isn't really Amari, It's something I've been using only because my real name has bad blood attached to it, I was orphaned you see and….well the rest doesn't matter, The Master found me and all is well now. My real name is Himiko, Himiko Toga."
Her brows furrowed and she looked down at me expectantly, those vast yellow orbs sparkling in the dim light. Did she think I would be angry? I wished to myself silently that she could see the smile that I was wearing so she would have no need of an explanation.
"Am- no, Himiko. I don't care about the past, I'm just glad to have you here with me…."
Himiko let out a sigh of relief, her eyes visibly brightening as she flashed me another toothy grin.
"Oh good, cause there's no way I'm letting you outta my sight."
Pursing her lips she blew me a kiss, winking scandalously at me before skipping out the door, leaving me alone to my thoughts. Reality seemed to come crushing back down on me as my source of distraction left the room, crawling back into bed as whatever euphoria that had gripped me faded leaving me exhausted. The dull throbbing of my injuries returned as I pulled the covers over me, trying to focus on Himiko's scent instead of the bloody thoughts that were once again returning to invade my mind.
Giggling to herself as she skipped down the hallway, Himiko licked her lips as she remembered Tooru's form drenched in dark crimson bandages her skin soaked in the metallic scent of blood, a deep blush reddened her cheeks as a bit of drool leaked from the edge of her mouth.
"Oh Tooru, you looked simply breathtaking like that!"
Cackling behind her hands in an attempt to muffle the sound she continued her joyous canter down the stretch of hallway, nearly running smack dab into the tall black mist shaped man, dressed still in his bartender attire. Clearly annoyed the man looked down to her eyes narrowed slightly, his disgruntled voice filling the air seemingly emanating from nowhere.
"Is her mind intact or must we find another?"
Himiko straightened herself out, a tight lipped scowl marring her face as she rattled out a terse response.
"It's intact alright and not only that but I got her wrapped around me in more ways than one. Now, as my reward, I think it's finally time I get to see the young master! Why must he be kept from me?! I want to see who he has picked as a successor!"
Turning away from her the man ignored the girl's protests, choosing instead to mull over her words in his head. Motioning for Himiko to follow after him he walked to the end of the hall, far outside the range of hearing of their guest.
"That is interesting, I assume you aren't as inept as you like to act and took full advantage of this opportunity? What's the saying? Strike while the iron is hot?"
Brushing off his insult Himiko begrudgingly walked after the man but not without childishly flipping him the bird and sticking her tongue out. Humming in affirmation Himiko placed her hands on her cheeks to hide her growing blush, taking on a perverse look as she interwove some of her fingers into her mouth, her tongue running between some of them.
"Mmmm, she was practically begging me for more. It's a shame too, she would totally be my type if it weren't for her quirk. She smells wonderfully of blood and I bet she's got scars all over, I'll have to do a bit of exploring lat-"
"Enough, fortunately you won't be getting the chance to indulge in any of your revulting fantasies. You shall be playing the role of the doting father who has suddenly had a change of heart and decided to allow his daughter the chance to make it into U.A.. we have salvaged as much blood from the father as we could, which should be enough to get you through the first few weeks as we await for the synthesizing process to produce more from the corpse. This is what The Master requires of you, see it done then you shall have your 'reward'."
Huffing in exasperation Himiko levels the man with a leer, her hands finding their way down from her face and onto her waist. With a growl she stomped out ahead of him her curt response flippantly delivered over her shoulder.
"Yeah, fine, I'll get right on that. You just don't know how to have fun, huh Kurogiri?"
Kurogiri let out a sigh as he watched the girl go, his patience with her long passed it's breaking point. Yet he knew he must go on tolerating her, Himiko's quirk was just too useful and with the added benefit of Tooru's budding feelings for the girl it would be unwise to dispose of her now. Once her part was played however, he would take immense pleasure in scattering her body parts to the furthest reaches of the planet. Chuckling to himself Kurogiri took one more look to the shut door at the far end of the hallway, where Tooru now slept unaware of what training they had planned for her in the upcoming months. Suddenly a ominous black portal began to expand outwards in front of him, ceasing its swift advance only when it was of a comfortable size for him to step through. Shifting his gaze to the portal Kurogiri hummed to himself thoughtfully, breaking the now eerie silence with words that were directed at noone in particular.
"Rest now, for on the morrow we will begin your training, we will not permit you to fail the U.A. exam, no. You will succeed, or you will perish."