HINT #7- The time Toga knew Kaminari
They were being watched, that much was obvious.
Kaminari knew for a fact he wasn't being paranoid when he felt a pair of eyes on the back of his neck, just like how he knew for a fact something was definitely off.
Paranoia was a dangerous subject for an assassin, and in certain circumstances, it could even go as far as to be fatal. Assassin's couldn't afford to look over their shoulder while in the middle of a mission or spare a few minutes to take extra precautions. That lesson had been drilled into Kaminari's head more times than he could count, usually with the help of a whip or a furious parent.
It was useful, though, for situations like these. If any of his other classmates felt the foreign eyes following them as he had, they didn't show it, which was a little frustrating but not surprising. For one, most of the occupants of Class 1-A didn't have the proper training to recognize something so small. For two, on the off chance that any of them had noticed the unfamiliar presence, every single one of them most certainly would've chalked their rising goosebumps up to paranoia.
It was a little annoying for Kaminari to have to watch all nineteen of his classmate's backs at one time, but whatever. He didn't mind as long as none of them died or got a limb chopped off or something. Plus, chances were that whoever or whatever was following them would be just some low-class villain that Kaminari could subdue with a couple of zaps or swipes. No biggie, really, but he was too experienced to let his guard down even if it was probably a minuscule threat.
It had been hours, actually, since Kaminari had realized someone was following the class, which was annoying because he'd been looking forward to relaxing with his friends and having a relatively stress free week for once.
Their whole situation was kind of stupid if he was honest. In Kaminari's opinion, pretty much all the pro heroes collectively shared one single brain cell because while the trip he and his class were currently on was fun, it was super unsafe considering their string of 'bad luck' when it came to field trips and villain attacks.
Of course, he couldn't complain. He was well aware his class shared about four brain cells on average between the twenty of them, all of which belonged to Yaoyorozu.
Long story short, All Might had decided that it would be a fantastic idea to drop the students of Class 1-A off in the middle of the forest with nothing other than a water bottle each and three days worth of rations to live on. Their challenge was to survive and build a functioning camp by the end of the week when Mr. Aizawa and the rest of their teachers came to pick them up.
All Might had said it was "survival training," but Kaminari suspected it was for Midoriya more than anyone else. He and All Might were probably going to use this forest adventure as a way to meet up in the middle of the night and drop kick trees with One For All or something, not that Kaminari minded. It would actually make for pretty good entertainment.
To Kaminari, this supposed 'challenge' was a piece of cake, especially since each student had a walkie talkie to radio the teachers if anything went wrong or if they needed to leave for some reason. Hell, he'd been dropped in the middle of foreign freaking countries for months before with no supplies, and he'd been able to live for himself no sweat even without the luxury to opt-out.
Though judging by his classmates' incredulous reactions to the proposal, they didn't think it'd be as easy as he did.
Their reaction was kind of funny but not surprising.
In all, Kaminari didn't really care all that much. He figured the camping trip would be a good time to just chill for a bit or something while the rest of his friends scrambled around panicking about normal nature survival stuff like shelter and water.
Really, depending on how things went, Kaminari was torn between just starving himself for the whole seven days (just to keep his body adjusted, mind you) or seeing if he could find a river to catch fish to fry with his electricity. He was already planning on giving his rations to his classmates anyway, for the sake of keeping them fed if nothing else.
Kaminari knew it was basically going to be him taking care of his friends behind the scenes, but he didn't mind.
Until that strange someone started following them.
Kaminari trudged through yet another patch of bushes as he and his friends searched for a suitable place to set up camp. He was vaguely aware of Kirishima rambling in his ear about something or other and Mina twirling his hair as he walked, but his attention was focused solely on tracking the movement of whoever was following them.
Whoever they were, they were good; he'd give them that. They were clearly experienced in sneaking around, as well as concealing their presence from any prying eyes. However, they obviously hadn't been trained by the two most ruthless crimelords (and parents) in Japan, and as such, Kaminari could practically pinpoint the person's location by their gaze alone.
They'd clearly never been taught that something as little as staring in someone's direction for too long could reveal their presence.
"Yo! Kami-bro!" Kirishima snapped his finger's in the blond's face, making him startle. Shit. He'd zoned out. "You with us, dude?"
Kaminari gave a sheepish smile. Luckily, his classmates all thought he had a rock for a brain or something, so they probably wouldn't question him about it. "My bad. Have we found a campsite yet?"
"Nah." Sero hopped into view beside Kirishima. "Bakugou wanted to blow up trees to make a clearing, but Midoriya was all like, "Kacchan, we should probably save that for last resort!" and then Todoroki agreed with him so now their arguing." The tape-user pointed to the tight circle of students a couple of meters back, all trying to deescalate the fight that Kaminari hadn't even noticed had taken place, though 'fight' was used relatively lightly since it mostly consisted of Bakugou screaming his ass off, Todoroki reasoning with mild amusement, and Midoriya near tears trying to calm his childhood friend down.
Kamari gave a small smile toward Kirishima and Sero, to which they both returned with a salute or a wink, before frowning as he watched the pair join the mass of classmates. He was getting rusty. His parents had taught him long ago that one couldn't afford to have their attention on a single thing for too long, unless absolutely sure there is nothing amiss with whatever surrounding he was in.
He sighed, rubbing his face with his hands. Yet another skill he had to hone, he supposed.
It probably wasn't a big deal, though. From his analysis, all of one potential threat was following him and his class. Unless they were crazy powerful or All For One or something, they wouldn't dare attack a class full of twenty prestigious hero students with a reputation for kicking people's assess.
Kaminari furrowed his brow, all the while plastering a relaxed smile on his face and joining his hoard of classmates. Goosebumps trailed up his arms despite Bakugou's comedic arguing. Ah, it appeared whoever was stalking them had stopped the watch the scene, something that was a bit unnerving but no cause for concern.
Amid all the chaos, Kaminari heard a sharp intake of breath. His smile dropped instantly. He recognized that voice...
As if on cue, a shadowy figure leaped out of the underbrush and pounced on the hoard of students, to which Kaminari barely managed to push Midoriya out of the way of the knife aimed straight at his neck.
Immediately, all fighting stopped.
"Oh my, how wonderful to see you all again!" Their attacker waggled her fingers. Kaminari choked.
No. Fucking. Way.
"Toga." Uraraka breathed out, eliciting wide eyes from her classmates. "It's you."
Kaminari's eyes blew impossibly wide as his whole world came crashing down.
xxx
Toga grinned, the sun practically reflecting off her fang-like teeth. "Awww! I'm flattered you remember me, Ochako!" She twirled her knife expertly through her fingers as she scanned the group. "Izuku, darling, it's wonderful to see you as always." There was a malicious tint to her voice Kaminari didn't recognize, and yet, he couldn't find it in himself to move. This whole situation was just what the fuck. "Frog Face, always nice to see you."
"What the fuck do you want?" Bakugou remained (impressively) unbothered at the fact that a trained and dangerous villain/assassin had leaped out of the underbrush to attack them only mere seconds before. "I suggest you move your ass and get out of my sight before I blow you to smithereens, hag, you got it?!"
If Toga was at all unnerved by Bakugou's threat, she didn't show it. She winked at him casually. "I'd like to see you try, babe. Don't think you're so important just because we kidnapped you once. I was just minding my merry business when Izuku's adorable curls caught my eye." She grinned. If Kaminari didn't know any better, he'd think she was feral. "Now, how could I pass up that temptation?"
"Is she stable?" Sero whispered somewhere from Kaminari's right. "Like, mentally?"
Toga, whose hearing was just about as insane as Kaminari's (he would know), swiveled his piercing eyes over to his direction, which also happened to be Kaminari's direction. "Eh, it depends on who you ask..." She trailed off, teasing smile dropping from her face and her features morphing into something much, much different from her sadistic expression a few moments before. "I...Denki?"
Kaminari smiled meekly. "Hi, Himiko." He swallowed. It felt like his throat was coated in cotton. "Long time no see."
xxx
"I...holy fuck." Whatever sadistic sparkle Toga's eyes had held only moments before dissipated in an instant. All of a sudden, she looked a lot less like a bloodthirsty psychopath and more like a broken, scared sixteen-year-old girl.
Kaminari smiled sadly at the expression change. Jokes on them, she was both.
For a good five seconds, the two blonds just stood there and stared at each other, one utterly dumbfounded at the sight of someone she had thought died or worse, and the other not knowing whether to run away or into her arms.
Luckily for Kaminari, Toga decided for him.
"DENKAROO!" Toga was on top of him in a flash, tackling him into the ground and sending them rolling together to the outskirts of the group of students.
Of course, Kaminari's classmates reacted accordingly.
Whatever confusion any of them had been feeling from the initial interaction wore off at the sight of their friend being wrestled to the ground by a freaking blood obsessed psychopath who had literally tried to kill Midoriya, like, a minute beforehand.
To make a long story short, they lost their shit.
Kaminari was vaguely aware of his classmates freaking out a few feet away from him, but at the moment, he couldn't find it in himself to care. Yeah, Toga may have tried to kill like at least five of his classmates at a minimum in the past, but it was Toga. The only reason he hadn't given up on his life before it even began. The only reason he hadn't taken his own life when he had a chance all those years ago. The only reason he ever had hope in the godforsaken place he used to call home. Right now, all he could focus on was hugging the living daylights out of her, identity be damned.
He could faintly hear his friends shouting, though. He'd have to do something about that sooner or later before they did something stupid.
"WHAT THE FUCK, YOU PSYCHO BITCH?! GET OFFA HIM!" Bakugou made a move to grab Toga's shoulders, whether to get her away or explode her to dust, Kaminari didn't care to know. All he knew was they he had to put a stop to his friend's assault before Toga gave in to her impulses and sliced his neck.
"Bakubro, STOP!" Kaminari's voice was slightly muffled under the heap of clothes and limbs known as Himiko Toga, but it was audible. "Let her be. She's not a threat."
"Not a threat?" Bakugou growled, glaring at the blonds but pulling his hands away regardless. "Not a threat? This bitch is part of the League of Villains, Dunce Face. She and her groups of clowns KIDNAPPED me for fucks sake, and you say she's not a threat?"
Oh yeah. Apparently, Himiko Toga being a part of the League of Villains was a thing now. Why the fuck hadn't he known about that? Though, judging on Toga's reaction at seeing him for the first time in over five years, she hadn't known he was still alive either even though the League had been explicitly targeting him for well over six months. Either they knew about him and Toga's past and decided to keep her out of the loop about who exactly they were hunting for, or they just told her they were after a blond in Class 1-A or something.
But he wasn't focusing on that now.
"I know, okay?" Kaminari struggled into a sitting position, which was harder than it seemed, seeing as Toga was still latched around his neck and blabbering gibberish in that cutesy voice of hers. "I got it. But trust me when I say that she won't hurt me."
Kirishima rolled his eyes. "Okay, you know what? I'm done with this. Kaminari, what the fuck is going on here." Yep, okay. Kirishima was pissed. "Himiko? Denkaroo? What, do you guys know each other or something?!"
"Uh-" Kaminari just smiled. Yeah. In hindsight, he probably should've done more to at least try and conceal his identity, but whatever. If he couldn't worm his way out of this one, then what kind of (ex) assassin would he be? "It's...kind of hard to explain."
Toga giggled at that, finally releasing his neck and bouncing up on her heels instantly, taking Kaminari up with her. "No, it's not, silly!" She turned to his shell-shocked classmates. "Me and Denks here were childhood besties!"
"Yeah," Kaminari interjected quickly before Toga could spill anything potentially...incriminating. "She, uh, she played a huge part in getting me out of my whole... abusive parent situation. Y'know, like patching me up and stuff."
Okay, so that wasn't necessarily true. Sympathy and kind words had never really been Toga's strong suit even as one of the only four children trapped in the depths of the assassination ring and black market, but she had helped patch up some of his more grotesque wounds when needed. She never really comforted him about them, though, but Kaminari hadn't minded. It was just nice to have someone who cared about him amidst all the blood and chaos.
There had been one time she talked him down from killing himself, though. That had helped a lot. If Kaminari could remember correctly, her exact words were, "If you die, then who's gonna kick your parent's asses after you become a pro-hero, huh?"
Toga had never really been pro hero or pro villain. She didn't really care what side of the war she was on, and because of that, she was one of the only people Kaminari actually revealed his dream of turning good and becoming a hero too. She never really had an opinion on it. Kaminari knew her well enough to know that she'd side with whoever she thought best suited her needs. For a while, Kaminari figured she might start helping people like he wanted io.
As it turned out, her addiction to blood and murder won out over morality, not that Kaminari could blame her. Toga wasn't precisely an assassin in the sense that Kaminari was. She was more of just a killer. He'd really have to talk to her about that.
"Oh yeah!" Toga thankfully didn't seem to notice he used the word abuse instead of training, or maybe she was just too out of her mind to care. She'd never really been the sane type. "You guys shoulda seen some of the stuff Denki's parents gave him. It was crazy! They never went to hospitals or anything either, like sheesh! One time, he came to me with a hole in his stomach!" She grinned. She looked almost feral. "I could see guts, y'know?"
"I...a hole?" Todoroki unconsciously curled an arm around his stomach, his lips pursing in expression he usually never showed. "God, what happened?"
Kaminari opened his mouth to answer, but Toga beat him to it, which was probably better, honestly, since the details of that particular torture session were more gruesome than he'd like to recall.
"If my memory serves me right, which it usually doesn't, Denkaroo here yelled at his parents, so they decided to teach him a lesson by drilling a hole through his abdomen!" Kaminari cringed. She didn't have to phrase it like that, especially not with such a cheerful tone. "We were, what, nine? That right, Denks?"
"Uh, yeah." Kaminari did his best not to meet any of his classmates' gazes. "Nine sounds right."
More than a few people choked.
Kaminari was pretty sure he heard at least one person sniffle.
Goddamn, his classmates were too empathetic for their own good.
"So, uhhhh..." From the looks of it, Midoriya was lost for words. "You helped Kaminari?"
Toga giggled. "Helped is an understatement, ZuZu. Though, if you ever want to pay me back for it, I would happily take you-"
Kaminari flickered her on the forehead before she could even get her sentence out.
No one dared to breathe, because Kaminari had just flicked Himiko Toga on the forehead and childhood friend or not; she was still a raging psychopath, and if she so much as made a single move on Kaminari they wouldn't hesitate to annihilate her...
But it appeared that wasn't necessary because, after a moment of suffocating silence, Toga just huffed and crossed her arms with a pout, looking almost innocent if it wasn't for the ever-present bloodlust coming off her in waves.
"I'm just kiddingggg, Denki. Relax, I'm not gonna hurt the adorable cutie."
"Okay, I'm cutting in right here." Kaminari averted his gaze from Toga to find a very pissed off Jirou shoving her way through their classmates. "I'm sorry, but this whole situation makes no fucking sense. Am I the only one that thinks someone from the League of Villains for fucks sake being the only one who knew Kaminari's parents were horribly abusive is, like, super fucking suspicious?! And all your scars, Kaminari? The fucking drill through your stomach? You know what?! I'm going to be the one to finally say it because lord knows we've all wondered about it. That's not normal abusive parents, Kaminari! Fucking slicing you with knife and whips and shit?! Abusive parents kick and hit their kid around, not rip out pieces of their skin and burn it till it's black. You're hiding something from us, Kaminari, and this psychotic bitch claiming she's your childhood best friend is the LAST STRAW! What are the fucking ODDS, Kami! We want to help you, so EXPLAIN TO US WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING O-"
That was all she got out before a horrified Yaoyorozu dragged her back, but it was more than enough to make Kaminari's eyes blow wide.
There was only one card he could play now. Jirou had hit too close to home with those comments, which he honestly should've seen coming since he'd willingly embraced Toga with open arms, but that wasn't the point. The point was, his classmates were expected an answer to her rant, no matter how crazed she had sounded or how much they loved and trusted him regardless.
From what he could see, there was only one way to get out of his predicament, and that was sticking to his story no matter what.
Basically, that was another way of saying that he had to break down.
Immediately (thanks to lightly zapping the part of his brain that controlled her tear ducts), Kaminari burst into unrestrained tears, much to the horror of his classmates and the confusion of Toga, who at the moment was standing dumbly at Kaminari with the most incredulous expression he'd ever seen. Kaminari could only hope she got the message to play along. After all, he never cried, not even after the whole drill incident. He could only hope it would be strange enough to indicate his old friend that something was amiss.
Thankfully, whether it was because of her devotion to Kaminari or because her brain wasn't as warped as everyone thought, Toga jumped into action no more than two seconds later.
"Awwww, Denki!" Instantly she wrapped her arms around him and started cooing softly, to which Kaminari physically had to struggle not to laugh. It was good that none of his classmates really knew Toga because if they did, they would know that there's no way in hell that she'd ever hug anyone out of sympathy, or even try to make someone feel better for that matter. "It's okay! Don't listen to the mean lady. I know how hard your childhood was for you. Shhhh, I know."
It was so obvious Toga was acting, at least to Kaminari, but his classmates were buying it wholeheartedly.
"Jirou! You had no right to assume stuff about Kami like that!" Uraraka scolded. "Just because his situation wasn't the stereotype for abuse doesn't mean anything more was going on!"
"Yeah!" Sero chimed in. "And just because Toga and Kaminari coincidentally knew each other from childhood doesn't mean anything bad is going on! It's fucking weird, sure, and frankly really improbable, and she also had a hand in kidnapping Bakugou, and wants to fuck Midoriya or something...okay wait I might be with Jirou on this one-"
"Sero!" Mina cuffed him on the head, hard. "For all we know, Toga just went down the wrong path. She seems to care enough about Kaminari, right? That doesn't look like villain behavior to me." She gestured to the two blonds huddling together, one getting soaked with tears and the other struggling to conceal her laughter. "Kaminari-babe, how exactly do you know a League of Villains member?"
"Oh...um." Kaminari forced a hiccup. Toga nearly dissolved into a fit of giggles right there. For all her (admittedly) impressive acting skills, she was pretty lousy when it came to dealing with emotions. "We both lived in a bad part of town, you know?" He sniffled. For all he knew, he could be crying real tears at this point. He didn't like lying to his classmates, so he'd just have to bend the truth a little bit. "Me and Himiko were some of the only kids. We both had not too great home lives, so...we just sort of gravitated to each other. I had no idea she was in the League of Villains now, though. I, um, I actually didn't even know she was alive until a few minutes ago."
That part was genuine, at least.
"Kami, I'm sorry." Now it was Jirou's turn to speak, and she looked utterly horrified. "I don't know what came over me just then I...I guess I was overwhelmed by the fact that you're friends with...with her, and I was just confused?" It came out more like a question than anything else. "Kaminari, I'm so so sorry. And accusing your abuse...that might be the shittiest thing I've ever done, and it's all my fault and I-"
"It's not your fault," Kaminari said quickly, because even though his identity was at stake, his classmates wouldn't feel bad about themselves if he could help it. "I can see how this whole situation can be confusing and stuff. It's okay, I swear."
"And let's look on the bright side, everyone!" Iida, ever the peacemaker, spoke up for the first time since the whole interaction started. "No matter Toga's past against any of us, such as trying to kill Uraraka, Tsuyu, and kidnapping Bakugou and whatnot, I think she could be a valuable asset to us!"
"Asset?" Toga unlatched herself from Kaminari's neck, her soothing demeanor falling away just as effortlessly as it had appeared. "Listen here. I'm nobodies asset, not the League of Villain's, not the screwed up people who raised us-" Kaminari hoped they wouldn't catch the 'us' part "-or any hero's. Do I make myself clear? I do what I want and no one else."
"I-no!" Iida threw his hands up defensively, even going as far as to back away a few steps from the feral girl. "I'm just proposing you yourself stop your attacks on our class, nothing more! Something like a truce! You certainly don't seem like a villain, I must add, if that persuades you at all."
Toga regarded him for a long moment, eyes flitting momentarily from the cluster of students to Kaminari and back before letting out a long sigh. It was times like these Kaminari used to seriously wonder if she had split personalities or something.
"What, so like an 'I don't attack you and you don't attack me' sorta deal? Because as for the other League members, there's nothing I can say to stop them from trying to, erm..." She glanced discreetly at Kaminari. He shook his head ever so slightly. "...kill you guys at every turn."
Iida nodded firmly. "Yes, I think that will do. I think it benefits both sides, yes?"
Toga chewed on her lip, her canines catching it every few times and drawing blood. "Fine. On one condition."
Iida smiled openly then. "Name it."
Toga looked at him. Like, she really looked at him, before taking a second to scan each and every one of his classmates' faces. Finally, she stepped back into place beside Kaminari. "Treat Denki how he deserves to be treated."
Kaminari almost did a double-take, along with most of Class 1-A. "Himiko wha-"
She shushed him with one finger. "You heard me." She turned back to the class. "He hasn't gotten a single loving word from anyone since he was a baby, so I'm asking all of you to treat him like an actual human being with emotions and not just an object to beat and take advantage of, then throw aside. You got that?"
Iida was quick to reply, having gotten over his confusion quicker than the rest. "That's easy." He bowed. "Thank you for agreeing."
"Mmhm." Toga crossed her arms. "But just to be clear, I'm doing this for Kaminari and no one else, you hear? If one of you so much as lays a finger on me, I won't hesitate to chop it off. You got me?"
Uraraka nodded firmly, still looking at the blond warily but with less tension in her shoulders than before. "We got you."
"Good." Toga then turned back to Kaminari, looping an arm around his neck and spinning him away from the others. "So, you finally did it, huh?" She pinched his cheek. "Kaminari Denki's gonna become a hero and kick his parents' sorry asses?"
Kaminari chuckled softly, making sure to match Toga's low whisper. "You know it."
"Hm." There was a brief moment of silence before she jerked her head towards his classmates. "Are they good to you?"
"Very." There was no hesitation on Kaminari's part. "Honestly, you didn't have to make a whole scene about them treating me right. They've loved me unconditionally since the first week of school."
"You seem very fond of them."
"I am."
Toga hummed in response. "I figured." She let go of Kaminari's cheek. "I'm glad you're not dead, you know?"
Kaminari laughed at that. "Yeah. Same here."
Silence.
"Do they not know anything?" Toga lowered her voice even more than she already had. "I may be crazy, but it seems like you haven't told them anything regarding our previous life in that hell hole and god-awful childhood."
"I haven't."
"You know they're gonna find out eventually, right?"
Kaminari snorted. "Not if I can help it."
"Hm." Toga cast a glance up at the sky. "I've been gone for a while. I should be back before old Shigi gets his granny panties in a twist."
"Yeah. That's probably a good idea." Kaminari cast a glance back at his classmates. "And Himiko, promise me you won't kill anyone who doesn't deserve it, alright?"
Toga hummed. "I'll try for you, Denkaroo, but no promises."
"Better than nothing, I guess."
"Yeah. And Denki?"
"What?"
"Be careful. Some dangerous people are coming after you." Toga worried at her bottom lip, unconsciously tapping the tattoo hidden under the collar of her shirt identical to Kaminari's own. "I didn't believe it since after all this time I thought you were...dead...but the bounty on your head has risen to over seven-hundred million USD."
Kaminari froze at that. He'd known it was high, but he didn't think it was that high. "Seriously?"
"Yeah." Toga unfurled her arm from around his shoulders. "As far as I know, only the League of Villains knows your whereabouts at UA, but just...be safe, Denks."
Kaminari offered a small smile of thanks. "I will. Same goes to you."
"Hm." Toga gave him a wet smooch on the cheek before waggling her fingers in parting. "I hope to see you later, Denkaroo."
And just as quick as she'd appeared, she was gone.
Kaminari silently stared at the spot his friend had been only mere seconds ago before averting his gaze to his classmates. They hadn't moved from their little hoard, some just talking amongst themselves and some watching Kaminari as if making sure Toga didn't slice his neck or something. Kaminari just smiled, giving them a thumbs up and the universal 'okay' sign.
It seemed to do the trick to ease his friend's nerves, but it left him with his own problems to deal with.
"Dangerous people..." He mused to himself, steeling his nerves as he slowly walked to rejoin his group of classmates.
"What could that possibly mean?"
