Author's Notes
Howdy! This is probably my most 'out there' story to date, just based on the themes. However, it's one that I feel is rather interesting. Expect things like bloodplay to be part of it, and though this story might eventually have smut in it, that's not the primary focus on the fic by a long shot. Nor will anything like that be appearing anytime soon. That being said, I hope you enjoy!
Chisuke Sato had always wanted to be a hero.
Although, it seemed almost everyone else thought that he was destined for something either more benign or more wicked. Pale skin combined with black hair and crimson eyes made him, in his own mind, look like an edgy anime character at most. To his peers though, it made him look wicked and malicious, even if he was nothing of the sort. This didn't improve when he got his Quirk, instead it just weirded them out more.
Bloodletting, a name picked by his mother of all people, and in spite of blood not even being a part of it. One could bite his finger, or (he assumed, never having tried it) anywhere else on his skin, and he could heal them. Blood red energies would pour into them and right their wounds as if they were never there, at the cost of his own stamina, possibly leading to exhaustion if he used it too much.
…Naturally, when people found that out, they assumed that because of it he was some sort of weirdo or creep. In reality he was just a normal kid with a bold dream, to become a hero and save lives.
He had his doubts, his moments of weakness, but he pulled through. UA was the first step on his path, and it was one he had taken to with all the determination he could muster. He aced the written exam and now he had to face the practical.
Which led him to where he was, standing at the gates of UA and staring at the campus in front of him even as others passed him by, giving him strange looks every so often. UA was far, far bigger in person than it looked online.
Chisuke always knew that it was going to be huge, but seeing the large, beautifully maintained campus really sold the whole thing to him. He saw plenty of people who looked incredibly strong and it made him a bit nervous, his quirk wasn't exactly meant for combat. The odds of him getting into the hero course were small, but… He wasn't without options.
He wore a red T-shirt under an unzipped gray jacket, he also wore a pair of jeans and black combat boots. His most noticeable piece of apparel was the scarf that was bundled around his neck loosely, a style choice he had taken from his favorite hero, a hero that basically nobody knew about other than his name and quirk, Eraserhead.
How Chisuke came to know about him was a story in and of itself, one day he was wandering around the city on his own, a rare instance where he didn't have his best friend at his side, when he heard the sound of a struggle. Some villains were assaulting someone, and like the foolish kid he was, Chisuke yelled at them to stop. He would have been destined to become their next target, had it not been for the timely intervention of the man who kept his eyes covered and fought with a special kind of binding cloth.
He was able to dispatch the villains effortlessly, and then he proceeded to scold Chisuke for having tried to intervene when he's so young. When Chisuke said that he did it because he wanted to be a hero, the man told him, "You can't be a hero if you're dead, kid. Remember that." Chisuke did, and that was why he had this scarf, it took great effort to get something like it, great effort and his parents' own generosity. Even then, it wasn't anywhere close to what Eraserhead used, and admittedly Chisuke only sort of knew how to fight with it because he'd spent hours training with his friend so they could both be heroes.
Speaking of…
While he was standing there reminiscing, someone approached him from behind. A pair of slender arms wrapped around his waist as he felt a girl's shorter and smaller form pressing against his back, "Chisuke~ Guess who?" He had trouble ignoring the blush on his face and the way his heart picked up at the way she spoke so playfully.
Of course he knew who it was, who else would it be but her?
He smiled softly and closed his eyes for a moment, "Himiko, what'd I say about doing stuff like this in public?"
He still remembered how they met, all those years ago…
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At the age of five, Chisuke was in kindergarten, and his general lack of social skills resulted in him being alone. He wanted to make friends, he wanted to have people to talk to, and yet… nobody seemed very interested. At least, nobody did at first, until that day.
The day he made his first friend.
He hadn't really seen her before, even though they had shared the same class for the better part of three months at that point. Maybe it was just because he tried not to look at anyone for too long, lest they decide that he's even more weird than they already thought he was.
Everyone was playing outside while he sat under a tree and watched. He spotted her, pale and dirty ash-blonde hair styled with two messy buns that had several rebellious strands sticking out from all angles. She was on her own, wearing a medium-length blue skirt and a white blouse, and the first thing Chisuke noticed was that she didn't look very happy. She was drawing shapes in the sand, and then something caught her attention.
A bird, he saw that it was a bird that was injured and laying on the ground. It was alive, and she saw that too. She got up and started hurrying over to it, only to trip and fall, yelping in pain. She grabbed at her knee and sniffled, prompting him to get up and hurry over to her.
He walked over to and knelt in front of her, she was grabbing her knee and sniffling. Yet, when she saw him, she gained a shy look of concern on her face, "U-Uhm… I'll be okay…" She said, and he knew she would, yet he couldn't stand the idea of seeing someone hurt.
He held out his index finger, "I can heal you." His voice was soft and kind, "It's… You'll probably think it's super weird but… bite my index finger. Not too hard… It'll heal you." He expected her to look worried or creeped out, yet instead she looked… excited? She nodded a few times and leaned forward, biting with a bit of force, not enough to make him pull away but enough that he felt it.
Red energy pooled around his hand and spread across her, and the wound on her knee was healed as if it was never there. She gasped, "I-It really worked!" She grinned, sharp canines on full display as she looked at her leg, "Th-Thank you. Do you… wanna be friends?"
He smiled warmly, "Sure. My name's Sato Chisuke."
Her smile never wavered as she responded, "I'm Himiko Toga, and now you're my best friend forever!"
Chisuke helped her stand, "I'm gonna help the little bird." He pointed towards it, "Then we can play." The look of elation in her eyes was infectious and just made him all the more eager to get to it. He hurried over to the bird and knelt down, the poor thing had a broken wing. Normally, healing such a thing would take some time. However, for him, it was nothing. It took some effort to get it to bite his finger, and when it did it made him wince, yet he didn't pull away. The bird was fully healed in no time, and he took it in his hands gently.
Then, he let it go, the two watching as it climbed the sky and vanished into the clouds.
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Toga huffed, "Awh, come on Chisuke! There's nothing wrong with a bit of PDA!" She let him go and moved to stand next to him. She was wearing a black short-sleeve T-shirt over a white long-sleeve shirt with very large and loose sleeves that hid her hands. Below that she was wearing a red skirt that had a loose chain hanging from her right side, along with black thigh-high stockings and a pair of blood red sneakers.
Chisuke rubbed the back of his neck, "You mean other than the fact that we're not dating and we're surrounded by the people who could end up being our classmates?"
Himiko grinned at him, her abnormally long and sharp canines on full display, "Let them look! When have we ever cared if anyone thinks we're weird? The world will admire our love, especially when they see me stabbing villains to stop their evil plans!"
…To say Himiko was a little, well… eccentric was an understatement. She genuinely meant no harm to anyone (as long as they didn't make her angry, God help you if you make her angry) but her demeanor, love of knives, and general energy often made people uneasy.
That wasn't to mention what they thought when they learned about her Quirk. Turns out that people are weirded out by a Quirk that requires the user to drink blood, and makes them have a particular fondness and craving for drinking it, even in small quantities.
Due to that, her Quirk had remained a secret for most of their lives, he was the only one who knew about it.
Now she wasn't as shy with it, but she still restrained herself around people she didn't know or people she thought would be grossed out. Usually civilians.
He smiled at her, "I still don't think that'll be a very good public image for a Hero…" Himiko just grinned, she didn't seem to care that much. He knew she didn't, neither of them were exactly in it for fame, they wanted to do good and be admired for their work, sure, but they weren't looking to become celebrities.
Chisuke and Toga had both started to make their way towards the building when they spotted a green haired boy nearly trip and fall. Instead, he was caught by a girl, she looked very cheerful and good-natured, to the point where Himiko whispered to him, "She looks great! Think she could be a friend?"
He hummed, "We should probably wait and see who passes, first. We're going to need to give it our all." Neither he nor Himiko had a Quirk that lent itself to combat, Himiko's being transformation via ingesting blood and Chisuke's being the ability to heal someone of just about any wound if they bit his finger, although the heavier the injury the more it exhausted him.
His would have been great at a hospital, hers would have made her an amazing spy or investigator, but both of them wanted more out of life than that. They were both rejects from regular society, their quirks and appearances made people write them off as freaks right on the offset. Yet, instead of being upset by this, it just enforced a desire to prove them wrong, to be better.
And they would be better, because it was all they could do to prove everyone else wrong.
The two hopefuls made their way into the main building and towards what turned out to be a massive auditorium. The two took their seats and ended up behind the verdant haired boy who had fallen before and his… friend? Who looked incredibly fed up with everything in existence.
Himiko grinned excitedly, "This is going to be awesome! We'll finally get to be real heroes!" Chisuke smiled as Himiko continued, "What do you think the exam is going to be?"
Before he could say anything, Present Mic appeared on stage and, with great aplomb, said, "What's up, UA candidates?! Thank you for tunin' in to me, your school DJ! Come on and let me hear ya!"
Silence. Even Himiko didn't want to yell out in a room filled with random people. Present Mic played it off, however, "Keepin' it mellow, eh? I respect that! I'll skip to the main show…"
He began to explain the exam, which was actually fairly straightforward. Students would be divided up and sent into separate segments of a training site, where they would fight robots. The goal was to kill as many as possible, although Chisuke couldn't help but wonder if there was more to it than that. A Hero academy would test for more than that, right? Yet, he had no idea, Present Mic never said anything to corroborate his thoughts.
The green haired boy had started muttering to himself about Present Mic as well as the exam, he seemed to be going through some sort of stream of consciousness that was, admittedly, a bit distracting. Eventually a dark haired boy who looked like the living embodiment of a salaryman spoke up and asked about the existence of the fourth robot type before chastising the green haired boy for muttering loudly and distracting everyone.
Chisuke felt for the boy when he blushed and apologized, but he had to admit he was somewhat glad that the other boy spoke up so that they could focus on Present Mic. Eventually they were each given the information they needed, and when Chisuke saw his he came to much the same conclusion as the green haired boy, "They're splitting us up from other people in our region."
Himiko smirked, "That's okay. We can handle anything they throw at us, even if we're split up. It just means we'll have to both fight super hard, and show them what we can do."
Call Himiko crazy if you wanted, but Chisuke had never met someone as determined to reach her goal than her. After years of being viewed as lesser because of their Quirks, both teens just wanted to prove to the world that they really were worth something.
This was the start, the first step, if they could pass here, then nothing would stop them!
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Chisuke stood among the crowd of other potential students and silently took stock of them, fiddling with his scarf and wishing it was a bit cooler out. Seriously, how did Eraserhead manage to wear something like this all the time? Maybe he had some sort of material that made it looser…
He thought about this while scanning the other hopefuls, most of them didn't look like they'd be any real threat. Those kinds of people were the ones who either looked like they really didn't want to be there, or they seemed intensely nervous rather than focused. There were people who looked plenty focused, those were the ones he'd need to watch out for. Like…
The really insistent and formal guy who was chastising the smaller, more unassuming boy. He recognized the smaller one as being the one who was mumbling a lot in the auditorium. He heard people counting the boy out already, and he immediately wrote most of those people off. If there's one thing he learned from watching Pro Heroes do their jobs, it was to never underestimate an opponent!
Not that he was going to correct their mistakes for them. Their loss was his gain after all.
The signal was sounded and the gates flew open, and the small horde of students charged into the faux-city at varying speeds. It really looked like a genuine destroyed city, he had to wonder how much it cost the school to build, not that it mattered. What mattered was finding a way to get enough points to pass!
Well, it was what mattered at first.
He located a one-pointer that was looking away from him and kicked it as hard as he could in the back. It fell easily, not that he expected anything less, he wasn't a pushover! Even if his Quirk wasn't combat oriented. Then, before he could run to find another, he heard a yelp of pain followed by someone, a girl by the sound of it, shouting in pain.
Not even thinking twice, Chisuke hurried over to the source of the cries, ducking and dodging gunfire and attempts to whack him by the robots as he went. People kept taking out the machines he ran past, and no doubt some of them were wondering what the hell he was doing, which was fair.
He wasn't exactly doing himself any favors by rushing to help people, but he couldn't help it! When he heard someone get injured, it was a natural instinct of his to hurry to help them! He rounded a corner and reached an alleyway. That was where he saw an injured girl, she looked small, had a round face, thick, wavy blonde hair, and most notably a tall, lyre-shaped pair of pale tan horns on her head. She was also clutching her arm, it looked like it was dislocated.
He hurried up to her and she looked at him with wide, deep blue eyes before speaking in a thick accent that sounded like it belonged to someone from the American South, "U-Uhm, ya ain't gonna hurt me are ya?"
Chisuke shook his head and knelt in front of her, "I know it's going to sound weird, but I can heal you. You need to bite my finger, not too much, just a bit." He held up the back of his index finger to her, "Trust me." He put on his best comforting smile.
The girl looked kind of grossed out by the idea but she swallowed a lump in her throat and nodded before biting down gently. Crimson energy pooled around his hand and then flowed into her through her mouth, and her eyes widened as her wound set itself as if it were never there. She gasped, as she spoke he noticed that her accent became significantly less pronounced, "W-Wow, thank you! Even though I'm your opponent, you still wanted to help me!"
Chisuke just shrugged awkwardly, he wasn't used to people complimenting him and his Quirk in the slightest. Anytime he offered to help anyone with it before this point, they just looked disgusted and told him to go away, "I'm just doing what comes natural." Then, he heard yet another shout of pain and sighed, "Good luck, uhm…"
"Pony Tsunotori!"
"Chisuke Sato."
He didn't have time to think about the strange name, instead he ran on to find the next person who was injured.
He found himself doing this for almost the entire duration of the exam. He'd give one person some help, then another would get hurt, then he would help them, repeat. A lot of people were getting injured because they couldn't handle fighting the stronger robots, and while he could have probably taken a three pointer down with the help of his scarf, that would be a prolonged engagement that probably would end up getting stolen anyway.
So he did what he did best, following that innate drive to heal people as he ran from one person to the next. He continued right up until the ground began to shake and suddenly a gigantic robot rolled into the area! It rose higher than any building in their faux city, and from what he remembered, that was supposed to be the zero pointer!
'THAT is the zero-pointer?! That's one big roadblock!'
There had to be a catch to it being so massive, but he didn't have time to think about that. The robot punched downward and sent a massive wave of dust and debris flying everywhere, making Chisuke pull his scarf up over his face. He held his ground until the wave of wind died down, and then he looked around. It seemed like almost everyone was running, except for the green haired boy, who looked incredibly terrified. Even he eventually began to crawl away.
Well, that was until the pained, "Ow!" a girl sounded off. Both Chisuke and the green haired boy looked and saw the girl with short brown hair from earlier trapped under a large piece of rubble. It seemed like she was too injured to try and escape, and so Chisuke fixed his scarf and prepared to run forward.
Well, that was until suddenly the green haired boy braced himself before launching into the air at speeds Chisuke had never seen before from a Quirk. Chisuke shook his head fervently and hurried forward, he reached the girl and knelt down, "What's wrong?"
She looked shocked to see someone else, "M-My leg…"
"Look, this'll sound gross, but bite my finger! It'll heal you!" He held out his finger, and to the girl's credit she didn't hesitate.
Again the crimson energy emerged and pushed into her, her once injured legs righted themselves and she gasped, "Wow! That's amazing!"
Neither she nor Chisuke had seen anything yet, though.
The green-haired boy reached the giant robot's head after flying straight past its hand as it tried to grab him. Then his jacket seemed to tear, and while Chisuke couldn't make out everything that was happening, he did see the end result. The boy punched the robot so hard he caved in its face with power Chisuke had never seen before.
As the robot fell backward and crashed into several buildings, the awesome power on display became less relevant than the fact that the boy was now falling uncontrollably back towards the ground. The brown haired girl struggled to push the debris off of her and Chisuke didn't hesitate to help her, even if healing as many people as he did was starting to take its toll.
Once she was able to climb out from under the debris, the girl promptly climbed on top of it and seemed to prepare herself, reeling back her hand as if to slap something. Then, perhaps unsurprisingly, she slapped the boy as he was reaching the ground. Suddenly, he slowed to a stop and the girl was able to guide him safely down until he was far enough down that she was able to release him safely.
Chisuke hurried over to the boy, who had landed face down, and turned him over, "Hey, you awake?" The boy looked like he was in immense pain, but he was still awake nonetheless.
He was also incredibly distressed and almost in tears, "I…I didn't get any points… I… I failed…"
He held out his finger to the boy, "Hey, don't say that. They can't see you doing something like that to help someone and disqualify you, can they? What kind of Hero academy doesn't recognize when people do heroic things that aren't just beating up bad guys?"
The boy at least seemed somewhat less frantic, but it was clear he didn't entirely believe him. Still, Chisuke said, "Bite my finger, it'll heal you. Not too hard now-"
CHOMP
"Ow ow ow! Not so hard!"
The boy looked at him apologetically and relaxed his bite, the crimson energy once again emerged and pooled around Chisuke's hand. He smiled as he watched the boy's once broken limbs right themselves, "With wounds this bad you're probably still going to hurt afterward. If it were more minor I'd be able to heal it all no problem, but… three broken limbs and who knows what else, that's n-not minor."
When the boy's limbs snapped back into place, his eyes lit up as Chisuke let go, "W-Wow! Thank you, that's an amazing Quirk! You're just like Recovery Girl, but uhh- with a different weird healing method! My name's Izuku, thank you again."
Chisuke began to sway in place, "Chisuke. Ah…" His vision blurred, "Went a bit overboard…" Then he fell forward.
The second he hit the ground he lost consciousness.
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The teachers had been watching the initiation with rapt attention, and while most were focused on the sudden display of heroics from one Izuku Midoriya, two others had someone else on their mind.
Shota Aizawa stared as he watched the scarfed boy, Chisuke Sato he believed, heal the other boy and then promptly pass out. His Quirk was interesting, but that wasn't entirely what he was interested in…
While Sato didn't fight that often during initiation, when he did he made liberal use of what looked to be a cheaper, less refined version of his own weapon. He even noticed some similarities in their fighting styles, albeit the boy's was a lot less refined and he clearly was just making things up as he went. The idea that he had some fanboy or admirer was baffling to the man, he avoided the spotlight and, when he was still doing Hero work instead of teaching, he rarely ever worked anytime other than nighttime.
He stared at the screen as Recovery Girl along with some of her assistant medical staff moved to retrieve the boy and also look over Midoriya and Uraraka. Slowly, he blinked, though he didn't move much his mind was running wild with possible reasons as to why he had somehow inspired someone to fight like him.
It didn't help that he felt the eyes of one Hizashi Yamada, better known as Present Mic, staring at him. He didn't glance at the man, fully intent on not giving him the reaction he was looking for. Yet, clearly that was not enough for him, as the man slid a bit closer to where Shota was sitting, "Heyyy, Shota!"
"Go away."
Unperturbed, Hizashi continued, "I just wanted to congratulate you! You've finally seen the light and understood the allure of having a fanbase!" Shota wasn't looking at him, but he just knew that his fellow teacher was grinning like an idiot, like he always did.
He retorted, "I didn't see any 'light', Hizashi. I have no idea why he's trying to fight like me, I've never once made any public appearances. The average hopeful shouldn't even know what I look like, let alone dress like me."
Hizashi laughed, "Well, clearly he's not the average student! Guess you'd better talk to him later, huh? Maybe give him some photo-ops, an autograph, maybe some words of encouragement?"
Shota resisted the urge to groan and watched as Sato was finally taken out of the exam grounds, leaving the view of the cameras. Then he shut his eyes and shook his head.
There was no way Hizashi was going to let this go anytime soon…
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When Chisuke came to, he was in a hospital bed.
He blinked a few times and sat up, looking around. Then, he winced and grabbed his head as his vision and mind swam in opposite directions. That was when he heard an old woman's voice, "Don't move so quickly! You're far too exhausted to be moving around like that. You need to take it slow."
His gaze set on a diminutive older woman that he immediately recognized. He gasped, "R-Recovery Girl!" His eyes lit up, "T-The Youthful Heroine! You're responsible for healing some of the greatest heroes of some of their greatest injuries! I'm a big fan!" His excitement caused him to get dizzy again, so he tried to calm down.
Recovery Girl seemed somewhat surprised, although it didn't last long, "You have an interesting taste in Heroes, dear. Although I suppose with your Quirk I can't be too surprised." She smiled, "Still, I am flattered you've heard of me. Not many students pay much attention to those in the backline."
Then, she went on to explain, "You seemed to be suffering from severe fatigue and exhaustion, so the best thing to do for the next little while will be to take a break. I saw how you spent the exam, young man, it's very admirable, but you need to stop and think about yourself sometimes. Okay?"
Chisuke knew she was right, but thinking of himself was an incredibly difficult thing to do. Quirks affect the personality and mentality of the user, after all, Himiko was a sterling example of that. Similarly, he had an overwhelming urge to help those who were injured, and his parents had chastised him several times in the past for being too selfless, as if such a thing existed.
Still, he nodded, "Y-Yes ma'am. So… am I free to leave?" He desperately wanted to talk to Recovery Girl more, but he also wanted to go talk to Himiko and see how she did on hers.
She nodded, "Yes, just take it easy. Don't exert yourself too much until you're fully recovered. You seem to have a healer's mindset, so I will trust that you won't do anything reckless."
Chisuke nodded once again, "Of course! I won't let you down!" Then, slowly and carefully, he made his way to the door. Once he was out, he made his way towards the entrance to the school.
On his way there, he saw some boy with purple balls on his head complaining loudly to someone, "I was cheated!" He seemed in tears, "Cheated! This hot girl kept stealing all of my kills! I would have done so much better if she hadn't been following me around!"
The other person, a very tall and muscular boy with brown hair, tilted his head, "So… why didn't you give her the slip? Or tell her to stop following you?"
The boy had been crying before, now he was absolutely sobbing, "She was so hot! It's the most attention a girl's ever given me in my life!"
"Wow… That's kind of… sad."
Yes, sad, that was the word.
Chisuke made his way out of the building, the sky was a mixture of orange, yellow, and red, signifying the latter half of the afternoon. He was surprised to find three other people standing at the entrance waiting for him. Well, Himiko wasn't a surprise, the other two certainly were.
Izuku Midoriya and the brown haired girl were there holding a conversation about something with Himiko. It seemed lighthearted, as all three had smiles, although even Chisuke had trouble sometimes deciphering what Himiko was thinking about at any given moment. As he drew closer, Himiko spotted him and gasped, "Chisuke!" She started running straight for him.
He held out his hands and waved them, "Himiko! Slow down! Recovery Girl said I need to take it easy the next few days." To her credit, Himiko did actually slow down.
She walked closer to him and gave him a far gentler hug, "Awh, Chisuke… The other two told me what you did, That was super heroic! I just wish I could have seen all the injuries you healed! I bet they looked super cool!"
Chisuke hugged her back, "Maybe next time, Himiko." Her love for seeing the injuries he healed was nothing new, apparently something about seeing bodies right themselves, even in ways that one would normally call grotesque, was fascinating to her. She'd never gone out and hurt someone in an attempt to see Chisuke work, of course, but she was never shy about admitting her enjoyment of his Quirk.
For more reasons than one.
Himiko pulled away, her smile never fading, "You made new friends for us too!" She gestured grandly to Izuku and Ochaco, who waved at him with smiles on their faces, "They said you healed them and that they thought you were really cool! Isn't it exciting?"
He nodded, "It is." The two of them began to walk towards the other two. Chisuke smiled and waved at them, "Hey, Izuku and… Ochaco?" She nodded and he smiled, "Ochaco."
The aforementioned girl smiled broadly, "Hey! I just wanted to thank you for healing Deku and I, it was super nice of you!"
Chisuke rubbed the back of his neck and tried to play it off awkwardly, "Ah, you know, it's just what I do." He wasn't used to getting praised for healing people outside of his parents and Himiko, having people with absolutely no pre-established connection to him praising him was a new feeling. Especially because the way his healing worked usually made people not want to talk to him that much, even if he had just healed them.
Suffice to say his Quirk didn't exactly make him popular on the school yard.
Izuku smiled, "Well what you do is awesome! You're like a combat medic." He continued, "Hey, do you guys want to eat dinner at my place?" He looked between all three of them, "My mom won't mind, she'll… probably be pretty happy that I'm bringing friends over again." He laughed nervously, "It's… been awhile."
Well, Chisuke wasn't one to judge, "That sounds good to me, if your mom's okay with it." He shrugged, "Himiko and I have really only been over to each other's houses before. I don't think we've ever been to someone else's…" He rubbed his chin, "Nope, not at all."
That seemed to surprise Izuku, "Really, never? Why not?"
Toga answered for the two of them, "Our Quirks make people think we're gross or scary!" She didn't seem all too down about that, of course she wasn't, she just grinned and placed her hands on her hips, "Their loss! We're the ones who'll be saving them! So what if my Quirk needs me to drink blood?"
Both Izuku and Ochaco seemed surprised, but for totally different reasons. Ochaco looked a bit pale while Izuku just tilted his head, "Oh? What's your Quirk?"
The four of them began to walk together while Himiko explained her Quirk to the other two. They were the first people Chisuke had ever met who hadn't judged them for their Quirks, and while Ochaco looked a bit sickly at first, most likely from imagining drinking blood, she eventually got over it.
Chisuke was silent for most of the walk, until eventually Izuku asked, "Hey, Chisuke? So is that scarf a weapon or something?" Chisuke was visibly surprised that Izuku was able to draw that conclusion and the boy just laughed nervously before rambling out an explanation, "W-Well you see I figured it was kind of odd to wear a scarf in this weather and so you must have had a reason right?"
All Chisuke could do was chuckle at the boy's nervous ramblings as he nodded, "I'm just impressed that you figured that out. It is, yeah, based on the weapon my favorite Hero uses, Eraserhead. He saved me when I was really young and ever since then I've wanted to be like him. Kind of like how a lot of kids grow up wanting to be like All Might."
Izuku rubbed his chin, "Eraserhead… Oh! I know a bit about him, he avoids the spotlight so almost nobody knows about him, let alone what he looks like. He always sounded pretty cool! All Might was always my favorite, though, I've got tons of merch back home."
'Pretty standard. Understandable, but standard.' Chisuke thought while he rubbed his chin, "You'll have to show me some of it."
Meanwhile, Himiko was talking Ochaco's ear off about… whatever it was girls talked about. Chisuke sometimes had trouble understanding Himiko full stop, when she was talking about…
"So there's a lot of cute boys at this school, huh? Any catch your interest?! Tell me! So long as it's not my Chisuke, I wanna talk all about it!"
"H-Huh?! We just got here!"
…That, she might as well have been speaking a different language.
It seemed Izuku was in the same boat, so the two of them began talking about Heroes in the meantime. Well, more like Izuku went on a long tirade about his favorite clips of All Might being heroic while Chisuke nodded along.
Eventually they reached Izuku's home, and once he pushed open the door and called out, "Mom, I'm home, and… I brought some new friends!"
The woman who called back had a voice that Chisuke could only call 'motherly', "Oh, that's wonderful, Izuku!" As they entered into the rather modest home, Izuku's mother emerged from the kitchen, "Oh this is lovely, you haven't brought anyone over in years! I was starting to worry that maybe you were becoming a recluse who would never bring another friend around and would never meet a girl-"
Izuku waved his hands in front of him and quickly spoke loud enough to drown out his mom's rambling, "T-Thank you for worrying Mom but I'm fine!"
Himiko bounded up and gave a polite bow, "Nice to meet you, Mrs. Midoriya! Thank you sooo much for letting us into your home!"
The polite and amicable side of her was, Chisuke knew, half a fabrication and half reality. It wasn't that she was rude, but she greatly restrained her more eccentric behaviors around people she wasn't sure would like her, or was simply trying to impress. Of course, other than her parents, the main reason she was willing to try this hard was because of Chisuke. Not just because she liked him, but…
'I'm going to be paying a blood tax later…' Chisuke's smile turned a bit awkward as he watched Himiko continue to shower Mama Midoriya with as much praise and gratitude as possible.
Once Himiko and Ochaco had both introduced themselves, Chisuke stepped forward and gave a bow, "Chisuke Sato. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Midoriya."
Mama Midoriya looked a bit overwhelmed by how polite everyone was and even like she was about to cry, but the smile on her face indicated it was anything but sadness, "Such wonderful future Heroes! I'm so glad my Izuku was able to make such good friends so quickly. I'm still working on dinner but you three are free to make yourselves at home!"
Ochaco was quick to step forward, "Oh! Maybe Himiko and I can help you?" She smiled, "I used to help Mom all the time with cooking, so I know a little bit about it!"
Himiko giggled, "Cooking's an important skill to master if you're going to impress the one you love! I want to help too."
Once again, Mama Midoriya burst into tears, "Such wonderful girls! Of course you can help me! Izuku, dear, you can show Chisuke your room!"
Izuku was quick to agree and guided Chisuke towards his room. When he opened the door, Chisuke was immediately struck by something.
'That's a lot of All Might merch…'
He'd heard of fanboys before, but this was more than that, Izuku seemed like a superfan! It seemed the boy was well aware of how it looked, he laughed nervously, "Y-Yeah, I really like All Might…" He walked forward and sat on his bed, blushing out of embarrassment, "U-Uhm… So how do you think you did on the exam?"
Chisuke hummed, shut the door behind him, and walked forward, looking at Izuku's computer chair. The green haired boy nodded with a smile and Chisuke sat there as he started to answer, "I didn't beat that many robots, honestly. I spent most of the time running around healing other students when they got injured." He looked down sheepishly, "Anytime someone's hurt, I always rush to heal them. I think it has something to do with my Quirk, but honestly, isn't that what someone with my power should do? Heal people in need."
Izuku was quick to respond, "Well, yeah! I think that's pretty cool." Chisuke looked up and saw the other boy grinning, "A Hero is supposed to want to help people in need no matter the cost to themselves, right? That's exactly what you do! Just because you're not someone with a flashy Quirk doesn't mean you aren't able to do just as much good for people!"
It was… strange, hearing these words. It was a good feeling, of course it was, but he'd only ever heard these kinds of words of encouragement from his parents and Himiko, meeting someone like Izuku was somewhat invigorating, "Yeah… You're right." He smiled, "Thanks, Izuku. I hope we both get in, hell… I'm sure we will. If UA doesn't recognize what you did back there, then I don't know what the future of Heroism looks like."
The other boy seemed to be uplifted more than he already was by that statement, "Yeah! So, I guess we'll just have to let each other know if we passed, huh? Maybe we should trade phone numbers."
Another thing Chisuke had never done with anyone other than Himiko! He was all too willing to agree. He had to admit he was excited to have a new friend, especially because it was another guy. After spending his life around Himiko, he'd never really gotten to hang out with any other guys, which proved somewhat awkward considering that there were just some things you didn't want to talk about with a girl, even one as close to him as Himiko. Chisuke wasn't sure exactly what that was, but he knew he'd be happy to talk to Izuku about just about anything.
Pass or fail, Chisuke felt like today was a huge success.
/-/
The dinner the girls made was delicious, and Chisuke promised that next time he'd be the one helping. It was important to know how to cook, and while Chisuke often helped his mom with it, he hadn't been able to do it in awhile due to how much time he put into training and preparing for the UA Entrance Exam.
By the time he and Himiko had left and boarded the train, it was already getting late. He knew that his mom would chastise him for being out so late, but she was generally very relaxed about that sort of thing, so he wasn't worried too much. One might argue that she was irresponsible for not minding, especially considering that she didn't mind even when he was younger, but she trusted him. The only time he'd ever done anything stupid was the time Eraserhead saved him, and after that he tried to avoid putting himself in too much danger.
His home was, all things considered, fairly spacious and nice. It was no mansion, but with an outside painted midnight blue, and a well-tended wild-garden front lawn (his mom having gone on several tirades about grass being too boring), it certainly looked comfortable.
The inside was no different, a warm feeling permeated through the whole home, which had wooden floors all across the first level, the only exception being the kitchen, which had tiled floors. His mom was there waiting for him, a woman with long raven black hair with dark red eyes and a penchant for wearing dark makeup, she was perhaps the epitome of the term 'goth'. However, she was also a very sweet woman.
Although…
"You were out for so long, Chi! You should have at least called me!"
That also meant she was as doting as any other mother would be towards their child.
Chisuke and Himiko were standing in the living room, a simple place with two couches placed facing a television, which itself was a flatscreen hung on the wall, a grandfather clock sat in the corner, and a coffee table sat in front of the couch, where his mother and father sat. His mom was wearing a simple pair of black sweatpants and a black T-shirt.
His father was a lot brighter looking, with blonde hair, blue eyes, and fair skin, he looked, as some people said, 'stereotypically American'. Which made sense, considering he was an immigrant who moved to Japan for work before he met Chisuke's mom. He was wearing a light blue T-shirt and a pair of jeans. He smiled, "Now, darling, Chisuke's a big boy now, he's fifteen! I would be worried if he wasn't doing things like this. As long as he doesn't forget to call us again, it's fine, right?" He shrugged, "So, how did the exam go, sport?"
His heritage was another reason Chisuke was mistreated, being half-Japanese was less of a big deal these days, but plenty of people still viewed people like him with distrust. Chisuke never blamed his dad for it, how could he? It's not his fault he's American, like how it's not his own fault he was born a 'hafu'.
Chisuke responded, "Well, I spent a lot of time healing other examinees. A lot of them were getting injured left and right. Although I did make a couple new friends out of it, Ochaco Uraraka and Izuku Midoriya. We were at Izuku's house, he wanted to treat me after I, well…"
Himiko picked up, "This big robot showed up and caused trouble, so Chisuke helped Ochaco and Izuku out after they got hurt by it! He even passed out because he healed too much of Izuku's wounds."
He nodded, "Yeah… that."
His mom smiled, "That's my Chi, you'll make a great Hero some day!" She grinned, "We won't keep you, you're probably really tired. Himiko the guest room's all ready for you as always."
Himiko grinned, "Thanks, Mrs. Sato!" To say Himiko visited often was an understatement. Most days of the week she just outright lived at the Sato residence, her reasoning being a mixture of wanting to be close to Chisuke and also wanting to stay out of her parents house. Not that her parents were bad people, but they were very oppressive when it came to Himiko's behavior, and it grated on the girl. She had to go back to them once or twice a week just so they didn't think she was missing, but other than that, she stayed at the more accepting Sato residence.
The two UA hopefuls made their way up to Chisuke's room, which was, all things considered, a fairly standard teenage boy's bedroom. A twin sized bed placed into the back right corner, a computer rig setup on a desk opposite to that, with a comfortable computer chair positioned at it, and dark blue carpet covering the floor. He had a bookshelf lined with books, although most of them were educational material, things talking about medicine, the human body, and one on Quirk Theory.
Chisuke had only taken a couple steps in when Himiko shut the door behind them gently and then spoke in a sing-songy voice, "Chisuke~ I did good today, huh?"
The boy knew what this was leading to, he just smiled, "Yeah, you did." He wasn't exactly her minder, but she looked to him for approval a lot, and he tried to give it to her when it was warranted. If it made her happy, he didn't mind. He walked forward and sat on his bed, which was covered in dark blue sheets and a matching comforter.
Himiko skipped up to him, drawing her knife from her pocket and taking it out of her sheath, "So~ Do I get my reward today?" The excited and almost feral look in her eyes sent a chill up Chisuke's spine, in a good way.
He smiled, blushing lightly as he held out his hand, "Of course you do. Just try not to drink too much, Recovery Girl said I need to take it easy for a little while, and losing a lot of blood isn't exactly doing that."
The girl grinned and walked up to him, sitting on the bed and taking his hand, turning it around so the palm was facing upward. Then, she took her knife and, with great care and skill, she cut a small line in the middle of it. Chisuke bit down on his lip as pain surged through his body, but he didn't mind it, this was normal.
Their version of normal, at least.
Himiko leaned down and placed her mouth over the fresh wound as blood began to pool out of it. Her eyes rolled up a bit in what Chisuke knew was a sense of euphoric pleasure from getting her favorite treat. Then she closed them and continued to suck on and lick his wound. He reached out with his free hand and began to gently pet her, which just elicited a sound of contentment from the girl.
He thought it was contentment at least, although that didn't stop the shiver that ran up his spine from it. Maybe this was strange to other people, but he enjoyed it, it was part of their routine. It had developed into what he would dare to call a form of codependence. They were each other's drug in their own way.
She was addicted to his blood, to him, 'to his everything' in her own words. While he never expressed it so bluntly, he wouldn't replace her for anyone else, and he couldn't imagine a life without her. There had been times where he hadn't been able to see her for the better part of a week, usually due to her parents, and it always left him feeling a bit empty inside. He was addicted to her smile, to that look in her eye anytime she looked at him, to her everything.
Although they still weren't together, that was his own doing. He told her that they could date only after they made some friends, because he at least recognized that the relationship they had was unhealthy without that counterbalance. A couple that only knew each other was shaky at best, and silently part of him wondered if making that decision was really a good thing. What if she met someone else and fell in love with them? What if he did? There was always a tiny part of him that doubted, but he didn't let it surface, because he knew it was ridiculous.
When the bleeding from the wound she had made stopped, Himiko moved up his arm, rolling up his jacket sleeve and making a small cut across his wrist. Then she repeated her earlier process, drinking up his blood as it left his wound. Her face was red hot and she squirmed a bit, rubbing her thighs together as she did.
Chisuke wondered what Izuku and Ochaco would think if they learned about this. Would they be creeped out? Would they still want to be friends with them? He had his doubts, he knew that when they saw him, they didn't perceive him as being weird. At least, not as weird as Himiko, but the truth was he just hid it better than she did. He wasn't crazy, just a boy with his odd habits.
They'd never learn about this, so speculation didn't really do anything for him. Instead he focused on the girl with her mouth over the wound she had made. True to his request, this time didn't last very long, only about five minutes. She sometimes had cravings that required up to thirty minutes to sate. He always felt weak after that, but…
It was worth it to feed their addictions.
/-/
A week passed before they got their results from UA.
A week of uncertainty, nervousness, and general anxiety. Both of them knew that if they didn't get in they would have to apply somewhere else, maybe even overseas, and neither particularly liked the idea of going to a country where they barely knew the language in order to study. Especially because that could mean they might be separated from each other.
They passed the time as they always did. Chisuke would play games while Himiko would watch and commentate, sometimes they'd watch anime together, other times they would just relax. There were, of course, a couple days where Himiko had to go back home for a while, but that was expected. They dealt with it the way they always did.
Namely, Himiko texted him almost nonstop, and he was all too eager to respond. However, Chisuke also incorporated something new into his routine, namely texting Izuku. The boy came off as just as nervous over text as he did in real life, somehow, and he expressed how his nerves weren't settling in the slightest over all of this. Chisuke's weren't either, he was just trying to hide it.
The next Monday was the day the letters arrived, Himiko brought hers over to Chisuke's home instead of opening it at hers. They both sat together in his room, and Himiko went first, opening the letter and taking out the small disk projector that was inside before she set it down on Chisuke's desk.
The projector came to life and All Might came on screen, which was a shock to both of them, "I am here as a projection! Not only am I in the city to fight crime, I am also UA's newest faculty member! Young Toga, your swiftness, sleight of hand, and general skill were incredibly noteworthy!" A television screen behind him played a scene of Himiko striking at robots with great precision, most of them were pinned down by strange purple balls, "You took full advantage of what was in front of you to get ahead, and in spite of your Quirk not being combat focused, you achieved an impressive score in the practical, just as you did in the written! So!" He clapped his hands, "It is my pleasure to give you the news that you have been accepted into UA! You will receive an email with more information shortly after this letter arrives in your mail! Welcome, Himiko Toga…"
"To your Hero Academia!"
Himiko squealed and clapped her hands as the projector cut off, "Oh my God this is amazing! Chisuke, it's your turn!" She shook his shoulder, "Open it, open it!"
Chisuke was already beaming because Himiko got in, although it faltered slightly as his nerves started to take hold. All the time, he opened his letter and placed the small projector on the desk before it came to life.
"I am here as a projection! Not only am I here to fight crime, I am also UA's newest faculty member! Young Sato-"
Then, another voice from off screen that Chisuke recognized as Present Mic, spoke, "All Might!"
Then the giant of a man stepped off for a moment and could be heard off screen, "Wait, what?"
Present Mic continued, "Come on, let him do this one!"
"But I'm on a roll here, I'm almost done!"
"Yeah, but it's his first and only fanboy!"
Then, a shock, a voice that Chisuke had only heard once before, the monotone of Eraserhead, "I don't have fans."
Yet, Present Mic insisted, "Come on! It'll make his day!"
All Might hummed, "Well okay."
Then, the dark haired Eraserhead stepped on screen with a rather neutral look in his gaze, "Alright, Chisuke Sato. I saw how you fought, I'm not sure how you learned about me, but-" he gestured to the screen behind him, showing Chisuke taking out a robot, "-not only do you fight with some measure of competence…" The scene shifted to various clips of Chisuke healing students, ending on the one where he healed Izuku and passed out, "You demonstrated that you are truly a selfless person, to a reckless degree. UA doesn't just measure combat points-"
All Might interjected, sliding in from behind Eraserhead, "Indeed! What kind of Hero Academy would we be if we judged students solely on combat without rewarding those who are selfless and self sacrificing!" Eraserhead shot him a glare and All Might stepped off screen, "Sorry, sorry!"
Then, Eraserhead sighed, "Right, it's as All Might said. We had another criteria we judged students on, rescue points. You scored the highest rescue points out of anyone in the exam, only rivaled by one other student. So, in summary, you passed. You will receive more information in an email a few hours after this projector arrives in your mailbox. Welcome, Chisuke Sato…"
Then, a surprise, Eraserhead managed a small smile, "To your Hero Academia."
The projector cut off and left both Chisuke and Toga utterly stunned. Then, Toga tackled Chisuke into a tight hug, "We did it, Chi! We did it, we made it!" She laughed in genuine glee, sounding close to tears, "We're going to be Pro Heroes, we'll finally show everyone what we're all about!"
Chisuke returned the hug with a grin, "Yeah, we will!" Years of planning, training, and staying up late at night to scheme about how they would become Heroes was finally paying off! Years of being treated as weirdos, lessers, outcasts, and finally they were where none of the people who mistreated them were.
They were going to the top Hero academy in Japan, they were going to be among the best of the best, others who shared their same conviction to become a Hero. Maybe they'd find more who had similarly been ostracized for their powers, maybe they'd be the ones to change how the public perceived people with less conventional Quirks.
True to the projectors, they soon got an email telling them about what class they would be in, along with their schedules. They were both in Class 1-A, seated with Chisuke just behind Himiko. Not long after that, Chisuke received a text from Izuku, telling him that he got in and asking him if he did.
Of course, he told him, and Izuku proposed that they should all go celebrate together, since they only lived a short train ride away from each other. Chisuke and Himiko both were on board with that, and so their plans for the evening were set. However, first they needed to tell Mr. and Mrs. Sato.
So, they headed down to the living room, doing their best to keep their emotions in check. When they got there, Mama Sato stood up, her hands clasped together in front of her chest, "Well?" She leaned forward, "What did they say? Did you get in? Did both of you get in?"
Finally, Chisuke allowed himself to smile, "We did! We're even in the same class. We were planning to go celebrate with a friend of ours actually, he got in too!" Elation was the best word that could be used to describe how he felt, just pure utter elation, he'd never felt this happy before! His time with Himiko came close, but this was a different kind of happiness, this was the happiness of achieving one's dream, of finally reaching a goal that one had been working towards for years, it was all coming true!
The response was immediate as both Sato parents hurried over to wrap the two of them in hugs, with Mama Sato almost breaking down into tears, "Oh, my baby is finally going to be a Hero! This is amazing!" She squeezed him tightly, in spite of his protests, "This is going to be awesome! One day we'll be able to say that we're parents of two amazing Pro Heroes who do so much to save everyone! We're proud of you, both of you!"
Papa Sato was gentler with the hug he gave Himiko, but he shared the sentiment, "Yep, it's going to be a hell of a thing to finally see you two become Heroes. The guys at the office are going to be super jealous." He chuckled as both parents let go of the ones they were hugging and swapped, with Papa Sato hugging Chisuke, "I'm proud of you, son, you're really reaching for the stars here."
Chisuke hugged him back, "Thanks, Dad." He grinned, "We'll make you guys proud." He was sure Himiko was going to need to tell her parents too, he'd be there for that as well, it was only right. Even if he didn't see them as often as Himiko saw his parents, they were still important.
After that, the two of them left. They were already wearing their usual outfits, although Himiko commented that she would want to wear her favorite sundress some time soon, likely when Chisuke and her went to celebrate more on their own. Not that they were going to do anything particularly spectacular, but they needed to celebrate together just as much as they wanted to celebrate with their friends.
The train ride gave Chisuke time to think. His mind kept replaying the message he received. He was absolutely ecstatic that Eraserhead of all people was the one to accept him into the school, apparently he was also a teacher! It was a bit embarrassing to know that the man had seen Chisuke fight, but that was easily outshone by everything else he was feeling.
As they sat next to each other watching the city pass them by on their way to the stop where Izuku was waiting for them, Himiko reached out and took Chisuke's hand in hers. She squeezed it and he returned the favor as they shared a smile. Two future Heroes, bound by blood, not the blood they shared, but the blood that defined their powers. Defined who they were. Now was their chance…
They would show the world that they were here, they were Heroes, and one day Japan would know their story.
The story of Apothecary and Masquerade.