Chapter 8: Burning hate, boiling blood

Four days.

It had been four days since their last trip to Yharnam.

And. Nothing. Changed.

There was no headway by the Shields on their research of the Mist, no news on the Yakuza by All Might, and Izuku had made almost no progress on his use of Hunter's Cowl, the name of his technique decided after his first suggestion was rejected (Izuku still thought Full Cowling was a good name, but Himiko and Melissa disagreed and he had to make some concessions). If that wasn't enough, he still had no idea why and what happened on the tail end of his fight with the Watchdog of the Old Lords, but at least he was fine in putting that off his mind.

Did the silver lining help Izuku's sleep-deprived brain not spiral into dark lines of thoughts that only left him more irritable? No, but there was nothing he could do about it.

"Deku!"

And the blonde yelling at his face sure wasn't helping.

Izuku looked slightly down at Bakugo, both for their height difference. The last channeling of Blood Echos left Izuku standing at a respectful one-eighty and for the bomber's usual anger at his mere existence. He usually would have folded like paper and let Bakugo shout until he was satisfied. Still, Izuku was tired, and in desperate need of coffee, so he just turned away and left the gradually emptying classroom.

The young Hunter reached the middle of a hallway when something grabbed his arm and turned him around. "Did you hear me, Deku?!" The boy's only answer to Bakugo was to blink slowly, struggling to keep his heavy eyelids up.

Four days seemed to be Izuku's current limit of how long he could go before his mental faculties started to take a blow from sleep deprivation. He could see Bakugo's mouth moving, but his ears felt as if full of cotton, along with the rest of his head.

The telltale pops of explosives got through him, and Izuku blinked as his mind focused on the present.

Izuku had his blunderbuss in his hand, the gun's barrel pressed against Bakugo's chest. The boy, and the hallway, had gone deadly silent, with all the students staring at Izuku with wide eyes. He realized what the situation meant, but the only thought passing through his head was, "Now I feel like a hypocrite for calling Himiko out that time on the beach."

Stopping to think about it, Eileen-sensei also greeted Izuku by holding him at gunpoint, so maybe it was a Hunter thing?

"What the fuck, Deku?!" The shock and growing anger in Bakugo's tone told Izuku how the next twenty minutes would play out if he didn't get out of there right now. He dropped the blunderbuss, letting the Messengers do their thing. The second wave of shock that went through the people in the hallway was Izuku's cue to make his escape.

Having only crashed into four people on his way out, Izuku successfully left Aldera behind. He would probably be hearing more about that little altercation later, but for now, Izuku just wanted to go back home before he accidentally shot someone for real.

Himiko's jaw-cracking yawn only made her feel worse. She was so tired she felt nauseous, and on top of that, she was alone at home now. Inko had to take Eri and Nicola to All Might's agency for some paperwork thingy that Himiko didn't have the brain power to understand or care about.

The girl curled on the couch and tried to keep her tired eyes on the movie on the TV, only to give up and stand slowly. She needed to do something, or she would slip. Mamadoriya had given her some quick cooking lessons in case Himiko needed to prepare something for herself or the girls so maybe she could get an early start on dinner.

Himiko opened all the wrong cabinets before finally finding the rice cooker, then did the same thing looking for a frying pan to make some scrambled eggs. That was why she let Izuku organize their things. He always put their supplies in a neat way that was intuitive to grab in a pickle.

The blonde giggled, remembering when she tried to leave the Molotovs and Blood Vials in the same pocket, and the boy almost had an aneurysm. Himiko admitted she could see herself smashing a Molotov on her leg in panic, which was the exact argument Izuku used to explain why it was a horrible idea. Hey, maybe someday they will look back and laugh at their time in Yharnam! Like those old military guys who got together to talk about their terrible memories and find it funny.

Probably not, but she could hope, and wasn't that a novel experience?

Himiko realized she had stayed inside her head for too long when the smell of burnt eggs hit her nostrils like a werewolf on fire. Well, practice makes perfect. She discarded the failed egg and grabbed another.

Focusing on her second try helped Himiko deal with the creeping sleepiness that weighed heavily on her. But more than that, the feeling of actually doing something for the people she cared for warmed her heart some. After so many chilling nights wandering through cold and dark alleys, both the ones from Japanese cities and the ones of the decrepit Yharnam, any source of warmth and comfort was something Himiko valued more than gold.

The green lightning over Izuku's form trashed around as he tried to contain it. The boy had a sudden thought borne from desperation for his lack of progress and tiredness from his multiple days awake. If trying to use more of One For All wasn't working, how about less?

Maybe that way, his pathetic control of the quirk wouldn't slip so easily, and if he got used to it, he could avoid his Hunter's Cowl fading after every distraction. With that in mind, Izuku tried to limit the output of energy, but that's when he ran into another problem.

He needed to consciously concentrate on maintaining the low power, or it would jump back to the usual amount. That made his idea completely useless. He thought he wouldn't need to pay as much attention with a smaller portion of the quirk, which was the whole point of trying it, not more!

Izuku realized he shouted in frustration the second his fist made contact with a rusted washing machine. The appliance was torn apart by his attack, along with the skin on his knuckles.

Strangling down a curse, Izuku looked at the damage his momentary lapse of control caused. Surprisingly, it was less than he expected. He felt his power jumping to at least the upper-twenties percent at that moment, but none of his fingers were broken, and the superficial damage was negligible, just some bandaids and it should be good by the next day.

Maybe all the Blood Echos he channeled helped him with One For All? That or-

Izuku stopped his train of thought before it could go back to his battle massacre of the Watchdog of the Old Lords. Whatever that was, it couldn't mean anything, right?

The boy kicked the scraps of the machine he so brutally destroyed and turned away. He needed to get the hang of All Might's quirk. He needed to do something right.

"I have an idea!" Melissa's sudden exclamation almost made David drop his coffee. They were in his bowered lab, having restarted their research on the Mist after a break for some R&R after an accident where David almost opened the hazard container's lock. Now with some hours of sleep and a fresh head, Melissa was struck by a bout of inspiration.

Her father carefully put his mug down, "Okay, let's hear it."

"We already established that the Mist works as a door in this situation," Melissa began to explain her logic to him, guiding David through her train of thought. "It opens, Izuku and Himiko pass through it, and then it closes."

"Yes, we got that verified." David was with her so far.

"The problem is, the 'door' locks when it closes, and we don't know how Izuku opens it from his side." Melissa saw her dad nod and wave his hands, telling her to go to the point and not leave him hanging, "But what if we don't let the 'door' close? With that, maybe Izuku could come back right away!"

David raised his finger, then lowered it and considered her idea. He hummed while scratching his jaw, "It isn't a definitive solution, but it is something. We probably will need to stabilize the transition space, so it doesn't fail halfway and somehow close the portal after so nothing else crosses to our side, but it can work."

Melissa shared a grin with her father. He was officially on board with the idea, "I'll go grab the frequency tuners." She turned and power-walked to the storage room, beyond herself in joy for contributing.

"And the vacuum chamber too. I don't want that thing trying anything funny!" David's complaint and stink eye at the Mist got a laugh out of Melissa. She hurried her steps, pushed forth by the thought of things finally turning up for her new friends.

Things had officially taken a turn for the worse when Izuku got home.

"Sorry."

Izuku sighed and mustered the energy to smile at Himiko, "It's fine. Hey, I was going to crash if you didn't."

Himiko looked down at her cleaver and went back to morosely sharpen the blade. The blonde had been at the end of her rope, trying to remain awake by doing anything she could think of. Then, Izuku got home, and they sat down to eat.

Himiko could swear she had only blinked, but when her eyes opened, it was for a panicked Izuku shaking her awake in the Hunter's Dream. Of course, she fell asleep; and of course, Izuku knocked himself out to follow after her. Of course, Himiko messed up in the end, and Izuku had to clean it up.

Izuku gently tapped her shoulder. Himiko turned to see him offering her some ammunition, "I used a bit of the Blood Echoes I got from the Watchdog to restock." The boy explained while fumbling with his own bullets.

Funny how he got taller with the power-ups but was still just as adorably awkward as before. The stray thought led Himiko to have an idea to help Izuku with his bone-breaking problems, and maybe make up for her mess, "Hey! Doll can make you buffer overall with Blood Echoes, and that should help with One For All, right?"

Izuku blinked confusedly before nodding slowly, "I think so?"

The girl smiled, showing her fangs, "So, maybe she can upgrade something to help with your control!" Himiko's lips parted further, seeing Izuku's eyes blown wide, and the boy gasped in realization.

"Why didn't I think of that before?!" He yelled before turning back and rushing out of the workshop, stumbling down the stairs in search of the Doll.

Himiko giggled at his antics. She finished tending to her weapon and put the tools back in their proper place, no need to give the crazy old man a reason to be mad at them, before following along.

Outside, the green-haired boy was kneeling before the Doll, her hands glowing with the strange light of the Channeling ceremony. Izuku finished spending the last of his Blood Echoes and stood up. The first difference he noticed was how his brain felt… tingly; it was as if his thoughts caused static to fill his head. The second was how colors felt more vivid, the yellow of Himiko's eyes seemed to glow brighter as the girl approached him; the pale white flowers of the Dream looked like flakes of the moon itself.

"Your power grows, Good Hunter." The Doll's placid tone matched her almost expressionless face, but the subtle undertone of care and the soft turn of her lips in what a generous person could call a smile betrayed her true thoughts, "It will serve you well in the Hunt."

Himiko hopped between them and hooked her arms with the Doll and Izuku's, "Okay, what did I miss?"

The porcelain resident of the Dream turned her slightest of smiles to the girl, "By using the Blood Echoes to strengthen his Arcane attribute- The Good Hunter hopes to attain more control of his own techniques. Not only his inherent skill can benefit from the blood, yours too can grow if you remain improving your Bloodtinge."

Himiko's grin turned a little brittle, "I don't think that's a good idea. 'Last time I used my quirk, I just made a mess of myself."

Izuku frowned; he didn't want Himiko to get hurt, but this was her quirk. It was a part of her that the girl shouldn't cast away, for it would only hurt her in the end. "Me too. I broke more bones trying to use On- my quirk than not." He made a quick save of his slip, throwing a glance at the Doll before continuing. She was one of the very few people on Yharnam (was the Dream even part of Yharnam?) that cared for them, but One For All was a secret, and the more people who knew about one, the harder it was to keep it a secret. "If improving my Arcane attribute can help me not turn my bones into powder, then nothing fairer than you doing the same with your Bloodtinge to help with your quirk."

Himiko didn't look very convinced, "I don't know. My quirk only serves to screw me over."

Seeing she was getting uncomfortable, Izuku decided to shelve the discussion for later, "Think about it. For now, do you want to help me test if the investment was worth it?" That made her perk up.

"Sure, I have to keep an eye on you in case you try to turn your arms into meat noodles again." Himiko giggled at Izuku's indignant face and doubled over when even the ever-stoic Doll did the same.

Izuku sighed, blushing in embarrassment; better for them to be laughing at him than moping about.

Izuku finally had something to show for his troubles. After many tests to guarantee it wasn't a fluke, the boy could ascertain that his control of up to fifteen percent of One For All was solid. He could even push it to seventeen if he had a moment to ensure he wouldn't fumble it. Such a solid improvement not only helped with their chances of survival but also helped Izuku with his recent foul mood.

Was he happy with himself? Never Not fully, but at least he had hope of stopping being a failure, and that was good enough.

Now stocked, armed, and as ready as they could reasonably be, the duo of Hunters returned to Oedon Chapel, the safe haven filled to the brim with incense to keep away the beasts and with some people the teens had sent there to escape the horrors lurking on the streets, to continue with their track through Yharnam. At least it was the plan until Himiko got sidetracked.

"Wasn't that door closed before?" The girl pointed to one of the little haven's doors. Izuku also remembered it being locked shut the last time they were there, so someone must have opened it.

"You think we should check it?"

Himiko shrugged, "Not like I want to go back outside. Maybe we can find something useful."

As good an argument as any, Izuku nodded and took point as the vanguard, Himiko silently falling into position at his back to help without getting in the way. The girl commented how they were getting good at working together more than one time, and Izuku would like to agree as if he was good at anything.

Just as Izuku crossed the door, he spotted a slip of paper on the floor. Picking it up, he saw it was a folded note; inside, in slightly scratchy handwriting was, to Izuku's absolute shock, kanjis.

True heroes never falter.

"Did you drop that?" Himiko asked, having perched herself on Izuku's back to look over his shoulder.

"That's not mine." Izuku's blank whisper made the girl gasp. They traded an equally shocked glance, who wrote that, and was that person in the same situation as them?

"C'mon, maybe we can still find whoever made this!" Izuku didn't waste a second to pocket the note and dash ahead, Himiko hot in his heels. That was a mistake he would regret.

In his hurry, Izuku followed the path to an elevator, and went up, to stand before one of the many towers looming over the city. It wasn't empty. More of Yharnam's mad residents took control of the tower, and they were not happy to see the foreign Hunters.

Two armed men on the second floor, on what should be a balcony if the tower wasn't so dilapidated, the exterior parts were basically falling apart one over the other, shot them.

Izuku powered his Hunter Cowl just in time to use his Kirkhammer's head as a shield. Say what you want about Alfred. The Executioner did give Izuku some good ideas and tips, even if unknowingly. The boy took a deep breath and leaped at the shooters. The power overflowing in him made reaching the balcony easy, and his new control made actually getting to where he wanted and landing possible.

Quickly dealing with the enemies with a swing of his weapon that sent their broken bodies flying over the edge, Izuku gave himself a single second to enjoy his victory maybe he wasn't a complete failure. The moment passed, and he looked down to see Himiko entering the first floor.

"Let's try to surround whatever else is in here! I go down, you go up, and we meet in the middle!"

"Fine by me, just be careful not to have that happening to you!" The girl shouted back a warning before the sounds of guns going off started.

Izuku started on his part, sneaking a peek over his shoulders just to be sure. Himiko wouldn't ever let him live down if he got caught by his own plan. He would also probably not live, period, if that happened.

Izuku turned the first corner and had to duck a wild swing of an axe instantly. The infected madman roared at the boy, only to get a lightning-cloaked fist to the face. Ignoring the filing of bones crumbling under his hand, Izuku followed his offensive with a vertical swing of his hammer. Thanks to One For All, the weapon felt almost weightless in his grip, but Izuku underestimated just how big of a difference it made.

The hammerhead did not even slow down while turning the madman's body into powder, or when it went straight through the unstable floor. "Oh no!" Izuku barely had time to say before the ground under his feet crumbled, letting him plummet for a terrifying second.

By sheer luck, he landed on a somewhat intact piece of the first-floor balcony. That was the end of the good news; waiting for him down under was a trio of Yharnamites with weapons drawn. Izuku learned from his most recent mistake and switched his Kirkhammer to sword form; he parried a cutlass and sidestepped a bullet that grazed his arm, the third enemy tried to circle the Hunter and attack him from behind, only for a quicksilver round to go into his head from one side and out the other.

"What happened to the plan?" Himiko asked, shooting Izuku a wink and the madmen a couple more bullets.

His incompetence happened "I smashed the floor a little too hard."

"All Might would be proud." Himiko punctuated her snarky comment by kicking one of the enemies in the chest, sending it to a waiting Izuku, who didn't wait to chop it in half.

Yharnam really messed him up if killing what was once a person so brutally didn't make Izuku flinch.

"Alakablam!" Himiko's comical shout was punctuated by the last enemy's head splattering on the wall with a well-placed bullet.

"Really?"

Himiko huffed, "Don't judge me."

Izuku raised his arms in surrender, "I'm not judging. It's just that… really?"

"Shush!"

"Okay, okay." He chuckled, slightly hysterical from the adrenaline pumping through his system. He took a deep breath to settle his nerves and let it out slowly, "Okay. New plan." Izuku's grip on his sword tightened, "We go together, carefully, and hopefully without any more mishaps."

"Fine by me." Himiko retook her place at Izuku's rearguard, ready to offer more ranged support. "Hey, I know you like your hammer, but we should get you another weapon for when smashing isn't that good of an option, right?"

The young hunters started to make their way up the tower. Izuku considered her words and nodded, "I think so too. Getting a secondary weapon would be good for both of us." Something that could cover the glaring weaknesses of their combat styles.

"That too, but something like a big sword would be cool for you to use when we have to worry about breaking walls and bringing a building on our heads." Himiko clarified, "You can use One For All to go glowy and strong, so you better use it. It's just a case of collateral damage."

The surprisingly insightful line of thought from Himiko made Izuku pause. She was right, he had a power now, something he could use not only by itself but to help him play to his new strengths too. The boy just confirmed he could swing a humongous weapon with ease, too much ease. Not only that, but he was just as fast as he was strong, with some slight discrepancy that could be negligible seeing the numbers he was working with.

An idea started to form in Izuku's head. A very… interesting idea.

If there was one thing he could do right, just one, then he wouldn't be a failure.

As if.

He would need to check with the Messengers to see if they would sell what he needed, or maybe with the Shields to make the equipment for him, but his idea could work.

It had to work.

They kept exploring the tower in search of whoever left that note, fighting through groups of madmen, the occasional brute, and hurrying after the strange little beasts that carried Blood Stones and fled at the first sign of danger.

At each floor, their hope dwindled a little more, until they reached the last one. After dealing with an ambush, and after Izuku patched the bullet holes that a wheelchair-confined man with a damn gatling gun (always the damn gatling guns!) put in Izuku's body, they were certain.

There was no one there in the right mind to write a note.

So, their little sidetracking was worthless like him, and they only lost time.

"Chest!"

Maybe not.

Himiko dove to the wooden chest tucked in a corner of the room on the last floor, hidden from view by the bad illumination of the place and wasted no time snapping it open. Her cat-like eyes widened, "Oh, shiny!" She grabbed the item which caught her attention.

It was a medallion, the kind the Messengers in the Dream somehow used to get new things to sell. Izuku noticed how it looked like the one that allowed him to buy his Kirkhammer.

Maybe that was a sign his plan would work, or that he at least would get a more viable weapon for himself.

Honestly, he was accepting any kind of good news these days.

While the duo started to make their way down, a figure went unnoticed in the distance. Its only remarkable feature- a ragged red scarf, like a bloody stain on the gray stone of the decrepit city.

Izuku looked at his new weapon with a bright grin. His prayers were answered, and the medallion they found got the boy exactly what he wanted, and by how Himiko didn't bat an eye at the cost of it, she too liked how the universe approved of her earlier comment. Izuku shifted the great blade on his hands to gaze at the bright patterns running down its body.

He still had the description of the weapon's body clear in his mind.

"Ludwig's Holy Blade

The Healing Church workshop began with Ludwig and departed from old Gehrman's technique to provide hunters with the means to fight more terrifying beasts, and perhaps things still worse.

It is said that the silver sword was employed by Ludwig, the first hunter of the church. When transformed, it combines with its sheath to form a greatsword. "

Ominous, like most of the things in Yharnam, but it also provided a glimpse of the city's history. Still, it was a steep price for it, costing all the two hunter's shared economies.

Even then, Izuku was armed with a better weapon that he could use to protect them better.

He hoped with all he had, that it was enough.

"Izuku?" Himiko's shy calling broke the boy from his musings.

"Yeah?" He looked over his shoulder, his smile falling, seeing the awkward look on Himiko's face. What could cause her, of all people, to look like a berated child?

"So… hum, you see…" She fidgeted. Himiko. Fidgeted.

"Yeah?" Izuku prompted again, getting anxious.

"I was looking at what else the Messengers got to sell, just for fun, and…" Himiko flinched, "I found something."

Izuku carefully placed his new weapon down, "And this something is?"

The girl couldn't meet his eyes, "It's a key we need to get to the church's part of the city, well, it's more like a badge that you have to show at the gates and…" She trailed off.

Izuku understood the problem. Himiko pushed him to buy Ludwig's Holy Blade and upgrade it the most they possibly could, and that left them broke. Still, they could probably scrunch up enough if they should back a few things. He told her just that.

Instead of relief, her expression was filled with more pointed anxiety, like the one Izuku was starting to feel. "No, we, uh… can't."

Izuku asked slowly, "Himiko, how much does the key cost?" His answer was a mumble he could barely hear. That didn't help with the pit steadily growing in his stomach, "I didn't quite catch that."

Himiko took a deep breath and huffed, "Screw it." She looked him directly in the eyes, "It costs ten thousand Blood Echos."

Izuku deadpanned, then he filled his lungs with something he only could do away from innocent ears like his mother's or the girls'. He cursed with all his being.

"FU-"


Done!

Man, how I hate that key. If you're wondering, what happened just now was exactly what happened in my first playthrough.

The reason this took ages is that my computer freaking died on me. And it was a whole saga to get another one. Speaking of, to help me pay for the "new" computer, I made that thing that starts with pa and ends with treon. If you want to support me, check for Bola8 and throw a coin to your author, just like these amazing people did!

A heartfelt thanks to Guipa_, SilverZero90, CBN, and Brolly Freeman!

Not much else to say, so join the discord.

discord . gg / stAGY4V