The next morning Himiko woke up in the hospital. So it wasn't just a nice dream. Or maybe it is, maybe I'm still laying in that alleyway, and this is just one long hallucination.

When she got her breakfast, the nurse came in and gave her a small tube of blood with a rubber stopper. "We need to get your body used to a regular dose of blood with your meals. It may take some time to get used to this, so make sure to drink it slowly." Himiko just nodded in shock, at how everyone here is just treating her drinking of blood as something normal. Where were these people all of my life?

"The Midoriyas, are they coming today?"

The nurse turned to her and smiled. "I'm sorry, but I don't know if you'll be receiving guests today."

Himiko swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded. "I hope they do, they were nice."

She busied herself with eating and watching a random show. Eventually, she heard a gentle knock on her door and an elderly woman came in.

"Good morning Miss Toga. I am Mrs. Mamushi, and I'm here to act as your temporary quirk counselor. I know you won't be with us long, but we can at least begin to build a file for you after you leave our care."

"Good morning Mrs. Mamushi. Please, call me Himiko. I don't like my other name right now." She admitted.

As Himiko watched, the woman sat down, pulling out a notepad and setting it on her lap.

"Now then Himiko, please tell me about your quirk. We have your previous file, but given what you have told us about your previous counselor, I thought it best if we started from scratch."

For the next hour, Mamushi asked Himiko a series of basic questions about her quirk - how it activates, how it feels to use it - trying to establish a baseline. After those questions, she began asking the harder ones - how her parents viewed her quirk, what they told her previous quirk counselor, and the activities, recommendations, and lessons the counselor had for her. Himiko found herself involuntarily wincing every time she answered a question and saw the nice old lady scowl.

Was it that bad?

Eventually, the questions began winding down and Mamushi reviewed her notes to see if she missed anything.

"Well, this is a very upsetting picture. No wonder you suffered a quirk backlash." The woman turned to Himiko, giving her a sympathetic smile. "I know that me saying it won't undo the 10 years of being told the opposite, but there is nothing wrong with your quirk. It is a part of you - no different than your eye or skin color."

"But what about the fact that it's not a harmless quirk? What about evil, bad quirks?"

Like mine.

The frown on the woman's face told Himiko that she caught the hidden meaning behind her words. She sighed and set her pen down. "Do you know much about the flame hero, Endeavor?"

"Not really, my parents weren't big on heroes, so unless it was a major story in the news story we didn't hear about them."

"Well, his quirk allows him to produce and control fire. And while there are many things said about him, he is still the number 2 hero in Japan. When he appears, do you think people are scared of him?"

"No…"

"Now then, let me tell you about another man. About 10 years ago, there was an A-Rank villain who went by the name 'Matchbook.' His quirk was a contact-based quirk that allowed him to light anything on fire with a touch. He thought that his quirk gave him free rein to terrorize people for money and power, and so he decided to abuse it. Over 6 months, he gathered together like-minded individuals and formed a gang. They would travel around, forcing people to pay them to avoid having their property destroyed, or in some cases from being burned alive."

Himiko swallowed the lump in her throat. "He sounds scary."

"He was scary, and ironically it was Endeavor who took him down, causing much celebration. Now tell me, Himiko, what makes Endeavor's quirk different from Matchbook's quirk?"

The woman patiently sat there as she watched Himiko deep in thought before her face lit up as if she solved some great mystery.

"There isn't any difference?"

"That is correct." The woman smiled. "The only difference is in the people themselves - Matchbook could have easily become a hero with his quirk, and Endeavor could have just as easily used his strength to become a terrifying villain."

Himiko nodded along with that. "And because I had spent so long associating my quirk with negative things, now I see it as villainous?"

"Yes, that is correct."

"I don't want to see myself as a villain," Himiko admitted.

"Well dear, that's a very important first step. It will take time, but for now, every time you think of your quirk negatively, I want you to stop, and look at your hand."

Himiko lifted her right hand and looked at it, then back to Mamushi in confusion.

"And I want you to ask yourself 'is my hand bad?' The goal is that eventually, you will see it as just another part of yourself. And your hands are just like your quirk - you can do good things with them, or bad things. But in the end, it is you who are choosing to do those things, rather than your hands telling you what to do."

Himiko continued to look between her hand and the lady with confusion. "That sounds absurd."

Mamushi patted her knee. "Of course it is absurd, that is the point."

Himiko groaned and leaned back into the bed. "This is a lot."

The woman smiled at her. "If it was easy, then you wouldn't need me and I would be working in a different field."

Himiko couldn't help but laugh at the woman's joke.

"Now then, as I suspected, I need to start a new file for you. Next time we can work on a more detailed plan for you, and I can begin to look for a good counselor to follow up with after you are discharged."

Mrs. Mamushi left after that and Himiko felt lighter somehow, but exhausted. Her parents had always taught her to control her emotions, so seeing someone who forced her to admit her feelings was hard.

With nothing better to do, she ate lunch and took a short nap. As the afternoon stretched on her routine was interrupted when she heard a gentle knock on her door. It began to open and Izuku's head popped in.

"Can we come in?"

"Yes!" She grinned at the two as they entered. "Thank you for coming again!"

"It's nothing, dear. We can't stay long today, but we wanted to see how you are doing." Inko reached out to put an arm on her shoulder.

"We also got you this!" Izuku held out a green stuffed rabbit. "We saw this at the gift shop last night! That way you'll have company when we aren't here."

Himiko broke into a genuine smile as she held it. Cute stuffed animals were normal, but something about this one was different - coming from the Midoriyas, it felt genuine.

"I love it."

"So how are you feeling today dear?"

"Better," Himiko admitted. "But it's going to be a long time before I'm used to it."

Inko rested her hand on Himiko's shoulder, understanding in her eyes. "You just went through something very traumatic. On top of everything else that happened to you. It will take time for things to feel normal again."

Himiko grumbled. "The problem is I don't know what normal is anymore."

"Well, what is normal is different for everyone, isn't it? You just need to find what you want."

Himiko mouthed the words "what I want" as if it was a foreign concept, and stared at her hand, deep in thought. After what seemed like a long time, she looked back up at Inko. "I just want to be myself, and I want to be happy. I- I don't want to hide who I am."

Inko smiled gently at her. "That sounds like a wonderful goal, dear."

After that, they spent the rest of the afternoon just talking. Izuku was able to do a good job distracting everyone with the latest Hero news, and both Midoriyas patiently answered any question Himiko had. As she watched Inko and Izuku interact, Himiko was filled with a familiar pair of emotions - jealousy and envy - towards Izuku. Even though he was quirkless, it was easy to see that Inko loved him and tried her best to make him happy.

She selfishly wanted to know what it was like, to be loved like that.

Eventually, it grew late and Inko once again had to gather Izuku up to leave. "Tomorrow is Sunday, so we can come by earlier and stay for longer, although Vlad King has already warned us that he will be visiting tomorrow as well. The new school year starts on Monday for Izu, so we won't have as much time to come visit you next week."

Himiko felt her face fall when she heard that. "I understand. Thanks for telling me."

They both gave Himiko gentle hugs and then left. She watched them leave and saw the rabbit on the table. She grabbed it and pulled it into a hug, feeling a spark of warmth inside of her.

It is almost how I felt about Saito, but it's different somehow?

Inko and Izuku met with Sekijiro Kan in the lobby of the hospital the next morning, and next to him was a small bear-like creature in a suit. "Good morning! Am I a mouse, a dog, or a bear? It doesn't matter, for I am Nezu, better known as the Principle of UA! However, that is not why we are here today!"

"Wait, you are the principal of UA? So cool!" Izuku became excited while Inko merely smiled at her son's antics, placing a hand on his shoulder to calm him down.

"Please forgive my son's excitement. It's his dream to be a hero. What brings someone like yourself here today?"

"Well, one of my teachers." Nezu said, indicating Kan. "Has brought to my attention the fact that there has been a grave injustice brought against a little girl. What he described to me is a bit of a personal sore spot, so I decided to assist her in any way possible. As it turns out, the Togas are well off, and they likely have good lawyers on hand."

He suddenly gave a predatory smile that made the Midoriyas flinch. "I can guarantee that mine are better. Once we are done with them, they will never touch her again."

Izuku spoke next. "What about Himiko? Is she going to be ok? She told us she did some pretty bad things."

"Since she is still a minor, and the boy she attacked, Saito, survived the encounter, we will be able to keep it from permanently affecting her record. She may eventually be linked to several other incidents during her quirk backlash, as we investigate further. Fortunately for us, they all survived. Given the evidence available, that means she should be able to avoid any consequences for those incidents, as well."

Nezu paused momentarily before his demeanor darkened. "Her parents on the other hand… well they shall not be so lucky. You see, there are laws and regulations in place to prevent quirk suppression, and for good reason. Those laws exist to prevent exactly the kind of incident that occurred. Cases of quirk backlash are rare nowadays for good reason, and if Ms. Toga had the proper care, then this would have never happened."

Izuku sighed in relief. "I'm glad to hear that."

Kan shared a glance with Nezu, then looked at Inko, before he finally looked down at the small boy. "Well come on little Midoriya, let's go see how little Toga is doing today."

Inko waited until Vlad had left with her son, and then looked at Nezu. "So, what is going to happen to Himiko after your lawyers and the police are done tearing the Togas apart?"

"An excellent question! Unfortunately, it is not one that I have a good answer for. Because the Togas are well off, we can ensure that there will be a healthy stipend each month for whoever takes her in, but it will be… difficult to find a home for her. Her past is very troubled, and as a result, she is going to need regular therapy, on top of seeing a quirk counselor, likely a specialized one. On top of that, we will need to find her a school that offers the right remedial courses for her needs."

Inko stared at him, determination burning in her eyes. "That sounds difficult."

"Fortunately I have considerable resources! Given enough time, I am sure to find someone who will be willing to take her in, it is just a matter of how long it will take."

Nezu appeared to be evaluating Inko as he examined her. "Unless you have someone in mind already?"

"I do."

"It must be hard enough raising your son alone."

"I won't claim that it's easy, especially given my son's issues."

"You mean his quirklessness?"

A sad look crossed Inko's face. "Yes. That. It's hard for me to admit it, but I failed him when he needed me the most, and it fills me with regret almost every day. To see Himiko suffering, knowing I can do something about it? Well, I'm not a hero, but maybe being a mom is enough."

"You are a very brave woman, Mrs. Midoriya. If you want to foster her, I will gladly have my people work with you to ensure that transition will be as smooth as possible for young Toga."

"Should we tell her?"

"No. Best to let the process play out before we give her the good news. Now shall we?" He swept his arm down the hallway. "I believe we have people waiting for us."

Over the next week, Himiko had adjusted to her new routine. Wake up, breakfast, light exercise with a physical therapist, lunch, a session with either a therapist or a quirk counselor, and finally visitors in the afternoon.

Sometimes the visitors were hard for Himiko, like the day when the lawyers came to talk to her, or the day Vlad King brought a pair of police officers and she was forced to retell her story. She had to spend most of the afternoon answering questions for them. That was the worst. But for most of the week, her visitors were the Midoriyas, and those days were the best.

But each day she made progress, and every evening she felt a little better as she drifted off to sleep, her arms wrapped tightly around the green bunny.

This afternoon, the first two people to visit her were Vlad King and Nezu. She was surprised, wondering why they were visiting instead of the Midoriyas.

Nezu was the first to speak. "I have good news, Himiko Toga! We have come to an arrangement with your parents. You see, they would rather not go to jail, and so they have agreed to our terms. They are giving up custody over you, and have agreed to pay a substantial child support fee for your future care."

Himiko's face fell. "I knew they would jump at the chance to discard me. Is it wrong that I hoped that they would be in jail instead?"

"I agree! However, for the sake of you and your younger sister, we thought it best to have a smooth transition. Your former quirk counselor, on the other hand, is not so lucky."

Himiko gasped. "I forgot about Hifumi! Is she going to be ok?"

"Quite! As part of the arrangement, they, along with your sister, will have to regularly attend therapy sessions with someone of our choosing. And until she is an adult herself, the police will be visiting your former family regularly to ensure that your sister does not have any negative actions taken against her."

"She should be ok, she had a cute harmless quirk, the kind my parents approve of."

Himiko felt a pit forming in her stomach. "What's going to happen to me?"

"Well, now that your parents have released you from your custody, you will be a ward of the state. You will be assigned a foster family to care for you until you are either properly adopted or you turn 18."

Oh.

Himiko's face darkened and she started curling in on herself.

And I thought things were going so well. Nobody is going to want me.

"Now, don't look so down! In fact, we have already found a foster family for you. At least let me introduce them first!"

Nezu gestured to the door, and through misty eyes, she saw two familiar figures step in.

"Izuku, Mama Inko!"

Himiko practically leaped out of her bed and ran into them, the two of them wrapping her into a warm hug.

"I wanted it to be you, but I was worried!"

"Of course, it was us, Himiko," Inko said.

"Well then, it looks like I guess we chose correctly!" Nezu chimed in from behind them. "Perfect! There are still arrangements to be made before tomorrow, so I will leave you be. The three of you probably have a lot to discuss."

"Tomorrow?" Himiko was confused.

Kan stepped forward and placed his hand on her shoulder. "Now that the police investigation has concluded and your parents gave up their legal rights, we have no reason to keep you in protective custody anymore. That means you will be discharged into Mrs. Midoriya's care tomorrow."

Himiko let go of Izuku and Inko and turned around to grab Kan, pulling him into a fierce hug. "After tomorrow, will I see you again?"

She felt his hand rest on top of her head. "It will be harder since school is in session, but I think I can take some time to visit you periodically."

"You teach? Aren't you a hero?"

Kan laughed. "Of course, I'm also a hero! And that means I teach at a Hero School!"

Himiko could just imagine Izuku's face as she began to smile. "That's cool. I'll need to pick out a high school for next year, maybe you could tell me about it sometime."

AN: Revised 5/22