Izuku was busy writing down notes from the morning news in his notebook, hoping that if he kept his head down like usual, he would be able to avoid drawing Katsuki's ire today. Unfortunately for him, it looks like he wasn't going to get that lucky today as a familiar hand slammed down on his desk with a small explosion, startling him out of his thoughts.

At least he didn't fall out of his chair this time.

"So nerd, the Old Hag tells me your family is now fostering some girl."

"Y-yes Kacchan, we ran into someone who was in trouble and helped her out."

"She was in trouble huh? I bet that makes you feel good about yourself, doesn't it?"

Izuku swallowed his response, knowing how Katsuki would just twist his words. Fortunately for him Katsuki continued his taunting. "I bet this girl is just as useless as you are."

I bet the girl is quirkless. Izuku mentally translated for him. "No Kacchan, she has a really cool quirk! She can shapeshift into other people."

"Of course you would think that's cool, you think any quirk is cool. From where I'm standing she sounds like she's just another extra."

"Of course you would think that." Izuku grumbled, upset enough that his usual defenses failed, allowing that to slip out.

"What was that Deku?" Katsuki growled. "Let's be clear about one thing. Just because you are helping some girl out doesn't make you any better than me. At the end of the day you're still a quirkless nobody who will never be a hero."

Izuku winced at the comments and lowered his head, thankfully saved from any more verbal thrashing by the teacher arriving.

After school Izuku was sitting in his room working on homework, his head hung low as Katsuki's words still bounced in his head. He was so caught up that he didn't even notice when the door opened to his room and someone sat down. It wasn't until several minutes later when he heard a loud groan that he realized someone was there, and he turned to see an exasperated Himiko on his bed.

"What do you need Himiko?"

"What happened today?"

Izuku looked down at the unfinished homework on his desk, trying to act like everything was ok. "What do you mean what happened?"

"In case you forgot, I know a thing or two about putting up masks to hide what you're feeling." Himiko sounded annoyed now. "You're obviously not ok."

"It's nothing, just Kacchan being Kacchan." Izuku tried to play it off.

"It isn't nothing if it is upsetting you this much."

"Please Himiko, I just don't want to talk about it."

"Hmph." Himiko frowned at his back and left without another word.

They were eating dinner in silence, when Himiko spoke up. "I think Izuku is being bullied at school."

Both Inko and Izuku looked at her with shock on their faces. Inko was the first to reply. "Why do you say that?"

"He was super down after school today, and wouldn't tell me anything beyond it being someone named Kacchan and that this is not a new problem."

"Izu, is this true?"

Seeing the look of sadness on his mom's face, Izuku couldn't find any of the excuses he had made for himself over the years. He slumped his shoulders and sighed. "Yeah, Kacchan was talking down to me about the fact that we took in Himiko."

Inko studies Izuku's face. "This isn't new, is it?"

Izuku looked down at his plate, pushing the food around with a chopstick. "No."

"And how long has he been treating you this way?"

"Since we were 7." Izuku almost whispered, but the room was quiet enough he may as well have been shouting it.

Inko visibly shuddered at that admission. The next thing Izuku knew he felt her arms around him and her tears falling into his hair. "I'm so sorry Izu, I never noticed."

"I-it's not your fault mom. I've had a lot of practice hiding it."

"Why though?"

"Because I know I'm already a handful because I'm q-quirkless. And you are still good friends with Aunt Mitsuki and I-I…"

Inko let go and got to eye level with Izuku. "Honey, you have never caused me problems because you're quirkless, and if you ever felt that way it is my fault, not yours."

Dinner all but forgotten at this point, Izuku hugs Inko and begins crying as he tells his mom about the bullying Katsuki has done to him over the past 6 years. Now that the dam had been broken, Izuku just felt it all tumbling out and couldn't stop until he had let Inko and Himiko know everything - how Katsuki judged him for not having a quirk, how he made it sound like Izuku was at fault, everything.

Izuku was exhausted. He was still trying to process what happened a few hours ago - and what will happen next. After changing into his night clothes he just was sitting on the edge of his bed, staring at nothing and trying to figure out how he felt. He didn't know how much time had passed, but eventually he felt Himiko sit down on the bed next to him.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to rock the boat that much. Given how happy you are at home, I thought it was new." Izuku numbly turned to Himiko and saw how guilty she looked.

"It's fine. I just - it was normal for me."

He heard her snort. "Normalizing what you are going through is one of the first things my therapist explained to me."

Izuku winced a bit at that.

"Seems like we both have had it pretty bad." Himiko said, a distant look on her face. "Although you seem to have handled it a lot better than I did."

"Kacchan has always been like that, wanting to be the best at everything he does. Somewhere along the way, that began to change. And he started basing people's worth on the quirk that they held."

"And you just went along with it?"

"Well yeah. Since we were kids Kacchan was my best friend, and I have never been good at making new friends in school." Izuku admitted.

Himiko shifted around on the bed to sit next to Izuku and gave him a side hug. "Well I know it probably is weird to say since you're fostering me, but you've already got another friend. I just hope I didn't screw that up tonight?"

Izuku shook his head. "You can be family and my best friend as well. Tonight isn't going to change that."

Himiko smiled at him. "I'm glad."

The next morning Izuku dragged himself out of bed, and was absolutely not looking forward to the day. Of course, it was just his luck Bakugo was standing outside the school waiting for him.

Bakugo forced Izuku to stop by causing an explosion in his path. "Stop right there Deku."

"K-kachan! W-what do you want?"

"Last night my mom kicked my ass for going too far yesterday. Something about lines that shouldn't be crossed." He crossed his arms and looked away. "Looks like you get a free pass on this one nerd. Not that it's going to change anything anyways."

Katsuki left, leaving Izuku staring in confusion at his back. Izuku spent the rest of the morning guarded, waiting for him to explode and verbally tear him down as he usually does, but nothing happened. Izuku started relaxing near the end of the day, until an announcement came through the classroom speaker asking him to report to the teacher's lounge.

Izuku felt all of his classmates' eyes on him, and heard a few snickers, but once again, Katsuki didn't respond, other than glaring at him whenever he looked in his direction. He quickly left the room and ran down to the teacher's lounge, where he found his homeroom teacher and a man he recognized as a different homeroom teacher.

"Mr. Midoriya, has someone in our class been bullying you?" His homeroom teacher asked.

Izuku swallowed the lump in his throat - he knows the teachers have always let things slide with Katsuki, after all. "N-no sir, why do you ask?"

Right answer. He almost could hear his teacher respond with the way he was looking at him. "We have had an unusual request, from your mother, to transfer you to a different homeroom. Based on her insistence, we have decided to honor her request."

Because you are afraid Katsuki will go too far one of these days and you won't be able to cover for it. Izuku bitterly added.

"Starting tomorrow you will be transferred to class 1-C, and Mr. Hosoi will be your homeroom teacher. Since it is merely a class change we assume your studies will be unaffected."

"Y-yes sir." Izuku bowed to the teachers. "I will do my best!"

"Good, that is all Mr. Midoriya, I expect you to clean out your desk at the end of the day." His teacher left and Izuku stood alone with the new teacher, who briefly explained how he ran his classroom.

The next morning Izuku found himself walking towards his old classroom, before he realized his mistake, turned around, and returned to his new classroom. He didn't have to wait long for his new teacher to arrive and introduce him to the class.

"I am Izuku Midoriya, formerly of class 1-D, pleased to make your acquaintance!" Izuku bowed to the class and when he raised his head, tried to evaluate his classmates. To his relief, he only saw stares of confusion, apathy, and curiosity from his new classmates. At least nobody seems to be upset by my very existence here. Mr. Hosoi then directed him to a desk in the back of the room where he sat down and began to unpack his things.

Izuku was lying on the ground, bleeding such a wonderful shade of red, and Himiko felt herself drop the bloody knife she was holding to happily lean in and drink the blood from the wounds she caused. She was so happy drinking his blood. Unfortunately her reverie was broken by sudden yelling. She looked up and saw Inko looking at her with horror 'you monster! You demon! What are you doing!?' before running away, slamming the door behind her. In a panic she tried to follow her, only to find the door locked, and she could hear Inko yelling at her through the doorway as she tried desperately to pry it open…

Himiko woke up with a jolt, covered in a cold sweat. Unnerved, she tiptoed out into the apartment and just had to check on everyone, making sure that both Izuku and Inko were asleep in their rooms, before going to the bathroom to clean herself up. Staring at herself in the mirror, she swallowed the lump in her throat, knowing what she wanted to do, before returning to her room to return to fitful sleep.

In the morning Himiko dragged herself to the kitchen table. "I-Izuku, Inko, could you come to my quirk counseling session today?"

"Is it something important? I can come." Izuku spoke up.

Himiko looked nervous. "Yeah… we have been practicing with my quirk. A-and I was hoping you would let me try activating my quirk and transform into you."

"You want to drink my blood to try triggering your quirk?"

"Yeah. I have been getting better at accepting it, but I - I need to know what happens when I use my quirk to change into someone I know, rather than from the random samples of blood given to me." Himiko admitted. I need to know if I can control myself around you, Izuku. And I need to know Inko won't abandon me either.

Inko put a hand on her shoulder. "That is very brave of you. If Izuku is ok with it, we can go with you."

Izuku nodded vigorously. "Yeah, I can let you do that!"

The rest of the morning passed uneventfully, and when the time came Inko escorted Izuku and Himiko to the medical complex where her sessions were held. After they arrived and checked in, Himiko explained what she wanted to do. Mr. Kondo - her counselor - agreed that it sounded like it was a good idea. The group went out to the small training space in his office, where Himiko turned around to face everyone, mentally preparing herself.

"Ok, Himiko, are you ready?"

Himiko nodded, a look of determination on her face. "I think so."

Izuku gave her an encouraging smile and held up his hand for her. She gently grabbed ahold of it and examined it, before biting into his wrist. She felt the dark thoughts bubbling up beneath the surface, but seeing Izuku's trusting face helped her shove them down as she let go of his wrist, swallowing the mouthful of blood that she had and feeling her quirk activate. It felt warm and welcoming as she was wrapped in slime and transformed into Izuku.

"-are you feeling, miss Himiko?" Himiko shook herself out of her daze and looked at Mr. Kondo.

"I think I am ok?" She looked down and saw Izuku's hands where hers should have been.

"You look like you spaced out there for a minute. What happened?" He had his clipboard out and was ready to detail the effects.

"It felt - my old habits trying to creep back in. Part of me wanted to keep drinking more." She turned and smiled at everyone. "But I was able to push them away!"

Mr. Kondo smiled back at her. "That is great news! You have made a very important step today. And the more you use your quirk, if you go the Hero route like you alluded to, the easier time you should have as well. If you decide to take another path, you may have to wrestle with these emotions the rare times you do use your quirk, but you are already showing yourself capable of handling them."

Himiko smiled at that and dropped the quirk, getting an uncomfortable look from both Izuku and Inko.

"Sorry Himiko, it's just… weird seeing my face literally melting into a pool of goo." Izuku admitted.

Himiko looked down at the mess of sludge on the floor and shot a playful grin at him. "Sorry, can't help it." Then she noticed the two small rivers of blood tracing down his arm. "Izuku! You're still bleeding!"

"Oh!" Izuku saw his hand, and Mr. Kondo directed them to the first aid station where they cleaned his palm and wrapped it in gauze. As they were wrapping it Izuku began talking. "I actually didn't notice, your bite barely hurt, like two pin pricks? Although, given the size of the wound, we are having to apply more pressure than I thought we would have to stop the bleeding, even after cleaning it. You may have some sort of mild analgesic and anti-clotting agent in your saliva? We'll have to test this la.. Himiko! Stop laughing at me."

"I-I'm sorry." Himiko had to take a moment to calm down from laughing. "I'm standing here worried that sure you're ok after I literally bit you to drink your blood, and you are already in full analysis mode."

Inko watched the two, smiling at their banter before looking at the counselor. "Thank you for helping her out, if there's anything else the two of us can do can you please let us know?"

"So did anyone get anything out of this morning's lecture on careers?" Himiko had just begun her second semester at Dantin, and that meant it was time to begin focusing on placement exams for high school. So of course the topic of conversation came up during lunch.

"I actually did! I haven't really thought much about what I wanted to do yet."

"Of course you haven't" the first girl replied, much to the indignation of the second. "At least there is always the general studies to let you kick your decision down the road even further."

"Hey, that's not fair! Just because I am indecisive!" The second girl then turned to Atsuko and Himiko, trying to divert the conversation away from herself. "What about you two?"

Himiko just shrugged and took another bite of her food. "I thought I made it obvious that I'm looking at getting into a Hero course."

"Right, you're trying to get into UA, aren't you?"

"Yep!"

Everyone looked at Atsuko expectantly, waiting for her answer. "I think" Atsuko finally responded. "I am going to try getting on the Hero track somewhere."

"What? That's surprising!"

"Don't tell me Himiko's gotten to you!"

Atsuko just smiled at her friend's responses. "I was always thinking of something to help people, like a social worker maybe? And I certainly don't have the temperament to be someone who fights villains daily like All Might or Endeavor do, but as Himiko likes to remind us, there are plenty of other roles for Heroes to have."

Himiko nodded in agreement. "Like my plan to join the underground heroes, where my quirk will be super useful!"

"Yes, like that. But I've been looking into the wide variety of hero roles that exist, and I've become intrigued by the idea of being a support hero, instead? That way I can help people without being the one actually fighting the villains."

"That actually sounds kind of cool."

"Well, when you become heroes I'll be cheering you two on from the sidelines!"

Himiko smiled at her friends. "Well, you won't be able to cheer too loudly for me. If I'm in the news that means something went wrong, after all!"

"You know what I mean! Underground heroes have to have their fans too, right?"

Himiko thought about Izuku and laughed. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

Later that day, when they were walking to the train station, Himiko brought up the conversation from lunch again. "So where are you applying to high school, Atsuko?"

"I'm not really sure yet. Maybe Kenbutsu or Shiketsu? Someplace with a solid reputation."

"Why not apply to UA then?"

"UA, seriously? The school with the 0.2 percent acceptance rate? Do you think I even stand a chance there?"

"Of course you would! You're smart and you've got a strong quirk. I think you have a chance. Plus wouldn't it be great if we both got in together?"

"Someone's ambitious!" Silence filled the air for a few moments while Atsuko thought it over. "Do you really think they would accept both of us?"

"We just have to both pass the entrance exam, obviously."

Atsuko laughed. "True. But it's not like everyone personally knows one of the teachers there." She paused. "Are you serious about wanting to go to high school together though?"

"Yeah, I am." Himiko responded. "How about this, if you apply to UA with me, I'll apply to a school of your choice with you? Then we can decide after the entrance exams?"

Atsuko gave her a soft smile. "Deal."