The next weekend was when Sekijiro Kan said he could come by for his monthly visit, and Himiko had lots of questions for him - normally he stays for a few hours to see how she is improving, and then he entertains Himiko and Izuku with stories from when he was an active hero. However, this time would be different - if Himiko was serious about trying to get into UA, she had to start training!

As usual, he came promptly at noon on Sunday, Himiko already waiting at the door for him to arrive. "Hey Kan!"

"Hello little Himiko, you're cheerful today." He smiled down at her.

"Yep! I've got big news to share, actually!" Himiko was practically vibrating from excitement. "Our school started signing us up for high school entrance exams, and after talking it over a bunch with Izuku I've decided I want to become a Hero!"

"Oho? Here I thought you were just being nice to me in the hospital all those months ago." Vlad responded, sharing a toothy grin.

"At first it was, I thought I was just going to coast along into some nice office job somewhere and keep my head down. But as time went on, the more I realized that it just sounded boring. Plus, if there's even one more blood-based hero out there, then maybe someone else won't have to deal with the problems I had to, you know?"

"I see you have been thinking about this. And I happen to agree - I think you can be a fine hero with your quirk! Your ability to shapeshift is a rare and special one, and it would be a shame to see you ignore it."

"Thanks! Now for the next part - could you help me with training? The school has some basic athletic courses to help us prepare for the Hero school entrance exams, but I was hoping for a little something more? And perhapssomeweaponstrainingaswell?" She rushed out the last part, hoping to get him to agree without realizing what she was asking of him.

"Oh? What kind of weapons were you looking at?"

"Damn, of course you wouldn't let that slip by. This was actually part of the discussions Izuku and I were having. Because I don't have any natural offensive power from my quirk, and due to the nature of needing blood to activate my quirk, we were thinking I should learn how to fight with knives? I'm less likely to cause permanent damage to someone in the heat of a fight, they are easy to use, and they are easy to conceal if I'm trying to be sneaky?"

Kan thought about it and nodded. "You do seem to have put a lot of thought into this. I agree that knives sound like a good start. Unfortunately, weapons aren't something I really use, because I have my blood constructs. But I know a few heroes who use weapons themselves, I will get in touch with them and see what I can do to help."

"Yay! You're the best Kan!"

The conversation continued as Himiko peppered Kan with questions about training and how to better prepare for the high school entrance exams. Somewhere during the conversation, Izuku came into the living room as well, a determined look on his face. "Um, Mr. Vlad King sir? C-could I join in as well? I know I have a year to go before I will begin looking into high schools b-but I want to go to UA as well. I know my chances are bad, but I still want to try."

Kan looked at Izuku, surprised by the shift in Izuku's demeanor - it felt very different from their previous interactions. "I don't think it is time to give you the level of training little Himiko wants just yet, but I have a few things in mind to help you begin your own training. Learning some form of Martial Arts for example - I can recommend several good dojos, and if you enrolled in one of those, that would give you a solid foundation for combat training."

Izuku smiled in response and nodded in affirmation. "Yes! That sounds great."

As has become tradition, during the weekend Himiko and Atsuko were meeting up at a local park for an extended training session. Izuku's research into underground heroes had led to an interesting discovery. There was a technique where if you were able to hold your breath and clear your mind just right, you would enter a state where people would lose track of you - unless someone was staring right at you, it just became hard to focus on you temporarily.

This, of course, was of immediate interest to Himiko, since it lined up with her own plans of being an underground hero. It took the better part of a week of trial and error, but she eventually figured out how to perform the technique herself. Izuku was attempting to teach it to himself as well, but he didn't pick it up as naturally as she did.

So of course, for today's longer training session, Himiko was excited to show it off and wanted to try it out. Whenever they practiced, they made a game of it, always trying to come up with a friendly competition that would allow both girls to practice whatever skills they were trying to work on that week. Today the rules were simple - Himiko would try to 'ambush' Atsuko, and connect with her dull practice knife. Atsuko, on the other hand, had to wait until Himiko entered the circle they had drawn on the ground, and then force her out of it, either knocking her away with one of her barriers, or using her hand to hand skills to force her out.

Izuku as usual, has joined them as well, notebook out in his lap as he sat against a tree, alternating between scrolling through the news and paying attention to the mock combat occurring.

Atsuko frowned as Himiko managed to tag her another time. She was currently behind - by a lot. Himiko had almost twice as many 'points' than she did today. "You are way better at this than I am Himiko, I am just too slow for this sort of thing." she said, feeling a little discouraged.

Himiko frowned at that. "That's why we're practicing! You've been getting better at spotting me, which is taking away one of my advantages! We just need to build up your reaction times."

"Yeah, it's just - do you think I will be ready in time? The exams are only 3 months away now."

"Of course! And it doesn't help that I have gotten real good at spotting your barriers. Makes them easier to dodge."

"I'm going to have to do something about that, aren't I? I'm no good if a villain knows how to avoid my quirk."

Himiko shook her head. "How many villains do you think you're going to fight as much as the two of us have been practicing?"

"Um, Hotoko?" The two didn't notice, but while they were talking Izuku stood up and joined them. "Hotoko, is there a reason you always cover a large area when you create your barriers?"

Atsuko paused to think about it. "Not really? I just sort of place my hand where I want the barrier to be and imagine if I was touching a steel plate or a brick wall? And the air just responds to me.

Izuku's thumb was on his lip in thought. "I have a theory about this that I want you to try. I want you to hold your hands like this." Izuku then held his hands cupped together. "And then I want you to imagine that steel plate, but instead of being a large steel plate, imagine something about the size of a soccer ball?

Atsuko nodded in comprehension and tried it. She cupped her hands and imagined she was holding a soccer ball made out of metal, and immediately saw the telltale distortion showing the affected area. She stared in awe at it, as she moved her hands around it, feeling its size. "You're right, it is smaller than my usual barriers."

"Now try doing that again, but instead of using both hands, try doing it with one hand, and imagine a smaller ball."

"Ok!" Atsuko let the previous object dissolve, and then cupped a single hand, and almost immediately a smaller object appeared in her hand. "Wow…" she removed her hand and started feeling around it as well, looking at the smaller size.

"Ok, now one last experiment." Izuku pointed at her. "I want you to point your finger and try making a small little ball at the end of it."

Atsuko held out a single finger and tentatively thought about it, and a small object appeared, about the size of a golf ball, as she gave an excited yelp.

"So, how does it feel to make those?"

"I don't notice any real difference physically, but it feels more mentally draining? When I am just throwing up a barrier I think roughly the space I want it to be in, but for these I'm actually having to focus on the size of these balls you are having me create to make sure I keep them the size you wanted me to?"

"Assuming these hold the same property as your normal barriers," Izuku demonstrated by walking over to where Atsuko was, and wrapping his hand around the small sphere in midair, trying to pull it with no success. "you should be able to use these to surprise people who get too close to you." Izuku looked at Himiko. "Assuming, of course, they don't know the specific properties of your quirk."

He looked at the two girls and saw them both smiling at each other. "So, Himiko, want to play dumb next round?"

Himiko rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, but her smile showed she wasn't serious. "So I'm supposed to give you a handicap? Izuku's help wasn't enough for you?"

"Says the one who is up by twice as many points."

"Fiiiine. I'll play dumb so you can try your fancy new move."

Izuku walked back to his notebook and sat back down, safely away from the sparring girls. Meanwhile Himiko dropped into a loose stance, before dashing into the tree line. She found a clear space behind a tree and kneeled down, breathing out and clearing her mind, focusing on controlling her breathing and movements. She peeked out from around the tree she was hiding behind, and saw that Atsuko was slowly turning in a circle, her defenses up as she was looking for Himiko. Himiko waited until her back was turned and charged, staying low to the ground to minimize her profile. She usually only had a second or two at most before she was discovered, but in the heat of combat, that would be all she needed.

Unfortunately a stray twig betrayed her position, and Atsuko spun around to face Himiko. She saw Atsuko bringing up her hand to create her first barrier and Himiko dodged to the left, swapping her knife to her left hand as she moved. She lunged forward as soon as she landed, but Atsuko stuck her hand out and Himiko felt the knife bounce off of the newly created barrier. Atsuko then responded by dropping the barrier and trying to grab her left arm, but Himiko jumped back, barely staying inside the circle. With a grin she casually tossed the knife back and forth between her hands, waiting for her opponent's next move.

Atsuko moved in and attempted a leg sweep. Too predictable! Himiko grinned as she jumped over the move, preparing to bring the knife down - only to feel her stomach slam right into a newly created barrier - Atsuko had figured out exactly where she was going, and created a small ball right where her stomach was going to be, letting gravity do the rest. With a moan she felt herself slide off the sphere and lay on the ground, trying to catch her wind after that.

"Oh my gosh Himiko! I'm so sorry."

Himiko pushed herself up to sitting position. "It's not your fault." She opened one eye and looked at Atsuko. "The smaller size definitely hurt more. Instead of feeling like I was crashing into a wall my stomach took the whole blow. And was that faster than usual? "

Atsuko reached out a hand and Himiko grabbed it, using the leverage to pull herself up. "I don't know, I never actually timed my barrier creation time before?"

"Oh I bet Izuku's got a theory about that." Himiko looked at Izuku, who at least had the shame to look embarrassed and rubbed the back of his head at that as he was approaching them.

"Yeah, I kind of had a theory that the larger the barrier Hotoko is trying to make, the longer it takes for the process to complete." He tried to demonstrate with his hands, sticking a finger out and gesturing with his other hand to give a sense of size. "The quirk starts with a point of origin on her skin, and slowly radiates out to fill the area she is trying to create the barrier. So for a large area, it would take longer for your quirk to affect the air, whereas for a small area, it would take much less time for your quirk to do its thing. And since your quirk already breaks the laws of physics, it shouldn't matter the size of the object you manifest. It doesn't matter if it's the size of a bead or the size of a wall, your opponent is forced to deal with it."

"It certainly did the trick." Himiko grumbled.

"So, Himiko, ready to go a few more rounds?"

Himiko took a moment to stretch and recover, before flashing Atsuko a grin. "Sure, I'll give you some chances to catch up. I'm not going to play dumb next time though!"

Inko woke up early on New Year's Eve and made her way to her apartment's living room, where she sat down and began to think about the last year. She quietly laughed at herself at how boring the first three months of the year were, compared to the whirlwind of events that followed. And then at the end of March Himiko stumbled into their lives, quite literally! The next few weeks were a blur with how much happened. With the surprising help of Nezu, she had applied to be a foster parent! That was something she never dreamed would have happened - after Hisashi left, she thought it was always just going to be her and Izu.

But something about Himiko struck a chord with Inko, and led her to bring home a troubled girl with the intention of giving her a loving home. The same girl who then, merely weeks later, forced the years of bullying Izu endured out into the open. That day will continue to haunt her, almost as much as the day they discovered Izuku was quirkless.

But now, on December 31st, it all felt worth it. It had taken time, but Himiko had come out of her shell, slowly separating out what she wanted from the behavior that her parents forced onto her, and became a wonderful young lady. And while Izuku has always been her happy boy, the simple act of removing Katsuki as a constant presence in his life seems to have taken the edge off of his anxiety issues. Sadly he hasn't made any new friends yet, but there was still time for that to change!

Seeing the progress they have both made made Inko happy, and she planned to continue being there for them - both of them, as she got up and walked over to the desk, staring at a manilla envelope, and the paperwork she had prepared within. Smiling to herself, she took the envelope and dropped it behind the desk - there was still plenty of time for one final surprise this year.

She began working on breakfast, and was soon joined by Izuku and Himiko. Over breakfast she explained to Himiko the traditions they do for New Years while Izuku was busy looking at the morning hero news feed to see what happened overnight. It was cute in a way - ever since Himiko declared she was going to be a hero, Izuku had expanded his own research to help her out, on top of the research he was doing for himself.

After breakfast, the three of them cleaned up and journeyed to the market together, since most of their usual stores will be closed for the next several days to celebrate the new year, they needed to pick up supplies. Inko smiled as they had to pry Izuku away from one stall, which promised All Might themed grab-bags if they returned tomorrow, as she reminded him that he probably already owned everything they would have stuffed in the bag, much to his disappointment.

As they continued further down the street, Izuku ran off to one store to pick up another notebook - his 12th notebook was filling up, and he wanted to have the next one on hand ready to go, and while waiting she heard Himiko squeal in delight as she pointed out the plush animals filling the windows of a toy store. "Mama Inko, can we go there?"

Inko smiled at Himiko. "Saw another one for your collection?"

Himiko grinned and nodded. "Yep! There's a red bird in the window that reminds me a lot of Sakura!"

The two of them went to the store and Himiko found the plushie to be perfect, so they bought it and met back up with Izuku outside, who is proudly holding his new notebook as well. With her children's prizes in hand, they continued to the various food vendors, picking up the supplies for the evening's soba as well as tomorrow's osechi ryori.

After they had returned home with their supplies, the three of them split up - Himiko and Izuku both went to their rooms to begin cleaning them, while Inko set about putting away the supplies and began preparing the ingredients for the evening's meal.

Unsurprisingly, Himiko finished cleaning her room first and made her way to the living room. "All done mo-ma Inko!"

Inko smiled at the slip up. "Good. I'm just about done here and can help clean the living room. Can you start by pulling the desk away from the wall? I can help move the rest of the furniture."

"Ok!" As Himiko moved over to the desk Inko quietly went to Izuku's room and retrieved him, the two coming back just in time to see Himiko's confused expression as she was kneeling on the ground, looking at a manilla envelope. "Mama Inko, why does this have my name on it?"

Inko looked at Izuku and then back at Himiko, a knowing look in her eyes. "Why don't you open it and see?"

She watched as Himiko opened the envelope and looked over the papers located inside. It only took a moment before her eyes got wide and her head snapped up to look at Inko. "Is this what I think it is?"

"Yes. You've only been with us for eight months, but you've become a part of our little family - more than I ever expected to happen when we first brought you home from the hospital. Izuku already thinks of you as a big sister." Inko looked at Izuku, who smiled back at her and nodded his head vigorously. She turned back to Himiko, smiling gently at her as she noticed the tears building in her eyes. "And I have come to see you as my beautiful daughter. Since it's that time of year, what better way to celebrate than to make it official. If you feel the same way as we do, would you like to enter the new year as a Midoriya?"

"Yes! Yesyesyesyesyes!" Himiko jumped up with tears flowing down her face and grabbed Inko and Izuku. With practiced ease Inko responded by wrapping her arms around her son and daughter as the three shared a warm embrace.

AN: And with Himiko Toga officially becoming Himiko Midoriya, this concludes what I have mentally dubbed 'the prologue.' I realize I could have written more chapters to develop things further, but the truth is the most of my writing for this story is for when both Izuku and Himiko are attending UA, so now that the pieces are in place, I'm going to start with bigger time skips to get to that point. I have a lot of additional ideas for the missing time, however, so I may eventually create a spin-off piece to fill out these gaps a little bit.

I've also decided on an update schedule for myself - going forward I plan on updating every Sunday, and on weeks when I'm feeling particularly ambitious I will push out a second chapter on Wednesday as well.

And a minor aside - my headcanon is that a non-psychopath Himiko would collect cute stuffed animals that remind her of her friends and family, instead of canon Himiko's desire to collect their blood. Just a totally inconsequential idea that got stuck in my head when I began working on this story.

Edit: Since it has been asked several times, there will be a ship later, and it will be Izuku x Ochako. Sorry, this isn't going to end up being Izuku x Himiko.