AN: While this sticks closely to what actually happened to her in canon, I still feel the need to put a TW for child abuse/neglect for the Toga scenes in this chapter.
Flashyyyyyy - Well, I have a lot of ideas for this story planned! So as long as I can keep up the momentum writing it I'll keep going
TheJSmooth - All Might is a big doofus who just wants to make both of the kids happy. Meanwhile everyone else is just sort of looking at each other going 'so, who's gonna tell him?'
Fencer29 - My headcanon is that Ochako's mumbling is louder, but she is much better about catching herself and stopping herself before it goes for too long, but sometimes something slips through.
Thankfully, the next few months passed swiftly for Izuku and Ochako. They went to school. They trained in their free time and continued to talk to each other every night. And on Sundays, they tried to visit each other as much as they could to the amusement of both of their parents.
While normally they tried to avoid talking about school when they visited each other, with finals coming up next week, it was unavoidable. This led to their current situation, where they sat in the same coffee shop that Ochako had first brought Izuku to, studying together.
"Ugh," Ochako groaned, "I can't wait until finals are over!"
Izuku smiled sympathetically, using his free hand to rub her back to try to reassure her. "Don't your grades put you in the top 10 of your year? Plus this is mostly a review for us."
"I'm not worried! That doesn't mean I want to be here studying!" She glared at Izuku. "I'd much rather be enjoying my Sunday off!"
"Well, at least it's almost over. And then in a few more weeks, you'll be in Mustafu?"
That brought a smile to Ochako's face. "I can't wait!"
"You just have to get through this week!"
"Yeah yeah, I get it." Ochako pouted, going back to her notes.
Izuku slid his hand across the table to hold Ochako's before he resumed reviewing his notes. The material at Montross was slightly different from what he learned at Aldera, forcing him to study harder than she had to. Even though they had both passed the entrance exam to UA already, Nezu insisted that they needed to continue meeting the application requirements for UA and that they would have to retake the exam.
As she read, Ochako spoke up. "Can we at least cut the study session short before you leave? I don't want to waste my entire day with you just studying."
"Yeah, we can do that." Izuku gave her a brilliant smile.
Ochako gave him a warm smile in return, looking back down at her notes. At least she had something to look forward to.
"I am sorry, Mrs. Toga, but it appears we will have to hold your daughter back," the guidance counselor apologized.
"Why?" Himiko heard her mom demand in that too loud tone that made her headache worse.
"She's failed too many classes." The counselor held out a document showing her the current state of Himiko's grades. "That, combined with the number of credits she has, means that she will not have enough to graduate."
Mrs. Toga let out a loud sigh. "I am sorry my daughter is giving you so much trouble."
"It is no trouble, it is our job to ensure our students get a proper education. However, in discussion with our teachers, we have seen behavior patterns in your daughter that are common among students who have special needs and-"
Mrs. Toga cut the counselor off. "Now, now, we have had this discussion before! There is nothing wrong with my daughter. She's perfectly fine. She is just lazy and inattentive and has brought this upon herself. Right, Himiko?"
Himiko looked at her mother. If she wasn't trained better, she would have winced. But she knew better, if she winced, she would be punished. She didn't want to be punished.
"T-that's right. I am just spending too much time watching television instead of studying."
"See? She even admits it."
The counselor looked like she didn't believe it. And for a brief moment, Himiko hoped that she would pry further, only to be filled with disappointment. Of course, none of the adults wanted to help her.
Her counselor gave her a pitying look and continued, "Well, if that's what you say. Hopefully, young Himiko will take the failure to heart and improve herself next year, so that she can find a good high school. As we like to remind parents, failing a grade doesn't automatically disqualify her from finding a good quality education."
"Yes, I'm sure she will."
Himiko looked at her mom and acted thoroughly chastised. She hated this feeling of powerlessness, of having to put on this act. It wasn't her. But she was a freak, born with a cursed quirk, and her parents were doing their best to help her be normal. It wasn't their fault she wasn't good enough.
As they left, Himiko smelled blood in the air, its scent the most beautiful thing in the world. She couldn't help but follow the scent and saw that in the park next to the school, Saito was fighting with another kid. Stopping, she took in the scene.
Saito's lip had split with blood running down from it. His hands were bloody and scratched up as he prepared to swing again. Mouthwatering crimson stained his uniform with drops of it falling to the ground. Her eyes traveled up to his face. Blue and black stained under his eyes with several bruises marking his face. He must've taken several blows to the face, she reasoned.
Even with his injuries, he showed no signs of slowing down; if anything, he looked more spirited, ferocious even, determined to win as usual. Her heart raced. To Himiko, it only enhanced his natural features, making him look even more handsome.
I wish I could be Saito. Strong. Powerful. Able to fight back.
Her mom finally noticed that she had stopped walking and yanked her arm, dragging her along.
"Himiko, you've caused me enough trouble today! Don't cause any more!" she hissed to her daughter.
Himiko couldn't face her mother, simply looking down as she let herself get dragged along. "S-sorry."
"Well, you know what the punishment will be."
When they got home, Hifumi Toga was in the living room watching TV. She turned and saw her mother and older sister come in. One look was all she needed to know that her parents were about to punish her sister again.
"Did something happen?"
"Your troublesome sister is being held back," Mrs. Toga announced with barely restrained venom.
"Himi…" Hifumi looked at her sister helplessly.
Himiko put on a fake smile. She was good at those. "I-it's ok, Fumi. I need to learn my lesson."
She knew her little sister wanted to help, but she didn't want her to get in trouble. Thankfully, Hifumi had a nice, normal quirk. One that her parents didn't find offensive. One that let them love her.
"Yes she does, now come along."
Himiko's father snatched her school bag from her hand, removing her phone and laptop before tossing her bag onto the floor. He roughly hauled Himiko to her room where she was thrown inside. She didn't bother to fight back.
She stared down at the floor at her supposed parents' shadows, enveloping her in darkness. Their tall figures blocked the door and her only escape.
"You're a demon," her mother told her, malice laced in each word. "A monster."
And she knew those were the last words she would hear for the evening as she heard the door lock behind her.
Timidly, she stood up, instantly regretting it when her forehead throbbed. She clutched it, falling back down. Her legs felt weak as a wave of hunger washed over her. Again, she tried to stand up. Successful this time, she trotted over to her bed. Without anything better to do, she collapsed onto it and buried herself within the covers. Tears pricked her eyes as she scrubbed them away.
She glumly stared at the blank ceiling, dismally drawing figures on the empty canvas with her mind to pass time. Turning onto her side, she nibbled on her wrist till her skin broke and blood dripped down her arm. She consumed the precious liquid, hoping, as always, for a temporary reprieve.
As satisfied as she could be, she let the drowsiness overcome her, quickly falling asleep. Free of the harsh realities of her world, she, at last, could relax in the realm of make-believe. In her dreams, at least, she was free of her cursed quirk.
This time, she dreamt about school. Except, she wasn't herself. Instead, she imagined that she was Saito. Strong. Powerful. Able to fight back. She strode around the school, smiling and waving to people. And with genuine grins, they waved back at her, carefree and happy. Here, she was welcomed and free.
Himiko bittersweetly smiled, a tear slipping out of her eye and falling onto her blood-stained pillow.
The first day of exams went surprisingly smoothly. Izuku felt confident in his answers. As the clock ticked down to signal the end of the day, he looked out the window, his mind on a much different problem. Maybe it was time to pay Nezu another visit.
When class was dismissed for the day, Izuku gathered up his things and met with his new friends. After the first day of school, they invited him to walk to the train station with them, and he gladly accepted their offer.
"Man, that exam was brutal!" Aika complained as they were leaving the school.
"I didn't think it was that bad," Kyoka said, giving her friend an amused look.
"Me neither," Izuku admitted.
"Well of course you two are fine! You're two of the smartest kids in our class!"
"If you want to get into a good hero school, you need to keep your grades up," Hikari pointed out.
This caused Aika to groan loudly. "Don't remind me! I know I don't stand a chance at getting into UA like those two!"
Izuku smiled placidly as he listened to their conversation. When he had initially told them he wanted to be a hero, they all thought that he was crazy trying to get into UA, since he was quirkless. Once they found out about his workout routine and saw his grades, they quickly changed their minds. It felt nice to have people who believed in him, compared to his experiences at Aldera.
"I'm sure if you tried you could pull it off," Jiro told her friend.
"I don't even know how I'm going to survive the week! How do you expect me to prepare for their entrance exam on top of that? They have a 0.5% acceptance rate!"
Izuku looked at Aika. "Well, their practice test is supposed to be pretty good at helping out, if you are serious about improving yourself. You could take it and see where you need to focus next year."
Aika shot Izuku a glare. "That means more tests though! Why would I willingly subject myself to something like that?"
Hikari laughed. "And this is why you're behind those two."
"Argh, fine! I'll think about it!"
As his friends continued their conversation, Izuku found his thoughts drifting back to the more pressing issue. He knew that something was going to happen with Toga soon, and they still hadn't found any leads. That meant that they wouldn't be able to get ahead of the situation and would have to try to catch her afterward.
He hoped they could catch her in time. He didn't know if they would be able to help her, but if they captured her now, that meant that she wouldn't be able to threaten Ochako.
When they arrived at the train station, Izuku said his goodbyes before walking to a different platform than his usual one. Boarding the train, he began his trip to UA. The train ride was monotonous, and thanks to him and Ochako having received student IDs, he was now able to enter the campus again without triggering the security system.
Once inside the school building, he kept his head down as he made his way to Nezu's office. As he approached, the door swung open, revealing Nezu.
"Ah, Mr. Midoriya. I'm surprised to see you here! Aren't you in the middle of final exams right now?"
"Y-yeah. After I talk to you I promise I'm going home to study!"
"Excellent, I don't want to see you slacking, after all! But I am certain you aren't here to discuss your study habits, are you?"
Izuku shook his head. "No. I was wondering if you ever found any more leads for that case?"
"You mean about Miss Toga?"
"Yes. I know that is going to happen sometime soon." Izuku looked down. "I just - I was hoping we could help her before then."
"I understand. Convincing Miss Toga to switch sides, or at least be removed from the playing field would weaken future League operations."
Izuku winced. That wasn't how he would describe it, but he knew Nezu's brain operated differently than a human would. Nezu was more concerned about manipulating events to lead to a better outcome, and her well-being was secondary to that.
Izuku was pulled from his thoughts as Nezu continued. "I'm sorry, but we have not been able to find anything. None of the school's rosters that we were able to obtain show Miss Toga graduating this year."
Izuku frowned. "Something doesn't add up."
In the week leading up to the battle of Jaku, Izuku and Uravity spent several long evenings scouring the internet, trying to learn everything they could about the members of the League. Uravity in particular was interested in Himiko, hoping to find some clue explaining why she was obsessed with the two of them. It was during one of those nights that they found the article.
As the two read it, they discovered the event where Himiko finally snapped. She was a year older than them. During what was supposed to be her last day of middle school, she stabbed a student, drank his blood, and ran away when the teachers tried to stop her.
So, why couldn't they find anything about her graduating?
"What about quirk registries?"
Nezu blinked. "According to a search across all quirk registries in Japan, there is nobody named Himiko Toga with either a blood-based or a transformation quirk registered."
Izuku studied the floor. "Something's wrong."
"Indeed. If Miss Toga is out there, this lends weight to your theory that her home life is troubled. If she has an unregistered blood-based quirk, that practically guarantees she is not receiving the regular blood her body requires."
"And that means we can't do anything until she finally breaks down and attacks someone," Izuku replied glumly.
"Unfortunately, yes. I have put monitors out across both the hero network and police networks across Japan. When she finally decides to act, we will know where to begin our search."
Izuku looked up. "Are you planning on having your teachers catch her?"
"Yes," Nezu responded. "We know that she had successfully evaded authorities for over a year before joining the league, twice. It would be foolish to assume they would succeed this time where they had failed previously."
Izuku knew what he wanted to do. Guilt crept into Izuku's heart, knowing that Ochako would be absolutely against him helping track down Toga, but he'd rather be in potential danger than see her confront one of her worst nightmares all over again. Mind made up, he spoke. "I want to help."
Nezu gave him a hard stare. "How do you plan on helping?"
Izuku refused to back down from the principal's stare. "I - I know how she operates!"
"But we already have the information you provided us as well as the information Miss Uraraka provided. What more could you have to add?"
"Wouldn't it be better to have me actively looking? It would be easier for me to help if I was actually out there instead of talking on the phone!"
"Are you asking to put yourself in danger?"
Izuku looked down at his hands, flexing them. "I know right now I'm still a quirkless fourteen-year-old, but I also had a provisional license and was already doing hero work! I know it's dangerous, but I don't want to run away from it. Not if - not if I can save someone!"
Nezu continued to stare at Izuku for a long time, before making his decision. "I will allow you to go, but you are to not intentionally put yourself in harm's way. You are to listen to both Kan and Kayama, and if they give you any order you are to listen to them. Am I clear?"
Izuku smiled at Nezu, nodding his head vigorously. "Absolutely!"
If Ochako was safe, then he was alright. He just hoped that she wouldn't be too mad when he'd tell her.
With class dismissed for the semester, Izuku heard Kyoka and her friends coming over to his desk as he packed up.
"Hey Midoriya, a bunch of us are heading to the arcade to celebrate another successful year. You wanna join us?"
Izuku frowned and shook his head. "Sorry, I've got something going on tonight."
"More training?" Aika asked.
"Actually, I'm going out of town for the evening," Izuku told them. While not technically a lie, it was just omitting a lot of important details.
Assuming today was the day, that is.
"Sucks for you," Kyoka said, patting him on the shoulder with her headphone jacks. "We'll be getting together a couple of times over break. I'll text you the details once we figure things out. Maybe we can finally meet that Uraraka girl you keep talking about."
Izuku smiled and nodded. "Yeah! Since she's moving here, I'm sure she'd like to meet her future classmates!"
"You seem confident that she's gonna be in our class."
Izuku couldn't help but smile. "Well, even if she's not, I feel like she's going to be spending a lot of time with us."
Mischief was scrawled all over Aika's face as she was about to say something, but Hikari smacked her on the back of the head, causing the two to bicker as the three walked away, allowing Izuku to finish packing in silence.
Himiko looked down at the box cutter in her hand. She had stolen it from her parents this morning and managed to keep it hidden all day. She hoped she didn't have to use it. She didn't know how well Saito would respond to her confession.
She giggled to herself. It was always good to have a backup plan!
For most of her class, the day was spent in practice for their graduation ceremony, while Himiko was forced to study. Not that she would remember anything. Her headaches made sure of that. But she didn't care. Right now, she just wanted to know what it was like to be strong, brave, and in control of her future.
Just like Saito was.
She finally was able to catch him alone after most of the students had left for the day. Plastering on her best smile, she skipped down the hallway towards Saito.
"Saito-kun!" she called out.
Izuku felt his phone ring in his pocket as he walked home from the train station. Taking out his phone, he noticed it was Midnight. Feeling a twisting in his gut, he answered the call.
"Hello?"
"It looks like you were right, after all," Midnight sounded resigned on the other end of the line. "We just got reports of a Himiko Toga attacking another student with a box cutter - and drinking his blood through a straw."
"That's her!" Izuku practically yelled. "Where?"
"Lucky for us, a suburb outside of Tokyo. We can be there in less than an hour."
"Can you pick me up at my apartment?"
"You're really going to go through with this, aren't you?" Midnight asked.
"Yes," Izuku resolutely responded.
He swore he heard a sigh on the other end of the line. "Alright. We'll be at your apartment soon."
Izuku heard her hang up. He had one more phone call to make, although he wasn't looking forward to it.
Deciding it was probably better to make that call in private, Izuku ran the rest of the way home, pausing to take off his shoes before locking himself in his room. When he was finally alone, he opened his phone, scrolled to Ochako's number, and began dialing.
"Izuku, what's up?" Ochako answered, slightly on edge. It wouldn't be hard for her to guess what he was calling about.
"We found Toga."
"Really? They have her?" Ochako tried to sound optimistic.
Izuku laughed nervously. "N-no. She escaped the authorities at school. But we know where she is! We're going to go looking for her now."
The silence on the line was deafening, before Ochako finally spoke, her tone shifting. "What do you mean by 'we'?"
"I am going with Midnight and Vlad King to find her."
"Izuku. No."
Izuku was glad he had a four-hour distance between himself and Ochako right now. "It's too late, I've made up my mind."
"Izuku. She stabbed me!"
"Exactly, she stabbed you!"
"How is that helping your argument?" Ochako incredulously asked.
"Because if we can stop her now, we can stop her from joining the league entirely! You don't have to worry about her stabbing you again!"
"I'm sooo glad that you're so concerned about my wellbeing," Ochako said sardonically.
Even though it had been six months, Ochako still had nightmares about those final moments. The image of what Toga had done to Analyst was seared into her brain, and she would never be able to forget it. And Analyst had both his hero training and custom support gear. Izuku had the experience, but his training was still heavily based around using One For All.
Fear gripped her heart. "Why can't you just let the heroes do their job?"
"Because we are the only two people who know what she's like. And the sooner we capture her, the better. We- we may be able to save her if we can catch her in time!"
"You don't need to be there though! We've already told them a lot about her! Can't they use that?" Ochako pleaded with Izuku. She refused to lose him, not like this.
"Because in both timelines she had that strange attraction to us. Maybe I can use that to our advantage."
Another long pause. Izuku was pretty sure he heard muffled screaming from the other end of the line.
"So you're using yourself as bait?"
"When you put it like that, it sounds bad," Izuku confessed.
"I thought we were in this together!"
"We are!"
"Then why are you doing this without me?"
"Because I don't want her to get away. If she escapes - if she somehow joins the League - knowing I could have stopped it-"
Izuku found it hard to put together the words to describe how he felt. He wanted to deal with the Toga issue once and for all, to keep Ochako safe. Why couldn't she understand that?
"And how do you think I'm going to feel if something happens to you!"
Izuku felt a pit grow in his stomach. He forced himself to smile, even if she couldn't see it. "I promise I won't leave you alone."
"Then don't do this."
"Ochako. I'm going to find Toga, and I'm going to make sure Vlad and Midnight capture her. That way you will be safe."
"And what about you?"
A tense silence filled the gap between them. Izuku knew this feeling. His therapist had referred to it as a 'martyr complex', and once he was forced to learn about it, it made so much sense. He put everyone else's self-worth above his own.
Izuku took a deep breath. "I'll be safe as well."
Even knowing about it, the truth was he would do anything to keep Ochako safe.
"Why are you lying to me?"
Izuku couldn't bring himself to answer.
"I'll call you when it's done, Ochako," Izuku soberly said, hanging up the phone.
When Ochako heard the line cut out, frustrated tears fell from her eyes. Grabbing her pillow again, she buried her head in it and screamed.
"Izuku, why do you have to be like this!"
She knew deep down what her problem was. Her therapist told her that ever since the incident at Kamino Ward she had trust issues. Whenever there was danger, she felt compelled to insert herself into the situation because she didn't trust others to survive without her.
Despite that, she knew what lengths Izuku had gone to in the past. He was perfectly willing to put himself in danger to protect others. Because of that, she didn't particularly feel like trusting him right now. It frustrated her, knowing that he was going into a dangerous situation without her.
She sat there for several minutes, letting her emotions out before she calmed down. Her stomach still rolled around, but she felt better. Discarding her abused pillow, she walked to the bathroom, washed her face, and pulled out her phone. After a few quick taps, she ordered a ticket for the first train available to Mustafu. By noon tomorrow, she'd be able to give him a piece of her mind.
When Izuku heard the doorbell ring, he grabbed his backpack and made his way to the door.
"Mom, I'm heading out now!"
He saw Inko poke her head out. "Be careful Izu! Remember to listen to them and don't get in any villain attacks!"
"I'll try!" Izuku felt sick to his stomach as he uttered the words.
He went to the door and opened it, revealing Midnight, dressed in her hero costume.
"You ok kid?" Midnight asked. "You don't look so good."
Izuku forced a smile onto his face. "I-it's just nerves. It's been a while since I've done something like this, and you know how that ended."
Midnight gave him a hard stare as if she was looking for something. But Izuku wasn't going to back down. He knew the risks he was putting himself in and decided that it was worth it. And, if his analysis was correct, he was confident in both Midnight and Vlad King's ability to incapacitate Himiko with their quirks.
Finally, Midnight seemed to find what she was looking for and gave him a satisfied smile. "C'mon, Kan is waiting for us."
"R-right."
AN: Unfortunately Himiko just didn't want to wait until Ochako was in town before she decided to attack Saito.
For those who haven't read my other story, in my world, certain quirks have additional nutrition requirements. People with blood-based quirks, such as Himiko and Stain, need to regularly drink blood to meet those requirements. Normally animal blood is sufficient, but if they don't get it, their quirk factor acts up, and they suffer from the effects of low-level starvation and anemia as their quirk factor uses their own blood to satisfy their requirements.
And since a couple of people brought it up: in both of the original timelines, Aika actually applied for UA, but actually scored so poorly on the written exam that her combat score didn't save her, and so she went on to attend Seiai Academy.