"Things going alright recently?"

Kaito's voice seemed as concerned as it could get, considering who I was talking to, which caught me by surprise, almost letting one of the thugs I was fighting sneak up on me, fists clenched and on fire, but at the last second, I managed to dodge, giving him a kick to the back of the legs that staggered him enough I could then focus on the bigger annoyance: his partner, who had sat out and taken potshots at me from afar using his quirk, which basically made him shoot knives. The bastard had gotten me a good few times while his friend kept me from kicking him in the head.

That was now moot, so I charged him as I thought about what to say to Kaito. Bluetooth was very useful in these situations, though it had a stupider name (who names their technology Might Tooth?).

"Yeah, mostly. Still kicking teeth in, still struggling to pay rent, still trying not to die."

I delivered a swift slash with my knife to the guy's face, causing blood to flow down into his eyes. I followed it up with a good kick to the sternum and punch to the face, before turning to block an attack from his friend, who had recovered. Not a great idea, as the fire fists burned my sleeve and then my arm before I slid under him. I hissed in pain, just catching Kaito's response.

"You don't sound okay."

I rolled my eyes before stabbing one of my knives into Fire Fist's leg, kicking him maybe a bit harder than I had to to cause him to fall over, before giving him a good kick to the skull. Kaito was blunt when he was concerned.

"That's because it's not fun getting a burn on your arm."

"Oh."

I nodded, before realizing he couldn't see me, and then just talked.

"Look, I'm fine. Just…worried."

"About what?"

I shrugged, again realizing he couldn't see it, before continuing.

"I don't know. I just feel like something big is coming. I don't know if we're prepared."

Kaito simply hummed in response, thinking it over as I restrained both of the goons. They had been trying to rob a store. Waste of talent if you ask me. It was only after I had reported the crime and left that Kaito finally spoke again.

"To be honest, I've had that feeling too. But we can't change something we don't know anything about. The best we can do is be prepared. You know that if you need help, you can just call."

I smiled to myself.

"Thanks Kaito. See you next week?"

"Patrol or just hanging out?"

"Which would you want?"

He was silent a moment before he said anything, seeming embarrassed.

"Patrol…"

I giggled a little at the admittance.

"You got it."

He sighed in relief before hanging up. I laughed a bit to myself as I made my way around Kamino, the moon high in the sky. It truly was a beautiful city. Really kind of shameful it gets turned into a crater.

Crater?

'Yeah, All for One's powerful'

He's the big villainy guy right?

'Yep. He hurt All Might pretty badly a few years back.'

Oh. That's sad. I always thought All Might was kind of boring, but he was still cool.

'You would find All Might boring. Who was more to your tastes?'

Hmmm. I don't know. But Hawks is pretty cute.

'Of course you would like Hawks. Not that I don't like him. I have to agree with you, he's cute.'

Yay! We agree!

Yay (◔_◔)

Oh! You mastered the faces! :D

I ignored the celebration as I got to my apartment, and collapsed onto the bed, tired from patrol. It had been a hard night. No huge injuries, but I had acquired a bunch of nicks and cuts from the knife guy, plus that burn from Fire Fist and a bruise where he had just regular punched me. I felt like a wreck.

Needless to say, it wasn't long before I felt myself collapse into unconsciousness, welcoming the rest. I only remembered it was a dreamscape day when The black turned white, and I saw Himiko in front of me, looking happy I had returned.

I was still a bit out of it from that day, while I was uninjured in the dreamscape I did still feel some of the things that had happened, so I just sort of sat at the usual table we had established, blinking as Himiko started talking, not really registering what was happening. It took me a moment to register anything around me, then to check myself over, as was customary at this point.

I let out a squeak as I saw what I looked like. Most of the changes had been subtle. This one wasn't. I now appeared as a girl, a change I hadn't been dreading as much as I thought, mostly since my own self perception had shifted over time. Still, it was a shock that it had happened.

At this point I resembled an older version of Himiko, hair down and in my old clothes, that thankfully still fit, even if they were loose. I frowned at the mirror I had created to see myself, then sighed and sat down. Toga cooed, looking closer at me.

"I look so cute! Is that how I'll be when I get older?"

I shrugged, then looked down. The clothes didn't feel very fitting now, so, with a wave of my hand, they changed. I couldn't use Himiko's outfit, that was a little too on the nose, so I summoned a simple gray cardigan and some jeans, plus some new shoes. I sighed a little at the last remnant of my old appearance disappearing, but I had to admit, it did feel nice to have some more fashionable clothes.

Himiko looked at me and stuck her tongue out at me.

"Bleh, you had to choose such boring clothes?"

I nodded, before sipping from the cup in front of me. Iced tea this time, Himiko was changing it up.

"So, what are we talking about this time, Himiko?"

Himiko hummed in thought, tapping her finger under her chin, before she seemed to have a flash of inspiration.

"You know, we never really talk about why you're changing."

I looked away. How could I change the subject?

"You know, we haven't hung out with Uraraka for a bit. Maybe we could-"

Himiko cut me off.

"Nope, not this time! You said I could pick the topic last time!"

I sweatdropped in my head, before sighing. I had only said that so she'd stop singing pop goes the weasel in my head. It got annoying after the tenth repetition. Plus, she even sang it as I was trying to sleep the night before. Hearing that in a dark room really freaks you out.

"I need to stop promising you things."

She giggled, before moving over and hugging me.

"But you won't, because you love me, right? I'm like your little sister."

I closed my eyes. It was a nice hug, but admitting that would prove her right.

"You are…in the most annoying way."

'Hey!"

She released me from the hug and moved back to her side, arms crossed and pouting. I smirked. Himiko spoke after a minute of pouting.

"We're still talking about why you're changing."

Damnit.

"You're sure?"

She nodded.

I sighed again. I was pretty sure that the amount I had sighed would have made me rich if I had some money for every time it had happened.

"Fine. I guess we can. I've been trying to figure it out too."

She nodded, before she put a finger on her chin and looked over at the wall, obviously in thought.

"Sooo. If you've been looking more like me, what's the end?"

I shrugged.

"Maybe it's this, but it might be when I look exactly like you, age and all."

She seemed to perk up at that.

"I've always wanted a sister!"

I narrowed my eyes slightly.

"I look like I'm your older sister right now."

She nodded.

"But you look like my stuffy older sister. The one who goes 'Oh Himiko don't lick the knife' or 'Himiko don't lick the blood on the sidewalk!'"

I pinched the bridge of my nose.

"Why would you lick blood that's on the sidewalk?"

She pointed at me, seeming smug.

"See, just like that! A twin sister wouldn't do that!"

I sighed again.

"If I looked exactly like you. I would still be that twin sister."

Her smile dropped and she pouted.

"Awww…"

I shifted in my seat, trying to get comfortable as I thought things over.

"I…think the appearance is also tied to the fact your memories are leaking into my head."

Himiko nodded, scratching the back of her head.

"Yeah, like you knew my school, or some of my classmates, or Mom's birthday, or-"

I cut her off as I racked my brain, recalling moments from my life.

"I get it. Thinking about it, I still have all of my own memories…"

I trailed off as I struggled a little to bring one of my older memories to the surface.

"But some of them are harder to recall…"

Himiko got closer, seeming curious.

"Are you forgetting them?"

I shook my head.

"It's more like…they're buried further in my head than others, while your memories and my more recent ones are right at the surface."

Himiko hummed in thought, looking down.

"Now that you mention it, I think I've got the same thing happening."

The shock was instant, my head snapping to her, eyes wide.

"You never mentioned that!"

She fell back, shocked at my sudden yell.

"You never asked, so I thought you knew! I mean, if it happens to you, it'd happen to me!"

I shook my head.

"That changes my theory a lot. If you are having my memories leak into your own, and I'm having your memories leak into mine…"

If that was what was happening, then my theory was wrong the first time. A product of two minds sharing a body might be… I shuddered a little, before I realized Himiko was waving a hand in front of my face. Had I been in my head for too long or something?

"Uh, yeah. You were just sitting there with this weird look on your face!"

I…hadn't said that out loud.

"You didn't?"

"I didn't say that out loud either. I thought we could only read minds outside of The Dreamscape."

Himiko only made a face in response, before a thought popped into my head.

'What am I saying?'

"You're asking what you're saying"

She gasped and fell over in shock.

"We can read each other's thoughts here now too?"

I looked down in contemplation. It wasn't like that exactly. It felt more like when she had a thought, that I had shared it.

"Huh, if you say it like that…"

I finished for her.

"It's like we're sharing a mind."

She nodded.

"But I thought we were…what's that word? Separate?"

I nodded, before my shuddering again. There was a noise in the room, but I wasn't paying enough attention to what it was. Of course our memories and feelings had been bleeding together, and more memories were shared between us, but I hadn't wanted to consider the best theory.

"What theory? Do you know what's happening?"

I didn't respond, caught in my own head. All the emotions I'd pushed aside for the months I'd been here, the uncertainty, the homesickness, the anxiety. They were welling up now, and I couldn't put them back as I thought about what it all meant. All of the signs pointed to one conclusion. Two minds cannot share the same body forever, and as time went on, our minds were being forced together. Eventually…

"We'll merge forever?"

Himiko sounded…strange. Not sad, but not happy either. But I wasn't focusing on that. My emotions were coming up to the surface now, my body shuddering as I heard more noise, like cracking glass.

"I-I…"

My voice sounded foreign to me, and that only made me more scared. I had been used to a changed voice, but now, it was the voice of someone else. That wasn't me. It wasn't it wasn't it wasn't it wasn't.

"Evan?"

"I DON'T WANNA DIE!"

It came bursting out as tears started flowing. I didn't want to merge with someone else. I didn't want to lose who I was. How much of me was even left? I didn't know and that just made me more frightened. Losing myself would be death. And I didn't want to die. I wanted to go home. I wanted to see my friends. I want out I want out I want out I WANT OUT.

"EVAN!"

I didn't even really register Himiko's shout. My eyes were cast to the ground, and in my own storm of emotion, I saw the cracks, ugly and black. More sounds like cracking glass. The ground began to feel unsteady, but I didn't move. I felt like I couldn't.

What'll happen if I merge? Will I still remember everything? What'll happen to my family? Do they know I'm gone? What about Jake, or Anne, or Ben? Will they miss me? I want my friends!

Everything was pouring out like a faucet, and with everything surging, all my doubt, my fear, my anxiety, I ironically didn't feel much. So much was happening, so much chaos, that it all drowned into a numb state. I didn't notice as the illusion of the room started to fail, as more and more cracks started to form.

Things began to fall away, but I didn't care, too caught up in my own swirl of emotion. It felt like there was pressure, more and more cracks forming, a few pieces falling away.

I didn't care, even as the world shattered into shards around me, and I was sent plummeting into the void of my own mind.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Himiko

This…wasn't how I was expecting to spend my Friday. I really hadn't meant to hurt Evan, I was just…curious about it. I mean, he had been looking more and more like me, then he's looking like my slightly too serious older sister? How could I not want to know?

But it looked like that wasn't a good call. Sad too. I was getting excited that we were getting closer. I'd always wanted a really good friend, but a sister was good too! Especially an older one to gossip with, talk about cute boys, oooh and talk fashion! What was I worried about? Oh, right!

Like I said, not how I wanted to spend Friday night, falling through a dark void in our…head, I guess? But that's where we ended up. I lost Evan in the confusion, and looking around, he wasn't falling with me.

Oh, I'm falling! That's not good! What if I pancake in my own head? Do I die? Is this like the matrix rules? Wait I've never seen-

My thoughts get interrupted as I hit the ground(?). I groaned and rolled over, having landed on my back. Nothing feels bad, but now where are we? I quickly jumped up and looked around, trying to see if I could find Evan now. It was all black around me, though on the floor of this place were shards of our room.

"Evan? Are you there? In the big void?"

My voice seemed to echo in the black around me. There wasn't a response, so I stepped forward, or at least the way I thought was forward, and called again. Still nothing. Where could he be? Was this a game of hide and seek? Because I'm really good at that. Though I always liked to hide. Still, I felt a frown on my face. I hoped Evan was okay. He…didn't seem okay when I saw him, but he had to be, he was Evan! He always had a plan, he convinced me to work together when I had a knife at his throat!

Wandering in one direction calling his name didn't seem to be able to find him. This wasn't good. I had no idea how this place worked, but I knew it wouldn't be good if our time passed and we still hadn't found each other. Not that Evan was looking for me. He didn't look like he would be looking for anything anytime soon.

I started to pace as I thought of something, and ended up talking out loud to myself.

"Come on, think Himiko! If I was a cute but nervous boy…er, girl having a mental breakdown, where would I be? Well I would go to Neito to- no! Not an option! Though he'd probably know what to do…I miss him."

I shook my head to get me back on track.

"Right, gotta find Evan! Now how would he be trackable in a big black void? Maybe he left some prints? No, this whole place is a black void! But, there are these shards of the room…"

I trailed off as I saw something cool. Some of the shards had been crunched when I moved over them, like glass, and had been ground into little pieces!

I moved back, and leaned down, putting a finger on the smaller shards. It felt like glass, and I squeaked a little as I cut myself accidentally, though looking at my finger, it was fine. Dreams, right?

Still, this gave me an idea. I had walked out on the side that had few shards, but what if he walked over them?

I looked down and rushed in every direction, trying to find a trail. If he (or she. You know what? I'll just use they) had walked off, they would have left a trail of crushed shards. If he walked over them.

It didn't take long before I found something. A crushed shard, well away from where I had walked. And looking out, I saw a trail of them. I smiled as I walked toward the trail. Score one for Himiko!

The trail wasn't long, and when I got to the end, they still weren't there. So, I looked in the same direction, and ran. They might have walked more.

It was a loooong run, but eventually, I spotted a bit of gray and blonde against the black. They were curled up, their head tucked into their knees, and I could see their shoulders moving. They were crying. An image flashed in my head. It was the same way I'd sat after…after I…stabbed Akio and ran off. I felt so bad, but then the blood started flowing and-

I shook my head and ran toward my friend/sibling(?). They came into focus quickly, and soon I was right in front of them.

"Evan?"

The slight hitching sobs stopped and Evan's head peaked up from their knees.

"Himiko?"

Their voice sounded small. I grinned at them, glad to see they were alright.

"Yup, it's me! I was worried you'd vanished on me!"

They didn't respond, and just looked down. I tried to get them to look at me, but their gaze didn't move from…the void. I felt my smile drop. He had been holding in a lot, huh? I sighed and sat down next to them. Evan didn't react, just kept staring off.

"You're…pretty scared."

They huffed.

"What gave you that idea?"

I shrugged.

"I guess I am too."

They looked over, seeming surprised.

"Really, but-"

I grinned at them.

"I can act."

All they could say in response was "Oh."

We sat, not saying anything for a bit, before Evan spoke up.

"What'll happen to us?"

"I don't know."

It was honest. That didn't seem to comfort Evan though.

"So that's it? We'll just merge and disappear?"

I giggled a little. They seemed shocked and a little mad, turning to glare at me.

"Is that funny?"

I shook my head.

"No. Just…you're such a downer. We don't even know if that's what'll happen. I mean, we already kinda know what it's like to merge, right?"

They seemed to think, before a look came over them.

"Right…"

I nodded.

"I don't think it's as bad as you think. Maybe all that repression stuff you did made it all seem worse."

They seemed to think on it, and I decided to add just a little more.

"Beesides, even if it was the case, you can't do anything, so why worry? Besides, you still have all your memories, right?"

They thought for a moment, then nodded, hesitantly. I gave them a smile.

"So as long as we have those memories, I don't think either of us will be dead. Even if we do merge."

They giggled, sounding a lot like me, then were quiet for a bit. Then, they spoke, their voice sounding stronger.

"Thanks Himiko. I… think I'm good now."

I smiled and they smiled back, before things began to reform. The walls came up around us, me and Evan watching as our wonderland came back, giant teddy bear and pink wallpaper and all. I squealed and hugged Evan, and they hugged back, before things went white as we woke up.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Evan

Waking up, the day felt lighter. I wasn't sure why, but I was in a great mood. I hummed to myself a little as I got dressed, posing a little in the mirror before giggling. I looked great!

I twirled into the kitchen, looking in the fridge, gathering things up for breakfast, humming turning to singing as I cooked, the song coming natural as I danced a little to the melody.

You sound so much happier today :D

It did hit me that I seemed to be acting a little more Himiko today when she said that, but I really couldn't find it in me to care. Previous anxieties were lessened, save for a little worry that couldn't get in the way now. It felt like a brighter day.

'I just felt like today's gonna be great!'

Oooh me too! Maybe we could go shopping!

'Or maybe talk to Uraraka!'

Or we could just dance!

I giggled incessantly for a bit, before looking around. Despite the attitude, I still had my memories. I was still me, just… a little different. Himiko was right. For once.

:O You admitted I was right! Score!

I looked in the mirror, twirling my hair. I felt like a style today, and it took a bit before it hit me.

Ooh I know!

I put it up in two buns and looked at my work, smiling widely. I looked good.

Grabbing my coat once I was dressed, I decided today would be a shopping day. Maybe call Uraraka later to hang out, and finally meet her friends.

Who knew, the possibilities were in front of me, and they were endless. And thanks to my attitude, I didn't fear them anymore.

I was running headlong into the future now. Speaking of which…

Heading out the door, I sent a text to Kaito.

Bloodgurl: Hey Kaito. I have a feeling something might be going down in Hosu soon. Wanna meet up tomorrow to talk?

It didn't take long before he responded, and I smirked.

Seriousboi: Sure. Does this mean no patrol?

I giggled a little, before shooting a text back.

Bloodgurl: Trust me, if this goes down, patrol will be the last thing on your mind.