Himiko is starting to settle into the new life she's found, and while she's finding some happiness, she also notices some things wrong with her best friends. Now, she has to make a choice. Stay silent, or risk their wrath by pushing them on the matter.

Himiko felt a bit vindicated. She was right when she said her instincts wouldn't be much affected by the change. Honestly, she just felt happy she could finally indulge in them. Her parents weren't much for physical affection. Maybe when she was little, before her Quirk came in, they would hold her and let her cuddle them, but she doubted that. They didn't hug each other much. Not that she thought they didn't love each other…seeing how they felt for one another made it very clear how differently they felt about their only child, but she guessed they just weren't physically affectionate people.

Which growing up sucked, because she was. Maybe it was the cat in her, maybe it was just inherent to who she was, but she always felt this burning need to be close to people. Unfortunately, her version of 'close' was apparently too much and not ladylike enough, so she never was allowed to indulge. Another part of her she had to chain down, her desires howling for release from the crypts she'd bound them in for her own safety, a constant aching pressure in the back of her mind.

But now? Not only were Izuku and Ochako quite willing to indulge her touchiness, even before the transformation, but apparently the change made Ochako into as much of a cuddle fiend as she was. Izuku was too, but for some reason they seemed more hesitant about how they held people. They weren't a fan of Himiko just latching onto their arms randomly, and so she avoided doing so, but they were more than willing to let her curl up in their arms and go to sleep in the warm sunlight that would stream in from the common room windows.

Which was how half of the trio spent the last two weeks, napping in the light. Not something either Izuku or Ochako was apparently used to, but the instincts did make them want to curl up in the warmth more often, which led to sleepiness. Honestly, Himiko felt like they could use it…they both looked so exhausted half the time. Sure, she knew she had eyebags, but she had like, a dozen health problems thanks to her Quirk suppression (according to Recovery Girl), and it made sense why.

Which…she was very, very slowly coming around to the idea that maybe, just maybe, she didn't deserve what her parents did to her. Izuku and Ochako backed her up, but…of course they did. They were bound now, thanks to her Quirk (curse), and they were her best friends who made her feel so warm and loved inside, of course they were on her side.

No, it was the others. It was hard for her to believe Inko, Miu, and Katashi, for the same reason she had trouble believing Izuku and Ochako. She was bound to their children now, and they were just kind and sweet people who wouldn't say a mean thing to anyone!

But the fact All Might, the number one hero, seemed genuinely angry at what her parents did that clued her into the fact maybe it wasn't okay. He tried to play off his feelings, but she'd learned how to recognize anger long ago, to keep herself safe, and she could see it every time he mentioned a word about her parents. How she could see even the stoic Aizawa seem perturbed by the idea of her having to suppress her urges, and how he was insistent she not do so while on campus.

It was how Vlad King had sat down with her one day and offered her a lovely meal Lunch Rush had prepared made out of blood based foods how did she not know these existed?! And a hero with a blood Quirk, why didn't she know about him before?

Not a single pro at the school seemed to care about her eccentricities, even as she found herself letting loose more and more often. When she one day admitted how afraid she was of the public, her concerns about how they'd see her, Midnight had pulled her aside the next day to talk softly to her about public perception and how she should not be afraid to be herself, no matter what they said.

All these strangers, these people who she started to learn were far more human than she'd ever thought they were, all of them supporting her and saying she was okay as she was…that was what made her start to believe.

Not that Izuku and Ochako didn't help. Once the ball was rolling, once she felt free to actually express herself more often, they…didn't stop her. If anything, they indulged her more. Maybe too much, she worried, because it didn't matter how affectionate she was, how clingy she acted, how often she'd ambush one of them for an impromptu cuddling session, they never complained.

And the worst part was, she knew they were being genuine! The whole 'emotion sharing' thing was really handy for that. Now that they knew it was happening, the trio had started (at Izuku's insistence), experimenting with it and it told her a lot. Probably more than Ochako or Izuku wished it did.

The first thing she learned is that, of the three of them, apparently she was an open book to the other two. Every time she started to feel bad, or disgusting, or guilty, they knew. Opening herself up to be herself apparently meant she started wearing her heart on her sleeve (and within the Quirk connection too), and it was now very obvious.

The second thing she learned was that Izuku hated themself. And she hated that. They kept it hidden well, oh boy did they, but once in a while it slipped across the connection and she could feel it, a feeling she was oh so familiar with. That's how she recognized it as well as she did…because she knew exactly what they felt like. That feeling of hating oneself, of pure, choking self-loathing that broke you down and forced you into a cage of your own making in your mind, she knew that feeling very well. And Izuku kept feeling that all the time.

She wanted to confront them about it. She planned to. Once she actually knew how or what to even say. How did she speak up when she couldn't manage her own feelings of inferiority, of shame, of guilt for how her Quirk had changed all three of them against their will? How could she help them when she couldn't help herself?

But that was only part of her worry. Ochako might be worse, because she didn't know why Ochako felt the way she felt, or what the feeling actually was, but it was bad. She was in pain, a lot of pain, pain that she refused to speak about or even seem to acknowledge, even to herself. Which she worried about. And the fact that she felt so cold compared to Izuku, which said a lot because Izuku said Himiko was cold to the touch too. (Izuku was the opposite, like a furnace compared to the two girls, and Himiko was very very very grateful for that fact).

Ochako's pain was worse every time they all sat down to eat, and Himiko had started paying more and more attention, and she did not like what she was seeing. Ochako…didn't eat a lot. At all. Himiko wasn't stupid. Especially with the stuff she saw back at school. She hung out with the 'popular' crowd after all, all those girls who had to be prim and proper and were gossipy bitches behind people's backs. But they were obsessed with their images, and one or two of them had been on extreme diets to stay thin…and she used the word diet very loosely.

Ochako was reminding her of them, and that could not stand. She had to say or do something, she just…wasn't sure what, yet. She wasn't sure she felt comfortable enough bringing it up to one of the teachers, or even their mentor, but…she needed to do something. About both of them. Because Himiko's version of self-destruction was killing her slowly, and it felt like the way the other two's version of self-destruction was killing them much, much faster…and she could not afford to lose them. Maybe it was time for her to take action…be a hero, like the ones who never came to save her.

Izuku knew they shouldn't. Half the time Himiko would waltz into their room without warning or knocking, which had led to some awkward moments where Izuku was about to change their clothes…yet they couldn't find it within them to really be upset about it, not with how much more free Himiko seemed to be. She'd become clingy, but for some reason it didn't bother Izuku. They…kinda liked it. A lot. And from what they could feel from Ochako, she did too. Although getting used to the random flicks of their new ears and tails was taking a bit, especially as their tail kept getting caught in things.

But it didn't change that Himiko's random moments to rush into their room meant they had no chance to let out any pressure. Their eyes kept straying where they knew the small, blue box was, buried inside their desk under a mountain of notebooks, papers, and pens. Izuku's fists clenched after a moment, feeling the familiar overwhelming desire flooding up from within, the tingling sensation along their spine. Everything was just so much right now.

Training with One For All was enough on its own. Then you added the changes to their body, the ability to use the other Quirks, even reuniting with their childhood friends was its own form of pressure. Izuku was in awe of how much Himiko had to go through and how she made it through, and the strength Ochako seemed to exhibit every time they trained showed Izuku how much more she'd done than they had.

Izuku had nearly given up, not like the other two. Izuku had been a failure, almost an oathbreaker, and it was only the sheer luck of Toshinori choosing them as his successor that gave Izuku a fighting chance, a chance they couldn't squander, even if they didn't deserve it.

Izuku bit their lip, trembling in place as they stared at the desk still, as if they could see through it. They really, really wanted to use them. It had been building up in the back of their mind for weeks now, this less than subtle need, all the pressure and focus on their training making them feel unsteady, unstable, ready to be washed away under the constant eroding waves that kept crashing over them them as they tried to stay afloat. It would be even worse when the rest of the class moved in, even less time to use them. Not to mention Izuku would have to be careful in the locker rooms.

Using the men's locker room so far had been fine, although they'd been offered a separate, gender-neutral room they had declined (they didn't deserve something for themselves like that). But it'd be much harder to hide the marks in the locker rooms…they supposed they'd just stick to their old methods of changing only in the stalls, and keep on undershirts and pants for hero costume switching. It was hot and they often overheated but it was better than anyone noticing. But gods it was tough not to touch the box, even knowing how bad a decision it would be, how much risk it'd put them at.

It didn't help that something was wrong with Ochako. They could feel it, and they weren't happy with what they felt. Feelings were tough to decipher, even their own could be a mess, but something about Ochako's weird determination combined with how exhausted she always seemed was…off. Himiko's eyebags had lessened ever since she'd started getting more blood and taking care of herself, but almost inversely, Ochako's seemed to have gotten worse. And she was now always cold to the touch, often curled up into Izuku's side whenever they sat down. Not that Himiko didn't, but she seemed more inclined to it just because it was comfortable, not like Ochako who seemed to need the heat.

Izuku was not entirely sure what was wrong but they had an inkling. You don't live as close as the trio did without noticing some things. Maybe if the three were ordinary classmates, Izuku wouldn't notice as easily, but when it was just the three of them, when Izuku would often cook simple meals they'd learned from their mom for dinner, when the trio spent ninety percent of their waking hours together, you noticed things. Izuku, oblivious as they could be, noticed things. And was pretty sure Himiko noticed too.

But what do you even do? Telling someone might just make it worse, but Izuku didn't think they could let Ochako go on like this. If Izuku was right about what was wrong, and they weren't sure but had a strong hunch, confronting her might be the right decision. But how? What did they say? Because over these past five weeks, Izuku remembered that Ochako was quite possibly the most stubborn person they knew. But could they wait? Honestly…maybe they needed to talk to Himiko about it-

Their thoughts were interrupted by a slamming of a fist against their door, followed by it swinging open to reveal the exact people Izuku had just been thinking about. Izuku blinked in confusion, seeing a similarly confused expression on Ochako's face (and hating the way her face looked gaunt and pale), but Himiko gave them no time to react as she reached out and snatched up Izuku's wrist, pulling them out of their room and down the stairs to the common room, where she shoved Izuku and Ochako down onto the couch and planted her fists on her hips, glaring down at them.

"...is something the matter?" Izuku ventured asking, confused by the emotions swirling around inside Himiko. Identifying others' feelings was still difficult for them, but Himiko's right now were so weird. Guilt, shame, fear, worry, affection, a dozen feelings Izuku couldn't begin to put to words but were wrapped about Himiko like a choking, suffocating blanket of feeling that she could barely manage. Considering how much fear was radiating off her right now, they worried even more about her. Himiko's ears were twitching, her tail flicking rapidly behind her as she took a deep breath.

"...I didn't know how to do this. I don't know how to talk to you guys about this, and it's super uncute of me to do so, but I can't stand this anymore. Keep it from the others, that's fine, I'll keep my mouth shut, but I need both of you to talk to me. To each other. We're linked now, a-and I trusted you two with my secrets, with how I felt, so now I need the same from you. Because," Himiko took a deep, bracing breath, closing her eyes as she did, opening them and staring directly at the two seated before her, "I'm watching you two slowly kill yourselves and I can't stand it."

"Himi," Ochako began, but Himiko cut her off with a raised hand.

"Don't. Don't try to pacify me, Chako. I know what you're doing. You can't hide it from me. You shoulda noticed by now I have an enhanced sense of smell because you two do too now, and I can easily smell when you hide food or throw it away when we weren't looking. And you keep forgetting you can't hide your feelings from me, from us! As you put it, I was one of the 'popular' girls. Do you know what those girls did to be popular? Do you know how often they'd skip meals, workout over and over, try all these fad diets and stupid things?!"

Ochako's face twisted, her eyes narrowing, her fists visibly clenching. "I don't know what you're talking about," she replied, her voice barely above a growl. Even the fur on her ears seemed to be puffed out in frustration.

"Oh yes you fucking do!" Himiko shot back, narrowing her own eyes in return.

Izuku swallowed. "I um…I noticed too, Chako. I-I wasn't sure what it was for sure, but I kinda suspected, and-"

"Don't you start with me!" Ochako snapped at Izuku, pointing her finger into their face. "You think we can't tell how much you hate yourself? And I wanna know why it hurts to change into you! I didn't check because I thought it was wrong, but every single time we change into you, it hurts. Wanna tell me why, since we're just dragging everyone's business out apparently? Huh?"

Izuku rocked back, eyes wide, but felt their own indignation welling up inside them at Ochako's tone. "So you're turning this around on me rather than facing up to it?"

"And you're avoiding the point! Of course you are, avoiding things is what you do, I should have expected as much," Ochako retorted, rolling her eyes.

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

Ochako scoffed. "You still avoid any mention of what your school was like! Your mom and Toshi and my parents are worried about you, but you won't talk about it! To anyone! Not even to us! And by not answering, you're basically telling us everything, so dunno why you think it's worth keeping your trap shut."

"Because that doesn't matter! That's over! It's done with and we're here! What happened back then doesn't matter!" Izuku shot back, waving dismissively.

"Pretty sure it does matter, because I'm like, ninety percent sure it's why you won't let us see you in short sleeves," Himiko muttered. Before Izuku could reply, she turned her gaze back onto Ochako. "But Izu's right too, you're just running away as much as they are!"

"I am not, what I do with my damned diet is my business, not yours!" Ochako leapt to her feet, her clenched fists shaking, her tail now flicking back and forth as rapidly as Himiko's.

"Is it? So what we think doesn't matter? Because in case you forgot, when you hurt, we all hurt!" Himiko shot back, throwing her arms out wide.

"Don't get all high and mighty with us just because your business got thrown out into the open! You weren't talking before you were forced to either!" Ochako shoved her finger into Himiko's chest as she raised her voice, only a step below a shout.

"She's got a point, Himi," Izuku's reply came, much quieter but a tone of heaviness in their voice. "It's not like you were out here, telling us everything, not until you were forced to. And we didn't pester you about it."

"And you're telling me you wouldn't have? You wouldn't have confronted me about it eventually? Even knowing how I feel?" Himiko shot back, watching as the other two failed to come up with a good response to that. She didn't bother waiting for them to seek up something else, continuing on. "Yeah, having all my stuff thrown out for everyone to see sucked. Which is why I said I'll keep this between us, because I'm trying to protect you from that!"

She whirled on Ochako, poking her in the chest in a mirror to how Ochako had just done to her. "Do you really think you can hide the whole food thing from an entire dorm of hero students? From when we go to eat in the cafeteria? From the fact you are pale, and skinny, and I can see your goddamned ribs when you change?! From the pro heroes who are our teachers? The only reason they haven't caught on yet is how much they let us practice alone, but you think it'll keep going once we hit class?"

"And you," she snapped, turning about to gesture at Izuku. "You think no one will catch onto what it means when you refuse to change around them, or how you only wear long sleeved shirts and pants? Not everyone's that dumb, Izu!"

"So what, you just want us to…what? Izu's got a problem, yeah, so we can help them, but I'm fine, I know what I'm doing, I don't get why you're harping on this!" Ochako said, throwing her hands up in the air in exasperation.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Izuku demanded, finally getting to their feet and narrowing their eyes at Ochako. "I'm doing fine!"

"Izu, c'mon, no, you aren't," Himiko scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest. Izuku felt something dark slithering inside of them, their face going dark and cold as they glared at the blonde.

"I don't think you get to tell me how I'm doing. Either of you," they hissed, looking between the two of them.

"Maybe if you actually talked to us, we wouldn't have to!" Ochako shot back.

"Oh like you're any better!"

"Great, now we're going in fucking circles," Himiko interjected, rolling her eyes.

"You started this! Maybe you shouldn't just go off digging into people's personal lives, and this wouldn't happen!" Ochako shot back.

"I can't avoid feeling your feelings, in case you forgot!" Himiko retorted. "And you're not nearly as sneaky as you think you are to begin with!"

"For the thousandth time, I am fine!"

"Like hell you are."

Izuku's hands were shaking as the two girls got into one another's face, their voices raised so high Izuku was worried that a teacher would notice and come running over, something they didn't want to see. But gods, they felt so goddamned pissed right now and…oh. Oh no. Oh no no no. Izuku quickly bolted forward, shoving their arms between the two girls and pushing them back, as gently as they could but with enough force the two stopped in consternation.

"Wait! Please, wait a moment!" Izuku pleaded with them, needing to break through the pounding feelings rushing through their head, making their entire body shake. "Himi, Chako…we're just making a feedback loop right now, we have to calm down."

"The hell are you talking about, Izu?" Ochako asked, still glaring.

Izuku swallowed. "O-our anger. It's being shared. And it's just making us angrier and angrier and we're just making it worse. Like the other night, when we all got super upset, it was way worse because we all were and it fed off each other's emotions. We have to stay calm, else we'll say something we can't take back."

"Shit," Himiko cursed, looking away. "I should've thought of that before I said something…fuck." After a moment, all the rage seemed to drain out of her and her shoulders slumped, looking down at the ground. "...'m sorry," she mumbled. "I didn't mean to make things worse. I-I just…I'm worried about you guys. A-and you helped me out when I was hurting so…I wanted to help you, you know."

It was like a bucket of cold water was thrown over Izuku, seeing Himiko's forlorn expression and feeling the surge of her guilt and shame. They could see Ochako's stricken face, the anger that had been coiling within her snapping and giving way to something else, something much more painful as she took a step back as if to center herself.

"...I'm sorry too. I um…I shouldn't have snapped at you," Ochako muttered.

"No, I shouldn't have just tried to force you to talk, I-"

"But you were just trying to help and I-"

"Chako-"

"Himi-"

"Izuku?" Izuku replied, cutting in between the two girls with an arched eyebrow as they noticed the duo starting to get trapped in self-recrimination. Izuku couldn't get rid of the nauseating feeling in their stomach, at how quickly they had almost gotten to blows, but they were forcing that feeling down as much as possible to try and get them back to a level playing field. Izuku could set aside their feelings when need be, so they could help the other two first. And if it took a dumb joke, well…they'd give it a shot. Toshinori did say cultivating a silly persona worked for him, after all.

"...you're a dork, Izu," Himiko said after a moment of consternation…but Izuku felt the tiniest shred of happiness at seeing Himiko giving them a sly half-smile.

Ochako cleared her throat, drawing their attention to her. "...I…I don't think I'm ready to um, to talk about that um…yet. I guess. Um…I-I wanna go for a walk. Can we talk um…tonight, maybe? I just need to get my head on straight I guess."

"...yeah, that's probably a good idea. I'm…gonna go train for a bit, and uh…yeah. Okay. Himiko, you were right, we learned about what hurt you and…maybe you deserve to know why I'm um…the way I am, I guess. Just, give me some time, okay?" Izuku added.

"Y-yeah, of course. I'll um…I'm gonna go do something else too. We'll meet back, later tonight I guess?" Himiko asked, unsure.

"Yeah. Okay. I'll um…I'll be going then," Ochako murmured, walking swiftly past the other two and heading for the door. Izuku nodded, their throat feeling closed, as they started to head up to their room to change into their training outfit, leaving Himiko standing there in the middle of the common room, looking lost. After a moment, she sighed, slowly walking out the door and heading the opposite direction she saw Ochako walking.