Himiko Toga entered Big Bang Burger cautiously, dressed in a worn-out school uniform and a bag clutched in her arms. She looked startled when Izuku greeted her by name, but allowed him to buy her a meal—the biggest one they had, all in cash—before they sat down at their out of the way table. Makoto and Ryuji introduced themselves using their codenames, and Izuku allowed her to get a few bites of food in before asking about her family.
"Thank you for reaching out to us, Toga-chan. We wanted to ask more questions about your situation, if that would be alright? You were very vague in your post."
Himiko took a sip of her drink, looking down at the table. "You guys… work for the Phantom Thieves, right? You won't report to anyone else?"
"We work for the Phantom Aficionado Website," Makoto gently corrected. "While we personally don't communicate with the Phantom Thieves, we do have ways of getting information to them that doesn't involve the public forum. I promise, no one will know it was you that exposed your parents' misdeeds."
She scowled. "They aren't my parents. They made that clear when they kicked me out when I was twelve."
"Okay, then. Why don't we start from the beginning? Why do the Phantom Thieves need to target Mempo and Hannya?"
Nodding, Himiko took a deep breath and held it in before releasing slowing. "Okay. The beginning… I guess that would be when I got my quirk." Izuku's stomach dropped through the floor. "I don't really remember what my life was like before it, but… my quirk is scary. Horrifying. It's nothing like my parents; it's a random mutation, although my ex-dad did think his wife cheated on him for a while. My ex-mom got me a DNA test immediately, so it put a stop to that really quick."
"Would you like to tell us what your quirk is?" Izuku offered. "You don't have to, but it could help with the case against them."
She licked her lips. "…Blood transformation," she said quietly, ashamed. "If I drink someone's blood, I turn into an exact copy of them. It… I've always loved blood. I love how it looks, how it smells, how it tastes… but that makes me a monster. I tried to surpress it—they told me to suppress it—but I gave up a while ago. I'm just a creepy demon child, and my parents hate me for it."
Both Ryuji and Makoto looked taken aback by that, so Izuku reached out his hand and comforted her. "That's basic quick influence," he said. "Because of your quirk, your brain is naturally hardwired towards liking the thing that fuels it. Its made worse if you suppress it, and any normal quirk councilor would have told you that, Toga-chan. What you're experiencing is completely normal and it's not your fault."
She stared at him with wide eyes brimming with tears. "Really?"
Izuku nodded. "Really. What your parents did, how they raised you, was wrong, and I'm sorry it happened to you."
Covering her face, Himiko shuttered, trying not to cry in front of them. Makoto passed her a pack of tissues from her bookbag and they allowed her a few minutes to recollect herself.
"Okay, so that's child abuse and quirk discrimination," Ryuji said. Was he taking notes? "The Phansite gets those cases a lot, so no problem getting the Phantom Thieves to stop 'em. Is there anything else?" Izuku and Makoto glared at him. "What? It's common! You guys don't have to hear Mishima talkin' about it all the time—Ow!" Makoto had kicked him under the table.
Fortunately, Himiko seemed to find Ryuji's bluntness charming because she giggled through her tears. "Y-Yeah, they've probably got their hands full. But it's not just me they hurt. When I was eleven, my m- Hannya got pregnant again. They stopped caring about me around then; they still wanted me to act normal and stuff, but they didn't bother harassing me about it at home, so I thought things were good. I was really looking forward to being a big sister too…
"Then, when I was twelve and my little brother was born, they kicked me out. They changed the locks while I was at school, left my clothes outside, and said that they'd call the heroes on me if I ever showed up again. I didn't know it was illegal at the time… I really thought the heroes would come and throw me away in Tartarus. So I ran."
Ryuji slammed a fist on the table. "Those bastards! How could they just abandon you like that!?" Izuku looked around to see if anyone was paying attention, but the cashier was attending to an irate customer several meters away, and neither were paying much attention to them.
She laughed. "I know, right? They said it was so I didn't infect the baby with my freakiness, but I know they just wanted to get rid of me. They probably wanted to do it for years."
"Is that why you reached out to us?" Makoto asked.
"…Kinda. You see, Hannya is a really… image-focused person. Mempo is too, but she posts everything on social media, but only the stuff that looks good. I've been able to stalk them for the past few years, on Fatebook and Instantgram, to keep track of my little brother. She posts about him regularly, but a few weeks ago, it was his fourth birthday… And she hasn't posted a single photo of him since."
"…You think he got a quirk like yours, don't you?"
"It's the only thing that makes sense," she said with a despondent shrug. "She has already started deleting photos of him. Someone asked about the deletion and she said that they just "wanted to respect his privacy," as if anyone should actually believe that. They're hurting my little brother, I just know it. That's why I need the Phantom Thieves help. I can't go to the police; they're too high up in the Hero Commission to be touched, and I can't do anything. The only people who could help me are the Phantom Thieves."
"Don't worry, Toga-chan," Ryuji said. "We—I mean, the Phantom Thieves are definitely going to help you, and your brother. I promise."
Izuku face-palmed.
She smiled. "Thanks, Zou-chan."
They waited for Himiko to finish eating before buying her another meal to-go. She left before them, and, on the dark streets, they watched her walk away before addressing their mission.
Makoto was the first one to speak. "Well, this definitely is a case for the Phantom Thieves."
Izuku agreed. "Yeah. We have the name and location, so that just leaves the distortion, right?"
"Yeah. Kamoshida was king of the school, Madarame had a museum, stuff like that. It's pretty freaky."
"Before we do anything, we should meet up with the others," Makoto said. "We still haven't voted on if we're going to do anything yet."
"We should at least check out the Palace before the vote. Do you think everyone would be free tomorrow after school?"
Ryuji held up his phone. "Already got it covered. I got everyone to agree while we were still waiting for Toga-chan to arrive."
Queen nodded. "Then we'll meet at the Hero Commission building tomorrow after school."
They all left, none of them noticing the girl listening in on their conversation.