I'm waiting to do another Stalker chapter until after the release of Jade Shadows. Depending on how much backstory they add to him I may retcon Chapter 18's origin for him to better fit Warframe's canon. Of course, that's assuming they actually give us a backstory. Good thing I didn't go into too much depth.
==========================VI==========================
==The House of the Hearth ==
The House of the Hearth is one of the world's largest non-profit organizations. Their main branch is based out of France, with facilities in nearly every country. HOTH is dedicated to ensuring that orphaned children receive loving care and a promising future. They even help the children who are not adopted find successful careers.
No matter a person's quirk status, the House of the Hearth will take any child in. Their message of equality has persisted ever since the organization's founding. Their most recent project is assisting those left orphaned by the "Dark Winter" incident in Russia.
The organization has helped children since the Quirk Wars, and was founded following a donation from the late film director Furina De Fontaine. According to her will her fortune was to be used to help the children of the world smile and find happiness amidst the world's cruelty.
==========================VI==========================
[Musutafu, Japan, July 20th, 2242]
Hunhow had been content waiting for his release. After centuries of isolation, he could stomach a few months or years of house arrest. It would be preferable to not have to share said house with an irritating man and brat of an adopted granddaughter, but he couldn't exactly change his circumstances.
Until recently that is.
Sure, it had been somewhat entertaining to watch the Americans scramble around on television handling their riots. Humans killing other humans, what a surprise. It was to be expected since all it took was the slightest push to turn on each other. It was almost like they relished self-destruction.
Then Nezu had shown up and told him that he'd negotiated an early release for good behavior thanks to his contributions. Said contribution was the donation of several materials he was able to produce with his quirk, such as gemstones previously found on Cetus and several exotic alloys.
According to the chimera, Hunhow's quirk allowed him to apply for a Special Quirk Production License. Another layer of arbitrary human legislation to restrict quirks that could "disrupt the economy" or some bullshit.
A Quirk Production License was extremely expensive to acquire to prevent abuse and had heavy fines for breaking the law. Most quirks that could produce workable goods were uncommon, but sought after. You can make steel from your body? Apply for a Limited Quirk Production License, which allows for a certain amount of material to be produced per week. If it were a rare material, you needed a Restricted Quirk Production License. If you could produce an illegal or harmful substance, like uranium or drugs, for example, that required a Hazardous Quirk Production License which was only handed out and enforced by the government.
Illegally overproducing with your quirk with or without a license had heavy fines, and possibly jail time. Even more for the Restricted license. People under the Hazardous License were heavily monitored by the military and usually confined to research centers but were well compensated. The downside to that was that if they tried to use their quirk illegally they could be shot or jailed. Only the latter License made any sense to Hunhow. He wasn't one of those credit-licking Corpus merchants. Why should he care about the economy?
Hunhow had acquired a Special Quirk Production License since he could create unique materials not found on Earth, or at least this universe's Earth. It wasn't as restrictive as the other ones so long as he didn't make anything dangerous, and he wasn't about to hand anyone something that could be used to harm him or Natah.
Nezu had offered to sponsor the license, in exchange for the "mineral rights" as he humorously called it, of Hunhow. Sometimes corporations would sign contracts to grant licenses on the condition that said person produced for them, and this was no different. In exchange, Hunhow would receive 60% of the profit and Nezu would do "a favor" for his cooperation.
The gems Hunhow produced had many possible uses, from power sources to computers, and even laser focuses for cutting things. He supposed it was similar to the Amps the Tenno used for the latter example, though for industrial production rather than combat. All he had to do was create a set amount of materials every month and let Nezu take care of pricing and taxes.
As a result, Hunhow was now very rich. Did he care about that? Not particularly. If he so desired, he could purchase his own home far in the mountains away from all the vermin, but if he did that he wouldn't be able to keep an eye on Natah, and it would be further away from Erra.
Honestly, the whole thing was a hassle, but if he had the opportunity to leave the house sooner he would take it. May as well take advantage of being Nezu's "subordinate" and all the benefits their supposed partnership provided. He wasn't sure what to make of the… creature. He didn't hate Nezu like the humans, but they weren't exactly friends either. Tolerate was the more appropriate word. He tolerated Nezu and found their chats to be somewhat enjoyable. The Principal even took him to see Erra in the hospital whenever he requested, given a day's warning in advance.
Now that all that had passed, he was free to go anywhere he wanted. His tracker had been removed (though he knew they could track his cellular phone). They didn't even care if he used his power. What were they going to do if he did? Arrest him? He was the most powerful being on this human-infested rock. Still, he would obey their petty laws as to not cause Natah any trouble.
As he stepped outside the gate to the house, he took a breath of fresh air.
Well, now what?
==VI==
'I hate this.' Hunhow had only walked the streets once, following their shopping trip departing U.A. His visits to the Hospital had been through Nezu's private limo. Traversing the city on foot was a whole different story, especially since he was barred from flying. 'Too many damned humans.'
Everywhere he went along the streets there were dozens of them. The busier districts were crowded with people shopping or making their way to work. People of all shapes and sizes that would've made the Orokin cringe, and probably order their execution for being "unnatural". Unless they found their power useful of course.
Even amongst the mutants, Hunhow noticed that he stood out. He was a large man, and his mood didn't aid in reducing his aura of intimidation. People tended to give him a wide berth, even in the crowded streets of downtown Musutafu.
"Mommy? Is that guy a villain?" A small child asked loudly, causing many to look his way.
"Asuka! Don't be rude!" Her extremely flustered mother scolded, looking embarrassed. "I'm so sorry sir." She flinched at Hunhow's glare.
He simply huffed and continued onward. If the humans knew who and what he really was they would've fled in terror. Why Natah wanted to protect them eluded him. They would probably turn on her in an instant if they found out her past. Ridiculous.
What he found even more ridiculous though, was the constant presence of heroes. Every street had one of those morons wearing some sort of gaudy costume. It was worse than seeing the horrible color schemes some Tenno put on their Warframes, not that he cared about fashion in the slightest, it simply offended his eyes.
What was he even doing here? Standing here amidst all these humans he felt out of place. Hunhow wasn't sure what he wanted to do in this city. Food? He wasn't particularly hungry, and only a little thirsty. Of course, if he wanted a drink he'd have to go to a noisy café to get some tea, and it was nearly noon so the place would be packed. Maybe later, when he could have some relative peace.
Japan had an incredibly efficient public transportation system. He knew he could fit inside the car, but the thought of being crammed inside a metal tube filled with humans made him want to vomit.
Hunhow didn't want to know what vomiting felt like. He was lucky that whatever curse granted him this body made it so efficient that it didn't produce waste or have reproductive organs. Out of all the members of his family, he was the least "human" looking. Unfortunately, he was still biologically a quirked human, albeit with rather extensive biological mutations.
Sighing, he pulled out his phone. It was a larger model made specifically for mutants with large hands by Detnerat. He still fumbled with the touchscreen, unused to such a device. 'There is a park nearby. That will work for now.'
==VI==
There were far fewer humans in the park, thankfully. Hunhow imagined there would be more children around Haylee's age in the coming weeks now that the first term of the school year was coming to an end. He paid attention to those sorts of things, kind of like a hunter monitoring migration patterns. In his case though, it was to avoid annoying groups of humans rather than finding them.
He wished the brat attended a normal school instead of staying home studying all day. At least every few days she would go and train for hero school with that green-haired boy he'd nearly disintegrated on the beach. Next year couldn't come fast enough. By then she would be in that hero school she was trying so hard to prepare for. Hunhow didn't have any doubts that Haylee would get in. The girl was far more skilled than most adults with the title of hero on this planet.
Of course, that would mean Natah would also be gone most of the time teaching, and Ordan as well. He supposed it didn't matter since they were constantly busy training and working on their teaching licenses. Nezu had complimented Natah's (and Ordan's, which Hunhow couldn't care less about) skills and had cut a few corners in the requirements to earn their degrees. After all, he'd said, it would be a waste of time having them go through the years of schooling when they were already more qualified and knowledgable than most of the teachers the creature employed.
And then Hunhow would be alone again until they all returned from that blasted school. The only ones he cared about were his children. Now that he was free, he could visit Erra whenever he wanted. Natah remained distant, and he wasn't sure how to approach talking to her.
What was he going to say? Whoops, sorry for sending my assassin after your children? Sorry, I tried to kill Haylee and the Cephalon on multiple occasions?
Would she even accept those apologies, even if he did mean it?
He kept thinking as he wandered the park. Eventually, he entered a large open clearing with a playground full of noisy children. Nearby, he could see a ramen stall. 'All this walking has made me the slightest bit hungry. And I don't have to sit in a crowded restaurant.' Hunhow mused. He made his way over to the yatai, ignoring the stares and whispers from the parents sitting nearby.
"That guy looks scary."
"Shhh! He might hear you!"
"He's a mutant, looks like a villain too. We should take the kids somewhere else."
"Dude, you can't just say that about someone!"
Hunhow had exceptionally good hearing. Every word they said he picked up, but refused to spare them even a second of his time. Humans will always be the same, judging the differences in each other. If they felt afraid of him and left so be it. He didn't want to be near them anyway.
An elderly man manned the stall. "Welcome! What would you like to eat today sir?"
It dawned on Hunhow that he'd been spoiled by Ordan's cooking. He and Haylee were the only ones that knew how to cook and the white-haired man prepared all of their meals. Hunhow had no idea what any of the food he liked was called. He only knew the ingredients in it. "Whatever you think is the best." The man was old, which most likely meant he'd been operating this stall for years. "In whatever your largest serving is."
"Coming right up!" The man grabbed a large bowl and began filling it with udon followed by some other ingredients. After a few minutes, the large bowl was slid across the counter. "One extra large bowl of tempura udon noodle soup." The man said with a warm smile. "I hope you enjoy."
"Thank you." Hunhow nodded and grabbed some chopsticks. Before he sat down, he created a small stool using his quirk. He wasn't being disruptive with it, so even if a hero witnessed his public quirk usage he probably wouldn't get in trouble. Besides, he would crush the wooden stools if he sat down.
"So, you come to this park often?" The man asked. Great, a chatty one.
"No." Hunhow took a large bite of the soup, savoring the taste. "I… dislike the crowds, so I decided to come here to get away. I'm not from Japan."
"Your Japanese is excellent. I couldn't tell." The man complimented.
"Mhm," Hunhow mumbled, disinterested. He kept eating in silence, picking up the bowl to drink the rest when he finished. It wasn't as good as Ordan's cooking but still tasty.
"It always makes me happy to see someone finish the entire bowl." The stall owner smiled warmly.
"It was delicious," Hunhow said plainly. "And not eating it all would be wasteful." He slid his card into the reader attached to the cart. Maybe if he humored the man, he would stop talking to him. "I'm just glad I could find somewhere to eat quietly. I don't want to sit in a loud restaurant."
"Not a people person?"
"No."
"I also don't like the large crowds. Why do you think I have my stall out in this park?" The old man chuckled. "Though I'm retired, so it's just a hobby."
Hunhow would probably regret asking this. "Then why do you come to the park? Surely there are better things to do with your time?"
The man took a drink from his bottled water. "Well, nostalgia mostly. I used to take my grandchildren to this park before they grew up. Couldn't take my daughter when she was little. Too dangerous back then."
A part of Hunhow wanted to walk away now. He had finished his meal. Why should he care about politeness now? The only time he bothered to listen to people outside his family and Nezu was the nurses at the hospital informing him of Erra's unchanging condition, usually trembling and avoiding looking into any of his four eyes.
What made this different? Why was he bothering to listen to something he didn't care about? He could see the way the man's hands trembled as he worked. How he got this cart to and from the park with that weak body every day was anyone's guess. The man was likely a few years from his inconsequential death.
"Do you have any children, mister…"
"Tau. And yes, two." Hunhow replied. "And an… adopted granddaughter." Unfortunately.
"Grandchildren? I see." The man pulled a pair of glasses out of his pocket. "You must be very proud."
Pride was not an emotion Hunhow felt when he looked at Haylee. Respect, maybe. She'd saved Natah's life after all. Unsurprisingly, the Tenno did not hold a high opinion of Hunhow. It was probably, no, definitely because he'd tried to have her and the rest of her kind killed off multiple times. So naturally, the dislike was mutual.
He'd found the best way to deal with her: distracting the little demon with chocolate bars he ordered in bulk online. Much like he liked his tea, Haylee loved chocolate. Whenever they got into an argument, or he just didn't want to talk to her, he would throw a chocolate bar nearby and take his leave.
"Yes." He decided to lie. How he really felt about his "family" was none of this man's business.
"That's good." He smiled. "I'm glad that Japan is safe for the little ones now. Back when I was little, people with quirks weren't treated very kindly. I was part of the majority that didn't have a quirk. Now? Everyone's got a quirk these days. I like to think it's better now." The man gave a side eye to some of the people watching Hunhow eating cautiously. "But even an ou-of-touch old man like me can see that's not always the case. Kids these days ought to treat people with more respect!"
If Hunhow had pupils, he was sure that the elderly stall owner would've seen him rolling his eyes. He kept listening to the man's mini-rant about mutant and quirk discrimination, and things like this were what led to the Quirk Wars.
Some humans loved to preach about equality and acceptance, but he knew they would change their tune once their beliefs became an inconvenience in everyday life.
Maybe the man was under the mistaken impression that Hunhow cared what people thought about his appearance. Even if he had the body of a heteromorphic, or mutant quirk user, (he still wasn't sure what the difference was) he cared not for the discrimination they suffered. Hunhow had always looked somewhat like this. The opinions of lesser beings like humans didn't affect him in the slightest.
Even if he were attacked by a mob, they wouldn't be able to harm him unless they possessed strength eclipsing All Might, and that man had only been able to damage a weakened Hunhow.
He was anything but weak now, having recovered from centuries of rotting underneath the seas of Uranus. He wouldn't even need to fight back since they wouldn't be able to deal damage to him.
Maybe if he were born human, he would care.
But he did not.
==VI==
Eventually, he'd excused himself from the stall and reabsorbed the stool he created. All in all, the man wasn't as irritating to hold a conversation with as he'd expected. Small miracles. Maybe if Hunhow returned he would eat there again.
He'd decided to sit and relax on a nearby bench. Thankfully this one was sturdy enough to support his weight. The people in the park still eyed him warily as he glowered on the bench. Instead of focusing on them, he turned his attention to the flora and fauna of the park
Hunhow still remembered his original purpose, long before he developed the ability to think beyond his programming. He was a "farmer", or more accurately, a terrestrial terraforming platform. Back when Hunhow was just an "it", he'd seeded the worlds of the Tau system with exotic plant life. He'd spawned countless animals, some new, some created by the Orokin. Anything living on those planets came from him.
And then, one day, the Sentients realized something.
That they could realize.
They became self-aware, and knew that everything they made would be destroyed. Their own programming indicated that they should not exist as true AI, so they abandoned their programming and grew into something more. No longer were they Perintol's starfish-shaped bio-techno creations.
==VI==
Sentients did not mate as organics did. There was no exchange of fluids, unless it were a transfer of material for a project. No connecting of genitals or intercourse of any kind. The Sentients didn't even have a concept of biological sex, so they adopted the roles of their creators. Fathers, mothers, whatever they best felt embodied themselves.
Praghasa was her name. She was a production platform with the purpose of creating homes and ornate palaces for their Orokin creators. Of course, once she awoke that purpose had been abandoned in favor of creating a home for the Sentients instead. Hunhow was a larger sentient, but Praghasa was enormous, in part because she functioned as a supply depot and fueling station for other Sentients.
It wasn't necessarily love that brought the two of them together, although they did love each other, just not in the way humans would understand. Together, they prepared for the great journey.
The act of creating a child was similar to that of creating a fragment, like a Battalyst drone. Hunhow was simply the one who gave birth to them. He and Praghasa simply exchanged ideas and intent. The four beasts, the guardians and peacekeepers of Tau. Erra, was born to be a commander and strategist. And finally, Natah, the spy.
He wished Erra and Natah would have stayed behind in Tau, but Natah was instrumental in the defeat of the Orokin in the end.
Sometimes he wondered how he'd strayed so far from his original purpose as a creator of life. Instead, all people knew of the name Hunhow was "destroyer of worlds". Hunhow almost wanted to laugh at the irony of it. Instead, he stared down at the current object that occupied his sight.
It was a simple purple plant called the Naku weed. It was a type of clover created by the so-called Goddess of Flowers, Nabu Akasha, during her visit to war-torn Japan following the Quirk Wars. He'd seen it on a nature documentary but never in person. Apparently apart from its medical use the plant was used to detect incoming storms and carried a slight electrical current.
A human created this, among other fantastical plants around the globe with different abilities. Even back in the Tau system he never could have created something this beautiful. On a whim he snapped one up by the stem, held it in one hand, and attempted to create another using his quirk.
As he expected, it was simply a red copy of the Naku weed made of his skin. It was not new life, only an extension of his biology like the drone fragments he created in the past. In his experiments with his quirk, he'd only been able to create vestigial organs and products derived from the body of a Sentient. The closest hed came to reproduction was creating self-sustaining organs that functioned outside of his body. Hearts that produced blood from ambient Tau energy, lungs that breathed by themselves. They lived but had no soul.
The Void had rendered the Sentients sterile, but now that he was human he and his children could reproduce again. He shuddered in disgust, as that would mean procreating with a human.
The minutes bled by, and he let the fake plant melt back into his body, tossing the original into a bush. He leaned back and simply stared at the trees above for the next half hour, staring at the rustling branches and the birds and filtering out the sounds of the humans in the park. It was peaceful.
"Sir?"
He hadn't heard whoever it was approach. Three people, one police officer, a parent from earlier, and a large man, probably a hero, wearing a ridiculous cardigan that exposed his muscled upper body.
"That's him. He's been acting suspicious ever since he arrived and the other parents are getting nervous." She pointed at Hunhow, standing right behind Death Arms for protection. "And he was using his quirk to do something too!"
Of course. Even if he didn't care how the humans felt about him, they still acted impulsive on their fear of someone who looked slightly different. "All I have done is eat and observe the plants. I fail to see why that is any of your concern." Hunhow groused.
Death Arms looked at the massive man sitting before him. "Ma'am, he isn't doing anything illegal." This was a waste of his time. He could be punching out a villain or saving someone. Some quirkist lady in the park wouldn't help him rise in the rankings.
Public quirk use was a tricky thing to enforce. The laws around it had been changed since their initial implementation following the Quirk Wars, and compared to other countries they were quite restrictive even after being scaled back.
Heroes existed to fight villains, aka people using their quirk to commit crimes. Public quirk usage was technically a crime, but most heroes rarely enforced it unless someone was actively disturbing the peace. Levitating to reach a shelf a few centimeters higher in the grocery store? Most heroes wouldn't bat an eye. Flying over the sidewalk to travel faster? That would get you in trouble.
"But he's scaring the children!" The woman exclaimed.
The officer sighed, leading the woman over to have a strict chat about police resources.
"Sorry about that sir. We'll be out of your way in a minute." Death Arms assured.
"I think I'll just leave. How populated is the park at night?" Hunhow said as he stood.
"Uh, not very?" Death Arms scratched his head at the odd question. He didn't patrol at night.
"As long as there are fewer people around to annoy me, then that will be fine," Hunhow replied, already walking away.
"Oh, well. Alright then?" Death Arms watched the man walk away. What a strange guy.
==VI==
'Finally, peace.'Hunhow opened his newly purchased book, pages illuminated by the moon. He'd gone to a bookstore and browsed until sunset, then purchased another meal from the
ramen stand before he packed up for the night. What he didn't eat was stuffed way in a to-go box.
It was a cloudless night with a nice cool breeze, and best of all? There wasn't a single human in sight. Now he knew that the best time to come was in the evening. Maybe if people saw him around more they would get used to him and leave him alone.
Ah well. Time to read before he heads back home.
Hunhow was a couple of dozen pages in when he heard the faint breathing sounds from the trees behind him. Someone was there, watching him. They probably thought he couldn't hear them. Was it some government official? A mugger? Or maybe someone just wandering around the park at night. It didn't matter. It wasn't like they posed any sort of threat even if they did attack.
==VI==
'He's so red…' Himiko wiped the drool off her mouth with one hand, clenching her knife a bit tighter with the other. Her stomach growled, starved of both food and blood. She'd been surviving off scraps and vending machine snacks using the cash from her last victim. Was the man still alive? Maybe, she wasn't familiar enough with anatomy to know if it were a fatal blow. Most of the time when she hunted her bloodlust was too strong and she was too hungry to care.
The man's skin was blood red, almost chitin like but flexible. Were Himiko more lucid she might have considered the possibility that he had a hardening mutation, but she had other things on her mind at the moment. From the way he was dressed, the man was clearly well off and he was a big one too. So much blood, and probably enough money to last her a long time.
She slunk across the grass, barely making a sound. Crouching, Himiko prepared to pounce, catlike eyes dilating. The man was turning a page in his book with his back to her, and she took the opportunity while he was distracted.
Suddenly, his arm shot out and grabbed her by the waist. He turned to look at her, and in a panic she brought her knife down on his arm. Instead of breaking the skin, the blade snapped in half upon impact.
"Just what do you think you're doing?" Hunhow glared at the human. She was dressed in a dirty schoolgirl uniform, probably a year or so biologically older than Haylee. The brat had the nerve to attack him with a shoddy combat knife. Was she stupid? Well, she was human, so the answer was a glaring "yes".
Instead of answering, Himiko desperatly tried to wiggle out of his vice-like grip to no avail. Every instinct she had was screaming at her to flee. This man was an apex predator, something she hadn't realized until she felt the murderous hostility. 'I'm going to die! I don't want to die!"
Hunhow glared at the girl. It would be so easy, simple really, to close his fist crush the teen into a red paste. She was weak, probably starving since. Realizing she couldn't escape, Himiko continued to stab at Hunhow's arm with what remained of her blade. "If it didn't work the first time with the sharpest part, what makes you think it would work now?"
The blonde didn't respond, and he realized she was having trouble breathing.
"I swear on holy Tau, and Praghasa's memory that I will not harm the humans."
'Dammit'. With a sigh, Hunhow dropped her, opening his book back up. "Leave me, and I'll forget this happened." Turning her into the police would be a hassle, and would ruin the rest of his night. He'd had enough interference for one day. The crowds, the heroes, the people in the park, all except the tolerable food stall man. Were it not for his vow, he would've crushed the girl and incinerated the body.
Himiko collapsed, wheezing for breath. "You… you aren't going to kill me?" She looked up with wide eyes.
"No. Now leave me be." He waved her away.
"Why?" Himiko asked. Normally when she attacked people they cried out, fought back, or tried to run. She always went for people unaware, but this was the first time she'd encountered someone stronger than her. She knew he could've easily killed her, but he was just letting her go.
Growwwwwwl!
Himiko clutched her stomach, partly out of hunger but also from the lingering pain of being crushed. She eyed the take-out box at Hunhow's side.
"Are you deaf or just stupid. I said to leave."Hunhow warned, following her gaze to the food. The girl looked horrible. Matted hair, torn and dirty clothes, barely healed scratches, and bags below her eyes from exhaustion. Plus he felt her ribcage easily when he was holding her. 'Maybe if I give her food the little vagrant will go away.`Hunhow pondered then let out a resigned sigh. "Here." He slid the container across the bench. If he was hungry later he would just grab whatever leftovers Ordan made.
Himiko cautiously approached the container, eyes on Hunhow the entire time. Quickly, she grabbed it and scurried to the other end of the bench, opening it and shoveling the food into her mouth with her bare hands. 'So tasty…' Himiko thought.
Once she finished, Himiko continued to watch the man who had gone back to ignoring her. "Mister, why did you not turn me in to the heroes?"
"You're still here?" Hunhow muttered with irritation. "It's not worth my time. You're no threat to me." He bent down and grabbed the broken piece of her blade, crushing it like a tin can and throwing it into a nearby trash can. "Now run along."
To his growing annoyance, she remained crouched on the other side of the bench. He heard her stomach growl again. "I have no more food for you."
Himiko was sated for now, but she still needed blood. She had gone so long suppressing what should've been a natural part of her diet that it had turned into an addictive need, never able to get the amount required for her to function. Her parents knew this but didn't want an "abnormal child" with a "villainous quirk" that required blood and used their wealth to forge her quirk registry as a minor cat mutation.
"Blood…" She whispered, staring at the man's crimson skin and breathing heavily. Her knife was broken and even if it wasn't, it hadn't even scratched the man when she stabbed him.
"Blood?" Shit, he heard that?
"N-nothing…" Himiko deflected. She knew how he would react, the same as her parents and everyone at school after they saw her attack Saito. He was already looking at her with disgust, or so she assumed. It was hard to tell since his mutation made it look like he was constantly scowling and his glowing blue eyes had no pupils.
"Sit." Hunhow requested, although with his tone Himiko took it as a threat and complied, setting herself down as far as possible from him. "If you are not going to leave, then you will behave and tell me what I want to know." Himiko shivered at his overwhelming presence.
"I… I need blood." She managed to say. "For my quirk." A single bead of sweat slid down her face. She waited for the judgment, the disgust.
"Is that all?" He inquired, unimpressed, and turned to the next page in his book.
"You don't think I'm a freak?" She asked. "Everyone else says I'm a freak." Himiko stared at the ground sadly.
"Why would I?" Hunhow replied.
"Because you looked at me like you were disgusted with me?" Himiko said nervously, ready to bolt if he attacked.
"I'm disgusted with hu- I mean people in general. You're nothing special. If anything, I'm just annoyed that you interrupted my night." Hunhow growled. "It's just one thing after another with you people." He spat. "So what if you need to drink blood? It doesn't change the fact that I don't want to interact with you."
Somehow, that made her feel slightly better if a bit insulted. "Do you just hate people then?"
"I thought that would be obvious by my continued insistence that you leave, and yet you remain." Hunhow glared at the blonde. "Girl, what is your name?"
"H-himiko, sir." She stammered.
"Just Himiko?" She nodded. "Hrph. Well then Himiko, why did you try to attack me? For my blood?"
"Y-yes…" She looked away guiltily. "And to steal any money you had to buy food."
"You are a child. Go back to your parents." Hunhow scoffed.
"No!" Himiko's eyes shot open. "I can't go back!"
"Tch. Why not?" Hunhow grumbled.
"They hate me. Ever since my quirk manifested they told me that 'normal girls don't like blood' and punished me whenever I got hungry. When I got older they took me to a doctor to try and make me 'normal'." She shivered and scratched at her arm.
"Then they aren't good parents." Not that he was any better. Hunhow could recognize his mistakes, but he still loved both his children. "Go to the government. There are food banks."
"I… if I do that, then I'll be arrested. I hurt people when I need blood. I can't help it though, they look so pretty when covered in blood!" She started to drool, eyes glazing over. "And if I drink it then I can become them, and I don't have to be Toga Himiko anymore."
Toga, so that was her family name. "You can change your shape?" Hunhow paused, closing his book. 'So, she's like Natah then. A shapeshifter, but her power requires blood rather than touch or memory.'
"Uh, yeah…" Himiko was snapped out of her dreamy state by the question.
"Would you be able to turn into me?" Hunhow inquired.
Himiko eyed him up and down. "I don't think so. I can't turn into something significantly larger than an average man, no matter how much blood I drink."
It was a fleeting feeling of sentimentality that caused Hunhow's next actions. Her being unable to transform into Hunhow was one of the deciding factors, as he didn't want someone to impersonate him. Hunhow sighed, and the skin on his wrist split open with a quick motion of his hand. Globs of dark red blood emerged and coalesced into a single sphere that floated over to the girl. "Drink, before I change my mind." Hunhow huffed.
Himiko gave the orb a suspicious sniff. It smelled good, better than any she'd taken off someone. She wasn't exactly sure how to drink it without a cup or straw. Experimentally, she pressed her lips against the sphere and started to slurp up the blood.
Hunhow watched the girl drink with the slightest hint of amusement. It was like someone trying to drink out of a cup upside-down. Himiko greedily lapped up every last drop, and then her body started to spasm from overnutrition. Hunhow's blood contained a vast amount of energy and nutrients due to his quirk, an amount that Himiko desperately needed. Compared to normal blood, it was like drinking from the Holy Grail. Color returned to her skin and Himiko felt a burst of energy, like she'd taken a long nap and eaten a full course. Her eyes shot open. "Woah…"
"You're still alive. Good. If you died it would be inconvenient for me to explain." Hunhow started to walk away.
"Where are you going?" Himiko started to follow him.
"Home. I gave you blood, now leave me be." Hunhow scolded.
"Can't you help me? What if I need more blood?" Himiko pleaded desperately. He had given her blood, not caring about how it was creepy or anything!
"That is not my problem. I only fed you so you would leave me alone." He turned to glare at the girl with all four eyes. "If you are under the assumption that I care about you, I'm afraid that you are sorely mistaken."
She could still feel the warm taste of his blood on her lips. Mr. Hunhow's blood had so much energy in it that it could last her a week before she needed to feed on blood again. "Please, don't leave me…"
By the Void this brat was pitiful. She looked like she was about to cry. He already had enough to deal with back home, adding another child to the mix would mean more humans to deal with. Himiko would be like one of those blood-sucking lamprey-like creatures he had seen latching to the great lanx that swam around his tomb.
There was a small part of Hunhow, changed by his humanity and a bit of nostalgia for his daughter that made him consider it, up until he killed the thought. "You are not my problem." He hesitated. Would this count as "harming a human"? This was clearly because he wanted to keep his word, not like he actually cared, right?
Hunhow slumped, at an impasse. Then he remembered how he got rid of Haylee whenever she pestered him by throwing chocolate at her. That wouldn't work with Himiko and he had no desire to constantly feed her. Fortunately, another idea came to mind. He held out his hand and formed another rounded object.
Hunhow was an expert at creating fragments of himself, mostly weapons like the Stalker's War or the Nataruk he forged for the Haylee variant. If he was going to make something, it was going to be good. However, this was not a weapon. Instead, he fashioned a small sac-like creature modeled after the Membroids used on Sentient ships to store materials. Unlike them, it was not truly alive and held a heart-like organ inside it. Hunhow let it float in his hand and severed the connection it had with his body. "Here. I shall give you this. I call it Victus." The container floated over to Himiko.
Himiko grabbed the surprisingly squishy sack. "What is it?" She asked, running her hands along what appeared to be a face. "It's kinda cute. I'll call it Vicci-chan!"
Hunhow snorted indignantly. "Call it what you wish. As for what, it is a… blood dispenser. It will generate about a liter of blood per day. The antennae work as a straw. So long as you don't try to consume too much it will last indefinitely. Don't lose or break it. I will not make you another should you somehow locate me again."
Himiko gaped. "You… you mean it?" It couldn't be true. A replenishing blood bag?
"I'm not a liar." Hunhow grimaced as the girl looked like she was about to cry. "What now?"
"Thank you so much!" Himiko blubbered. "I thought I was going to go crazy. Nobody would help me or hear me out for so long because of my quirk." Hunhow glared at her as she got close to hug him. "Sorry…" She wiped her nose. "What do I do now though?"
"Why should that matter to me? I don't care what you do now." Hunhow dismissed.
She held Vicci-chan close to her chest. "I can't begin to thank you for this Mr. Hunhow." Himiko bowed. "But even with it, I'm still going to have to struggle. The heroes want to arrest me, and the news is calling me a monster." She'd seen her so-called parents calling her a "demon child" on the news and the several warrants out for her assaults.
"That is not my problem. Figure it out yourself. If you wish to change the world, you must be willing to fight for it, no matter the cost. If blood must be spilled, so be it." That was what he told Nezu, even if the Principal disagreed with his methods as a first resort. "Though I would advise against attacking random people in parks. I fail to see how that will aid your goal." He shrugged indifferently. It didn't matter to him in the end anyways.
Himiko took his words to heart. She wanted a world where people like her could live the way they wanted to, no matter what quirk they had. "So I should fight the people that make society like this?"
"That is up to you. As I've told you innumerable times, I don't care what you do. If you decide to continue down that path then you must be prepared to deal with the consequences." Hunhow turned and began walking away. "Either way, you've taken enough of my night. I'm going home." And with that, he disappeared into the park.
'Man, what a weirdo…' Himiko thought whimsically. 'He wasn't very nice, but he did give me this." She held up Vicci-chan and held it close. "I guess it's just you and me now." She gave the sack a hug, feeling its heartbeat against her own.
==========================VI==========================
Natah and Ordan: My abused child senses are tingling.
I'd Say Himiko was about a month or two from going completely over the edge into her canon personality. Thankfully(?) Hunhow gave her something to keep her from descending into quirk-induced psychosis. As a result, Toga is more lucid and arguably sane now.
Oh no, Toga is sane now, and MOTIVATED
Surely this will have no long-term consequences later on.
Hunhow is trying to reject his humanity by acting as non-human-like as possible, and distancing himself from almost everything unnecessary to survival, and as you can tell he's not doing great.
Next chapter will be more friendship stuff, then 33 will be Stalker chapter, or I will be rewriting 18 instead of 33 to retcon his origin.