Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia. This story contains violence and dark themes. Viewer discretion is advised.

On a warm afternoon, Toga eyed the quaint home. It was in a more rural part of town, with only a couple other homes on the stone street. She had scoped it out after following that absolutely adorable waitress home for the past week, and today was the day she'd finally go inside. Not through the front door, that'd be too noisy, but the back bathroom door window was quiet as it opened wide enough for her to silently slip inside with her tools.

With a rapidly growing grin and heart racing from anticipation, she crept down the hallway, hearing a pot boil and the waitress hum her sweet tune as she peeked around the corner. The living room was prepared with a meal for two while the waitress cooked in the kitchen. Her brown hair was let down from her work bun to flow down her back like a chocolate river, and her plump hands considerably tended to the cooking meal on the stove.

"Mhm, that smells so yummy," Toga hummed. Instead of appreciating the compliment, Yuki dropped her spatula with fright, turning around to look at Toga's leering gaze with horror.

"Who are you?! What the hell are you doing in my home?!" Yuki questioned, red eyes darting to the knife on the counter.

"You don't remember me, Yuki-chan?" Himiko pouted, stepping out from the hall, hands behind her back. A much sharper knife than the one Yuki kept looking at was clutched in her grip. "I know I look different, but it's still me. Your favorite customer!"

"Get out of my home!"

"You served me that delicious pomegranate muffin," Toga continued. "And you had such a pretty smile when you did so. I loved it so much, loved you, Yuki-chan!" Toga flushed in her brazen confession.

"What the hell do you want?" Yuki's fingers brushed the knife. Toga grinned.

"I want to be you, Yuki-chan!" She lunged. What ensued was a beautiful dance of admirer and admired. Toga had only intended to subdue the waitress, but once she tasted the first drop of saccharine blood, she couldn't stop herself from indulging in a bit more.

"I'm sorry for taking so much blood from you so early, Yuki-chan," Toga apologized with blood-stained lips to Yuki's body in the tub, making sure to clog the drain to collect every valuable drop of blood in clear jars. "I got too excited." She giggled.

A knock sounded at the door, and she felt her elation spike again. She snickered and let her quirk take effect as she left the bloody bathroom to answer the front door.

"Sorry, I'm a bit late, Yuki-chan," Koto apologized. The adorable man with baby blue eyes and round, rosy cheeks apologized with a single red rose in his hand. "My boss held me back to finish taking stock."

"That big meanie, keeping Koto-kun away from me." Toga playfully pouted and took the flower, sniffing it. "Oh, it smells so sweet."

"N-Not as sweet as you, Yuki-chan," Koto bashfully complimented, and Toga giggled as she let the blushing man inside. She shut the door behind him, locking it tight.

That night, Toga was in bliss. Wearing the skin of a stunningly beautiful waitress while indulging the blood of her ever-adorable boyfriend was enough to make her burst from satiation and joy. Their connection was more potent than anything in the world now as these amazingly wonderful people would forever be a part of her, in her blood. It was indeed the most bestest feeling in the world as she could finally lavish in being alive. It was rudely interrupted by her phone ringing. She whined, already knowing who was calling, and took the tube out of her mouth after one last gulp of blood. She stood up from the slippery living room floor and answered her burner phone ringing on the kitchen counter.

"What is it, Kuro-kun? I'm having a connection."

"You need to be more careful about having your 'connections,'" Kurogiri advised. "I heard that the police are considering involving heroes in your case."

"Oh, goodie! More admirers! Oh, maybe Vlad-kun will start following me!" She blissfully laughed at the thought.

"Don't get caught," he sternly said. "You'll jeopardize our entire—"

"Of course, I won't. If I get caught, I can't love anymore. And I'll never stop loving until the day I die!" She happily proclaimed. "Now, what is it?"

"We'll need you to visit our informant on the 13th and ensure he follows through on his first assignment."

"Oh, he'll get the job done," she assured him. "But, I'd never mind seeing how my sweet little Neko-chan is doing."

Monoma packed his school bag with Toga's gifts before heading to U.A. He felt like he was carrying contraband through the school halls, though the school certainly wouldn't have been pleased to find needles in his backpack. Last night, he wrote down all his classmates' names and the quirks he knew of but hadn't planned on whose Quirk to steal first. He had an idea of whose would be the easiest to collect as Shishida shed enough hair to make a wig at his desk. His classmates' friendly and jovial mood hadn't changed as they greeted him with smiles and immediately dragged him into their conversation when he entered the classroom.

They were talking about whether or not All Might would be their Hero Course teacher when Vlad King entered the room and told them to take their seats.

"You better be ready, Class 1-B, because today you will tackle your first hero assignment." He began his announcement and went to introduce their hero course teacher, Snipe. A much lesser known and less powerful hero than All Might, though that was nearly every other hero, he spoke with no less conviction than the other heroes teaching at U.A. Along with their first hero lesson, they would be wearing the first draft of their hero costumes.

He always imagined himself wearing a sleek black tuxedo-like outfit with his sister suggesting a red tie and dark eye mask to complete the look. Like a mysterious thief at a masquerade ball. Looking at himself in costume in the mirror, he felt like something was off. It didn't portray a hero like he wanted to— Needed to be. He was playing the hero right now and needed to dress accordingly. He removed the eye mask and looked less like a villain, but something still felt off about the costume. He had no more time to ponder and joined his classmates on the training grounds, which replicated a city block. If U.A. was anything, it was well funded.

"Cool outfit, dude," Tetsutetsu complimented before Snipe explained that for their hero assignment, they would be paired off into teams: Team Hero vs. Team Villain.

"Shiozaki-san," Snipe called out to the vine-haired student. "Since you scored highest on the aptitude test, you can choose a teammate and whether you two will be heroes or villains."

"We'll be heroes naturally," Shiozaki answered. "As for my teammate," she looked behind her, eyes scanning over her classmates, some waving their hands to be picked. "I choose you." She pointed to the back of the crowd toward Monoma.

"Me?" He asked.

"No." She pointed more directly. "Her." Monoma looked beside him and was surprised to see the reserved Yanagi there, shrinking from all the attention on her. "Yanagi-san, will be my teammate."

"Lucky," Tsuburabacommented. "You're sure to win with her."

"Let's see who your team will be facing against," Sniper said, drawing two labeled balls from the box. "Team B! Tetsutetsu and Monoma Neito will be your villains!" Monoma almost laughed. "Fate has its amusing sense of humor."

"Ah, sweet!" Tetsutetsu cheered. "We're totally gonna crush this, Mono-bro!"

"Certainly," Monoma flashed a confident grin and stared down Shiozaki's darkly intense gaze. Being one of the first teams chosen, he would be among the first to compete. On their way to their starting positions, Monoma overheard Yanagi unintelligibly mumbling to Shiozaki behind him.

"I chose you because you ranked last in the test," Shiozaki replied. "We'll balance each other out."

"Okay, what's the plan?" Tetsutetsu asked once they reached the "bomb" on the fifth floor they were supposed to guard for fifteen minutes to win. "You could guard the bomb while I keep vines and ghost girl back." He pounded his iron fists together with a metallic thrum.

"While that would be entertaining, it isn't our best strategy," Monoma replied.

"Why?"

"From what I've seen, Shiozaki-san's vines are fast and agile. While you're incredibly strong and durable, fast and agile aren't your motto. She could quickly restrain you. If I face her, I can dodge her for longer while you guard the bomb from Yanagi-chan; 'vines' will most likely send her to capture the bomb."

"Aw, I wanted to fight the top of our class," Tetsutetsu whined but nodded, agreeing to Monoma's idea. "Wait, dude, if she does land a hit on you, you'll end off a lot worse than me." He tapped his iron arm for emphasis.

"Oh, dear, if only I, too, could cloak myself in shining iron," Monoma dramatically despaired.

"Yeah, if only— oh right!" Tetsutetsu laughed and held out his hand. "How long can you copy Quirks for? Ten minutes?"

"Five." Monoma set a five-minute alarm on his wristwatch. "Good luck, Tetsutetsu-kun."

"Right back at ya!" they shook hands, Monoma copying Tetsutetsu's Quirk for the first time, and the starting bell rang. Monoma quickly took off to face his viney opponent with an anxious grin. "This could be my chance to steal a few Quirks. Let the Quirk Robber make his grand introduction to U.A.!"

"Here I am, villains!" he was surprised to hear Shiozaki's confident voice proclaim on the floor below, along with Yanagi's shocked squeal. I will not hide from you!" Monoma smirked. Let's see if she's arrogant or competent." Monoma ran down to the second floor and confronted the two in a spacious storage room, dimly lit by sunlight streaming through the windows. He introduced himself with a magnificent evil laugh and a slow clap.

"My, my, aren't you a bold little hero?" He taunted as he slinked into the room, seeing the heroes in the center of the storage room, Yanagi retreating behind the stoic Shiozaki. Monoma leaped onto a crate and began the monologue he whipped up on the way to face his competitors. "You not only manage to find my evil lair but strut around like you own the place. You must not know you're facing one of the vilest villains in the world! Neither of you will be able to stop our dastardly bomb in time. Your arrogance will be your downfall! Mwahaha!"

"Go on and head for the bomb, Yanagi-san." Shiozaki calmly ordered in the face of Monoma's maniacal laughter. "I'll regroup with you after defeating this heinous villain."

"Even when she reaches it, it's still hopeless for you heroes," Monoma commented. She'll have to face my evil sidekick, and he'll leave you a messy pulp on the ground! You'll be worse than dead!" Yanagi yelped, going pale before quickly scurrying away. "Maybe I'm too into character."

"Enough talk, villain," Shiozaki said, clapping her hands together. "Let us battle."

"Let's," Monoma smirked, readying for any attack. Surprised, he stared as Shiozaki turned her back to him, her long and simple black dress fluttering at the sharp motion. Her viney hair shifted, and the next thing Monoma knew was a wave of vines was shooting toward him. He jumped out of the way, activating Tetsutetsu's Quirk on his shins, feeling the vines scrape against them harmlessly as they destroyed the crate. He landed on another crate and wasn't given any time to rest, with more vines rushing him to continue their assault.

While Monoma continuously flipped over and ducked under racing vines, calling upon the iron boy's Quirk when he was too slow, he noticed Shiozaki remained stationary, keeping her eyes closed with a focused strain on her face. Sweat on his brow, he ducked behind a large storage crate to catch his breath and check the timer on his watch. Forty-five seconds left of Tetsutetsu's Quirk. "I could try and rush her in between her attacks. If I strike her with an iron fist, she could go down, and I nab some of her hair." He felt the terrible vibration of the powerful vines crashing into the crate, and he promptly rolled out of the way before his cover was obliterated. "Have to act fast."

He weaved through the next barrage before swiping a piece of destroyed crate off the ground and throwing it across the room. As soon as it hit the ground, Shiozaki reflexively sent out a lock of viny hair to investigate, leaving open a defenseless spot that Monoma immediately took advantage of. He jumped over a stretch of vine and sidestepped another, though it grazed his iron-clad side. With a leap of faith, he flipped over another just-missed attack and rolled to face Shiozaki's front. "One more push!" He rushed her, covering himself in iron and reeling his fist back to strike before Shiozaki could. She opened her dark eyes as Monoma was a breath away from grabbing her viny bang.

At that moment, the first thing he felt that made the pit drop from his stomach was the silent vibration of his watch alarm going off. The second was the empty chill of Tetsutetsu's Quirk leaving his body. The third was—…

"Hey, Mono-bro, you alright?!" Tetsutetsu's harsh voice greeted Monoma to consciousness. His head was pounding, and his left arm burned with a sharp pain when he tried to move it. He groaned as he opened his eyes, taking a moment to let his eyes adjust to all the shifting shapes. He was still in the storage room, lying on the ground, with Tetsutetsu leaning over him along with whizzing medical robots. Shiozaki stood off to the side with Yanagi beside her, hands still clasped together.

"Did... did we win?" Monoma asked, though looking at Tetsutetsu's beaten state gave him an idea.

"Nope, we got destroyed," Tetsutetsu didn't sound as disappointed as Monoma thought he would. "Me and Yanagi-chan heard a loud crash downstairs, so we went to investigate, and Shiozaki had… She got you, good dude. But I got her back for you! I even got this to show for it." He grinned and shoved his bloody tooth in Monoma's face.

"You still lost," Monoma groaned in annoyance.

"Hey, it's the effort that counts!"

"Both of you were challenging opponents," Shiozaki complimented them. "I apologize for striking you so forcefully, Monoma-san. You… surprised me."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Monoma smirked.

"Please, move aside, " a medical robot said to Tetsutetsu, nudging him back. He accidentally dropped his tooth, and without a second thought, Monoma's hand swiped it up and slipped it into his pocket before the iron boy could notice.

"May you have a speedy recovery," Shiozaki said as he was carted away on a stretcher.

"Get better, Mono-bro! Hey, where did my tooth go?"

Monoma was brought to Recovery Girl's medical office to be treated. She made him lay down on one of the beds and griped how she'd "never seen so many injured hero course students so early in the semester" as she fitted his fractured arm with a brace and bandaged his head. The bed beside him was occupied by an injured student who was in much worse shape than he was and passed out cold.

"Is he a hero student too?" Monoma asked, eyeing the blood that seeped through the boy's bandages.

"Yes, and Midoriya-kun is one of the worst offenders when it comes to school injuries," Recovery Girl answered before giving Monoma a healing kiss on the cheek. "You should feel better in the next hour, but I want you to rest a bit before getting back on your feet. Here," she held out a jar of lollipops, and he grabbed a cherry-flavored one. "I have to go file some reports." She got up from her chair, grabbed a folder off her desk, and headed to the door. "Make yourself comfortable, Monoma-kun." She left the office, and Monoma's gaze drifted back to the injured boy, Midoriya. "He would be my perfect first target, already injured and incapacitated. I don't have Himiko's kit with me, but there are tools here I could use… If I'm really doing this, I have to act now."

Monoma eyed the door, making sure no one was approaching, before getting off his bed to gather his improvised tools. He grabbed his blue and silver water bottle, dumped its contents in the sink, and took a pair of scissors and surgical gloves from Recovery Girl's desk. He crept over to the sleeping Midoriya, analyzing his face for any signs of waking up and thankfully seeing none, and used the scissors to snip off a small lock of green hair, surely to go unmissed in the unkempt mess. He stuffed it in his pocket with Tetsutetsu's tooth before crouching beside the student's bed. He carefully grabbed Midoriya's arm with his gloved hands and peeled back the stained bandages on the crease of his arm. Monoma found his pulse, feeling the hot blood pumping just underneath the skin, and grabbed the scissors. The memory of snatching Shinso's tongue flashed in his mind before he pierced the boy with the sharp blade and made a swift cut.

Midoriya winced, and Monoma went still, watching the boy's pained expression soften as the rich red blood started to flow from his cut arm. Monoma placed his empty water bottle underneath the stream and started to fill it, squeezing around the cut to push out more blood. He whipped his head back at the door when he heard someone talking in the hallway when his bottle reached a quarter full, hearing his heart thrum in his ears. Even for someone as silver-tongued as him, it would be near impossible to explain what he was doing to his fellow hero-course classmate if caught in the act.

Midoriya groaned softly and stirred, jerking his arm to the side, threatening to spill his blood on the floor. Without thinking, Monoma clamped his mouth on the wound to catch any blood droplets on his tongue. His lips twisted distastefully at the potent, heady flavor that coated his mouth, and he pulled away, quickly putting the bandage back into place. He hurriedly worked to cover his tracks before the office door opened again.

"Ready to return to class, Monoma-kun?" Recovery Girl asked as she reentered her office.

"Mhm," Monoma hummed in response, sitting on the edge of his bed and sucking on the cherry lollipop. Its sweet taste sedating the salty sting of blood.

"You must really enjoy that candy, boy. You got it all over your mouth," she chuckled and held out a cleaning wipe. With his water bottle in hand, he hopped off the bed and handed her the scissors in exchange for the wipe.

"Had to cut off a loose thread," He explained, gesturing to one of the many tears in his new suit.

"That's perfectly fine. Now, I better not hear from you in a while, Monoma-kun. I'll already have my hands full with that one," she gestured to Midoriya, who muttered softly as he woke up. "Head back to class."

"Thank you," Monoma smiled and left the office before Midoriya could ask what happened. Returning to class, he was able to catch his classmates' last few battles.

"You did great out there, Monoma-kun," Kendo complimented him, panting as she returned from her battle, a victorious hero alongside Shoda. "Got really into character."

"Naturally. You weren't too horrible yourself." Monoma smiled back, though the tang of bitter blood had yet to retreat from his tongue.

It was the end of the school day when the sky was a warm orange and students were on their way home that Monoma's gaze latched onto the palest yet eye-catching shade of lavender. Shinso sat on a sidewalk bench down the street, his bicycle propped against it. His purple eyes stared off blankly at nothing. "Where have you been, Shinso-kun?" Monoma took one step toward him and another, and before he knew it, he was standing over Shinso.

"Hi there, Shinso-kun," he greeted with a sly smirk, drawing the drowsy-eyed boy's attention. He didn't look pleased or upset.

"Monoma-kun," he hollowly greeted back. "… Someone beat you up today?" He gestured to the brace on Monoma's arm.

"No. This is a trophy from my glorious battle in today's hero training!" Monoma proudly held up his arm. Most of the pain had gone away, but the brace was a good conversation starter. "I may have fallen to the heroes, but I gave the best villain performance U.A. has ever seen. I'm sure it was more fantastic than your hero battle, Shinso-kun." He jested and waited for Shinso's retort. Shinso's gaze drifted to the pavement.

"… I didn't get into the hero course."

"Oh," Monoma gasped, eyes wide in shock as a conflicting feeling of relief and disappointment rushed him before he quickly reeled himself in. "What did I expect? People like us can't be heroes." "Oh," he chuckled this time, smirking. "Let me guess, not enough hero points."

"Villian points."

"That's too bad. I would've enjoyed competing against you."

"You will."

"Pardon?" Monoma was taken aback by the sudden confidence in Shinso's tone.

"Just because I didn't pass the entry exam doesn't mean I'll stop trying to be a hero. Don't count me out yet." Shinso looked back up at Monoma, conviction filling the void in his eyes. "I'll be your competitor soon enough, Monoma-kun." Monoma felt an excited tingle in his gut that quickly spread through his body as he stared into Shinso's determined glare. It sent his nerves thrumming and his heart leaping from the rush, his body suddenly having the urge to act it out in any way. He contained it to a gleeful grin that gleamed in the setting sun.

"Careful, Shinso-kun, you got me excited."

Monoma walked away before he could contemplate the strange feeling or what he would have done if he had allowed it to brew inside him.

In the dead of night, when his home was still and silent, Monoma climbed out of bed, having not slept a wink, and grabbed the gift box he had hidden underneath his bed. He entered the bathroom across from his bedroom and locked the door behind himself, flipping on the light and squinting at the bright assault on his eyes. He pulled out Himiko's hair-sewn kitten plush from the gift box and the container he transferred Midoriya's blood into, setting them on the sink counter. He looked at himself in the mirror, with sleek silver eyes, tossed blonde hair, and skin devoid of any natural markings. "You can do this. Just how Himiko does it."

He stripped himself out of his dark blue pajamas and the rest of his undergarments. He shivered and set his clothes neatly on the tub's rim, skin bare and vulnerable to the cool air. He avoided looking at himself in the mirror as he touched Himiko's doll, easily copying her Quirk as before when his sister eagerly encouraged him to explore her abilities.

"Copy my Quirk, Neito-bo! Please, you have to know what I feel!"

Monoma opened the jar containing Midoriya's blood and took his time bringing it to his lips, taking a simple sip. Its sweet taste greeted his tongue lovingly and was effortlessly swallowed without a hint of nausea or revulsion. He closed his eyes and let Himiko's Quirk take effect, feeling a comforting cocoon of clay-like mush envelop his entire being, taking shape with Midoriya's blood as its muse. Monoma opened his eyes and examined himself in the mirror once more. He wore a disheveled school uniform with bandages covering his arms, keeping him warm. He started back into big green eyes and tousled dark green messy hair, counting the freckles dotting boyish cheeks. Today, there was good and bad news to be had.

Bad: He failed his first hero assignment, much to his parents' disappointment, and this Midoriya's Quirk was a Blank and useless until he could figure out what its fuel was, if he could even obtain it.

Good: He stole his first Quirk source from his class, Tetsutetsu's sharp tooth protectively hidden within Himiko's doll, and he obtained a disguise to use for his data-collecting mission on the thirteenth.

"Hello, Midoriya-kun," Monoma said in Midoriya's voice and smiled with his lips. "It's a shame you had to meet me."