Chapter 280 - 31

Chapter 31: Blood and Fire

The world was breaking. Streets cracked and steel sheared. The remains of a large bridge lay scattered along the ground. A masked man screamed as flesh and bone, rock and metal were forced into his body by his own hand. Turning the man into a monster. His scream of rage twisted as he clawed his way forward. Leaving nothing but destruction in his wake. He moved towards a goal. Towards something he would do anything to once again have in his possession. A man possessed that cared for nothing else.

Only two people were in his way. Two people that were as good as dead. A young man, body ripped and stained red stood defiantly. Green hair matted to his face by blood and dust. Putting himself in front of the monster in hopes to, if not win against, then at least save the one behind him. But the monster was too large, and the young man too injured. He was not able to do anything as the monster rushed over him. The one behind him, a women who looked so much like the young man, clutched pitifully to her chest a-

With a groan, Sir Nighteye leaned back into his chair and removed his glasses. He rubbed his eyes as he focused on nothing in this dimly lit office. No matter how much he replayed the vision he saw, he could not make the sequence of events any more clear, or see beyond what had been cut off when All Might stepped in and ended his Quirk's effect. Even so, after two days the vision was still fresh in his mind.

When he had used his Quirk on Izuku, he knew he was being cruel. To etch in stone the boy's fate was not something to do lightly. But drastic times called for drastic measures. He had hoped to find a justification to say why giving him One for All was a mistake. Maybe if he didn't see the power get handed down he could twist fate, just a bit. Saving the boy and ensuring that One for All and All Might's legacy would endure.

Instead, his vision had been dragged to an event that turned his stomach. There was no mistaking that he had watched Izuku die. He hadn't meant to see this. Hadn't wanted this, and yet his vision had been fast forwarded to it. Sometime - not too long in the future judging by the fact that Izuku still looked like he was in his first year - Izuku was going to come face to face with Yakuza leader Kai Chisaki and would die in the encounter. Even demormed and monstrous, Sir Nighteye recognized the man. How he had become like that, Sir Nighteye was not sure. Perhaps there were aspects to the villains Quirk he didn't know about yet.

The last person in the vision had taken Sir Nighteye no time at all to figure out once he had returned to his office. Inko Midoriya, the boy's mother. The events leading up to this, Sir Nighteye couldn't even begin to guess. Why was Izuku fighting a villain he himself had been tracking and investigating for some time now? Why was his mother there and what had she been holding?

Whatever it was, Overhaul wanted it. The screaming over all the destruction was haunting. 'Mine! Mine! MINE!'

Events were now in motion and Sir Nighteye had to get ahead of them. Whether he liked it or not - and he didn't like it - he had knowledge he had to use. Somehow, Izuku and Overhaul were connected. Overhaul had lost something or, at some point, Izuku would take something from him. Sir Nighteye just couldn't guess what this something was. Part of him wished he could have been able to see the end of the vision a little better, or had a better look at what Inko had been clutching to her chest. But at the same time, he at least didn't have to also see the poor woman die as well.

Still, nothing could change things now, so he was left with only one option but to move forward.

After leaving Gran Torino's apartment, Sir Nighteye immediately returned to his office and summoned Bubble Girl and Centipeder. His orders were clear, "Something fundamental has changed with Chisaki Kai and the Yakuza organization. We must find out what it is."

After two days, Sir Nighteye finally had a report in his hand. It wasn't much, and it left him with more questions than answers, but it proved something was up. The Yakuza had recently become very stingy with its contacts. There had been rumors of a drug getting handed out to street level thugs that was a difference-maker and could help level the playing field against heroes but so far nothing had come from that. At the very least he knew they weren't dealing in the Trigger drug. But now those contacts had dried up, and only high-level members of the criminal world were getting access to whatever they were selling.

It would seem they had lost a supply or supplier of this mystery item. This loss might also explain some unusual activity by some of the known Yakuza contacts. They were looking for something. The exact details were unknown but even if this wasn't much, it was a start.

If there was a hell, this would be it in all its excruciating boredom, Himiko thought to herself as she slurped down the remainder of her instant noodle dinner. Throughout the day and now dusk, she had spent her whole time either dealing with Tenya, who was just itching for a chance to get himself killed, or 'learning' rudimentary hero crap, and she was ready to kill herself from boredom. It wasn't that the lessons Manual was teaching were technically wrong, but things like 'be sure to keep aware of your surroundings while walking the street' was shit she had learned in her first week of living on the street.

At the very least, now they had finished their quick dinner of gourmet streetstand noodles, and the sun was going down. The day was almost over and Himiko could retire to her room and work off some stress.

Really should have swiped some of Midnight's toys when I was getting her card number. Would make these nights way more fun. God, this wouldn't suck so much if I had at least something else to do. World, want to throw me a bone here?

"HELP! THOSE MEN STOLE MY PURSE!"

While Manual and Iida's head snapped over to see a woman screaming and waving her arms, Himiko blinked and glanced up at the sky. ...Okay that works. Now how about sending me a horny, naked Izuku?

Himiko swore the next few moments were dead silent.

Well fuck you, too.

While Himiko cursed that she wasted her one apparent wish from the world, she still followed after Manual and Tenya as they rushed over to the hysterical woman.

"Ma'am, are you alright?" Manual asked while Tenya and Himiko glanced down the street, catching sight of two cheap looking thugs rushing down the busy sidewalks.

"Those two just stole my purse right off my arm! Please, they went down that way!"

Manual followed where the woman was pointing with his gaze, "Ingenium can you reach them?"

"Sir! I can catch them!"

"Okay, you have permission to chase and detain them. However, if they are armed or pose a threat to the surrounding civilians do not engage!"

With a roar from his engines, Tenya rocketed away, hugging the street to avoid all the people on the sidewalk.

"Okay, Carmilla. I want you to stay with…" Manual blinked when he turned and didn't find Himiko anywhere.

Whipping his head around, Manual tried to see if he could see where Himiko had vanished to. A tug at his arm pulled his attention back towards the woman. "Please, you'll get it back right. I had my cards in there. What if they steal everything from my accounts?"

"Ah, don't worry. My interns and I are on the job. And even if they manage to escape I can help you cancel those cards before anything bad happe-"

"AAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

Manual froze while the other woman gasped. Down the street a blood curdling scream echoed over the nose of the street. It was a man's scream but it sounded nothing like Tenya. Still, Manual knew he couldn't stay where he was, "Ma'am I will be right back!"

Sticking to the road, Tenya was able to catch up to the pair in no time flat, "Halt you two!"

"Get bent, hero!" Screamed one man, the purse clutched in his hand. He was an ogre of a man, with green skin and all, his round belly jiggling as he ran. That he had the breath free to say anything was a miracle with how hard he was breathing. Tenya rushed ahead and turned on his heel. Kicking out his leg, he punted the ogre's legs out from under him, sending him flailing to the ground and landing with a thud. Groaning, he made no move to get up.

His partner in crime, a lanky man, whirled around, his fingers on his hands curled and tipped with short bird-like talons, "You ain't tak'n me in!"

Pulling his hand back, he swung around wildly, though his movements were slow and very unpolished; less like a fighter and more like a toddler throwing a tantrum. Tenya was already moving back away, far out of range. While the man didn't pose a threat to Tenya, there were many people around, cameras out, that might accidentally get hit with him swinging around so widely.

"Yeah that's right! I'm a monster! A real villain! You better run!"

"Pfft, a villain? Seriously? That's a great joke. So what do you say you quit now and not get your ass handed to you. Or don't, cause I'd love a chance to let off some steam."

The man's eyes went wide, hearing a female voice right behind him. Growling out in anger, he twisted around and found Himiko looking up at him. She had her mask pulled down so he could see her condesidening smile, "You little bitch!"

He swung at her head, but Himiko had plenty of time to hold up an arm to block so his attack only did nothing to her and only hit her bracer.

Her bladed bracer.

The man's roar stopped and he looked down at his hand. Himiko blinked and made a soft tsking sound, "Oooh, thats gonna hurt in a couple of-"

"AAAAAAAAHHHHH!" The man screamed clutching at his fingerless hand.

"Yup, there it is."

"Toga!" Tenya's hands chopped in the air as for a moment, his regular personality peaking through from behind the rage that had been clouding him, "What did you do!?"

"I… blocked," Himiko said.

Pointing down at the still screaming thief, Tenya exclaimed, "How does that explain any-" Himiko raised up her bracers and Tenya paused, "...oh."

"Ingenium! Carmilla! Are you two… What happened!?"

Manual looked at the two thieves, at the scattered fingers, and then back at the two.

"I blocked," Himiko said.

"She blocked," Tenya repeated.

Manual just looked confused. "How does that explain any-"

Himiko was lifting up her bracers again and Tenya was pointing at them when the thief screamed, "SOMEONE CALL ME AN AMBULANCE!"

"AHHHHHHH!"

"RUNT! Will you STOP screaming in my EAR! We're here!"

Miruko, with Ochako strapped to her back, landed in the middle of the street as several onlookers gapped in shock. After confirming that they were indeed on solid ground, Ocahko quickly grabbed at the straps holding her and released herself. She fell to the ground and pressed her visor into the concrete, "Oh, sweet ground. I'll never leave you again."

Miruko rolled her eyes, "Will you get up."

"No. I live here now."

Reaching down, Miruko yanked Ochako back up. "Grow up. You agreed to ride on my back so we could get here faster."

Ochako glowered at Miruko. "And I'm sure all those flips you did were totally necessary." The shit eating grin on the hero's face told Ochako all she needed to know. "You are evil."

"Yeah, and no one cares. Now, let's go. Hawks and his team are nearby."

Grumbling, Ochako followed after Miruko, both walking down the street. Ochako looked up at the buildings around her, "So… Stain is here."

Miruko glanced back at her and lightly tapped Ochako on her visor, "You are here to watch and learn. I don't want you even thinking about the Hero Killer. Got it?"

"I'm not crazy, you know. I just hope I'm there to see it when he gets taken down."

Miruko smirked and pointed a thumb to herself. "Well stick with me and I'm sure you'll see it."

They walked around for a short time before finding a huge crowd of people. Miruko pushed past everyone, with Ochako sticking close by not to get separated.

I know Hawks is pretty popular but this is kinda crazy. 

Making it to the center of the crowd, the two found Hawks and his team of sidekicks, along with Endeavor and his team. Hawks, who had been talking happily with Endeavor while the man just stood silently, turned and waved, "Ah, Miruko, glad you're here."

"What's old, tall, and brooding doing here?"

Endeavor huffed but Hawks just laughed, "We ran into each other by chance. I was just explaining to him some of the benefits to join us in our search."

Miruko looked up at Endeavor as the man said nothing, "Did you now? He gets help from our Quirks, which specialize in searches, but what do we get? I don't need him or his fire to win my fights."

While the pros continued to talk, Ochako looked around and saw Fumikage and Shouto off to the side. Waving at them, she made her way over, pretty sure the saber rattling and such from the heroes was nothing she needed to hear, "Hey Tokoyami, good to see you again. Hey Todoroki."

"Good evening, Uraraka."

"Hello Uraraka. How is your training with Miruko?" Shouto asked.

Ochako laughed nervously while scratching the back of her head, "Oh it's been… interesting. But," Ochako flexed an arm with a smirk, "nothing I can't handle."

Ochako thought she saw Fumikage's shadow flicker, staring at it for a split second, and immediately the flickering stopped. Turning her attention back to Shouto, she looked him over. "New costume?"

Shouto's original white shirt and pants were gone, replaced with a blue jacket with the sleeves bunched up around his elbows and matching blue pants. The biggest difference was that the ice he wore over his whole left side was gone. Which, now that she thought about it, she wasn't ever sure if it was real ice or not.

Shouto looked down at himself, "My old costume wasn't… fire proof."

"Well, it's definitely a good look for you."

"At least you don't have that silly ice all over you."

"DARK SHADOW!"

I mean, if you just want to come out and say it, Ochako thought. "So," Ochako continued, "does this mean you're using your fire now?"

Shouto nodded, "Yes. I need to learn to properly use it. I'll only get that from experience."

"And learning from your father?"

Shouto was silent as he glanced over at Endeavor, "Yes. Despite… many issues, Endeavor reached his spot as the number two hero for a reason. My time with him has been… useful."

"Well, good on you. And hey, without all that ice you should be able to actually move around a lot better now and not be such a stationary target. That almost cost you in our match. You just stand'n there."

Shouto gave a small hum of agreement. Fumikage scratched his beak, "Wait? Was that real ice? I thought it was just part of your old costume."

Ochako frowned, "Wait, huh?"

"I mean it made his left eye glow red. It couldn't be real ice if it did that."

Both Ochako and Fumikage looked at each other then turned to Shouto, waiting for an answer.

"Well, you see…"

After collecting all the finger pieces and being completely unnecessarily cheerful as the two were loaded up, Himiko now waited next to Tenya while Manual finished taking some statements and for nearby police to show up. While this kind of thing went against Himiko's instincts - she had made it a point to avoid police - she could also see that she wasn't the only one happy with having to stay put. Tapping the water bottle she had been given, Himiko looked over at Tenya.

Tenya was a twitching mess. His head was on a swivel, looking around all the time; sometimes at Manual, sometimes at Himiko, and sometimes out to the city. Whenever he looked out that way, his metal boots began to tap the concrete, making it very obvious to anyone paying attention that he was ready to bolt if he saw an opening.

"I swear to god Tenya. If you try and make a break for it so you can go hunt for Mr. Stain now, when we're this close to turning in for the night, I'm just going to stab you."

Tenya's head snapped around to look at Himiko, "W-what!?"

"I'll go for your hamstring too. Because you're being a real bitch right now."

"Y-you! You'd attack me, just like that? Aren't we supposed to be friends?"

"The only reason I'm here, putting up with your bullshit, is because you're my friend, you idiot. But even I have my limits. You run, I cut you. Because you know what, I'd rather deal with the teacher's bullshit about how stabbing people that aren't villains is wrong then find you sliced open and lying in a pool of your own blood and guts, dead."

"Do you really expect me to do nothing? Stain hurt my brother. I can't- I won't just stand by while he escapes. He has to pay."

"And you're the one thats going to do it? That's going to take him down?"

"Yes." The resolve in Tenya's voice would have been admirable if it wasn't coated in hate and anger.

"Okay, time for a reality check. Your brother was beaten by Mr. Stain. Your brother was-" Himiko could hear Tenya grinding his teeth at that but she ignored it, "Was a professional hero, not a student like you. He was stronger and had more experience and he still lost. You won't last a second. So guess what, I'm not going to let that happen, and if I have to stab you to stop you, then that's your fault - teachers and their moral lessons be damned."

When Tenya didn't respond right away, Himiko hoped that was the end of the conversation. At least for the night.

"I wonder how Midoriya would react if he learns you attacked me."

...Wait wha?

"I doubt," Tenya continued coldly, "that he'll return your affections after that. It's clear you have feelings for him. That would be an unfortunate outcome for you, don't you think?"

...Did this bitch really just try and pull the Izuku card on me!? This selfish stupid mother fu… Himiko let her thoughts trail off, reminding herself that the person in front of her wasn't really Tenya. The real Tenya wouldn't try to pull a stunt like this. That anger and hate inside of him was warping him. The longer it lasted, the more desperate he would become to escape, so he would try more and more crazy and out of character methods to get his way.

"You're really going to try and throw Izuku into my face to get me to let you go? All that tells me is that you are not in your right mind right now. Even more reason to make sure you stay here," Himiko said with certainty, "And besides, I wonder what he would say if he learned you ran off to get revenge? Would he still want to be your friend?"

When Himiko heard Tenya take a sharp breath from inside his helmet, she knew she had made her point. And the fact that it hit home for Tenya proved he wasn't totally consumed just yet. He still cared enough to worry what their friend would say once he learned of his actions. So now, as things stood, they were at an impasse. Which was pretty much where they had been since day one. With things back to normal, Himiko decided she was thirsty and was about to open her water bottle when Tenya decided to drop a bomb and ruin her whole night. It reminded her that Tenya, even if he was acting like an idiot, was still Tenya, and Tenya was smart.

"Why do you call him that, by the way?"

Himiko popped the lid off her water bottle and took a swing, answering Tenya with an uninterested, "Hmm?"

"Stain. You keep calling him 'Mr.' Why?"

HImiko stopped what she was doing and pulled from her experiences of being calm in dangerous situations to keep herself from looking startled by the question. Inside though, she felt herself recoil like she had been punched in the face. Taking a few more deliberately slow sips from her water bottle, to give herself time to not sound panicked, she looked Tenya dead in the eye and said, "Have I?"

"Yes. You have. And not just now. When we...talked in your apartment you also called him Mr. Stain. I thought it was a slip or something. But you just used it several times just now." Himiko swore under her breath while Tenya continued, "So I want to know why. You use everyone's first names without a care for common etiquette and you talk so flippantly with the teachers. Why does Stain get the honor of your respect?"

Himiko replayed the last few minutes in her head as well as their talk previously and clicked her tongue in annoyance. She was caught, so she was faced with a dilemma. Flat out lying was out. As much as Tenya was annoying her with his dumb revenge plot, he was smart and she wasn't sure a lie she came up with on the spot would pass his litmus test. And trying to deny she had said anything wouldn't work either and might make him dig even deeper to figure out what was going on. So Himiko chose to fall back on an old, reliable lie she used around Izuku and Ochako whenever her past got brought up.

A lie of omission

"Because I know more about him than pretty much any pro hero."

"You know...?"

"Spent the last couple of years living on the streets, remember?" Tenya nodded. "And the time I spent learning how not to get killed, I learned about other people that live on the streets too. People that did more than just not die.You see, I fought and clawed my way up to a point where I wouldn't get eaten alive. I'd be dead if I stayed a little fish. But here's the thing, there's always a bigger fish. You hear about them everywhere. From people bragging they saw them, to those who were lucky to have escaped with their lives. Even the dead tell a pretty good story."

Tenya looked at Himiko as she talked. The longer she spoke, the colder her eyes became. The chaotic fire that burned inside them was dulled for a few moments, and he felt a chill run down his spin.

"I've seen first hand what Mr. Stain can do. I've seen bodies left in the back alleys, cut down with only a single precise strike. I've also seen the pieces left of those that weren't lucky enough for a quick death. You need to understand this, Tenya: there are a lot of people that hold Mr. Stain in very high regard. People that revere him. A lot of these people aren't even villains, either. Just people that have been left behind and forgotten. You grew up looking up to heroes, being around people that looked up to heroes. Me? I grew up never seeing a real hero until Izuku. I've spent years around people that see Mr. Stain as a prophet because he is culling all the fakes that pollute this world. So yes, I respect him, because he's done more than enough to earn that respect."

Tenya nodded slowly, "I… see. I suppose given your… unique situation growing up, it makes sense that you'd hold a similar view on Stain. Was this the same view the man you were staying with had as well? I remember you saying he didn't hold heroes, save All Might, in very high regard."

"...Yeah..." Pausing to collect herself, Himiko looked up at Tenya, "Look, the 'why' of his actions doesn't matter. I don't... care, and honestly right now, neither should you. What I need you to get is what matters to me. It's the how. Mr. Stain is dangerous, I've seen it. You can hate him all you want, but you have to respect what he's capable of. And right now, the way you're talking and acting, you don't. That is going to get you killed."

Tenya remained quiet and Himiko wished he wasn't wearing his helmet. At least that way she could get a better read on him to know if her explanation was enough to throw off any of his suspicions and if she drove home her point. However, before she had a chance to try and work out how successful she had been, Manual called out to the two, "Ah, you two. Come over here. This will be a good learning opportunity for you to see how Pro Heroes and the police work together to close out an incident."

Greaaaat. Get to see more bureaucracy in action. Lets sum it up, the hero does all the work and the police say 'good job' and act so thankful to get the heroes' sloppy seconds… oh fuck me.

Himiko's inner complaints came to a halt when she saw the police officers that Manual was with. Well, the single detective and two prison guards from the most notorious prison on the face of the earth. Of all the people to run into, it's the fucking lie detector and some Tartarus shit heads.

As Himiko and Tenya walked over, the three officers with Manual and the men turned to greet them only to freeze in their tracks. Detective Tsukauchi's eyes went wide, "T-Toga!? How are you here!?"

While Detective Tsukauchi stood in shock at seeing Himiko, the two guards - Briareos and Gyges, the (in)famous guards of Tartarus' front gate, wearing their horned masks instead of the more common Tartarus uniform and each with a terrifying amount of arms - reacted instantly and pulled their assault rifles up to level them directly at Himiko, "Hands up freak!"

"Boy! Move away immediately!"

The previous mood was blasted away, as Himiko glared back at the two, eyes now reflecting a dangerous light while she deliberately ignored the orders given to her. Manual was left stunned at the sudden shift while Tenya, initially frozen in place, immediately took several steps to put himself between the officers and Himiko.

Manual quickly recovered and moved to defuse the situation, "Whoa, WHOA! Everyone, please, calm down! You're pointing your weapons at my intern!"

Briareos, the larger of the two guards and with the most arms, pushed Manual to the side while Gyges did the same to Tenya, knocking him to the ground. Briareos made a point of aiming his rifle right at Himiko, pressing the barrel of the rifle into her forehead. "I will not tell you again. Hands. Up. Or your head gets splattered onto the pavement."

Himiko didn't back down, "You think you're fast enough to pull that trigger before I slice off that hand?"

A nearby fire hydrant exploded off the ground as Manual took control of the water and aimed it at the brothers, while Tenya's engines began to roar as he readied himself to attack. Detective Tsukauchi, alarmed at how quickly the situation had devolved screamed, "Briareos! Gyges! Stand down! That is an order!"

Briareos turned and glared at Tsukauchi, "You know what this thing is, Detective. We cannot afford to be hesitant with it now. Clearly the agreement has been broken, so we must move now! This is now a Tartarus matter and outside your jurisdiction!"

"Briareos, we don't know what is going on! Until we do, you and your brother will control yourselves! This matter is between the police force, Hero Commission and U.A. Only once we know for sure what is going on, then will it be handed over to you. If that's even necessary." Turning towards Manual, Tsukauchi pleaded, "Manual, sir, please - I need you and Iida to stand down as well."

There was silence as everyone stood perfectly still. The only noise and movement was from a growing crowd of onlookers wondering what was happening. Phones out, taking photos and videos. Himiko cleared her throat, "I'd like to add that when you looked away, I could have easily cut off like, six of your ten hands. I'm being very polite. I'm being very polite letting you keep all your limbs right now. I am very pissed at you."

Slowly, with everyone keeping their eyes on everyone else, the four lowered their weapons and fell back into two groups, with the brothers standing behind Detective Tsukauchi. Tenya stepped in front of Himiko again and Manual stood in front of both of them. Then Himiko rolled her eyes and pushed forward, grumbling about not hiding behind anyone.

With the situation now just at a simmer instead of a rolling boil, Tsukauchi took the initiative, "Toga, I need you to tell me why you are here."

Crossing her arms, which put her hands very close to the handles of the large combat knives on her sides, Himiko stared down the detective. "Disregarding the fact that I don't owe you or the fuck goblins there any kind of explanation," Gyges growled past his helmet, "I'm here for my internship."

"Your… internship?"

"That's right. I'm here for the week, studying under the… excellent and exhilarating hero, Manual."

"You're interning here? Now?" The disbelief in Tsukauchi was obvious to everyone.

Manual frowned at the detective's direction, "I can confirm she is my intern for the week. I have her approved application back in my office."

Tsukauchi shook his head, "I believe that you think she is but… this simply can't be."

"Midnight handed me a list of names. I picked Manual and gave her the list back. All of it was approved."

"Midnight? You mean she gave you… and it was approved!?"

Himiko shrugged, "Call her."

A deep frown creased Tsukauchi's face, "I intend to. Toga, until I have confirmation about this, I'd like you to accompany me to-"

"Fuck no."

"Toga, you're not being detained. I just-"

"I said. Fuck. No. I have permission to be here. I haven't broken a single rule to be here. You and the walking handjobs over there put a fucking gun to my head. So there is no way I'm going anywhere with you.

Briareos took a step forward but Tsukauchi put out his hand, stopping him. Turning back towards Himiko, he tried to remain calm, but everyone could tell he was stressed about the whole situation, "Toga, I am asking you to accompany me so I can figure this all out. I'm asking you to do this of your own free will. If you do, I can assure you that it will be considered as we deal with the consequences of you being here," Himiko snarled but Tsukauchi powered over her, "If you do not, I will be forced to take you into protective custody. If you resist me, that will be seen as an attack on an officer and then I will be forced to consider the arrangement voided. That means that these two will have jurisdiction in handling you."

With her teeth bared, Himiko spat out her reply, "You've been itching for this chance. Back me into a corner and then say your hand was forced."

"I'm not trying to trap you. I'm trying to solve this without anyone getting hurt."

Himiko scoffed, "Really? I told you no and your hand went to your gun and it looks like it's just itching to shoot me."

Tsukauchi blinked, then glanced down. He was surprised that at some point when they had started talking he had indeed moved his hand to his sidearm and had unclipped the strap keeping it in its holster. Startled and more than a little ashamed at himself, he took his hand off the gun, "I…"

"I'm sorry," Manual cut in, "but can someone tell me what is going on here?! This whole situation from the start has been alarming. Toga has been an expeliary intern and the use of force by Tartarus and your threats, Detective, are far out of line! You're treating Toga here, a student of U.A. - a child - like a criminal… No more like she's a-"

"Like she's a villain," Tenya finished to himself.

Himiko winced, but didn't turn back to look at the two. She also couldn't think of anything to say. And honestly at this point, silence was her best hope now.

"It's because it is a vi-"

"Gyges, enough!" Tsukauchi cut in, "Until we learn or are told otherwise we will move forward under the assumption that all court orders are still in place. I am sorry Manual, but this… situation is under heavy regulation. An internal affair with multiple orders from the Commission and court-placed gag orders."

"..."

Manual frowned deeply while Gyges stood in silence. This was enough for Tsukauchi. Before he could say anything else though Tenya stepped forward, his attention squarely on the two brothers. "This whole time you two have been referring to Toga as 'it' and 'thing'. I demand you stop this at once. She is a person, a fellow student of the prestigious U.A. and… she is my friend. I will not simply stand by and allow you to continue this insulting and degrading behavior. Why would two professionals stoop to such lows?"

Tsukauchi shook his head, "I agree that this has not been handled properly by anyone," Himiko grumbled a 'seriously' under her breath, "So we must move to correct this. Before anyone says, or does, something that will have real consequences and," looking to his side at the now large crowd of people, "before we make any more of a scene. Manual, as you are currently in charge of Toga, please convince her to disarm and come with us. If you wish to come with us as well, you are more than welcome to, but Toga must come with me until I get answers."

"Disarm!? Go fu-!"

Manula put a hand on Himiko's shoulder, "Toga please. I do not understand what is going on. The actions these men have takens, the language and terms they have used against you is inexcusable. You are well within your right to be angry. However, if it's as you say and you have done nothing wrong, I ask that you please do as the officer says for now. It sounds like the alternative… will be far less pleasant. It's not fair, but sometimes we heroes have to take these things on the chin. I promise you though, I will not let them take this any further than they have. I will go with you, and once they have confirmed you are allowed to be here, we will leave." Turning to face Tsukauchi he added, "And I will not allow them to take any kind of action against you after that."

While Himiko stood in silence, thinking over everything, Tenya was left off to the side replaying everything that had just happened.

I wish I understood what was going on. I'm sure this has something to do with why Toga is a ward of U.A. and why she's living there. She's always been coy over the reason, though it has to be connected to her mistreatment at the hands of her parents. But if there are court orders and agreements with the Hero Commission to keep the reason quiet… What is Toga involved in? 

But that doesn't explain the officers behavior. They're… they're afraid of her. They were ready to kill her. Why? The way she's talked about living on the streets, I always assumed she was forced to commit some minor crimes to survive. Stealing food, or fighting perhaps, that would explain how she's so unnaturally experienced in combat and stealth, but nothing more than petty misdemeanors at worst. This kind of reaction… there's no other way to describe it other than they're treating her like a villain. But what could she have done to be treated like this? 

The seconds dragged on while the group stood in silence, all waiting for Himiko's answer. The Tartarus guards clutched their weapons tightly, ready to act if she did anything other than agree. Tsukauchi did his best to keep himself calm and not take any other actions that might insight further violence. Manual was keeping an eye on the three, still very aware that the crowd around them was getting bigger and bigger. He also had a feeling he was going to be getting an unpleasant call tomorrow from the Hero Commission, since they were not going to like this whole situation getting recorded and posted online at least fifty different times.

Himiko sighed, a long heavy sound, as she tried to expel all the stress inside her body. While this whole shit show was going to be a major pain in her ass, she could at least use it to her advantage in at least one way, "I have one condition."

The Tartarus brothers tensed up but a glare from Tsukauchi kept them from saying or doing anything, "What is it, Toga?"

"I would feel a lot better if my dear friend Tenya came with me." Himiko could at least use these extra eyes to keep Tenya from running off for the rest of the night.

Manual nodded, relieved that Himiko's request was a reasonable one, "I'm sure that Iida would be happy to keep you company while we get this all sorted." No one, besides Himiko, noticed Tenya go stiff as he immediately realized what Himiko had done. Manual turned towards Tsukauchi, "This shouldn't be an issue. Right?"

"Of course not. That won't be a problem at all."

With that all squared away and the situation now on the cusp of being fully diffused, everyone looked down at Himiko. She rolled her eyes and reached up to her knife holsters, "Just so you know. When this is all over, I want you to be the one to hand me my knives back. And you're going to do it in front of all your police officer friends too-!"

BOOM!

One instant everyone was on their feet. A few blocks down the street, a blast ripped open the side of a building sending fire, glass, steel and concrete in every direction and knocking the group and all the bystanders to the ground. Dazed, with a ringing in her ears that did a great job of drowning out the panicked screams of the civilians, Himiko struggled to get up to even her hands and knees. Fire fell from the sky, spreading throughout the street and turning it into a hellscape. Around her Himiko could make out some people still prone on the ground. Some curled up too scared to move, some lay prone and motionless; if they were dead or just knocked out, she couldn't tell. Tenya was on one knee, shaking his head, while Manual used the side of a building to help himself stand up. The two brothers both had a hold on Tsukauchi's arms and were pulling him to his feet.

With the fire bathing the street in red and orange light, and thick black smoke billowing out into the air, Himiko struggled to find anything that could explain what had just happened - at least at first. From the hole in the building, where the fire was at its worst, a dark shape emerged from the flames. His form was hidden at first but once he stepped out into the street, Himiko felt her stomach drop. A giant stood among the wreckage towering over everyone. His black skin was pulled taut over his body's bulging muscles. Deep red scars marred his arms and atop of everything sat a head with an eyeless face and exposed brain.

A monster stood before everyone and as the world crawled to a stand still, Himiko felt compelled to say it's name, "Nomu!"

"Hey, by the way Todoroki, you give'n anymore thought to a hero name?"

The three were still waiting for the professionals to sort their shit out. So Ochako, growing antsy standing next to probably her two quietest classmates, was trying to pass the time. Shouto shook his head, "No. I'm still… figuring myself out. Once I have a better idea of who I am and who I want to be, I think I'll know what name I want."

"Oh, I guess that makes sens-"

"AHHHHHHHH!"

Screams. People were suddenly screaming. Ochako looked around in alarm. She couldn't see why the crowd was starting to panic - then she looked up. A bus was sailing through the air right over them. Twisting and turning with people getting thrown out of it. Frozen in shock, Ochako could only watch as the people plummeted towards the ground, the fall too high for any chance that they would survive.

"Fierce Wings GO!"

Ochako's eyes went wide as she watched red feathers race into the sky, snagging onto the falling people while even more went into the bus and pulled the rest of the civilians inside out and to safety. As the now empty bus fell closer to the ground, Miruko launched up and kicked it, cratering its side and sending it off to the side, safely away from the crowd.

People ran away in every direction. Ochako snapped out of her daze and looked around, not sure what to do, "What's going on?!"

SCREEEEECH!

A horrible sound ripped at her ears. Looking up, Ochako's jaw dropped., No. No that can't be!

With limbs at least twice as long as they should be, skin that was a sickly pale yellow, an exposed brain and wings that kept it aloft: a Nomu flew overhead screeching in challenge.

"A NOMU?!"

Hawks, his feathers reattached, soared into the air as the Nomu twisted and rocketed away.

"Guys! Follow after me and make sure to take care of anyone that gets in that thing's path!" Not waiting for his team to answer, Hawks chased after the winged Nomu.

"Tsukuyomi! Let's go!" Called out one of Hawks' sidekicks. Fumikage, after wishing Ochako and Shouto a quick good luck, raced away with the team.

"Miruko!" Ochako called out, "What should we be-"

"RUNT, MOVE!"

Miruko launched herself and tackled Ochako and Shouto out of the way, just as another Nomu slammed into the ground where they had been standing. The white Nomu turned its head towards the running people and Ochako felt a horrible feeling twist her stomach, "It's going for the people!"

"THE HELL IT IS!" Miruko let both Ochako and Shouto go, then she launched herself at the Nomu, slamming into it and kicking it down the road. Endeavor was about to unleash a blast of fire at it when an explosion several blocks away ripped through the air. Startled, everyone turned to the smoke and orange glowing sky. Endeavor frowned, "It's an attack? Miruko, can you deal with this one while I investigate that?!"

The White Nomu recovered and leapt away. Miruko growled in annoyance, "The hell you do! Yeah this bitch is mine! You go!" Glancing back at Ochako, Miruko paused and looked sternly at her. After a split second of consideration she pointed right at her, "RUNT! You stay with your classmate where it's safe! Don't you fucking dare get involved with these things!"

"W-Wait!? You're just leaving me… and she's gone. SERIOUSLY?!"

Shouto put a hand on her shoulder, bringing her attention back to the task at hand, "She must think you'll be safer with us. Unless you think you'd be able to keep up with her?"

Ochako growled but couldn't argue with the points.

"SHOUTO! And… girl. Let's go!"

Endeavor started running for the explosion while Shouto and Ochako followed after him.

Tomura smiled with glee behind the hand covering his face, "These Nomu are great. They'll have this city burning in no time."

From his side, Kurogiri looked over at Tomura, "I am glad you decided to listen to Master and not participate in the battle."

"I'm injured now, so of course I won't. Besides, watching destruction can be just as much fun as causing it. It's why I asked for these guys. They may not be as strong as the one we brought to the USJ, but three of them attacking at once will spread the destruction just fine."

Kurogiri nodded, "And you still wish to include Stain in the destruction?"

Tomura spat out his words, "I hate that guy and I'm allowed to destroy what I hate. Sensei said so... but I'll do more than just kill him. He thinks he's so important because he's always in the news. But after this, everyone will have forgotten about him. He'll be nothing next to me. Goals, ideals; I'll destroy all of that worthless junk."

"I understand your dislike for him, but I hope you won't dismiss him or his methods completely."

"Oh?" Tomura scratched at his neck, "The way he talks, he sounds more like a guy leading a grassroots movement."

"Perhaps, but I've looked into the crime rates of the cities he's been in."

"I'm sure they skyrocketed with all the heroes he killed. Big deal."

"No, in fact they dropped."

"Eh?"

"The theory is that as their comrades are struck down, the remaining heroes end up working harder to reinstill trust in their communities. In thinning the heroes' ranks and getting rid of the 'fakes,' as he puts it, he's leaving ones that more closely align with his definition."

Tomura let his hand move from his neck to the stab wound on his shoulder, "He said we both want to destroy this society but why we're doing it is completely different. It's impossible for us to get along. He wants perfect heroes. I want them all dead… But none of that even matters now. He stabbed me, so I want to kill him. End of story."

"Nomu!"

The word left Himiko's mouth, and the world suddenly, violently, jolted back to life. Gunfire roared as the Tartarus guards unloaded their assault rifles into the monster. Tsukauchi, radio in hand, was screaming for backup and relaying the Nomu's position.

"Detective, please confirm!"

"Nomu! I repeat! A Nomu is here! Almost exactly the same as the one apprehended from the USJ attack!"

With Tenya's help, Himiko was on her feet with eyes on the monster, and what she saw shocked her, "Holy crap, the bullets are hurting it?!"

Tsukauchi and Tenya snapped their head up and watched as the bullets fired did rip through the giant, but just as soon as any damage was done, the wounds closed up.

"It doesn't have the same Shock Absorption Quirk the one All Might fought had, but it has healing," Tsukauchi observed with some relief in his voice. Even Himiko started to think things weren't as bad as they could be.

"Detective! Please confirm what you just said!"

The panicked voice from the radio made Himiko frown. There was something in the way that the person on the radio had asked that had her instincts on edge. Plus she swore she was forgetting something very important.

"I repeat, there is a Nomu here. Follow the smoke and fire!"

More voices started coming in over the radio and Himiko felt herself get even more tense. There was way too much panic going on. Already, she could see more heroes arriving on the scene. Granted they were getting tossed around by the black giant but at least there were people on site.

"The whole block is on fire-"

"We need back up!"

"Another explosion-!"

"Wait, did they just say another explosion?" Manual said in alarm as the group listened to multiple panicked voices.

"Dispatch, what is going on!?"

"Detective, confirm visual appearance of the Nomu."

"The fuck?" Himiko shook her head and with a growl, grabbed the radio out of Tsukauchi's hand. Ignoring that he and Manual tried to get it back, Himiko screamed into it, "It's big and black with a fucking exposed brain! What else do you want!?"

Ripping the radio back, Tsukauchi was about to tell Himiko off when the dispater replied, "Who was that?"

Deciding to deal with her later, Tsukauchi went back to his radio, "Nevermind! The description is a match though."

"...Dammit. Then that black Nomu is the third confirmed one in Hosu City."

"...Oh fuck."

"We have sightings of one white Nomu, one winged Nomu, and the black one you are engaging."

Himiko tore her eyes away from the radio and looked out towards the city, whistling as she saw that several blocks away on either side of them, there were twin black pillars of smoke reaching up to the night sky, "Holy shit the League is attacking the city." A sadistic smile crossed Himiko's face as she pulled out a knife and twirled it in between her fingers, "Guess you won't be going to the police station with me tonight, Tenya. But look on the bright side: I get to stab something and you get to kick something."

The silence that greeted her was deafening over the roar of the battle.

"Tenya?"

Himiko turned around, and found herself alone. Off in the distance, a block away, she could see soft whiffs of exhaust smoke wrapping around a corner before they were blown away. It took only a few seconds for what had just happened to click in her mind.

He just ran off when I wasn't looking...

Himiko stood, anchored in place by several emotions and feelings. She was shocked, dumbfounded, horrified and enraged. With so many different things racing around her head, they kept her from acting, so she picked one and focused on that to help her finally move.

It was rage.

THAT FOUR EYED BASTARD! I'M GOING TO CASTRATE HIM!

With that decided, and before anyone else looked her way, Himiko vanished from the scene - cursing Tenya and his stupidity, and cursing his stupid running Quirk.

Racing down the road, Tenya felt his stomach twist. Guilt gnawed at him with every step. If not for his burning desire to see his brother's attacker brought to justice, his guilt would have been crippling. But he kept running, fueled on by his desire and conviction. This was his best chance to find Stain and he could not afford to waste it. Himiko had forced his hand, after all. Staring down the barrel of a gun, and treated in such an inhumane way, she still insisted on making sure he was where she could see him. It became clear to him at that moment that if he was going to do anything, he was going to have to do something drastic or hope for an opportunity when he was free of Himiko's constant watch.

The sudden attack of the Nomu provided that opportunity.

With heroes on the scene and Himiko's eyes off him, Tenya saw his window and took it. So now he was free, and was finally able to start his search. And in a strange twist of fate, the attack happening in the city gave Tenya a better picture of where he was going to look. He had already decided to check alleys and areas that were out of sight from the general populace, but now he was also working away from the attacks.

Stain wouldn't want to be near an area that has that much attention… but heroes will be rushing towards them en masse. And if one takes an alley or was slower than the rest-

"Hey, do you know where Native is?"

Passing by a group of heroes, Tenya caught part of their conversation and slowed down.

"He was lagging behind. He said he'd catch up and was going to take a short cut back there."

The hero motioned down the dark street behind them, "If he got lost that's his own fault. We can't wait for him any longer."

When the group was out of sight, Tenya turned and started running down the direction they had come from. A straggler would make the perfect target. Focused on getting to the emergency, they wouldn't be expecting an ambush. Finding the alley they spoke of, Tenya boosted down. Eyes scanning the dark tunnel until he saw it: a hero pressed up against the side of a building, held up by his throat as another man raised a sword to cut him down.

STAIN!

Tenya's engines roared as he launched himself at Stain. Pulling a leg back he prepared to slam his foot right into the Hero Killer's head but at the last second, Stain turned. Swinging his sword, the blade cut through Tenya's helmet, knocking it off, and sent Tenya tumbling to the ground. Landing on the ground hard, Tenya gasped for breath while Stain looked down at him, "A child… wearing a costume. I don't know what you're supposed to be but you should leave this place. This isn't somewhere a child should be."

"You're Stain, aren't you. The Hero Killer. I came to this city hoping to find you. And now that you're in front of me, I won't let you escape," Tenya growled out his words. Eyes blazing with fire and hate as he looked at Stain, "After what you did to my brother. I'm going to make you pay."

Stain frowned, "Choose what you do next carefully, boy. Your eyes tell me everything I need to know, and your words dig your own grave. I will kill whoever I must. Even if that means children. Leave now, before I decide your fate."

"You… You don't have the right to talk about fate when I've already sealed yours. Listen to me, you monster. I am the younger brother of the finest hero. The hero you cut down and left for dead. Because of you, my brother will never walk again. I am here in his stead to put an end to you once and for all. My name is Ingenium and I swear, I am going to kill you!"

Stain dropped Native to the ground and turned his full attention towards Tenya, "Is that so? Then your fate is sealed boy."

Tenya launched at Stain only for the Hero Killer to leap up into the air over him. Slamming his feet into the ground, Tenya twisted around, getting ready to try and attack again. Tenya gasped as Stain swung his sword out, interrupting him. Tenya dropped to the ground, dodging the sword by inches. He tried to hurry back to his feet, but Stain was already on the move. Pulling out one of his combat knives, Stain drove it through Tenya's arm and into the ground, pinning him down. While Tenya screamed, with a flick of his wrist, Stain used his sword to slice Tenya across his shoulder, pressing his boot down on Tenya's head.

"You and your brother are both fakes. That's why you're both weak and that's why you failed."

Tenya growled past the pain, "Shut up! You don't know anything about him or what it means to be a hero. You're just a killer!"

Stain glared down at Tenya before pointing over at Native, "A hero would have been more concerned about the victimthan the culprit. You didn't care about him at all, too consumed by your own selfish desires. You have power, but you used it to your own ends. You let hate drive your every action the moment you got here. The first thing, the very first thing you should have done as you raced in here was try and save him, but you didn't. Your every action made you anything but a hero." Bringing his sword up to his mouth Stain licked the blade, and Tenya suddenly couldn't move, "And that is why you have to die."

Tenya fought to move his body, while at the same time trying not to listen to a word Stain said. He couldn't bring himself to think that Stain was right. A hero would have tried to save Native.

"Shut up! Shut… up…"

Stain looked down at the defeated Tenya and raised his sword up to deliver the killing blow, seeing no reason to prolong his pain, "Goodbye child. You will become more tinder for the fire that will destroy this society."

Tenya closed his eyes as the blade came down, but the pain never happened. He waited and waited, but nothing happened. He could still feel the searing pain in his arm from the knife driven into it. The dull ache from the cut he had taken. So he wasn't dead, but nothing else. Cautiously, Tenya opened his eyes, and saw the Stain still standing over him, his sword stopped in mid swing, a foot or so away from his neck.

Stain himself though was different. His determined and angry scowl was now gone. He looked cautious but indifferent - maybe even annoyed. He was aware of something that escaped Tenya. Withdrawing his sword, Stain took his eyes off Tenya and peered deep into the dark shadows of the alley. Then with a scoff, pointed his sword into it, "Come out. No matter how hard you try, you'll never be able to hide the stench of all the blood you've drenched yourself in. Come out and stop wasting my time Toga."

Tenya's eyes went wide, "W-what!?"

That can't be right! She can't be here! She couldn't have foll-

"Gosh, Mr. Stain, you don't have to go and spoil the fun like that," the chirpy tone in Himiko's voice seemed to echo in the darkness, "After all, it's been so long."

From the black shadows, Himiko appeared, her body flowing through the darkness unnervingly naturally. It was her domain, the shadows. It's where she could do the most damage without ever being noticed - normally, at least. Stain though had picked her out instantly, though if she was upset or disturbed by that, Tenya couldn't tell by looking at her.

And look at her, Tenya did. With her out of the shadows, Tenya wanted to scream at her to run. This had nothing to do with her. However, all words died in his throat as he looked at her - looked at her and Stain. He had been too preoccupied in his attack to notice it, but now that it was right in front of him he couldn't not see it.

The colors of the costume.

The knives and where they were holstered.

The mask.

It was all the same. Himiko may have added a few of her own personal flares to it, added gear that assisted her Quirk, but there was no mistaking it. Their costumes were the same.

"And I resent the stench remark. One, because blood never smells bad and two, I happen to shower regularly and U.A. gives me these really nice soaps too. Makes me all nice and fresh," Himiko finished with a flaunt, putting her hands on her hips and looking playfully offended at the idea she smelled.

"You can't hide the killer's aura that surrounds you. With that, you'll never be able to hide from me," Stain stated simply. Eyeing her closely and never dropping his sword.

Himiko rolled her eyes and waved him off, "Yeah, yeah. 'Control yourself Toga.' 'Restrain yourself.' Blah blah blaaah. Let's face facts: I'm a monster, and monsters don't do 'restraint.'" Himiko made sure to make as many air quotes as she could while she talked. As she did, she kept walking forward, closer to the pair. Her eyes fell on Tenya briefly before she looked over at the wounded Native, "Still doing your thing, huh? Going after all the fakes to tear down our society to save it."

"All that matters is the mission."

Himiko's smile soured before she fixed it, "Yeah. Don't I know it."

With each step, she brought herself closer to two. With a flick of his wrist, Stain moved the tip of his sword so that it lined up with her chest, just where her heart would be. Himiko finally stopped and looked down at the blade, "Why, Mr. Stain, you know I'd wanted you to stick it in me for sooooo long, but here? In a back alley? And without any foreplay, you're just gonna jam it in? Not very romantic, don't you think? Buuuut, it was in a dark alley like this my heart was stolen from you. Do you want to try and win it back?"

Tenya was at a complete loss. Forgetting the fact that his friend had somehow followed him and was now in danger, and that said friend was dressed up like Stain and the two seemed to be familiar with each other, now Himiko was flirting with him. What's more, there was a tone in Himiko's voice that he had never heard before, even when she teased and toyed with Izuku or became angry with Katsuki.

Her voice was like a song, a raunchy inappropriate, sometimes cruel song, but it always carried the same cheerful tune as well. Now though, that song in her voice had too many distorted notes. It was almost unhinged. It was terrifying. He had heard from Ochako and Tsuyu about the time when the villains attacked, how Himiko had become someone completely different in that moment. Like something dark beneath the surface had leaked out. Tenya wondered if this was like that, if he was seeing something Himiko kept locked inside coming out.

Stain didn't seem to care about Himiko's taunt, "Still living inside your own delusions. Tell me Toga, what were you thinking draping yourself in my trappings? Was I supposed to feel pride? Joy? Looking at you only fills me with disgust."

Himiko pouted, "Aw, that's mean."

"But I suppose I do have to thank you for one thing, Toga," Himiko's eyebrows raised at that, "When I learned you were being trained as a hero it laid bare just how corrupt and sick this world is. That even a world of fakes would let a monster like you pretend to be one of them. It only shows how far gone this world has fallen. You make me sick, but you've also proved me right. To save the people from these fakes, I will drown this society in their false idols' blood. Every fake will die."

"...Every fake," Himiko's eyes fell to Tenya who looked up at her, in pain and afraid.

Stain glanced down at Tenya before he turned his attention back to Himiko, "If they are too far corrupted like this boy. Then yes, even children will be sacrificed."

Himiko sighed and dropped her head, breaking eye contact with Stain, "You know what? You're right."

There was no cheerful tune in Himiko's voice anymore. No illusion of laughter, or kindness. No joy or even the slightest hint of humanity. To Tenya, she didn't even look like the Himiko he knew. She hadn't used her Quirk to transform, she was still Himiko Toga, but the way she sounded and carried herself now, she might as well have been a completely new person.

"About me at least. The heroes, they keep looking for something inside of me that isn't there. I can pretend of course. I can pretend I have compassion. I can fake kindness. I can create an illusion of humanity for them to feel like they're saving me. I can even fool myself sometimes, I'm just that good of a liar. But I know, and I think they know it too even if some… don't want to admit it. I know what I am. I'm a monster. I drink blood because I love the taste and cut people open to see how pretty they look covered in their own gore. The sound of a fresh cut, the warm splash when you hit that artery, the look in a person's eyes as the life behind it fades away, I love it all. I'm a psychopath, a twisted, fucked up monster that by some warped string of luck, met a naive little boy that stole my heart. And because of that I walked right into the hands of the heroes. To be with that sweet boy, I'll let myself play the hero's games and become their monster. I know how this game is going to end, they'll point and I'll kill. They'll throw me to the wolves and I'll tear the whole pack apart. I'll be nothing more than a tool by the end. But that's fine, because for now I get to be with a special boy, and be part of his special world. I get to play at being a hero, a classmate and…" Himiko's eyes glanced down at Tenya, "a friend. You see, this idiot who just wouldn't listen is my friend. This absolute moron that you've hurt is my friend.And now, I'm going to save him."

"Ho-"

CLANG!

The sharp sound of metal against metal rang throughout the alley. Himko snapped her left hand up and caught Stain's sword between the twin blades on the back of her hand. Twisting her hand and swinging her arm away, she pulled the sword away from her heart. At the same time, her right hand swung by her hip, grabbing a throwing knife from it's holster. She threw the knife with a flick of her wrist right into Stain's chest.

Stain yanked his sword back and lept backwards as Himiko attacked. Deflecting Himiko's knife with his sword, he sailed away. The metal spikes on his boots sparking as he grinded to a stop, several paces behind Tenya. Himiko threw several more knives as she launched herself forward, covering the distance between herself and Tenya. While Stain dodged and deflected, Himiko skidded to a stop and grabbed onto Tenya's back as grey sludge exploded from her body. Her arms and legs grew large and overly muscular and a deep black began spreading over the limbs. As fast as she could she began transforming into the giant Nomu, but the time she had bought pushing Stain back wasn't enough.

"Toga, look out!" Tenya yelled, though he hadn't needed to; Himiko had never taken her eyes off Stain. She swore as he sliced at her, his sword easily cutting through her fake flesh, turning it into useless grey sludge again and forcing her to let go of Tenya and backpedal as quickly as she could. The rest of her transformation fell to the ground as she ducked, swerved and scrambled to get away from Stain's counter attack.

Back to their original places, Himiko quickly glanced over her body. While Stain he cut through her forming transformation, he hadn't cut her actual body. Stain also checked his sword, but did not find any blood on the blade, "Trying to save the boy? Naive of you to assume I would allow that."

Himiko rolled her eyes and reached up to her side, pulling out two of her large combat knives. As she did, her eyes fell back to Tenya briefly and she cursed that his costume was a suit of armor. Carrying him in that meant she had only one transformation that could do the trick, and of course it was the one that took the longest to put on. The Nomu's strength would have given her everything she needed to pick Tenya up and leap away but it's added bulk increased the time it took her transformation to properly form. And none of her other forms were going to be of any use, even if she had time to transform into them. Stain would just cut through them. For this fight, she needed her weapons, and she needed her body.

"Toga!" Tenya called out, "Run! Just-"

"Tenya, shut up! You don't have talking privileges anymore!" With that scream, Himiko charged right into Stain, blade flashing as they picked up the miniscule light.

From the ground, Tenya was left dumbstruck as he watched. A popular cliche and trope when watching two skilled fighters or even martial artists battle each other was to compare their movements to a dance. Each one moving with the other. Give and take, push and pull. Their skills were brought to bear in a way that was mesmerizing. This fight wasn't like that at all. He wasn't watching two dancers twist and twirl around each other. He was watching two high-powered blenders scream to life and slam into each other in a shower of sparks and razor splinters.

Stain rained down blows with his sword, from above, the sides and below, while Himiko used her knives to deflect and block. Himiko needed to close the space between them if she wanted a good shot at Stain, but he was making it very hard for her. His sword gave him reach and power. Power which he used when he grabbed the hilt with both hands and brought his sword down, while Himiko brought her twin combat knives up, crossing them and catching the sword with a loud ringing of metal-on-metal. The force of the hammer blow made Himiko's arms shake under the strain. Even with her blocking it, the blade of the sword got way too close to Himiko's head for her liking.

Letting go with one hand, Stain reached out and grabbed one of Himiko's wrists and pulled her to the side, throwing her off balance. With Himiko stumbling, Stain twisted his wrist and turned his blade to the side, swinging across his body to cut Himiko down. Himiko, instead of fighting to stay up, let herself fall, hitting the ground as Stain's sword passed over her. Stain didn't let up his attack and pulled a leg back, then drove the steel spikes on the front of his boot into Himiko with a kick. Himiko got a bracer in front of her body in time to prevent herself from getting punctured, but with a cost. With a crisp crack, the blades on her arm shattered and she was sent tumbling across the ground.

Leaping to her feet, Himiko hissed in surprise as Stain launched one of his large knives at her as he ran after her. Only just sidestepping the knife, Himiko reached up and pulled one of her syringes out, then threw it at Stain, letting the tubing run through her fingers as it sailed through the air. Stain sidestepped, and the moment he did Himiko snatched the tubing and yanked it to the side, changing the direction of the needle and arcing it towards Stain's exposed side.

Stain's hand shot up and caught the syringe, "You're cheap tricks aren't going to save your life, Toga."

Hand still gripping the tubing, Himiko flicked her wrist and sent a wave through the line, causing it to wrap around Stain's wrist. Yanking down with her hand, Himiko raised her foot up above the line and stamped down, pulling the line and Stain's arm down with it. With Stain dragged down, Himiko launched herself at him, her knife raised in the air to drive it home. But Stain recovered, slicing himself free with his sword before swiping at Himiko's head. His freed hand went to his side as he pressed his attack, bringing his sword down hard on Himiko's defenses and making Himiko backpadel.

Sparks flew as Stain shattered one of Himiko's knives and then knocked the other out of her hand. Himiko needed to get some space quickly, so she took another step back, except her foot didn't hit the ground like she planned. Instead of the ground, her foot landed on the hilt of the knife Stain had thrown at her, stuck into the concrete. Eyes widening, Himiko didn't know if the knife had been a trap set by Stain or just bad luck. It didn't really matter in the end. Tripping over the knife, Himiko stumbled back while Stain advanced and swung his sword down. Desperately, Himiko punched at the blade with her remaining gauntlet and bracer, the curved blades catching the sword.

However, while she had been able to stop Stain's first attack, his sword, she saw too late he was following it up with a second. In his other hand Stain held a knife that he swung upward. Himiko tried to move backward and twist herself but she was still unbalanced. She was able to get her body away but she wasn't able to pull her head back far enough. The knife tip hit her right cheek and then sliced all the way up to her eyebrow.

Cutting through her masks.

Cutting through her skin, flesh and bone.

Cutting right through Himiko's eye.

"TOGA!"

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"I want McDonald's."

"You ate before we left."

"That was in the afternoon, the sun's gone down, Toshinori."

Izuku groaned and sunk deeper into his seat. For whatever reason, Gran Torino had decided that he was going to play the role of a child in the back seat of All Night's truck. A role he had embraced enthusiastically for the last thirty minutes.

"If we had taken the train we'd be there by now."

All Might rubbed his brow, "We don't want to attract attention. This gets us into the city under the press's nose."

Gran Torino rolled his eyes, "Then you should have listened to me and just worn a trench coat over your costume."

"You and Young Midoriya, who everyone knows is training under me this week, are in full costume. Me in an oversized coat that doesn't hide my oversized costume would have attracted way too many questions."

"So driving around in the coat is better?"

All Might pulled at his collar, "I'll be able to quickly change with this, at least."

Gran Torino shook his head, "I swear you put too much thought into the most useless crap."

All Might laughed, "I suppose so."

Afterwards, for the next few seconds the three sat in silence. Which Izuku hoped meant whatever game the two had been playing was finally over.

"I want McDonald's."

Izuku covered his face with his hands, "Let's just get him a Happy Meal already. He's short enough they might even give him a toy to play with."

Promptly, Izuku realized he had said the thing he meant to think out loud. All Might started laughing up a storm while Izuku could feel the glare directed at him from behind his seat.

"Hey, kid. Ever have the back of your seat kicked by someone with jets on the bottom of their feet?"

Gulp.

Deciding that it might be a good idea to not say anything else, Izuku went back to looking out the window. The drive had been a couple of hours but fortunately Izuku had been distracted with his own thoughts about One for All and what was going to happen to him going forward. Now that he was in Hosu City proper, his thoughts drifted to Stain and it put him on edge. Izuku knew he wasn't going to be taking part in the search and was just there to watch All Might work. Even All Might wasn't really part of the heroes searching the city for the villain mostly there for moral support because of his limited time. So the odds of anything happening tonight were slim. None of that helped his nerves.

He was tempted to give Ochako a text, but quickly thought better of it. If she asked what was making him so jumpy, he'd have to say he was with All Might in Hosu City and that would mean Stain would get brought up. And he knew somehow, someway, Ochako would come to the conclusion that he would be going after the Hero Killer. Which just opened up a whole can of worms that he did not want to deal with since he doubted she would listen to him if he said he wasn't going to go after the villain. Ochako somehow now had it stuck in her head that he had a habit of leaping into dangerous situations.

Which was just ridiculous but that was an issue for another day.

"Hmm, maybe we should grab something to eat before we get to work," All Might said

"Finally. About time you listened to m-!"

BOOM!

Down the street the three could see fire and smoke rising up into the sky. All Might gripped the steering wheel and slammed down his foot on the gas, racing in between cars to get right up to the corner where the explosion happened. Then slamming on the brakes and twisting the steering wheel All Might pulled the truck to the curb with a screech before coming to a sudden stop. Just around the corner of the building, fire and smoke spread and people were running, terrified and panicked.

"Wha!? What's going on?!" Izuku screamed in alarm. However, while he sat in shock, All Might had already buffed up and was getting out of the car. As Gran Torino rocketed out, Izuku snapped back to reality and quickly followed after them.

"Young Midoriya! Stay in the truck!"

Izuku shook his head as he looked up at All Might, "There might be people hurt! I can at least help them! I don't have to use my Quirk for that!"

All Might grit his teeth frozen in place over his decision. Gran Torino slapped his side, 'We need to move!"

All Might looked at Izuku then waved him on with him. They rushed through the crowds of people, but then a new sound ripped through the air.

Gunfire.

All Might grit his teeth; whatever was around the corner was not going to be good. When they turned the corner though, he knew he was right. He also wished he had made Izuku stay in the truck. There, standing in the middle of the fire was a giant black monster.

A Nomu.

Around it, several other heroes were doing their best to fight it off, but the monster was tossing them around with ease. Izuku paled and memories of the USJ attack flashed before his eyes, before he shook his head and focused on the task at hand. While All Might readied to rush into the battle, he first looked down at Izuku, "Young Midoriya, there are officers over there. You stay with them. Do you hear me?"

"I-"

"They should be about to help evacuate the area of anyone that hasn't gotten away. You help who you can but under no circumstances do you engage the Nomu! And do not use your Quirk!"

"TOGA!"

While Tenya screamed in horror, Himiko didn't have time to worry about that. She didn't even really hear him. She knew her eye was gone. The pain she felt - a deep horrible pain - told her everything she needed to know. If she could force her ruined eyelids open, which her body was not letting her do, she knew her limited field of vision wouldn't suddenly get better. Stain's knife hadn't just grazed her, it had sunk into her and cut through flesh and bone. Her eye socket had been cut too. When a bone gets hurt, that's a whole new level of pain.

The pain was real.

The shock was real.

The horror was real.

She was blind in her right eye now, but none of that mattered more than one simple fact.

She was bleeding and her blood was on Stain's knife.

Himiko didn't scream. Didn't clutch at her ruined eye because she knew she didn't have the time to worry about it. Stain was bringing the knife up to his mouth and while she was in a bad place now, if she got paralized by him licking her blood off that knife she was beyond screwed.

Even as unbalanced as she was, Himiko threw her leg up as hard as she could and kicked the knife out of Stain's hand. The knife went sailing off into the dark alley as Himiko landed on her back. Normally the impact wouldn't have bothered her too much, but the injury to her face seemed to amplify even the most basic bump into an excruciating pain that left her dazed. With half her vision black, and the other half now blurry, she had to rely on her instincts. And they were screaming at her to move. Now!

Himiko rolled just as Stain stabbed down at her with his sword. Scrambling to her feet, Himiko pulled out more knives to defend herself, but Stain was on the attack. As he pushed forward Himiko was pushed further and further back, getting disarmed with every swing of his sword. Her knives clattered as they were knocked from her hands, ringing as they hit the concrete. She was keeping herself from getting cut down, but she was quickly losing her options. Another hard slash sliced through the syringes, leaving her with almost no weapons.

I just need to get some distance. Get some space and then i'll-!

Thud!

Himiko's back hit a wall. Stain had driven her back to the point she had nowhere else left to go. The section of the building behind her was flat concrete; no fire escapes to climb, or even windows to jump through. The building was behind her, cutting off any escape and Stain was in front, ready to kill. Even half blind, Himiko could see what was coming.

"It's over, Toga. Perish along with the rest of the fakes in this world."

Stain swung his sword for Himiko's neck, and she closed her eye, not wanting to watch what came next.

In her last moments, she tried to think of her friends, and tried to remember the brief time she had with them. She even thought of Midnight and the teachers. Each and every one a pain in her ass, Midnight especially, but they had seen something in her. Real or not, she and the rest had tried to help her. She was grateful for that. She thought of Tenya, and hoped - really truly hoped - that all the time Stain had spent with her had given him enough time for the paralysis to wear off so he could escape. He was a pain and she could blame him for what was about to happen, but she didn't. She didn't blame him for anything. She thought of Izuku, and the first time she met him in an alley like this so many months ago. For her it was the first time she had met a real hero, who had shown a kindness she still couldn't understand. Izuku, who had reached out his hand to save her and had stolen her heart. That she was going to return his kindness not with her love but with her death broke her heart.

I'm sorry Izuku. I tried, but I'm not a hero like you. Just a monster playing pretend.

Himiko's last breath dragged on as she wanted for the cut.

Then she took another.

Another.

And another.

...Why the fuck am I not dead yet?

Cracking her eye open, her curiosity overcame her acceptance of death.

Stain was still there. His sword mer inches away from her neck. Yet he hadn't killed her. Why? There was no reason for him to have stopped. It didn't make sense. If only she could get a better look at him. Maybe she could get a read on him, figure out what was going on. Was this a joke? A sick final act to prolong her death? She wished she could see him better, her vision wasn't as hazy now, but that damned green light around the sword was making it impossible to see things clearly…

Wait…? Green…? Glow...?

Himiko's head snapped down to look at the sword, Stain no longer holding any interest in her. Her eye went wide as she stared in shock at what she saw: Stain's sword was glowing green. His hands held the hilt very tightly, showing he was struggling against his own weapon - like it was being pushed or pulled away and he was doing everything he could to hold on.

Then she heard a voice that up until a few seconds ago, she didn't think she'd ever hear again.

No…

"GET!"

No no no no no!

"AWAY!"

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!

"FROM!"

FUCK NO FUCK FUCK FUCK NO!

"HER!"

Himiko whipped her head around and saw him. Bathed in green light and looking like a hero from a comic, Izuku stood several yards away, his hand reached out as he used his Quirk to stop the sword from killing her.

Her hero was there for her again, "IZUKU, WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING HERE?!"

Izuku, doing exactly as All Might told him, circled wide around the battlefield and rushed to the police officers' side.

"Wait, Detective Tsukauchi?!"

Tsukauchi turned and blinked in surprise, "Midoriya?! Weren't you with-?"

CRACK!

All Might leapt into action and threw a punch right into the Nomu's jaws, knocking it down the road.

"-All Might!?"

"Yes sir!" Izuku confirmed with a smile, though he didn't really need to as the other heroes on site began to cheer as All Might took over the fight.

Tsukauchi sighed, "I'll get word out over the radio, then. With all the chaos going on, we could use the news that All Might is in the city."

"Chaos?"

Tsukauchi frowned, "Yes. There are two other Nomu in the city right now."

Izuku felt cold hearing that - that there was another Nomu was bad enough but to hear that there were three more. Again, the memories of the USJ attack crept up into his mind. Izuku kept pushing them down. He couldn't let himself get distracted. He had to do something while he was here, even if it was just evacuating anyone left. He was about to ask if there was anything he could do when he heard someone scream over the fight.

"IIDA! IIDA, WHERE ARE YOU?!"

Izuku stopped and turned, eyes falling on a hero in blue looking around frantically.

Thats… Manual. He's the hero that Iida was interning with, I think. Iida ran off?

"IIDA! TOGA!"

Toga!? She's here too?! But why would they run? Toga isn't afraid of anything and Iida, he'd never abandon a situation like… this…

Izuku felt his world come to a stop. The look in his friends eyes the day at the train station and now learning that he was in Hosu City.

Iida's here. He's in Hosu, the same city as the… Hero Killer!

Tsukauchi whipped around, "Wait, Toga's gone?!"

"They were both here a second ago I swear. Darn it, where are they?!"

Izuku wasn't listening to them anymore. His mind was racing and he didn't like where it was leading him. However, that didn't stop his body from reacting and forcing him to run. His instincts screamed at him that his friends were in danger even as his mind raced to keep up. He had to be overthinking it. He had to be. He had no proof but he just couldn't stop. In the same city that the Hero Killer had appeared there were now Nomu's running wild. It couldn't be a coincidence, which would mean they were connected somehow.

Could the Nomu be here to help him escape?! The city has been filled to the brim with heroes so this attack might be a distraction. And Iida, wasn't at the attack even though Manual was. For him to run off like that it must mean he went looking for Stain! Maybe that's why he came here to begin with! Toga must have followed after him. I don't think she would just let a friend go and do something like this. Friends are important to her.

Racing through the streets, Izuku tried to think. All the attacks in Hosu had been in back alleys, so working back from the attack site he turned and ducked into the first alley he found. He knew he wasn't supposed to use his Quirk but if he found his friends before they got into trouble it would be fine.

Clank!

Clang!

Clank!

A noise reached Izuku's ears that echoed off the building walls. He was close enough to the fight that he could finally hear it: it was a sharp noise, metal-on-metal. It reminded Izuku of the sounds a movie would play during a sword fight, when the blades clashed against each other.

Toga… carries a lot of blades and Stain is supposed to be armed with a sword…

Spinning on his heel, Izuku ran, following the sounds to their source.