“Is that blood?”

Izuku and Himiko looked up at her, both of them were splattered in red droplets and the girl had a knife, with some sort of sludge? At her feet. Normally, Yui would be worried, but she knew Himi would never hurt the green bean, not on purpose anyway.

“Yui-nee! You won’t believe what Himi-chan can do! Her Quirk is amazing!” Izuku bounced up to her, a wide smile on his face as Himiko looked down at the floor.

“That doesn’t exactly answer the question, Izuku.” She sighed as she put the bag of groceries on the counter, pulling off the black curly wig and tossing it on top of the fridge.

“Oh right! Yeah it is, but the splatter was from the steak.” He pointed out the raw meat on the counter, “We wanted to start on dinner but then I nicked myself and kinda dropped the steak and the blood splattered on us.”

“Are you okay? Let me see the cut.” She held out her hand, waiting for him to place his hand in hers so she could see the shallow cut on his finger.

“Yeah, I’m fine! But more importantly, Himi-chan’s Quirk lets her transform into other people! That’s so cool!” He gushed, the smile not leaving his face as he rocked back and forth. “If she drinks a person’s blood she can transform into them!”

Yui blinked, looking at the usually bubbly girl. Himiko was looking down at the floor, her grip tight on the blade as her fingers held the slightest tremor. It made something in her chest ache to see the girl look almost afraid.

“That is really cool. It’d be super useful for an underground hero. To be able to transform into someone else, you’d be able to infiltrate the enemies and take them down from the inside.” She smiled as she wet a paper towel and started to wipe the blood speckles off their cheeks.

Himiko blinked, her head snapping up to her, those golden eyes wide as tears welled up in the corners. “You don’t think it’s bad?” She blurted out.

“Himiko, there’s no such thing as a bad Quirk. It’s just something that’s a part of you. If having a blood based Quirk makes you bad, then so’s Vlad King. He controls blood, but he’s still a hero.” Yui looked into her eyes before she placed a hand on top of her head. “You’re a sweet kid, a little eccentric sometimes, but your heart is in the right place.”

Himiko sniffled, wiping her eyes on her sleeve, “Everyone else hated me, they picked on me like I was some demon because of it!” She hiccupped, before Izu and Yui both pulled her into a hug, letting her cling to them.

“But I like my quirk. I like who I am!” She spat out, hiding her face against Izu’s shoulder. “The little bird in my hand was bleeding and all I could think about was how pretty the color was, how cute it looked with the red dappling its feathers. I had to know what it tasted like. L-like a kiss or a hug in exchange for being so pretty!” She hiccupped, her tears soaking into Izuku’s shirt as she held him tight. They didn’t say anything as she babbled out, clinging to them both like they were the only thing keeping her here. Yui and Izuku had grown tense as the admission had taken a turn before catching each other's eyes and looking down at the emotionally defenseless girl collapsing against them. Like that the moment passed and they only deepened their embrace.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Apparently someone had been playing with their drone and saw me. They uploaded it online and my parents saw and they were so-so disgusted with me! They kept screaming about what would the neighbors think and what my dad’s bosses would think and how mortifying it was to have a creature like me as a child! The next thing I knew they told me to go play in the park…and then when it got dark, I couldn’t get in the house, the doors were locked and the lights were out and they wouldn’t answer me.” Her voice cracked as her body trembled, “I was so lucky…lucky that I ran into Dabi. Without him…I’d probably be dead....I just want to live my normal life”

Izuku held her tight, rubbing her back as tears slid down his cheeks, “Himi-chan, I’m so sorry! Your parents are..."

“They’re idiots, did you want me to ruin them? I can, it’d be easy.” Yui’s voice was dark as she held the girl close, running a gentle hand through her blonde hair.

“N-No, i-it’s fine. Really.” She sniffled, wiping her eyes again as she looked up at them, giving them a wobbly smile, “Dabi asked me that too, he’d burn them down for me…but I said no. I don’t want them in my life anymore if they're going to hold it back. They aren’t worth it!” Himiko chirped the last bit out, her smile becoming more genuine.

“That’s right they aren’t.” Dabi drawled as he walked into the kitchen. “I didn’t know it was sappy hour.”

Himiko huffed, “Sappy hour? You hide in the room and listen to emo music!”

“Yes, that’s my sappy hour. You need to get your own idea.” He dodged a potato that flew towards his head, “Oh, are we having mashed potatoes for dinner? You said you were going to make baked.”

“Can’t you act your age for once, Dabi?” She puffed her cheeks out in a pout, the banter between the two shaking her out of the gloom that had wrapped around them. But then again, Himiko was quick to change emotions at the drop of a hat.

“I mean, he’s what, fourteen, fifteen? It’s not like he’s not that much older than us.” Yui shrugged as she started to put the groceries away.

“I’m actually eighteen.”

The kitchen got quiet as the two pseudo-siblings turned to look at the scarred teen. Izu finally let out a gasp, “When did you turn eighteen?”

“Bullshit, Dabi.”

He groaned as he reached for his wallet, showing them the motorcycle license with his birthday, showing him as eighteen since January 18th. “This was a bitch to get, but it’s legit. Now I just need a bike if you want to get me a present.”

“Wait…we’ve known you since like...the fifteenth? Why didn’t you say it was your birthday?” Izuku pouted at him, matching Himiko’s look as the duo glared up at him.

“We just met, and it’s just a shitty day.” He rolled his eyes at them as he shoved the wallet back in his pocket.

“Nope! Now we have to make a cake, and get presents and decorate and sing to you. It’s the rules! Kami, why do we keep missing birthdays?” Izu ranted as he left the kitchen, going to grab his notebook.

“You know…I often joke that we need an adult around here but I don’t think you qualify.” Yui’s voice was dry was she started to get coffee ready, she really needed the caffeine.

“Bitch…the fuck?” Dabi’s deep voice took on an offended tone as he turned those cerulean eyes to her.

“You got taken off the streets by an eleven and ten year old. I don’t think you deserve adult privileges.”

“You know what? For that, you’re in time out.” He crossed his arms over his chest, looking down at her.

The teal eye teen met his gaze and was silent for a moment as she processed his words, “…Bitch, this is my house!”

While the two bickered, Himiko stood by Izuku as they watched the scene, the girl leaning over to whisper, “Ten thousand yen she sprays him with the fire extinguisher.”

The viridian curled kid snorted softly, “Twenty thousand she throws him out the window.”

“…Would he survive that?”

“Oh sure! There’s a large bush to break your fall, and we’re only on the third story.” He chirped out, writing something down in his notebook as he glanced at the two going back and forth in the kitchen, they’d started slinging insults.

Himiko stared at the youngest in the apartment for a moment before she had to ask, “Izu-chan…did you fall out the window?”

He closed the notebook with a snap as Dabi let out a yell and a string of curses, “Oh look at that! Yui-nee sprayed him with the fire extinguisher, let me go get your money.”