Chapter Text
Himiko isn’t anxious, not really. Or, well, maybe she is. But, more that that, she is excited. Excited to get out, to walk around without feeling constantly watched. She loves her friends, but she needs to move, on her own. It’s been two days since they decided on her being the one to sneak out, two days since they formed a plan. Only one day to prepare, but that’s okay. She can do this. She has to do this. It has to be her.
Blue is sitting on her bed next to her, looking over the cuff around her wrist with a frown. She knows he actually prefers being called Ao, but the English word lets her press her tongue against her teeth when talking. It’s nice.
Tomura has a way to deactivate the cuff, at least temporarily. A way that won’t alert the heroes, unlike destroying it or taking it off would. But he needs to be able to reach the inside of the cuff. Now, normally Atsuhiro has the steadiest hands, but Blue is really fast with picking up new things and since none of them have any clue of how the cuffs work, it was decided that Blue taking a look at them would be best.
This is the second time they’re doing this, and Blue is already a lot faster than he was the day before when he carefully loosens the latch that’s hiding the keyhole of the cuffs. He doesn’t open it just yet, though. Instead, Blue keeps a finger pressed on it and looks up at where Tomura is waiting, standing in the room.
“Your turn, Boss.”
Tomura nods and steps forward. He reaches out and takes over from Blue. For a second, his own cuffs flash red, then deactivate again. With a quick twist, he opens the latch, pressing his finger on top of the lock. Himiko doesn’t feel anything change, but Tomura nods and slots the latch back into place.
“This should hold long enough for you to get some information and come back again. Hurry.”
His hands twitch and he stuffs them into his pockets. Himiko smiles brightly.
“Of course, boss.”
She doesn’t make a sound when she jumps up and hurries to the door, waving at the two of them as she leaves. She already said goodbye to the others and they’re all in their rooms. Jin had hugged her tightly, Shuichi had smiled at her and Atsuhiro had patted her shoulder. But time is of the essence now, she knows. She can’t risk getting distracted.
There is a window on the ground floor, on that opens just enough for her to squeeze herself through. Himiko pulls a chair close and pulls herself up and then through the window. Instinctively, she tucks into a roll before hitting the ground. She makes more sound than she would have liked to, but she’s out. Her shoulder aches, but it’s less than the not-quite-hunger pangs her quirk sends through her body at all times, so she ignores it.
She eyes the edge of the woods, visible from where she is standing. Between her and there is a line of open field. Himiko holds her breath and runs, ducked low to the ground. She’s fast and silent, quietly begging for any cameras to be turned away. If she gets caught now, she might ruin their only chance at getting more information. She might even get them separated. She won’t let them separate her from her friends. She won’t.
Himiko sneaks around the edge of the forest. It’s in the afternoon, after the daily classes her friends and her take. That should mean that the UA students are also done with classes, but there are dorms on campus. Which means students should still be sticking around. That will be her main source of information. Students talking to one another. Technically, sneaking into the principal’s office would give them the most information, but without a distraction, entering the main building is too dangerous. Himiko doesn’t want to risk running into the heroes that locked her friends up any more than necessary.
Most of the students she can see aren’t wearing their uniforms anymore, but some are. It feels achingly familiar, a weird mixture of anger and fear and longing that makes her want to throw up. It hurts, in a similar way her quirk hurts. Himiko swallows drily and pushes the sensation down. She has to focus. She has to figure out what is going on. For her friends.
Himiko creeps closer, keeping her breathing shallow, silent. She doesn’t know why she can do this, just that it feels natural. The students look around Twice’s age, maybe a year older or younger. Definitely older than Blue. They’re not talking about anything important from what Himiko can tell, but she still tries to commit as much of what is being said as possible to memory. Complaining about a teacher giving too much homework, some relationship drama between their classmates. The casualness of it makes Himiko’s chest hurt, but she pushes the feeling down once more. Himiko’s eyes are stinging and she blinks rapidly to get rid of the feeling as she pulls back into the forest. She needs to find someone talking about something interesting.
Himiko passes by some more people, but none of their conversations catch her interest. That’s when Himiko’s eyes fall on a small group of people. They’re standing close together, one, at most two years older than the first group of teens she saw. And yet they seem way older. They’re holding themselves in a way that reminds her of Tomura and Blue, but different, somehow. All of them have scars and something about them is so achingly familiar that Himiko has to close her eyes in order not to make a sound. Her head hurts. Her hands are shaking. These people are important, so so important. She sneaks closer.
“I’m gonna take a walk. You go back, I won’t be long.”
The girl that’s speaking has her back turned to Himiko, but her brown hair is the most familiar out of all of them. It makes Himiko’s quirk act up and she has to smother it down, afraid it will somehow reactivate the cuff’s tracking function. The boy with red hair grins and easily agrees. The floating shirt and shorts, who Himiko is pretty sure must be a girl with an invisibility quirk, agrees as well. It is the fourth person, with blond hair and a tail, who frowns.
“Are you sure you will be okay?”
His eyes dart towards where Himiko knows the dorms she lives in are. The girl with brown hair scoffs.
“I’m not scared of them. They haven’t gotten out yet, Mr. Aizawa would have told us if there were any problems. And right now, they’re younger than we are. I can handle myself.”
The boy pulls a face, but nods as well. Himiko watches as the group splits up, lingering as the girl watches the other three leave towards what Himiko assumes are their dorms. She doesn’t quite know why she darts out of the way and then keeps following the brown-haired girl instead of looking for more information. She just does. The girl is walking through the forest, Himiko hanging back, but following as closely as she can. She wants to be close to this girl.
She’s so focused on not losing the girl, so caught up in not-quite memories of feelings, in the thudding of her head and the aching of her quirk, that Himiko loses track of where she steps. It’s a small stumble, the slightest of noises, but it causes the girl to whip around. Her weight shifts, stance widening, hands rising slightly. Her eyes are steely, calculating.
Himiko slaps a hand over her mouth. That look hurts and she doesn’t know why. For a moment, Himiko thinks of running away, but no. Her arm still stings from her landing earlier that day and the girl already knows that someone is there. Himiko doesn’t think she could run if she wanted to. She’s shaking as she steps into the girl’s line of sight. For a moment, her eyes widen in confusion, then they narrow. She’s tense. Himiko smiles, then quickly drops it again, fighting the urge to cover her mouth. Somehow, she’s very aware of her fangs right now.
“Toga Himiko.”
Toga. Toga Himiko. Is that her name? It must be. It has to be. It feels right, feels familiar. Still, the tone of voice in which the teen says her name makes her flinch. The teen takes in the slight movement and Himiko can see the conflict in her eyes before she carefully relaxes, ever so slightly. Her voice is softer when she speaks up next, but still cautiously steady.
“What are you doing out here?”
Himiko swallows drily. She hopes that this teen won’t rat her out, won’t tell the heroes that she tried to escape, that she’s dangerous, a monster, she needs to be contained-
“I was just. Taking a walk.”
The teen shifts back, crossing her arms over her chest. One of her eyebrows is raised.
“I don’t believe you.”
Himiko lets her eyes dart around. There is no way out of this. She needs to be honest, she needs to hope that this hero student understands, that she gets that Himiko only did what she had to do. What she has to do to keep her friends, her family safe.
“Nobody tells us anything. I just. I just wanted to know what’s going on. We just want to understand.”
The teen frowns at that, her stance relaxing further.
“What do you mean by that?”
Himiko narrows her eyes and crosses her arms. She sniffs. There are tears in her eyes and she hates it. But she won’t cry. She won’t cry she can do this she won’t cry she won’t she won’t she won’t.
“We woke up in the hospital wing and then you heroes took us to where we have been staying. They told us they would help us adjust. That there was a quirk accident. But that’s a lie. It’s a lie. We all can tell that they hate us. You hate me, too. I can see it.”
Himiko juts her chin out. She knows she couldn’t take the hero student in a fight, not when the student is over two heads taller than her, shoulders broad and strength evident in the way she moves. Not when Himiko’s own quirk is locked away and all she can tell from it is the constant hungry pain. Not when her head is still pounding with memories that no longer exist.
The hero student looks at her, then her shoulders slump. Her face twists in a way Himiko has only seen on Atsuhiro. She can’t quite tell what it means, but she narrows her eyes anyway. She won’t be taken off guard. Not when her friends are counting on her. The teen runs a hand through her hair and swears under her breath.
“Look, I can’t help you right now, okay? I can’t tell you much. I can’t. But I promise that I’ll talk to some people. A friend of mine, he will know what to do. And then we’ll see what we can do for you and your. Friends.”
Himiko doesn’t let her arms drop. She’s still watching the teen, watching the way she shifts, clearly uncomfortable with the situation. Himiko’s voice is quiet when she speaks up. She doesn’t realize what she’s about to say until the words are already out.
“I’m meant to be older, aren’t I? We all are.”
The hero student looks at her, then away, then at her again. In the end, her eyes settle somewhere over Himiko’s shoulder. Her voice is soft, barely louder than Himiko’s own when she answers.
“Yeah. But I can’t tell you more. Next time, okay? I promise I’ll tell you more next time. For now, let’s get you back before anyone notices that you’re gone.”
Himiko looks at the teen for a moment longer, then nods. They’re already halfway back to the dorms Himiko and her friends are staying in when the hero student tells her her name. Uraraka Ochako. Himiko likes the name. It feels warm, even when it leaves a bitter taste in her mouth. Her head aches. Her quirk screams.