Chapter 3: Crimson Stains

Turns out that my power is blood related.

Okay, that was kind of obvious considering who my twin is and you saw the title of the story right? It was already to be expected that my quirk would be something related to the red liquid that runs inside us.

There's not much to say about the events that have happened so far, these early years have been pretty uneventful, aside from the fact that I finally found out about my parents' quirks.

Mom apparently has the power to copy people's appearance when she comes into contact with them. The downside is that she needs to maintain this contact if she wants to stay with the person's appearance. It was pretty weird when she just assumed dad's appearance in front of Himiko and me.

I had finally reached the age where it wouldn't be weird to start asking about things, so I simply asked what she could do.

Dad's quirk is very useful for a surgeon, it goes well with his chosen profession. He can identify people's blood type with just a taste. It has something to do with the fact that for him, every blood type tastes different, so he learned to memorize that fact whenever there was emergency surgery and the patient's blood type was unknown.

Of course, he had to pass a series of tests to prove the accuracy of his quirk.

After I finally learned to walk, the years went by so fast now that I was finally no longer tethered to a crib. My parents always found it strange that I was a very calm baby, only crying when I needed food or cleaning.

Not having control of the body was hell, but luckily that ended.

Unlike me, Himiko was a walking ball of energy. Seriously, it seemed like she never ran out of energy, everything I did, she made a point of imitating me and being close to me, it was basically impossible to separate us.

All this energy continued even at bedtime, I lost count of how many times I was hit in the face when she stirred in her sleep.

And she did it all the time.

Not to mention the times she hugged me a little too much, this girl is going to be the death of me, I'm warning you.

My decision to protect her only solidified over time, and that resolve skyrocketed the day she spoke her first words, just days after I said "Mommy!".

Interestingly, her first word was quite different from what I had expected.

"Let's go Haru-chan! Look at the little plane! Brrrrrrrr!"

I'm sure if I'd been a little older and not a baby, my mom would certainly have noticed the amused look I was giving her. In my past life, there were some things I just couldn't eat at all. Damn cucumbers.

Even baby food isn't that bad, I decided as I swallowed. It's certainly better than a lot of things I've eaten out there, I thought.

"Look what a good boy you are, Haru-chan! Mom is so proud!"

As I continued to be fed by Mom, I looked at Himiko in the child seat she was sitting in, having already been fed. Naturally, she was covered in food. Children are very difficult to keep quiet at this stage of life after all, I was simply a unique case. Very unique.

She was very quiet, something very unusual for her, and she had a focused gaze on her baby face. It kind of looked like she was straining to let out a fart. It was fun to look at.

Maybe it was my look that finally got her to act, have you ever seen someone's eyes sparkle like they had stars in them? Perks of living in an anime, I suppose.

"Ha-Haru!"

I blinked.

I blinked again.

Did she say what I was thinking or was I finally broke?

The sound of a spoon hitting the floor made my attention turn to Mom, she had dropped the spoon in shock and her face showed a surprised expression, which was quickly replaced by a giant smile.

"Himi-chan! Your first words!"

Soon, she ran to Himiko and lifted her out of the chair, bringing her closer to me, with the little girl laughing the entire time.

"Awwwwww, she said your name Haru! This is so cute!"

Looking at my sister hugging me, even though I was being smeared with food, I thought of my mother's words. Yes, it was cute. Very cute.

"Haru! Haru!"

That day, I put something in my mind, a promise.

Whatever it takes, I will protect you Himiko, no matter what or who. This I swear.

It was a very happy occasion for our family, Mom had even taken a picture of the two of us together, all smeared with food but with big smiles on our faces.

Everything was going well, I was happy, but more importantly, Himiko was happy.

Until the day I discovered my quirk.

It was shortly after I started kindergarten together with Himiko. Having to face school all over again felt like hell before it even started.

It's kind of hard to socialize with a bunch of 4 year olds when you have the soul of a 20 year old, and that sentence alone makes things seem pretty weird, so all I did most of the time was read some book. random or play with Himiko.

One day I was reading a children's book about owls when I heard a cry of pain.

I looked away from my book to see a sight that made my eyes narrow instantly, looking very similar to cat eyes with my slit-shaped pupils and yellowish eyes.

A boy with a mutation quirk that made him have hands like a crab, I think his name was Kani or something, was using these pincers to pull a girl's hair.

Normally I wouldn't mind, kids are beings with no morals who do what they want just for fun, so they can be pretty cruel, I knew that all too well.

"Kekekeke! Look what I can do with my crab hands!"

"There! Stop please! It hurts!"

What mattered was that this little shit was hurting my sister!

I don't know how it happened, but I had reached the boy in an instant and grabbed the arm that was pulling my sister's hair.

His face immediately went from smiling to shocked in the blink of an eye.

All the noise around us stopped instantly, the children looked at each other nervously, the game had become much more tense than they initially thought.

"Let go".

I never thought my voice could sound so cold, it was like something was spurring me on, much more angry than I thought I would feel in this situation.

My skin was tingling, it felt like there was something underneath trying to get out and my whole body instinctively felt like it was begging me, begging to let go of whatever it was.

'Let it out!'

The sudden voice in my head made my eyes widen, it was as if the world around me had ceased to exist.

'Come on, he hurt what's yours didn't he? Are you going to let it go?'

What!? He's just a kid, they do stupid shit all the time, I won't hurt a single one over it.

'Hehehe, really? So...why haven't you let go of his arm yet?'

The voice's words made me refocus on what I was doing. The grip on the boy's arm was still strong and firm.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch, let go, please! I swear I'll never do that again Haruka!"

Around me, the children looked at me scared, this made me quickly release the child's arm with crab hands, who instantly ran back crying.

Shit, what got into me? One moment I was calmly reading a book, the next it was like I'd turned into some kind of...monster. And what the hell was that voice in my head? Damn it, my skin is still tingling like hell, I grit my teeth to control whatever was trying to come out.

I turned to Himiko, fully expecting her to be scared too by what I'd done, but in fact her eyes were… glowing? And she had a big smile on her face too, a pretty quick change in mood compared to what happened some time ago.

"Haru! That was awesome! You saved me from the bad boy!"

Was she really not scared? Apparently what I did was make her happy for having protected her.

"How did you do it!? Was it your quirk!? Did he finally show up!?"

Heck, that's a barrage of questions.

"Uuuh, I don't know Himi, I think it might have been"

She laughed, an adorable sound that further shows my willingness to protect that smile from all that's bad.

"Just wait for Mom and Dad to know that! They will-Haru, watch out!"

The sudden tightening of Himiko's embrace, along with the panic in her voice, made me look back quickly.

It was as if the world had just gone into slow motion.

Kani the crab boy had apparently not learned his lesson and was coming towards us with pincers raised to attack us.

'Did you see? I said this would happen, now what are you going to do?'

My eyes narrowed, after this is all over, I'm going to get my answers, but for now, I have to keep my sister and I from getting hurt.

'There is! That's right host! Let it out and I promise you'll have all the strength in the world to protect your sister!'

Hearing the words of the being I assume is my quirk, I finally let whatever was tingling under my skin come out.

In the blink of an eye, a jet of blood shot out of my wrists, which quickly turned into red-colored kitchen knives, as if they'd been made of…blood.

The knives went towards the boy who was running towards us, causing his eyes to widen and him to stop in his steps, just as the knives whizzed past his face, arms and legs, leaving cuts, which quickly began to bleed.

Frightened and in pain, Kani fell to the ground, crying.

But I didn't pay attention to it, all I could see was the liquid oozing from his wounds.

I had seen blood before, I was always a little afraid of it, it just caused me tremendous agony to see any form of injury.

But now? The red liquid had my full attention, forming crimson stains on the boy's clothes.

Was it so...beautiful? No, that's not the word.

Fascinating, all I want now is to see more and more blood!

I lifted my arms, blood once again pouring out of my wrists, an odd sensation that felt right somehow.

This time, I formed a small spear, fully ready to skewer the boy in front of me and see more of the precious red liquid!

"What the hell is going on here!?"

The teacher's angry voice brought me back to my senses, seeing that I was about to turn a kid into a Kebab, I quickly made the blood that was floating in front of me rush back into my body, rushing through the veins in my wrist.

I only had one word to describe how fucked up I was.

"Shit"

Not realizing that Himiko behind me saw everything with a big smile on her face and a blush on her cheeks.

"Madam Toga, it seems that your son's quirk allows him to control the blood that leaves his body, so that he can control it the way he wants, so he can make his blood turn into kitchen knives and a spear, fascinating!"

We were in a hospital now, with a pediatrician specializing in the emergence of quirks in children. Mom had gotten really mad, I got a good ear pull for almost cosplaying Vlad The Impaler in front of all the kids at school.

"And what does that mean, doctor? That my son would get hurt every time he used his quirk? He could die from blood loss!"

She makes a good point, how does my quirk work anyway? It feels pretty strong, so there has to be some kind of limit.

"Haha, don't worry! That would only happen if he had to use a lot at once, something I highly doubt will happen unless of course he intends to become a hero."

Not gonna lie, I was waiting for my new power would make the doctor a little more nervous, but the guy didn't even blink when he identified my quirk, that's professionalism.

And hero huh? I hadn't thought about it in this life, it's a profession that pays well the more popularity you have, so it's a solid career, unless you don't want to risk dying to a villain every day of course.

Every kid at some point in their life wants to be a hero, and I was no different. In my past life, heroes like Iron Man, Doctor Strange and Spider-Man were always inspirations that I used to look up to.

"Absolutely not! My son won't risk his life every time he uses his power, do you hear me Haruka!? I forbid you to use your quirk!"

Mom was staring at me with watery eyes, it looks like what happened left her pretty shaken up. I can understand why, I kind of use what keeps me alive as a weapon, damn, that's really cool to think about.

However, sorry mom, I know you care about me, but if I want to protect Himiko, I'll have to get pretty proficient in fighting using my own blood.

"Oh yes, one more thing, your child needs to maintain a steady diet of foods that contain iron, so make him eat plenty of meat, chicken, fish and fruits like lemons and strawberries. I believe this will give him better control over his quirk, which will make him less likely to have accidents."

The doctor said all this unfazed by my mother's growing despair, I think he must have seen it a lot. Very useful to have a quirk able to identify others huh?

"Almost forgot, your quirk should also be named, I have a few suggestions but I usually let the kids use their imaginations"

Name? I confess that this has not yet crossed my mind. How can I name a quirk that is driven by blood?

My eyes widened, bingo!

"Blood Drive! My quirk's name is Blood Drive!"

The doctor laughed at my enthusiasm.

"Blood Drive it is young Toga"

Mom, with growing impatience, took me by the hand and led us toward the office exit.

"Alright, thank you very much doctor, let's go home Haruka"

"No problem, Miss Toga! Take care you two!"

My mom's grip on my hand was a little too tight, but I know it's not on purpose, she must be pretty stressed out.

But looking into her eyes, all I could see was…fear? Is she afraid of me?

It hurts a little, okay my power might seem a little scary, but it's not like I'm going to use it to hurt people...right?

I still haven't figured out what that voice in my head was, the doctor hasn't said anything about it either, so it looks like the answer I'm looking for will still take a while.

Looking at my mother, I hope this doesn't affect our family in a negative way.

I was right, for a while.

Until Himiko's quirk appeared.