Chapter 27

Natsumi hummed happily as she did her work. She was ignoring the annoyed look her younger sister was aiming at her. She had broken into Nozomi's house again. Noriko came with her, just to see Kuriko. Again Nozomi was angry. She didn't know how she kept getting into the house despite her not having a key. Natsumi chuckled. Lawyers have many talents.

"I would ask why you'rehere, but I know its futile" Nozomi muttered and practically fell onto the sofa opposite her. She did not seem in the mood.

"Geez, you don't seem to mind Nemuri coming over" Natsumi pointed out with a smirk. Her amusement was fuelded by the blush her sister tried to hide.

"That's different"

"Whatever you say little sister"

"Where's Kuriko? " Noriko asked. She had come to see Kuriko, but did not immediately search for her when she saw Haru. She loved the boy just as much and decided to humor him.

Haru held a mirror in front of him with raised eyebrow. Noriko's way of humoring him involved styling his messy hair. He sighed to find it neatly arrange and pulled to the side. He put the mirror away and shrugged. What can you do? There was no going against a woman. And it's not like he minded anyways. He didn't need to mess his hair up because of would happen naturally later on.

"Kuriko is in the guestroom" Nemuri said as she hung over the back of one of the soda's. "She has a friend over"

Natsumi immediately stopped what she was doing at the mention of friend . Kuriko has a friend over? She knew she supposedly had a friend , but she never expected her to let that friend come to her house. She was very interested now. She needed to meet this friend

"Well that's a pleasant surprise " Noriko said with a happy smile. If she has a friend over that means she truly sees this girl as a friend. Would you look at that. She really is growing past all her problems. "What's her name? "

"Himiko Toga" Nozomi said with furrowed brows. "She's well mannered and very cheerful"

"Cheerful? "Natsumi seemed skeptical. "You're telling me Kuriko has a cheerful friend? "

"Yes and she seemed to annoy the hell out of her" Haru laughed.

"There has to be more to this kid" Natsumi said. She was sure of it. There had to be something unexpected about the girl. She was sure Kuriko only took interest in the girl because of her want to understand humans a bit more. She likes to study their reactions and emotions when it came to certain situations. And if Kuriko studied this kid long enough to let her guard down she must really have something interesting going for her. "I need to meet this kid"

"I don't really think Kuriko would like any of you breaking into the guestroom" Nozomi pointed out.

"When has that ever stopped me? "Natsumi grinned and made for the stairs.

Haru saw this as his opportunity and followed. He had tried to stick around with Kuriko, but she kicked him away. She treats him so poorly, but he hardly cared.

"Please don't" Nozomi protested and pulled her sister off the stairs. Haru made a break for it but a whip gripped him by the ankle and he almost tumbled down the stairs.

"No means no kid" Nemuri sighed as she retrieved the fifteen year old. "I'm as curious as you guys, but I know better than to do something like that"

"Hopefully it's not a toxic friendship"

Haru snickered and almost laughed out loud. He would not be surprised if it was. He would be more surprised if that friendship was like any normal relationship.

"Come on aunt Noriko" Haru was sprawled out on the sofa, his head on Natsumi's lap. "This is Kuriko. The girl hates the word friendship and yet she has a friend. Bold of you to assume it would be like any other friendship"

"I can dream"

"Yes you can, keep dreaming" Haru chuckled. "Kuriko would not be friends with this girl if they had zero in common. There must be something that Kuriko could relate to, even if she won't admit it"

"The kid has a point" Natsumi agreed as she pushed the boy off her lap and continued her work. She wondered how much those two had in common. She would have to meet this girl. A glimpse at her could tell her everything she needed to know.

"How's work? "

"Great" Natsumi smirked deviously. "That bastard of a father stands no chance against me. Those kids will soon be in the hands of his twin. She's a very kind woman"

"That good" Noriko sighed. "You'll have to introduce me to Eren sometime"

"Sure you two will get along, seeing as you're both softies"

While the women conversed Haru tried to sneak away. He made it to the stairs only for Nemuri to drag him back to the living room.

"Damn it"

~~~~~~~~

Kuriko was eating some ice cream while silently questioning Himiko. She was in the guestroom she had given the blonde and refused to leave until she spoke. And it's not like Himiko wanted her to leave in the first place. Himiko liked having the silent girl around. What she did not like was the questioning look she was giving her. She didn't want to talk about it. She didn't want to think about it . She would have to deal with it and she would rather not. She would get in more trouble. She was already in big trouble . She stabbed a man after all. He was in the hospital. Her parents would do nothing when the time for judgemrnt came around. Things will get harder than they already were. It's never easy.

She collapsed onto the bed she was given. She sighed and ignored the strong scent of Kuriko's blood. Lately she had been smelling blood. She never had such an ability before. It was hard to ignore whenever she was around Kuriko. She had a craving for her blood again, but she had already had some.

"I don't want to talk about it"

Kuriko raised an eyebrow. Himiko usually tells her about things that bother her. it didn't have to be something major. She would tell her and ask why things had to be so hard. She was not expecting the girl to withhold information.

If she didn't want to talk, who was she to push it? She didn't like to talk about her troubles so she understood. She stopped staring at her and focused on her ice cream. Now that Himiko was at her house it brought back the memory of that day. The day she went over. She sighed. She had forced herself to forget about it. To forget the anger she felt when she found out about Himiko's parents, but it was back and so was the urge to do something about it.

And she could do something about. After all she was part of a rich family. Those with riches hold all the power in the end. She could just tell Natsumi and she will take things to court. She could tell Noriko of the Midoriya situation and the woman would hire the struggling mother.

But of course she didn't do these things and the feelings it brought to her weren't very pleasant.

She's come to notice things in this world. There are newsreports about all the cruelty in the world. Suicide. Child abuse. Sexual abuse. Many other dark themes. She pays attention to them. She pays attention to people's reaction. She noticed that most people don't seem affected. They would say that it was terrible and all, but what did they do about it? Nothinf. They did nothing. They would do nothing. Leave it to the heroes. Some of them would feel bad about it. They felt bad that they didn't do anything. They felt terrible for not caring enough. They questioned it.

Why did they have to be so numb?

Kuriko on the other hand was a different story. She didn't question these things because she was not numb, despite her want to be. She wanted to be numb. To not be affected by the happenings of the world. To not sympathize.

She could laugh at how repetitive she was being. It's always the same thing with her. When is she going to accept and move on. When was she going to make a decision? She either did something or not. She needed to make up her mind. While she debated whether to help or not and hated herself of caring, people were suffering. But they would continue to suffer wouldn't they? It's never simple. The suffering would continue. It's not easy to solve.

So what if she got Himiko away from her parents? Society still would not accept her.

What about Inko? Things wouldn't go all that better after she got her job. She would still worry and stress herself over her son. She would still blame herself for how he turned out.

And Izuku. She gave him the one thing he wanted, but what good was that when he lost the part of him that craved it in the first place?

And Katsuki. There was no helping him.

"Can I have some ice cream? "

The cold look Kuriko aimed at her was an obvious enough answer. The blonde pouted in her disappointment.

"Why not? You share your lunch"

The only reason she shared her lunch was because her mother always puts carrots in her food. She hates carrots and Himiko seems to love them. Kuriko was not one to waste food so she gives them to the blonde. It was a completely different story when it came to ice cream. It was her special treat and she does not share.

"You know, you're a very depressing person" Himiko said with a casual air around her. That casualness faded soon after and a toothy smile appeared. "Can I have some blood? "

She knew she couldn't and only asked for the fun of it. So when Kuriko nodded she was surprised. She wasn't sure whether or not she was serous. Kuriko can be very mean to her so for all she knew she could be fooling her. She ended up staring at the calm mute for a long time.

"Really? "

Another nod.

"But I already had some"

Another nod.

"Why are you saying yes? "

Because she noticed that Himiko loves her blood in the same way she loves her ice cream. When she thought about it like that she figured it wouldn't be so bad to let her have more than she told her she should. She would be very angry if she was cut off. She loved her ice cream and it calms her whenever she's worked up. She noted that whenever Himiko has her blood she calms to a degree. Although sometimes she gets very happy and that can be very annoying. Her cheerfulness made Kuriko sick.

Himiko stopped questioning Kuriko's generosity at some point. She figured she might as well before the other changes her mind. She tends to do that a lot.

Plus she was very happy to cut open her flesh and watch the blood flow. The toothy smile was back as she watched the blood fall to the floor. She followed it as it rolled across the floor, spreading. As fascinating as it was, the taste of it was even better. She would not waste the precious fluid.

Kuriko didn't think things through. With Himiko feasting on the blood flowing from her wrist she could no longer eat her ice cream. She stared at her bowl, frowning at her own stupidity. She was not one to use her quirks often. She only frequented one for obvious reasons. With a sigh she decided she might as well use a quirk now. She wanted her ice cream and wouldn't mind using one of her many quirks.

Telekinesis is very useful.

She kept her eyes on the blonde she was feeding. She was a vampire. At least that is what she calls her every now and then. What else should she call her? She craves blood so much it was as if she needed it to live.

Kuriko munched on her marshmellow while she eyed the blonde hair of Himiko in thought. She wondered if her blood affected Himiko in any way. She would disregard her preference of her blood. She wondered if it could affect her quirk in any way. Maybe it is her blood that made her so. Maybe it was her blood that made her crave the substance more than she should. She wasn't sure. She'll look into it.

Himiko hummed in delight as she licked her lips. With one last lick she eyed the slit wrist. It was still oozing blood. She loved how Kuriko would never stop bleeding. She could never stop bleeding. It was perfect. She could enjoy the sight as much as she wanted to. She could play her game as much as she liked. Her smile widened when the wound slowly healed, leaving nothing behind.

Kuriko did nothing as the blonde reopened the wound, giggling as her blood left her. She started to play her game again. Kuriko didn't bother questioning why it amused her. It was obvious enough.

"You don't feel the pain? " Himiko suddenly asked, looking up at the silent girl. No matter how many times she cut her, Kuriko would never flinch or react.

Kuriko responded with a shrug. It's not that she didn't feel it. It's just that she's already used to the pain. So much so that she doesn't react to it.

"Why don't you feel the pain? Is it because of a quirk? "

Kuriko shook her head no, but didn't explain anything.

Himiko didn't push it and instead refocused on the now closed up wound. Again their was nothing left. Nothing that would let anyone know that there was ever a cut. Himiko's eyes ran up Kuriko's arm. She always wore long sleeves. She never saw her with anything else. Without really thinking about it, Himiko made to push her sleeve up. She didn't get very far. Kuriko stopped her before she could do much and glared.

"I want to see" the blonde whined.

Kuriko pulled her arm away from her, still glaring. She then started eating her ice cream, ignoring the blonde's complaints.

"Fine, be that way"

She was such a child.

"Are you mad? "

Kuriko didn't answer in any way.

"Kuriko"

Nothing.

"Kuriko"

Silence.

"Riko"

That earned her flick on the forehead. Kuriko did not like nicknames. The minute the blonde dared come up with such a thing Kuriko would shut it down. A nickname was a new level of closeness she did not want.

Himiko rubbed her bruised forehead with a frown.

"You're no fun"