Chapter 20

Katsuki found himself eyeing Izuku through the window. To anyone he would look like a very angry ash blonde. He was glaring at the boy but he wasn't angry. Maybe he was, but again it was not aimed at Izuku. Hebwas angry at himself. The anger didn't fade for a minute. He apologized again today and again he got no reply from the boy. He hasn't looked at him. He hasn't talked to him. He obviously wanted nothing to do with him. He didn't come see him at the hospital. He was there but he never entered his room. He expected that. Why would he come see him after all he's done?

He sighed and returned his gaze to the notebooks he had on his desk. Hero analysis for the future. He had book four currently. Izuku threw them all into the fish pond and he retrieved them all. It was hard to understand the writing now that water had ruined it all, but he did his best. He wasn't the best artist but he tried very hard to copy every line Izuku drew. The boy was talented. His notes were impressive. He wrote down strengths and weaknesses along with possible super moves and ways the quirk user could easily be taken down. He didn't know Izuku was so good at observation. These notes are really useful. He couldn't believe Izuku threw them away. He probably worked hard on them. He was a hood artist as well.

Katsuki gripped his pencil a bit too tightly and it broke in half. He groaned and retrieved another to continue his world. He had found his hero analysis notebook labeled number one just that day. He felt even worse when he opened it to reveal the first page. His quirk was the first to be listed. There were weaknesses. Strengths. Super moves. He even ranked his quirk. He had drawn a hero costume too. Each part was explained. Each had a purpose that would benefit him. At the end of it a there was a little note.

Katsuki broke his pencil again.

Izuku really looked up to him. He wanted to be his friend. All he ever wanted was to be there for him. To be his very close friend and he could not accept that. He broke off their friendships because his head got too big. He had no quirk so he was beneath him. There was no need to be friends with such a weakling.

His pencil broke again.

He was such an egotistical fool.

Another pencil.

"Hey Bakugo, what are you up to? "

"Yeah, what's with the broken pencils? "

Katsuki glared at them and they immediately backed away.

"What is with you man? You've been off lately"

"It's none of your business" Katsuki said, his voice harsh. "Leave, extras"

"Geez" one of the boys scoffed.

When they left he returned to his work. He didn't need them. They weren't his real friends. They only stuck around because he's popular and strong. That's all they care about.

That's all he cared about.

~~~~~~~~

News flashed on the television, drawing Kuriko's attention. She was seated on the floor with some breakfast in hand, while she patiently awaited her mother. She was already dressed and ready for school. She was distracted by her thoughts until the TV caught her attention. The news reporter was detailing a murder. Apparently a body was found dead in an ally way late in the night. No one knows who the perpetrator was or why they killed the man. They explained that the murder weapon was determined to be a knife. Kuriko raised an eyebrow as she learned more and more about the murder. A stab wound. Nothing was stolen off the victem's body. She sighed and questioned if Himiko would do that.

She would, she concluded.

Her need for blood was recently rediscovered and it may be too strong for her to handle. She was hoping she could go a night without doing such a thing, but she was wrong. She planned on scratching her itch at school by offering more blood.

She continued to eat her cereal as if the news report was of little concern. The girl was smart enough to commit the crime at night and stealthy enough to get away with it. It wasn't surprising. The girl had a cat like appearance. Everything about her leaked deception. Her appearance. Her quirk. Her name. It fit perfectly when she thought about it.

"Sorry for the wait" Nozomi came down the stairs dressed for work. She adjusted her blazer as she fetched a milkshake out of the fridge. "Come on or we'll both be late"

Kuriko turned off the TV and left her bowl of cereal on the kitchen table. Nemuri was still at their house so she would have to take care of that before she left for hero duties.

"Kuriko where is your tie? " Noxkmi asked once the girl cLimbed into the car.

Kuriko looked down on herself very uncaring. She shrugged and casually swiped through the air. A small circle of darkness appeared and faded, leaving her tie.

She held it up to Nozomi.

"Alright"

~~~~~~~~

The drive to school was very uneventful and they arrived at Kuriko's school soon enough. Nozomi said goodbye with a kiss to the forehead and watched the ever silent Kuriko slide out of her seat and out the car. She made it just five minutes before the bell was set to go off. Kuriko had placed her hands in her pockets and trudged onto her school campus. Nozomi smiled at her behavior. She always walked off to school like that. She let off an air that made everyone stay away from her.

Nozomi was about to drive away until she saw a blonde approach Kuriko with a friendly wave. She raised an eyebrow in curiosity as she watched the scene. Kuriko had looked at the girl , but didn't move away from her. She let her walk with her and seemed to listen to whatever it was she was telling her.

"Did she make a friend? "

~~~~~~~

Kuriko let Himiko walk with her. She listened to her stories. Normal stuff. The usual she talks about around everyone else. Most kids looked at them weird . They were probably wondering why Himiko Toga was all buddy buddy with the mute. They were both aware of the stares. Kuriko knew Himiko wanted to talk about different things. She could feel her bloodlust and knew she would request some more blood. But at the moment they were being watched so she spoke of whatever it is a normal school girl should talk about.

Kuriko, however, could ask questions without anyone knowing what it was they were talking about. She had glanced at the girl when she asked her about the murder she heard of. As answer she got a cheerful smile and nod. She didn't seem sorry at all. Kuriko couldn't feel anything about that. She probably wouldn't care enough either.

She needed blood, she had mentally told her. When she looked at her her pupils were dilated again and that smile spread.

She needs blood.

Kuriko adjusted her glasses as she told the girl to be patient. She was disappointed if the pout on her face was anything to go by. She kept looking at her with her bloodthirsty gaze and toothy smile. Kuriko sighed when she understood what she was asking. She shook her head no. The smile was gone briefly and she looked ahead. She smiled again soon after and nodded to herself . Kuriko heard her thoughts and didn't bother commenting on them. She hoped she didn't hunt down someone in the school. She could be seen and that would cause trouble for Kuriko. She would need to alter multiple individual's memories and that was a bother.

She was soon looking at her again and again Kuriko shook her head no. Himiko would not relent. She kept requesting her blood and she would tell her to wait everytime. That of course didn't put Himiko in the best of moods.

She would have to keep a close eye out just to make sure she doesn't kill a student.

~~~~~~~~

"She made a friend? " a curious Haruko asked his daughter. He reclined in his seat opposite his daughter, raising an eyebrow in interest. "Are you sure? "

"Dad, of course I am" Nozomi sighed and arranged her desk quickly. She had messed it up when she lost focus. "She didn't try to get away from her nor did she push the girl away"

"Huh" Haruko pushed his graying black hair out of his face, his red eyes gleamed. "Well I wonder how such a thing came to be"

"I'm curious too. Kuriko doesn't seem to like the idea of having friends and yet she has one"

"Maybe she doesn't see the other as a friend but just another one of her studies"

"That's very cold but very possible " Nozomi ran a hand through her hair. "I hope it's not true"

"The likelihood of it being true is very high" Haruko revealed very calmly while he absentmindedly twitched his fingers. "I estimate a 90% chance of it being true" he said his eyes were glazed as he calculated that predictions. He hummed. "Yes and then there is a 9.99% chance that she actually sees this girl as a friend "

"What's with that number? " Nozomi asked blankly.

"Numbers don't lie"

"Then what about the remaining percentage? "

"Oh, just disregard that"

"No, tell me"

"It's not very important " Haruko said with a smile and stood. He adjusted his tie and turned to leave.

"Dad! You're being unfair again"

"Life is not fair, sweetheart"

Nozomi grumbled as her father left and got back to work. She had multiple request for gear that she needed to take care of. Most of them is being handled by those who work for her department. She would handle certain requests. She read her documents while activating her quirk. She constantly glanced between the documents and the screens in front of her. She frowned and pulled up a blank screen. She was quick to create something out of the parts displayed on her other screens. She observed it from every angle, calculating flaws and strengths.

She hummed again and zoomed in on her current creation. It had some weaknesses, but they were very subtle.

"Test" she muttered and caught the creation when it materialized in front of her. She judged its weigh and flexibility. Another hum and she slipped the guanlet on. Soft insides. Check. She fisted her hand. Flexibility. Check. Strenght. She would rather not destroy her office so that would be tested in the field. She removed the weapon, muttered a word and watched it return to being nothing but a 3d holographic image.

It would have to do. She will do some more testing just to be sure.

"Knock, knock"

Nozomi wasn't surprised to hear Nemuri's voice. The woman tends to come see her often. She also tends to come through the window very often. She didn't know why she could not just use a door like everyone else. She stopped scolding her about it at some point.

"Hey Nemuri"

Nemuri was as cheerful as every as she sat down at the edge of Nozomi's desk. She was playing with her whip while eyeing the screens in front of her. She looked pensive for a moment before reaching up and pulling the work in progress out of the screen . She grinned in victory and amazement.

"So that's how it works".

"Don't just grab something like that" Nozomi scolded as she reclaimed her work in progress. "You don't even know what I was making it could've blown up in your face"

"Yeah, like you would have anything so full of weaknesses just drifting around" Nemuri seemed very skeptical.

"Why are you here Nemuri? "

"Well I was at UA, but Hizashi is being annoying so I left pretty quickly"

"I'm going to assume that since you were at UA you had something important to take care of"

"Yes" Nemuri nodded but did not elaborate.

"Fine, be a tease"

"It's nothing new" Nemuri played with her whip by hitting the floor with It. "Look at it go "

"Don't be a child" Nozomi took away the whip and placed it on one of her empty screens. "You could seriously damage my floor. That's expensive "

"My whip"

"You're not getting it back anytime soon" Nozomi said and to make her point clear she willed her screens Away.

"Awe come on"

"I'm not joking"

"Fine, let's just talk seeing as you have nothing too important to do now"

"Well, I think Kuriko made a friend"

Nemuri actually seemed shocked at the revelation. "You're serious? "

"Yes. This blonde girl started talking to her when she made it to school"

"She didn't walk away or give the girl her cold look? "

"No, not at all"

"Wow"

"Yeah I know"

"Are you sure she doesn't just see this girl as a study? "

"No and I hope that's not the case"

"I guess we'll have to ask her when she gets home"

"Nonono. Not we. I will ask, you will go to your house"

"Whatever you say"

~~~~~~~~

Himiko was drumming her fingers in her anticipation. Lunch. She had to wait until lunch rolled around. It was so much harder than she thought it would be. She kept glancing at Kuriko, who was staring out the window. She bit the inside of her cheek as she tried to calm herself down. It seems all she could think about was blood. She wondered why she craved it so much, but could not stay on that thought for be long. She was hardly aware of what her teacher was talking about.

The damn clock won't move faster.

She swore to god if she does not get Kuriko's blood she will satisfy her need one way or another. Someome would most like die. Collateral damage.

the bell finally made itself known and she was out of her seat in an instant. She had to refrain herself from doing anything stupid at that moment

"Are you ok Toga? You're face is red"

"I'm fine" she mumbled and followed after the ever calm Kuriko.

~~~~~~~~

Kuriko's icy gaze was currently very focused on the happy Himiko who was enjoying her blood. She wondered what her blood tasted like to her and why she liked it so much. A few drops fell to the floor and Himiko would look at them with such disappointment but that her excitement would return as she lapped up the blood flowing from her wrist.

The reason Kuriko wasn't worried about the amount of blood she lost was because she can easily replace the lost blood. She has a set of quirks that she hardly used and some of them work automatically. One just so happened to involve blood. So no matter how much she lost she would just make more. It was simple enough. She was practically the perfect blood donor.

Himiko giggled in her glee and licked her lips greedily. Delicious. That's the most prominate thought on her mind. Absolutely delicious. Kuriko's blood was the best. The man she had hunted down yesterday was very pleasant hut he was nothing compared to Kuriko. Maybe it had to do with blood types.

"What's your blood type? "

Kuriko made some gestures Himiko was capable of understanding.

"AB-negative" Himiko smiled at the info. Isn't that supposed to be a rare blood type? She licked her lips again. She had more questions. She wanted to know everything about Kuriko. That's not wrong is it? She was just curious about the girl who agreed to be her friend. Wanting ti know every last detail about her could not be so bad.

Kuriko ran a finger over her cut and healed it within seconds. She stared at the healed flesh for a moment before pulling her sleeve down.

"Why do you wear gloves? "

Kuriko answered the question while she unlocked the bathroom door and stepped out into the hallway. Himiko was close behind.

"Why don't you wear the female uniform? "

Because she likes to conceil her scars.

"Can I see your scars? "

She shook her head no

"How did you get the scars"

No answer.

"Are there any recent scars? "

A nod.

"Can I see them? "

A shake of the head.

"Can I inflict one? "

This question was asked with that smile again . The smile that would make anyone else uncomfortable. Kuriko hardly reacted to the question or the smile. She shrugged. And Himiko smiled brighter. That meant maybe. So it was not a no.

"Can I do it today? "

A shake no

"Tomorrow?"

A shrug.

That was not a no.

"Can I cut you next time? "

Odd request but not so very odd coming from the blonde. Kuriko had glanced at her for a moment and nodded.

"Great" Himiko latched onto Kuriko's arm and started to pull her back to the bathroom. "Let's go right now"

Her enthusiasm should be concerning.

Kuriko planted herself to the floor, stopping Himiko in her tracks. The girl knew what that meant and pouted clearly upset.

"Please? "

Kuriko shook her head no and continued to walk down the hall. Himiko quickly followed after her. She was not very happy.

"You're being mean"

Well, at least she agreed to let her cut open a wound. That is something she should not have agreed to in the first place.

"Can I cut you now? "

Kuriko shook her head no.

"How about now? "

No.

"Now? "

No