It was the the flickering of the street light that kept Izuku tethered to reality. It was the object she focused on, watching it blink into existence before slowly dying out. She watched it because she didn't want to think about anything else.

She felt hollow. After all the excitement and adrenaline came tumbling down after the day's events, she felt drained of any and all energy she had previously. Her arms and legs felt like lead and her head felt as if it was floating away from her body.

Every breath she took was deep and full, getting as much oxygen into them as physically possible. As if her body wanted to make sure nothing like the suffocating darkness that had happened at the hands of the sludge villain would occur again.

She was laying down on a stray bench a couple blocks away from her house. One hand on over her stomach, letting it rise up and down in the rhythm of her deep breaths. The other atop of her heart. Letting the faint thumping pulse through her hands.

Izuku took in a deep breath of the cool crisp air. It brought a clear lucidity to her mind, letting her know that she hadn't sailed past the River Styx and onto the other side, yet also gave a sense of numbness that shot down any unwelcome thoughts or ideas that her overactive brain would often come up with.

She shifted her head, letting it crack in relief, and turned it so she no longer stared directly at the lamp post.

Izuku sighed. Something was wrong with her. She was aware of her own body enough to know that ever since she came down from that rooftop, something was different. As if somewhere in her line of genetic coding, there was a two that was supposed to be a one.

She sighed once more and closed her eyes, moving her head back into its original position.

Ten months. She had ten months before she had to do the test to get into UA Academy. Ten months to go from nothing to something. Something that would at least get her noticed.

She was nothing currently. No muscles, no experience, no quirk. Today had opened her eyes to how truly outclassed she was in this world full of powers. For her, the lowest of the low, the weakest of the weak, to meet All Might and see just how big the cavern between their powers were. Was a bit daunting.

A bit being the understatement of the century.

She could remember how it felt to be in the presence of All Might. His very being felt crushing and it was like she was stuck inside the sludge villain all over again. Her breath caught in her throat and her lungs refused to work. To think that wasn't even a fraction of his true power was terrifying. If All Might had decided to use his overwhelming power for evil instead of good, the world she lived in would have been a much different place.

Izuku grit her teeth. She knew that was impossible. All Might was the epitome of good. He would never do something immoral, but it was the question of what if. What if All Might suddenly went dark? What if he suddenly decided one day, that it wasn't worth protecting the good anymore? What if, this one scared her the most, there was someone as strong as All Might out there, lurking in the shadows and waiting to use their tremendous power for evil?

Izuku shivered, before she would have never thought of such pessimistic thoughts, but the encounter with deaths doors had almost all of her thoughts heading south. What if was the question of the day. What if she had died up on that rooftop? What if she actually had died and somehow was brought back to life? What if she imagined the whole thing?

She didn't know, the more time that passed the blurrier the memory of the rooftop became. As if it was a dream that was quickly escaping her grasp. She could only remember the feeling of falling, pain, and then nothing. The time going up to the rooftop, the time spent on it and coming down was nothing but a chaotic mess in her mind. It was odd, the entire day was crystal clear to her except for the rooftop, even the parts of the day that were better forgotten, such as being stuck inside the sludge villain, were as clear as day.

Izuku breathed in again. Focusing solely on the soft noise of her breathing.

Inhale.

Izuku let her mind fill with all the negative thoughts and emotions that had been eating away at her recently.

Exhale.

And then she let it flow away and out. She let the pessimistic thoughts drift away into the wind.

Inhale.

Villains. Rooftops. Bullies. Sludge.

Exhale.

Gone. Nothing. They meant nothing.

Inhale.

Hate. She hated them. Hated them for alienating her. Hated them for all the cruel comments. Hated them for everything-

Exhale.

Those thoughts were better left locked away.

Izuku shifted slightly.

Once more.

Inhale.

Ex-

Izuku stopped.

There was something odd about that last breath she took. Something that nipped at her sense of wrong. She replayed the deep breath in her mind. It felt like the time she spent inhaling was longer than the time it actually took.

As if there was some sort of lag to it…?

No, that wasn't it. It was close, but it just didn't feel correct. It was like there an echo to her breaths. But out in the open like she was, sound didn't just echo as noticeably as it had just then. The only way there could have been an echo was… if there was someone copying her actions?

Izuku snapped open her eyes.

And was met with piercing yellow irises staring back at her.

The quirkless girl shot upright. Her forehead nearly coming into contact with the mysterious stranger were it not for their quick reflexes.

"Whoa!" The stranger called out, a playful lilt to their voice.

Izuku jumped off the bench she had been laying on, swiveling around to face the stranger. Her breaths were panicked and her heart beat furiously.

"Who-" She stuttered, her voice wavering. "Who are you?"

The stranger, a girl now that Izuku had been able to get a good look at her, gave an exaggerated look around the area before turning back to the green haired girl and pointing to herself.

The strange girl gave a toothy grin, her pronounced canines on full display. "Me?" She asked.

Izuku took a deep breath to calm her racing heart. The yellow eyed girl, who coincidentally wore a baggy yellow school uniform and had messy blonde hair, looked to be nothing more than just a stranger who was curious about what she was doing. She knew that laying on a park bench in the dead of the night wasn't exactly the most common thing to see someone her age doing.

Swallowing down her nerves, Izuku recited her question once more. "Yes." She confirmed. "Who are you?"

The blonde haired stranger gave a giggle before rushing in close enough that Izuku could feel their hot breath against her face.

Their close proximity allowed Izuku to smell the sweet fragrance of her shampoo along with another, a more metallic scent that Izuku knew she had smelt before.

"Me?" The stranger repeated once more, before giggling again. "I'm Himiko Toga. You can call me Toga!"

Izuku swallowed the trepidation rising up her throat. She didn't know why but her gut was telling her that she was in danger. Her instincts screamed at her to run run run run away from the newly introduced Toga.

Taking a step back from the girl intruding upon her space. Izuku gave a forced smile.

"To-" Her voice cracked. She swallowed and tried again. "Toga! What are you d-doing out so late?" Izuku questioned. Her palms felt sweaty with anxiety.

Toga took a step forward, matching Izuku's backpedal. Her closeness once again led Izuku to smell that metallic scent.

She knew what that smell was, but her heart was beating louder than she could think. It was… It was… Shit! She felt like she was on the verge of discovering something life saving, but she couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was.

Toga licked her lips, drawing Izuku's gaze to her cherry coloured lips. They were curved in a confident smirk, one that went all the way up to her eyes. Her eyes which held traces of dark circles from one too many nights without sleep.

"I was just taking a walk at night, wasn't that what you were doing, Midoriya-san?" The yellow eyed girl said.

Izuku's mouth felt dry. "Ah. No. I just…" She trailed off.

The green haired girl took a step back.

"Oh?" What were you doing then, Midoriya-san?"

Toga took a step forward.

"I was just… I was-" Izuku couldn't breathe.

She took another step back.

"You were? You were what?" Her smile felt wicked.

Step forward.

"T-thinking. I was just- alone and I-"

Izuku's back hit a wall.

"What were you thinking about, Midoriya-san?"

Toga stepped forward, pressing her body into Izuku's. Her hands went up and caressed the green haired girl's cheeks. Her hot breath littered Izuku's neck.

Izuku thought the hands on her cheeks were freezing.

"I-I was-"

She stopped. Her eyes widened as if she had finally recognized something obvious.

"H-How do you-" She couldn't hear herself over her own heartbeat. "How do you know my name?"

Toga tilted her head. "Isn't that obvious Midoriya-san?" She asked, letting one of her hands fall to her side.

Metal. All she could smell was metal.

"You were so brave earlier today. The way you saved that classmate of yours!" She let out a small giggle.

Metallic. Metal. Red lips. Red. Metal.

"Ahh." Toga let out a sigh as she continued. "You had me swooning. You didn't even use your quirk."

Metallic scent? Red coloured. Red? A liquid?

"Hey, Midoriya-san…" Toga started. "Can I call you Izuku? After all… we're friends

aren't we?"

A red coloured liquid with a metallic scent?

Izuku paled. Her stomach felt like it was wrapped in knots.

She knew what she had been smelling the entire time.

"Izuku…" Toga looked up to her, a faint blush coloured her face. "Will you please… be mine-"

It was blood.

"-and die for me?"

Silver flashed.

Izuku ducked and rolled out of the way. The gravel came in contact with her arms but she ignored the brief flare of discomfort it brought. Scrambling to her feet, Izuku turned towards her assailant in order to block any upcoming attacks. She wasn't confident in her skills, but she had to do something.

Toga was standing in the exact same place she was at when she initially attacked. Her gaze was fixated on the knife she held, which dripped a fresh red liquid.

Pain flared in Izuku's cheek. Her hand reflexively went up to the origin. It felt wet and sticky.

Blood? Her gaze turned to her now bloodied hand. She had thought she was able to successfully dodge the attack. But the evidence said otherwise. The amount of blood on her hand was no small amount either. Izuku turned her gaze back towards her assailant.

Toga licked the fresh blood off the knife. A euphoric look came upon her as she began to laugh maniacally.

"Izuku…" Toga called out. "Your blood is so sweet." She licked it once more. Savoring the taste with a smile. "Will you give me more?"

Izuku pivoted around, her shoes making a soft grinding noise on the gravelly road below her.

She had to move now.

She sprinted forward, dodging a nearby lamppost that was in her path and skidding around a corner. Her house wasn't far from where they currently were, but she didn't want some crazy psychopath to find out where she lived either. Which really only left the option to shake her off.

The neighborhood itself wasn't necessarily complex, but the way it's layout was designed would confuse anyone who wasn't familiar with it beforehand. The plan would be null if Toga happened to from around here, but Izuku was pretty sure she would have heard of some psychopath neighbor a long time ago if that was the case.

Izuku pushed more strength into her legs. Willing herself to move faster. Leaping over a small fence, she ran through a small dirt path that led to the local park. If she could cut through the park and head east, she would be able to make it onto a main road that led to the city. Once she was there… she could just blend in with the crowd.

Her legs burned with exhaustion by the time she made it to the park, it wasn't a long distance but her physical state was sorely lacking.

She mentally promised herself that she would exercising more seriously if she survived this.

Stumbling through uneven ground, Izuku tripped when she placed her foot on piece of land that was more mud than dirt. Her hands broke her fall, but her lungs burned with the need of oxygen.

Get up.

Izuku pushed against the ground. But her arms refused to listen.

Please get up.

She had to move. She was losing what advantage she had gained over her pursuer and potential murderer with every passing second.

GET UP!

Izuku screamed. She poured her remaining strength into her arms, propelling her onto her feet. A second later she was back on the move.

She ran. Jumping over a small kiddie ride that the park held. Izuku kept moving forward.

Reaching the edge of the park, Izuku took a right turn and then a left. The road wasn't as popular as the one she could have taken if she just proceeded east at the park, but it held a back alleyway that served as a shortcut to the city.

"Fuck!" She was so close. So close to the city! Everything about her burned but she just had to endure a bit more.

Izuku sidestepped another lamppost and skidded to a stop, her freshly muddied shoes causing her to collide with a stray garbage can. She ignored the brief flash of pain that shot up her hip and ran into the dark alley.

Twirling around the stray items that were left behind someway or another, she reached the back of the corridor. If she just took a left here then she would…

"W-What…?" She stopped. Her eyes widening in disbelief.

In front of her was a large pile of rubble that blocked off the rest of the alley.

"How?!" She screamed.

Izuku glanced upwards, the two buildings parallel to each other seemingly had the top floor completely obliterated. It reminded her acutely of how the buildings were like during the struggle with the sludge villain. Blown to bits and stray pieces of them everywhere.

She stared at the giant pile of rubble more. It was much too large to climb up, and even if she could it didn't look stable enough anyways. One wrong step and the entire thing could collapse again. Moving pieces away was out of the question as well. For the same reasons as climbing.

Izuku checked behind her and much to her dismay she found the alley in a similar state. Full of broken pieces of concrete and building.

She knew what had to have happened to cause such a state. A villain must have caused a ruckus and damaged the surrounding area while they were subdued by the heroes. And the city never got around to fixing it up just yet.

She was at a dead end. She just had to go back out the alley and she would be fine. Be positive. She had to be positive. She would just take the long way around.

She took one last look towards the piles of rubble and-

"Oh? Why have you stopped?"

Izuku felt her heart drop as she slowly turned to the source of the voice.

There, in the only path Izuku had left to go, was Himiko Toga. In all her psychopathic glory.

Toga let out a maniacal giggle. "It was really fun you know. Chasing you around town." She kept walking forward, her footsteps echoing in the otherwise silent alleyway.

Izuku could only stare at the girl who represented her doom. She was looking no worse for wear than she was when they began the game of cat and mouse. Her breathing was even and it seemed as if she hadn't just chased her around an entire neighborhood.

"But all games come to an end." Toga continued onward. Her voice still carrying that ever playful lilt.

Izuku felt as if she were paralyzed. Her breath caught in her throat and her body refused to move. The adrenaline that once flooded her body seemingly vanished without a trace and the only thing she could think of was how her entire being was screaming to run.

"And you were so delicious too! I could feel everything about you with just one lick…" She stopped close enough that Izuku could feel her breath upon her neck.

Toga smiled. "You have so much hope… and so much anger…" she reached up to caress Izuku's cheeks.

The blonde girl leaned forward, pressing herself into the motionless girl enough so they both fell onto the ground. "You're so lonely… and yet, I can feel that you have a desire deep within you."

Toga straddled Izuku's paralyzed body. Her bare thighs touching the green haired girl's waist. "You want everything… don't you?" She whispered into her ear.

Izuku gasped. As if that last sentence uttered into her ear was a cure, she struggled against Toga's clutches to no avail.

"Shhh…" she whispered. "Don't struggle…"

Toga smiled. It was one of utter clarity and held none of the wickedness that Izuku had sensed before.

"It'll all be over soon…" she continued, one hand of hers held a knife of glinting silver and red.

Izuku panicked. She was going to die.

It was different than with the sludge villain. There she was surrounded by people. People who she didn't know and they didn't know her, but she wasn't alone. There were heroes on the scene. There was hope.

But here? She was isolated. In a back alley that no one used. Alone with a stranger who was going to kill her. There was no hope here. No hero to magically save the day at the last second.

She was alone.

Think.

She had to think. A way to get out. Anything physical wouldn't work, Toga was stronger than her. She had to reason with her.

Think!

Reason with a crazy person? How the hell was she supposed to do that. She could say one thing and that could set them off.

"Ahhh…" Toga let out a soft sigh as she brought her knife down on Izuku's unwounded cheek.

Fire ran up her nerves as her cheek was sliced open. Her thoughts scrambled to the wind with the pain.

Toga brought her face closer to Izuku's before she gave the fresh wound a soft lick, a euphoric look came upon her face.

"So sweet…" She moaned. Her yellow eyes locked with Izuku's green ones. "Your blood is the sweetest I've tasted you know?"

Giving her knife a lick, Toga propped herself back up on Izuku's waist.

"T-Toga." Izuku managed to choke out.

"Hmm…?"

Izuku's mind was spinning. She didn't know what she was going to say, so she blurted out the first thing that she thought of.

"We're friends right?" Her voice had a faint desperate tone to it.

The knife licking girl smiled down at her. "Of course we are Izuku!"

"T-Then," She stuttered. "Friends wouldn't do this to other friends… right?"

Toga blinked as if Izuku just said something incomprehensible.

"But this is how friends show each friendship! I'll drain you of blood and drink it all!" She giggled. "That way you'll be with me forever!"

"Eh?"

What?

What did she say?

"H-Hey… jokes like that aren't funny…"

Toga pouted. "I would never joke about our friendship." She went into a brief depressive mood before peeking back up. "I know! I'll demonstrate it right now if you don't believe me!"

She raised her knife.

"Wait!"

"Hmm…? It's not nice to keep our friendship waiting."

"You can't kill me!" Izuku pleaded.

Like night and day, the entire atmosphere around Toga did a flip. "Oh?" She said, her voice dark and somber.

Izuku nodded desperately.

"And why is that, Midoriya-san?" She asked, the playful lilt usually found in her tone gone.

The girl in question shivered at the sudden change in demeanor and addressal. She wondered if she had just signed her death contract.

"Because…" She searched for a reason that would quell the girl's sudden change. "Because…"

"I'm listening, Midoriya-san."

"You said… you said my blood was sweet right?"

Toga tilted her head in question. "Yes, and what of it?"

Maybe…

Maybe she could go somewhere with this.

"W-well if my blood is so sweet, and you like it so much." Izuku couldn't believe what she was about to suggest. "If you- If you killed me now you would never be able to drink it again after this, right?"

"..." The yellow eyed killer stayed silent. Izuku took it as a sign to continue.

"But if you leave me alive, I'd be able to keep making the blood you like so much! And- And I'd even give it to you willingly!"

Please.

Please take it.

"Really." Toga said.

It didn't sound like a question, but Izuku nodded anyways.

"..." She stared at the green girl underneath her.

Izuku swallowed down the torrent of emotions she felt from the situation. She wanted to cry, to yell, to scream and shout. But that had to wait. She could do that when she wasn't in danger of dying.

Toga's face was stony and hard. Her normal expressive features and wicked smile were nowhere to be seen. It was difficult for Izuku to tell what the girl might have been thinking of before, but now it was nigh impossible.

The stoic girl moved her face parallel to Izuku, her piercing yellow eyes starting into Izuku's green ones.

"Promise?" She asked. Her voice steady and monotone.

Izuku forced a smile on her face before nodding once more.

"Really?" Toga said.

Izuku's brow furrowed. There was something in the way Toga said that which caused her attention to perk up. That and underneath her yellow irises there was something more.

Had the situation, Izuku had no doubt she would attempt to play detective and figure out what it was, but at the current moment she was doing everything she could to stay alive.

"Of course." She responded.

Toga continued staring, before unpinning Izuku's right arm and holding a pinky out in front of her.

"Promise."

Izuku stared at the outstretched pinky. It was so… dainty, and feminine and… she didn't know what else to call it, but looking at it and how similar it was to any other normal girls fingers made it hard for Izuku to wrap her mind that this girl was originally planning on killing her.

Izuku wrapped her pinky around Toga's, letting it curl around for a second before breaking apart.

"I promise."

Toga beamed. Her normal wicked smile returning on her face in full force and her eyes lit back up to their usual mischievous glint. She leapt up off Izuku and twirled around in a happy little dance.

Izuku stared. It was as if a switch had been flipped in the weird blonde girl. One moment she had been the most stone faced person she had ever met, and now she was dancing around like a ballerina who just nailed their audition. Izuku questioned her own sanity as she slowly got up from the ground.

"T-Toga…" She called. She wasn't sure how to address the girl she had made a promise with, but figured it was better to inform her of what she was about to do.

"Hmm?" Said girl responded.

"I'm… gonna head home now. Is that alright…?"

Contrary to her beliefs however, Toga was still all smiles and dances as she received Izuku's intentions.

"Okayyyy!"

Letting out a breath she didn't know she had taken. Izuku nodded to herself. She had gotten permission from the would-be-killer-turned-friend(?) and all she had to do was actually start to leave. No pressure. Izuku stepped forward and-

"Wha...t?" She gasped out.

The world spun, the concrete and the ground she was standing on was now moving wildly and there were black spots forming rapidly in her vision. The feeling of her hitting the ground once more vaguely registered in her mind as creeping numbness enveloped her.

Ah.

That's right.

She had lost a lot of blood.

Shit.

She just hoped she wouldn't be killed while she was asleep.

And then the world went black.

When Izuku woke, it was to the familiar sight of her own room. Grimacing as she turned her head about. Her hands went up to her injured cheeks only to find them properly bandaged. Her mind felt sluggish as she tried to process exactly what was going on.

She was… alive?

And in her room?

Her gaze turned to her All Might alarm clock. It proudly read out the number 10:32 AM.

She was definitely late for school, and as much as she hated skipping, she had a distinct feeling that she wasn't going to be able to make it to school at all.

Izuku stretched out her limbs, revelling in the satisfying pops they made and the feeling of stiffness fading away. Looking down at her clothes, she saw that she was still clad in her school uniform from yesterday. Her hair felt matted and greasy, and her skin felt like it was caked in dirt. Other than that, it didn't seem like she was any worse for wear.

The question however, still remained. How did she get back to her house from that alley?

She shifted, mulling in her thoughts, before noticing that a small piece of paper was sticking out of her breast pocket.

Izuku gently took it out and unfurled it.

I patched you up and took you home! Let's have a lot more fun together next time Izuku!

- Toga

So that's what happened.

She wasn't sure if she liked that her newfound friend(?) knew where she lived. But she supposed it could be worse.

She could be dead.

Start: May 9th. 2018

End: August 9th. 2018

Words: 4,447

Oops. Sorry for the 3 month delay. The past couple months have been the busiest ever. With finals happening immediately after I published chapter 2, into Fanime happening. Then following that was ultimate weapon prog in FF14. Followed by Anime Expo happening. Then followed by MORE ultimate weapon prog for my main group.

So much has happened that I've barely gotten a chance to write. In fact, 90% of this chapter was written today and yesterday. Granted I rewrote a lot but still.

Anyways. If around the middle starts to sound convoluted, sorry about that. My writing style kind of turned itself sideways during the 3 month break and I'm getting back into my old habits. You might have noticed the chapter names being character names. Yeah that's a thing.

All Might next. I'll have it done by the end of the month. Hopefully. No promises.

As always, please notify me if you notice any mistakes. Any constructive criticism is always welcome too.

-FN