Title: 逃げる手 - The Hand That Bleeds
Rating: T
Summary: "I don't want to be a Hero. I want to be a Healer. My Quirk is made for healing, like my mom's, not fighting so I train to fight like a Hero to be a Healer. I want to help others to the best of my abilities." Hisoka Matsushita, raised by her mother and who never knew her father, never could quite understand where the path she would eventually take would lead her to.

Current: Followers: 408, Favs: 340, Reviews: 316, Communities: 13, Views: 118807

Disclaimer: I do not own Boku no Hero Academia. Boku no Hero Academia is written and illustrated by Kōhei Horikoshi-sensei. No profit was made in the writing of this fanfic.

Beta: Ana-DaughterofHades

Now To Answer Some Reviews:

GreyWolfe10- Yup, she is back, and this is gonna be a long Arc! Hisoka isn't at that point yet. She's about maybe... only 15% - 20 there. There's a lot before she'd get to the level Stain is at. Maybe there is a way to help her with the Red. It can't be squashed or anything like that but maybe... Well... Who knows at this point... Anyway, I hope you stay healthy as well! Stay safe too! Thank you for the review. I hope you like the chapter.

chaosrin- I couldn't resist Hisoka seeing Aoyama ... It was too good of an opportunity for it not to happen! Hisoka has just decided to not get involved in it and it was best... Hisoka has got enough going on. Lol. Also, yeah. Hisoka needs to get a good fight to shake off that rust! Jiro is a good girl. And yes, Hisoka will have more opportunities with bonding with her classmates! Yeah... If I had planned things out better, now that I realize it all, I would have done things differently with the three days away from the school and all that. From what I already have, the school knows somethings and know the sessions have been helping Hisoka (from their point of view anyway) but don't know much else because of various factors at play and Aizawa only has speculation on what had happened with the visit to Haru and the effect it had on Hisoka, hence the decision that had been made. I know it doesn't fully make sense but hopefully, it will in time. Now, your idea has merits and I'd love to do it, but the voice is not due. I guess it hadn't been as clear as I thought I had been in the last chapter with that dream, but the voice is basically Hisoka. It is her - or at least a part of her. It's the influence of the 'Red' that comes from the Chizome (Stain's family) bloodline - hence the red eyes Hisoka gets temporarily sometimes when she's at one of her 'breaking points'. It's kinda like a curse (maybe from a Quirk... maybe not... it's just been around for a very long time) that affects each family member a little bit differently. I guess this is just the next step or something like that. There's some information on it on her profile. Thank you for the review. I hope you like the chapter.

Chapter 62

To Beginning Preparations

Location: Between Heights Alliance and U.A., South Side of U.A. High School Campus, Northern Musutafu, South of Tokyo, Honshu, Japan

Date: October 19, 20XX

"I'll see you back at the dorms," Tsuyu said, leaning in and kissing Hisoka's cheek. One of Tsuyu's hands was holding onto her hand, squeezing it lightly.

Hisoka squeezed back, cheeks heating up. "I'll make sure to leave you two and the rest some leftovers. Good luck with your supplementary lessons."

Fumi nodded to her. "See you later tonight."

She waved to them as they walked away with the other interns back to the school before she turned and followed her classmates back to the dorms. Why didn't she have supplementary lessons? Well, she had only missed three days, unlike the others who had missed a rather large number of various lessons over a few weeks, so it was expected of her to make up everything in her own time. Hisoka was glad that there wasn't as much as she thought and was very grateful to the teachers when they allowed her to have an extension on the due dates for certain assignments and homework. It wasn't just that too. She couldn't be more thankful than to have the classmates she had now. There were still a lot of notes she had to copy but if she worked diligently, she'd be able to finish up the notes and the homework by Sunday.

Hisoka's thoughts switched to what she should make for dinner for everyone, maybe something like spaghetti or lasagna... There was some leftover chicken that needed to be used up before it went bad and some spinach in the fridge if she remembered correctly. What about creamy lemon pasta with chicken and spinach? It was easy to make and a lot could be made at once.

Yeah! That's what she'd make!

"We've got lots to decide on, huh?" Ashido-san swung her arms about in circles, bouncing a few feet in front of Hisoka. "What kind of performance will make everyone happy?!"

"We should do something popular! Right, Jiro?" Kaminari-san asked with a pep in his step.

"Hmm..." Jiro hummed thoughtfully, a deep expression on her face.

"Hey, did you hear?"

"About Class 1-A from the Hero Department. Apparently, they're doing a concert. For our sakes."

Hisoka looked up and two black haired students, a girl with small pigtails and a tall guy with a long stylized pompadour, glared at them. The General Education Department... Brown eyes glanced around as she stopped near Bakugo-san. They weren't the only ones... Red eyes glared back right at them.

"Well, aren't they in good spirits?"

"Really? For our sakes?! What the heck is that supposed to mean?

"Yeah... They're the ones who caused all of this in the first place."

"Such arrogance!"

She really couldn't blame them for thinking that way. There wasn't fault in their logic to begin with, with all that had happened. But still. They weren't the only ones to blame

Hisoka tilted her head, observing a certain blonde before looking forward. "Bakugo-san..."

"What?" Bakugo-san hissed, scowling deeper. She wondered if he was still offended/angry about the fork...

"Does chicken for dinner sound good?"

He clicked his tongue. "Whatever." Slouching over, he stuffed his hands in his pockets and stomped off.

"Hmmmm..." Hisoka shrugged, taking it as a yes, before walking forward once again.

Sato-san came up beside her then and looked down at her. "What are you going to have with the chicken?"

"There's leftover spinach and we've got a bunch of pasta... I was thinking of having them in a creamy lemon sauce."

He perked up. "Oh! That sounds wonderful." He continued on as they talked about dinner.

Location: Common Room, First Floor of Heights Alliance, South Side of U.A. High School Campus, Northern Musutafu, South of Tokyo, Honshu, Japan

Date: October 19, 20XX

It was a little bit after dinner. The dishes were finally cleaned, dried, and put away, bellies were filled, and the moonless sky was littered with clouds that filtered the little light the stars gave off. Most of the class was in the dorms, the interns still in their supplementary classes, sitting around in the common area.

"The culture festival is one month away!" Iida-san stared as they gathered around him. "We don't have much time so I want to get as much squared away today as we can! First, we need to decide on the song and music." The teens began to all talk at once.

"It's gotta be something that gets you pumped up!"

"We should do something everyone knows!"

"Something groovy!"

"No, it's gotta be eclectic!"

"Rock wouldn't be so bad..."

"Oh! Oh! Let's do a melodramatic heartbroken country rap!"

"Something we can all dance to would be nice."

"Well..." Jiro-san began, fingers twiddling with each other. "We should go with Four-On-The-Floor."

"What's that?" Hisoka asked.

"It's a type of rhythm pattern that's used in disco and electronic dance music. A steady uniformly accented beat in four-slash-four time in which the bass drum is hit every beat in common time. So, something like new rave club rock would be a good idea. But if we're doing dance music, EDM is probably better." She turned towards the class. "That is if you all want to play instruments..." Receiving blank stares, she asked, "Have any of you played the bass or drums before?" Getting shakes of the head, she sighed. "I didn't think so. You see, the drums are basically the backbone of any band. I'm primarily a guitarist and I'm still practicing on the drums, to be honest. I'm not good enough to teach beginners yet, either. I still need more practice. A month isn't enough time for that too."

"Ah!" Kaminari-san said in a surprising moment of intelligence. "Bakugo! You were forced to go to music class a while back?!" He pointed at the said boy.

Bakugo-san looked up from his phone. "Huh?"

How unexpected... Well, now that Hisoka thought about he seemed to have some level of skill in everything. Was he like a typical Mary Sue or something? Hisoka shook her head.

Nah.

He couldn't be... Could he?

"Bakugo!" Sero-san held up a pair of drumsticks, walking past her. "Let's see you try hittin' those drums, dude!"

"Piss off!" He turned and stalked off.

Hisoka frowned, muttering absentmindedly, "Oh... I guess that means you just suck at them then." She was sure he'd be pretty good at them.

Bakugo froze as she saw Sero-san grin at her, giving her a thumbs up. "Yeah! I guess you must really suck!" Why was he giving her a thumbs up?

Bakugo-san whipped his head to look at her and the taller boy, growling as he stalked his way to them and snatched the drumsticks. "Fuck you! Give them to me!" After a moment, the drum set from Jiro-san's room was brought down and he played them away, beating at a perfect beat.

On the final bang against the drums, he said, "Whatchu say?!"

Well then...

She was proven wrong.

"P...Perfect!" Jiro-san shouted, blushing with wide eyes.

"Wow!" Ashido-san pumped her arms up. "The man of many talents! Awesome!"

Kaminari shouted, "Looks like we've found our drummer boy!"

"In your dreams." Bakugo-san clicked his tongue, shoving the drumsticks into Jiro-san hands. "I won't be caught dead in your dumb dance club." He turned and walked away.

"Bakugo, please!" Jiro-san tried to say, following after him. "Listen, if you do this for us, I just know it'll turn out really well!"

That stopped the exploding teen. He looked over his shoulder at her, red eyes staring intently. "It ain't gonna turn out well!" Fully turning to the class, he snapped, "You're all trying to play nice with the other departments so they can let off some stress, is that it?!" He sneered. "What's the damn point if the ones doin' it were the source of their stress to begin with? That ain't nothin' but self-satisfaction! They're all pissed off at us! There's no way they'll just lay down and accept this!"

Hagakure-san huffed, "Hold on! Don't put it that way!"

"That's what I'm talking about! Quit getting all buddy-buddy with 'em!" Bakugo-san just growled.

"I have to say... He's got a point... We weren't being thoughtful enough..." Iida-san muttered, turning to Yaoyorozu.

Shoto's eyes narrowed, frowning as he shook his head. "You didn't even participate in the meeting, so it's a little late to be complaining."

"Well... It's not like we asked to be attacked by the Villains..." Hisoka muttered, circling an arm around herself. "We were just trying to keep everyone safe. That's what a Hero does."

"Ah! So, why the hell do we have to act all sensitive?! Why do we have to fuckin' be all concerned with people's feelings?! If you're tryin' to court their favor, then quit while you're ahead! We gotta hit 'em with everything we've got! This ain't a friendship party, it's a slugfest! If we're gonna do this, we gotta go all the way! Fuckin' forget their stress, we're murdering 'em all with our music!" Hisoka had to cover an ear when he shouted while Bakugo-san made a cutting motion at his neck.

Hagakure bounced up and down. "His logic is worrying, but he comes through when it counts!"

"Shut up!" Bakugou-san snapped.

"Isn't this great, Jiro?" Hagakure-san side hugged Jiro-san.

She stared at the overdramatic exploding teen for a moment before smiling, her headphone jacks lifting at her smile. "Yeah... I'm gonna do my best!"

Others began to speak up as they tried to find the rest of the band members. "Ever since I was a child, through my etiquette training, I've been trained in playing the piano. Would that be any use for the festival?" Momo asked, tilting her head as she pressed a hand against her upper chest.

"Wow!" Ashido-san's eyes sparkled. "Yaomomo, you can play the keyboard then!"

"Well, you can't have club music without a synth. You're a lifesaver, Yaomomo!" Jiro-san grinned at her.

"I'll do my best!" Momo pumped up, fists clenching in front of her in excitement.

"Wha... But I thought us girls were gonna be dancers together! But you're being so cute about it..." Ashido-san groaned, slapping a hand on Momo's shoulder. "Fine!"

Hisoka looked up to look at Ashido-san with wide eyes. When was that said?!

Jiro-san had a thoughtful expression. "I'll be playing the bass so all that leaves is the guitar and the vocals. I take it everyone else will dance then?"

Iida-san hummed, rubbing his chin with this thumb on his right cheek. "Will that be enough to get the crowd going?"

Ashido-san spun around, twirling towards the computer. "We need some staging!" Typing away for a few moments, they crowded around her when she held up the computer towards them. "Staging! Ya 'know, like sparklers, streamers, disco balls..." Hisoka stared at the video as it played, a band playing with bright lights flashing about and a lot of effects happening around them - there was even a disco ball - as a crowd jumped and cheered loudly. "We can't skimp on the staging! It needs to be loud! Bold! Dramatic! Heroic! Something to create the perfect atmosphere to get even the person with the largest stick up their butt dancing! We could even get the crowd involved!" She sat the laptop back on the coffee table.

"We'll need the school gym for that then," Sato-san pointed out.

"Aizawa-sensei already has the necessary arrangements done for us," Iida-san informed them, pushing up his glasses so they shined under the room's overhead lights. That was Aizawa-sensei for you. That man was on top of everything.

"Awesome!" Hakagure-san cheered, clapping.

"I've got a wonderful idea! What if Uraraka makes Todoroki and Kirishima float? And then! Kirishima can shave Todoroki's ice! And then Aoyama can be a disco ball! Then with the light sparkling, the ice will look like stardust falling from above! Team snowman! We can't forget the lights either!" Ashido-san explained, making Aoyama-san pale, head turning downward.

"Ahahaha, like a shaved ice machine!" Sero crackled.

The others talked to one another, going over more ideas.

"Me... A disco ball..." Aoyama-san muttered.

Momo thought out loud, "It sounds like a wonderful idea! This could be a key component to getting everyone fired up!"

Nodding to himself, Aoyama-san seemed to get over himself, a determined light in his eyes as he snapped at the group. "Sounds fabulous!"

"If that's going to happen, then we'd need someone to work the rope for Aoyama-san and other people to work behind the scenes for all these effects you're wanting to do," Hisoka pointed out, arms crossed over her chest.

It was just then the front door opened and Kirishima-san, Tsuyu, Midoriya-san, Fumi, and Uraraka-san walked in. "Sup! We're back!" Kirishima-san held up a pumped fist.

"We're finally done with our supplementary classes for today," Tsuyu said proudly. "We can now fully participate!"

"And eat," Fumi added.

Hisoka let out a fond snort, turning on the foot of her heel to head towards the kitchen area. "I will go and heat up your plates then." As Hisoka worked on heating up their plates, she listened to their conversation on trying to find a singer.

Mineta-san, Aoyama-san, and Kirishima-san all tried out and failed when Hagakure-san suggested Jiro should sing. "Back when you were teaching us in your room, I thought your singing was really super duper awesome!"

"Hey now... Let's not make this more difficult than it needs to be..." Jiro-san waved her hands around a bit as she was gently pushed towards the microphone. As she sang, which was very nice and melodic just like it always was, Hisoka set down the plates and silverware on the table, waiting for the food to finish heating up.

It was unanimously decided Jiro-san would sing.

A good decision if Hisoka thought about it. Out of anyone in the class, she was the one who had the most experience with music and she did like to sing. It was usually by herself like when she thought no one was in the shared girls' bath (Hisoka was an audience for a few private performances there but no one needed to know that) or when she was in her room with some of her friends.

"Well... I guess... That... Then... let's leave that aside..." Jiro sheepishly muttered, holding up two fingers. "Guitarists! Two of them! We need two of them!"

"Oh! Oh! Me! Me! I wanna do it!" Kaminari-san raised a hand. "Playing an instrument is so cool!"

"Let me do it!" Mineta-san shouted.

Kirishima-san bowed his head in honorable defeat. "Strings aren't for me..." Aoyama-san nodded in agreement.

Bakugo-san snapped, "It's not about desire! Do you have the determination?!"

"Yeah! I totally do!" Kaminari-san grinned widely, grabbing a guitar and swung the strap over his shoulder. "The guitar is the heart of the band, after all! Ain't it?!"

Hisoka made her way back to see if the food was done heating up as Mineta-san tried grabbing one but with his height, he was too small to reach the proper places to play correctly.

Sato-san held up a fist. "I feel pretty good about my dancing!"

"Me too! My tail's got some moves of its own too!" Ojiro-san said, tail wagging quickly.

Sero-san nodded. "I've got some ideas for decorations with my tape too!"

With the guitar still on the ground, Hisoka watched with a raised eyebrow as Fumi picked it up and began to strum it.

"Tokoyami?!"

"What a heartrending sound!"

Jiro-san questioned, "You can play?! Why didn't you say anything before?!"

"I needed to overcome the oppression of the F chord first," Fumi sighed, holding the guitar close to him. He turned his head to the right at the sulking small grape. "Mineta, if you are going to give up, then I shall strum on your behalf."

"Do what you want, turdface," Mineta-san grumbled, making Hisoka's eyes narrow. Subconsciously, she held up a fork that glinted under the light when she caught Shoto's raised eyebrow. Glancing at her hand, she lowered it with a cough, cheeks burning a bit before she distracted herself by going back to finish heating up the food. As it finished up, Hisoka learned that Mineta would be in the dance team if they did a harem part.

"Food's heated," she called out, picking up the pot and setting it on the potholder on the table. "Come and get it." Kirishima-san, Tsuyu, Midoriya-san, Fumi, and Uraraka-san immediately came to the table, sitting with excited faces. Hisoka let out a chuckle as she dished out the leftover food. Her heart warmed when she heard the satisfying hums and exclamations about her cooking.

"Hisoka-chan! Hisoka-chan!" As they ate and Hisoka set the now-empty pan in the sink, Ashido-san bounced up to her. "We didn't hear from you yet! What about you? What do you wanna do?"

"Can you play any instruments?" Jiro-san asked, the thoughtful expression coming back. "It never hurts to add another guitarist or even backup singers, ya know."

"Or you could dance!" Midoriya-san said. "You're really flexible as it is so I think that could work!"

Ojiro-san added, "And when you fight, it looks like you're dancing sometimes!"

"Did you perhaps learn to dance when you were younger?" Momo regarded her.

"Or learn to play guitar with Tokoyami-kun? You both grew up together, if I remember correctly," Iida-san said, pushing up his glasses.

"Well... Um..." Hisoka began, flustered with the number of eyes that were suddenly on her. "I did do a bit of dance when I was younger, but my mother only taught me a little bit while she trained me to help improve my flexibility and agility. And I did do a few music classes with Fumi, but I was never really able to grasp any instruments unless you count the triangle as something and even then..." she trailed off.

"What about singing?" Jiro-san asked.

"Nope. Not one bit." Hisoka instantly answered. "I'm as flat as the Sahara Desert is hot."

"You can't be that bad..."

"She is," Fumi said in between bites.

"Really?" Midoriya-san stared at her. Hisoka nodded.

"Prove it!" Mineta-san exclaimed, others agreeing with him.

Hisoka shrugged and opened her mouth slowly as Fumi readied himself and covered his ears. Tsuyu followed his example when he motioned her to. What came out was something that shouldn't be possible as people told her to instantly stop in horror and dread, mild alarming awe at how indescribable the sound was.

It was also unanimously decided that they'd never make her sing again for their sanity.

"Told you," Hisoka said as they recovered.

And so, an hour past midnight the roles were all decided.

The band would consist of Bakugo-san on the drums, Momo on the keyboard, Jiro-san was on the bass and was singing, and finally, Kaminari-san and Fumi would be on guitar. On the dance team were Tsuyu, Iida-san, Ashido-san, Midoriya-san, Uraraka-san, Aoyama-san, Mineta-san, Ojiro-san, Sato-san, Hagakure-san, and Shoji-san. Finally, on the staging team, it'd be herself, Kirishima-san, Sero-san, and Shoto.

It was going to get busy from tomorrow onward.

Location: Gym Gamma, Northeast Side of U.A. High School Campus, Northern Musutafu, South of Tokyo, Honshu, Japan

Date: October 20, 20XX

"Uh... Hisoka..."

Hisoka stared at the fidgeting fluffy green-haired teen to the left of her with a raised eyebrow, frozen in mid-kick. Her foot was inches away from Momo's eye winded face as a drop of sweat rolled down her forehead. The bo staff had fallen with a clang against the concrete floor a few feet away from them was left ignored as Hisoka finished twirling around and landed on her feet. Momo let out a relieved breath backing away a few feet, thanking her for the spar before she picked up her weapon and went off to practice somewhere else.

Hisoka took in a deep breath through her nose, letting it out through her mouth, relaxing her stance. "Yes, Midoriya-san?"

"Do you, uh... Think you can teach me some kicks?"

She tilted her head, regarding him again. "I don't mind teaching you a few but why me? I mean there are others who could help you out like Ojiro-san and Iida-san."

"Well, out of anyone, you probably know the most about martial arts, maybe even more than Ojiro-san, and Iida-san's kicks are suited more for his Quirk. I learned what I could from watching him."

Well, she wouldn't say she knew the most. She knew some things, but she was still learning. She shrugged. "Okay. I'll need to see what you know first."

Midoriya-san perked up, grinning as he crouched down a bit. "Okay!"

"Without using your Quirk," Hisoka added when he had gotten into position and began to power up his Quirk, sparks of green and black lightning flickering around him.

"O-oh..."

Hisoka nodded. "There'll be times where you might not be able to use your Quirk, or for me, my weapons, so it's good to have an arsenal of things to fall back on such as hand to hand combat."

"Right!"

And so, Hisoka spent the rest of the lesson showing Midoriya-san (and somehow a few of her other classmates when they saw her teaching him) a few basic styles of kicks and even punches. That would not be the last of those lessons as well.

Location: Common Room, First Floor of Heights Alliance, South Side of U.A. High School Campus, Northern Musutafu, South of Tokyo, Honshu, Japan

Date: October 21, 20XX

The weekend finally came and just outside, Ashido-san was training the dance team while the band team was up in Jiro-san's room going over music and practicing their instruments. Hisoka sat at the table with Kirishima-san, Sero-san, and Shoto as papers and pencils were scattered around as Hisoka was typing away at her laptop on the shared Google Doc, making notes on what the boys were talking about. They were talking about different combinations of everyone's Quirks they could try out.

"Maybe we can have Yaomomo make some confetti during one of the high notes while we do this and that?" Sero-san proposed, pointing at some of the papers with proposed ideas. Some were circled, some had a question mark next to them, and some were crossed out. "We can do that leading to a big finale!"

"I see!" Kirishima-san grinned. "That's a great idea! Let's see if we can have the dance team try it! Maybe we can even do that!" He pointed to another idea, this one involving Bakugo-san's explosions while he's drumming.

"Wait a minute," Shoto interjected. "If we tried to attempt that, then we won't have enough people!"

"There's only so much we can do with the number of people we've got," Hisoka added, now searching up different light patterns and backgrounds she thought might work. Lights were a big thing apparently. Jiro-san mentioned that certain lights could set different moods and convey different meanings to scenes rather they are for a band or for a play. So, Hisoka took it upon herself to be in charge of the lights. It was a good thing the stage they'd be using had a program to do all of this. Now, to learn how to use it!

"That is true..." Kirishima-san muttered, shoulders slumped as he looked like a puppy who wanted your attention even though you were very busy and the said puppy had a lot of toys already to play with.

They went back to bouncing off different ideas, rejecting and reevaluating some, and had a few combined into a pretty good rough draft of a plan. Morning slowly bled into early afternoon, the shadows the windows made as sunlight reflected inside the glass slowly moving. Finally, they decided to take a small break and stretch their legs after sitting all morning.

"I'll be right back; I'm going to use the restroom. Excuse me," Hisoka said, scooting her seat back as she got up. Pushing it in, the others said okay and sat back. Walking off, Kirishima watched her leave as he got up to get something to drink.

"You guys want anything?" He asked, opening up the fridge. The burst of cool air felt really good.

"I'll take a water!" Sero leaned his head back, looking at the redhead upside down.

"No, thank you. I've still got mine," Todoroki said, taking a sip of his water bottle serenely. If Kirishima knew any better, he'd have to admit Todoroki looked like he was in a TV ad with the way he looked.

"Kay." Kirishima grabbed three cold water bottles, nabbing one for Hisoka too as he noticed she was running low and closed the fridge's door. He also grabbed some of the spicy beef jerky, the really good stuff he had stashed away in his cubby. Walking back, he handed one of the water bottles to Sero before sitting down and placing one in Hisoka's spot.

"Thanks, man!" Sero grinned after opening it and taking a large gulp. It was just what he needed.

"No probs, my man!" Kirishima gave him a thumbs up before he tore into a piece of beef jerky, relishing the spiciness as it numbed his tongue.

They chatted between each other, waiting for Hisoka to come back when the door opened and in came a sweaty, wheezing Mineta. Shutting the door with a bit more force than necessary, he stomped, or tired to with his tired limbs, and proceeded to grab a water bottle from the fridge, chugging it as he enjoyed the cool air from the still open fridge.

"Ahhhhh..." He let out, crushing the plastic bottle with glee, chucking it into the trash can nearby before finally closing the fridge. Walking back to the door, he made a pitstop in front of the staging team's table. "Where's Hisoka?"

"Bathroom," Todoroki answered absentmindedly, typing away at his computer.

"Huh... You guys are lucky, ya know. To be on the team with just a girl, even if she is, ya know, flat and all that. She's got good looks though with those wide hips and long legs and milky, pale skin... Man, she'd look good in heels and leather. Ehehehehe..." Mineta grinned pervertedly, a bit of drool dripping down his chin. "You're all really lucky! Hehehehehe... It's like a reverse harem here! Just all of you in here, by yourselves, with a girl. What I wouldn't give to have that! Hehehehehe... " he added with a mutter as he wiped away the drool.

"That's really unmanly, Mineta. Stop perving on Hisoka-chan." Kirishima frowned at the smaller teen, not liking how he was talking about his friend. Sure, he snuck a glance or two at his female classmates (Hisoka included) once in a blue moon, talked about them with the guys when they hung out, but he knew there was a time and place for everything. And even then, you don't talk like that.

"Come on! You can't help but agree with me! She's good looking but she could put on some makeup though. Make herself pretty and all that. I mean any of the girls could do that if I'm being honest here. What I wouldn't give to get-"

Kirishima gave a scowl. "Dude, no. Just no. I'm gonna stop you right there, absolutely no." He held up a hand. "Don't even continue that line."

"Dude! C'mon! Just think about it! You're all here and it's just Hisoka! Think of all the crazy shenanigans you could get into with Hisoka!"

"That's just not cool, Mineta." Sero shook his head in disappointment. "While I do agree that Hisoka is good looking, if you haven't noticed she's already happily taken by Tsuyu."

"And if either of them heard you speak like that, you wouldn't be here right now," Todoroki added, eyes narrowed dangerously close together as he stopped typing. Well, it'd be more like Tsuyu would destroy him instantly just to get done with him but if Hisoka heard the perverted little grape talk about Tsuyu like that... Well... Slow and painful with a dull, rusty razor blade was all he could come up with since he didn't want to lose his sanity.

Mineta shrugged, going back for another water bottle, oblivious to the glares he was getting. "I stand by what I said, even if she's just Hisoka. She's crazy in the head so she's got to be crazy in the bed!"

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Todoroki's tone was as cold as the ice that slowly crept out unknowingly from under his feet as anger lit in his eyes.

"Dudes! She's really crazy, unlike the other girls! I just know it! I've heard her even say her mom's in the hospital, but I really think she's just locked up in the loony bin for being batshit insane, so I guess that apple doesn't fall far from the tree with how she's been acting lately! It might be why she doesn't talk about her dad too. I think it's because he left since he didn't want to be affected by all the shit. U.A. shouldn't even waste their time if that's how Hisoka is going to turn out." And thoughtlessly jabbering on he went, unknowingly gaining even more heated glares from the other boys. They had let this go on long enough.

Todoroki was about to freeze the grape bastard when he froze, already out of his seat, eyes slowly widening when he felt this all too familiar feeling, even if it was just a fraction, which made it feel like he was choking. He thought he'd never feel it again. He didn't want to feel it. It was from that day. It was when they had faced off against him. It was when he knew it was a turning point for Hisoka. His legs wobbled ever so slightly as he fell back into his seat. His eyes widened when he saw the broken light, the shimmering pain, inside those brown eyes, which had vanished in the blink of an eye. It was an all too familiar, personal feeling.

Sero had never felt like that - this almost nightmare-inducing feeling. He was glad it wasn't directed at him. It was scary seeing Hisoka-chan slowly walk towards them, silent as the night. He had never seen the usual monotone girl, who he was slowly but surely befriending, the one whose cooking could probably rival a master chef, look like that before. Sure, he had seen her get angry and that smile she gave at times was most likely even more intimidating, more frightening than any Villain he had yet to face. (It didn't help when she wielded something sharp, even worse when it was something that wasn't sharp!) And yet he couldn't help but feel just a smidge of pity for the bastard.

Kirishima really didn't know what to feel at the moment as a shiver went down his spine when he saw Hisoka appear out of nowhere (like a fricken ninja! How manly!) and just walk like she was floating. (He would not comment on the frightening feeling he got when staring at Hisoka-chan. He had felt it that night when they had gone to get Bakubro and Tokoyami. He had thought he'd never seen anyone so mad before.) Sure, Mineta was a bastard and Kirishima didn't like how he perved on the girls whenever he wanted, which was very unmanly, but Mineta was usually an... okay guy. He had his unsavory moments, but he had gotten better over the few months, training to be a Hero and all that was bound to be helping. And yet... And yet! He wanted to rage. Rage like the dying light when he saw the emotions so raw in Hisoka-chan's eyes appear and fade in seconds. What Mineta had said was really uncalled for and now... Well... All he could do was watch when Hisoka-chan stopped behind Mineta.

Hisoka tilted her head, staring down with blank eyes as she contemplated on various scenarios, she wanted to do to the fucking grape head. Punt him out a closed window or off the roof. Use him as target practice. Smash his head into the table, breaking all his teeth. Set him on fire. Waterboard him. Let him go off on the grape (and then the little bastard would know to watch his mouth when talking about someone). Grab the dagger her mother gave her and use it. If blood stained the floor, she'd be able to get it out. She was taught how, after all.

But no.

No. No. No.

She couldn't.

She didn't want to get suspended or expelled from U.A. She didn't want to leave the school that had become another home. She didn't want to lose her friends. She didn't want to leave behind the life she had made. She didn't want to leave Fumi behind. She didn't want to be separated from Tsuyu... (She didn't want to see the disappointment in Aizawa-sensei's eyes.)

Her fists tightened, fingernails digging into her palms, leaving behind indents while keeping herself in check. Silent. A slow trickle of blood began to drip from between the cracks of her whitened fingers. It had only gotten worse, unbeknownst to her, the more she heard Mineta speak even before she had made her appearance, overhearing him when she had stopped around the corner. She would have ignored him. Mineta had been his usual bastard, perverted self. Then he went on about her mother. Her... f-f-f... him. Tsuyu. The other girls. She couldn't stop herself from appearing.

She cut him off from whatever he was going to say next, shaking herself out of her stupor, looming over him from behind. "If you finish that sentence, I won't be responsible for what happens next."

Hisoka watched with delightful relish when Mineta let out a girlish screech of fright, turning around and falling on his behind when he saw her. "Wh-wh-wh-wh-" Mineta stammered out, trying to form a sentence but too scared out of his wits to do so.

She pressed a finger to her lips - the faintest bits of red on the underside of her fingernails - before she bowed over, looming over him. "Shhhhhhh." She shook her head. "Mineta. Mineta. Mineta. You just had to open your big fat mouth and just say some shitty things, didn't you?" When he tried to say something, she held up a hand, eyes staring at him coldly. Then with a tilt of her head, her lips stretched outward as she gave him the sweetest of smiles, a picture of innocence, kittens, rainbows, and unicorns. The lights of the room cast the dark shadow of herself over him, making him quake in his shoes. "Now here's what we're going to do. You're going to go back outside, act like this never happened, you won't say anything like this to anyone else, practice as hard as Ashido-san wants you to, and make sure that I don't see you for at least the rest of the weekend. Or else."

He dared to ask, "O-o-or else w-wh-what?!" His adam's apple bobbed as he gulped, eyes widening at the look he received.

"Well," she began, eyes becoming hooded as a bit of red bled into her eyes, around her pupil. The smile now showed too many teeth. "I won't end up regretting whatever I'd do to you one bit. Now, leave." He scrambled to stand, crab walking back on all fours to get away from her. She watched blankly, straightening up, and the smile slipped away while Mineta ran back outside, slamming the front door shut.

The air grew tense as she let out a tired sigh, shoulders slumping. Kami-sama... She was just so tired; there was a headache coming, she just knew it. Thoughts stirring, she glanced over her shoulder at the table filled with staring boys. She turned to face them, shame lighting up in her eyes. Her right arm wrapped itself around her waist, hand clasping onto the forearm of her left arm. "I'm sorry... You had to see that..." she mumbled, looking away.

She didn't see the exchange of glances between the boys before Sero-san said, scratching his cheek mostly out of awkwardness due to the tension in the air, "Well... Mineta was really being a douche so he did have that coming."

Kirishima-san nodded. "Yeah! That was a really unmanly, dick move of him to talk like that behind your back."

"Are you okay, Hisoka?" Shoto asked, looking over her with worry in his eyes. The look made something warm up in her heart. "There's blood on your hands." He pointedly looked at her hands and at the ground, the other two following his line of sight. Hisoka inspected them. The wounds were almost gone, the crescents from her nails were fading, and the blood was dried and cracked on her hands when she flexed her fingers open and closed a bit.

"You're bleeding, Hisoka-chan?! Quick! You need to bandage it!" Kirishima-san jumped up, about to leave when Hisoka shook her head.

"It's fine. I'm okay. The wounds are all healed up so there's nothing to worry about," she quickly said before he could run off to get the first aid kit.

"Really?" Kirishima-san asked as Shoto gave her a look that showed he didn't believe her, and Sero-san frowned.

"Really." She nodded, showing them her hands. "There's just a bit of blood that I need to clean up." Shoto watched her clean the blood off her hands with an intensity that she was weirded out by as Kirishima-san cleaned up the blood from the floor. (She'd have to come back later to do a deep clean of that area when everyone was asleep.) After all that, Hisoka sat back down letting out a deep breath.

"Are you really okay?"

"I am. Could we just forget all of this happened and get back to planning... please?" Hisoka pointedly looked away as she shuffled, once more missing the exchange of looks between the boys. They nodded to each other, respecting her wishes though Kirishima was rather visibly upset, frowning, by the choice. He wanted to go and tell the others because Mineta was really being a bastard and not manly at all, but if she didn't want to talk about (or tell the others) he'd respect Hisoka-chan's wishes... for now.

"Make sure to remind me to never make you angry, Hisoka-chan," Sero-san said lightheartedly. No matter how cool that was to watch that grin of hers really scared the wits out of him.

Hisoka huffed, giving him a side glance. "I'll try but I make no promises."

"Fair enough," Sero-san chuckled, some of the tension fading away.

Location: Outside Heights Alliance, South Side of U.A. High School Campus, Northern Musutafu, South of Tokyo, Honshu, Japan

Date: October 21, 20XX

Mid-afternoon came with a loud commotion that made the staging team see what was happening. It was a young girl with bluish, off-white hair reaching down to her waist with wide, innocent-looking, bright red eyes. Poking out from the right side of her forehead was a small horn. She wore a white dress under a plain red pinafore with two large, golden buttons on either side of her chest. She had gray tights and a large set of tan boots with a tiny dark red messenger bag strapped around her. She was with Mirio-senpai and Aizawa-sensei and so taking a guess, Hisoka figured this was the Eri-chan Midoriya-san talked about last night and was the recipient of the cookies he had requested she make.

Going back inside really quick as the others went to see the young girl and her classmates, she swiped the slightly decorative bag of cookies for Eri-chan. There was an assortment of them inside as Midoriya-san didn't know what Eri-chan liked and so he wanted to let her have an option to try more than just one kind. Hisoka even slipped in some of those apple-flavored cookies after a comment of her liking apples.

When asked why, Midoriya-san had told her that Eri-chan needed to begin to adapt to being around other humans and so he thought sweets could help out a bit. He mentioned Aizawa-sensei had approved of the idea as well. Hisoka thought it was a nice idea.

As she came back outside, she saw some of the members from the dance group had gathered around Mirio-senpai and Eri-chan, who was hidden behind the blond-haired man, clutching onto his tan pants. Aizawa-sensei stood nearby, keeping a close eye on Eri-chan as well as on everyone else with well-trained eyes. When she had neared them, they made eye contact and Hisoka nodded in hello. He jerked his head in greeting towards her before yawning.

Hisoka walked to them while people began to go back inside, Ashido-san suggesting a break with some tea and snacks. Mirio-senpai was talking to Midoriya-san about something, Eri-chan's eyes lighting up but they all stopped when she let out an eep and she hid further behind Mirio-senpai. The two boys turned and faced her.

"Hisoka-chan!" Midoriya-san's face brightened upon seeing her, grinning as he realized she had the bag of cookies in her hand, half-way hidden behind her.

"Ah! Hisoka-chan, it's been a while! How ya doin?" Mirio-senpai held up an arm, waving excitedly.

"Everything... will be okay."

She gave him a small wave, nodding in greeting to both boys. "I'm fine. How have you been?"

"Pretty good! Been hanging out with Eri-chan here a lot and it's been a lot of fun! Right, Eri-chan?" He looked down at the small child. She gave a quick nod, blushing as all eyes were on her, before going back to hide behind Mirio-senpai's leg. She peeked around every few seconds, however, to look at her with wary but curious eyes. "Oh! Eri-chan, this is Hisoka-chan, a friend of Deku's!"

Her red eyes glanced from her to Midoriya-san. "Really?"

"Yeah! Hisoka-chan is really cool and she's a really good Heroine!" Midoriya-san gushed, seemingly vibrating as he mumbled over a few facts about her. She couldn't help but wonder what he had on her. She knew he had a page or two (or a few books filled with notes and drawings like he had on Bakugo-san) on her as he did with all of his classmates. It really made her wonder. He finally got to the point where Aizawa-sensei stared at him to finish up and he ended with "She's also an amazing cook and baker too! She makes a lot of the meals a majority of the time for 1-A."

"Food?" Her eyes sparkled; a bit of drool dribbled down her chin.

"Yup." Hisoka nodded. "I make sure that everyone here is well-fed." Mostly... They just didn't know she was just fattening them all up to be used in the wintertime.

"Pretty much," Midoriya-san chuckled, scratching his cheek. "I don't know what would happen with the food without Hisoka-chan here. She makes really good cookies too!

"And on that point," she began, kneeling down onto her knees, becoming eye level with the child as she showed the back of cookies to Eri-chan. "I made some cookies for you Eri-chan."

Eri peeked around Mirio-senpai, eyes widening as she mumbled, "For me?"

"Yes, just for you." Hisoka offered a small smile, inching the bag towards her slowly. "Midoriya-san asked me to make them just for you. I wasn't sure what kind of cookies you liked so I made a whole bunch for you to try and pick out."

Eri-chan was hesitant, biting her bottom lip as she glanced from the two boys then to Aizawa-sensei. When he nodded, she turned her attention back at Hisoka before looking towards the bag. Taking a few steps, she grabbed it with both hands, holding it close to her chest and then ran back to hide behind Mirio-senpai. "Thank you," she muttered a few seconds later peeking at her once more.

"It's no problem," Hisoka said as she stood up with ease. "It was fun making them for you. If there are any kinds you like then I'll make them in the future for you whenever you want.

"Go on and try one!" Mirio-senpai encouraged her, picking her up and holding her to one side with both of his arms.

Eri-chan nodded after a bit more encouragement, opening the bag. Their noses acclimatized to the smell of the cookies' delectable aroma. She stared at them, tilting her head ever so before deciding on one. Taking it out, Hisoka recognized it as Fumi's favorite cookies - her sugar apple-flavored cookie - she made it a lot because of that. Red eyes stared at it, drooling a bit before taking a big bite. A satisfactory crunch lingered by Hisoka's ears as Eri-chan's eyes widened, sparkling with stars.

"What do you think?" Mirio-senpai asked.

"Yummy," the kid exclaimed after swallowing the bite, gobbling the rest down with gusto.

"That's an apple-flavored cookie. I heard you liked apples and so I thought you might like to try it. I'm glad to hear that you do. If you want, I can make you more."

Eri-chan nodded. "Mmmhmm!"

"Then the next time you come by, I'll be sure to have some ready for you to eat."

Mirio-senpai told them that they needed to go then if they wanted to have enough time for the tour and so Hisoka watched them go, waving as the two boys walked off as Eri-chan enjoyed another cookie. "Bye! Bye! Nee-chan!" She waved to her and Hisoka couldn't help but smile at her, watching them until they became pinpricks heading towards the school.

She let out a deep breath through her nose, hand falling down to her side and face relaxing back to a neutral expression. Brown eyes side glanced at the older man beside her, seeing black eyes staring right back at her.

"Aren't you going to go with them?"

"Mirio is with her. I'll be seeing them when they leave."

"I see."

"Hn," Aizawa-sensei grunted.

His gaze began to feel heavy. Hisoka looked away, an arm cradling around herself, a hand rubbing her other arm.

He couldn't know... She had to hide it. She was fine.

She had to show she was okay. She couldn't let him worry. She was fine.

She needed to do better. She needed to show that there was nothing wrong with her. She was fine.

"Liar." Hisoka ignored it, the mocking voice echoing distantly in the back of her mind. She was fine.

She just didn't want them to worry about her anymore. There were much more important things to worry about. She was fine.

She was fine. She was fine. She was fine. She was fine.

She had to get through this.

She needed too... too...

Hisoka's back stiffened, shoulders stiffening as her breath hitched when a heavy hand patted her head. "Stop overthinking, brat," she heard Aizawa-sensei grumble to her. He pressed her head down more, gently, making her bend forward a bit, messing up her hair before he took his hand away.

She took a deep breath, scowling. "I'm not a brat..." Her hands rushed to her head, rubbing it as she tried to straighten everything out. She never did like the feeling of tangled hair.

"You're a troublesome brat," he corrected, slouching as his hand reached back inside his pocket.

"Then you're a troublesome teacher."

He let out a snort, giving her one last look before walking away. Hisoka stayed out there for a while, a soft breeze rustling her hair as brown eyes watched until he too became nothing more than a small speck in the distance.

Location: Hisoka's Room, Fifth Floor of Heights Alliance, South Side of U.A. High School Campus, Northern Musutafu, South of Tokyo, Honshu, Japan

Date: October 22, 20XX

It was another sleepless night, already well past midnight. Hisoka filled it up with working on the last bit of the homework - math homework at that, kami-sama... She wished it was anything other than that, but it was all that was left, having been put off for the last moment - that she had missed when she was gone, distracting herself. It was better than just staring up at the ceiling, waiting for the sun to rise and begin another day, waiting for whatever the next day brought her. She worked at her desk, the only light was the small lamp stationed on the upper shelf of her desk and the light from her computer screen.

Another hour went by and Hisoka gave a silent cheer as she sat down her pencil in the metal tin stationary holder that was to the right of her laptop. Finally... It was all over... Letting out a satisfied groan, she stretched her arms up high and her legs out under her desk, relieving her stiff and tight muscle; she then put away everything to where it needed to go, shut out the programs she was using, closed her laptop, shuffled her papers before placing them on top of her laptop, and turned off the desk light. Her room went completely dark except for the moonlight that filtered through the window and her eyes adjusted in time as she turned in her head. Brown eyes caught sight of the sleeping girl in her bed.

Hisoka let out a warm smile as she watched Tsuyu snuggle into her pillow, long dark green hair flowing behind her, the moonlight highlighted her features making a halo effect around her. A bit of drool escaped from her open mouth, wetting the pillow, a soft 'Kero' escaping each time she let out a breath. The black-eyed girl had come in earlier, wanting to spend some time together. They did but Hisoka had to finish her homework so they talked while she worked on that until Tsuyu had ended up asleep with a promise that Hisoka would go to bed once it was all done.

She let out a fond huff, shaking her head as she stood. She'd get to bed soon but right now she was a bit too restless to even think about that. Looking up to the small bit of night sky she could see from her spot, she decided to get some fresh air before going to bed. It was a cool night just right for some stargazing up on the roof with some tea and cookies. She left quietly, closing the door silently behind her.

Going downstairs, she nabbed a few bottles of green tea from the fridge not knowing how long she'd be up there and a bag of cookies from her secret stash (she was glad no one had found it yet; she didn't get as much as before with how often the others took whatever she had in the fridge or in her cubby - not that she minded. It showed how much they liked them and it made her heart feel warm). Afterward, she made her way up to the roof.

Location: Roof, Heights Alliance, South Side of U.A. High School Campus, Northern Musutafu, South of Tokyo, Honshu, Japan

Date: October 22, 20XX

Brown eyes widened as the owner of those eyes froze upon seeing someone else occupying the roof when she opened the door. Bag of cookies in her mouth, cans of green tea in her other arm, she stood awkwardly as Shoto Todoroki stared at her, sitting up when she came outside.

"Hisoka..." he muttered, eyes gazing at her questioningly.

Taking her free hand off the door handle, she took the bag of cookies from her mouth and nodded in greeting. "Shoto. Enjoying the stars?"

He nodded. "Yeah..."

"Should I... uh... go then? I wouldn't want to interrupt you."

Shoto shook his head quickly. "No. It's fine. In fact, I'd like you to join me."

"Okay then." She put the corner of the cookie's plastic bag in her mouth again, biting down on it so she'd be able to free up her hand and close the door. Doing so, she grabbed it again with her once free hand and made her way to Shoto's side, sitting down beside him. She handed over one of the tall cans to Shoto. "Here." She sat the bag of cookies between them.

"Oh, thank you." He opened it with a crack, taking a sip of the tea.

They sat in comfortable silence for a while, staring up at the sky of twinkling stars and moon as they munched on the treats she brought.

"Hisoka..." He finally asked after glancing at her a few times.

She laid back, staring blankly upwards when her eyes slowly looked at him. "Hmmm?"

"Are... you okay?"

"Hmmm... Why do you ask that?"

"Well..." he began, trailing off.

She answered for him. "Is it because of what happened with Mineta and what he said?"

"Yeah."

Grabbing another cookie from the bag, she bit into it. The crunching noise filtered through her eardrums until she finished the treat, staying silent until she said, "I'm… okay." To be honest...

"Hisoka..."

"It was shitty of him to say all that, but I know it wasn't true." It was far from it. "And it's in the past anyway. There's no need to worry about it."

"But..."

"Really, I'm fine, Shoto." Hisoka gave him a small smile. She really wasn't too sure about that. "I've… just got a lot of things I need to sort through," she muttered after a few minutes. She never acknowledged the pang of hurt inside her heart as her mind wandered towards the what ifs – how things could have been different. But those were just wild fantasies… pipe dreams that her mind wanted to become a reality. But things weren't like that. Reality was so much crueler.

She accepted that things were never going to be what she wanted. What her parents could have been if they hadn't gone down the paths they already had - motherfamilybloodRedbrokensaddnessguiltStainwantlongingdreamsRed. That would never happen no matter how much she wished for it. She had wanted to be like them once upon a time but now… But now…

"You know what he said wasn't true!"

"I know…"

"You have every right to be here at U.A. just like everyone else does!"

"Ah."

"You're training to be the best Hero you can be!"

"Yeah…"

"You aren't your parents. You aren't like him!"

"Hmmm…"

"Hisoka!" Shoto hissed angrily, fists clenched as he turned towards her.

"I know, Shoto." Hisoka sighed, staring at him with tired eyes. "I know." She just wanted it to be all over with. She wanted to be different. She so deeply wished not to turn out like either of her parents. Would she be able to even become a Hero as she was right now? With the blood that runs through her veins?

Lies.

He stared at her, searching for something before he decided to sigh, falling onto his back, unable to find what he was looking for. He was silent for a while and Hisoka wondered what went through his mind. His voice was quiet, almost unable to be heard, when he said, "We've got such shitty dads…"

Hisoka clenched her fist, teeth grinding as she blinked rapidly to keep her slowly watering vision clear. "Yeah…" She tried but failed to keep her voice from cracking. "We do…"

Author's Note: And so here we are, another end to the chapter. What do you think? Hisoka is hanging out with more people even if it's for trying to figure out what to do for their show. And look at that, the boys are such sweethearts~! Especially you Shoto, you worrywart. Ready to ice Mineta for Hisoka! If only she hadn't step in, then you might have just done that! But still, keep working at it! Hisoka may not want you to worry about her but she'll open up to you more in time. And we even get to meet Eri-chan! She was so cute and I'm so happy that the interaction between these two precious babies went as smoothly as it did!

And Hisoka… She's trying… Really! It's hard and only a little bit and there's been a few setbacks but she's trying. And that's all that counts… Right?

Read and review. Thank you.