Thicker than Blood

Chapter 14

The Brother Targets

Chiyuki stared at Itsuka for a moment, her brain immediately going into a fight or flight response. Forcing her mind in a split second to not choose fight, Chiyuki tried to figure out a way to not have this conversation. They were in the UA courtyard, and Itsuka was blocking the way towards the school so if Chiyuki tried to flee, it would be very obvious she was fleeing.

"I-Itsuka-chan," Chiyuki stumbled ineloquently, very unsure of how to even refer to Itsuka, "Ah, eh, how, how are you?"

Itsuka looked equally as awkward, "I'm... fine. You?"

"I'm okay," Chiyuki tried to smile but it looked far more like a grimace, "So uh, you're in Hero Class 1-B?"

"Yup!" Itsuka nodded, and she was hiding her arms behind her back, "I, well..."

"Itsuka-san!" a voice called out and when Itsuka turned, Chiyuki felt her body take a step towards the school. From behind a girl with dark green hair approached, waving energetically to Itsuka, "Good morning!"

Under her breath, Itsuka hissed, "Bad timing." but then, brighter and louder, Itsuka greeted, "Good morning, Setsuna-chan!"

Setsuna came to a stop and looked between Chiyuki and Itsuka. Tilting her head slightly, Setsuna inquired, "Are you trying to get the details on Class 1-A for the sports festival, Itsuka-chan?"

"Ah no," Itsuka laughed, and Chiyuki felt her heart stutter at how fake that laugh had been, "Chiyuki-chan is a childhood friend of mine and we're... catching up."

Setsuna was immune to the awkward air, but she seemed to get the hint and she told Itsuka she would see her in class. Chiyuki watched her bounce away before she turned to Itsuka, "Are you... okay?"

"What do you mean by that?" Itsuka questioned, but Chiyuki and Itsuka both knew that the question was loaded.

Chiyuki shrugged, "Well, that laugh was pretty fake."

"How do you know my laugh just hasn't changed?" and that statement was accompanied by a short laugh that Chiyuki could tell was far more genuine.

"Because that was a fake ass laugh." Chiyuki replied, far more confident this time.

Itsuka nodded slowly, and then she sighed, "We have... a lot to talk about, I think."

"I heard from Toru-chan, some things." Chiyuki informed Itsuka evenly, "Do you... want to meet up, later, and talk?"

Clearly forcing a smile onto her face, Itsuka nodded, "I think that would be best."

The two stood there for a few more moments, awkwardly shifting on their feet. Then Chiyuki nodded to Itsuka, who returned it, and then both walked into the school. As soon as they entered the building Chiyuki took a detour to make the walk to the support classroom. She barged in and found Gensuto already working, his eyes focused on his tablet, propped up so he could see while he soldered something together. As usual, Hatsume Mei was working energetically in her portion of the room, but Chiyuki ignored her to slam into the chair beside Gensuto.

Gensuto blinked and turned off his soldering iron. He removed his safety glasses, delicately returned the iron to its rightful resting place, and then asked, "Yuki-chan? Are you okay?"

"I ran into Itsuka." Chiyuki bowed her head, "It was so awkward."

Gensuto ahhhed in response, and tentatively pat her head with a heavy gloved hand, "It was bound to happen."

"I don't feel emotionally prepared." Chiyuki admitted, looking up at Gensuto with confused crimson eyes. Gensuto inhaled, suddenly nervous and clearly wondering what on earth he could say.

He stumbled and started to take his gloves off, needing something to distract his hands, "Uh, well, it's something that had to be done. You couldn't avoid it forever."

Chiyuki leaned on the desk, carefully avoiding the odd substances that the table had across it, and she muttered, "If I died I could..."

"What?" Gensuto blinked, having not heard quite right.

"Nothing," Chiyuki sighed, "I've always tended to avoid my problems."

"Well that's not good." Gensuto said, "You can't fix anything if you don't attempt to."

"I'm not disagreeing, but I have always hoped that problems would just... go away. At least things are less awkward if you avoid someone." Chiyuki replied, somewhat grumpy sounding.

Gensuto chuckled, "But then it's extra awkward when they ask you why you've been avoiding them."

"You're absolutely right." Chiyuki dropped her head into her arms, "It's hard to change yourself, isn't it?"

Gensuto pat her head again, and he smiled when he caught sight of red peeking up at him, "That's why you ask your friends for help. If you have an avoidance problem, then I'll make you face your problems head on like Akaguro Chiyuki, strong, intelligent, and fierce, should."

"That's a high opinion you have of me." Chiyuki had the start to a smile on her lips.

Gensuto nodded very seriously, but had a twinkle in his eyes, "It's not an opinion if it's true."

.

Chiyuki was riding her uplifting mood from speaking with Gensuto all the way into class. She updated Toru on her life, who had a similar sentiment to what Gensuto had said ("I'll never let you avoid something ever again!" Toru declared, then afterwards said, "And Gensuto-san is right! Your friends are here for you!"), and was rather pleased Chiyuki would be meeting with Itsuka soon.

Classes went on as usual, with a focus on distance running, speed, hand-to-hand combat, and team work exercises. Chiyuki spied the teachers preparing them for the sports festival, but the other students were oblivious to the fact. Chiyuki went hard at the training and All Might praised her on her good spirit. Toru was pushed on by her friends bursts in focus and attitude, and the pair worked well together.

"Hakagure-chan!" All Might beamed, "Your hard work is paying off! I am seeing excellent improvement. Keep up the good work!"

"Thank you sensei!" Toru chirped, and she threw a peace sign at Chiyuki. The two sat on the grass and emptied their water bottles. Chiyuki let out a deep breath, feeling the water settle in her stomach.

"Are you excited for the sports festival?" Toru inquired, most of her attention on Chiyuki even though her eyes followed the next group who would be running the track.

Chiyuki nodded slowly, "Pro heroes will be watching and looking for potential rising stars. It's a great opportunity, especially for us first years. I imagine most eyes would normally be on second and third year students, but this year things may be skewed towards us due to the USJ incident."

"You make a good point." Toru hummed.

"That's also why I think it's ridiculous the sports festival is so early in the year." Chiyuki huffed, "First years are at a disadvantage. We've been here less than a month, potentially have no prior training, and are expected to be able to live up to being televised."

Toru commented, "First years aren't usually the main event though; that's usually the upperclassmen."

Chiyuki blinked, "Ah, now you have the point."

"Ha," Toru laughed, "It's basically what you said, just phrased differently. I used your words against you!"

Snorting, Chiyuki bumped shoulders with Toru as she stood, "You sure did. I'm going to go get more water, I'll be back."

Chiyuki walked towards the water fountain, glaring at Bakugo as he also approached. She sped up, intending to be petty and take her sweet time filling her bottle. Bakugo leaned against the wall, watching as Chiyuki held the water fountain button down only halfway to cause the water to spurt out slowly. Both clearly knew what she was doing.

Bakugo grunted, "You said eyes are gonna be on us for the sports festival."

"If you were listening then I also explained why I said that." sniffed Chiyuki. She paused filling her bottle to take a drink from it.

Narrowing his eyes Bakugo said, "They wouldn't be scouting first years."

"For internships they would." Chiyuki retorted, smirking at him, "We're supposed to have internships for a week next month. The sports festival gives us a chance to have better rated agencies choose us as opposed to having to choose from the general list."

Bakugo made a noise that almost sounded like a scoff in response, but he regarded her with intense red eyes. Chiyuki finished with her water bottle and stepped aside. But Bakugo ignored the water fountain, choosing to walk away. Chiyuki gave him a stink eye and went back to Toru, huffing about how rude Bakugo was while Toru giggled at the disgruntled expression Chiyuki was making.

.

After classes ended, Chiyuki waited awkwardly outside. Gensuto and Toru, upon realizing she was meeting with Itsuka, suddenly had other plans.

"A new game came out and I want to go get it before they run out of preorder posters!" Gensuto announced suddenly and somewhat awkwardly.

"You had no plans a minute ago." Chiyuki retorted, an eyebrow raised knowingly.

Gensuto shrugged, his acid green eyes knowing, "I just remembered."

Toru nodded along, "I also have to pick up something from a store."

"What store?" Chiyuki inquired, red eyes unblinking. She was being a little overdramatic, but Chiyuki had been expecting some kind of backup from her friends.

Humming as she no doubt skimmed the courtyard, Toru made a noise, then saw Ochako walking along speaking with Ashido Mina, Tsu, and Jiro Kyoka. Toru sputtered, "Ah, I'm going with Ashido-san, Uraraka-san, Jiro-san, and Tsu-chan!"

The girls paused, hearing their names as Toru skipped up to them, "Ready to get going?"

Ochako blinked in confusion, "What do-"

Toru slung an arm around her shoulder, "Shopping! Remember?" Then Toru said something Chiyuki and Gensuto couldn't hear to the group of girls. They broke into giggles and smiled, and then the girls waved to Chiyuki before taking off.

Chiyuki, sightly curious about what Toru had said to convince the girls, hummed, "Abandoned by my friends."

"So dramatic." Gensuto replied with a teasing tone, then he said seriously, "Itsuka-chan and you need this talk. No chickening out now, Shiro-chan." And he put a hand on Chiyuki's shoulder, smiled, and headed off. Chiyuki glared at his back until he turned out of the school courtyard.

Shifting nervously, Chiyuki waited. And eventually, Itsuka came out from the building. She walked out with a group from her class and they all looked happy. Chiyuki thought Itsuka looked like a natural, surrounded by her classmates. They seemed disappointed when Itsuka told them goodbye, and as she approached Chiyuki, her face looked tired. She came to lean against the wall and the two waited for Itsuka's classmates to disappear.

Chiyuki looked up, "Want to go get something to eat?"

"Sure." Itsuka said, and Chiyuki picked up her bag to prop it over her shoulder. Itsuka eyed the long case that Chiyuki carried her swords in now. She had gotten around to filing the paperwork with the school that allowed her to carry them with her to and from school, and Chiyuki was pleased to be able to maneuver with them. She carried them in an unassuming baseball bag on her back and kept her school bag against her side.

Itsuka's eyes were drawn to the bag, and Chiyuki shifted to try and get it out of Itsuka's view.

"I'm thinking a cafe?" Chiyuki asked, and Itsuka blinked and her eyes focused on Chiyuki.

Itsuka shrugged, "Sure."

The walk was quiet as they went to the nearest cafe. Itsuka and Chiyuki made awkward side-eyes at each other the majority of the walk there. Both were clearly unsure of what to say or where to begin, so they simply didn't. They arrived at the cafe and settled in a corner booth. Chiyuki ordered a dark chocolate cake that she intended to use as a strategic way of gaining time to think during what Chiyuki was sure would be awkward moments during their upcoming talk. Itsuka ordered a fancy coffee and a vanilla cake.

The two stared at each other from across the table as the waitress went to go get their orders ready.

Chiyuki swallowed, "So, UA. Wild we're both here, huh?"

"Ha, yeah." Itsuka nodded thoughtfully, "It was our dream though. You, me, and Gensuto-kun. Shirogami, Big Fist, and Gamer Guy."

The cakes arrived at the table as Chiyuki replied, "Gen-kun hated that name. I remember he made a stink about how lame it was."

"It isn't that terrible." Itsuka had a quirky smile that was more lip than expression. Chiyuki thought it was a good, genuine expression compared to some of the ways Itsuka had responded to her classmates.

Chiyuki took her fork to take a bite of her delicious-looking cake, "Those were the good days. Our biggest problems were coming up with cool hero names."

"I know." Itsuka said, tone deep as she looked down at the cast along her arm, "How was middle school?"

"Terrible." Chiyuki answered, then paused to swallow her cake, "Well, it was pretty terrible. I spent a lot of time with Nii-san which was good. Susume was a bigger brat in middle school though which was annoying." Chiyuki didn't mention the bullying. She didn't need to sour the mood.

Itsuka looked surprised, "She went to your middle school? That is pretty terrible."

Chiyuki shrugged, "It is what it is. How was middle school for you?"

"It was... okay." Itsuka said, frowning softly. Her eyes were distant, "I wasn't okay for awhile."

"Understandable after what happened." Chiyuki responded softly. Itsuka looked up and they made eye contact. Chiyuki held firm, willing her expression to remain soft as Itsuka's face scrunched up. She looked down at her cake quickly.

Itsuka whispered, so softly that Chiyuki had to strain to hear, "...I still can't look you in the eyes."

Chiyuki shrugged, "My eyes aren't that important."

"I've been going to therapy for so long," Itsuka confessed, gripping her fork so hard her hand was white, "I, when we were younger I was scared to tell you and Gensuto-kun about my therapy. I was especially scared to tell you, because it started almost immediately after that day with the spider. I didn't want to hurt your feelings, and I was so confused. I wanted to tell you, to gain the courage to tell you, but then..."

Chiyuki could remember the words that Itsuka had been saying perfectly when she had been dragged into the alley. "Mom wants me to do therapy next year." Itsuka had stated with what appeared to have been great relief of an emotional burden, "I want to look my best friend in the eye again, so I want to go too." It had been a call for help, Itsuka ready to tell her how things had actually been.

It would have been the beginning of Itsuka recovering, finding the confidence to confide in Chiyuki. And then, everything had gone wrong. Everything had gone to hell.

Looking down at her cake, Chiyuki closed her eyes, "These past few years... if only that day hadn't happened."

Itsuka said, "But it did. And we must deal with the consequences. It has been three years, and as much as I missed you and Gensuto-kun; three years is a long time. I want us to go back to how things were, but we've all changed. I... I don't think I can face you much more."

"Itsuka-" Chiyuki began, but Itsuka cut her off.

"I want to." she stated firmly, "You and Gensuto, your friendships are something that were the world to me and without you two... middle school felt empty. I, I was popular, and smart, and my classmates all loved me. But I've distanced myself and detached myself from everyone, even people I care about."

Itsuka had tears in her eyes as she glared down into her cake, "I'm going to get better this time. I want to finally be able to look you in the eyes again, and move past this state that I've been in."

Chiyuki wasn't sure how to respond, and used her tactical cake to buy herself a brief moment to think. But by the time she was swallowing Chiyuki still had no idea what to say. She opened her mouth, and then closed it.

Itsuka spoke again, and she gave Chiyuki a smile that looked painful with tears in her teal eyes, "We dreamed of this chance we have. So we have to work hard to take it."

And Chiyuki nodded slowly and finished off her cake. Chiyuki of course wanted to be friends with Itsuka again. But all the anxiety over this confrontation... it wouldn't be easy. Itsuka had always been an easy friend who believed in Chiyuki fully. This new Itsuka, she wasn't Itsu-chan. Not quite.

Chiyuki smiled at Itsuka, forcing the tears not to fall as they welled in her eyes, "It will be hard work, but we'll get there, Itsu-chan."

.

Chiyuki was glad to go home after the emotional and stressful meeting with Itsuka. She and Itsuka had parted on fairly good terms, although both were a bit awkward after realizing how suspenseful their conversation had actually been. The ride home was quiet and uneventful, with Chiyuki listening to music and staring wistfully out the train window lost in her thoughts.

Chizome was home for once when she came in to the apartment and threw herself onto the couch next to him. There wasn't enough room for both of them and Chizome grunted when an elbow made contact with his gut.

"Bad day?" Chizome asked.

Chiyuki let out a noise into the blanket that covered the couch, "It was a day."

A hand pat her head once, twice, then ruffled her hair. Chiyuki normally would have some response for this, but instead she let Chizome release her abundance of hair by taking out her hair tie.

Chizome mused, "You need a haircut." He sneezed as long white hair tried to choke him.

"You'd have to kill me first." Chiyuki half-heartedly replied, "I like it long."

"Long hair can be used against you." Chizome replied, taking hold of her hair at her scalp not gently, but not too firmly either.

Chiyuki snorted, "You have long hair too."

"I do," Chizome agreed, "But mines thinner, and not as long as yours."

The two bantered for a bit longer before falling into a peaceful silence. It had been awhile since Chizome's last day off, and moments like these were rare. As if Chiyuki thinking about his day off was heard, Chizome suddenly remembered something.

"Oh yeah, I got the day off for your sports festival." Chizome mentioned, "Do you get tickets for family?"

Chiyuki blinked, "Good question. I'll demand one from Aizawa-sensei anyway. I'm glad you'll be there."

"The UA Sports Festival is a pretty big event. My coworkers said it's on television too. Oh, and they'll be cheering you on." Chizome said, sitting up and nearly knocking Chiyuki off the couch. Chiyuki crawled into the spot that was open now and sat up to face her brother. She pulled one of the blankets over her.

Chizome picked up a booklet, "One of them gave me the times the TV guide apparently has for the event. Such a fancy school."

Chiyuki leaned over to read in interest. The UA Sports Festival was a day long event that was televised all day. The first years were the opening act starting before lunch and then ending with a finale afterwards. The second years went next, starting almost immediately after, followed by the third years for the prime time of late afternoon. The years intermingled during the non-televised events that were made up of normal sports festival activities. Personally, Chiyuki was excited for the hero marketing student stalls. She wanted to eat food and buy merchandise.

Leaning over and squishing Chiyuki, Chizome sighed contently, "I'm pretty excited for this sports festival."

"Me too." Chiyuki said.

And yet, deep in her stomach, she could feel the butterflies as her thoughts whispered, 'Stain Arc.'

Chiyuki wanted to plan. To have some action against the Stain Arc. She wanted to stop avoiding her problems. And yet she found her thoughts drifting to Itsuka, and her part in the sports festival. Chiyuki also thought of Bakugo, and Deku, and her other classmates. She wondered how Gensuto would do? Chiyuki's anxiety passed, and with it, the thoughts of the Stain Arc were gone, replaced with teenager-esque dreams of her first high school sports festival.

.

The following few days had Chiyuki tentatively greeting Itsuka when she ran into her. It felt like Itsuka was everywhere Chiyuki went. She was in the bathroom, the lunch room, the courtyard, the locker room, the support hallway. Itsuka wasn't purposely doing it as she always looked surprised and awkward every time. Chiyuki wondered what luck they had.

Eventually, one of those days Chiyuki found herself sitting in the courtyard for lunch with Gensuto squashed between her and Itsuka on a bench. Chiyuki was rather impressed that Gensuto was leading the conversation as confidently as he was, even as his eyes darted from his bento to each of the girls on either side of him. Gensuto had even initiated the lunch, coming to collect Itsuka and Chiyuki before the two could disappear.

"This reminds me of elementary school." Itsuka said dreamily, looking somewhat lost in a memory, and she elbowed Gensuto gently, "Does your sister still make your bento?"

Gensuto shrugged, "Sometimes. She's been helping me make them."

Chiyuki, in response to this, snuck a piece of his lunch with deft chopsticks. Gensuto sputtered as half a dumpling was gone in an instant, Chiyuki chewing thoughtfully and swallowing, "Not bad for your cooking, Gen-kun."

"I had already taken a bite out of that one!" Gensuto stumbled unsurely as Chiyuki regarded him with relatively amused red eyes, "You should have taken a fresh one!"

Itsuka, as Gensuto gently chided Chiyuki, took one of the untouched dumplings and popped it into her mouth. She nodded, "Definitely not bad."

Gensuto held up his bento, "You're going to eat all my dumplings if you keep this up."

"Don't make it a challenge." Chiyuki said, chopsticks nimbly snagging a vegetable and she slurped it down before Gensuto could process. He stood up so that the girls couldn't snag his lunch any further.

"Speaking of challenge," Itsuka mentioned, leaning towards Chiyuki with her eyes clear yet looking more at Chiyuki's chin than her eyes, "What are you doing about the sports festival?"

Chiyuki shrugged, "Participating?"

"Planning on winning, Miss Class 1-A?" Itsuka teased, but she frowned and sat back up looking a little awkward, "Sorry, uh, just so you know I'm not all that into that class rivalry going on."

Playing dumb, Chiyuki tilted her head, "Oh yeah, that's happening."

Itsuka snorted and turned back to her bento. Gensuto stood and mumbled shyly, "I probably won't do well in the sports festival, but I'm excited."

"If we meet each other in the sports festival," Itsuka said to both of them suddenly, staring intently at Chiyuki's chin which led Chiyuki to believe this to be more spoken at her than Gensuto, "Don't hold back."

"Please hold back if you fight me." Gensuto immediately laughed nervously, "Both of you could take me easy."

The two girls burst into snickers. Because all three of them knew Gensuto was losing in a fight between them.

.

Stain scrutinized the list of heroes on the list that That Man had given him. Among the list were a good few outside of Hosu City where Stain had been focusing the past few years. He didn't kill often, trying to lay low and plan his tactics carefully. His body count was in the double digits though, a respectable number for a few years of careful work. But That Man had wanted him to become more public. Why? What was That Man's goal?

"Rise to the eyes of the people, infamous Hero Killer. Let them know your ideals, your name, and in turn, your interesting little sister will be free from my hand until our next discussion."

What an ominous statement that he had uttered. That Man had some kind of plan and Stain didn't trust it for a moment. But Stain also knew that he had to be careful. That Man had influence. While he hadn't intended to show his hand to Stain that easily, That Man had definitely used the change in plans to threaten him. Stain hated that.

But then Chizome thought of Chiyuki's cute smiling face as she snuggled into her favorite green blanket. How sometimes she snored lightly in a whistling breathy sound, and if he made her laugh hard enough she would accidentally snort. He thought of Chiyuki doing her homework late into the night after her part-time job that she was technically not supposed to have, yet kept up with to try and pay for the costs of her own schooling. He thought of how she came home passionate and whenever he was home she would explain anything interesting she learned in detail to him as she redid her notes with her color coding method.

Stain would do anything to protect that. Stain wanted to destroy the bad heroes in the world to make it a better place at his core. But it was all for Chiyuki. And if he had to let the world burn to rebuild a new one for her... Stain would do it in a heart beat. Chizome would destroy the world for her.

Stain mentally catalogued the remaining heroes in Hosu that had been on his list. He would have to get one on That Man's list at some point, but Chizome wanted to get this over with before the UA Sports Festival so he could go support Chiyuki. Stain was getting a bit antsy that he would be getting predictable, always striking at night every so often. But they didn't know what they were looking for yet which was a blessing. They knew the Hero Killer Stain was around because Stain had purposely left a few witnesses, but those witnesses had been fed information. His name, and that he targeted bad heroes.

Although now That Man wanted him to be more than a shadow that was being whispered about. That Man wanted Stain to be in the spotlight, a force to be reckoned with. Looking at his own list, Stain catalogued the most popular heroes on his list. He needed someone that was based in Hosu as he was familiar with his home turf. He needed someone active during the day. He needed someone who was popular. And then his eyes finally landed on a familiar name.

Ingenium.

AN:

Ahh, I'm starting to get ahead on chapters again. I know for a fact the sports festival is going to hurt though and I'm not gonna want to write it. I don't like tournament arcs. Also, sorry for it being awhile! School hit kind of hard, and now I hope everyone is being safe with the pandemic! I have the next two or three chapters mostly written, but I hate watching the anime to take down scenes (Which is probably why I hate tournament arcs). I'm also approaching the parts of the story that start to get fuzzy for me, so I should probably find time to watch the anime for fun. Maybe catch up and watch the newest season?

Also to clarify, Itsuka began therapy after the spider incident, but didn't want to tell Chiyuki. In this chapter she references that the day they were attacked, she was trying to bring up therapy in a way to see how Chiyuki felt, because Itsuka felt guilty for both lying to Chiyuki about therapy, and also not being able to heal from her trauma.

Next chapter, Chapter 15, is a special Itsuka Interlude! Woohoo!

Fun Fact: I like my chapter naming idea with the alternating brother and sister, but they always fall on the wrong chapters! this really should have been a sister chapter since it was so Chiyuki centric.

Anyway, thank you all for the kind reviews! I'm always scared to look at reviews when they come in, but seeing all the kindness makes my heart warm when I go to type out everyone's names to say thank you.

Thanks to the following for reviewing (:

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