Chapter 6: Life (Drags) Goes On

''Oi Deku.'' Katsuki drawled, peering at him lazily from over his weekly manga magazine. ''Care to fucking explain why we are still in the biology classroom and not taking the damned train home?''

Izuku chuckled sheepishly, the sound echoeing through the empty classroom. He was still with his back to his explosive friend while he rummaged through a few bookcases in the corner of the room, he spared a quick glance at the boy to find him still sitting with his legs draped over the desk, carelessly tipping his chair back slightly while he held the manga in his right hand, using the left to flip the pages. ''I swear Kacchan, one day you're gonna fall on your ass and regret hanging on a chair like that.''

''Fuck off.'' He smirked. ''We both know I'm a professional at this, I wouldn't fall even if you pushed me.''

''Wow, that's impressive!'' Clearly unimpressed, Izuku turned back to the bookcase, continuing his search. ''I assume you'll be putting that valued skill on your hero resume later?''

Katsuki was mostly unfazed by the obvious sarcasm, and just let out an amused snort, tipping his chair more just to spite him, before finally bringing the conversation back to the original topic ''Stop dodging my fucking question. School ended an hour ago, everyone who's not in a club already left, and yet we're still here.'' He flipped a page. ''Why.''

The broccoli-head sighed in exasperation, looking through a pile of books. ''I told you already, I am in a club. How else would you explain us staying in this classroom when school's over? We'd get kicked out otherwise.''

Katsuki regarded him with vexation. ''You gotta be shittin' me… I thought you were joking!'' He rubbed at his temple in disappointment. ''For fucks sake Izuku, it's not even been a fucking month since we entered Aldera, and you already went and did something stupid.''

''Wh-what are you talking about? Clubs aren't stupid, they offer a chance for the students to express themsel-''

''Yeah yeah, I don't care how extras express themselves.'' Sensing that he would go on another mutter-tirade, Katsuki interrupted. ''You're not an extra, so what business do you have joining them in their little tea parties?''

Izuku couldn't help but smile at the indirect compliment, and decided to humor his foul-tempered childhood friend for once. ''I joined the biology club.''

''Why?''

''Well…'' He faltered slightly- this didn't go unnoticed. ''Our worst subject so far is biology, so I decided I'd take initiative and join the biology club. Members of the club are allowed acces to these books, so I decided I'd just have a look around- maybe find a book we both could use.'' He pointed at the bookcases he'd been looking through.

That weird pause was suspicious… The blonde decided to prod further, he sensed a lie somewhere in what his friend just said.

''Izuku, we aced the entrance exam.'' He stated in response, tone dry.

''B-biology was still our worst subject.''

''We both literally got three questions wrong, hell, now that i think about it I'm pretty sure we actually scored worse on home economics than we did on biology.''

Katsuki could see Izuku's shoulder tense ever-so-slightly.

Just a little more.

''S-So?''

''So, your argument doesn't hold up.''

Tension escaped the green mop's shoulders after a moment as they went slack. ''Fine, I give up.'' He could sense the victorious grin on his friend's face without having to turn around. ''You once said it yourself didn't you? We need to crush everyone in this school when it comes to grades, so we can be the only ones to go to U.A.''

Katsuki nodded sagely, flipping another page. ''Wise words spoken by an even wiser man.''

Izuku repressed a groan. Gotta stroke his ego some more. ''Well, I decided you were right, so I looked ahead on our biology curriculum and was worried I'd have trouble with it. So I joined this club so I could use these books. It's only temporary, I can use them as long as I just help out a little with the club.'' He grabbed one of the thicker books so he could stand on it to reach the higher books. ''You satisfied with that answer?''

That sounds more realistic. The blonde decided to let him off the leash. ''Plenty.'' Content for now, he focused on his manga again.

Izuku in turn decided to poke fun at him. ''You know you're not allowed to bring manga into school, let alone read it with your feet on the table, right?'' Izuku accused playfully, bespectacled eyes thoroughly scanning over the back-cover of a book.

He received an amused scoff. ''Oh please, don't make me burn the issue you have in your bag.''

''Darn.'' He relented, feigning guilt, but failing miserably. ''Fair enough.''

They sat in silence for a while, with the only sounds coming from Katsuki's page flips and Izuku's shuffling of books. The latter absently noted it was strangely peaceful; the open windows let the orange rays of the setting sun in while also providing them with the comfortable breezes that came with spring. This is actually pretty soothi-

WACK

That peace, along with Izuku's thoughts were instantly shattered at the sound of the explosive teen dropping his Jump issue on the table loudly, when he turned away from the books he found Katsuki standing up and stretching himself, Izuku cringed at the audible pops and cracks that occurred when he moved his limbs.

''Finished this week's issue.'' He yawned, his eyes betraying barely noticeable devilish intent

Pay-back time.

''Can't fucking believe they killed off Asahina like that though.'' He said nonchalantly.

Izuku cracked his head towards him at mach speed, the red glasses on his face threatened to get flung off by the sudden movement.

''You're lying.'' He called out the bluff.

His smirk turned unholy. ''Am I really?''

''Yes you fucking are.'' Izuku swore, tone uncharacteristically intense. ''The last trail was only 2 chapters ago, they wouldn't kill someone off that fast.''

Katsuki simply shrugged. ''Dunno, remember Sayaka? She was also a quicky.''

''Katsuki.'' His eyes flickered red.

He cackled, it sounded unbelievably evil. ''Look, all I'm saying is that you get 10 minutes to find whatever you're looking for. Otherwise Asahina won't be the only thing I'll be talking about.''

''You… you wouldn't.''

''Sure will, so move your ass to the school gate, I'll be waiting, patiently.''

With that, he grabbed his stuff and left the classroom, still wearing his trademark shit eating grin. Izuku strained his ears to listen to his friend's descent down the stairs, only when he couldn't hear him anymore did he allow himself to let out a breath. ''I'm the idiot for letting him read this week's issue before I did, now I need to deal with his spoiler abuse…''

He shook his head, reorganizing his priorities. ''At least he left, gotta hurry.'' Izuku turned towards a medium sized book he had separated from the rest a while ago, it's title was Science of blood, and blood transfusions, he placed it in his bag swiftly.

In truth, he hadn't signed up to this biology club because he was afraid for his grades, or because he wanted to 'crush' the other students, those were just lies to get Katsuki off his tail. He had also said that he'd been looking for a book when in actuality he had already found it- he was just waiting for the blonde to finally grow tired of sitting around and to leave the classroom so he could take it without the explosive teen noticing it.

Izuku didn't enjoy tricking his best friend like that, but he felt it was necessary.

As he moved towards the door to go after him, a pang of familiar craving shot through his body. With it came a sudden wave of vertigo that hit him like a truck. He clutched his head and reached for one of the chairs, cracking it slightly as he gripped it hard to keep himself from falling over.

His left eye involuntarily turned crimson, he could feel his senses become muffled.

''Shit… already?''

He steadied his breathing and willed his eye to go back to normal.

''Why is the first warning so soon?'' He uttered, frustration growing rapidly. ''I drank some a week ago! I should be fine for another 2 days at least!''

He sat down, only now realizing he was shaking. I can't let Kacchan see me like this, I need to calm down. Breathe in, breathe out.

As he did his breathing excercises, he thought back, thought of simpler times, times where he could easily have lasted three entire months with a single glass of blood. Those had been easy times. He recalled grudgingly.

Why did it have to change?

He took off his red glasses, not wanting to smudge them as he pinched the ridge of his nose and he closed his dulled eyes. His mother's breathing exercises had calmed him countless times, he was glad for them. But he couldn't help but wish that he didn't need them at all.

As a matter of fact, he hadn't needed them until recently, he'd been perfectly fine for many years following the awakening of his quirk, until he turned 10.

For some god forsaken reason, everything had to change then.

Before his tenth birthday his required intake slowly but surely grew as he got older, but that was to be expected, he was growing after all. Which meant that it was only natural that over the span of a few years his intake would gradually grow from 250ml every 3 months, to 250ml every 2.5 months. A growing boy needs a growing amount of nourishment after all.

But after his tenth birthday, that all went out of the window; his need for blood sky rocketed.

It had taken him 6 years to go from lasting 3 months to 2 months, yet after his 10th birthday in a meager 2 years his bloodlust strengthened to the extent that he could only last a bit over a month with the same amount.

And it wasn't a simple matter of puberty either, his need for food and water hadn't changed all that much, it was about average for a kid his age.

Which only left the possibility that his quirk was changing, or changing something in him.

Izuku glanced at his red and blue smart-watch, he had 4 more minutes to get to Katsuki if he wanted the blonde to spare him from the spoilers. But he needed a little more time calm his nerves and his instincts, he couldn't really trust himself when he was like this.

It wasn't like he would attack people, he liked to think it would never get to that point, but he would be uncharacteristically agitated for seemingly no reason after this happened. He had gotten better control of himself as time time went on, but was still prone to lashing out if he didn't cool off enough.

It was one of the first things that lead him to believe his quirk was changing him in some way, the second thing was the 'warnings' he would get suddenly.

He called them warnings, but he honestly had no idea what they really were. All he was able to clue together is that he would receive these sudden moments of nausea and imbalance, his eyes would also flare up. After it happened a few times he figured out they were like measures: If it was only a single eye it meant he had burned halfway through his reserves. If both flared it meant he'd need to replenish, soon, he also wouldn't be capable of deactivating his eyes after the second warning, until he drank enough blood.

That along with the fact that his already dull taste for normal food would slowly deteriorate the longer he went without blood meant he didn't have a particularly hard time knowing when he needed the red liquid.

The hard part was tricking the government into thinking the duration he can go without is longer than it actually is. Izuku didn't get the feeling they were suspicious just yet, but he is also not dumb enough to not realize the dire situation he's found himself in.

His childhood fears were coming to fruition- only it was worse. He hadn't taken into consideration the spike in bloodlust he'd undergo so suddenly. He had originally anticipated that he just had to be slightly conservative with how much he drank, not that he'd have to starve because he couldn't get enough in time. And the government would be hard pressed to give hime more than a glass of blood.

Wait, I can't forget to mark the date down. He slowly reached for his bag and pulled out a worn notebook; Ghoul's guide to survival #3. He flipped the pages until he got to the latest one, he wrote down the date that day and next to it 'first warning'.

Unlike his hero analysis notebooks, his survival notebook only really started to get filled up after he turned 10, he had managed to finish the first one before that, but those were mainly just observations and notes on what he could do and what he couldn't. The survival part only really came in the second, that's when he started tallying the intervals it would take him to get blood-thirsty again.

Peculiarly, he noticed after graphing all the dates that his bloodlust wasn't increasing as fast at it had 2 years ago. It had evened out somewhat.

This meant that if his speculations and predictions were correct and it kept increasing in that steady pace, he'd have about two more years before he simply wouldn't be able to do with the amount he's given.

That meant game over for him.

He'd done some research and found that the governmental support department didn't take kindly to people suddenly asking for double the amount of whatever product you need, you'd need an exceptionally good excuse for them to even consider it. Asking for more now is a death-wish, I might as well be screaming: 'HEY LOOK AT ME I'M UNSTABLE AND SUDDENLY NEED A LOT OF BLOOD PLEASE GIVE IT TO ME I'M NOT A THREAT TO SOCIETY AT ALL.'

He scoffed. ''Heck, I'd arrest myself at that point, they'd be having a field day.''

If he wanted to live anything resembling a normal life so he can become a hero alongside his friend, he'd have to find an alternative solution before time ran out and he went insane from the lack of blood he'd be receiving.

That lead him to joining the biology club, he'd been hoping to find something in the large collection of books that would maybe help him find a solution, or some kind of alternative that would lessen the amount he'd need.

He resorted to this crude method mainly because he wasn't sure wether or not they were spying on him, he was too paranoid to simply look up such suspicious things on his computer until he managed to find a discreet vpn or something of the like to protect his search history from any prying eyes.

With his decision of searching through books came problems however; books that mainly focused on only blood were not very common, so far he only managed to find this one. If I can learn more about the subject I might be able to figure out what's in it that allows me to drink it, there just has to be a scientific explanation for why it's the only liquid that allows me to survive…

He was grasping at straws, he was painfully aware. But he decided a year ago that looking for possible hope was better than wallowing in certain despair.

Having calmed himself down enough, he got up and dashed out of the classroom, barely remembering to lock the door behind him and to put the key back in it's place. He activated his eyes to give him a slight speed boost until he finally made it to the shoe lockers, he changed to his red sneakers in record time and sprinted towards the gate.

There he found Katsuki, reading from the same Jump issue he just said he'd finished. Is he re-reading already? He called out to him, and ignored the scathing looks his upperclassmen were sending him as he stopped next to the reading blonde, panting slightly.

''Took you long enough.'' The explosive teen lazily looked up from the magazine, noting his friend's red and black eyes. ''If you had to activate your kakugan you must've really made a dash for it huh.''

After a while they decided to call his transformed eyes 'Kakugan', or atleast, Izuku did. Katsuki decided to just roll with the name only after Izuku insisted that's what he intended to call them. He made sure I understood 'Red eyes' was a super lame name though.

''Well yeah, I barely managed to find the book on time.'' He lied, far too easily. ''Besides, why are you reading? You said you were done.''

A coy smirk tugged at Katsuki's lips. ''First I'd like you to know that you were a full minute late.'' The smirk grew as Izuku's already pale face turned even paler. ''And second; I didn't finish it yet, I'm barely halfway, so I unfortunately can't really spoil anything relevant.''

Izuku gaped like a fish out of water. ''So then…''

''Damn straight, it was a bluff to get you out of that fucking classroom.''

The ghoul huffed. ''You can be such a bastard, you know that?''

Katsuki put away the Issue into his bag, smirk ever-present. ''Yeah yeah, love ya too bro.'' He put his backpack on again and started walking. Izuku followed behind until they walked next to eachother, the uncomfortable looks he was receiving from the bystanders glumly reminded him to turn off his kakugan.

Katsuki, catching this, grew annoyed. ''Why did you change back?''

''Wh-what do you mean?''

''Why did you change back out of your kakugan?'' He shot him a sidelong glare. ''You can see much better with them activated, better than with your glasses.''

Izuku didn't meet his gaze. ''That's true but…''

''But?''

''Kacchan you know people get uncomfortable when my eyes are like that.'' Said eyes were searching for something to look at that was not Katsuki's face.

Katsuki's annoyance grew, his steps almost turned into angry stomps. ''Why the fuck do you still care if they get scared by it? We went over this already, you can use your kakugan when it's just us two, I'm not pussy enough to be scared just because your eyes go red.''

''I know that…'' Izuku sighed, there was an air of tiredness and dejection to it. ''But you, are not other people, and we aren't really alone right now.'' He sent his friend a sad smile. ''They don't know me like you do, so they'll be scared of something that looks unsettling to them, that's just within human nature.''

Katsuki couldn't help the ferocious scowl that wormed it's way on his face. ''Yeah, well, I didn't know being a judgmental fuck was also within human nature.'' Making sure to raise his voice just enough to make the people guilty of said act flinch slightly, the two briskly moved past them, not batting an eye.

The boys kept walking after that, increasing their pace slightly so they could move away from the aforementioned 'judgemental fucks' as fast as they could. Izuku really appreciated his friend's concerns, but still couldn't find it in himself to truly blame the bystanders. Maybe Katsuki was right. I really am kind to a fault…

Only after crossing the street in comfortable silence and stopping at a red traffic light did Katsuki strike up a conversation again. ''You said you found your shitty book?''

''Yeah, I did.'' Izuku was glad for the change in topic.

''Really.'' He deadpanned. ''It took you nearly two hours to find a single fucking book?''

''Yes? So?''

Katsuki paused for a second, eyes calculating. ''Can I see it?''

Alarms went off in Izuku's head, he did his best to play it off. ''What? Why?''

The blonde eyed his yellow backpack suspiciously. ''I'd like to see the book you'd spend two hours looking for.''

God, why is he so persistent? Izuku pushed down the panic. It doesn't matter, I prepared for this, calm down. ''Jeez fine.'' He took off his backpack. ''I didn't know you were feeling like a detective today.'' Katsuki didn't respond to the barb, intent on silently watching him open his bag.

Izuku pulled out the book, the blonde read it's title instantly. ''Evolution of fauna and flora in volcanic ecosystems?''

''We need to hold a presentation later on an ecosystem of our choosing, I went out of my way to get us a book to prepare for that.'' He punched him in the shoulder lightheartedly. ''Way to say thanks, douche.''

Katsuki looked the book over once more. ''This… isn't what I was expecting.''

The bespectacled boy stilled, smile fading off his face. ''What… do you mean?''

The book was handed back to him. ''Since you were taking so long I was expecting you to be looking for some kind of sex book or something.''

It took not more than a second for those words to settle in the ghoul's brain before his usually pale complexion instantly turned cherry red, he dropped the book back in his bag in utter shock. ''W-w-wha- What?! I- I wouldn't- You-''

His reaction was priceless, Katsuki couldn't hold back the unapologetic snickers. ''Pff- Calm down nerd, I was kidding. I know you're not that desperate.''

Teasing his green-haired friend was great, he always got a good reaction.

Izuku groaned, a hand clenching his chest while he willed his face to go back to it's normal color. ''God, like I said, you can be such a douche.''

But he wasn't heartless. ''You up to ramen?'' He patted the broccoli-head on the back. He was feeling charitable after managing to prank his friend so often today. ''I'll pay, since I'm such a douche.''

Izuku's eyes glinted dangerously. ''We'll that's good then, I replenished a week ago so it'll taste great. I can't wait to eat multiple bowls.''

Katsuki could feel himself sweating, he cleared his throat. ''If you want to become an obese broccoli, be my guest.''

He got a sickly sweet smile in response. ''Oh, guess you're right, I think I'll just take some of the low-fat bowls. Those are more expensive though, but I guess that's fine with you!''

Katsuki knew for a fact this day would end with an empty wallet, and begrudgingly accepted the bad karma.

''Mom! I'm home.''

Inko Midoriya looked away from the TV, after pausing whatever she was watching she got up to greet her son.

''Welcome home sweetie!'' She embraced him, finding it a little difficult because of the slight difference in height, but managing nontheless. Izuku smiled warmly as he hugged his mother back, realizing she hadn't changed all that much physically over the years. Most kids his age would probably be embarrassed by their parents clinging to them too much, but Izuku never felt that way. He really cared for his mother, and would gladly do anything to show it.

After pulling away she looked him over curiously. ''What took you so long? School ended some time ago.''

He took a moment to switch to his slippers before he responded. ''Kacchan and I got some ramen, he felt like paying for the both of us, so I just couldn't say no.''

''I see…'' She sweatdropped at the evil connotations, but waved it off as one of their weird habits. ''Was it good?''

He shrugged, taking off his gakuran. ''Yeah, we just went to the usual Nichiraku tent. Since I replenished last week it still tasted pretty nice.''

She nodded. ''That's good. I assume you won't be having dinner then?''

''I don't think so.'' He scratched his head sheepishly. ''Sorry, kinda stuffed myself.''

Inko waved it off. ''That's okay dear, it's good to have fun sometimes.'' She winked at him. ''I just hope you didn't bleed Katsuki-kun's wallet completely dry.''

As she turned back to the couch she missed her son's visible flinch at the joke.

''That's… yeah! Haha…'' He kind of had, but why did she have to phrase it like that?

This isn't good for my heart.

He hurried to place his backpack and gakuran in his room, and changed out of the rest of his school uniform. ''God, it's already so warm.'' He took off his sweaty uniform dress shirt. ''Why do we have to wait until June for the summer uniforms? Heck why am I sweating so much anyway? Puberty seriously sucks…''

As if his accelerated bloodlust wasn't enough, puberty had to add to his misery.

He sighed, quickly switching into more comfortable clothes, all coincidentally All Might themed. ''Much better.''

Taking his empty bento out of his bag, he headed for the kitchen to clean it and get himself a drink. While he passed through the living room he saw that his mother was watching what looked to be the news.

Noticing his curiosity, Inko gestured for him to come closer, deciding to give him a brief summary while she's at it. ''Apparently the government managed to find the main base of a really old crime-organisation in Fukuoka.'' She explained.

''Really now…'' Interest peaked, he got closer to the TV to view it for himself.

The reporter was going on about how pro heroes Gang orca and Vlad King alongside their respective sidekicks managed to bust down the headquarters of an old but prevalent crime group, Vlad's quirk ended up being a bad fit for the situation however since he got critically injured in the fight that ensued. Having to deal with an incapacitated comrade, Orca had no choice but to retreat along with the remaining members of their agencies.

While they managed to capture some of the members, the raid was mostly considered a failure as the losses outweighed the gains. Along with Vlad's injuries, a considerable amount of the police officers that accompanied them had been abducted when the group fled. For what reason remains unknown, or more likely, withheld.

Now having a gist of what happened, Izuku turned to his mother inquisitively. ''Did they mention the name of the organisation? They must be a pretty big deal if they managed to fight off both Gang orca and Vlad king.'' Gang orca is steadily rising on the leaderboards, he's almost on the top 10. And Vlad king is one of the stronger small-time heroes who has made an appearance in the last couple years. For them to both be taken out like that even with their agencies supporting them…

''They did actually, I think they called them the…'' She cupped her chin as she tried to remember the name. When she did, it almost seemed as if she shivered. ''They are called the Ketsueki no dorei. Only lunatics would pick such an edgy name.''

Izuku blinked owlishly however, shrugging off the slight tinge of familiarity he felt when he heard the odd name. ''Slaves of blood?'' For once, Izuku had to agree with his mother. ''That's the type of name an 8 year old would come up with, honestly if they weren't a crime group I'd mistake them for some online role-playing cult.'' He joked to himself.

Inko gave him a stern look though. ''Even if they sound ridiculous, they are without a doubt dangerous Izuku. Don't go around slandering their name outside, you never know wether or not one of them is listening.''

''That's true I guess.'' He had to give her that at least. ''I'll be careful not to.'' They may sound ridiculous but those news reports show that they are not to be trifled with, they managed to survive an ambush by two strong hero agencies and even left one of the heroes in critical state.

He decided he'd seen enough and continued on to the kitchen, yet he couldn't help but analyze the situation more. But that's a little odd, they said Vlad's quirk was unfit for the operation and that that's why he got hurt.

He placed the bento in the sink and rinsed it with water, washing off the remaining pieces of rice. If i remember correctly, Vlad's quirk allows him to control his own blood; it's pretty versatile without too many weaknesses, provided he doesn't lose any of the blood he uses, so how could that be a bad fit in any scenario?… It didn't take long before his mind pieced it together. Wait! Maybe the name isn't just an edgy attempt at sounding cool, but it's actually some kind of insinuation of what type of quirk they have?

If they are a group of people with blood type quirks, it would make sense why Vlad would have a bad time. He was oblivious to the still running water as he became even more lost in his theories. His quirk only works on his own blood after all, if one of the slaves had something remotely resembling a long ranged blood manipulation quirk, he'd be completely done for.

The water continued to run as the sink slowly started to get filled up. But then that begs the question of why they'd even send him, this was a coordinated attack wasn't it? That must mean they must have done some research at least, and if they had they would know about the fact they had blood quirks. Which makes sending Vlad an even dumber decision, why didn't they send Orca and someone else?

His bento was now fully submerged in water, the boy was still none the wiser. No, they definitely would have if it was within their capacity, it's simply too stupid of a decision otherwise. They must have had some kind of constraint that limited them from sending anyone else: it was either that they were the only ones available or they were on some kind of time crunch that forced them to use any hero in the vicinity.

He shrugged. Either way, it was surprisingly reckless. That group has to be a really big deal for them to make such hasty and off the cuff decisio- huh? A sudden cold feeling at his feet snapped him out of his musings.

''What the… oh shit!'' He yelped.

''Language!'' Inko shouted from the couch.

''S-Sorry! Where's the mop?''

''Why would you need a mop? What did you do?''

''I uh. I kinda made the sink overflow again.'' He hurried to close the tap.

Inko groaned, deciding to get up to view the mess her son made.''I already thought I could hear you muttering.''

Izuku froze. ''Wait. Was I saying all that out loud?''

''Not entirely, but i could hear you mumbling about something.'' The mother made it to the kitchen. ''You always do that when you think about something for long amounts.'' She observed the pool of water that made it on the ground. ''That's not too bad, you can just use a towel. Here.'' She reached for one of the cabinets and handed him a dry towel.

Now equipped with a towel, Izuku immediately got to work, crouching down to wipe the water off the stone tiles. ''Sorry, but yeah, got lost in thought again.''

Inko nodded, unplugging the sink so the water could finally run down properly. ''Yes I figured that, but what about? Or is it some teenager thing you rather wouldn't tell me.'' She suggested mischievously.

Balancing himself so he wouldn't fall over at the embarrassing statement, Izuku chuckled weakly in response. ''N-no, nothing like that. I was just thinking about the Slaves of blood.''

As she cleaned his bento for him, she quirked an eyebrow. ''I know I said to not be careless, but you don't have to actively fear them. That was all they way in Fukuoka, and Musutafu is probably not a very attractive hiding spot for them.''

''It's not that I'm afraid of them.'' He wringed the towel dry into the sink. ''I just find the whole situation to be peculiar.''

''How so?''

''Well.'' He got up. ''I theorized that they probably have blood related quirks considering their name and the fact Vlad was a bad matchup. And since it was a coordinated attack they should've known that information right?'' He asked rhetorically. Inko only dipped her head in response.

''Yet they still sent Vlad, which must mean they had to make hasty decisions if they wanted to catch them, which in turn means they must be a big deal.'' He wringed the cloth dry one more time, folding it and placing it next to the sink neatly.

When he faced his mother again he saw the dumbfounded expression on her face. ''It's really just a bunch of maybes and theories, so don't take anything at face value.'' Izuku reminded her.

Inko shook herself out of her daze. ''That's… You got all that just from that short report?''

''Yes?'' He looked her over carefully, shifting on his feet slightly. ''I was just thinking about it a little.''

A little? She couldn't help but chuckle. ''It's still impressive, you're really like your father when it comes to abrupt theory crafting.''

His bespectacled eyes lit up. ''Really?''

''Yes, really. You both have minds that can work at the speed of a race car, it's honestly hard to keep up sometimes.''

He smiled. ''That's cool…'' He'd always thought of his dad as an incredible thinker, it was because of his strong intellect that he managed to become a pioneer in the western fashion world. To be compared to the man made him… happy.

All the more reason not to dissapoint. He remembered the book in his bag.

''Mom is it okay if I go to my room now?''

''Hm? Oh yeah sure.''

''Okay then.'' He left the kitchen, but was stopped just before he could leave the door.

''Wait, I actually forgot to mention. ''Inko grabbed a parcel from under the cupboard. ''They delivered your blood today.''

Izuku slowly turned around. ''… Did they ask any questions?''

''Huh? Why would they? It was just an average looking delivery man, he only really delivered it and asked me to sign.''

His eyes narrowed in thought. ''I see… can you just put it in the fridge? I'm not planning on drinking it right now.''

''Okay.'' She opened the package and took the vial out. Izuku had to keep himself from drooling at the sight of the crimson liquid splashing around in it's glass container, it was very, very enticing.

''Do you want something to drink?''

He broke out of his hungering and snapped his attention back to his mother. ''Y-yeah, a mocha would be nice.''

She grabbed some iced coffee for herself and carefully tossed him a can of mocha, he caught it easily.

''I'll be in my room then.''

With that, he left the kitchen and went up the stairs to his bedroom. Closing the door behind him, he plopped tiredly in his chair. ''I have more important things to worry about than some random organisation.'' He said to himself as he put the cold drink on his desk.

Grabbbing hold of his bag, he took out the two biology books he'd taken with him that day. ''I guess I wasn't being overly paranoid when I took an extra book for good measure, it's better to be safe than sorry after all.''

He had been expecting Katsuki to most likely ask to see the book he had gotten, it would have been suspicious to him if Izuku spent such a long time going through the books just to find nothing. He'd think I was hiding something from him, which i technically am, but that's besides the point.

So he had chosen a dummy-book that he'd show him if he were to ask to see it. He had even made sure to also glimpse through the curriculum to make sure he could take a book that would actually be relevant to them later.

''I guess it wasn't for naught in the end.'' He placed the dummy-book in his bookcase, and turned to open the other. ''I'll still be able to use it for that presentation, so it's two birds, one stone.''

Once again, he felt terrible for lying to his friend like this. But the moment he hadn't told him the full truth when they were younger was the moment he had set himself on this path.

Katsuki still believed his need for blood to be more of a medicine than anything else; something gross you just take once in a while so you can stay healthy. Not as the absolutely necessary thing he'd go insane for if he didn't get enough of, and that he would -as much as he'd deny it- love to drink gallons of.

Part of him wished he had told him the full truth back then, but the other, more negative part convinced him he wouldn't have his friend had he done that.

What he regrets most however is lying to his parents about it, or well, he wasn't really lying, just withholding information.

They both believe he's doing mostly fine, neither has an idea of how his bloodlust is truly affecting him mentally and physically apart from the obvious things, like how pale he has gotten over the years, or the barely noticeable white licks in his hair. (He wasn't actually sure if that was his quirk or the excuberant amount of stress he was prone to go trough as result of his predicament, he'd have to look it up if it got worse.)

All this lying and deceit resulted in only Izuku knowing the full extent of his problems, which in turn meant only he knew how colossally fucked he would be if he didn't do something about it before time was up and he starved, or even became clinically insane.

Izuku let out a shaky breath, placing his glasses in their case as he activated his kakugan. He didn't have to worry about what other people thought when he was in his own house, he could use them all he wanted here without fear of judgement.

He opened his drink and took a sip, it was a very sweet brand, even for mocha, resulting in something that tasted more like chocolate milk than actual coffee. But Izuku enjoyed it- most coffee was too bitter for his liking anyways, and his body still counted it as coffee so it's taste remained the same no matter how much blood he was running on.

Taking another sip of the sweet drink, he finally Indulged into the book infront of him.

''Now let's hope and see if this has anything useful in it…''

(A/N)

Hello again! Sorry for the long wait. Exams have started for me, so i hope you can understand the extra time it took for this chapter to come out, i also had very mixed feelings about how i wrote this chapter but decided to post it anyways, i hope it's still passable quality-wise. (Don't want to keep you guys waiting too long.)

As you can see, Izuku and Katsuki are now on their first year in Aldera, so quite a few years have passed since the last chapter. This chapter was mainly meant to kind of quickly go over what Izuku's 'status' is and what changed since he was 4, to show some interactions, and some more setup, so i apologize if some parts come across as a bit too exposition heavy, didn't like doing it but it was kinda necessary.

The pacing will also increase now, so if it seems like two scenes aren't connected there is most likely a short time skip, I'll try to make that clear without being too obvious about i though.

On to review responses.

VictoriaTheHolyGiant: Will Izuku get One for All?

I was actually wondering when someone would ask this lol. I've thought about it long and hard, and i think I've come to a conclusion that i like the most, i hope you guys will too. The answer? Sorry but you'll have to wait and see, it will most likely come as a surprise though~

Mreeeh: Yo, good chapter my man, and honestly though Izuku is like green Kaneki, except without kidnapping and torture... unleeeesss...

Thanks man! And yeah, i guess you could say he's currently similar to original Kaneki, before Jason. Just like Kaneki, he'll find that his ghoul side will start to change him more than he might have expected. And as for torture… who knows?

DragonDodge: Great chapter! Keep up the great work _ I can't wait to see what happens next. It'll be interesting to see the interaction between Izuku and Stain if you decide to still keep Stain in the story of course. :-)

Thank you, i hope this chapter somewhat lived up to your expectations lol, i really enjoyed writing the conversations Izuku and Katsuki had but the rest felt a little more… difficult i guess.

As for stain, it would be a huge waste if i left him out of this story, he just fits in too well for what I'm planning later.

Wolves 567: Another great chapter, also I prefer FroppyxIzuku but we'll see how the story takes a turn but begs the question what type of kagune will he get?

Glad you enjoyed it, FroppyxIzuku is a ship i don't see very often actually, might have to look up some stories with that ship. I personally don't really have a definitive otp for Izuku, all the girls are pretty balanced in terms of appeal so it's kinda hard to pick one.

He'll awaken his kagune soon, but you may come to find out later on that it'll be different from how it works in Tokyo ghoul…

Pannekoekenrage: Thanks for the chapter, I personally like the pacing, this kind of exposition and setting helps to have a good in-depth story I think. This story also treats and explains the discrimination towards villainous quirks better than any MHA story ive read here. Wonder if he'll meet Toga before canon or only when he's in UA.

I'm glad you think so too, i simply feel some of the exposition is a little too important to just skim over, as doing so would make the world- and character building suffer too much, so instead i try to make it as concise and understandable as possible.

The fact that you think my explanation of the discrimination against villainous quirks is the best you've read so far also makes me incredibly happy, i was hoping to get across how besides the quirkless there are also others who can be dealt a bad hand in society (Shinsou for example). Plus it was also necessary in order to understand how fucked Izuku can potentially be if the higher-ups believe he's stepping out of line and what the consequences are, all because his quirk is considered to be somewhat evil.

Izuku in his quest for a solution is bound to cross paths with her eventually, they are searching for the same thing after all…

Death Summoner: This is a possible scene I thought of between Izuku and Mina

*Mina alone outside the classroom alone on the first day Izuku walks up to her*

*Izuku flashes his black eyes at her and then after spotting her shock mouths "no-

-one will believe you*

But seriously this is an awesome story.

That was cute lol, i imagine that as a great little omake or something. Mina will probably be paying more attention to our resident ghoul now that they share a trait, she seems like the type of person to latch on to that.

Nabe-Chan: Well done! this is amazing. Can normal steel penetrate Izuku's skin? I remembered that one time when kaneki tried to stab himself with a kitchen knife and it didn't end well for the knife.

Thank you, I appreciate it! Your question is actually perfectly timed, next chapter will explain what the hell actually happened in the last scene, and in turn go more in depth on his durability and healing, which should answer your question!

Love solo-leveling btw, Cha Hae-In best girl. The wait for season 2 is painful though.

Those were all the reviews so far, i really appreciate everyone who posted a review! It fills me with joy to see that the average amount is growing every chapter, so keep them coming. I also want to thank everyone who faved and followed, the next chapter will come after my exams are finished (Which'll sadly be another 2 weeks. I sometimes hate my life.) so stay tuned.

Fave and follow if you'd like, and I'll see y'all in the next one!

(Edited out last scene and moved it to the next chapter.)