บท 34: Tango in the Night

Izuku's grin didn't slip even with the pointy end of the blade nearly digging into his skin. His eyes tracked the impish smile of the teenage girl's face as her body slowly closed in.

"Hi! I'm Himiko! Toga Himiko!" Izuku blinked once while the girl's face came in close enough for him to smell the perfume that wafted all around her. "How about you? What's your name?"

"Izuku. Midoriya Izuku." Nonchalantly, Izuku let the blade dig into his skin for a bit, a drip of blood slowly trickling down his neck and soaking his shirt. "By the way, nice greeting. Could use a bit of work though."

He noticed the girl zero in on the trail of blood leaking down his neck, her throat bobbing back and forth as he heard the blond gulp. It was at that moment of inattention that Izuku swiftly grab the hand holding the knife and twisted it around, the girl yelping a bit at the suddenness of the action.

Props to her, however, she didn't let go, instead, did her best to try and stick the blade in him every time he tried to maneuver the blade away from his person.

"I like your hair!" She chirped. "I wonder how'd it look covered in blood!"

He wasn't scared of the girl. Far from it, in fact, as they danced around in this deadly play of theirs. All the while the two of them had on their faces the hints of a smile stretching to rip their face in half.

Izuku felt pressure on his knee, and a quick glance down showed Toga's foot repeatedly kicking at his leg. Eyes twinkling, Izuku barraged her with his own, legs trying to sweep the girl under her own weight.

It was fun. Playing around like this with sharp blades. When was the last time he did this? Just messing about in Firelink Shrine to keep the edge off. He was sure it was when Siegmeyer was still alive, and Solaire wasn't a depressed man that looked like he had his world broken.

He felt a tug at his lips downward, his chest feeling fuzzy at the thought of his one dead and maybe dead friends. Patches can go suck a mimic if he liked rooting through corpses so much.

"Hey! Pay attention to me! I want to see you bleed while looking at me!"

Tilting his head to the side, Izuku narrowly avoided the blade once more and pulled the girl close. Their nose touching, Izuku could feel every hot breath coming from the blond, her chest heaving up and down as her face turned a slight red.

"You…" Eyes to eyes, Izuku couldn't help but feel drawn into the sight. The madness creeping underneath the veil, the euphoria of having found a worthy target, the telltale signs of insanity taking over the mind. "I like you."

A grin etched on her lips, Izuku gave one back as he let all signs of civility drop. Smile turning wide with his pearly whites on full display.

He tightened his grip around the wrist of girl, eliciting another yelp from her, before he took the knife from her grasp, pointing the blade at the previous wielder directly in the eye.

Her pupils constricted, Izuku letting out a slow chuckle escape his lips as the girl stood hapless with the knife threatening to gouge her eye out if she so much as even twitched. That said, the grin on her face didn't leave. It instead grew an inch wider.

Izuku retracted the knife before delivering a headbutt towards Toga. The sound of a nose breaking was music to Izuku's ears and judging by the grin still present on her face, she was enjoying this as well.

Her hands gripped onto his neck, thumbs pressing against his windpipe to block his intake of air. Not that he paid any mind to the act. Izuku's used to operating without breathing for minutes.

Something the girl wasn't when his free hand choked the girl. Saliva leaked out of her lips as her already red cheeks grew even redder.

Toga gasped, her breaths coming short as air was denied into her lungs. But even then, the grin on her lips didn't leave. Her eyes were slowly closing, nearly rolling to the back of her head, but a single moment was all it took for them to gaze into his.

Izuku felt a prickling sensation on his left eye and something warm flowing down. The sudden flare of pain and loss of vision made him let go of Toga's neck. Free from the chokehold, the blond was able to pounce him with her fangs open wide.

Curiosity overwhelming his senses, he felt a sharp sting on his neck when the blond smashed into him, He felt his lifeblood leave through his wounds as the blond sucked them in with a face full of ecstasy.

Even with his blinded eye, Izuku was grinning. This was the most fun he'd ever had since he got back. He liked this girl. So, channeling all of his like into his arm, he grabbed her by the neck and roughly pulled her from his neck.

With her fangs still lodged in his neck, it tore through his skin and muscles, further widening the gash that opened his neck, but he didn't mind. No, what was on his mind right now was the look of pure joy on the face of this blond girl.

Looking down, he even managed to see some liquid leaking down from her skirt. Grin widening once more, Izuku looked the girl in the eye.

"You have any place to stay?" Izuku's words managed to shake Toga out of her post-orgasm, her eyes widening ever so slightly at the insinuation.

"N-no…" For once, Toga's voice wasn't impish. It was small, barely a whisper, but it was enough. Patting her head, Izuku's grin turned into a gentle smile, and he placed her back on the ground feet first.

She stumbled but Izuku snaked an arm around her waist to prevent her from collapsing. "You want to stay at my place? I know mom would want to help a homeless girl like you."

That is, if he managed to heal all the damage said girl did on his body, but eh, not like it wasn't that horrible. Sure, his left eye was pretty much destroyed, and he was still bleeding like a fountain from his neck, but it was nothing the First Flame couldn't heal.

He frowned, however, when he felt his hair sticky with the red liquid that oozed from his wounds. This was gonna be a pain to wash. At least the girl got one of her wishes to see him with bloody hair.

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"I'm home!" Izuku called out as he entered their apartment, Toga clinging on his back like a sleeping baby. Taking off his shoes, that somehow didn't get stained from their fight, he placed them in the shoe rack, and did the same for the passed out girl.

"Welcome home Izu- Oh my God! What happened to you!?" The moment his mother's eyes laid on him, her face changed from joyous to downright worried and terrified. "And who is that!?"

Her hand pointed towards Toga, who was still snuggling onto him with her eyes closed and a cute smile on her lips.

"Villain attack. Don't worry, they won't be harming anyone anymore." Said villain sleeping on his back squirmed for a bit, her modest chest squishing against his chest even more. Inko's lucky she didn't see Izuku's state from before he healed himself.

He didn't want to give her mother another panic attack.

"And the girl?" Inko's eyes narrowed, and Izuku chuckled sheepishly.

"She was there, and homeless." Izuku poked the sleeping Toga's cheek, causing her to wiggle her mouth in her sleep. "So, I thought we can… house her for a bit?"

Inko continued glaring at the girl that clung to him, before she sighed and palmed her forehead.

"You're going to give me a heart attack one of these days, Izuku." Inko headed further in and Izuku mentally applauded himself, while at the same time, feeling guilty about deceiving his mother. "Come on in. The girl can use the couch in the living room. But I want you to explain tomorrow morning, alright? God knows you could use the rest now."

"Okay!" Izuku sing-songed as he skipped into the living room while humming a tune that was irritating on the ears. Right next to the couch, he gently laid the sleeping girl on the couch before covering her with a blanket that was provided by his mother.

"Izuku, come eat your food. And please, clean up once you're done." Inko groaned from the kitchen. "You'll need a new uniform. I hope you can ask principal Nezu for a new set."

"Oh, don't worry about that." Izuku smiled as he sat next to the dining table, the aroma wafting from the bowl in front of him causing his mouth to salivate. "Nezu will surely give me a new set. A villain destroyed them, after all."

"… I swear, that rat is a horrible influence on you." Inko groaned once more before she sat in her own seat. "So, how was school today?"

"Just had an election for class representative, I won." Izuku's voice turned into a moan at the last part, which confused his mother to no end.

"But, isn't that a wonderful position? You get to lead your class and the heroes will be scouting you more because you're in a position of leadership?" Izuku raised his eyebrow at his mother. The last time he checked, Inko wasn't that privy to hero student details. The frown on her face made Izuku twitch.

"What, you didn't think I wouldn't do my research?" Izuku face cringed at the thought. Did he really think that his mother would be clueless about the hero life? Of course not. With him being the middle of all of it - and with Nezu taking a particular interest in him - it was no surprise that his mother would be delving in deep about the heroing world.

The world in which the public masses continue to be blind to.

All they saw were the glamorous life, the attention, the fame. What they didn't see were the struggles and pain one has to go through to even be labeled a hero. It was hilarious.

Here, people were dreaming to become heroes for riches and fame, when none of them would be able to step up to the plate when the walls to their safe bubble pop. What happens when lives are on the lines then? Would their TV commercials help? How about their hair products?

Izuku's eyes twitched. Maybe sifting through hero hate threads weren't the best use of his late-night dives into the internet.

"-uku? Izuku? Dear, are you alright?" His head turned up at the gentle prodding of his mother, a worried frown on her face.

"Nothing. Just thinking about stuff." Izuku waved her off and continued eating the katsudon his mother so graciously prepared for him. No way in the Four Kings' name would he tarnish the food of the gods.

The table fell silent as the mother and son duo continued eating their food, the scent tantalizing and the taste exquisite. A few minutes later bathed in silence, Izuku helped his mother wash the dishes before he headed into the bathroom, only to see a sight he never had until Hagakure Toru.

Toga sat on a shower stool as she slowly scrubbed a wet towel over her smooth skin, her wide eyes staring at Izuku who was looking at the clearly naked girl with pursed lips.

"Didn't know you were in here." And with the shame of an infant, went in and undressed while stuffing his damaged clothes in a plastic bag. The girl stared at him with stars in her eyes as she beheld his chiseled body, but that wasn't what drew her attention.

It was the scars that, for some reason, none of his classmates really paid much attention too. Not seeing anything wrong with the situation, he rinsed himself and crouched down beside Toga.

"You done wiping yourself?"

An impish grin grew on her face and for some reason, that made Izuku scared, not for his health, but for something else.

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