Blood Lust Maiden

          Human clothing was…uncomfortable. Astral knew that costumes were required and he knew what a costume was but he didn’t know that they were supposed to hurt. Every nerve felt like it was on fire if he wore anything too long, so he hadn’t had any luck so far.

          “Hm?” His floating was getting tiring, so he turned and finally set his feet on the ground. This newfound feeling of fatigue was the worst, honestly. “I cannot wear these costumes. I wasn’t aware that they hurt.”

“Hurt?...” She sounds skeptical, and given her expression it was obvious she didn’t believe him, she herself touching the clothing and finding nothing wrong with them. Maybe it was an allergy thing. Regardless, it wasn’t like she could judge others on running around nude.

“Well obviously you either need to suck it up or get creative. How do you feel about wearing blood? We can draw a line on your throat, dab some there and boom! You’re a ghost of someone who’s throat was slit. You even got the whole glowy, floaty bit down.”

Letting out a happy sigh, Himiko twirled on her toe, giddy at the red cloak that spun around with her movement. She wasn’t exactly the creative type when it came to sewing, she had her quirk for that, but she was quick on her feet to think of a cute and simple costume to put together from the store. 

Though she was the only one here that seemed to be able to do just that.

It hadn’t escaped her attention that she wasn’t alone, she just hadn’t cared much to see who the other person was. Which was funny considering the other guy might as well have been a beacon saying stare at me with how glowy he was. It could be a quirk, or his skin care routine was just really really something. Either way she skipped over to where he was in the costumes, abruptly making an entrance in his personal bubble, “Staring at it all won’t materialize it onto you ya know!”

“Say, Dum and Dee! Can I borrow you guys for a minute?”

Himiko’s smile was wide and innocent, as if she hadn’t blatantly not bothered to remember the twins’ names. Despite her rather outgoing nature, she’d only ever interacted with the other prisoners during the murder investigation. But even then she kept closer to the dead bodies than she did the people. 

Maybe she could make a few new friends at this Halloween extravaganza! 

“I wanna lighten the mood a bit. Wanna play a quick game with me and then explore the castle? It’ll be no fun doing nothing and standing around like a buncha wallflowers! The game is just to see if you two are able to have fun like my friends and I used to! Halloween is a no chicken zone.” 

Everyone had been acting so melancholy and depressed it was honestly getting on her nerves. You’d think they would have seen a dead body or have dealt with death before but she supposes not everyone is as well rounded as she is. As soon as the event had been announced she was excited, sporting a cute dark red short dress she had found at the store. It was find of moot point considering her long red cloak, but what sort of little red riding hood would she be if she wasn’t sporting the signature red hood.

“Finally a real chance to kick back and relax! It’s almost like we aren’t being held against our will to murder each other. Good times good times.” 

Oh? A secret? Hawks was full of them, as full as that bowl was of cereal— speaking of: how many marshmallows had she taken? She had selected them off of the bag, ignored the rest! That bitch, the marshmallows were the best part!!!

Anyways…

Secrets: Hawks was full of them, and when the girl stood, that mad smile on her lips, the man stood his ground. He needed to seem stoic, calculate his attack only after she had given signs of aggression, and only observe while she seemed to be… what, playful? Teasing? He was a wall, one that needed to remain calm with danger staring at his face. He had done it before, he could do it now–

Until she mentioned Dabi. 

At the mention of that villain, Hawks´ wings puff up involuntarily, and his stern factions loose all credibility. As if forgetting that the one asking is a wanted serial killer, he waves a hand in front of his face, like if trying to take importance off of the topic. 

“He doesn’t– look, we’re not— You know, he’s just a work partner! We work together, with the whole villain thing, you know?” 

Yeah, judging by those nervous chuckles that came out of him, it was established that he wasn’t good at lying about stuff like this. What is he, a teenage with a crush?! 

“Aha! I knew it. You two are completely head over heels in love, I could just kill the both of you!” Toga was all smiles, bouncing on her feet like she just won the lottery. Hawks could try to deny it as much as he wanted but it was written as plain as day all over his face. Her villain friend was just as flustered about the topic, but his embarrassment usually ends up with having to avoid being flambéed. With luck she could avoid the same fate taunting the would-be hero.

It was almost adorable how both of them acted, but she wanted answers. And she wasn’t going to leave without them.

Toga moves past him happily, not a care in the world about her safety and fully confident, “C’mon! Let’s go to the living room for some girl talk! You can do my hair, I’ll preen your feathers, exchange gossip it’s a win win.” She seemed certain that Hawks was of no threat to her, be it because they were both villains or she was just that confident in her ability to hold against him.

Looking back over her shoulder slyly she smiles, “And Dabi is real expressive when it’s about you. All I want is some advice, maybe some more cereal or a pizza, and you can find out what Dabi thinks of you Feathers.”

Hawks had learned everything there was to know (or at least, everything the government knew) about Himiko Toga.

It… wasn’t… much. Her quirk was still unknown, even if he could easily infer it had something to do with that weird blood obsession of hers. Most of the information he had been handled about the girl came from two sources: One was that six pages report (belive it, that was a small amount of pages for a villain profile) he had learned every letter of, as the girl was part of the villain group Hawks was tasked with bringing down from the inside.

The other, was a certain blue eyed villain he knew maybe too well…

Still, it was a big surprise when he found that certain, love-sick villain, devouring withouth shame a bowl of cereal… in… his own home.

In is own home.

“Dude” he spoke, after he had spotted the girl sitting on his kitchen counter. The blonde girl had one of those creepy, huge smiles of her. For someone else, that would have been terrifying… but Hawks was Hawks.

Yes, he needed to figure out why that villain girl was there. Yes, he needed to make sure that she couldn’t attack out of nowhere, that the villain was disarmed. Yes, he needed to figure out how to get out of this one because he couldn’t just apprehend her,  he was just a villain, remember? So he just said: 

“Leave my Lucky Charms alone.”

His response wasn’t what she expected and that very fact just caused more mirth to dance in her eyes, knowing she was in for an entertaining time. “No can do bub! They are magically delicious.” she makes a show out of eating her next bite, still smiling around her spoon. Looks like she didn’t have to immediately bolt out of there in fear of getting a whirlwind of feathers, that was good to know. She may not be in the clear yet but she was happy with the progress.

“Now you are probably wondering, ‘why is this super cute girl in my house’. Well I’m here to ask a question. Did you really believe you could hide something, from me?” The spoon clinks against the bowl as she sets it aside, staring at the other like a cat that caught the canary. 

“My job is to be observant. To learn everything about a person, mannerisms, hobbies, secrets. And I gotta say you really are keeping a big one aren’t you...” 

She hops off the counter, prowling forward with an ever growing cheshire cat grin on her cheeks. Once she’s fully in front of him, she suddenly bounces on her toes and quickly moves her hands in front of her in excitement.

               ( 💥 )┊HE MIMICKED A LOW GRUNT bearing with the impact pain as the two gained dirt stains from the ground. It was a reckless move, one that was quickly made due to his short fuse temper, and now he was paying for it. Bakugou used the side of his arm to brush off he dirt around his face, gritting his teeth once he noticed the area around them. There was pros and cons of the situation at hand; the pros was: they weren’t in plain sight anymore…so the higher ups nor Toga’s partners wouldn’t be able to pin point them. Though, the con was: he had to limit his fire power because of it. The last thing he wanted was to lit up the entire forest and get busted over it.      

              ❝ Don’t talk as if you’re a fuckin’ Princess ! ❞ He hollered and pointed straight at her. ❝ If you go threatening any U.A. classmate, then there’s no reason for me to hold back. Plus you’re a villain sherlock ! ❞ The spikey blond might of been dense over certain situations but…he knew taking villains lightly wasn’t a smart thing to do. ( he knew that much at least ) ❝ P…purple ?? ❞ He mused in thought, nearly thrown off…but barely able to somersault in time to avoid Toga’s swing. Deciding to counter with small talk promptly after, in mere curiosity in wanting to understand one thing. 

              ❝ Don’t play dumb. Do I look like the type to play around with your kind ?! And what’s with you ? A lil’ girl like ‘urself shouldn’t be messin’ around with dangerous criminals. You’re only being used by them, y’know. ❞

She raised a hand to strike again before stopping abruptly, her smile dropped as she regarded the other in genuine surprise. After all she was the one who talked to others to get to know them, it wasn't very often it was the reverse and someone wanted to start a dialogue with her.

Deciding to humor him, she beams once more and puffs out her chest, "We're kindred spirits! Like one big dysfunctional family that almost kills each other every now and again." Toga found what she considered a best friend in Twice and when it came to the others she liked to believe they were friends, irritable personalities aside. But she recognized they had a goal and Shigaraki was the boss. He had tried to kill her once and she didn't doubt if he deemed her not useful he would try again. However she continues both to indulge him and herself since it wasn't every day she got to talk about her own interests and motives. "I joined cause I wanna help. Just like Mr. Stain!" He was why both she and Dabi joined in the first place. "The present is broken and I wanna make the world an easier place to live."

It wasn’t everyday that Toga pried her nose into her ‘friends’ business, mostly cause they were all guys and there was no fun to meddle into their problems anyways. But funny enough she could spot a yearning and smitten heart a mile away, possibly a subquirk or just her tendency to be nosy when she shouldn’t. To her shock the others had a heart somewhere in that chest of theirs and there was nothing she loved more then to gossip.

At least about something as juicy as this, a forbidden romance.

Hence why she was currently sitting in Pro Hero’s Hawk’s place of residence, making herself comfortable on the kitchen counter and eating a bowl of his cereal like she owned the place. The best part about super strong heroes is the confidence, they could be prepared to the brim waiting for a sneak attack yet not see her walk straight through the front door. 

But that didn’t mean she didn’t have an escape route all mapped out just in case. When she hears the front door open she smiles broadly and yells out, “Go shopping when you go out next time! You’re out of milk!”

               ( 💥 )┊FUCK. SO CLOSE !——perhaps going for close-combat would of been easier to land a hit but, regardless, it was still a one-on-one fight! Making distant attacks wasn’t his style…though he knew it was a smarter tactic. Especially against a stabbing-freak. Coming up with a strategy to capture her, on the other hand, did prove to be a challenge. 

               ❝ Right, I shouldn’t be expecting anything less from a damn scum of the league. ❞ Bakugou growled, inching further back to widen the gap between them- on cue leaping off the ground to avoid the knife aiming for his legs. Thinking of heaving another wave of firepower once he reunited with the floor again, but, after hearing her Midoriya retort…a burst of ego finally snapped. Deciding to blast behind himself to send him off flying straight towards the ‘bastard’.    

               ❝ I’LL BURN YOUR FUCKIN’ PIGTAILS OFF !! ❞ He exclaimed, purposely going on full max to make himself collide with the other blond. Sending them both tumbling through the woods. It was destructive but…playing it safely was never his style. Plus he wasn’t weak, he wasn’t beneath Izuku, that much he was willing to show.  

She skidded to a stop, knowing she couldn’t dodge in time and flailing her arms and slashing in front of her as if she could smack him aside, “Hey! no-no-no-no-” But it was in vain as she felt the pure force of the body slam into her so much so that she herself was lifted off the ground. Gritting her teeth she hits the ground, hand tightened around her knife, the item becoming that much more precious after being thrown from her other one. 

“That was uncalled for Katsuki!” Huffing, Toga pushes herself to her feet and brushes off the dirt from her uniform. “You call me scum and yet you’re the one upset.” Plus he was threatening her cute hairstyle in such an uncute way. She could certainly teach him a thing or two about looking adorable when it came to his crazy hair.

Honestly she couldn’t believe her luck. With how things had been going, everyone was on edge and precautions were being taken everywhere within the hero academy and whatnot. She knew her and her merry little band of misfits had their work cut out for them relocating and staying low. But even they were human and needed to get supplies, plus with how Tomura was acting she was all too ready to volunteer to leave. But she could never have expected to see her beloved Izuku across the way without anyone accompanying him. 

              ( 💥 )┊❝ —?? ❞ THE HECK is she babbling on about ? He raised a brow and tilted his head a little. Honestly he would of enjoyed seeing the enemy squirm or show some fear in their eyes but——her reaction was anything but what he was expecting. Especially when the name of a certain rival chimed through his ears. Only encouraging his motive to attack her, though, he made sure not to lose his composure. Running into the enemy who mastered close-combat wouldn’t of been wise to do, right ?  

                ❝ Whatever !! I don’t know what you and that nerd have going on, but like hell he’d make friends with a psychotic homicide like you. ❞ He knew Deku more than he’d like to admit, and if this crazy villain really did encounter him…it gave Bakugou all the more reason to capture her. Specifically if it meant keeping his friend away from her grasp. However, before he got to think up of a strategy- he was caught off guard by the other’s swift lunge. A few strands of his forehead bangs being taken by the fierce jab…barely backing out before making any skin contact.❝ Hey that’s playing dirty ! ❞ He shouted, promptly after placing his palms together to create a temporary flame barrier. Merely to give them some space, sticking to avoid close combat as much as possible. 

                ❝ FINE…no more small talk, take this ! ❞ He lastly added, increasing the barrier’s flame enough to reach Toga. Giving her little to no option to distance herself from him….while he tried to think of a strategy.             

She squeaks, having to stop her assault because of the flames and flips back to avoid the barrage. Once back on her feet and stable, she laughs wholeheartedly and points to herself, ”Helloooooo~ ‘Villain’? Playing fair isn’t exactly my thing.” It was almost cute how he expected some sort of announcement that the fight was gonna start, as if she’d fight on his terms. Just went to show he still had that naive hero mentality, even after all he’s been through.