Chapter Text
“Demon child! Get up and get your lazy ass to school already!” Her mom’s shout echoed up the stairs.
Himiko shot up from bed, drool on her wrist and cheek and earbuds falling from her ears with a continuous stream of True Villainy playing from them. She lunged up to her feet, ready to spread towards the bathroom before a stray foot stepped on the pink checkered bedsheets and sent her tumbling to the floor.
“Ack!” She yelped as her face planted right into the carpet. She then held her nose, eyes watering with the sudden pain and rolling back-and-forth with the pain. “That hurts…!”
“The sleep stalker Villain, Nightmare, has struck again. A young woman aged 23 reported the typical gradual loss of memories and recurring dreams of a strange man harassing her a full week prior to her death, having heard of the killer on the news. Unfortunately, no commonality between the victims has yet been —”
The girl took out her earbuds and painstakingly rose to a sitting position, before quickly disentangling from the sheets that got even more tangled around her body in the chaos. She sprung up to her feet again like nothing happened and sped down the hall, where she opened the bathroom door and shut herself within for the better part of 10 minutes.
10 minutes spent washing up, doing makeup, and more importantly, taming the incorrigible beast that was her long blonde hair. It flowed like a matted lion’s mane down her back if she didn't take to the challenge of beating it back into a reasonable shape every morning, and even then, she could do nothing about the stray few hairs poking out like weeds in the flagstones. It was only when she triple checked that it looked suitable enough for presentation that she swung open the door and sprinted down the stairs four steps at a time.
“Hi mom hi dad love you mom love you dad bye mom bye dad” She blurted out as she raced around the kitchen, haphazardly packing her bento with pre-prepared ingredients for exactly this sort of situation. The two didn't so much as look up, her dad waving a hand dismissively in her direction while he watched the TV.
After only one instance of running out the door and coming back immediately this time -her best record this month- she was out the door with a newly peanut butter’d toast dangling in her mouth and backpack firmly on her shoulders.
My name is Himiko Toga. Just your average high school girl with no real extraordinary talents nor many things she is particularly bad at. I get good grades, and I’m well mannered and likable enough to be appointed as student president for my class, but not enough to be called a teacher's pet nor stand out as one of the really popular girls in school.
The teacher lightly scolded her for walking in right on time, commenting that if she took herself and her studies more seriously, she could probably get really far in life. But she didn't say much more than that before turning to scold the unlucky students who showed up right when she finished her sentence in a harsher manner.
“Safe~” She sighed quietly, shoulders sagging as she draped her arms over her desk.
“Cutting it close to this time, eh, Himiko-chan?”
Himiko puffed her cheeks and turned to the voice, grumbling, “See if I give you time to complete your homework when I'm collecting again, Rei-chan.”
“Eh~!? No way, that's tyranny! Villain! Abuse of power!” The round-faced girl complained, panic flashing across her face.
Himiko’s reply was cut off by a streak of white blurring in front of her eyes, and a sharp thwack from Rei-chan’s forehead. “Owowowoww!” she clutched her head, now sporting a red mark.
“The bell ring 30 seconds ago, and I'm not waiting any longer to start.” Said the cruel teacher as she picked up a new chalk to start writing. Everyone immediately quieted down, almost everyone in the class knowing well their sensei had enough precision with her “death strike” to pass off as an accuracy quirk despite her obvious gills for water breathing.
Sensei has one of the lucky types of mutant quirks, the ones that don’t change physiology enough to not quite be human. I look up to her a bit, because I’m actually similar to her. My feline facial features and the occasional glimpse of fangs in my mouth aren’t enough to steer me into the uncanny valley as long as I don’t go yawning or smiling a bit too wide. I’m actually a bit insecure about that to tell the truth, but some people even think those aspects of me are cute, to my surprise. Like a certain boy a few seats ahead of me…
In between class periods, and even a little during them, Himiko’s yellow eyes couldn't help but drift a little upwards, where a dark curly haired boy sat diligently doing his best to pay attention. Despite his best efforts, he often found himself staring out the window to the left, his face bathed in sunlight against the backdrop of the wide blue sky. Himiko found herself idly sketching that face in the corners of her notebook when it got too distracting, before blushing and erasing it immediately when she noticed. Rei-chan always had a teasing look in her eye when she did it.
“Hey, Himiko, when are you ever going to ask him out?” Her best friend prodded her during lunch, “If you keep spacing out like that, you won't be able to keep your “class prez” card for long.”
Himiko groaned, blowing bubbles into her strawberry milk box through the straw. “I'm trying! It's just every time he looks at me, my brain goes totally blank! I’m weak to pretty faces!” She justified herself.
“You think everyone is pretty. You should have experience by now.” Another girl with black pigtails cut her down mercilessly.
She squawked at the accusation, “I do not!”
“Do too. Even the girls aren't safe from you constantly complaining about how “pretty and cool and super cute” they are. Just look at Rei-chan.” A shiny copper-haired girl immediately shut her down with an exaggerated mimicry of her voice.
Rei-chan nodded sagely, “It's a part of the terms and conditions of being friends with the number one butterfly in school.”
“Butterfly-!? Oi, are you saying some pretty insulting things right now? I'm not some loose, easy girl!” Himiko complained at the traitorous slander.
“Oh really, so you would refuse if I offered a kiss right now, even though you have been head over heels for Saito-kun for months now?”
Her brain blanked, taking a moment to process what was just said. “H-ha ha, very funny.”
“She didn't say no!”
“Guilty as charged!”
“Wow, even though I didn't know you were that much of a player, Himiko-chan! Maybe I should warn Saito-kun.”
“Y-you, you all suck!” Himiko declared with burning ears.
Yeah, if there was one quality about myself I had to list as a defining characteristic, I would say that I am a hopeless romantic. I've always been able to fall in love a lot easier than other people, and I can't stop it even though it has gotten me into some trouble in the past. People are just way too pretty!
“Go, Saito-kunnn!! You've got this!!!” Himiko stood up from her seat and cheered as he dodged around player after player kicking his soccer ball along on confusing trajectories. It was a bit embarrassing, but she hoped her encouragement would reach the boy’s heart.
Sports apparently used to be a lot bigger in the pre-quirk era, but the current middle school football team was a bit lousy to say the least. Saito-kun led the pack along with a few other athletic students, while the others tried to keep up and be useful in the afterschool activity they had only taken up to look good on their high school applications. But that was fine, Saito-kun cared and that was enough for Himiko to care.
He looked as beautiful as always, sweat glistening in the sun with a smiling face and determined black eyes always looking forward. She liked to think he moved a little bit faster when she encouraged him.
She met with him after practice, holding out a bottle of water and a cool towel to draw himself off. “U-m, you looked really cool out there, Saito-kun!” She leaned in a bit closer than necessary, secretly basking in his post-workout scent of sweat and adrenaline. Her nose was a bit more sensitive than others, sue her!
“H-Himiko-chan! Ah, thanks again. Still, it's going to be pretty hard to beat Nabu middle school at this rate. I need to keep training.” He looked up with a fiery gaze.
Himiko couldn't help but stiffen seeing those eyes directed at her. It was like he could pierce straight through her soul, pinning her in place and making her feel entirely too self-aware about her every word and movement…totally unfair!
“I, I believe in you, Saito-kun!”
Dumbass! Idiot! Dummy! Coward! AAAAAA!!!
Unbeknownst to her inner turmoil, Saito smiled so bright it almost hurt to look at. “Thanks, Himiko-chan! With you cheering me on, I feel like I really can do it.”
Kill her now. Her heart can’t take this level of abuse.
But even though my heart beats so easily, I've never been able to bring myself to actually ask anyone on a date. Zero boyfriend and zero girlfriends. Just thinking about it makes me depressed, gahhh!!! But contrary to what my friends think about me just being a total doormat, there was only one real reason I never pursued anything official.
Himiko studiously completed her homework in a timely manner and brushed her teeth, taking extra care to not let the toothbrush hairs catch against her shearing molars. Everyone focuses on the fangs, but the back teeth were more annoying for her, making it harder to eat things that aren't meat. Apparently it’s because felines are super carnivorous, even more than canines.
When she was all done, she called out good night to her parents and turned in, closing the door and quietly barricading it with the wardrobe. Then she opened the window and snuck out into the night. Briefly illuminated by a street lamp, a nondescript looking man casually walked to the train station, putting on a medical mask, a bini, and soft gloves designed for quirk safety. The latter two were secondhand, and slightly oversized.
That's right, my quirk is a little different from what people think it is! You can thank my silly parents for that. They always worry too much, thinking people won't like me if they know my real quirk. I don't really get it, but as a filial daughter, I respect my mom and dad’s wishes even if I grumble about it every now and then. Still, no one can expect a teenager to perfectly obey their parents. That's why I've been taking these little excursions at night to really let loose. Hehe~ I'm a bit of a bad girl, aren’t I?
Himiko got off her train and took a long walk up to an apartment building. It was just a cheap looking wooden apaato building rising up three stories out of the ground. And then she ducked down a side alley, avoiding the apartment cameras, and waited.
About an hour later, a rush of salary men walked inside, but she didn't follow any of them. She just stood there, leaning against the wall and waiting.
“Did you see the debut of that new hero, Mt. Lady?”
“Hahaa, I'd ask her to step on me, but I’m pretty sure I would die.”
“Coward, go die an honorable death.”
“Rather than stepping, I would rather she sat on me…”
“Well she will be doing both of those things to a lot of villains. It's good that we have another powerhouse on our side.”
“You can only fight kaijus with kaijus.” One man nodded, then paused. “Or gundams, but we don’t have those.”
“Yet.”
They joked and jostled each other, stumbling and reeking of beer. Gross. But she can empathize with their infatuation. That large lady indeed looked very good in that skin tight suit, and she wasn't shy about it either. Although Himiko could think of a few ways she could look even better…
Most people in this world love heroes, and look up to them as role models and protectors and entertainers all at once. The beacons of hope that chase away the darkness. And I’m no different.
And then, among the salary men, a sickly and pale looking one with a large elephant-like nose walked by, trailing at the end of the pack. Himiko walked forward and came up behind the sickly man, looping a thin wire around his neck and pulling backward. The elephant man sputtered and choked, trying to resist, but he was ultimately pulled into the darkness of the alley with no one the wiser.
He flailed, trying to hit or kick the person behind him, but all it did was make his limbs tire faster, and use up his remaining breath.
“Excuse me for the unannounced visit, but—”
The elephant-nosed salaryman wheezed, falling to the ground, but his assailant caught his back, breaking his fall. The last thing he heard was a rough man’s voice saying,
“My name is Himiko Toga, and I am your biggest fan, Nightmare-kun!”
“Y-you…! How…!” He managed to choke out, before falling still.
I guess the only difference is that the heroes I looked up to are a little bit different than other people's.
Himiko just barely refrained from giggling and squealing in excitement, finally getting to meet one of her idols in person. It had taken a lot of work to get to this point; her favorites were pretty big celebrities after all, and had to avoid attention in their day-to-day lives. But all that effort was always worth it in the end, she mused as he hauled the man up on her shoulder and walked into the building, looking for all the world like someone helping a drunk man up the stairs to his apartment.
Himiko rifled through the unconscious man’s pockets to find his keys and inserted them into the lock, dragging him inside before shutting the door. Then she undressed him and took him to the bathroom.
“Nightmare” really is an awful nickname for this wonderful man. Baku Tsuiteki deserves better than that! I had half a mind to pick a fight with whoever came up with it, but that would give away some of my closely held girl-secrets, so I couldn't.
Himiko closed the drain, hung her idol’s neck from the shower pole with the wire, carefully sniffed out his pulsing arteries, and slit her idol’s wrists vertically up the forearm and inner thighs with a box cutter. Her yellow eyes dilated, completely fixated on the beautiful waterfall of red that leaked down into the tub with the pull of gravity. Then the smell hit her, that wonderful metallic organic goodness that she could almost taste, and it sent shocks of sharp clarity straight into her brain. She shuddered at the sensation, covering her mouth before she let out any strange sounds.
Her breaths became heavy and rapid, her heart thumbed doki-doki in her chest, and a reddish tinge painted her cheeks. The anticipation was killing her, and yet she never felt more alive. She couldn't hold the transformation anymore, gray sludge sliding off her body before dissipating entirely, leaving behind a freshly naked Himiko wearing only gloves, a beanie, and a medical mask that was now hanging off of her ear.
“Eep!” She blushed furiously, covering her important parts despite the man being unconscious. But that was besides the point! She was kneeling naked in front of her idol! Gahhh, it’s so embarrassing she could die, and yet, a part of her was also excited at doing something so scandalous.
It's not like they would do anything like that anyways. No, Himiko was confident that neither of them would enjoy such a thing, even if she wasn't a minor. That's the only reason she managed to find him before any police or heroes manage shit; because although they had their differences, Himiko and Baku-senpai were the same type of person deep down at their core.
“Neither of us gain any real satisfaction from normal relationships, do we?” She whispered softly, as if sharing a secret to the unconscious man.
The police, the heroes, and the true villainy fandom big shots were all still floundering to try and put together the pieces and find a commonality between the victims. Some of them had passing relationships with each other, others seemed completely random. Some were men, some women, some older, some younger, some artists, some architects. The only commonality being they all saw a man with no describable official teachers in their dreams before slowly draining of energy and dying in their sleep.
But they did have a commonality. Every single one of them semi-regularly described their fantastic, adventurous dreams at night on social media, and Baku Tsuiteki liked every single one of those posts. The man was not a dream killer; he was a dream eater, with an unregistered quirk to astral project while he sleeps and feeds off of rich dreams. What really threw the police off is that he only publicised his elephant mutation, likely developing the dream ability later in life or, more likely, having similar parents to herself.
Himiko looked down at the sickly thin, malnutritioned man, smiling fondly and patting his pale cheek with her glove. It was a rare day that she got to meet someone similar to herself. Maybe once every two months or so. It took a long time to investigate, and sometimes an even longer time to arrange a good time in place for them to meet without being disturbed. A few times she even had to play sick for a day or wait for the weekends because the person was across the country.
But it was always worth it in the end.
It was a win-win situation after all. If Himiko didn't manage to take them off guard or overpower them, she would give her idols love. If she did manage it, she would receive their love. And she hadn't failed yet.
Himiko carefully continued making cuts along the body, controlling the bloodflow so it wouldn't splash everywhere and make a mess. And then she couldn't take it anymore.
She picked up a long milkshake straw that had dropped to the floor and dip it into the bathtub. With shaking hands, Himiko closed her mouth over the other hand and took a sip—
The.
Smell.
Was.
Intoxicating.
She abandoned all decorum and let out a whimpering sigh of relief, only tempered by the need to keep it down with these thin walls. Tears flooded down her eyes, dripping into the bathtub.
The taste. Oh gods the taste. She would have sobbed into her straw if it wouldn't have interrupted her desperate continuous drinking. It was everything she ever wanted. It was everything she never even knew she wanted. And somehow more than even that.
It was always thicker than she remembered. The salt and iron were a warm hug from an old friend. It was better than any food or drink. It was warmer, softer, and more comforting than the childhood blanket she grew out of. It was like holding hands and hugging and kissing all at once but none of those things.
He tasted like Vitamin D, melatonin, and serotonin deficiency.
He smelled like rotten dreams and a world of cardboard cut outs pretending to be human.
He ached with an all-encompassing hunger that was far too familiar.
She wanted nothing more than to drink it all. But at that moment, she raged at the fact that she had to drink all of him so he wouldn't report her quirk or retaliate later. She mourned him. She cried for him. She cried for the future he would never have anymore. And she drank so that a part of him would always carry on with her. You are what you eat, and so Himiko would be Baku Tsuiteki. A small part of the ship of Theseus that was her existence was now dedicated to this wonderful, wonderful man who was so similar to herself.
If only things were different. If only they were allowed to love the way they wanted to be loved. If only they weren't forced to hide and never meet the only other people who could understand themselves except for this type of circumstance. But at this moment, things like tragedy and sorrow were far away concepts compared to the overwhelming need for more, more, more, more, MORE!
Himiko wouldn't waste a single drop of the man she killed. She owed it to him.