𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 2

Toga drowsily woke up, eyes blurring at the light that seeped in through her curtains. What.. time is it..? She thought, her brain feeling like mush. Her eyelids still felt heavy, and she almost gave into the temptation to fall back asleep, into the comfortable warm of her plush blankets.

Her eyes closed as she yawned, decidedly sitting up and rubbing at her eyes. As much as she wished she could sleep the day away, even the rest of her days, she had to get up. Even if her bed willed her to stay, if only for just five more minutes..

Before she could fall back onto her soft mattress, a notification rang from her cell phone, causing her to perk up at the sound.

A cell phone? Ah.. Right.

She stared at it, watching as the screen flashed before fading back to black.

I shouldn't answer, she thought as she reached for the device. "This is bad," she mumbled, flipping it open to see the messages she had purposely ignored the day prior. I should chuck this out the window and get on with my life, she concluded, typing up a response as she argued in her mind.

Uraraka
Good morning!!!!
How are ypouu???
Sorry typo.. I meant you*

Yua
just woke up.. im so tired even tho i slept for like.. 9 hours

Uraraka
I feel the same.. I have to get up so early for my classes T3T
Do you have classes?

Yua
actually..

Toga bit her lip, trying to think of a response. Yua, the girl she had taken blood from, did in fact go to school. However, she didn't wish to risk lying. After all.. I have no clue how highschool actually works, I just thought the uniforms were cute. It won't hurt to be just a bit truthful, right?

Yua
no, i ended up dropping out

She watched the three circles bubble as she suddenly became anxious of the other's response. She's going to think I'm weird. What type of person stops going to school right after middle school? This is really stupid. Even worse, she'll connect the dots and know it's me. I'm Himiko Toga, the cold-blooded serial killer who killed a person just to talk to her two years ago. She's going to find out it's me and then report me to the heroes. I'm so dumb. Why did I think talking with heroes again would be a good idea? It only ends in heartbreak. I should've known, it's just like when Jin became friends with Keigo. I'm making the same mistakes he–

Ding!

Toga immediately glanced down.

Uraraka
To be honest.. I nearly dropped out too. I wanted to start working after middle school to help out my family.
I understand!!! At least to a little extent

She.. understands..? Toga clutched the phone in her hand tighter, staring down at the messages with an unintentional smile. We are so alike it's cruel.. I hate it. I can't help wishing I was her. Even if just for a moment, I want to live her life, her experiences. It's so dangerous to think like this. But I would give up my life to live her normal. I wanted to be a teenager too.

Toga sighed as she reread the message over and over, feeling her stomach flip. I feel so sick, but I can't recall ever being as jittery as I am now in the past two years. It's not fair that I shouldn't indulge in what makes me feel better, even if I'll feel worse in the end.

Yua
i luv learning more abt u :3
srry if that's weird
but it's true

Uraraka
I like learning about you too
And the way you type is really cute ᕙ(‾̀◡‾́)ᕗ

Yua
not cuter than u

Oh.. wait. No.

Yua
than the way u type****
ahaha
i'm going to go
hope ur classes r fun
buhbye

This time Toga actually closed her phone and threw it off to who knows where. There is no way I actually just typed that. This is so bad. I need to stop responding. This is really bad. I can't fall back into old habits. This is different from when I was seventeen. This isn't a game. By the end of this I'm going to be captured or killed. I don't wanna die.

"Understand, Himiko Toga?! If you get in my way.. Then I'm going to stop you right here, right now!!"

Toga glared blankly at her ceiling, eyes boring into nothing but the peeled paint.

She won't ever actually love me. I should know by now that falling for a hero is just a disaster for failure, that soon I'll end up with my head on a stick. I need to survive, for the League's sake. I can't keep falling for cheap tricks that'll just make me feel even worse at the finish line.

Toga got up from her bead, brushing stray hair strands out of her eyes as she approached her vanity. A cheap girly mirror was all she had, something she had for who knows how long. Noticing her ragged appearance, she started brushing her hair, combing out the knots that had formed while she was asleep.

The least I can do is attempt to fix up how I look.

Her hair laid flatly on her shoulders, the ends spiked up as they always had. Perhaps the one and only similarity she had with her parents. With a final brush, she put the object down and stood up to go take a shower. Toga found that routines in her life made her feel just a bit more in control, so she tried to go through with them, no matter how mundane they seemed.

Wake up, brush her hair, take a shower, and find something productive to do that day. That usually meant, well, stealing. It was almost impossible to hold down a job for long, so she'd long since given up ever trying to be a normal person in society. The common thievery and occasional assassination jobs picked up from villains was what she lived day to day with. What was once the notorious League of Villains was now reduced to one teenage girl barely scraping to get by.

Exiting the shower, which she preferred hot rather than cold, she looked through her small closet. Her choices didn't range much, going from stolen clothes to different highschool uniforms she had collected. Of course, the pink a-line cut coat she had saved so much money to get was also there, scuffed from the fights she had endured with it.

She didn't like to wear it much, despite it being so comfortable. It reminded her of the Meta Liberation Army, when the League was at its strongest and joked around while eating sushi. Atsuhiro had somehow always had a craving for fish, a memory for some reason she remembered specifically. And that's why it was pushed into the very corner, so that she wouldn't have to think of it to the point it would make her sad again.

Toga itched to pull out her beige cardigan from her closet, but knew it'd be too obvious. It was something she only dared to wear around in the comfortableness of her home.

With a sigh she ended up closing the door to the closet. Since her quirk layered the clothing under her own anyways, it'd be dumb to get dressed anyways. Instead she crouched down to peer in her mini fridge at the contents.

Over some time she'd amassed a big collection of different blood, some being ordinary citizens, people she found cute, or people with possibly helpful quirks. She always kept certain ones as an emergency on her person, as paranoia followed her wherever she went.

The girl who she'd disguised herself as yesterday stood out, and without thinking she grabbed her specific vial of blood.

She's cute. I wouldn't mind being her for a bit more, even if it's just today.

Blood of people she liked always tasted better, sort of like a sweet pomegranate. That was why they were her favorite fruit, an easy substitute when she couldn't give up her blood rations.

Toga unscrewed the cap of the jar and drank about enough to last her a few hours.

She stood back up as her body morphed, taking on the form of the girl as her original body melted to the floor. One of the things she liked about transforming was being able to feel even closer to the person, actually physically being someone you liked was exhilarating in its own way.

Yua was the name of the girl she'd stolen the blood from. She was a tall and lean girl with shoulder-length black hair, accompanied by hot pink eyes. Somehow the complete opposite of Toga's appearance, yet so alluring at the same time.

Toga peaked through her dingy door peephole before leaving her apartment, tugging on a simple black jacket as she left. Being November, it was starting to go down further into freezing temperatures. She just hoped that there wouldn't be any rare snowing days anytime soon. It'd be way too cold to do anything but curl up in a mountain of blankets.

Toga visibly shivered as she started walking down the path to the main city. I'll buy myself a hot chocolate or something.. Anything sweet and warm would be perfect.

As she emerged onto the sidewalk, a group of younger teenage girls passed her, chattering happily and giggling to each other. Toga stared them down with envy, placing her hands in her pockets and slightly hunching over as she pouted.

I wish I could be as carefree as them. I want to live a free life too. Why do I get the short end of the stick?

She scowled, watching as they eventually turned a corner and disappeared from view.

As Toga arrived at the main city of Musutafu, she could hear the sounds of bustling and idle chit-chat grow louder. While she didn't mind the city, it was disturbingly noisy compared to where she usually resided. Even her hometown was a mellow town, where too much didn't happen.

She looked up, gazing at the endless electronic billboards and their flashy lights.

Remembering Endeavor: The Great Number One Hero. At that, Toga couldn't help but grin.

Two years ago, Touya killed Endeavor, achieving his life long goal of vengeance. Along with it, crushing Endeavor's spirit by dealing the final nail in the coffin: His own son murdering him.

When Toga heard the news, she couldn't help but feel happy for him, after all, he made it. He accomplished his goal and could finally rest peacefully, not caring what happened to him after.

The media liked to say Touya disappeared after his fight with Endeavor. That he could 'still be out there, waiting to strike against the rest of the Todoroki family.' She thought it was a bunch of crap.

Touya often talked about his siblings to her after the Paranormal Liberation War. He hated the youngest, would rant about how he was as bad as his father. His other siblings he spoke more delicately about, though he never mentioned his mom. I guess it was a touchy subject, but I understand. It's hard talking about my parents, too.

Well, he's gone now. I can't be sad or mad about it, even if he was kind of like an older brother. He got to finally achieve his dreams. He never planned to stay with the League anyways. I knew that much.

So why does it hurt so much?

Toga rubbed her eyes with her jacket sleeve before she continued walking.

It's useless wallowing in the past.

As a man walked by, preoccupied on his phone, Toga quickly snatched his wallet from his back pocket and carried on. Pickpocketing was too easy, as people naturally had their guard down after the drop in crime rates.

Toga fished out any money he had before throwing the rest away in some trash can without another look. Turns out he didn't have much, about 2,000 yen in bills and coins.

This sucks.. It's like when the League was sitting around before we met Gigantomachia. Robbing rundown places even with all of our influence.

I wonder if there's still people out there that idolize the League, or at least me. I never really paid attention to it in the past, but I'm curious now.

Lost in her thoughts, she ended up bumping into someone else's shoulder, dropping the couple of coins she held.

"Watch where you're going!" Someone shouted, briskly walking past her without sparing another glance.

"I'd cut you if I felt like it," she muttered, crouching down to pick up what she'd dropped. This is why I liked wearing the school uniforms, people were so much nicer. Usually they'd be the ones picking up my things and apologizing.

"Oh hey, do you need any help?"

"No, I'm fi— ..ne..."

Toga looked up, her golden (now pink from her transformation) locked on to too friendly brown ones. She froze, a jolt going through her as she recognized the familiar brown hair and permanent blush all too well.

Uraraka was crouched down next to her, hand extended as she smiled. Today, she wore her hair in a ponytail, though her usual bangs still cupped her face perfectly.

"Woah, what a coincidence we meet like this again! Yua, right?"

Toga nervously laughed as she stood up, clutching the money in her hands tighter. "Yeah.. I'm surprised as well.. Ha..."

How do I end up getting into these situations?! I can't even escape her by leaving my phone at home. At this point it's like I have a giant red arrow over my head saying 'Talk to me!' (she checked just to make sure, but no, there was no arrow).

"My classes ended early, so I was going to get some late lunch! Wanna tag along?"

No. "Okay! I should've been the one asking you! Where to?!"

Uraraka mimicked a cheering sound before going on a tangent about the different food places she had been thinking of, Toga blindly smiling and nodding at appropriate times.

Why does she have to be so cute when talking about what she wants to eat.. All I want to do is suck her blood..

And stab her..

And maybe even—

"Soooo? What are you thinking?"

About drinking your blood. "Ah! Uhm, anywhere you like! I'm not picky at all, haha.."

"Well I know this great noodle shop down the road, and after that there's this place that makes super good mochi and I've been craving mochi for ages so I think we should definitely head there because it's Friday and those are usually my cheat days after working so hard throughout the week.

"..I'm sorry, do I talk too much? It's a bad habit I picked up from a friend."

"No no, I love listening to your voice."

Toga froze as it dawned on her what she just blurted out. I'm too used to speaking my mind and now it's biting me in the ass! I'm so stupid!

"Sorry, I'm way too blunt sometimes and—"

Uraraka waved her hands wildly in front of her as her face burned up. "It's fine! Haha.. It's just uhm.. no one has ever said that to me, ever?

"So, thank you?"

Toga watched as she sheepishly grinned and a light blush coated her face. Uraraka fidgeted her hands as she talked like she was.. embarrassed?

I need to say that at least ten more times if it's going to get that reaction out of her!

"I mean it, your voice is really really cute."

"Wh—"

"I'd listen to it all day if I could."

"Huh—?"

"When you rant about stuff your voice always sounds so excited while you talk even if it's about something mundane."

"R-really..?"

"And even when you text it's like I can hear your voice talking to me and I swear—"

"Stop!!!!"

Despite what she shouted her face was on fire and her happy tone gave it away. She was so enjoying that!

"Let's just.. get something to eat, yeah..?" She mumbled as she covered her face with her hands.

I want to shower her with compliments even more.

—

"Is mochi your favorite food?" Toga asked as she followed Uraraka to the mochi place she talked about the whole way there.

They'd just finished up having lunch when Uraraka excitedly led her to somewhere else, animatedly talking with her hands as she went on. She was brimming with energy the entire time, and apparently this walk was the outlet she needed to rave about her day, whether it be how she hated calculus or a picture she took on her phone of a cute cat she saw this morning.

"Yeah, it is? How'd you guess?" She put a finger to her chin as she pretended to think.

I've known for the past three years after I watched you walk into your dorm with a box of  them. "You're really fired up! I can't even remember the last time I had one, so I guess I'm also a little excited to try it again with you."

"Whaaaaat? At least I'm here to make you try it again. Maybe next time you should drag me off to eat pomegranates with you, yeah?" She laughed, looking back at Toga.

"You remembered!"

"I did!"

"We are most definitely friends now, right?" Toga grinned a bit too widely to hide her nervousness. Why am I even this nervous? I wasn't the first time we met.

Uraraka paused. "I already assumed we were, so yes!" She gave a close-eyed smile and Toga thought her heart would melt.

I feel like I could stab you right now!

No, no. No stabbing. Then she'd know who I am. I wish they would've announced me dead along with the rest of the League.

While Toga was lost in her eternal debate of whether the news lying about her death would be a good thing or not, Uraraka abruptly stopped walking.

"We have arrived!" She announced, opening her arms wide as she presented the small mochi shop to her friend.

The shop looked small but cozy. It fitted Uraraka's personality perfectly.

"What do you normally get?" Toga asked, eyeing the long range of different colored flavor mochi they offered as they pushed through the doors. They chimed as they closed behind them. Toga had lied when she said she couldn't remember the last time she had mochi, in all honesty she had never eaten it at all.

"Just strawberry, if I'm honest I only get it because it's pink."

"I'll get that too then." What does it even taste like? How do I know what flavor to get? How many mochis do people typically eat...?

I don't even know what it's made out of. What if I'm secretly allergic to them and my face gets all puffy and gross. That would be the worst.

Toga didn't even notice Uraraka had already ordered and was now holding a box of mochi in her hand. She really was losing track of time.

"I got quite a few, so we can half them since I'm not sure I'd finish them all anyways."

"S-Sure.." Uraraka grabbed a napkin and fished out a couple for Toga.

Gingerly, Toga took the napkin and picked one up. It was soft, a lot more softer than she expected. Glancing at Uraraka's encouraging expression, she took a bite. It was way more chewy than anticipated, and there was an awkward moment of her just chewing the sweet treat.

"Is'.. Really gwood," she said between chewing, looking back at the brunette.

Meanwhile Uraraka took a bite of her own before cheering. "You like it! This is a win in my book, haha!"

Toga smiled at her words, opening her mouth to reply before violently shuddering.

Shit. I'm going to transform back. I wasn't keeping track of time, I should've drank more blood. This is bad. This is really bad.

Toga nervously laughed as she clutched the napkin tighter, though her body visibly stiffened.

"I have to go! Like right now! Sorry! Buh bye!"

Instantly Toga bolted out the door, not letting the other register what was going on as she ran away. Again.

She could feel her body melt as she skidded into an alleyway, hand over her chest as she heavily breathed in and out.

That was too close. Way too close. I'm going to be sick again.

Toga could feel the rest of her transformation melt off her skin into a puddle on the floor.

I need to get out of here, now. I shouldn't ever pull something like this again. That whole outing was so terrible. Uraraka is like a drug I keep indulging in, I need to stop.

But when I'm with her, it's so much easier to forget all the bad in life by drowning in her smile.

I hate her.

Toga looked down at the remaining mochi still clutched in her hand.

I definitely hate her.

♡

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