Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Chapter 1 - Employment is Overrated

Himiko Yagi groaned as the light and her blaring alarm rudely awakened her, instinctively reaching out to latch onto the warmth that should have been on the other side of the bed.

She frowned when her hands only grabbed sheets, one golden eye prising open to examine the space where her girlfriend should be.

Another call-out? When had she left?

She forced her aching limbs out of the bed, scanning their room for signs of life. Ochako had clearly moved about quietly to avoid waking her but a trail of discarded pyjamas and a crusty, abandoned toothbrush by the sink told a story of it’s own. Must have been an emergency, if she had to run like that.

As she plucked her phone off the charger, wincing at the light scorching tired eyes, her body almost moved on autopilot to determine where her love had gone off to. Her google alert for Uravity had multiple hits and Himiko squinted as she read details - a landslide in the Chubu mountains, Luna Agency responded first, and Mirko was co-ordinating the evacuation while Uravity lifted the entirety of the debris.

She blinked, the last vestiges of sleep leaving her eyes in the process.

The entirety of the debris? Of a landslide?

“Fuck sake, Ochako.”

Himiko had a vision for the start of their life together.

They had found this apartment quickly. It ushered sunlight into their bedroom in the morning, and light filled their kitchen through the rest of the day. It was cosy but spacious, modern but full of character, and those contradictions made her fall in love with it immediately. Ochako had been nervous about buying it, about the mere principle of ploughing their financial security into property, but she had insisted - this was going to be the home where the next phase of their lives started, why would she hesitate to put most of the money the Togas had been forced to give her into it?

She hadn’t realised quite how little time her girlfriend would actually spend here.

It should have been obvious, but running an agency was a more than full time gig. The attention, the profile, the call-outs were all of a magnitude beyond what she was experiencing as a sidekick, even if that was with the increasingly popular Lemillion. Given the Luna Agency was literally just Mirko and Uravity right now, they were ceaselessly busy.

Then Ochako, seemingly after a conversation with Ellie and Nezu, had made the decision to start attending night school to train as a psychologist so she could eventually take over the QCP. At the time, Himiko had entirely supported the choice, even in the knowledge it would eat up more of her time. But now, when all the chips had fallen, the cost was so much clearer.

Himiko plonked her phone down with a huff and meandered through the apartment, starting her morning routine.

At least caffeine was always here to greet her in the morning.

As she watched the milk froth the thought filled her with dread. Did Ochako feel the same way? Was she worried about how much time they were spending apart as well? Or was she too exhausted to care?

More importantly, why was she standing here sulking about it and not talking to her partner? Was she worried what she would say? What she would…choose?

Himiko leant her forehead against the fridge and took a breath.

It was far too early and she was far too un-caffeinated to start having a crisis of confidence about the love of her life.

Ochako was busy, not bored of her. She was overworked. Stressed beyond reason.

She needed to be supportive and try to squash her neediness down, loud as it was.

She downed a gulp of too hot coffee and hoped it would burn some of the desperation out of her in the process.

*~*~*~*

The train ride to Sir Nighteye’s Agency was always a good opportunity to gather herself before the storm began. She started by scanning the hero news pages, lingering on the reporting of the landslide.

She should text Ochako. That was what a good girlfriend would do.

Her fingers paused on the keys, unsure, before she settled on something light hearted.

Hope you’re not going to drag dirt into our pretty little apartment, cutie. Stay safe for me, okay?

Her phone background was the two of them at their UA graduation, beaming smiles as their cheeks smooshed together.

It had only been two months ago, but time seemed to accelerate when you had a job.

Responsibilities.

Distractions, really.

She nearly jolted out of her seat when her phone started to vibrate, a familiar face flashing up on the screen. She hissed, trying to whisper as non-aggressively as possible.

“Katsuki, I’m on the train - can’t speak.”

He scoffed and launched into his diatribe regardless.

“Has Ochako slept at any point this month? Motherfucker looks exhausted in this coverage. She needs to keep that image shiny and those cheeks pink for when we have our own agency!”

She rolled her eyes, smiling. He had a unique way of showing concern but she recognised it for what it was.

“It was an early call out, of course she looks tired. Don’t be mean about my hot girlfriend.”

Several sets of judgemental eyes glared at her for breaching train etiquette, so she stood up and walked to the doors, trying to limit the offence caused.

Himiko Toga would have told them to fuck off and loudly continued her conversation. Himiko Yagi had long since learnt to pick her battles.

“Yeah that’s not one night with limited sleep. Is she eating right?”

Himiko bit her lip. Truthfully, she didn’t know - Ochako hadn’t made it home for dinner this week, and on Sunday they spent the majority of her precious day off in bed, catching up in the way they needed to most.

A faint blush automatically dusted her cheeks at the memory.

Katsuki read her silence for what it was and sighed, dramatically.

“You’re coming over for dinner tonight. Both of you. I don’t care if Ochako is too tired to stand - drag her and I’ll shout at her about work-life balance and the importance of eight hours a night.”

She snorted. Of course he still slept that much.

“Will Izu be there? Or is he too busy being best pals with his precious little Akane-chan?”

It was mean, poking his sore spot like that, but she couldn’t help herself. Katsuki’s frustrated huff told the story - someone else was also not seeing their partner as much as they would like. He raised his voice even higher as he yelled back.

“Well he fucking lives here half the time so he better be! He’s currently passed out on the couch and Akane is in the spare room. Motherfuckers went to some sort of dorm party last night, got wasted, and for some reason decided to drag their drunk asses back here rather than pass out in their halls.”

The sound of someone groaning in the background made her bite her lip to contain her amusement.

“Yeah, because they wanted you to feed them, Katsuki.”

“Mercurial fucks!”

She let her laugh go then, ignoring the piercing looks of fellow passengers.

“Is it bad that I’m jealous? Why did we think rushing into having jobs was a good idea anyway?”

He scoffed again, and the distinct sound of a cushion being dropped rather fiercely on a head rang through the line.

“Because we’re responsible adults, Himiko! Yes, Izuku, not like you!”

Her whole face was scrunched up in amusement as Izuku’s whine came down the phone, followed by hushed pleading for ‘Kacchan’ to lower the volume.

“Fucking students. Anyway, tonight, come over. I’ll cook, bring the workaholic.”

She smiled fondly and nodded.

“Thanks, Katsuki. Give my love to the hungover messes.”

Another loud thump indicated Izuku had lost his place on the sofa and was groaning as he crawled along the floor.

“Will do, fangs. Go be a good hero today. Oi, Izuku, dumbass, let me get you water before you scrape up your knees. Don’t hurt yourself, dork. Later, Himiko.”

When she hung up, no longer cocooned with the oddly comforting bellow of her friend, she felt the fresh sting of loneliness.

She checked her phone, more out of hope than expectation.

Ochako hadn’t texted back.

She felt her absence like a kick in the gut.

*~*~*~*

Morning patrol with Lemillion was, unfailingly, a delight.

Besides giving her heart to Ochako and letting Toshinori adopt her, accepting her place as a sidekick to Lemillion was the best decision she had ever made. He was silly but smart, strong but soft, and he broadly didn’t care how Himiko did her job as long as she smiled doing it.

Unfortunately he now knew her a little too well. Those sharp blue eyes stared at her as he leant close.

“Ochako had to leave during the night again, huh?”

She was in the process of waving to Aoi, one of the little girls who lived on their patrol route, and she really didn’t want to spend her entire morning sulking about her girlfriend being busy.

“Yeah, that landslide thing it seems.”

He raised an eyebrow at that, pausing mid-stride.

“It seems?”

She shrugged, smiling broadly at Aoi who grinned back and waved so hard her mother had to help her stay upright. Cute. She was growing attached to the little idiot.

“Well there wasn’t a note and she hasn’t contacted me so, you know, it seems.”

Mirio frowned.

“You guys okay? This seems to be happening a lot at the moment. Maybe I should tell Mirko to give Ochako a day off or something.”

She shook her head fiercely.

“Oh my god please don’t. I’d hate if Ochako thought I was moaning to my boss about the fact she’s not there to cuddle me every morning.”

He grinned and shrugged.

“Technically your boss is moaning to you about it, but I hear you.”

He took barely a breath before the next question about her wellbeing.

“You had your blood today?”

She rolled her eyes and glared at him but nodded anyway.

Mirio had memorised her blood timetable now and always kept spares at the agency just in case. One of many lessons learnt during her internship.

“Yes, mother.”

He laughed and bumped shoulders with her.

“Gods forbid someone worries about you, Himiko!”

They were on their way to check in on one of the new HPSC housing projects that had recently been green-lit for construction. Keigo and Nagant had worked tirelessly to push out the rot, ably assisted by Chihiro and her harrowing personal story, and a wave of rebuilding projects were finally happening in the less affluent areas of Musutafu, Tokyo and Jaku. Ochako had mentioned that the same progress hadn’t been seen in the countryside yet, but it had been a while since they’d discussed it.

She swallowed down fresh anxiety about her absent partner and focussed on projecting a happiness she wasn’t feeling.

At the site, she was pleasantly surprised to see another familiar face.

“Chihiro?”

The Shigaraki turned to greet her, smiling and waving.

“Nagant’s giving me more projects to supervise. I tried to explain I have literally no professional experience but hey, her and Hawks seem to think I can at least be their eyes and ears on these jobs.”

The subtext was all too clear.

The initial raids and arrests designed to cut out the HPSC’s corruption had been an unqualified success, but it had also opened up a void. The sheer number of vacancies being filled always created the potential for new, hostile elements to enter the organisation. When she’d last seen Ellie and Nagant - solo, given Ochako had been working - they were pointing out all the instances they’d encountered so far of Government and other hostile forces trying to infiltrate either the HPSC or the Quirk Counselling Programme. It was making trust difficult, and also meant that most of those involved were spending as much time guarding the progress they had achieved rather than being able to focus on their ambitions to go further.

Himiko hummed in agreement, scanning the workforce for any tell tale signs of imposters. She realised that she didn’t have much of a framework beyond ‘twitchy’ and there were still plenty of people who were twitchy around her because of the war, so it didn’t feel like a particularly robust test.

But she trusted her gut. Always had, always would. If it kept her alive on the streets at 15 then she knew it would latch on to anyone they truly needed to worry about.

It must be exhausting for Chihiro to have to be so on guard all the time. Maybe they should have found something less all-consuming to offer her.

“Oh, by the way, did you hear about the Sports Festival?”

Himiko shook her head and smiled when Chihiro’s face lit up.

“Nezu just told the students they’re going to start it up again next month. As you can imagine Yuki wants us all to come watch her, and I quote, “beat everybody and look so cool doing it”. Will you and Ochako make it?”

They laughed together. That adorable little dork.

“Yeah, of course - presumably Minato will be fighting too and I really want Ochako to watch her. I’m seeing Katsuki and Izuku tonight so I’ll say to them too, if Akane already hasn’t. Think she was sleeping off a heavy night at Katsuki’s this morning.”

Chihiro groaned and rolled her eyes.

“I can’t tell who is the worse influence on the other between Izuku and Akane. They’re definitely going all in on the student experience. I think Akane’s fallen in and out of love about a billion times already.”

Oh she could relate to that all too well.

Lemillion shouted across, beckoning her to come talk to some of the construction workers, and she gave Chihiro a quick hug before running along to her next heroic appearance. As she arrived her boss latched a hefty arm around her shoulders and squeezed, which was their unwritten code for ‘hostiles - slap a smile on your face as quickly as possible.’

“Himiko, I was just talking to the foreman here about the Quirk Abuse Act and how he should be a little more open minded about employing folks who had come through it. Would you mind telling them a little of your story?”

The foreman, an enormous person who presumably had some form of quirk that made his arms the size of her thighs, was positively radiating skepticism as he glared at her.

Oh well. She’d had worse crowds.

Himiko Yagi’s successful graduation and rehabilitation had made her a very reluctant case study, so she was more than used to trotting out her sad life for them, albeit with some notable exclusions.

Aizawa had warned the couples in their class to be careful as they entered the pro world. Relationships were instant fodder for the tabloids and they would be hounded relentlessly if there was any hint of personal life drama to weave into their hero coverage. As such, she and Ochako had decided that they weren’t hiding, per se, but they also weren’t promoting - no one needed to know they were dating when the love they had for each other was obvious. So in this version of her life story Ochako was simply the one who had shown her the love that had changed it all.

It helped that it was true, even if it missed out some of the more delightful ways they had expressed that love to each other.

She bit back a grin at the thought and started from the beginning, back to the lonely little girl with a special smile who found life so confusing.

*~*~*~*

Keigo slouched into the station, trying to bury the rising feeling of animosity towards the man who awaited them.

He hadn’t realised that their victory would be so short lived. Or, at least, so fragile.

Detective Tsukauchi glanced up as he entered, a crooked smile the only indication of life on his otherwise alarmingly pale and lined face.

“You need to get some sleep, Naomosa. You look like shit.”

The other man scoffed and straightened.

“Oh wait until you see Midoriya. He’ll make us both feel vibrant and youthful today.”

One Izuku Midoriya emerged from the toilets, positively green gilled and radiating regret.

Delightful.

Tsukauchi slapped him on the back, forcing a pained groan out of the younger man.

“Ah, that student life. I remember it fondly. Ensure you direct any spew away from the case file and our persons, please.”

Keigo decided not to lower the mood by reflecting on the fact he had no point of reference, given the whole ‘child murderer for the HPSC’ thing, but he appreciated the sentiment nonetheless.

“Yeah, and we’ll leave you in the observation room today, Midoriya. You can rot in peace.”

He nodded, cheeks pink with embarrassment and alcohol-induced feverishness.

“Probably for the best. I feel like I’m still sweating sake.”

“You smell like it too. Quite the odour.”

“Fantastic.”

They collectively turned their attention back to the file and the individual awaiting them.

He was one of over a dozen they had caught this week falsifying papers to try and get employed by the HPSC. It was baffling and, alarmingly, clearly a concerted effort at this point.

He frowned at the file, containing details of yet another perfectly normal looking man with a perfectly average life, who had somehow been inspired to fake his identity when applying to a public position and, in doing so, almost certainly ensure he would go to jail. It was perverse. There was no obvious link in their motivations, no financial incentive that they could find, and no particularly wayward or notable political party memberships being flagged.

Something had to link them, but they were drawing a blank. What were they missing?

“Oh and Midoriya?”

With considerable effort a shock of green hair slowly rose to look at him. Keigo couldn’t keep the grin off his face.

“Your jacket is inside out and you’re not wearing any socks.”

Izuku scanned his body, noting the offending items, and groaned.

“Whoops.”

Keigo left the student to meekly peel off his jacket and languidly pull the sleeves through before, with amusing tenderness, eventually pushing his arms back through.

It had been a long time since he’d had a hangover like that - before the war, probably.

As he watched Japan’s saviour wince at the lights and dejectedly stare at his sockless feet, he decided he really needed to right that at some point.

Sometimes he felt ancient, but he was only twenty fucking five.

Shouldn’t he be living more?

Whatever happened to wanting heroes to have time on their hands?

“Hawks, you ready?”

He blinked and looked over at Tsukauchi, who was gesturing towards the interrogation room.

Ah yes.

The ample responsibilities he had saddled himself with didn’t exactly fit with his overarching philosophy on heroism.

At least not yet.

But, then again, he was far from finished.

*~*~*~*

By the time the afternoon rolled around, Himiko was lagging badly.

She never really ate breakfast when Ochako wasn’t there and lunch had been ruled out after an explosion in their area, so she was running on pure caffeine and blood. Explosions were amongst Himiko’s least favourite disasters. Firstly, because they reminded her of Curious, of running for her life while being blown up repeatedly. Secondly, because they came with the most paperwork, an obscene level of bureaucracy that made her want to bash her own head in.

By the time she had finally completed the requisite forms she was hungry, paperwork fatigued, and, as importantly, she still hadn’t heard from Ochako.

The silence was making her anxious and irritable, so Lemillion and Bubble Girl were giving her some space.

At least she had a QCP visit next, which always turned her mood around. The kids absolutely loved Mirio, especially now he was starting to style his hair in a ridiculous bouffant of some description. Apparently he had been inspired by American styles from the 1950s, but she was struggling to entirely appreciate his vision. Regardless, the kids thought it was hilarious and loved trying to twist their own hair to mimic it.

When his smiling faced poked around the divider on her desk she genuinely smiled back, relieved to be getting away from paperwork and onto actually helping people.

She had a simple view of what a hero should be, and the further she was from the confines the HPSC imposed the happier she was.

The QCP always provided them with profiles of the classes they were visiting ahead of time, with a particular focus on any kids who had already experienced difficulties controlling their quirks or who had what might otherwise be viewed as ‘villainous’ quirks so the heroes could make sure they sought them out. On the train over she scanned their notes, honing in on one girl with a blood quirk.

Ah, so that’s why they had been picked for this school.

As was par the course for these things, there were virtually no identifying details for data protection reasons, merely a summary of her quirk - ‘transmutate’ - intended to help the heroes be as informed as possible. It seemed her particular quirk allowed her to either drain or replenish nutrients in blood, informed entirely by her mood. It obviously posed significant risk to everyone who came into contact with her and to the girl herself, given her own nutrients fuelled the transfer, and especially so if she activated her quirk unwillingly and couldn’t move away.

As she read through the notes, her eyebrows started to raise.

This quirk was…oddly similar to her own. Freakishly so, actually. The give and take, the role of blood…even the name? She found herself wondering if this girl experienced blood hunger too, if she starved the way Himiko had at her age.

Well, regardless, at least she could relate to her, and ensuring the kids felt seen and understood was half the battle with the QCP. She settled back into her seat and let her mind drift as their journey continued.

An hour later, the visit was going well and a multitude of excitable kids were enjoying playing with Lemillion and Himiko, especially when they learned she used to be a villain. For some reason the kids particularly enjoyed her past and would listen, wide-eyed, any time she talked about the League of Villains. Sometimes she imagined how much they would enjoy watching Compress perform magic for them, or watch Toya conjure his flames in the air as he spoke to them about second chances. They should really try and incorporate more of that into the programme.

She was subtly making enquiries about the little girl she had been reading about, but the teachers said she was still in class and would be joining soon.

Eventually, a little tug on her hand caused her to turn and look at an unsettlingly familiar face. She gasped lightly as she took her in.

“Excuse me, you’re Miss Himiko, right?”

The girl had blonde hair and golden eyes, a sharp, delicate face like hers. She smiled and the slightest hint of fangs, much smaller than hers, were visible.

What the hell?

Who was she?

She crouched down on her haunches anyway, smiling to mask her discomfort.

“That’s me, I’m Himiko. What’s your name?”

The girl smiled back, revealing what were definitely a tiny set of fangs.

Surely not? Had her parents…?

“I’m Toga Atushiro. My quirk is a little like yours, according to my teacher. I think we might be cousins?”

Himiko swallowed and tasted some relief, even as her heart thumped against her chest.

What if this side of the Toga family were still in touch with her parents? What if this was all a ruse to get her vulnerable? If this girl was the same one she had read about and she drained her, Himiko’s own monster would roar to life and the blood hunger would be unbearable. Ochako wasn’t here to calm her - what if she lost control?

Fuck. Fuck.

But this girl was staring, watching her closely, almost vibrating with nervous energy.

It seemed like she wanted her approval, her attention, and not to harm her.

Himiko tried to trust her instincts and smiled broadly.

“Yeah, we do look alike, don’t we?”

The mini Toga nodded, a shy little smile on her face.

Himiko started to think the consequences of that through - did it cause her problems, looking like her? Would kids be mean to this little girl if they thought there was a connection between them? The thought made her a bit queasy, that any connection to her could be so damning, especially for a child.

“Does anyone give you a hard time about that? You don’t have to tell them we’re related or anything if they do, you know? You can say it’s just a coincidence that we look alike.”

The little girl blanched at her, transparently confused by the inference that it would be an issue to be associated with her.

“Are you for real? Everything thinks it’s so cool! None of them believe that I’m related to All Might’s daughter and to one of Uravity’s closest friends!”

Himiko had to bite her lip to avoid barking out a laugh at that.

Well, they were definitely close friends all right.

She grinned broadly and beckoned Atshuiro closer.

“Can I tell you a secret?”

The girl nodded so enthusiastically it propelled her further forward and Himiko lowered her voice to a whisper.

“Uravity is actually my girlfriend. Aren’t I lucky?”

Atshuiro’s face lit up as she gasped.

“Girlfriend?! You get to kiss Uravity?!”

She loudly hissed the last part, dumbfounded, and Himiko let herself laugh. Adorable.

“Oh yeah, I get to kiss her. Sometimes even on the lips. But only when I’m being a good girl.”

She winked and her little cousin appeared to have malfunctioned, her mouth caught in a perfect circle as she blinked furiously.

“Wow. Does this mean Uravity is, like, my cousin too? AM I RELATED TO URAVITY?”

She was saved from having to work that one out by a familiar ring tone. The Kirby Dream Land theme song blared out, obnoxious and soothing all at once.

Only one person that could be.

“Sorry Toga, I need to get this - I’ll be right back.”

When she answered Himiko expected the comfort of Ochako’s voice, but instead she had to hold the phone away from her ear when Mirko shouted down the line.

“Himiko! Cheeks can’t come to the phone, but we didn’t want you to be worried, so checking in. Just so you know, it’s bad up here - stop you idiot, can’t you see the triage tent? Be more careful where you’re dumping shit! Don’t put that there!”

Her heart sank. If Mirko was saying it was bad then it was probably bordering on apocalyptic.

“Please tell me she’s taken a break at least. She definitely didn’t have breakfast.”

The noise on the other end of the line was deafening, the cacophony of activity bleeding through and disrupting the peals of laughter in the schoolyard.

Once again Himiko Yagi found herself waiting for her girlfriend and fearing the state she would be in when she finally came back to her.

“Shoved a couple of protein bars into her on the heli en route, but to be honest she can’t really leave the site. Her quirk is the only thing even letting us look for survivors and bodies right now.”

“Bodies? That bad?”

Mirko sighed and hummed.

“That fucking bad. She’ll not be home until late, but she’ll need you when she’s in. I better go.”

She paused, an odd tension between them even over the line.

Himiko knew Mirko well enough to decipher the guilt implicit in her silence.

Ultimately, the hero knew it was their agency that kept ripping Ochako away.

Mirko was also astute enough to know that it was hurting Himiko to be without her.

And they both knew, particularly in moments like this, that they were equally powerless to stop Uravity from going where she was needed.

There was something deeply uncomfortable about lingering in all that knowing.

“You should tell her Katsuki’s on the verge of staging an intervention, by the way. You know he’ll come to you next if her workload doesn’t slow down.”

Her own threat hung loosely between them as Mirko clicked her tongue.

“Yeah, I know. I’m trying, but your girl is…”

“Stubborn as fuck? Self-sacrificial to a fault?”

Mirko laughed, short and strained.

“Yes and yes. I’ll try and get her home soon as I can, but just warning you it won’t be while you’re awake.”

Himiko stared up at the sky and tried to imagine her little hero, floating amongst the chaos, a beacon of hope for those who were trapped.

It was objectively good. The right thing to do by any measure.

But it was yet another scar for Ochako Uraraka to collect for strangers. More damage. More trauma.

More weight to carry as she made her way through the world.

The thought sent a chill through her, as if often did.

“Okay, thanks for calling, Mirko. Appreciate it.”

The sound of mechanical fingers clicking together carried over the microphone.

“Oh, fuck, almost forgot - I was instructed to, I quote, ‘tell Himiko I love her and I promise we are going to wake up together at least once this week.’ She shouted that while lifting thousands of tons of rocks and debris so fair to assume it was a priority to her.”

Himiko leant back against the cool brick on the side of the building, temporarily sheltered from the prying eyes of school children and her boss.

It was always so easy for Ochako to chase the cold away, to warm her through with the way she loved her.

“Could have led with that and made a girl feel wanted, asshole.”

Mirko snorted but Himiko could hear her switching out her prosthetics, presumably readying for more recovery efforts.

“I’ll let you go, but thanks again for calling, Mirko. Take care of yourself too, okay?”

“Will do. And I’ll make sure Ochako has a morning off to keep that promise.”

Himiko stood and stared at her blank phone for several beats, trying to resist the urge to scour social media for updates on the disaster.

Ochako was okay.

Ochako was coming home.

Ochako wasn’t alone.

She took a breath, pocketed her phone, and went back to the yard and the realities of trying to change the world one little life at a time.

“Okay, who wants to see me transform into Lemillion?”

A chorus of excited squeals helped tamp down the anxiety inside.

*~*~*~*

The worst thing about trying to fight back against a natural disaster is that you are always grossly outmatched. No matter how much you try to block, to counter, to break through the defences, it is a heavyweight and you are a welterweight, landing blows far too feeble to make a difference.

Ochako might have been able to float pretty much the entire contents of the landslide, but in the hour it took them to get there so much damage had already been done. She felt powerless in the wake of its destruction.

Lifting body after body from the wreckage was making her stomach turn, but she ploughed on anyway.

She had wanted to be a rescue hero, after all, and if she wanted to have options going forward she was going to have to force herself to tolerate the sight of the dead and dying.

It felt gruesome that, at 18 years old, this was far from her first encounter with both.

“We’re nearly done, little beast. Keep going.”

Mirko was breathless beside her, even her body starting to falter under the exertion. All she could do was nod stiffly and push her quirk to sink deeper, another a wave of debris rising to reveal another mangled corpse.

No, wait, not just one corpse.

This time, Ochako couldn’t quite contain the little gasp of shock.

“Gods, that’s…”

Mirko’s face scrunched up as they stared down at the two bodies, seemingly a mother wrapped around her child, attempting to protect him from the inevitable.

It wasn’t her fault that she failed. Apparently Ochako couldn’t protect them either.

She inhaled deeply, attempting to place the emotions in the box Dr Hideo had helped her build for exactly moments like these, and floated herself down into the hole.

Ochako crouched by the woman’s head and reflexively reached out to stroke her hair.

“You tried so hard. I’m sorry we weren’t quick enough. I’m so sorry.”

She reached out to float the woman and her child, pausing and glancing around for something she could use to at least cover their faces from the gathered media, when the distinctive sound of person in pain made her freeze.

Ochako pressed her fingers into the neck of the woman, heart sinking as she confirmed the absence of life, before reaching for the child still wrapped in her arms.

Oh my god.

“Mirko! We need medics! He’s alive!”

It took a lot to shock Mirko but the look of abject horror on her face spoke volumes.

Ochako reached into the woman’s arms and gently tried to prise them open, her protection fierce even in death. Slowly she freed the child and cradled his head as she scooped him into her arms.

To her horror he looked about the same age as Eri. Her chest constricted dangerously and her eyes stung.

Not now. Not when he needed her.

The box filled until it was close to bursting.

Mirko was waving help towards them while supervising her slow ascent.

“Careful not to jostle him, Uravity. We’ll need to get him in a brace immediately.”

She nodded as she floated out of the hole, abandoning his mother for now.

Her job was done. Uravity’s was only beginning.

*~*~*~*

After a fresh shower, some further, distinctly pathetic, sulking about her absent girlfriend, and changing into a cute lemon dress that Ochako had bought her for her birthday, Himiko hopped back on the train to Katsuki’s.

He, of course, had a ludicrously fancy apartment in the centre of Musutafu. He’d tried to argue it was merely convenient and allowed him to catch more bad guys, but when they first visited Ochako had spent 15 minutes gawping at the largesse which swiftly put paid to that line of defence.

He was the son of successful fashion designers. Of course he had money. Himiko didn’t know why he was embarrassed about his wealth, especially when it meant he could cook such delicious food for them all.

As they pulled into central station, a giant new billboard caught Himiko’s eye and tore a loud laugh out of her.

Oh my god, this was too good. She didn’t even care that a man to her right was frowning at her for daring to make noise.

She stuck her tongue out as she wrestled with her phone to snap a picture of the offending item, immediately sending it to both the UA group chat and to one Toya Todoroki.

Good to see the Todoroki brothers putting themselves out there 😋

A towering billboard had the two brothers standing back to back, Shoto now as tall as his brother, shooting icy stares into the camera. Toya’s new hero costume was effectively a red mesh top, ably showing off the muscles he had been furiously building since his reincarnation, complete with a flowing cape embellished with a phoenix motif. He had little hints of his past self in the metal bicep guards, while the matching arm and shoulder bracers a subtle nod to the abusive father who had died to save him. Of course, he had to infuse even his costume with a dollop of family drama. The blue colour scheme nodded to his quirk and made him a terrifying wall of blue when he charged at villains. It also, she once noted, was a sort of twisted take on the colour scheme of the American comic hero Superman, which Toya obviously relished.

The characters below the striking picture blazed out a declaration - The Next Generation of Protectors! - complete with the newly rebranded Todoroki Agency’s logo.

It was quite the statement about the man who had almost turned into a nuclear weapon just two and a half years ago. Though, to be fair, Shoto was the one who had stopped him so maybe the Todoroki sins all balanced out in the end.

She couldn’t decide if she was surprised or not that both men were a hit with public - Toya especially had catapulted to sex symbol status almost immediately after his pro debut. When Himiko had, jaw agape, shown Ochako his spread in Vogue Japan, her girlfriend had laughed and said that people really did love a bad boy. Then she proceeded to show her that she loved a bad girl even more.

That had been a fortnight after they had moved in, before Ochako started the night classes and while the Luna Agency was still being established. She realised, with a start, that she was already romanticising that part of their recent past, nostalgic for the gentle ease and closeness that was slipping away from their present.

She was relieved when her phone started ringing as she disembarked, grateful to have the distraction of conversation.

“Holy shit, it’s the billboard boy. What did I do to get the privilege of speaking to the pretty boy hero?”

He barked laughter down the phone. She was glad that his recovery hadn’t entirely taken the gruff edge off his voice.

“Yeah, cutest boy in the world and don’t you forget it, crazy.”

She rolled her eyes but the call back still landed. He seemed to be in a car or something, given the roaring of an engine in the background.

Toya loved driving, or indeed any form of speed, and he seemed to have foisted Endeavor’s driver onto his younger brother so that he could ferry himself about uninhibited in the flashy convertible he had bought. She thought back to summer trips to the coast with her and Ochako in the back, her girlfriend’s hair billowing in the wind and eyes shining with glee as she raised her arms and hollered.

That pang hit her again. Stupid, really, to miss her like this when she saw her every day.

Well, almost every day.

“Heard Ochako and Mirko are trying to stop a fucking natural disaster basically solo? Our agency tried to join but our quirks aren’t the best at this kind of thing. Even Shoto would just end up freezing the trapped and killing them faster.”

She hummed in agreement. Earlier she’d tried to persuade Lemillion they should go too, arguing pretty convincingly that she could be a second Uravity and allow Ochako to take a break, but when they’d formally enquired the heroes on the scene politely declined. Given it was effectively a recovery operation now they didn’t want to drain more heroes from the city than they had to and, gruesomely, they noted that Earphone Jack had already located the few remaining survivors. Uravity just had to continue to hold the debris and help them excavate.

Just.

People really didn’t understand how complex and difficult to control her quirk was. In her experience only Katsuki’s and Lemillion’s were as challenging, the latter the most of all. She frowned, lingering briefly on the quirk she was so far from mastering. How Mirio used his insane quirk everyday, and with such mastery, was currently beyond her.

“There are some other people there but yeah, it’s a bit scary. I just keep thinking she must be exhausted. People forget that there are limits to her quirk, even if she can lift stupid amounts. She’s probably so nauseous having to keep it active for hours like this.”

“Yeah, it’s badass, but it’s got to feel like shit.”

He swore as the sound of ringing came through on the other line.

“Sorry Miko, another call out coming through. Let’s hang this weekend though please?”

Once the comfort of his voice was gone Himiko was left with her thoughts again and the impulse to obsessively check in on her little hero.

She shoved it down as forcibly as she could and meandered along a familiar route.

When she got to Katsuki’s, he answered the door with a delightful All Might apron on, the look completed with a Luna Agency official hairband. The moon was perfectly in the centre of his forehead, making him vaguely look like Sailor Moon.

She had taken a picture before he’d even seen her phone.

“Holy shit, wow. You look fantastic and all cute with your hair pushed back.”

He scoffed to hide his blush and swore while she giggled remorselessly.

“Yeah, yeah, get the fuck in.”

A gentle groan from the couch directed her towards the prone form of one Izuku Midoriya, who was wearing a suit, notably barefooted, and curled up around an Edgeshot plushie. Himiko winced sympathetically as they stood above him.

“Has he been here since this morning?”

“No, nerd went to work like this until Tsukauchi eventually took pity and sent him home, so of course he came here instead. Came home from patrol to find him like this. I think he’s fucking fused with that plushie at this point.”

She grinned and shook her head.

“Aww, little Zuzu. Partying too hard?”

He whimpered and nodded. Katsuki, entirely unsympathetically, summarily flipped him off the couch and onto his arse, where he proceeded to sprawl out and whine some more.

His boyfriend’s hands sparked briefly as he sighed dramatically.

“Say hello to Himiko properly, dumbass! So rude!”

Half an hour later, Izuku was inhaling enough Katsudon to feed a village while the two blondes watched him in hushed awe.

“What the fuck happens at these parties?”

Katsuki shrugged, crimson eyes fixed on the green haired man.

“Never been invited, so I don’t know. But Izuku here seems to think we’re too stupid to realise he was combining weed with booze. This screams white out.”

A scarred hand froze for a moment, chopsticks clenched tightly, before guilty viridian eyes flicked up to his partner. Katsuki rolled his eyes.

“Akane put you up to that, didn’t she?”

“No! I mean, not just Akane. It was a new thing so, you know, I wanted to try it.”

Himiko nodded knowingly, remembering many nights of stealing joints from Spinner and Shiggy at the League’s hideout while they gamed, but her acceptance was not mirrored by the host.

“Fuck sake Izuku we can’t be caught doing drugs of any description! When you’re a pro all of this will be on your record and we have to be beyond reproach, you know?”

Ah. That’s why he was being such a hard ass about this. Katsuki’s dream. The two of them chasing each other forever.

The dream that, looking between them now, she wasn’t so sure Izuku was still equally enthusiastic about. Had Katsuki noticed that too?

Funny, how both of them were watching their dreams with their partners not quite pan out the way they imagined. She was sulking while Katsuki was fretting at the shift.

Why were they both idiots who couldn’t just express their fears?

Izuku rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

“Sorry Kacchan, I’ll think about that next time. Just wanted to have fun in the moment.”

He paused and took another enormous mouthful, while Himiko caught the flash of guilt across Katsuki’s face.

“This is even more delicious than normal, by the way.”

“Don’t suck up to me! Or talk with your mouth open!”

Izuku grinned.

“Sorry Kacchan!”

Himiko smiled into her bowl. Dorks.

Personally, she was grateful that Izuku was being such a mess because it distracted from the absence of her girlfriend. All of their phones kept pinging with the familiar chime of hero news updates and they were collectively trying to resist the urge to check on Ochako. Especially Izuku, who usually leapt on his phone every time a live update came out. He smiled at her, talking over the latest chirp.

“You still enjoying being with Lemillion, Himiko?”

She nodded, swallowing her food before answering to avoid Katsuki’s etiquette wrath.

“Loving it. Mirio is so great to work with and we’re getting to do such interesting stuff. There’s not a lot of agencies near us so we get first dibs on all the major incidents and we’re really getting to know a lot of the people on our patrol route, which is the bit I enjoy most. The QCP is going really well too. Actually…”

As she recounted the story of her surprise cousin, Izuku slowly regained life, invigorated by his favourite subject.

“Her quirk sounds fascinating! A logical evolution of yours, although there’s barely a generation between you, and, hmm, presumably it’s also a mutation? Though at this point, to be honest, the differentiation between a mutation and a natural evolution must be narrowing? Quirks are becoming so much more powerful with every generation it’s not neat to determine what has prompted the changes in them. Perhaps we need to evolve our understanding, to find a new language to describe these rapid changes…”

His musing devolved into muttering which she and Katsuki sat back and watched fondly. She couldn’t entirely hold in her laugh.

“I see Professor Midoriya is now back to his old self.”

Katsuki clicked his tongue loudly but every ounce of him was soft, open and honest affection radiating from his slouched body while he watched his boyfriend.

As they were bidding her goodnight, Katsuki surprised her with a firm hug and whispered assurances.

“Ochako’s just trying to make sure that she can protect your future, you know. All this work is no reflection of how much she loves you, right?”

As usual, he presented his opinion as a statement of fact and she laughed quietly into his shoulder.

“I know, it’s just…I just miss her, that’s all.”

He hummed.

“We all do. Tell her and I’ll do the same. Cheeks is going to be too tired to function at this rate and none of us want that.”

Armed with enough leftovers to feed her and Ochako several times over, she grinned as she waved goodbye to the duo and walked to the train.

When she toed off her shoes at the genkan and padded into their empty, quiet flat, her smile started to falter.

Loneliness settled into her gut and she lay in bed fixating on her phone, watching the coverage of her love still on site, still lifting debris and civilians.

Still anywhere but home.

She drifted off to sleep clutching the device, coverage droning on in the background and lulling her over.

*~*~*~*

It was after two in the morning by the time they got back to the Luna Agency. Ochako wasn’t sure she had ever been this tired. Emotionally and physically she felt completely numb. Beside her, Mirko didn’t look much better.

“I’ve already emailed Hideo about some after action counselling, by the way. She’s going to see you tomorrow afternoon.”

Mirko’s tone made it clear this was not optional and, frankly, Ochako was in no state to argue. She nodded meekly and sunk into her desk chair, exhaling at the temporary relief on her strained limbs.

Every time she closed her eyes all she could see was two bodies curled together, buried by the wrath of Mother Nature, so she tried to stare at the ceiling tiles instead.

Gods she wanted to be home. She wanted Himiko so badly right now.

“Well, fantastic work today ladies!”

The irritatingly peppy PR agency Mirko had hired were here, insistent that they needed a debrief before disbanding for the day. They were so overbearing, especially Yuuto Yamamoto, their assigned lead who had been influencing everything from their call out rate to the many media bids they were hauled out to do.

“Casualties were limited once you made it to the scene, and that image of Uravity floating out of the hole with the young boy will be fantastic promotional material for the agency.”

Ochako’s stomach turned, a fresh wave of nausea adding to all she had built up today.

“Pardon?”

Yamamoto continued, oblivious to the impact her words had.

“You cradling him like that, so transparently concerned, is perfect. The ideal image of the next generation of heroes and the type of Agency we are aspiring to be. We’ve pushed it out to every news outlet we can, accompanied by the agonising backstory. I suspect it’ll be on the cover of all the major papers in the morning.”

Ochako remembered carrying his tiny frame into the ambulance, of the sinking sensation of watching him drive away to hopefully live another day, before having to go back and fetch the corpse of his mother. The mother who had given her life just for the chance to save his.

She felt sick. No, she was definitely going to be sick.

She jumped to her feet, ignoring the deep pulse of discomfort the fizzed through her overworked limbs, and managed to haul her body to the bathroom before she lost the limited contents of her stomach. It was a miracle she hadn’t vomited until now, but the thought of that poor boy being exploited for their gain had pushed her over the edge.

Alone, and now his loss would be immortalised forever in screeds of press coverage.

When she finally freshened up and steadied herself, clutching the sink as she debated what choice words she would have for that fucking asshole Yamamoto, she caught the tail end of Mirko’s raised voice.

“I will not employ fucking ghouls! Thank you for your service but, for now, we’ll be better without you.”

Holy shit, was she…?

“You cannot be serious, Mirko. We’ve literally just done our jobs-”

Mirko almost growled and Ochako poked her head around the door to watch.

“No, you went ahead and put a traumatic event on blast because you thought it would be good for our ‘image’ without asking either Uravity or I if we agreed with that approach. Even though we were the ones there all fucking day, pulling bodies from the wreckage. That bullshit is not what this agency is going to be about. Not now, not ever. So kindly fuck off and we’ll get someone else in who actually aligns with our values.”

It was a blissful relief to watch them hastily pack up, Yamamoto sharply clicking long fingers together to hurry her team up. Her cold eyes flicked up to her now ex-client as she shook her head.

“Well good luck working with any other firm, Mirko. They’ll all be the same, and the Luna Agency will fade into fucking obscurity without good representation. Did you know most new agencies fail within a year?”

She turned on her heel and was gone, the rabbit hero slumping onto a desk as she watched them go. Ochako emerged from her hiding spot to lean beside her, so exhausted she was almost swaying on her feet.

“You catch all that?”

“Yeah. Asshole. I’m so relieved she’s gone.”

Mirko hummed, staring at the floor.

“We will find someone better. Promise. Now-”

She pushed off her desk and walked in front of Ochako, strong prosthetic hands reaching out to grab her shoulders forcefully.

“You are taking tomorrow morning off.”

Instinctively, Ochako went to argue, but the look on Mirko’s face shut her up.

“You did great work today. Awful, harrowing, but brilliant work. However, you’re exhausting yourself and I’ve been selfish in letting you. I had every hero in the top 10 message me today and ask why Uravity looks like she hasn’t slept in a month and they’re right.”

Mirko frowned when she continued to protest.

“And not just that. Himiko is missing her girlfriend so much it’s making me feel fucking guilty.”

Well now Ochako also felt guilty. Shit. She closed her mouth and her weak protests died.

Mirko sighed and her grip loosened slightly.

“Truthfully, I’ve been working too hard as well. We’ve both put a lot on the line for this agency and it’s draining the shit out of us. But the thing is, a pro career isn’t a sprint. Sure, you don’t want to have regrets and you want to be able to look yourself in the eye at night and know you did what you could to save as many people as possible. But Ochako, you’ve got to get through many, many years of this, and if you keep trying to work like this it’s going to kill you. Not to mention the night school and the fact you still, somehow, do a day’s worth of hours at the QCP every week.”

Well, she’d been managing to do that by working from dawn and clocking off ridiculously late at the Agency. Not to mention she worked every Saturday and sometimes came in on Sundays if she could swing it with Himiko.

That familiar swell of guilt rose back up and ate at her when she thought of her love. Waking up alone, eating alone, sleeping alone. Everything she had not wanted their life together to be but what, it seemed, was required to keep every delicate plate spinning.

“So, tomorrow morning off, then desk duty before you see Hideo, and an early finish please. We also need to get you an intern sooner rather than later to help manage the load, okay?”

The fight was drained from her so she merely nodded, looking up to see the strain on her mentor’s face and promptly snorted. She was so exhausted even their shared agony was funny.

“This has been such a shit day.”

Mirko laughed and nodded.

“One of many, little beast. One of many. Now get a shower and go home to your girl.”

She let go of her grip and guided a leaden Ochako towards the agency showers, leaving her to try and wash the day away.

*~*~*~*

As Ochako crept into her home, more than a full 24 hours after she left, she tried to stuff down the familiar swell of shame and guilt.

It always felt perverse that they should be blessed like this, to be able to live in such a beautiful home entirely because of Himiko’s suffering.

But it was more than that today. It was the fact that she, the hero who swept into catastrophe before floating off again, could ease back into her life like this while nothing would ever be the same for those she had saved today.

She had witnessed so much loss at the scene yet here she was, coming home to a warm, clean, enormous and far too beautiful flat, soon to be in the arms of the woman she loved.

At the thought an image of that mother, fiercely gripping her own precious little love, came to her unbidden and it almost knocked the air out of her. She slumped against their kitchen counter, suddenly bereft of the ability to reach the comfort she had been craving all day. She tried to keep her tears quiet but the dam she had reinforced while in hero mode was breached, desperate sobs flooding her and forcing ugly distress out of her throat.

Uravity’s work was done, and now Ochako was left to hold the consequences in the aftermath.

It ached. Her soul ached so much more than the pain in her tired body, deep, reverberating shocks of grief that left her breathless.

A rapid patter of feet was her only warning she had woken her love.

“Chako? Oh baby, oh gods, come here.”

Himiko stumbled across their living area, somehow still light on her feet even while groggy with sleep, and pulled Ochako into her chest.

Her body immediately reacted, reaching around to cling fiercely to their favourite person.

Himiko brought them to the floor and let Ochako settle into her lap, her tears surely staining them both.

“It’s okay, Ochako. You’re home. It’s all going to be okay.”

She wailed into her neck and hoped Himiko was right, but it all felt so fucking heavy.

Was it always going to be this hard?

Ochako entirely lost track of time, held firm in Himiko’s embrace and weeping until she was too exhausted to cry any more.

A little chuckle in her hair jerked her awake.

“You’re falling asleep, baby. Come on, let’s go to bed.”

She nodded against Himiko and allowed herself to be pulled up.

“Want me to carry you?”

It was indulgent but yes, she really did. Himiko had her scooped into a lift before she’d even voiced it, impressively strong.

She let her girlfriend strip her and find her favourite shirt to wear to bed. As they slipped under the covers, she let herself be held close again, relishing the warmth radiating from her girlfriend.

“Having a job fucking sucks sometimes Himi.”

Himiko burrowed her cheek into her hair and smiled.

“So overrated. I’ll take early retirement with my hot girlfriend, thanks.”

She laughed and nodded into her chest.

“I’ve got the morning off. Can you spend it with me?”

Himiko’s arms tightened around her and she almost registered the moment her nervous system relaxed, finally safe in the arms of her love.

“Always, Chako. I’ll spend any and every morning with you.”

*~*~*~*

Nestled in his office deep in the halls of the Japanese diet, Aito Kito MP frowned as he glanced through the draft report.

A blinding success. A world-leading example. The perfect exemplification of reform in action.

What utter horse shit.

It was bad enough that the Prime Minister listened to that mendacious rodent and agreed to enact this heinous legislation, but to herald it an unmitigated success simply because a single criminal hadn’t played to type and murdered anyone in a mere year? Not to mention that a vindictive zombie had been made into a hero by virtue of the same law.

Fucking ridiculous.

He set down the papers, shrugged off his jacket and reached for his phone, flicking through social media with a growing sense of unease.

They needed to start considering ways to counter this, to help the public see sense again. There were whispers out there about efforts to infiltrate the HPSC and that indulgent quirk reform work, but he had struggled to find out who was pulling the strings and putting people up to it.

But there were some things he could shed light on immediately, and he knew he wanted to start by finding out the secrets behind that hideous smile.

He looked down at the image of her with a group of children at a school visit today, smiling and every inch the textbook hero.

Hiding in plain sight.

Protected by her borrowed name.

And, if the rumours around the walls of the Diet had it right, corrupting one of the most promising young heroes of this generation in the process.

It made him sick.

His face curdled as his pulse thumped in his neck, angry and ready for a fight.

“I see you. I fucking see you, Toga.”

He wouldn’t rest until everyone else saw that bloodthirsty monster for what she really was too.

*~*~*~*