Chapter 4
Inko had been having a good day.
The past few years had been going very well for the Midoriyas. With the Asui's helping with getting a handle on her son's instincts, as well as providing a wonderful friend in Tsuyu, the future looked bright for them.
Working through his instincts and having a friend he talked to regularly, had allowed her son to keep a level of confidence the school district tried its hardest to knock out of him.
While Izuku tried his best to not show how going to that awful school was getting to him, she wasn't blind. She was his mother, and he wasn't the only one who had struggled to hide their pain growing up. This was on top of how prone their family was to wearing their emotions on their sleeves.
She shook her head to rid herself of those memories. No point dwelling on such morbid recollections.
She could tell that something awful was going on at Aldera, but she couldn't get any information no matter what she tried. From asking Izuku, to questioning the staff, she couldn't get any conclusive information on what they were doing, but she knew.
She knew her son had an amazing mind, yet when she asked the school why all his scores floated around the high C's, they always told her about how middling his intelligence was.
They had even contacted her to inform her that Izuku was starting fights! Of all the nerve!
She knew Izuku was a hero at heart, she knew he would never start a fight. Heck, he was so nice she was certain he wouldn't hurt a fly if he could open window to let it outside.
She would have moved so he could be a part of a different school district, if not for a combination of her current position at the local hospital and Izuku's desire to join the local hero university U.A.
He had made it clear since he was young that it was his dream to go through U.A. to be a hero. "It's where All Might graduated from!" he would always say.
She was worried that he might be a little too obsessed with the Number 1 hero.
She never spoke of it to him and tried even harder to not think about it. His quirk couldn't hold a candle to All Might's power, and she was worried he might be overestimating what sort of villains he could face. Most of her worries had thankfully been laid to rest one evening a couple of years prior.
Inko and Izuku were having dinner one night, enjoying her son's favorite meal Katsudon, with extra pork added to it.
Inko had made it that night with the hopes of keeping Izuku in good spirits for the conversation she dreaded having with him.
Her son had always dreamed of being a hero. Even admiring the number one hero All Might to the point of filling every wall in his bedroom with All Might memorabilia.
This admiration had naturally led to her being worried about how far he would be willing to go as a hero.
After all, when your standards are set as high as the best hero in Japan, doing any less might demoralize him. Or make him push himself too far.
She was also worried for another reason.
Ever since he started puberty, she had noticed a shift in him. Where before he would always have his signature smile and happy outlook on life, he hadn't smiled so often in the last few years.
She knew most teenagers went through the normal angsty stage, but Izuku was almost downright irritable. This was so far outside of the norm for him she was worried that he had become friends with awful influences, but whenever he watched one of his favorite hero shows or movies he seemed to go back to normal.
Although, he had growled at her that one time she tried to turn off a special on All Might and send him to bed.
Oddly, his froggy friend Tsuyu had told her that she never noticed anything off about him. Although she shouldn't be surprised, with how those two got along.
She was wondering when those two would finally tell eachother-
No, down Inko. Now is not the time for those types of thoughts.
No matter how adorable little baby frogs with freckles would look.
At least he seemed to be getting a better handle of himself lately. Maybe it had something to do with his quirk? It did let him turn into a wolf, after all. Maybe the instincts were crossing wires with puberty and throwing him off?
She shook those thoughts off.
As they finished eating, Inko took a deep breath to center herself. "Izuku, sweety? There's something we need to talk about."
Izuku had been just about to bring his dishes to the sink when she spoke. Something about her tone told him there was no getting out of this conversation. "Ok, mom, what's up?"
"It's about you becoming a hero." She noticed his fists clenching, a growl spreading up from his throat as he seemed about to retort. She raised her hand to cut him off. "I'm not going to stop you from becoming a hero. This is about something else."
Inko let out a little breath of relief when she noticed him relaxing.
"Let me start off by saying that I will never get in the way of you becoming a hero. I just-" she paused, gulping as she struggled to come up with the right words. "I just need to know what your expectations as a hero are."
He looked at her with a confused look on his face. "My…expectations?"
"I need to know what kind of hero you want to be." She raised her hand again to keep him from answering. "Izuku, please? Let me finish? I-I promise I'll let you answer, but I need to get this out before I lose the nerve to talk about it. It'll be hard enough as it is."
She could feel her eyes burning. No darnit, not now. He needed her to be strong. He needed her to talk about this. Otherwise, there is no telling what he would do when he became a hero.
"I know you want to be a hero like All Might, and that's wonderful." A small smile grew on her face. "Imagining my baby running around, saving people with a big smile on his face yelling out "I Am Here" makes me the happiest mother there could be."
She lost her smile, staring down at the table, unable to meet her son's eyes.
"But-but then I imagine you f-fighting all the villains he fights," tears were rolling down her cheeks as she looked back up to Izuku. "A-and that scares me. It scares me th-thinking about how you may n-not come home one day. S-so please. Please p-promise me something."
She hiccupped as Izuku grabbed her hands. Tears running from his eyes as well. "A-anything mom."
Inko took a few calming breaths. Trying to get her breathing under control. "I-I know that going into hero work, you can't be safe, but please p-promise me that you will at least be careful. T-that you'll come home? I d-don't what I'd ever do i-if…"
A fresh wave of sobs broke through her. "Dangit Inko, you were supposed to hold it together. You were supposed to be able to face him. Oh god now he probably thinks you don't believe in him. I'm a terrible mother…"
Before her thoughts could devolve further, she felt a pair of arms wrapped around her.
"Of c-course, I promise. I will always come home, mom."
It took several minutes for the two of them to get their tears under control.
Inko broke the silence, sniffling as she did so. "I-it looks like I'll have to bring out the mop again."
The two chuckled, happy to get through the emotional moment.
Izuku spoke up, wiping his eyes. "I-I've actually been thinking about what kind of hero I wanted to be for a while."
Inko looked up to him, still recovering in her seat.
"I k-know I'm not strong. Sure, I have my howls, but they wouldn't stop most villains." Izuku looks into his mother's eyes. "I've decided that I'm going to be a rescue hero."
Inko's eyes widened. "What?! B-but what about your dream of being like All Might." She tried to not let the relief betray her.
"I can still be like All Might. He's not just about beating villains; he saves people too. I can still go around telling people "I Am Here!" while saving people! My quirk's enhanced senses would better suit for that anyway."
She saw the front he was putting up. While he certainly believed it, she could tell he was disappointed. She stood up and hugged him.
"You may not be going around taking out villains and changing the weather in one punch, but I just knowyou will still be the best hero there ever was! Maybe no one else will think so, but you always be the Number 1 hero to me." She squeezed him tight, trying to give him all the confidence she felt for him.
He hugged her back. A big smile on his face. "Thanks mom. I'll do my best."
"I know you will, Izuku. I believe in you."
She had just started pulling dishes to start dinner when she heard a ring tone from her phone that had her heart stutter.
There was a certain All Might "I Am Here" ringtone she had set specifically for if Izuku had ever called her, and she hadn't received a phone call from him this far after school had let out in a while.
"That's strange. He's never home this late without calling ahead…" Inko muttered. She picked up her phone, prepared to ask if her son had planned an outing with some friends from school. She was seriously starting to wonder if he ever gave himself time to hang out with anyone since he came straight home from school every day.
Inko answered the phone, ready to engage in an interrogation disguised as a concerned mother wondering how her son's day had been, when he spoke first.
"Mom, I need your help"
She froze, back going ramrod straight. His tone held a desperation to it and barely maintained control.
Ever since Izuku's spike in his wolf-like instincts as he hit puberty he had spent a lot of time curating a level of control that let him live his day to day life without his instinct driving his actions. It required a certain level of control over his emotions.
She could hear that control straining in his voice.
Inko quickly started moving, her training from her work at the local hospital had her heading toward the medical bag she kept at home in case of emergencies before she had realized it.
She forced herself to slow down, trying to get her panic under control.
"Izuku, sweetie, what's wrong?"
"W-well, I was on my way home from school, having decided to take a longer way home. I was passing an alley when I found someone being beaten up by a few men. I ran in to help-"
Inko's panic started to pick up again. "Beaten up?! Are you ok? Are you hurt? IsweariftheyhurtyouBeruandIwillsuethemfivefeetintothe-"
"MOM!" She was snapped out of her manic muttering by her son practically howling at her through the phone. "I didn't fight them, they left when I ran up to them."
"Ah! Yes, I'm sorry dear. What about the person who got hurt, are they ok?!" She started towards the medical bag agin, prepared to run out to help.
"N-not really. I think she may have a broken rib. She's c-coughing up blood, but I can't tell if it's from an internal bruise or…worse."
She felt a familiar chill run up her spine. She hurriedly grabbed her medical bag and headed towards the door. "How is her breathing, is she struggling to catch a breath?"
"Raspy, but she seems to be getting enough air in."
"Have you called for an ambulance yet? They should be able to get her to a hospital fast enough to look at her before her injuries get worse."
Izuku hesitated a moment before responding. "Mom… she said she didn't want to go to a hospital. Something about not wanting her parents to find her."
She paused, hand on the door knob when she heard her son take in a shaky breath.
"S-she sounded scared when she mentioned them. No, not just scared, o-outright horrified at the prospect of them finding her. Do you remember those classes you had me take of recognizing signs of an abuse victim?"
Inko's blood ran cold. Then burning fury only a mother could muster ran through her body. As she exited their home she slammed the front door in barely suppressed anger.
"Izuku."
"Y-yes?"
"Send me your location. You stay right where you are and keep her as still as possible, so her injuries don't get worse. If her coughing gets worse, try to get her on her uninjured side so she doesn't choke on her blood. I will be there as soon as possible."
After the phone call, Izuku stood there for a moment. He had only heard that tone from his mother a few times. Never was it a good sign when she went that serious. He shuddered remembering the last time it happened.
"God rest that man's shins."
He shook his head and turned back to Himiko. She was already sitting up, so keeping her still was out of the window, but he was worried something could happen if he tried to lay her back down.
He also noticed that her gaze seemed to be going a bit hazy. It seemed like everything was finally catching up to her and was close to passing out, but he couldn't let that happen. He knew one of the worst things to do while having an injury like this was passing out. After all, you never knew what other injuries were hidden beneath the ones you could see.
"Hey Himiko."
The blond girl brought her tired gaze to meet his. "Hm?"
"My mom is on her way, and I let her know that you don't want your parents called." She relaxed visibly at this news. "I need you to stay awake, though, so how about we talk?"
"What about?"
The strain of sitting up was finally getting to her. She grimaced as a spike of pain flared in her side.
Izuku searched and brought a sturdy box over for her to lean against.
She relaxed a little, the effort of sitting up taken away. "Thank you…"
"You're welcome. What to talk about? Anything! Our hobbies, stuff we like, even our favorite colors! We aren't too far from my place so it shouldn't be long for my mom to get here. I'll start, my favorite color is green, what's yours?"
Himiko seemed to hesitate for a moment before she spoke. "…Red."
Izuku smiled as he sat down next to her. "Red is an awesome color! Goes really well with green. It reminds me of Christmas." Himiko flinched at the mention of this holiday.
While she tried to hide it, Izuku noticed.
"Noted, don't mention family holidays."
"That was easy… Oh! What about hobbies? Do you have any hobbies? I like writing about becoming a hero and quirks in my notebooks. Do you want to see one?" Izuku pulls out the notebook he had been taking notes in at school. "I've got a few different notebooks. Mostly for new heroes I see, or sometimes updated old entries or those on heroes I discover new information on to fix misguided assumptions on their quirks or hero costumes."
Himiko watched as he flipped through the surprisingly well drawn entries. While normally she didn't care for heroes, something about how the greenette spoke of them had her drawn in. Listening as he rambled on about obscure heroes she had never heard of.
Izuku was about halfway through his current notes when he paused. "Ah, I'm sorry, I've just been going on about my own hobby. I forgot to ask about you."
Himiko's head snapped back, a confused look on her face. "H-huh, me?"
"Yeah, you. Do you have any hobbies?"
Izuku noticed her reaction. She started to fidget in place, hands interlocked, her fingers squirming against each other. She seemed to go a little paler, but before he could ask what was wrong, she blurted out an answer. "B-birdwatching!"
Izuku took a moment to process that as she broke into another coughing fit.
"Birdwatching? What kinds of birds do you-" Before he could finish the question, he heard a familiar voice.
"Izuku! I'm here, where are you!"
Izuku stood up and ran to the alley entrance. He saw her as he turned the corner and waved to her. "Over here mom!"
As soon as Inko saw the injured girl, some of her anger boiled away and let the worried mother back out.
"Oh dear. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. What have those awful men done to you. Here, let me look at you." Inko had gotten down and started rummaging through her medical bag. "Izuku, turn around. I need to look at her injured side."
Some of Himiko's earlier stubbornness tried to come back in the hurricane that was this woman. "N-no, that won't be necessary-"
"Nonsense! Izuku told me what those awful men did to you, and I would never forgive myself if I just let you walk away with these injuries. So please, let me look at it. I just want to help."
Himiko's stubbornness broke in the face of this woman. "Dammit, first him and now her. Does it run in the family or something?"
Himiko broke their gaze and muttered out an, "OK."
Inko carefully lifted the side of her shirt covering the injury. She took in a sharp gasp as her gaze registered it.
Inko looked back at her son. "Izuku, sweety, can you do something for me. I need ice, and lots of it to rest on the bruise. Can you please run down to the local store and get some?"
Izuku started running to fulfill this request before she had even finished. "Yes, mom!"
Inko watch him leave. Once he turned the corner Inko looked back at the young girl and started taking care of her other injuries.
"Izuku told me that you didn't want your parents to find you." Himiko froze, before letting out a hiss as Inko cleaned out a particularly nasty scrape on her arm. "Can you tell me why?"
"…P-please don't send me back to them, I-I don't want to go back to them. He promised."
Inko looked up to see Himiko crying, blubbering about not wanting to go back.
Inko grabbed a handkerchief from the medical back and started carefully wiping the tears away. "It's going to be ok, sweety. I won't force you to go back to them, but I need to know why you don't want to go back, ok?"
Himiko saw that the older woman was on the verge of tears herself. Something in her broke at the sight of this adult showing such compassion. She started to sob. Coughing and hiccupping as she tried to respond.
"I-they-it's"
Inko continued to wipe the younger girl's cheeks of the tears as she comforted her. "Sshh, it's ok. Just breathe. Take your time. I'm here, and everything is going to be ok."
It took a few moments for Himiko to get a handle of her emotions. "I-it's because I'm a monster."
Inko recoiled back. "W-what?! Monster? Why would you think you're a monster?"
"I-It's my q-quirk. I-it lets me t-transform into people. But to do it, I have to drink their… b-bl-blood."
Inko's eyebrows came together. "W-why would that make you a monster?"
"Because I like it! B-blood is so pretty and tasty. W-whenever I see it I-I just want to eat it up! That's not normal! It's… I-It's…"
"Wanting to drink blood doesn't make you a monster."
Inko's head snapped around at the voice behind her.
Izuku stood there with a bag in his hand. "Sorry it took me so long. I had to get some clothe to wrap the ice in, so it wasn't sitting directly on her skin."
Inko took the wrapped ice and placed it gently against Himiko's side grimacing as the girl winced in pain.
Izuku crouched down on the girl's opposite side. It took the blond girl a few moments to register his words, and she looked him in the eyes. Those damn confident eyes. It almost looked like he meant what he said. "I-it's not normal wanting to drink blood."
Izuku smiled at her. Like he knew something she didn't. "What does "being normal" even mean in this day and age? With quirks, the term "normal" has been thrown so far out the window it's barely a speck in the distance."
Himiko would have laughed at the image if the words hadn't frozen her brain solid. What did normal mean? "I-I don't know."
Izuku's smile widened. "It means whatever you want it to mean! Other people can't define that for you. If you want to drink blood, then drink blood!"
"Izuku!"
He flinched at his mother's deprecating tone. "W-well, the method in which you get the blood is up for debate of course. You can't just go attacking people for it."
He saw Himiko flinch at those words. Curling in on herself as best she can with the older Midoriya tending to her.
He chose not to question that reaction. "W-well, what's normal aside, can I ask you something?"
Himiko looked up at him. The look on her face like that of a kitten that had just gotten kicked. He powered through.
"Those urges you get. The want to drink blood. Do they get worse the longer you go without blood?"
She nodded her head. "Y-yeah…"
Izuku leaned forward, a look of someone so close to putting the pieces of a puzzle together. "Do you feel anything else when go without for long periods of time? Dizziness, aches, urges? Do your parents give you blood on occasion? You can't have gone all your life without getting any blood, right?"
Momentarily frozen by the barrage of questions, Himiko took her time to consider her answers.
And if she would tell them the truth.
She looked back up at the mother and son. The mother having a look of worry as she stared at her son. Izuku having a look of surety. Like he knew these questions would help.
She spoke the truth. Even about those… incidents.
"W-whenever I go a long time without it, my head gets a little fuzzy, l-like it's harder to think straight. Sometimes I can keep focused, but the longer it goes on the worse it gets. Eventually, I get these urges." At this she holds a hand over her stomach. "Urges that tell me I need to have the blood in me. Make it part of me."
Fresh tears fall down her cheeks as she recounts the next parts. She never noticed the look of understanding cross the face of the older woman.
"E-eventually it gets so bad that I j-just kind of… faze out? I-I stop being aware of stuff going on around me. A-and then I'll wake up, either covered in blood, or w-with… with a bird or s-squirrel in my hands, covered in blood. Blood so… pretty, so tasty." She looked up at Izuku, a look of desperation on her face. "S-see! I'm a monster. Normal people don't want to hurt people and drink their blood. No one who is normal would do that to an animal. No normal person would have this disgusting obsession…"
Himiko dropped her head down. Staring at the ground.
"I-I even attacked one of my classmates after he had been in a fight… S-so just leave me. I-I'll probably hurt you too…"
She hears the older Midoriya mutter out "Oh my god." She curls up again, ready for the vitriol. The hate. After all, she was just a crazy girl that hurts things. Better they just leave her now before-
"You're not crazy."
Himiko's head snaped up to the voice.
"W-what?"
Izuku was smiling at her the biggest smile she had seen on him. He set a hand on her shoulder. "I said "You're not crazy"." He looked over to his mother. "I guess we aren't the only ones who suffer from muttering problems.
He looked back to Himiko.
"From what you explained, I don't think it's some simple obsession. Tell me, when you get those urges to drink blood, does your stomach hurt at all?"
"Y-yes, why?"
"Toga, you aren't suffering from some psychotic break when you have those… let's call them "episodes". No, you're suffering the equivalent of starvation."
She looked up to him in bemusement.
"What your parents were doing to you wasn't just mental abuse, they were starving you of something you needed to live." Izuku stood up at this. A look of anger morphing onto his face.
He paced back and forth, fists clenched as he started to rant.
"And with all the marvels of modern medicine and quirk research, they could have easily gotten a supplement of some sort. Heck, there are certain agencies who get volunteers for something like donating blood to help in emergencies or to help hero. Ofallthenogood,evilthingstoever-"
A hiccup interrupted him.
He looked back at Himiko, to see her face scrunch up, her body heaving as she fought off some physical reaction to his words. "Oh god did I say something wrong? Did I offend her somehow. What do I-"
"S-so… I'm not a monster?"
Her question immediately quenched his anger. He crouched back down next to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Of course you're not a monster."
Inko put a hand on her other shoulder. Himiko looked and saw that the older woman was openly crying. "If anyone are the monsters, it's your parents."
Inko put on a determined face, even through her tears.
"I promise you, they will never get their hands on you, and if they do, all the money in the world won't save them. In fact," Inko leaned back pulling her phone out while keeping the bag of ice on Himiko's side. She sent a message before putting it down. "I've just sent a message to my lawyer. They won't be able to come within 500 yards of you, let alone get custody of you again."
It took a while for Himiko to stop crying.
It took many reassurances that the Midoriyas would not send Himiko back to her parents to convince her to let them take her to the hospital.
With her coughing up blood, there was no telling how bad the damage really was. Better to be on the safe side, they had declared.
The next morning saw the Midoriyas sitting outside of a hospital room, waiting to hear word of Himiko's condition.
Himiko didn't have a punctured lung, but one of three broken ribs had come dangerously close to it. She had gone into surgery late the previous night to make sure her ribs heal correctly and to fix a broken arm. Apparently it had been broken during the beating, and no one had realized it.
Inko and Izuku had been allowed to use one of the hospital sleeping rooms after explaining the girl's circumstances to the resident doctor. They went down to Himiko's room soon after waking.
Izuku was sitting impatiently in his chair, leg tapping. He was contemplating just walking into her room when the door opened.
A nurse walked out of the room, reading over a chart.
She was startled when the green haired boy appeared before her. "Is Himiko ok? Is she awake? Can we see her?"
The nurse took a moment to work through the word barrage and responded with a smile.
"She is okay. She is recovering well from the surgery, but she is still tired from the ordeal. Based on how long she had gone without proper intake of blood it will take her a while to be back in tip-top shape, but she should be good to see people now. We went ahead and conta-"
Before she could finish, Izuku and had entered the room to see Himiko sitting up in bed, sipping on a packet filled with red liquid. "Himiko, is that…?"
The blond girl in question froze. She had just been enjoying a nice bag of bloody goodness when he entered. On one hand, she was excited to see the green-haired boy. On the other, she was worried he would judge her for drinking the crimson fluid so openly.
The bag was pulled from her mouth with a pop. "I-I, well, that is…"
Izuku sped towards her, his expression morphing as he raised a hand in her direction.
The world narrowed, breathing becoming subtle gasps. "I-I'm sorry daddy, I won't do it again. Normal girls don't need blood, I promise I won't-"
She felt a weight land atop her head. Her vision snapped back into focus, seeing a wide smile on Izuku's face. The weight on her head being his hand as he gently pat her blond hair.
She did not purr, and if anyone insinuated otherwise, she would stab them.
Izuku spoke. "Is that a blood bag? We made it very clear that you had gone without it for longer than you should have. I'm happy to see they gave you some. How are you feeling, any lingering pain in your side?"
Himiko found it difficult to respond while under the head pat assault that had subtly switched over to a calm scratching at her scalp.
In lieu of responding, she simply melted into her hospital bed, bringing the delicious drink back to her lips to suck on. Letting out a quiet "Mhm".
Izuku's smile widened, if that was even possible at seeing her contended face. He deduced that she may have a minor animal quirk mutation in her based on certain mannerisms and those adorable eyes of hers with pupils that seemed to transition from a normal circle to a catlike slit. He had assumed, based on his own experiences, that a good head scratching would do wonders to help her relax.
Seeing her continue to drink the blood she had been so deprived of for most of her life as she relaxed released knot of tension in him, like things were going to be ok.
That was when he heard the controlled shouting coming from outside the hospital room.
He was just about to move towards the door, intent on figuring out what the commotion was about, when the door swung open letting in an irate Inko Midoriya. She had her phone out dialing a number with a look on her face like a hurricane was about to drop and destroy half of Japan.
"Mom… What's going on?"
Inko looked to her son as she brought the phone to her ear. "One moment sweetie, things just got a bit more complicated, and I need to place a call."
He felt a tension of worry growing in his gut but was distracted when he felt a tug on the hand on top of Himiko's head.
He looked at her, seeing that she had placed the hand not holding the blood bag on his, a begging look on her face. The one only a starving kitten could give. He tried to resist, he knew he should focus more on what his mother had discovered, but ultimately caved and continued the scritches.
He turned back to his mother as he heard her speak.
"Hi Beru, I hope you are having a good morning. I know you are going to be heading this way as soon as you can this morning, but an issue just came up. The girl I spoke to you about? Someone at the hospital decided to ignore the express instructions to not call her parents until her condition was stable and had the chance to speak with her."
Izuku froze at those words and Himiko's adorablepurrs transitioned over to a horrified whimper.
"They are on their way, but we have no idea how long it will take for them to get here. Do we have any options to delay them? I refuse to let them in the room with her!" Inko paused for a few moments as Beru, on the other end of the line, spoke to the distraught mother as she pulled out a small notepad to write something down.
"Ok. Ok. Oh posh, don't even think about it. You bring them with you, and we'll look after them for however long you need to be here. We loving having the kids over!" After a few minutes of motherly gushing, Inko put her serious face back on. "Thank you, Beru, really. I know you two probably have other cases to deal with. I promise I will make this up to you somehow."
Izuku shared worried glances with Himiko. If he understood what she said correctly, it sounded like the injured girl's parents were on their way at that moment.
They turned back towards his mother as she spoke, having started another call. She had put on a false smile, looking to hide the sheer manic anger he saw when she had walked in.
"Good morning, can I please speak to a Tsukauchi Naomasa? Oh, wonderful! I hope you are having a good morning. I'm Midoriya Inko. I am sorry to bother you, but I am desperate. My son found an injured girl who may be dealing with a case of severe child neglect and/or abuse. We brought her to Musutafu General hospital and her parents were notified of her admittance into their care. I am worried for her safety if they arrive and immediately try to remove her."
The two 16 year olds listened on as Inko continued to explain the situation to the person on the other line.
Inko ended the call and moved to stand next to the young pair. She put on the best supportive smile she could under the circumstances, focusing her attention on Himiko.
"I'm sorry you two had to hear that, but I've just been informed, Himiko, that your parents were notified that you were admitted here after I explicitlytold them not to. What is the point of having tenure here if no one listens to me in a case like this." The last part muttered under her breath.
Inko shook her head, a hopeful smile on her face as she refocused.
"Beru, our lawyer and family friend gave me the number to a local detective in the force to hopefully provide us with some protection. I don't know when he will get here, but he assured me that he wouldn't let them take you, Himiko."
Himiko had started to shiver. Fear that she would have to go back. Back to that hell of "normalcy". Before she could truly fall into that pit of despair, she felt a strong grip hold her hand.
She looked to her side to see Izuku, a look of determination on his face so strong that she could have sworn his eyes were glowing.
"I promised you, Himiko, that they wouldn't take you back. While we wait for the detective to arrive, I promise you that I will stand watch. If they show up before him, they will not be permitted to enter here."
Having said his piece, she watched as a glow pervaded the room, the green haired boy's form having been replaced by a large wolf. She watched as it stalked towards the door, laying down it front of it. His gaze never wavered from it, his ears at attention. Ready for any sign of trouble.
Time passed. The longer they waited, the more worried they became that the first person to walk through the door would be irate parents looking to bring their daughter back to an abusive home. Izuku had changed his guarding position from laying in front of the door to laying near Himiko's hospital bed. His head rested on the bed, where the blond girl could be found with one hand on his head, looking for comfort.
All three of them tensed when they heard a knock on the door.
The man who walked in wore a beige trench coat with a matching colored hat on his head. He had a rather plain looking face, with a short, if bedraggled, head of black hair. He lowered the hat from his head as he began to speak.
"Sorry if I'm disturbing you, I'm Tsukauchi Naomasa." The man looked towards the older Midoriya. "Midoriya Inko, I presume? I got here as soon as I could."
As the two exchanged pleasantries, Izuku couldn't help but stay focused on Himiko's reactions. She was clearly uncomfortable being in the presence of what was essentially a member of the authorities. He was aware that she had hurt several people in her need for blood after she had run away, and he could tell that the potential consequences had her worried.
He lifted his head and started to nuzzle her face, eliciting an uncontrollable bout of giggles. "S-stop it, that tickles!"
This only encouraged him to tickle her more.
The two adults paused in their conversation to watch the two kids playing and laughing(In Izuku's case, it was more like chuffing, in his large state).
Inko reluctantly broke up the rascals, introducing the detective.
"Going into this conversation, I must make you aware that my quirk is Lie Detector. It lets me know if anything you say is either lie or truth."
What followed was a string of questions for Himiko, so that the detective could get an outline of the child neglect case he was dealing with.
Knowingly keeping a quirk-based nutrient out of her diet, beatings, even locking her in a room in an attempt to "educate" her on what was normal and what wasn't were some of the worst offences. All of it rang true to his quirk.
As the interview had come near its close, they all heard a commotion outside of the hospital room. Several people shouting followed by the door to the room being swung open with a bang.
A blond man and woman barge into the room, looks of anger clear on their faces. A man wearing a police uniform with the head of a cat followed them in telling them that they couldn't be in the room.
The blond man spoke first, demand clear in his tone. "Where is she?"
Izuku felt Himiko freeze next to him as the man laid his eyes on her. His face grimaced into obvious fury when he saw her holding a blood bag.
"Who the hell gave her that?! She's can't drink that!" He started forward with a hand raised to snatch it from her hand, when a green blur revealed a large furry form between him and the girl.
Standing at about 3.5 feet at the shoulders, stood the largest wolf the man had ever seen, snarling at him. He flinched backwards expecting it to attack him.
What he was not expecting was for the wolf to reduce it's snarling to a low growl, then walk over to his daughter and rest it's head in her lap, nuzzling it's head into her stomach to get her attention.
Another figure stepped between him and Himiko. A short woman with green hair, a shade surprisingly similar to the giant animal getting scratches by the girl on the bed.
"I'm sorry, but I won't let you touch her. We promised to protect her from you, and we intend to keep that promise." Inko's glare was one filled with so much disgust, he was sure she was trying to end his very existence with it.
He snarled at her. "I don't know what lies that girl has been telling you, but she has been a menace ever since her quirk came in. We have been trying to correct her, and we will not let you indulge her in that awful behavior. Allowing her to drink blood will only make it worse!"
The man calmed his expression, practice from years of presenting a false face coming into place.
"Now, if you and your damn mutt would please leave, we need to take our daughter home."
The room went cold. The man was in moving to step around her when a tingle ran up his spine. He paused, looking down at the woman and realized that he may have overstepped at some point.
The expression on her face had every instinct in him screaming that this person was very close to burying whatever was left over from his body once she was through with whatever was about to happen.
"What did you just call my son?" He felt sweat pouring down his back at her tone.
Before any other words could be traded, a voice from behind the blond man spoke up.
"Alright, I think that's quite enough."
Naomasa pinched the bridge of his nose. He could already tell today was going to be a long one.
After he had everyone's attention, he introduced himself again.
"I am currently conducting an investigation into the potential child abuse you two have subjected Miss Himiko to, and your behavior ever since you entered this room is not helping your case. If you would please allow Officer Sansa to escort you out of the room and stay put, I will find you in a moment and ask you some questions."
The two blond parents bristled at being dismissed but were unable to get a word in before he spoke again.
"Please also be aware that I have a quirk called Lie Detector, and I have every legal right to use anything I find out through it in the investigation. Sansa, please escort them out, and if they give you any trouble, feel free to cuff them. I am taking this case as seriously as my job as a detective will allow."
As the Togas were escorted out of the room, he released a tired sigh.
He looked to the other residents of the room. "I apologize about that, only so much I can do to keep people like that out of a room with the only officer available to help me out. However, with all the information I've gathered here, I should have no issues getting a few more officers to watch over them."
Inko was finally able to relax. She crumpled into a nearby chair, feeling like 10 years had been shaved from her life.
A small voice spoke up in the following silence.
"D-does this mean I don't have to back with them?"
The two adults looked over to the voice. Seeing Himiko curled up around Izuku's large wolf head, holding onto it for dear life. Worried they may be separated if she were to let go.
Before either of them could respond, they heard a knock on the door.
Naomasa let out a frustrated grunt. "Knew I should have brought more coffee."
He opened the door, fully expecting to find the Togas causing another scene, only to see a wide-faced woman with green hair standing before him.
"Can I help you miss?"
"Is this Toga Himiko's room? I'm Asui Beru, Inko and Izuku Midoriya's lawyer. And for this case, Toga Himiko's lawyer by proxy." She looked over to the other three occupants of the room, a smile growing on her face. "I am here to ensure that the court of law recognizes that she cannot be sent back with those poor excuses for parents."
Naomasa sighed again. A long day indeed.