MHA: Dragon's Pride

A full day after making our deal I land in front of a plain two-story house and place Toga on the ground, the setting sun bathing us in its dying light. She pouts a bit at me, but I can tell she appreciates me carrying her in my arms instead of using my feet. Not sure why she's surprised though; it's not like she randomly jumped at me this time.

I look into her eyes and watch as the weight of what's to come settles on her shoulders like a boulder. "This is the last chance you'll have to turn back. Once we walk through that door, your decision is set. You will be walking away from this free. No matter what gets left behind."

She stares back into my eyes and takes a deep breath. She lets it out slowly while her eyes close. When they open, they're filled with steely determination. She throws her shoulders back, as if throwing off the weight of the expectations placed upon her. "I want to be me."

I smile before patting the bag on my side, and the meal I picked up for both of us on the way here. "You will, Toga." I raise a scaled hand and give the front door two loud knocks. "You will."

It doesn't take long for the sound of footsteps to echo from inside the house, and then the door opens. What's revealed is a bob-cut blonde woman with yellow slit eyes. Eyes that show her confusion but widen in obvious fear when she catches sight of Toga, who's half hiding behind me. The woman who I assume is Toga's mother gives me a close-lipped smile before stuttering out a greeting.

"H-h-hello! I-I-I apologize, but w-what might you be doing here?" I raise an eyebrow at the reaction. Yes, the question is expected, but I find it more interesting that it's the only question, and is accompanied by an apology. I would have expected her to be more interested in who I am and why I'm with her daughter who's been missing for a day. Then again, Toga did tell me what her parents are like on the flight over, so I really shouldn't be too surprised.

"I'm here to talk to you about your daughter." The moment I mention Toga the woman's shoulders tighten and she takes a sharp breath in. It's almost like I told her that Toga's missing, instead of her being right next to me. "And her quirk." This time she physically flinches, as if I raised my claws to threaten her.

"...Please come in." The woman's voice is small, resigned, as she turns around with slumped shoulders and leads the way inside. I look over my shoulder at Toga with a questioning look, but she just looks even more resigned than the woman's voice was.

"You mentioned my quirk," she says as way of explanation, and I sigh. I had hoped that there would be at least a possibility of mending their relationship, but that's looking decidedly unlikely. Especially with how little experience I have being part of an actual loving family. Plenty of fake love and affection, but only four years of the real thing. Which is actually less, considering memories from the first few years of life don't really translate well when you're growing up.

"You want me to just burn the place down and we can go on a picnic? Maybe roast some hot dogs or marshmallows?"

She seems to genuinely think about my offer for a moment before reluctantly shaking her head. "No. I… I want to see this through." Her hands tighten on my arm. "They… deserve a chance."

I pet her head as encouragement before we finally follow the woman inside, closing the door behind us. We make our way to an average looking dining room, a man I'm presuming is the woman's husband sitting next to her on one side of the table. His slicked back hair is blonde like his wife, though shade lighter. I can't see any physical signs of a quirk, so it's likely that it's active rather than passive. Whether or not it's an emitter, transformation, or stockpile type is uncertain though.

"So," the husband starts the moment we take our seats across from them, "you know about Himiko's quirk."

"I do." I say simply as I lace my claws together in front of me.

The man stares at me for a moment before turning a disappointed gaze on Toga. She almost flinches, but her eyes flick to me and she stays steady, though the fingers she's using to grip the edge of the table turn white from how tightly she's holding it.

Getting no reaction from her, the man sighs and turns back to me. He bows his head. "I am sorry you had to witness such a disturbing sight. But please. Please keep this a secret."

I glance over at the woman and see her bowing her head as well, though unlike her husband tears drip onto the table below her. I have to grit my teeth and take a moment to calm myself. These two will die, but not yet. She can't shine so long as there's any doubt.

"Oh? What exactly are you apologizing for?" I keep my tone light, but there's no hiding the warning growl that accompanies it. Somehow, though, the two in front of us don't notice it.

The man raises his head, a scowl twisting his lips. "For Himiko, obviously! We've done our best to make sure she doesn't use that disgusting quirk, but the girl just doesn't listen! The only good thing we can say about it is that she hasn't attacked a person yet, but with how she acts it won't be long until she's being shipped off to Tartarus."

Toga whimpers next to me, and I reach out and gently rest my hand on hers. She lets go of the table's edge and latches onto me instead, squeezing as hard as she can. The man's eyes flick down at the action and his brows furrow, but he doesn't say anything about it.

I hum, holding my chin in the palm of my hand and making a show of tapping a claw against the scales I grew along my jawline. "So… you think poorly of her quirk. If you don't mind me asking, what quirks do you and your wife possess?"

He seems taken aback, and if the way his wife's head shoots up to stare at me in surprise, so is she. "Oh, um. Well," he raises his arm and I watch as the skin ripples, the hair vanishing before the skin's texture seems to grow rough. "I can change the texture of my skin. Make it rough, smooth, and so on." He jerks a thumb at his wife, who gives me a nervous open mouthed smile, letting me see her teeth for the first time.

"My wife has sharp teeth, and an eye mutation from her mother that makes it easier for her to see in the dark."

I hum and nod thoughtfully. "I see, I see…"

I let the silence stretch on, watching as the 'parents' start to fidget as minutes start to pass. After ten minutes of silence the mother opens her mouth but I speak, cutting off whatever it is she was planning to say.

"Do you dislike the fact that her quirk requires her to ingest blood to use? If my memory is correct, I believe that a hero in the top hundred also has a blood quirk." I tilt my head and raise an eyebrow at them. "Or do you think that his position is a mistake?"

The man scowls and crosses his arms. "That's different. The man uses his own blood. He doesn't have to be a monster to use it!"

I look at the wife to see if her response is different, and I see her shiver and clutch her shoulders. "It's disturbing. How are we supposed to put our safety in the hands of someone so… villainous."

"I see." I say, my voice cold and flat. I watch as the two of them shudder before bringing my hands together in a clap. "Oh, that reminds me!" I reach down and grab my bag, slapping it on the table and grinning when I hear the faint slosh it makes. "Sorry, but do the two of you mind if I have a snack? I'm afraid I forgot to eat on our way here."

"Uh, I suppose not…" The woman says uncertainly while shooting her husband a confused look. The man frowns at the bag, the skin all across his body changing to a rougher texture and seeming to get a bit thicker.

"I don't know…" He trails off as I unzip the bag, the smell of copper wafting out in an aromatic wave. I reach inside and pull out a bloody severed hand and what's probably part of a leg, handing the leg to Toga and keeping the hand for myself. She takes it silently, her face shadowed by her hair.

The couple across from us watch in stunned horror as we both bring the human flesh to our mouths, me biting off three fingers at once and Toga making slurping noises as she licks and sucks the blood off of it. I hum as I chew, making a show of swallowing before I turn to Toga and speak.

"You know, it's been a bit since I picked these up. It doesn't taste as good as it should."

Her head bobs even as she drops the meat on to the table, a small thud resounding through the otherwise silent room. "You're right, Izumi. It's much better when it's fresh."

"But where are we going to get something fresh on such short notice?" I question innocently with a single finger on my cheek as I tilt my head in a thoughtful pose.

"What do you mean, Izumi?" Toga asks as she raises her head for the first time. She looks at her parents, eyes burning with undisguised rage that easily burns past the tears flooding out. "We have two fresh meals right in front of us. They might be disgusting people but they can at least fill our stomachs."

I flash my fangs in a smile as I turn to our food, watching as they finally manage to gather enough of their composure to scramble to their feet. The husband tries to run past the table on my right, but my tail lashes out and trips him, causing him to crash to the ground. He curses but I slam my foot between his shoulder blades before he can do much more than get to his knees, forcing him flat against the ground once more.

The wife tries to scramble past Toga on the left side of the table, who lashes out with one hand and the wife screams as a blade tears into her hamstrings, sending her toppling sideways to the floor. She tries to crawl away, but Toga slams the knife into her other leg, drawing another high-pitched scream from the woman.

"Meinu!" The husband roars as he tries to force himself up. But a simple curl of my toes puts a stop to that, my claws having torn the toes off the shoes as they grew and now digging painfully into the man's back. I should probably just stop trying to wear shoes, it's not like they're even comfortable. He groans in pain while blood starts to seep into his shirt from where my claws pierce the skin. I keep him there, unable to move while I watch how Toga deals with the woman.

The woman looks over her shoulder at Toga, desperation clear on her face. "H-H-Himiko, you-" She screams again as Toga pulls the knife out of her leg and stabs it into her shoulder, twisting the blade to inflict even more pain.

"Keep my damn name out of your mouth." The girl practically growls the words out as she pulls the knife out again before stabbing it into the woman's other shoulder, eliciting another scream of pain from her and a scream of rage from her husband.

The woman tries to speak again, but Toga interrupts her with another stab. "Why?" Another stab. "Why!?" Another stab. "Why couldn't you have just loved me!?"

Stab.

"All I wanted-"

Stab.

"-was to be loved!"

Stab.

"But you treated me like a monster!

Stab.

"You called me a creepy deviant!"

Stab.

"You said I wasn't even human!"

Stab.

"You- You-!"

She growls before letting out a wordless scream as she brings the knife down again, going into a bloody frenzy as she starts slashing as well as stabbing. She blind to her surroundings, deaf to the husband's desperate cries for her to spare his wife. Blood flies across the room, coating the table. The walls. The couch. The TV. The husband. Me.

By the time she finishes, panting from the exertion, the woman is still, silent. Her back, arms, and legs are nothing but strands of meat tenuously keeping things connected. The house looks like a scene from a horror movie, complete with me grinning as I reach down past the man's face and under his chin. He's long screamed himself hoarse, coupled with the blood loss from his back he doesn't have the energy to do a single thing as my claws tear into his jugular and grabs something solid. He glares at me with the one eye that faces me, pure hatred emanating from the bloodshot orb. But it doesn't matter what he's feeling as I give a roar of effort and wrench my arm upwards, messily tearing his head from his body. Blood spurts from the frayed stump left on the body and floods from the neck, drenching what little of my clothes Toga didn't.

I drop the head and step closer to Toga, putting a gentle hand on her shoulder. She whirls around, arm lashing out. I grab her wrist, bringing the reaction to an abrupt stop. She stares at me with wide, dilated eyes for a moment before the knife slips from her hand. She blinks a few times and her eyes slowly go back to normal. Once they're clear once again, tears start to flow. But she doesn't sob, for these aren't tears of sadness.

Instead she throws her head back and laughs. She laughs while her tears fall, and I let go of her as she brings her hands to her face covering it as she falls to her knees next to the woman's corpse.

We stay like that, for how long neither of us know. The bodies cool. The blood coagulates, becoming more like a goo than a liquid. Eventually her laughter dies down, and she lets her arms fall to her sides even as she continues to stare upwards with wide eyes.

"Hey. Izumi?" Her voice is quiet, but there's an undercurrent of excitement running through it.

"Yes, Toga?"

She twists her head to look at me, wide eyes matching the wide smile that shows off her sharp tee- no, her fangs. "You said that I'm the one who gets to decide if my quirk belongs to a villain, right?"

I nod. "That's right."

"Am I still the one who decides that, even though I belong to you now?"

I smile, flashing my own fangs at her. "Of course, Himiko. You are mine, but the beauty of my Hoard can't shine properly if it's locked away. It must be put on display to be appreciated."

She brings a hand to her mouth and giggles while biting the side of her finger. "In that case-" An unhinged light seems to shine in her eyes.

"Can I pretty please be a villain? I love~ seeing people bleed~!"

I chuckle and pet her head, a warm feeling growing in my chest at how she leans into my touch.

"Of course you can, my little vampire."