Most people would attend a middle school where they formed social connections, joined clubs and studied for their future. Yet the place was also a breeding ground for prejudices and injustices, a miniature of a flawed society. The quirkism, normally alagainst the quirkless or weak quirks, when combined with teenagers' need to solidify their sense of pride, would result in tormenting the beneath for self-gratification.
" Freak! Weirdo! Creepy bitch!..."
Countless ridicules fell upon a girl in the toilet. Accompanying the unpleasant sounds of defamation was the impact of kicks landed upon a frail body. The group, a mixbag of girls, berated continiously and only stopped when the bell rang. They quickly left, leaving behind the victim on the dirty bathroom floor. Her eyes bruised from a sucker punch and her core ached from the received kicks. Wiping away the vomit around mouth with water from the basin, the girl could finally see her sorry state.
Bloody lips; hit marks across the face; dull, radiated yellow eyes, a small nose that luckily survived the barrage; twin buns hair now a mess... Fixing the hair was the priority so she took out a hand band and made her hair into a pony tail. The clothing, despite wrinkled, was still manageable with a few hand swipes but the bloody lips... maybe bite her upper lips to hide the mark. She was used to this and also the violence. She fared worse in the quirk therapy sessions her wretched parents had forced upon her.
Making sure that everything was ready, the girl strolled back to her class, the action met by mocking gazes from everyone... almost. Only one still looked at her with pity and care in the corner. On her desk was a small box of fruit juice. Pommegranade. The taste was fine and all but what she loved about the thing was the color, bright red like the liquid gushing out of a cut major vein. Quickly finishing the box, she threw it into her trash bag. Then the afternoon class began like normal.
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" Toga, take this."
" Thanks, Kage."
What had been thrusted toward Toga was convenience store omurice. School had already ended and she had slipped into a desolate path. Kage seemed to have followed her. The boy was too kind for his sake, always caring for those facing injustice. She had first tried to widen the distance between the two since the bullying had started but here they were now. Still in the sailor outfit, Toga began to make a run for the usual park. Kage quickly followed, his stride longer but her pace faster. Not that long until both arrived there.
Now sitting on the swing, Toga began to think about how naive Kage had been. Despite the rumor of seeing her drinking blood from her unconscious friend and her admission that yes, that has been the truth, he was still there for her. She was very thankful for that but also afraid that would harm the reputation and future of this very naive boy.
Heh, future? It was not like she had any. Her score was medium at best, her social circle severely lacking and the entire country was on a downward trend (she read the information from a thrown-away newspaper in the garbage can). Her family was a mess with family violence from both parents; therefore, she was used to the physical pain and her relationship with her parents was hateful at best and murderous at worst. As a result of last month fight between her and them, she was promptly kicked out of the damily and left to fend for herself. She had been crashing in abandoned homes and stealing money for basic necessities. And the school and time for him...
" ...I have visited your neighborhood..."
Kage said, his black hair made messy by the wind. Both of them were sitting side by side on the swing so he must have turned to look at her reaction. And inflict a conflicting emotion did the action. She was grateful that Kage actually cared enough about her to visit her but she also was afraid of him distancing away from her when the truth came, that she had been a burden to her parents and had been kicked out. Biting her nail, she could not remove the latter emotion out of her mind. She made swift glances to the side to see Kage's emotion but ... what met her was a serious face. Kage continued.
" Wandering around at night is dangerous for a girl like you. So I am offering ... shelter. "
"W-Why? And how can I pay the rent?!"
Her response stuttering from shock. She had expected something negative but not this help.
" Well I am offering just because I want to help you out. Rent is free but in exchange, you will help me maintain the space."
" Just ... let me think. "
" Sure, you can visit my place later. Here is the address."
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Her addiction to blood was getting worse and worse. Usual meditation was becomming less and less effective and the fasting had not been working in her favor. She just need a whiff of it, a taste if ould. Lurking around in the shadows of the city, she found a drunk man trying to pay for prostitution. The man's blood must reeked of alchohol and the women was fine but the former would be a victim pointing back at her.
Utilizing her small frame and silent footsteps, she approached the pair. The place was desolate and in her hands were two knives in reverse grip, kitchen knives that she had sharpened using a tool.
" Hey who are you bitch? Can't you see Urgh..."
The distanced had been bridged. The first blade went under the adam's apple of the drunk man, shock rendered him screamless. The prostitue, Toga thought so, was silent when faced with the beauty of red, of the warmth of life. The woman fared no better as Toga quickly stabbed her through the neck from the side, causing the woman to slowly slide down the alley wall.
More, More, More! Her gut exclaimed. And who was she to not oblige?
Snuffing the women scream by jamming a handle into her mouth, she ended the drunk man before bring that knife to the women's heart. Toga was sad that she would not experienced the powerful spurts of blood when she tasted the blood but better something than nothing. The noise did not draw anyone.
Bringing her lips into contact with the bleeding wounds, Toga could feel euphoria coursing through her esophageous. The bitter, metallic tast most found repulsive, she found it fulfilling. The moral of killing the two blood bags never crossed her mind as they were ... two blood bags. Most were that, except Kage. He was something ... more. Satiated her thirst for blood, Toga was surprised to find that she had unconsciously turned into the female victim. Her sailor uniform lied beneath the revealing dress of the woman, the height difference was something not that important and the unfamiliar feeling of manueverung would only lessen as time went on.
" 10 minutes ... Let's wait for the disguise to fall."
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Kage was waiting for Toga to come. The two had been on friendly term for quite some time so he had some basic understanding of her character. Toga was like a feral cat but curiousity would bring her here. He knew that she was hiding something else beside the family violence and disownment but calling her out for that was not his way of getting closer to her. Most people were put off with her obsession with blood but what he saw in her had always been repression of physiological and mental drive to seek out the liquid.Toga had his crazed look of a wild animal, aside from the coarse hair and malnourished body.
Ding!
Oh, she had arrived. And when Kage went out to greet her, what met him was a mess. The school uniform was soaked in a mushy pudding and in some part could he see dried blood. What she brought was her school backpack and a suitcase. It seemd she had brought everything with her.
" Were you hurt?"
"No..."
" Get inside. Take a shower. You are drenched in filth."
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It had already been a week since that day and Toga was still perplexed with the situation. Crashing at a friend's house was one thing but for over a week was another. And her abusers were still paying for her education, possibly because they were afraid of their vile actions being discovered if she had disappeared. She used to have nightmares of them slapping her and throwing objects at her but the frequency had reduced.
About parents, Kage's parents seemed to be working internationally and had left him back in Japan with a hefty monthly living allowance. That was Toga's conclusion seeing the lack of things like toothbrushes, towels, clothing and many more necessities. When asked about it, Kage had shown a reluctant expression so she had not digged into the matter any further.
The two of them had been living like ... a family for the past week, a normal family in a normal apartment in a normal city. Just mutual care, it used to be familar to her but now was it so new and unfamilar. But lately something had been endangering the house play. her control over her tendency had been dropping like crazy. Often time, she would find herself standing in the darkness beside Kage's bed, staring at his neck, drooling and seeing him as a blood bag ( the two shared the same bedroom due to Toga's insistence).
She was afraid of hurting the only thing still holding her together in one piece, her only positive connection. Pulling herself together, she was about to lie down in onto her mattress when a voice called her.
" Toga, just come here."
'Eh?'
She was frail and light enough so that Kage's pull could take her from standing to lying beside him. He had not opened his eyes and his breathing was still steady so she thought it was just sleep talking. The thought was invalidated as his hand pulled her closer.
" I know you are having a hard time with your quirk so ... take this as a treat."
Tilting his head, Kage exposed his nape. Still loading and blushing from the sudden closeness, Toga was treating everything as a joke. Yet minutes passed and that bare skin was still there, calling her to bite into it, to suck the subdermal liquid of life.
"...Itadakimasu."
It was the sweetest thing she had ever tasted, even more than her first try.
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" Stop scaring me like that!"
Kage said ater seeing the 'Kage' standing beside his bed, the person would be full on nude if not for the shorts.
" It is funny! You love it!"
'Kage' said in a cutesy tone before the skin began to sag. 'Kage' quickly entered a bathroom, took a quick shower and out came Toga.
" Why are you so fixated on getting me to laugh recently?"
" You... are not feeling cheerful anymore. "
'Sharp, maybe being good at reading emotions is a way to survive for her.'
" Just some problem in my family. Nothing serious."
" Oh, ok. I will stop playing these kind of pranks."
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The bullying had been intensified to another level, all stemming from a rumor of Toga being seen walking with someone after school. Now without any insults toward her or any attempt of hiding, it had been pure violence. The injuries were getting worse and worse but a good night sleep and a mouthful of blood were enough to patch herself up.
Kage had been following her around more often, his quirk lettinh him blend into her shadow. The first time around, it almost brought her heart to a stop as anxiety from not being able to find him took over. Only when she almost broke down did he crawled out from her shadow and began to profusely apologizing. That was ... an experience.
" What are we going to have for dinner?"
" Some deliveries. Seeing your state, I would rather take time caring for you."
Toga was lying on the floor again. The pain was still there but having someone around to have a chat with drew her mind away from her body's screams. She dared not to say anything spiteful against Kage for not helping her directly because she had seen hoe much of a loner he was. Not that he had no communication but rather ... it was lackluster. Remember a random colleague saying hello to you? Kage was in the same situation. He kept most people at a distance, leaving the image of someone who you should know better about but then you would forget. Basically he was lackluster in terms of social networks and could be bully the same way Toga had been if his relation to her was to be found.
" Why are you so nice to me?"
Muttering to the shadow beneath her, Toga was not expected to hear a whisper back. On the wet floot of the women toilet, she pushed herself up and leaned against the wall, luckily it was clean. Her nose was bleeding and her mind racing, she was focused onto the deafening whisper behind her back.
" ... I find your injured yet defiant state ... beautiful. You are always being beaten and hurt, yet do not point your blade against them. You spare so much ... goodwill for them ... unlike other people. "
" What other people?"
" Remember when you first arrived? You have not been keeping with the news since. A drunk man and a prostitue?"
" About that..."
Flustered with her darker side being discovered, she brought her hands to hide her mouth. A glimmer of hope for acceptance warmed her heart but then the fear of rejection chilled it down. She found herself wanting the former and her facial muscles responded in kind with a wide grin.
" Get outside first, I need to talk about that face to face. "
" Yeah."
Making herself look normal again after the beating, she got out and ran onto the rooftop. From her shadow climbed out Kage. The two faced one another amidst the burning heat of the sun.
" ... You must have a hard time before I step in."
"Huh?"
" I will be up front with you. I view you as someone whose wellbeing I care about. The quirk treatment here in Japan has failed you on all accounts. Isn't that why you have outbursts of bloodlust and finding blood, human blood, to be tasty? The repression only heighten your instability."
"..."
" I am not here to mock you or take advantage of you. What I meant to say is that ... do you need help, quirk-related help?"
" ...You speak ill of the Japanese quirk treatments. What differs in your proposal?"
Not tempted would be a lie, Toga knew her mental state was not stable. She had a freak accident last year and had learnt from that experience to mask herself better, leaning closer to a sociopath from the initial start of a psychopath. Repressing had consequences that had been helped by her nightly blood sucking but that only meant her breakdown was being delayed, not removed.
' Maybe a breakdown once in a while is fine...No! That will hurt Kage!'
" To begin with, the treatment will be more about suggestions and setting habits to slowly chip away at the issue. Second, no violence will be utilized to frighten you into repression."
" And do you want me to undergo the process."
"... No."
" Eh? Why did you speak so fervently if you did not want me to undergo the procedure."
" Just per-personal reason."
" Tell me please."
"...Later."
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Toga had not expected to be 'hired' as bodyguard by Kage. Seeing her profiency in handling knives and daggers, Kage asked her to aid him. It seemed he had been operating in the business of secrets and information and using his quirk to snoop around the darkness beneath the dealing table was his specialty.
" Why do you think I am so used to getting in and out of shadows?"
" You have tried that a lot of times."
" True, and because I have never had a partner, I have not discovered that I could bring another person into the same shadow. So ... wanna join me?"
" Sure!"
Toga was exhilarating at the prospect of having Kage for herself. She never knew since when had she been so focussed on him but she welcomed this feeling. Being dependant on him did not sound so bad. He was the first one in a long time that actually care for her and let het satisfy her urge. And it seemed the two of them were not so innocent when both had broken the laws (so she thought). That was another thing they shared, only them.
That was the beginning of their late night strolls.