Chapter Text
This was a strange quirk. It had to be a quirk, otherwise Himiko was in a coma caused by the smoke inhalation from Dabi setting her childhood home aflame. And she didn’t particularly like that theory. It would be immensely disappointing to lose out on participating in the final fight with the heroes due to Dabi’s tendency for dramatics.
She had been chomping at the bit to confront Ochako ever since Jin’s death and their resulting encounter. She couldn’t say why her gut had shouted again and again that Ochako would be different from the countless others that had come before. But it stung nonetheless to learn that the instinct was wrong. There was no pain quite so crushing as the perpetual failure of other people to perceive you as a human being. Eventually, you just leaned into it. Hurt others before they could hurt you. The League of Villains was the closest experience to home that Toga had ever had. Someone like Ochako, who shined brightly and was well-loved, for whom everything came easily, could never understand that. Why would a cog in a terrible system ever question their role if they weren’t the object being ground into dust?
Himiko trailed her hand along the back of the fancy couch and scrolled through her phone, attempting to collate the information there into something that made sense. Initially, she thought she might have been kidnapped, but every indication pointed to the conclusion that she was the owner of this expensive apartment. Not particularly cozy, but clearly well-outfitted. It was missing a personal touch.
More importantly…hadn’t one of the minor villains that had shown up for the final fight had a quirk like this? Something about branching paths and consequentiality? Himiko hadn’t been listening closely, but AFO had certainly seemed interested. Regardless, she needed to assess the current situation before proceeding. Her swanky apartment contained a large whiteboard in the living room in place of where a television would traditionally hang. She grabbed a marker.
- I have been impacted by a quirk (?)
- I am in a different version of my life (?)
- This version of me works for the Hero Commission.
- I have a nice apartment.
She sighed and pressed the closed marker to her forehead as she stared at the board. Not much to go on. There were items in the apartment that made it clear she lived here — mail addressed to her, a phone and laptop whose passcodes she recognized, credit cards in her name, and gear that was tailored to her quirk. The phone and laptop contained correspondence with names she recognized from her time with the PLF as hero commission staff (Skeptic had hacked their staff records after Hawks was revealed as a spy) and vaguely referenced assignment details. It made her wonder if there was a second burner phone somewhere in the apartment that contained greater detail, but she didn’t know where to begin looking.
Himiko returned to the bedroom and opened a search on the laptop, typing in her name. The results were a shock to her system. Instead of arrest warrants and news reports on her criminal activity, there were a number of articles about the young, up-and-coming hero. As well as websites where one could purchase her hero merchandise. This was bizarre. After twenty minutes of dazed scrolling through posts about Reflection, the disguise hero, it occurred to her that she might not be the only one impacted by the strange quirk. None of their contacts were on her phone, but…
Shigaraki’s name brought up no results. Neither did Spinner or Compress. Nothing about Jin. Typing the words ‘Touya Todoroki’ into the search bar finally yielded hits. She felt a little dizzy. He was still using the name ‘Dabi’ as an alias, but this time it was a hero name. Top of the charts, but controversial in both background and behavior. Ok, this was a starting place. If Dabi was also impacted by the quirk, then she could track him down and they could figure it out together.
A notification pinged on her phone before she could dig further into his new identity.
Headquarters. 9 AM. Be ready to report.
Shit. This was bad, right? Before they had been taken out by Re-Destro, the hero commission had possessed far reaching and shady powers. That much had been made obvious by Skeptic’s research into the group and Hawks’ assassination of Jin. If she didn’t show up, would they come after her, assuming that she had gone rogue like Nagant? Or would it be worse to arrive and immediately be exposed as a person who knew nothing about the details of her job? Anxiety rose in her throat. If they were willing to kill Jin, then they were willing to kill her.
She took a breath. No, it was better to show up. This could be a way to connect with Dabi. She had no way of reaching him otherwise.
Himiko eyed the gear piled in the corner of the room. Better to be prepared.
~
Himiko used the badge to access the elevator and eyed herself in the reflective glass while it ascended the skyscraper. She hadn’t been sure where to go, but the elevator had automatically selected a floor based on her badge. Apparently, they didn’t encourage collaboration between colleagues of different floors.
She still looked like herself. Except that now she wore a tight blue jumpsuit with stripes that curved around her hips, black combat boots, and what appeared to be a dart gun, holstered around her right thigh. A few small knives were clipped into a belt. And a series of small vials each attached to a sharp pin were strapped to a sling across her chest. She assumed this was the ammunition for the gun. Meant to collect blood? Probably. The neck of the jumpsuit could be tugged up to cover the lower portion of her face. She did so, feeling nervous that she would immediately be identified as an imposter. Which was ironic. Her quirk allowed her to become other people, but she had never needed to convincingly play herself before.
After a tense wait, the elevator dinged and opened. Himiko stepped out into a sleek waiting room and was given a nod by the secretary at the desk. She frowned as Toga walked past toward the large doors that appeared to contain a conference room.
“Reflection, your hand scan?”
“Ah, yes sorry,” Himiko stuttered. “I’m a little sleep-deprived.”
The secretary laughed.
“I hope they’re not working you too hard.”
Himiko hoped her return laugh was convincing. She pulled off her glove and held her hand over a flat scanner. It flashed with light. How did it work? Surely, if they knew someone like Himiko could impersonate people, they wouldn’t rely on fingerprints for security. The glass below her hand turned green and read ‘quirk identified: approved visitor.’ They had technology that could identify quirks? That was a little terrifying. Thank goodness Shigaraki or the PLF had never asked her to infiltrate the place. The mousetrap waiting here would have snapped her in half in an instant.
She proceeded to the room in front of her and found a set of three people sitting at a long table, facing her. There was no chair for her to use, so she stood in front of them awkwardly, unsure what to do with her hands. Thankfully the mask covered the uncertain twist of her mouth from view.
Had she switched places with Hawks? Was that what was happening? Perhaps Dabi had taken Endeavor’s place.
Himiko remained silent and waited for the woman or one of the two men to speak, not wanting to give herself away by providing information. The severe-looking woman casually flipped through a file.
“We assigned you the task of capturing this villain two weeks ago, and I’m yet to see any progress. On the contrary, another museum has been robbed in central Tokyo.”
She waited for a response, and Himiko gave none. The woman looked at her sharply.
“Since she’s active, we were hoping to use her to make inroads into the crime family she’s connected with. Someone is selling what she’s stealing. You haven’t been able to acquire any of her blood.”
“No…she’s very wily,” Himiko replied vaguely, hoping that was an adequate answer.
The woman gave an exasperated sigh and pushed the file across the table. Himiko stepped forward to look at it. Her eyes widened at the black and white surveillance photos showing Ochako with one leg dangling off a roof, large bags floating mid-air near her.
“Fix this,” the woman said, tapping a nail harshly against the photo.
Himiko made a gamble.
“Dabi-”
“I don’t want him involved. You already know this. We can’t trust where his loyalty lies with regard to his family and I don’t want him accidentally tipping someone off.”
“His file!” she spit out, hoping this would work. “I don’t mean to involve him in the mission, but maybe I can take a look at his hero file and try to pull some information from him. Discreetly.”
Please, let there be files. If those didn’t exist, she was going to be in hot water.
The woman gave her an assessing look.
“Fine. Get Tai to give you the file key. But if you speak with him, make sure he doesn’t glean your motives.”
“Understood,” she replied and turned to leave.
“Oh, and one more thing,” the woman said with a wave of her hand. “Behave at the goddamn publicity shoot. I don’t care if the photographer gets handsy like last time. Deal with it and keep smiling.”
Himiko felt a sinking feeling and nodded, finally turning to escape the room.
~
It turned out Tai was the secretary, and thankfully, it wasn’t suspicious for Himiko to ask to be shown the location of the file room. She was led to a dark and dusty room full of file cabinets and left alone. After locating the cabinets she was looking for, she glanced around and clocked three small cameras in different corners of the room. No walking away with the files then. She took the folder on Dabi, grabbed the information on Ochako and sat down on the floor to spread them out, pulling her mask down with a deep breath. She coughed on the dust.
Himiko opened Ochako’s folder first. If Ochako was a criminal in this alternate world, maybe everything was different here? It was a surprise to glance down the page and see her own handwriting amongst the notes.
[Ochako, Uraraka
Age: 17
Criminal History:
No official arrest record; warrants have been issued for multiple counts of first and second degree grand larceny, involvement in black market trafficking of stolen precious objects, and assault on peace officers. Larceny attempts have been restricted exclusively to Japan and the involvement in international trafficking is not yet proven - therefore Interpol has not issued an arrest warrant.
Active in the black market for at least 1 year and 2 months, although has likely been involved with smaller crimes prior to the surveillance conducted by HC.
Suspected to have ties to yakuza operations. Subject either actively trades with multiple yakuza groups as an independent thief or is working under the purview of one group. HC intel suggests that the subject is most likely tied to the Himura/Todoroki family and targets specific locations based on orders from superiors. She has at least one accomplice (male - identity unknown) who has been noted as a skilled sniper that assists from afar by taking out security or responding heroes/police officers during larceny attempts.
Personal Information:
Subject has two deceased parents (murder case- see file # 43679). Parents owned a construction company and are believed to have owed significant debt to official sources and to loan sharks. She has no living family. Intelligence suggests that she dropped out of school at age fifteen to begin her criminal career.
Quirk Information:
Float: touches objects or persons to make them float at a distance of her choosing; requires physical contact
Subject possesses a quirk that allows her to float herself, other persons, and objects ranging in size. She uses her quirk to enter and exit secured spaces, steal precious objects, and transport them to sources of sale on the black market. We do not believe she is involved in sales beyond transport to criminal groups. Persons who have bought stolen objects have no knowledge of her which suggests intermediary sellers.
Subject’s quirk is not inherently dangerous, but she has been known to hurl objects at heroes/police, float police cars, and take people as hostages. Her quirk is well suited to stealth, defense, and quickly fleeing a scene. The full extent of her quirk is unclear - HC does not know the maximum size limit for float which is a concern, specifically whether or not she can cause building collapse by lifting walls, ceiling, or foundation with her quirk.]
Confused by the mention of Dabi’s family, Himiko quickly switched over to the other file, skimming past the information on his quirk and hero career to a series of notes.
[Todoroki, Touya (Hero Name: Dabi)
Age: 24
School Affiliation: UA
…
Notes:
This hero remains under HC surveillance indefinitely due to his family of origin. Dabi is the son of Rei Himura, current head of the Himura family and boss of its extensive crime network (see file #58973). Although operations are publicly handled by Enji Todoroki (Dabi’s father) (see file #56769), Rei is believed to be the puppet master behind the organization. It has grown significantly during her tenure and after the death of her father (murder case- see file #045697). Shoto Todoroki, the youngest son of the family, is currently believed to be the favored successor and is involved in the operations side of the criminal empire (see file #98567). Dabi’s sister is peripherally involved in criminal-front businesses owned by the family (see file #84679). Natsuo Todoroki (Dabi’s younger brother) is believed to be estranged from both the family and Dabi. He is currently living abroad in Canada and is not suspected of criminal ties.
Dabi is estranged from all family members and renounced ties at age sixteen, choosing to run away from home and enroll at UA. After completing his education, he debuted at age nineteen as a hero, courting controversy due to his family. Surveillance shows that he is not currently in contact with any family members or persons with ties to the organization, but monitoring will continue.]
Despite his young age, Dabi apparently owned his own hero agency. She collected the address and contact information.
Himiko’s head was starting to hurt. This world was so different from her own. Was this really the result of a quirk? She couldn’t find any files on any other LOV members, but she did locate one on Hawks. It wasn’t particularly surprising to find that he was attached to the Himura crime syndicate. It was like the quirk had taken her world and turned it on its head.
Time to find Dabi.