(Himiko POV – Kata's House)
I watch Kata as he gently picks up the exhausted Eri, cradling her like she's a precious and fragile treasure.
'He's so careful.'
He wipes off the little flower he drew on her nose but leaves the smiley face on her cheek. Helps her brush her teeth. Changes her into soft yellow pajamas and tucks her in like it's second nature. He waits beside her patiently until she falls sleep.
'He's so... soft with her.'
I tilt my head, watching like a curious cat.
'It's weird.'
As soon as she's out cold, the tiny smile he had lts away—quietly fading back into that flat, unreadable look he often wears. A soft click as the door closes, and it's like he's back to being Kata again. Plain, calm, unreadable Kata.
By the ti he turns to , the doodles I gave him are gone too.
'Boring.' I sulk internally.
Our eyes et, and I flash him a wide grin. 'Is he mad I pranked him?'
It's hard to say. He played along and chased around, even if he could've caught instantly.
'Was that for Eri's sake, or did he really not care?'
"Do you want the markings gone too?" He asks seemingly unbothered with my prank.
I pause.
'Why ask? What happens if I say yes? Would he help wash up like Eri?' I think curiously.
So, I nod cheerfully, curious to see what he'll do.
He lifts a hand, flicks his fingers. The doodles vanish like smoke.
"Done." He says and nods approvingly, before turning toward the living room without another word.
'Rude.' I puff out my cheeks and trail after him, but my brain's already busy, piecing him together.
It's like trying to solve a puzzle when you don't know what the picture is, or how many pieces are missing.
He's always calm. Which isn't normal.
He doesn't care if he gets stabbed. He lets drink his blood. He doesn't stop when I misbehave.
He could. I know he could.
But he doesn't.
'How much of will he tolerate?'
I pad after him, quiet as a shadow, until I'm right behind him. He doesn't flinch. He acts as if he doesn't know I'm here.
But I know he knows. He sohow always knows where everything and everyone is.
"Kaaata~!" I sing, suddenly clinging to his back like a backpack. My arms wrap tight around his torso as I nuzzle into his shirt, giggling like I've just pulled off a grand heist.
"I'm thirsty~."
He exhales quietly. Sohow, it doesn't sound like he's annoyed. "Hard to help you if you're glued to my back like that."
I puff my cheeks. 'He's not flustered, nor does he seem surprised. Shouldn't guys get all red when a cute girl hugs them?'
I drop my arms with a huff and loop around until I'm in front of him, blocking his path playfully.
Then, with a cheery little bounce, I throw my arms around his neck and grin up at him.
"So it's okay if I hug you from the front instead?" I ask in a sweet and innocent tone.
He ets my eyes, his expression deadpan. "Would my answer change anything?"
"Nope~!" I chirp, carefully observing his reaction.
But he doesn't push away, nor does he pull closer. It's like my actions don't affect him at all.
That's the thing with Kata. He doesn't act like a person. He moves through the world like he's only half part of it—until he chooses to be present. And that makes want to tug him down into it even more.
So I do.
"Sit," I command, grabbing his sleeve and yanking him to the couch before he can argue. "You're too tall. It's hard to get a drink."
He lets drag him without resistance, almost like he's humouring a child.
So I take it further.
I plop myself down on his lap, facing him with a triumphant grin.
The air seems to still.
My heart pounds a little faster—not from nerves, but excitent. 'What'll he do now, huh? Push off? Freeze up? Call crazy?'
But none of that happens. His eyes widen slightly, confusion and a bit of surprise flickering onto his face, but he's not panicked.
Interesting. I got a reaction.
"I could drink from here~," I whisper, tapping a finger against his neck. I lean in close, just enough for him to feel my breath—then trail my finger playfully along his collarbone. "Or maybe here…"
Finally, he narrows his eyes suspiciously.
"What are you playing at?"
'There it is.' I pout up at him, lips curled in mock disappointnt.
"Don't you like stuff like this?"
He gives a look like I asked if he enjoys paperwork.
"What gave you that idea?" He says doubtfully.
I giggle, pleased with myself. 'Gotcha~.'
"Well," I hum, tapping my chin with a finger, "When that bunny woman pulled your face into her boobs, I didn't see you complaining."
His brow twitches slightly, causing my smirk to widen.
"I was caught off guard." He says matter-of-factly.
"Riiight~," I drawl, leaning in again just enough to make him nervous... maybe. "And I guess if I did the sa, you'd be caught off guard too, right?"
He ponders for a few seconds before nodding slowly.
"Yeah." He says. "You would catch off guard since it's not sothing I'd expect you to do."
'...!'
I freeze.
Then my grin stretches wide, looking predatory compared to his calm face.
He's not lying... He actually ans it!
'He's saying I'd catch him off guard... aning I could do it!.'
I ignore the rest of what he said. It doesn't matter.
My heart skips. Then races.
A flutter fills my chest. A dangerous, giddy flutter. The kind that makes you ignore everything not causing it.
"I knew it." I whisper, my eyes gleaming as I lean forward a tiny bit more. "You'd definitely like it…"
"I didn't say that." He says quickly, and I sense the rising tension in his voice. I feel his heart beating faster through his chest.
He's reacting... He's excited!
That alone is a win.
"But you didn't not say it either~." I tease, cocking my head, as I narrow my eyes challangingly. "That ans it's not a no."
He sighs, giving that blank, flat look again. "That's so twisted logic."
"But I'm not wrong," I say with a grin, my voice full of certainty.
My heart is pounding, my skin's electric, and every nerve feels alive.
All I can think about is—
"You like , don't you?" I ask suddenly, as my gaze sharpens. There's no playfulness in my voice this ti. Just an undercurrent of excitent I struggle to contain.
He doesn't flinch, but I know he's nervous. It's like he's contemplating whether to lie or not.
"…I do," He finally admits. "I like you. As a person."
My smile falters, just for a second.
But not because I'm sad.
Because that wasn't a no either.
I narrow my eyes.
"As a person, huh?" I echo, grinning again. "So there's still a chance?"
If he likes as a person… then I'm not beyond love. Not to him.
"Maybe. I don't even know if I'm capable of that kind of love, so I can't say there is." He sighs. "And I don't think you fully understand it either."
That makes pause.
It should sting.
But it doesn't.
'Because… I do understand. In my own way.'
I feel it. Every ti I look at him. Every ti he lets drink his blood. Every ti he's close.
It's not normal love. And it's probably not healthy. But It's real.
It's mine.
Neither of us is normal anyway.
'So why should our love be?'
"I know what I feel." I say, my grin turning wild.
Then I lean in.
And kiss him.
Not on the lips.
Not the cheek.
Right on the shoulder—my fangs sinking into his skin as I tug his shirt aside. Blood flows instantly, warm and tallic against my tongue.
To anyone else, it might look like an attack.
But to ?
It's love.
A ssy, hungry, obsessive kind of love.
I shiver, mouth full of him. The way his pulse beats under my tongue...
'This is how I say I love you.'
I breathe in his scent as I cling to him tightly.
He's not stopping .
That ans—he accepts it.
He accepts my love.
He accepts .
I drink slowly... tenderly, even as tears begin to drop from my eyes.
I drink like a lover might savor their first kiss... And when I finally pull back, my lips are red and my heart is racing.
"You're delicious," I whisper, smiling like a lunatic. A happy lunatic.
Then, slowly, I tug at the collar of my shirt—baring my shoulder.
My voice trembles, but my hands are steady.
"Now... it's your turn."
I offer it to him.
Not playfully. Not to tease.
I'm dead serious.
"You can bite too," I say. "If you want."
Please want to.
Please feel what I feel.
Even just a little.
Even if I'm scared.
Even if I'm broken.
'I want to be loved.'
(Kata POV – Kata's House)
I stare at her in deep contemplation.
At her exposed shoulder.
At her red lips, stained with my blood.
At the desperation and vulnerability in her eyes.
And for the first ti in a long while, I'm stunned.
'What do I do?'
The options are simple: accept, or refuse.
But either choice feels wrong.
If I accept, I risk hurting both of us. I don't love her romantically. I don't even know what that's supposed to feel like.
And I'm pretty sure she doesn't, either.
If I refuse... it won't just hurt her. It'll devastate her. I'm probably only person who she's ever opened up to.
'It's my fault.' I reflect internally.
I never drew a line. I let her get this close. I didn't correct her, or stop her when I could've.
Because sowhere along the line...
'She beca soone I genuinely cared about.'
I let her stay with . I gave her my blood. I let her develop affection for .
I saw soone broken, soone who needed understanding. And I understood.
That was all it took.
I care about her... But not in the way she wants to.
But it's not fake. It's not obligation. It's not pity.
She's chaotic, violent, and morally unstable.
'None of which I mind.'
But she's also brutally honest and loyal to a fault.
She never hides behind a mask. She doesn't want to be fixed, just accepted.
And I've never wanted to fix her.
'I've accepted her since the start.'
She's never scared .
Because I'm not that different.
I'm cold, pragmatic, calculating. Even in this mont.
I've lied, manipulated, and killed people. And I know she wouldn't care.
And yet... I'm capable of love, but I dont know if I can love romantically. That's what makes this worse.
She's knows this and isn't asking for love. She's asking for acceptance, and for to try and learn to love.
My chest tightens. And for once, I let myself feel that weight.
She's offered her truth... her twisted, bloody version of it.
And even if I can't match it with sothing pure or gentle, maybe I can still et her halfway.
Even if it hurts —us—later.
I reach out, my hand brushing over her arm.
She looks up at . She's smiling, trying to put on a brave face, but she's trembling.
"I'm not biting you because I love you romantically," I say, my voice low but steady. "I don't know what that feels like. And I don't know if I ever will."
Her eyes shine, but she doesn't look away, so I continue.
"But I care about you. I accept you. As you are. And I don't want to push you away because of uncertainty."
I pause for a mont. My hand tightens slightly.
"So if this is how you say 'I love you'... then I'll answer in the sa language."
I lower my head.
And I bite.
I guide my mouth to the soft skin of her shoulder, where she offered herself without hesitation.
I use my quirk to make her bleed slightly and prevent any pain.
Just enough to taste her blood.
'It's just blood.'
The sa tallic flavour, and slick texture.
I don't find it delicious like her, but it's hers, and that's all that matters.
She gasps—not in pain, but with sothing akin to relief. Maybe even joy.
Her arms wrap around , pulling close as she trembles.
She doesn't speak and neither do I.
No words a needed.
Because tonight… I chose her.
I accepted her.
I accepted her love, even if I can't love her in the way she wants to.
…
Ti passes and the tension softens, as silence descends, but she doesn't move from my lap.
Eventually, she speaks.
"...Why did you save , back then?"
The question gives pause, but I sigh and tell her the truth.
"I suffered because of terrible people. And I wished soone would've helped then. So I wanted to help you." I say quietly.
"Can you tell about it?" She asks, as she continues to hug tightly.
"Sure..." I say.
And like that, I begin to tell her my story.
***************
A/N: Hello Everyone. Hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Ngl, this one was hard to write. I don't have much experience in love and all that myself, and I'm not crazy (hopefully), so thinking like a crazy is hard.
So yeah, there's a lot of deep stuff here. Originally, I was gonna do the world's reactions, but this couldn't wait, and it's have been hard to ti it at another ti. So here it is!
So explanations are in order, I guess. This is Toga's first ti drinking blood directly from the source, without a straw or sothing else (canonically too), and she genuinely struggles to connect with people, so it's as real a kiss for her, as a normal kiss is for anyone else.
Kata is toxic (in my opinion) as he isn't really emotionally available romantically. He's never loved, or been loved till now, so he doesn't understand the feeling, hence his conflict. He doesn't yet love Himiko, but he's working on it, which is what'll be seen from now on. They aren't a couple yet, but they're more than friends.
And also, tell how I did on the romance. Does it suck? I an, the blood and biting are gonna be common thes when Himiko is involved, even in R18 scenes (personally, I dislike blood fetishes [nothing too crazy, just maybe so biting, scratching with so blood], but I won't kink sha, and I'd write it because that's what makes sense).
As for the very end. I wanted Kata's backstory known to her, since I didn't want to dedicate a chapter to it, and the feels are already strong enough in this one, that I won't have to dedicate a whole chapter to it like I did for Momo. So yeah, this is what it ended up as.
I was also thinking of adding art when I upload on Patreon. Like after paragraphs. Do you guys think it's a good idea? Or would you prefer just text, idk. Anyway, I hope you all had a great day.
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