18. Karma is a B*tch

Toga figured she only had about 3 and 1/2 seconds to escape the vehicle before it and her were sent plummeting into the icy death in the river raging below. So she only had one chance. One lucky chance. Taking the butt of her knife she used it to bash the passenger window and then in the same motion she tore at the outside door handle. Luckily she knew how child locks worked on car doors, so it opened freely, sending her body literally rolling out onto the road.

"I f**king hate cars," she mumbled as she laid out of breath on the road surface. Taking a deep breath she lifted her body up into a kneeling position finding herself, all in all uninjured. Her old knives had really come in handy back there and upon looking up she became even more grateful to her past self for grabbing them from the League's bar.

Sitting among the skid marks that led to the damaged road guard was the cat. It was staring at her intently, having jumped out of the car window only a few seconds before her own leap. She glared at the feline, hoping this was all just a bad dream. Taking another deep breath she got up and began to brush herself off. That's when she heard it. Laughter.

Right behind the cat a person began to materialize as if appearing from the feline itself. The laughter was slightly muffled behind their masked face. The woman began to get up from a crouched position and her whole body finally began to take form. Extending her bent limbs to full height, she was much taller than Toga, (which wasn't saying much because Toga was on the shorter side) but the person in front of her was much taller than most women actually. She guessed around six feet. On top of that she looked very athletic and when she tore off her hat, her shoulder length ginger hair made her look almost beautiful. Almost. As she took off the mask the look on her face bared the opposite of beauty. There was that look of insanity that seemed ingrained in her expression. Her open mouth showed rows of sharp teeth that weren't unlike Himiko's own canines. Speaking of sharp, the woman began to adjust the taloned gloves on her hands. The metal blades on each finger resembled those of an animal, almost like two cat claws.

"A cat…" Toga's mind began to speak to her, before old memories hit her like a flood.

Masumi Sai was a senpai of hers in middle school who was only a year older, graduating the year before Toga went rogue. She had always looked up to the older girl who she had gotten to know pretty well through social groups. Masumi was considered probably one of the most popular girls in her school and at the time Himiko herself had become pretty popular too. Unlike Toga however, Masumi had no effort in gaining attention. She was beautiful, tall, athletic, and, the thing Toga envied the most, she had an incredible quirk. Possession and protection was the name she gave it. She could inhabit an animal, possessing them with both mind and body for as long as she wanted, then she could later emerge from that animal obtaining some superhuman traits from it. The protection part of the quirk had made it so impressive. After taking control of an animal she had 20 minutes of enhanced abilities, like strength, endurance, or speed for example. The traits depended upon the animal, but Masumi would without fail only use the quirk on cats. She sort of resembled a feline even without the quirk so it was no surprise that it was her favorite animal. Toga had learned everything about her. Because she was jealous. Deeply jealous. Toga had often thought in school how Masumi was the ideal version of herself. Himiko thought that her quirk was far superior, that she was prettier, and that she was the best person she'd ever met. To her Masumi had seemed perfect. She wanted to be Masumi Sai. And now her old idol had returned. However, one thing bothered Himiko. One serious thing. It wasn't that Masumi was now trying to kill her. It was that Himiko had killed Masumi Sai over a year ago.

If Masumi noticed the horror written on her face she didn't express it in any other way than maybe widening her sadistic grin.

"What, cat got your tongue?" Her voice said as the rest of Masumi seemed to disappear only to then reappear right in front of Toga.

"CLANK" The noise of the metal blades interlocking rang out across the bridge as Masumi's claws rained down on Toga's shorter form. Himiko hadn't even seen her attack coming, it was all she could do to parry the metal claws with her own two knives. The attack didn't end there however. Masumi continued to attack, slash and slash again. Each attack faster than before. Protection was in effect. Originally called protection because it would protect her if someone discovered her undercover in control of an animal, it was now being used to greatly enhance her speed and agility. Cats were without a doubt fast, but Toga never remembered Masumi being able to use her power to this greater extent. Plus she was stronger, much stronger. Each attack took all of Toga's strength to try and defend against. She was forced to lose ground and step back to catch every blade before it landed on her. Each blow could be fatal and Masumi seemed to know it. Despite Toga breathing heavily and losing stamina by the second, the other girl was laughing and her eyes bore further insanity.

Toga realized she was losing stamina by the second. This was a fight of endurance and the other girl had much more with her quirk activated. Toga was losing ground with every hit and with her spending all her concentration on blocking, she only now began to realize she was being pushed back towards the bridge ledge. Either Toga would be forced to jump into the river down below or the other girl would cut her down before then. Even devoting some of her concentration to thinking about the possibility was dangerous. Small cuts began to form on her arms as Toga got sloppier and the taller girl continued to wear her out.

"Ok what do I do? I have to figure this out fast before we get close enough to the edge of the bridge," Toga's internal monologue began, thinking between each breath. "I could try and escape by jumping into the river, but this bridge is pretty tall and a jump might be fatal if it is shallow enough. However it is a backup possibility. I am good at hiding, after all that's how I defeated her the first time…"

At the beginning of her second year of high school, Masumi was walking to school from her small apartment home where she lived with her mother and father. She walked this route most days, but that day was not like most days. She had made a grave error. She had run down a dark alleyway in response to the noise of a crying child. The little girl was on the ground holding the body of a dead feline. Masumi was distraught but tried to comfort the child, asking her what had happened to her cat. Through her tears the little girl had said, "I killed it." The little girl then began to laugh and in a matter of seconds the same knife that was stuck in the feline ended up in Masumi's chest. Masumi didn't even have time to react. The element of surprise was what Toga specialized in. As the girl transformed back to the blonde teenager she asked Masumi why she was so compassionate. Compassion was the very thing that had got her killed. Yet in the end it didn't matter. She was going to die there after Toga had taken enough blood to satisfy her desires of becoming her idol. Masumi by this time couldn't even talk. The only thing that came out was silent tears. Yet even during the encounter Toga herself had found it dissatisfying.

"I thought I always looked up to you, but I guess I only wanted your quirk. You had so much potential, but failed to use any of it," after that Toga simply got up and left, not bothering to take any more of her blood. To Toga it had become useless. After all Masumi's quirk was the most useful part of her and Toga couldn't manifest that even with every cubic inch of her blood.

The ever increasing growling sound of the water down below ended Himiko's flash back. She had used a surprise attack to take her down the first time and the more Himiko thought of it the more she realized Masumi had tired using her tactics against her. Driving the car off the bridge was supposed to kill her immediately, but Himiko had been quick or maybe lucky enough to survive. Now she was trying to finish Himiko off quickly before… she saw through her attacks. Masumi was strong and fast, much more than Himiko, also her height advantage didn't help either. However, Himiko was far more skilled.

She began to take a look on the situation and the look of each attack from the clawed girl. They were just an extreme barrage of attacks. They didn't really vary either. Toga began to adapt to the pattern.

One claw attacks the body, one attacks the head, then the other claw goes for the legs, the other the body, then back to the head with both claws. Body, head, body, legs, body, head. It was quick with decent power but it didn't vary much. Once Himiko had learned the pattern she adapted to it. Seeing a gap in the attack she was able to jump back for a split second to change the grip on her blades. Now with an underhanded grip the claws wouldn't put so much force on her body but only work to throw her opponent off balance. In a way it was like how she had fought with the tonfas.

"Izuku…" she said quietly as she thought of the memories of their fights. Suddenly she realized he was quicker. He was stronger. Masumi was no match for Izuku. Toga could defeat her if Izuku could.

Masumi noticed she had changed her stance but at this point they were so close to the edge of the bridge it didn't matter. Himiko would be stuck in a matter of seconds and then she would finally finish her. With a bloodthirsty smile she sprang at the blonde and continued her assault. However with her first couple strikes she realized it was somehow different. Despite each strike being faster and stronger than before, Himiko appeared to be having less difficulty. It seemed like instead of putting pressure on the girl, the force from her attacks was simply being knocked aside. It was like an impenetrable field was being formed around her and every attack was simply bouncing off. Even though they were at the edge of the bridge where the car had fallen off, Himiko was not giving up anymore ground and even seemed to be taking the offensive a couple times, stepping in even closer than before. They were only inches apart now. The taller girl realized she was now at a disadvantage and that Himiko could probably take her out if Masumi slipped up for even a second. The battle had done a complete 180 in moments. But Masumi wasn't completely out of hope. She could finish this. All she needed to do was get in a final blow with enough power to knock her off the bridge.

Crashing off the bridge wasn't just improvised. The reason she had become a taxi driver and the reason she chose this bridge was all linked to her opponent's death. The river below was extremely shallow and the bridge was just high enough to be fatal. She knew from personal experience. This was one of the many places Masumi had fantasized about ending Himiko Toga's life at. She had obsessed over it more than she thought of herself, ran through every scenario, and was prepared to finish this here and now. At random she jumped backwards from her prey and then in the same second sprang forward with all of her force. She would knock the girl off the bridge with one foul swoop and claim her prize. Himiko Toga's death was her prize.

Blood flew everywhere. The attack hit. Masumi collapsed right in front of Himiko. Although Masumi thought that the attack was as unpredictable as a shooting star, Himiko had predicted every step before the thought had even passed into her opponents head. There weren't many who could outplay Himiko Toga. The knife sticking out of Masumi's chest had also hit its mark with unparalleled accuracy. Masumi, while in the air, had been unable to avoid the knife thrown at her heart and with the force of her failed attack it actually had been impaled with more force than Himiko could have done alone.

Himiko took a deep breath as the girl fell forward, only further shoving the blade into her internal organs. Himiko placed her hands on her knees and was panting a bit. That fight had really taken a lot out of her. However she only had a couple light wounds compared to the bloodied mess below her. The ginger girl attempted to lift herself up but it only showed more of her fatal condition. Blood was pouring out into a pool under her, soaking up in her, previously blue, fur coat.

"Looks like you haven't lost your touch, vital organs and bleeding out always was your speciality," blood splattered out of the woman's mouth with every word.

"You don't know me," Toga glared back.

"Oh but I do—" she began to experience a fit of coughing each one with more blood than the last. "—you haven't forgotten killing me have you?"

"You are not, her. I killed Masumi Sai. She IS dead," as if on cue the girl in front of her collapsed with one last stream of blood emptying from her mouth. Her ragged breathing stopped a moment later. With that Toga turned around and began to walk away. She was sick of her past following her. However this encounter was far from over.

The noise of metal bouncing slightly off of the pavement right behind Toga, stopped her in her tracks. Her eyes grew wide as she turned around slowly. Her bloodied knife was laying on the ground right in front of her feet. Himiko began to feel nauseous. She began to understand. Looking up confirmed her suspicions. Masumi Sai began to stand up straight, glancing down at the gaping hole that the knife had been residing in only moments before. The blood had stopped. Her heart was beating. Her body was repairing itself. Before the blonde could even blink again, the only trace of injury was left on the blood stains on her clothing and skin. The woman looked up with a carnivorous grin.

"So you haven't forgotten, after all…" she licked her lips and began to take off her blood-soaked coat.

"No, no, no that's impossible! You are not the Masumi Sai I knew! What the hell are you!"

The woman appeared in front of her clearly at full strength. She grabbed Himiko by the throat and lifted her into the sky. Her voice turned into an animalistic growl.

"Death."

…

Himiko was on her last leg. Literally, her right leg was covered in deep claw wounds along with her forearms. Her neck was also fairly bruised with a few small bloody scratches but at least she had been quick enough to escape with her life.

A little while earlier:

Masumi was gripping her throat hard between her large clawed hand, and Himiko quickly found out she couldn't breathe. In this small moment she seemed to see her life flash before her eyes in a blur. Well most of it was blurry. Except him. Izuku shone brightly out to her in all her memories. Time flew backwards in her memories, flowing to the first time they had met. When she had tried killing him. It seemed strange at first to think about something so ironic when she was about to die herself, but that wasn't just it. An image flashed in her head over and over again. The scene was a blade slicing Izuku's face. Her hidden blade.

Suddenly the blonde swung into action. Her right leg unswung unexpectedly into the taller girl's jaw. The kick itself probably wouldn't have been so effective considering how weak she was with limited oxygen at the moment, but the blade that sprung out of her shoe could not be ignored. The blade hit deeply into the girls throat, slicing up through her jaw and into her brain. The hands on Toga's neck quickly loosened as the other girl's whole body went limp. She fell to her knees, her eyes going blank as blood poured out her drooping mouth. Toga fell to the ground with her. Her hidden blade in her shoe still firmly stuck in Masumi's jaw.

Toga began to breathe heavily in relief. That was until she saw movement. A simple twitch of the eyelid showed it was not over. Toga tore her leg away from the body as fast as she could, but the blade was lodged firmly between her jaw bone. The blood had stopped flowing and the ginger's eyes were sadistic as ever. The large clawed hands sprang at her leg and gripping it with unprecedented strength there was a quick twist of the ankle to free the blade. Or so Toga thought as her leg was released from the pressure, only to find the blade no longer connected to her shoe. However it was no longer a concern for Himiko. Her ankle and leg were in tremendous pain. She had heard something snap but couldn't do anything except crawl away on her opposite leg. Luckily her opponent seemed to be temporarily distracted.

She was gripping at the bottom of her jaw, attempting to dislodge the piece of sharp metal currently embedded in her mouth. Blood began to pour out again and she almost seemed to be panicking. She tore at her own skin with her claws and then with one last attempt broke her own jaw before she stopped moving. She didn't even have time to collapse before her limp jaw seemed to spring back into place and her body repaired itself. She flexed her clawed hands and blood flew off in many directions. One of the hands seemed to be damaged and Himiko recognized part of a broken blade embedded into it. She wondered where the rest of the blade was. It didn't take long to find out.

The ginger spat out small parts of sharp metal in a bloody mess onto the ground in front of her.

"That was unexpected, but I am not disappointed. It is only natural that you would kill me a couple more times before I finally put you down," she tore off her broken clawed glove. Himiko realized that despite not dealing any real damage on her physical form, Masumi only had one claw left to fight with. The real question though was, how was she doing it?

…

The fight from that point despite her only having one clawed hand was not easier. Toga was now thoroughly injured and despite managing to get up, escape was virtually impossible with her ankle. Toga was being forced to block each of her attacks using both knives at the same time. Masumi's strikes had become much stronger now that she was focusing each attack into one arm only. They were currently at a stalemate and it was again becoming a game of stamina. One which she knew she would lose.

"Unless…" Toga thought. "It could be possible, but I have to make sure." Using her good leg Toga lept backward. She separated herself from her opponent for a moment and then threw a volley of knives to keep the distance so she could have a moment of rest. Masumi deflected the knives with ease.

"You are becoming predictable, Himiko Toga."

"Am I? I thought it was you who was becoming predictable," Toga spat back with a newfound confidence in her tone. She knew she was in trouble, but acting had always been one of her best traits. "After all, I've killed you a couple times already while I've remained barely injured," with that she gave Masumi a wide grin. A dangerous grin.

Masumi hesitated for a second. But only a second. Regaining her composure she responded, "I don't think that leg looks like a mere injury."

"Tis but a scratch!" To show off Toga kicked her leg up above her head. It took everything not to scream out or even grimace. In fact her smile grew wider. "However dying is no small injury, yet you seem to have recovered. I didn't know cats were immortal or is this just a new power you've picked up along the way?"

"I didn't know either until you showed me, Toga. I suppose I should really thank you. You showed me not to waste my life. My nine lives," with that Masumi rolled up her sleeve on her gloved hand to reveal 9 shimmering lines glowing on her skin. However not all of them were the same. The first 6 were faded while the last three were still a bright white, simmering on her forearm.

"I had 6 left before this fight, but you are the only person I ever planned to use them on, so it's by no means a waste."

"So your hidden power… is nine lives... like a cat. That means… when I first killed you…"

"That's right, I was revived after you left me to die. I woke up only moments after what I thought was going to be my last breaths left me. I didn't believe it at first. I thought my soul had simply refused to die. I ended up living in the shadows, inhabiting all sorts of felines until I finally attempted to end my own suffering and jumped off a bridge. After that too, I woke up again surrounded in more piles of my own blood. However I'm not immortal. I realized that after my third death and discovered these bright markings on my forearm. I came to terms with reality. And I only have you to thank. When I thought of you I only became filled with hatred, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. You gave me a goal. My goal is to kill you in any way possible."

With that she sprang at Toga. However Toga was smiling. This was Masumi Sai. She knew now for certain. She should be ashamed or horrified about what she had done to this girl. In reality she was. Toga wanted to run, wanted to run away from her and every terrible thing she had ever done. But even if she physically could, she wouldn't have. It was time to face her past. And she was smiling because she knew that Izuku was with her every step of the way.

"WHOOSH" Masumi's claw striked the area where Toga's body should have been, but it only hit the air. She had disappeared. Masumi quickly turned around but the girl was nowhere to be seen.

"Where did you…" suddenly she was knocked down and her clawed hand was pinned behind her back. She felt a blade on the back of her neck.

"How the hell did you do that?! Your quirk doesn't let you disappear!" the angry girl spoke harshly.

In response she only heard laughter in her ear. "Silly girl, I didn't disappear. I simply was hiding, no quirk needed. I can make my opponent's eyes and ears turn away from my presence. It is merely a little trick I picked up from my years on the run." Himiko had waited a while to use her best skill. She had needed her opponent to be a little distracted and their conversation down memory lane had given her the best opportunity.

Suddenly the girl underneath her began to shake. Toga felt the tremendous strength before it could hit her. The ginger girl tore her arm from Toga's grasp and threw her off her back. In the same motion she was already on her feet ready to fight.

"We aren't finished yet!" She screamed in a rage.

Himiko remained unphased as she landed on the other side of the road. However her grin fell and she began to wear an emotionless expression.

"I may not be finished yet, but you are," Toga decided to drop the old psychotic act. She had got the results she was looking for. "I'm done playing games and it was fun while it lasted, but it looks like you are out of time."

Masumi's eyes went wide as she began to understand. She quickly looked at her forearm and saw the marks had all disappeared.

"When I knew for sure that your quirk was fundamentally the same as the old Masumi, I realized we were on a time limit. Your quirk's 20 minutes are up. You used up the last of your energy to throw me off of you. I acted confident to get you angry so you wouldn't remember you needed to get back to your cat to charge up again," Toga slowly looked around. "And it looks like it is nowhere to be seen. Give up. You lost."

Masumi dropped her jaw. She had planned everything. She didn't think it was possible to lose. She had possessed that feline for so long that she assumed the power could never leave her. She was always ready. Or so she had thought. The words of her once former friend and now enemy pounded into her skull until she fell on her knees, "You lost." She didn't even register when the semi-truck driving down the rural bridge slammed into her helpless body. She died on impact.

As the driver rounded the bend, he did not expect to find a girl covered in blood stains to be directly in the middle of the road. He couldn't break in time, but found he couldn't swerve either because another person seemed to be standing in the other lane as well. Seconds later the massive vehicle came to a stop and he jumped out to witness the destruction. He was horrified but even more surprised to find the other figure had disappeared.

Himiko looked down from the edge of the woods onto the destruction. "It's never a good idea to play in traffic," she muttered to herself before turning around to limp the opposite direction. Izuku was close. She could feel it.

[Hey it's the author! I hoped you liked the chapter because this one took me a while to write. I also made it extra long for you guys so I hope you enjoyed it. Updates will probably increase from now on too, so as usual, "Get Excited!!"]