Chapter 11: You have a soul?

"I'm heading out, Dad." Himiko Toga adjusted her purse over her shoulder. 

In response to her voice, besides from a slight grunt escaping his lips, her father didn't look up from the newspaper. He just sat silently at the kitchen table. 

Himiko's large smile didn't even falter. She soon turned her gaze to her mother who was washing dishes. 

She's looking at me... Himiko's mother flinched under her daughter's gaze. Her fingers tightening around the plate in her hands. 

"T-Take care of yourself..." although she said this, her mother's gaze was focused on the dishes in front of her. Her figure was trembling slightly. 

Himiko's smile shook, before being fixed back into place. "Bye, Mama. I'm heading out to play~" she spoke in a cutesy voice. 

Both wife and husband of the household kept quiet, their eyes never lifting from their activities to even see if their daughter had left yet. 

The moment that Himiko stepped outside, her smile instantly dropped. Her shoulders lowered as she took a deep breath. After all these years, her parents were still... 

The young girl instantly clapped her cheeks. She shook her head, "No. No! You have to keep smiling! Keep pushing through, Toga!" 

Hyping herself up, Himiko looked up with determination. She had a cute green dress on that she had never used, together with her brown coat and fancy shoes! Her eyes glittered. She can't be all sad and gloomy, she had a mission today. 

"Yosh!" Himiko pumped her fists. "Let's have fun today!"

...o0o...

"Mama! Look a robot!"

"N-No, put your fingers down. It's rude to point!" a mother admonished her child, smiling apologetically to the, er, young man? "I'm so sorry about him."

"..." opposite of her, leaning against the street pole in front of a candy shop, was a brown humanoid robot, wearing a dark blue hoodie that covered the top of his head.

The robot stared at her with it's unblinking green eyes. 

The mother stood awkwardly with her child, who could only stare at the walking robot with sparkling eyes. 

"... It's alright, ma'am." the robot finally spoke, his mechanical voice was rather soothing to the ears, causing the mother to relax in her place. "Boys do tend to like robots, right?"

"Right!" the child gave a thumbs up to the cool robot, before his mother pulled him away. 

"He's so cool, Mom! Can I keep him?!"

"S-Shush! You can't say that to anybody! A-And you're grounded for the day!"

"?!" the confused child could only be pulled away by his mother.

Why was he being punished? 

The robot looked at the kid with silence, Then, a faint chuckle escaped from his voice box. 

"M-Mechamaru!" a familiar voice soon reached his ears. 

The robot named, Mechamaru, turned to see his classmate running to him under the orange glow of the sunlight. 

He raised a hand in greeting, "Yo, Himiko."

Stopping right in front of him, a real and genuine smile appeared on Himiko's face. This was perhaps, the first real smile that she showed the world today. 

Why? Because right in front of her was the only person willing to talk to her in school, and was willing to stay by her side even after knowing what her quirk was. 

Because right in front of her was Mechamaru, her one and only friend! 

"Let's go..." puling himself off the street pole, Mechamaru placed his hands in his pockets. "The movie should be starting soon..."

Himiko's smile beamed. "Understood. Understood." she walked by Mechamaru's side with a grin. 

She was planning on staying home today, but imagine her surprise when she got a text message from Mechamaru in the morning, asking her if she wanted to watch a movie with him?

Of course, she had to check to see if her schedule was free~

Oh, who the hell was she kidding, she didn't have anything else planned!

And not only that... Himiko glanced at her classmate, a warm blush on her smiling face. If I remember right. This should be the first time that Mechamaru has ever asked her out to watch a movie together!

Wait... Himiko paused in her thoughts. Asking me out to watch a movie with him? This is... a date, right?! This definitely classifies as a date!

Date...

Date... Date....

Date... Date.... Date...

"Date." Himiko whispered slightly. 

"Today's date is Saturday, the 17th." Mechamaru's voice came from her side. 

"Huh?" Himiko looked at Mechamaru with a questioning look. 

Mechamaru gazed back at her with his unblinking green eyes. He showed her his phone, which showed the current time and date of today.

Himiko was dumbfounded. 

And then, she became angry. Her cheeks puffed out like a balloon, wringing her arm back, she slapped Mechamaru over the head!

"Ow! Ow! Owowow!" only to instantly regret it, Himiko held her hand with tears in her eyes. 

She glared at Mechamaru, "Apologize!" 

Mechamaru was confused. "What did I do?" apparently, his blunt and uncaring question only served as fuel to Himiko's anger. 

"I said apologize!" Himiko waved her arms angrily like a child. 

Mechamaru remained silent, and then started walking again. His movement quickening with each step. 

"We should hurry. The movie is about to start soon."

Himiko, left behind by Mechamaru, was stunned. 

She then ran after Mechamaru with a shout. 

"Wait for me!"

...o0o...

In the theaters, Himiko looked around with interest. 

The elderly, adults, and kids can be seen walking around. Couples were holding each other's hands, teens shoving each other and laughing, kids running about with giggles. 

It was so exciting! Himiko was glad that she agreed to Mechamaru's message! 

The walls of the theater was lined up with massive posters, featuring movies of a variety of options to choose. 

Romance, Action, Fantasy, Mystery, Horror... 

"Let's go get our tickets." Mechamaru said. 

Himiko nodded excitedly, "This is going to be the best day ever!" 

...o0o... 

"Why the heck are we even watching a movie here? We can just watch it at the hou-"

Kirito interrupted Katsuki with a groan. "Is complaining all you can do? Just enjoy the movie..."

Katsuki stared at Kirito with wide eyes, not believing this punk had the gall to interrupt him in the middle of the sentence. "What did you say, you little shit?!" 

"You heard me, and besides," Kirito gestured to the large screen in front of them. "It's Nobuko Takada! THE TAKADA! Are you telling me you don't want to watch her on the big screen!" 

Currently in the theater room, the group of friends sat next to each other. 

Right next to Katsuki on his right, sat Kirito, Izuku, and Tsubasa. 

Izuku and Tsubasa looked at the large screen with wonder. Waiting for the movie to begin. 

Katsuki stared at Kirito in annoyance. He glanced at the side to see a large poster of the idol, Takada, winking at the camera. His lips twitched, thoughts soon going back to a certain little witch. 

"Takada... she's not that cute at all..." Katsuki said with a smirk. There can only be one girl that's the cutest and that i-.

"WHAT?!?" Tsubasa, who was minding his own business, snapped his head at Katsuki. "You did not just say that!"

"How dare you! As if a delinquent like you can understand the pure and innocent aura that is Nobuko Takada herself!" Kirito barked angrily.

Surprisingly enough, to Katsuki's disbelief, Izuku turned to him with actual fire raging from his eyes. 

"You take that back, kacchan!" Izuku almost looked ready to strangle his childhood friend. "Take it back.... NOOOOW!" 

"TAKE IT BACK!" Kirito roared. 

"TAKE IT BACK!" Tsubasa screamed. 

Katsuki looked at the crazy trio, getting a bit shaken with how angry the three were, especially, Deku, with the boy looking like he wants to fight him right there and then. 

"U-Uh. Where the hell are Momo and Yuki right now..."

...o0o...

"Yo. You guys also here to see 'Takada: Fast & the Furious'?" Yuki stepped up to the pair with an innocent look in his eyes. 

Himiko visibly flinched, ducking behind Mechamaru like a startled cat. She peered over Mechamaru's shoulder, her fingers clutching against his metal plated shoulder, with wary. 

That spooked her. She honestly wasn't expecting anyone to approach them while they were at the theaters. 

Yuki, not minding her gaze, stared at Mechamaru with a grin. "Names, Yuki Aoi, what's your name you people of culture?"

Looking at Yuki's teasing smile, Mechamaru was quiet. 

And then to Himiko's shock, Mechamaru not only introduced their names, but their quirks as well!

"My name is Mechamaru. My quirk is Puppet Manipulation, which allows me to remotely control any puppet under my control over wide ranges and distances," Mechamaru gestured to Himiko. "This is Himiko Toga, her quirk is Transform, which grants her the ability to transform into a physical lookalike of another individual by drinking their blood..."

Himiko paled, she glanced between Mechamaru and Yuki with worry. 

She crazily shook Mechamaru. W-Why would you say that?!

"No way!" Yuki gasped. 

Himiko flinched. She looked down with trembling shoulders. Her eyes becoming watery. She knew what was coming...

It was all the same when they found out about her quirk, he'll look at her with fear and disgust and say... "You're a monster!"

"Whoa, so, what are you a vampire or something?"

Himiko froze, she looked up to see Yuki's wide eyes. 

There was no fear in his eyes, just... playfulness?

"H-Huh?" Himiko sniffed. 

"I mean, drinking blood makes you something akin to a vampire, right?" Yuki shrugged. "That's cool, that's cool..."

Himiko just stared at him. 

"So..." Yuki looked back at her with interest. "What about your soul?" 

At this, Himiko blinked. "Wha?"

"You know. You're a vampire. A creature of the night. Your essence, your eternal soul ya know. Is it still intact? Do you even have one?" Yuki asked. 

Himiko's jaw dropped. She raised a hand up, "W-Wait a minu-"

Thinking that she was going to attack, Yuki stepped back with raised hands. "Whoooa! I ain't turning into a bloodsucker of the night! You can stay right where you are, pal. I'm going to heaven, sis, I don't wanna catch whatever your having."

"I got the snacks." Momo came up to the group with drinks, popcorn, hotdogs, candy, everything you needed to enjoy at the theater. The best part was that they didn't have to worry about money at all. 

They were filthy rich!

Noticing the two beside Yuki, Momo pretended to be surprised. "Oh, who are they?"

"Hey, Momo. This is Mechamaru, and this is Himiko Toga," Yuki pointed a thumb at the two, "He's a robot, and well, she's a vampire who drinks blood." 

"A-A vampire?!" Momo cried in shock, only in the next second to glance at the girl with the same interested look that Yuki had on seconds ago. "So, like, how does that work? Does she have a soul?" 

"I'm still trying to figure out that answer as well." Mechamaru, playing along, crossed his arms with a thoughtful expression on his robotic face. 

The three glanced at Himiko with tilted heads. 

Seeing this, Himiko kept staring at them, until...

Giggles came out. Himiko tried to cover it up, but the giggles keep coming out. 

What... is this? Himiko stared at the trio with a strange gleam in her eyes. So far, when people find out about her quirk, they always stay clear of her, so why were these two... just like Mechamaru...

And Mechamaru... why are you playing along with them? You personally know me! 

She took a step forward, out from behind Mechamaru, this action scaring Momo in the process. 

"Whoa!" Momo backed up with the snacks in her arms, "Listen, pal, I don't want any trouble alright. I just came here to watch a movie. I'm trying to get to heaven. I want to make sure I get a ticket to heaven once I die, and not become an immortal bloodsucking creature." 

"I know, right?" Yuki grinned. "That's what I was talking about!"

Mechamaru: "The movie is about to start. We should get going?"

Yuki: "Oh right, let's go."

Momo: "Ah, yes." 

And soon, the three started walking up ahead.

Yuki turned around, staring at Himiko with a blink. He waved in her direction. "Come on, Himiko, the movie is about to start!"

"Huh?" Momo turned to Himiko with a raised eyebrow. "What are you waiting for, silly, let's head in already!"

Mechamaru waved gently, "Himiko..."

Seeing this scene, Himiko Toga's pupils shrank. Unknowingly, a tear fell from her face as a gigantic smile followed just afterwards. 

"R-Right! I'm coming!" Himiko ran forward, deep within her, hope sprouted. 

She was so glad that she agreed to Mechamaru's message!

...o0o...

Walking back to her home after a surprising day, Himiko glanced down at her phone with wide smile. 

She was currently staring at her contact list. 

#House

#Mom

#Dad

And then, Himiko scrolled down, fingers shaking slightly.

#Mechamaru

#Yuki Aoi

#Momo Nishimiya

#Izuku Midoriya

#Katsuki Bakugo

#Kirito Hagane

#Tsubasa Nobashii

Himiko hummed as she went home, a happy skip in her steps. 

It was such a Plus Ultra day!

...o0o...

Yuki whistled as the System updated. 

[Quest: Give Himiko Toga a best day ever. Marked as completed. Reward given: Gift pack sent to Inventory.] 

Pressing the pack, a small familiar cube floated silently. 

Popping open in a series of fireworks, 5 cards appeared. 

Money, Cursed Tool, Cursed Tool, Money...

Yuki pressed on the last card, squinting as a bright light flashed. 

As the light died down, a female voice appeared. 

["I'll do anything... for his sake alone!"] On the front of the card, was a stern white-haired girl in a monk's outfit. She was kneeling on the ground with her right arm stretched out as ice grew around her. Her scowl was as cold as the cursed technique that she wields. 

[Character unlocked: The Ice wielder from the Heian era, Uraume, the King of Curse's loyalist follower]

Yuki rubbed his chin.

"Interesting... wait. Isn't Uraume originally a guy, but became a female in the modern day?" 

Yuki looked at Uraume with a look of pity. 

This character was the only character who could probably understand the struggles he had to endure! To experience the body of both male and female... pity is shared! 

++Chapter End++ *Himiko Toga was stunned. There were people out there, who weren't scared of her?*