In My Hero Academia Chapter 348, Himiko Toga introduces a new support item: a tool that works similarly to one of Deku’s Quirks.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for My Hero Academia Chapter 348 “Unrequited” by Kohei Horikoshi, Caleb Cook and John Hunt, available now in English via Viz Media.
Stunned Himiko Toga my hero academia fans when he snatched Deku from his assigned battlefront at the UA, but he wasn’t done being a threat yet. After realizing that Danger Sense wouldn’t work on her, Deku classified the young schoolgirl as her natural enemy. Toga refrained from attacking Deku until she rebuffed her romantic advances, but once she did, she revealed a new support item that closely mimicked one of One For All’s abilities.
Toga’s declaration of love for Deku may have been genuine, but not innocent. For Toga, the greatest form of love is to become more like the object of her desire and with her Transform Quirk, she literally takes on becoming them. Right after her big confession, she demanded some of Deku’s blood, which he promptly denied. Toga continued her monologue endlessly, revealing that transforming into another person was about love for her, and finally repeated the question he had asked Uraraka Ochaco during the Paranormal Liberation War to Deku.
Ever since Twice’s death at the hands of Hawks, Toga had worried about exactly how the heroes perceived her and the League of Villains. She couldn’t help but be fascinated by the blood that came from her with her Quirk and her actions, which seemed psychotic to everyone else, were just Toga’s honest self-expression. She had grown tired of having to pretend to be a normal schoolgirl and turned down her old life to join the League. Unfortunately, she was still prone to the fleeting crushes that many schoolgirls her age developed on her and respected Deku enough to ask for her honest opinion of her.
Deku empathized with her desire to become more like those she loved, even comparing her twisted view of affection to her adoration of All Might. However, like Uraraka, he could not tolerate Toga’s tendencies to harm the innocent and told Toga as much. She took this rejection quite harshly and accused Deku of only considering the people that heroes traditionally protected as the “real humans”. In an instant, her feelings for Deku completely vanished and she started attacking with her new support object.
Toga’s new support item was built on the basis of her old school uniform/blood storage device, but with a few key improvements. It consisted of sabers that were held by mini-thrusters that could hover and attack as Toga wished. These sabers are attached to the main unit on Toga’s body by long, flexible cables that presumably serve as tubes that transport blood to Toga from any wounds the blades may cause. The overall effect gives the impression of tentacles sprouting from Toga’s back, which is eerily similar to how Deku used Blackwhip during his vigilante days.
Toga hasn’t confirmed or denied the inspiration behind her new device, but it’s not a stretch to assume that she had customized it so it could better match Deku. However, the similarity was lost on him, as Deku never recognized the support item beyond trying to evade it. Toga quickly demonstrated how dangerous his new tools were when he attacked and would have fatally wounded Uraraka had Tsuyu Asui not interfered. In the brief moment that Toga was disoriented, Deku sped towards UA, but that exchange couldn’t be classified as a complete victory. As he lay, Toga seemed to enjoy the fact that he had managed to brush against Uraraka and now had access to his blood. It’s still unknown what he plans to use it for, but knowing Toga, it can’t be anything good.
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