Heroes in the Dark chapter 11
Tokoyami was made to follow Dabi out back into a small field. They were surrounded on three sides by dense woodlands that reminded him of the training camp he had been at just yesterday, with the damaged façade of the abandoned care facility they currently inhabited blocking out the view of the city from the other side. Kurogiri, Spinner, and Magne watched from the sidelines – they had an audience. Tokoyami stood nervously in the unkempt grass, facing off against a very unamused Dabi. The crow-headed student plucked at the sleeves of his hoodie, which at this point were horribly singed and dirtied.
"Okay," Dabi called out from his side of the field, "Bring out your quirk. I know you can do it."
The way he said it didn't sound like it was meant to be encouraging. Only that…if pushed, Dark Shadow was sure to appear. Tokoyami looked down, muttering. "I'm not sure if – "
"What was that? You better not be trying to back out of this. It doesn't matter if I'm only doing this because Kurogiri put me up to it – we're still doing it!"
"Can't we…" Tokoyami hesitated before speaking up louder. "Can't we save this for tomorrow? This is hardly the best time to be – "
Dabi cut him off once more. "Don't get me wrong here, I'm not trying to look out for your best interests. So don't try to chicken out of this." He smirked at his own words, and Tokoyami felt an ember of resentment burning up inside him.
Tokoyami focused inside himself and prodded at the festering yet dormant consciousness of Dark Shadow. It twitched and writhed like a decapitated snake, responding begrudgingly to his summons. While before it would've appeared instantly to his beck and call, this time the sentient quirk materialized slowly into existence. It loomed over him, larger than usual for the amount of light there was, but still expectantly docile. Its outline spluttered and the dark threads comprising it crawled in different directions, as though the fabric of its form was ready to dissipate whenever it became convenient. It swayed in the air, growling faintly with every movement, and Tokoyami couldn't help but feel concerned that this unstable thing was so close to him, that it was a part of him. It had troubled him in the past, of course, but theirs was supposed to be a compliant relationship, and so he'd never had any reason to worry. But looking upon his quirk now filled him with unease. Given the opportunity, he would rather wait to summon the creature and hope that it would mellow out in its own time. But that was not the case today.
Tokoyami raised his hand vaguely towards the villain waiting impatiently for a response and began to utter a command. But before the words could even leave his beak, Dark Shadow was streaking across the field, clearing the distance between it and Dabi with breakneck speed. Usually the quirk was much more tactful, even without direction, but here it spread its claws wide and dived straight towards the opponent without any thought.
Dabi leapt to the side, narrowly avoiding the teeming mass of shadows, and swiftly delivered a blast of dark fire to its side. It shrieked in furious dismay, causing Tokoyami to flinch, and his lack of focus caused it to vanish within him.
Groans could be heard from the small captive audience. They have nothing better to do.
"Hey, what gives!" Dabi said in obvious annoyance. "You were doing just fine, right? Bring it back; tell it I'm not done fighting or something!"
"We don't feel like fighting!" That wasn't entirely true, though. Dark Shadow was more than eager to be free and doing something beyond its constraints, and Tokoyami knew this. But I'll be damned if I let it get the best of me again. So start listening to me!
Dark Shadow uttered an animalistic growl that reached beyond his mindscape for everyone to hear. Then it went back to whispering its toxicity quietly to him. Not until you give me a good reason to.
Dabi scowled, having no knowledge of the transaction between the two. "You don't feel like it? Well, that's too bad." The villain rushed at Tokoyami with the same ferocity that Dark Shadow had shown him. He came all too close before exploring the air with his flames, stretching his hands towards the startled kid. A wicked smile twisted the burned flesh of his face as he came within inches.
Tokoyami felt a moment of panic as he felt the heat wash over him, and willed for Dark Shadow to protect him. The quirk did materialize, but only to arch over Dabi and away from the attack, leaving him exposed to the blast. Tokoyami stumbled backwards, almost falling, and crossed his arms protectively over his head.
But the fire blast never came. Dabi ceased his flames in an instant and instead shoved Tokoyami in the chest so that he tumbled over completely. Dark Shadow was coming around from behind to attack him with frenzied claws, but Dabi dropped down to the ground, allowing the quirk to pass over him harmlessly. "Hey, you be careful now!" he said, addressing the quirk.
It circled back around and came to a stop behind Tokoyami, as though his controller was meant to be the shield, and glared at the villain.
"Don't look at me like that; it's not my fault you have such bad reflexes. I don't think you're doing what he wants, huh."
Dark Shadow swayed in the wind as Tokoyami pushed himself off the ground and into a sitting position. He looked behind him to where the quirk was glowering, and was surprised to hear it talk aloud to him. "He's trying to get me hurt!" the bird-shaped shadow hissed. "My decisions are better."
Tokoyami hung his head. He knew full well that Dark Shadow didn't always respond well to being put in positions where he was at a disadvantage. It's not like you give me much of a choice, though.
I give you every chance! The quirk hissed angrily into his thoughts.
Even though Dabi hadn't heard their internal conflicts, he seemed to grasp the situation quite well. "So this is some sort of conflict of interests?" He sighed wearily. "I don't think I've ever encountered a quirk so annoying. Having a sentient power always at your side is fun in concept, but then it's not nearly so easy just learning to use it. This whole thing feels like a compromise."
"N-no, don't misunderstand," Tokoyami said. "I'm the one in charge here."
"Like hell you are!" it spat.
"Okay, yeah that's great," Dabi said, rising to a stand. "Now get up. I'm not gonna attack you."
Tokoyami picked himself back up. Dark shadow hovered near him, giving off an aura of dissatisfaction. He looked over at his quirk, not quite sure how to approach it.
"Hey, look at me," Dabi demanded, snapping his fingers for attention and producing the smallest of sparks. "I'm trying to figure something out, though I doubt I'm the best person for this."
From the other side of the field came a call from Magne. "So is the fighting over or what?"
"Either sit tight or go away," Dabi yelled back. "I didn't even invite you here!" He turned back to the student. "Okay, I gotta know: what's your preferred fighting style? I haven't seen enough of it, and it's hard for me to see what you usually do because of your quirk acting up, so what's the first thing you do at the start of a battle?"
Yeah, what do you do?
Tokoyami didn't appreciate how he had to explain so much to this dangerous man, but of course he was compelled to supply an answer. "I send out my quirk, obviously."
"That's great, but what do you do?" It sounded like he was starting to get impatient, but he didn't understand why and this was in turn making Tokoyami irritated.
"I give the orders! It's my quirk!"
"Cool. Stop doing that."
"What!"
Dark Shadow snickered. I like this person.
Dabi sighed. "Hear me out. I can't say I know the best course of action, but it's pretty shitty that two beings that are literally connected have to struggle to coexist. Why should you have to worry about losing control? At the same time, it's not fair that Dark Shadow should have to worry about soaking up all the damage." He started to back away, creating space between them before speaking again. "Attack me again, but this time I want you to do it, not your quirk. Keep that thing out, though, in case it feels like helping you."
Tokoyami could tell that Dark Shadow was pleased with this turn of events. The quirk was still a disillusioned mass of bitterness with little hope for controlling, but this was still considerably better than the amount of spite it had lashed at him not too long ago. There was nothing that had felt quite as bad as when the influence of night had turned the being inside him into something malicious enough to whisper constant tales of self-doubt into his head. He had once enjoyed conversing with Dark Shadow, but year by year it had steadily chipped away at his insecurities. Or maybe I'm just confusing that with my own thoughts. I can't hardly tell the difference anymore.
Tokoyami stood to face the fire user one on one. It made him think back to the time of the tournament, and how he had faced off against Bakugou. He recalled the words that All Might had said to him after his loss. "You sure are strong! However, in order to fight well against different types, you must not rely only on your quirk. If you train your own strength more, then you'll have more options when you fight."
He was right, of course. Training for him had always been for the betterment of Dark Shadow, using the best of what he'd been given. Over time, though, a shift in balance had started to occur, and even after understanding what needed to be improved he wasn't able to reach any sort of goal for self-improvement before being thrust into a nightmarish series of events. All Might probably knew that I wasn't able to take him up on those words he said to me. I'm sure he'd be disappointed. In the end it was my failure that helped to lead him to his demise.
Dark Shadow didn't tease him for once, remaining silent while listening in to his thoughts.
Dabi called him out of his brooding. "Are you gonna come at me or what?"
Tokoyami jerked back to attention, taking a deep breath. He tensed his muscles and ran right towards the villain with no concept of caution, Dark Shadow being dragged behind him. He felt horribly small coming right up the fire user, his height just reaching his chest, but he'd hoped that he could use his small stature to his advantage.
Unfortunately Tokoyami either overestimated himself or underestimated Dabi, which in hind sight was a horrible idea.
Tokoyami actually had very little idea of what he was supposed to do when he reached him, only that he shouldn't use his quirk. Dabi moved like he was about to shove him to the ground again, so he ducked under his arm and turned towards him, ready to throw his whole weight against him in a tackle that might topple the sinister foe. Only his opponent sidestepped him, and suddenly he had made himself get thrown off balance by trying to rush into an ill-advised course of action. Dabi delivered a swift kick to his back, grounding him once more. Dabi rested his foot carefully on his back in smug victory, a stark contrast to the first time he'd pinned him to the floor back when he'd first arrived at the villain's hideout.
"So the bad news is that your hand-to-hand combat sucks. No wonder you left it all up to your quirk. But hey, at least you're trying, right?"
Tokoyami waited for Dabi to take his shoe off his back before standing back up to his feet and brushing off his tattered clothes. He could tell even without hearing it that Dark Shadow was laughing at his expense. Then again, maybe he deserved this. It's what All Might would've seen fit. "Right."