Ryunosuke Akutagawa woke up, not knowing where he was or how he got there, all he knew was that he was dead and he had memories of when he was still alive. With no recollection whatsoever of his death he began looking around. All he could see was a desert filled to the brim with white sand stretching far beyond the horizon, and an occasional dead trees and shrubbery. The only light source that the desert has is the lunar moon, shining in the middle of the night sky, and the stars, whose patterns he did not recognize.
"How did I die?" Ryunosuke pondered, was I murdered? Was I sick? Did I get into an accident? He decided to put such thoughts for later and started to wander. He tried to take a step, only to find out that he couldn't,
"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO ME?" he shouted, or at least tried to when he found out that his head's shape wasn't exactly built for talking. Taking a good look at himself, he found out that his new form looked very familiar, "I look like Rashomon" Ryunosuke thought.
With newfound knowledge, he quickly tried to get used to his new body, training it, and using it exactly the way he used to when he was alive, "I will never let myself be weak" Ryunosuke chanted to himself. He was pleased to find out that he had retained all of his abilities when he was alive, which were erasing space and shapeshifting. Ryunosuke used shapeshifting to his advantage and changed into a more "Familiar" shape and turned himself back into a human form.
Upon further observation, he realized that this world was stuck in an endless night, no matter how long he waited, and how many hours have passed, the moon stayed exactly in place, unmoving and unflinching. There was also no weather here, not a single cloud blocked the beautiful night sky. It was a good thing he didn't need food otherwise he would've starved to death, the desert was completely barren, with no other living being in sight, he did however need to sleep.
DOTBT- DOTBT- DOTBT- DOTBT- DOTBT
Time seemed to be a challenge to tell due to the unchanging state of this environment, but after a few weeks of wandering, Ryunosuke found footprints, "Another living being!? Here!? I should establish contact, maybe he/she knows what's going on in this place." Ryunosuke thought. After deciding to follow the tracks Ryunosuke thought that he should get some sleep to prepare for his long journey.
ENOUGH KACCHAN! You already made him cry! S-So i-if you go any further, I WON'T FORGIVE YOU! a broccoli haired boy nervously shouted.
"W-What's going on? Am I dreaming?" Ryunosuke asked himself.
Looking around, all he could see was the broccoli headed boy in front of a crying child, facing an ash-blonde haired boy in front of a chubby boy with devil wings and another boy with freaking looking fingers in a park. "Are they all ability users? "Ryunosuke thought.
"So Deku, you think you can play hero, huh?" the ash-blonde boy sadistically said with an innocent smile adorning his face.
He punched his palm as an explosion came out of it. Ryunosuke watched as the broccoli haired boy struggled against the ash-blonde and his minions as they beat him up with sadistic smiles unbefitting of children. Ryunosuke narrowed his eyes and frowned, he never liked to torture anyone unless it was necessary, but what the blonde boy was doing was straight up cruel.
Drifting through a void, of what he assumed to be the green haired boy's mind Ryunosuke learned a great deal of information, first, ability users that used to be rare, now take up 80% of the world population, second, the abilities are now called "Quirks" which can range from totally useless, to absolutely godlike, third, with the rise of quirks, also came the rise of villains and heroes, patriotic people bent on catching villains. Izuku Midoriya, the green haired boy both infuriated and interested Ryunosuke. He a powerless young boy had the audacity to dream to be the Number 1 HERO, just like his idol All Might. A silly notion, Ryunosuke thought,
"The weak should die to give way to the strong" Ryunosuke believed,
but seeing the boy struggle and continue to believe in himself even with all the obstacles in his way interested Ryunosuke. The boy reminded him of THAT guy, the man so weak that it was pitiful, the man that pretends to be strong for the sake of his comrades.
" Atsushi Nakajima" he hatefully spat out. After a while, Ryunosuke found himself invested in the boy's life, he felt a connection to the boy,
"If I could access his memories, then could he, in return, access my powers?"
He pondered.
"Maybe, just maybe…. I'll be able to help you out…. boy."
After what seemed to be an eternity, Ryunosuke woke up after sifting through the boy's memories, he felt an ever so tiny "speck" of respect towards the boy, he got up and went through with his goal of establishing contact with the source of the footprints, he continued to follow the foot prints until he found a white figure walking in the distance,
"This is it!" Ryunosuke thought.
He sprinted after the figure, and after only a few seconds, he quickly caught up to it. The person must've heard him running as it quickly turned around and shouted in an annoyingly familiar voice,
"WHO ARE YOU!? WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THIS PLACE!? DO YOU HAVE ANY CHAZUKE!?"
"…."
"…."
"…Of all people it had to be you… Man-Tiger"
"…Akutagawa?"
DOTBT- DOTBT- DOTBT- DOTBT- DOTBT
-A FEW WEEKS EARLIER, AT THE OTHER SIDE OF THE DESERT
Atsushi Nakajima woke up, in a desert, not knowing how he got there.
"… AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH, WHERE AM I!? HOW DID I GET HERE!? WHERE ARE DAZAI-SAN AND THE OTHERS!?"
After a few minutes of panicking, Atsushi finally calmed down.
"Don't panic, and calm down" he thought.
"Am I…. dead?" he grimly thought.
Looking around all he could see was a desert filled to the brim with white sand stretching far beyond the horizon, and an occasional dead trees and shrubbery. The only light source that the desert has is the lunar moon, shining in the middle of the night sky, and the stars.
He got up to his feet, only to notice something was quite out of place. Taking a good look at himself, Atsushi's recently acquired calm and composed demeanour quickly regressed to panic and hysteria.
"I'M A FREAKING TIGER!?, WHAT THE HELL? HOW AM I EVEN TALKING!?"
He quickly calmed down this time though, as he didn't want to waste more time panicking. Inspecting his new body, he realized that he was transformed into "The Beast Beneath the Moonlight", Atsushi was never able to fully transform into the white tiger, so his new form definitely intrigued him. Deciding to test out his capabilities, he quickly burst into a sprint and found out that he could move faster than the speed of sound, and had could produce shockwaves with a swipe of his claws. Atsushi was glad to find out that he still had his high regenerative powers after accidentally injuring himself a few times when testing out his new body. Atsushi was glad that he could change back into his human body whenever he wanted to, but after a few hours of getting used to his new body, he finally exhausted himself and promptly fell asleep.
DOTBT- DOTBT- DOTBT- DOTBT- DOTBT
After a few weeks of wandering and training his new body, Atsushi felt himself getting a bit delirious, was it the endless white sand that went beyond what even his tiger eyes could see, or the unending night that seemed to haunt this world, Atsushi didn't know. What he did know was that he WANTED some Chazuke, so what if he didn't need to eat, he still wanted some of that RICH WHITE ,RICE,COMPLIMENTED BY THE GREEN TEA WHICH PERMEATED EVERY CELL OF HIS BODY, ADDED WITH WHITH VEGETALE BITS WHICH ADDED A BITTER YET FULFILLING TASTE TO HIS TOUNG, AND FINALLY, THE MEAT CHUNKS WHICH FILLED HIS ENTIRE BODY WITH JOY EVERY TIME HE CHEWED THOSE DELICIOUS BROWN MEATY BITS. He didn't care, he NEEDED it, something, someone, ANYONE, to talk to. He needed someone with him, or he was going to go insane. He felt himself getting more and more tired as his thoughts became heavier and heavier, until…...
GASP! …... PANT … PANT…
"Where am I? What is this place?"
Looking around, all he could see was the broccoli headed boy in front of a crying child, facing an ash-blonde haired boy in front of a chubby boy with devil wings and another boy with freaking looking fingers in a park.
ENOUGH KACCHAN! You already made him cry! S-So i-if you go any further, I WON'T FORGIVE YOU! a broccoli haired boy nervously shouted
"So Deku, you think you can play hero, huh?" the ash-blonde boy sadistically said with an innocent smile adorning his face.
"Wh-WHAT'S GOING ON?" Atsushi shouted, but they didn't seem to hear him as the ash-blonde boy punched his palm, as an explosion came out of it, the boys behind him jeering the green haired boy about playing hero.
"HEY STOP!" Atsushi shouted, but he could do nothing more than watch in frustration as the green haired boy get beaten up by the ash-blonde and his minions. He HATED it, he hated not being able to do anything, he hated being forced to watch as the kid get tormented by his peers, he hated himself for not being able to do anything.
After watching what he assumed to be the boy's memories, Atsushi couldn't help but be reminded of himself, the boy was kind to a fault, weak but persistent, a dreamer, but with a will that is UNBREAKABLE. Looking through the green haired boy's thoughts, Atsushi learned that the world has changed a great deal. Abilities are now called quirks, which are now possessed by 80% of the world population and can range from mundane, to unreal levels of strength. Heroes and villains now occupy the world in a battle of good and evil.
"I'll find a way to help this boy, so that he wouldn't be as pathetic as me." he thought.
Waking up, after seeing the boy's memories, Atsushi felt emboldened with a new purpose… to help the boy, he still wanted some Chazuke though. After aimlessly walking, he heard hastened footsteps coming his way. When he heard that it caught up to him, he quickly turned around and shouted,
"WHO ARE YOU!? WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THIS PLACE!? DO YOU HAVE ANY CHAZUKE!?"
"…."
"…."
"…Of all people it had to be you… Man-Tiger"
"…Akutagawa?"
AUTHOR'S NOTE
I have no idea what the hell I'm doing and this is my first fanfiction so please bear with me. I have zero planning done for this story since I literally just sat down and wrote a concept that's been on my minds for the last couple of days. I did this story out of boredom because of the quarantine. Any suggestions and criticisms will be greatly appreciated. BYE AND STAY SAFE!