Warning: Underage drinking. Reference to drug-like substances. Violence. Slight gore.
Chapter 18: The Cafeteria Incident.
Nico's POV
"Nico?!" Dabi asked, looking quite confused.
"Yeah; that's me." I stated, looking him right in the eye. He stared for a moment, before shrugging it off, and turning to Shigaraki.
"So, you're the leader of the League of Villains?" he asked. I bit back a smart retort.
"In a way." He hedged. I almost laughed. I shook my wings a little, and summoned the whiskey from the shelf. Kurogiri sent me a disapproving look. I acted the part of a responsible teenager, and stuck my tongue out at him.
"So, Nico. Are you a part of the league?" Dabi asked. I cocked my head to the side.
"I am a neutral party. The so-called light wants me, because they fear my power in the enemies' hands. The Villains want me because they want my power. No one really wants me for me. I make deals with whoever interests me most. Right now, Shigaraki has the cards. He's also one of the few I would call my friends. I have no qualms about killing someone, as I'm sure Tomura can attest to. I also have no problems with saving someone in need. I help those I feel like helping, and screw the rest of the world." I stated, and poured myself another glass of whiskey. The man saw me.
"You can't be old enough to drink." He stated. I shrugged.
"And? Are you going to go tell the police?" I snarked, sipping leisurely at my drink. He laughed, and went to pat me on the shoulder. He was repelled to the other side of the room. Instantly, Dabi's hands went up in flames, and the crazy girl pulled out knives.
"I don't like people touching me." I stated, and continued sipping my drink. Dabi extinguished his hands, and the girl put her knives away. the man stood, slightly disoriented. He glared at me, and I smirked maniacally. He looked away, making my smirk grow.
"Well, I'm in." Dabi stated. Tomura nodded, and looked to the girl.
"My name is Toga Himiko, and I hope we all become friends!" she stated happily. I rolled my eyes.
"Sure thing, crazy." I told her, and resumed nursing my drink. The TV turned on; 'sound only' written across its surface.
"Shigaraki, did you manage to recruit them?" the voice of All for One asked.
"Yes Master." He stated. Dabi sent him a skeptical look at the word 'Master' and I just rolled my eyes.
"Nico, have you decided to join us yet?" he asked. I raised my middle finger by way of response.
"No. I'll join when and how I feel like it. If that ever occurs. I really just like being my own party, with my own rules." I told the TV. All for One huffed.
"It's an open invitation. Whenever you feel like joining, just give us a visit." He said, and the TV disconnected. I rolled my eyes, and finished my drink. I shouldn't have another, but it did take my mind of the growing urge to drink everyone's blood. I sighed, and banged my head on the counter again. I really did need to stop doing that.
"Nico, are you alright?" Toga asked, coming and standing far too close.
"No. I have the almost undeniable urge to drink the blood of everyone in this room including you, and standing that close to me basically flaunting how good you smell is not helping." I stated. There was a sharp intake of breath throughout the room. Toga stepped back.
"What's your quirk?" Dabi asked. I ran a hand through my now shoulder length hair.
"Umbrakinesis for the most part. I can heal someone a little if I force my energy into that form, but it's pretty hard, and takes a lot of concentration. If I drink someone's blood, it's like a temporary power boost but, I crave blood as soon as it wears off. Like a drug almost." I told the Villains. No one spoke for a few moments, while they let that settle.
"Alright then," Dabi stated, and sat at the bar. Kurogiri handed him a drink, and took the bottle of whiskey off the counter. I pouted.
"Nico," he said, with a disapproving look at my pouting face.
"Kurogiri," I responded in the same tone. He sighed, and gave me back the bottle of whiskey. I smiled at him, and poured the rest of it into my once again empty glass. This had to be the last that I drank if I wanted to even be able to get up tomorrow. I was already way over my limits, but that was the fun of it! Dabi noticed, and sent me a sideways glance. I gave him a slightly drunken smile. My ADHD was going into overdrive, which wasn't the best of fun. I finished off my glass, and stood, somehow managing not to fall over.
"Goodnight." I stated, and went upstairs. I went into Tomura's room, and shut the door. I pulled off my uniform, and stripped to my underwear. I summoned a pair of pajama pants from the shadows, and fell onto his bed. I curled my wings around myself, and fell into a fitful sleep.
"Nico, you're going to be late!" someone said. I groaned, and opened my eyes. Only to shut them again quite quickly.
"Too bright." I muttered, throwing a hand over my face. The other person grunted, and the light levels in the room dimmed quite a bit.
"Now get your lazy ass up! you have exams tomorrow, and missing school is not a great idea!" the person, who I now identified as Shigaraki said. I moaned, and sat up groggily. That was a bad idea. I almost lost the contents of my stomach onto his floor.
"I feel like shit." I stated, and curled back up.
"Oh yeah? and whose fault is that?! Yours you idiot! You drank a whole freaking bottle of whiskey! Did you expect to feel like sunshine and rainbows when you woke up?!" Shigaraki yelled. I covered my ears.
"Too loud." I moaned out, and curled up on myself further. I knew better than to drink that much. It wasn't like I was new to this. I just really needed to take my mind off of the urge to drink blood instead. I felt the bed dip as someone sat behind me.
"Sorry." Tomura said after a moment. I did what could have resembled a shrug.
"It's okay. Just try to keep it down." I said, and slowly got up. I managed not to lose yesterday's lunch, and went to the bathroom. I had 9 minutes until I needed to be at school. I had to travel Shoto in four. I could do that. I hopped in the shower, and took a super quick shower. I got out, and used the shadows to dry my hair. I summoned a uniform from home, which was a little difficult, but I did manage to do it. I threw it on quickly, and ran downstairs. I grabbed my bag from where I'd dropped it last night, and slung it onto my back.
"Ky, could you teleport me to the same place you did last time?" I asked.
"Why did you call me Ky?" Kurogiri asked.
"Because your name is too long to say!" I announced. He chuckled, and a portal appeared.
"Thanks!" I yelled, and ran through it. I high tailed it to school.
"You are very nearly late." Aizawa announced when I ran in the door literally 2 seconds before the bell rang. Shoto's face shone with relief.
"But I'm not!" I smiled, and ran to my seat.
"The exams are tomorrow, make sure to study and get lots of sleep." Aizawa instructed. Then, he curled up into his sleeping bag. We were definitely used to that by now, so we just ignored him.
"So, what do you think the practical will be?" Izuku asked at lunch. For some reason, they'd invited Shoto and I to sit at the table with them.
"I'm not entirely sure. Usually it would most likely be the robots from the entrance exam, to see how much you've improved. But, in light of all the crap that only seems to happen our class, we'll probably be up against something much harder." I stated. Someone from class 1-B stopped behind the table.
"Hey, aren't you the one who took the Hero Killer down?" they asked. I looked up to see Neito Monoma, the one who could copy other's quirks.
"Yeah. that's us." I stated, and went back to eating my food.
"Maybe one day, you'll actually be in a real battle! Maybe one of you will actually have to fight! I bet that'd be scary." He sneered. A feral growl was ripped from my throat, as I turned on the student. I glared at him, and my eyes flashed red.
"Want to say that again?" I asked in a deadly calm voice.
"Yeah! maybe someday, you'll actually have to prove yourselves!" he boasted. The others in my class all had a horrified look on their faces, and were clearly trying to get him to stop.
"Oh? Is that so?" I asked, and stood up, my wings flaring automatically behind me. "You should think very carefully about your next words." I told him. he gave me a haughty expression.
"Why? What are you going to do? Cry me to death?" he asked. I saw red.
Katsuki Bakugou's POV
One of the class B students came up to the table behind my own. I ignored them; they weren't worth my time anyway. I continued my conversation with Kirishima.
"Oh? Is that so?" Nico asked, standing up. I looked over to see what had him irritated. His wings were flared; making him look even scarier than he already did. The others at his table were sending the 1-B student pleading looks, and some of horror.
"You should think very carefully about your next words." Nico told the student, venom lacing every word.
"Why? What are you going to do? Cry me to death?" the boy taunted. I winced as Nico screeched that un-holy scream, and pounced on him. the boy's scream soon replaced Nico's. Icy-Hot shot to his feet, and attempted to get Nico off of him; he wasn't succeeding. I did the only thing I could think of.
"Hey! Bird bastard!" I yelled, getting to my feet. Nico turned; his red eyes locked onto my exploding hands. He glared at me.
"What did you just call me?" he asked in a creepy voice; It shook me to my very core.
"I called you a Bird Bastard!" I told him, in a surprisingly stable voice. Feral Nico screeched, and pounced on me instead. I blasted him in the chest, sending him flying across the room. His wings caught him against the far wall, and he let out a growl that had many of the student near him cowering in terror. He ran at me so fast that I didn't have time to register anything as he clawed my left shoulder.
My cry of pain filled the cafeteria. I felt something at my neck; It was Nico's teeth. He was about to bite me! Remembering what happened to the Nomu, I exploded his arm to try and distract him. It worked, and he jumped back cradling his left arm. Whoops. I'd burned it pretty badly.
"What is going on here?!" Midnight yelled, coming into the cafeteria. Midnight looked from me to feral Nico, and at the destruction we'd accidentally caused. Demon Nico turned to her.
"Go away." he stated, in that creepy voice. His finger nails were covered in my blood, and they glinted dangerously. She started, and stared at him.
"No. I'm your teacher! You will not talk to me like that!" she said. He growled, everyone shuddered at the evil that flowed off of him.
"I will talk to you however I see fit." He announced, and rushed her. she cut a hole in her sleeve, and everyone in her immediate vicinity fell asleep. Nico grinned, and a mask of shadows came out of nowhere and covered his face. His eyes glinted Maniacally, and he slashed her other sleeve open with his sharp finger nails. The first traces of blood showed on her arm, and by her expression, she did not expect that. I held my left arm close to my side in an attempt to alleviate the pain.
"Wha?" she asked, clearly confused. Maniac Nico let out another feral laugh. I hated that laugh. It was the laugh one would hear in an insane asylum.
"What? Did you think that you and your crappy little quirk could stop me?!" he asked, showing off his rather sharp canines. She gasped in what could only be terror. Aizawa came in the door, and stared at Demon Nico. His eyes went wide in shock.
"Nico!" he yelled out, and ran at the demon. Nico looked at him, and smiled.
"What? You want to go too?!" he smirked, and raised his claws. Aizawa neatly dodged the first attack, and went for a foot to the back of his head. Nico somehow dodged it, and caught Aizawa's foot, throwing him to the ground.
"I'm not that stupid." Nico told him, and crouched down; pinning our homeroom teacher to the ground. The whole place watched in trepidation, hoping beyond hope that nothing would happen to Aizawa.
"Nico, snap out of it! This isn't who you are!" Todoroki yelled. Nico turned to him.
"This is who I am!" he yelled at the half and half boy. Icy-Hot cringed.
"No, it's not. I know the real you Nico. Please, think about what you're doing. You're no better than Stain at this point!" he yelled. I gasped. That was low. Nico apparently agreed, and got off of Aizawa, only to turn his murderous gaze onto Todoroki instead.
"Is that so?" he asked in a deadly calm voice. His eyes flashed black for a moment, before becoming red again. His finger nails looked like they were phasing. They looked blurry, and out of focus. He let out a piercing scream. It sounded like both his voices were in complete agony. His whole body was trembling, and rocking back and forth. Another scream pierced the air. It was so loud, that many people's ears started bleeding. Including my own.
"I. Am. Not. A. Demon!" he screamed, and fell to his knees. He appeared to be fighting with himself. He let out another piercing scream, his head back in what could only be described as complete agony. His claws went to his hair, and he pulled on it still screeching at the top of his lungs. We all cowered away from him.
After what felt like an eternity, he stopped screaming. His uneven breaths could be heard throughout the whole room. Then, his started sobbing. He was hunched over, crying his heart out on the floor. Not a foot away from an almost unconscious Aizawa. Todoroki shuffled over to him, and put a comforting arm around him. Nico was still sobbing. No one moved for a minute as they just watched the distressed teen, who a minute earlier had been destroying the room, cry his heart out.
Nico's POV
I sat there crying on Shoto for a good minute before I had the mental strength to stand. I stood, and everyone immediately took a step back. I winced. I deserved that. I did just try to murder two students, and two teachers. I wiped the tear tracks from my eyes, and clutching my arm walked slowly over to Bakugou. To his credit, he managed not to flinch.
"Sorry." I croaked out. My voice was dry from all the screaming I did. He nodded.
"Yeah. sorry about the insult." I smiled at him
"Well, you did save that guy life, so I think I can overlook that part." I stated, with an offhanded gesture at an unconscious, bloody, Neito Monoma. Katsuki shrugged. I looked at his shoulder and winced. I'd left a large gash across his bicep. Five deep cuts marred his shirt. I closed my eyes.
"I'll heal that for you." I pointed to his arm.
"Yeah. in a minute though. I don't think you should do that in front of all these people." He said. Oh, yeah.
"I guess you're right." I said, rubbing the back of my neck sheepishly.
"I'm always right." He stated. Shoto snickered. I went over to Neito, and checked his pulse. It wasn't too bad. I glared at all the students, and formed a shadow barrier. I heard the gasps, and some exclamations that I should be forced out before I actually killed him. I tuned them out, and released my aura. I pushed my healing power into Neito, I healed the deep gashes on his chest and arms. Then, I pulled out. I fell over in pain, and just stayed there for a moment.
When the pain passed, I dropped the barrier. I gently picked him up, and handed him to his classmates.
"He should be fine." I stated, and walked back over to Aizawa. My power was nearing its end, and he wasn't badly hurt. Just a minor concussion. I picked my teacher up, and threw him over my shoulder. Dang, the dude was light. I walked out of there like nothing was the matter. Shoto and Bakugou followed me, but everyone else stayed put.
We got to the Nurse's office, and Shoto opened the door. Recovery girl gasped when she saw me carrying Aizawa.
"Is he alright?" she asked, coming over.
"He has a minor concussion, and some scrapes. Other than that, he should be fine." I stated, and laid my teacher on one of the beds. I turned to Bakugou, and pointed to the bed next to him.
"Do I have too?" he whined. I glared at him, and Recovery girl gasped.
"What happened?!" she asked, looking at Bakugou's arm.
"I, uh, went into my demon form." I said. I sat on the bed next to Katsuki, and closed my eyes. My left arm was on fire, but he needed it more than I did. I placed my right arm on his gashes, and dropped my barrier. He started struggling. Dang it! I forgot that Katsuki's self-control was basically zero. I finished healing his shoulder, and boxed my aura up as quickly as I could.
I almost passed out from pain. He'd moved his arm around quite a bit, easily doubling the amount of pain I was in. and it was on the same arm that he'd burned. I moaned a little in pain, and curled up on myself. I took a few deep breaths. This was not the time to get sensitive to pain! The pain from him faded, but the actual pain in my arm was still there.
"Did Bakugou burn you?" she asked, looking at my let arm.
"Yeah. and good thing he did. If he hadn't, he'd be dead."
End of chapter 18