Warning: Violence. Depressing stuff. Underage drinking. Slightly gory references.
Chapter 20: Finishing the Exam.
Nico's POV.
Bakugou stared at me. I stared back.
"Nap time?" he asked. I grinned.
"Yeah. you guys are kind of boring." I told him, and dropped my lemonade. It was swallowed by the shadows. "We need a new plan." I stated, and shadow traveled the two of us to one of the abandoned buildings on the other side of the city. Bakugou turned to me, fuming.
"I can take him! let me out of here!" Katsuki said, setting off a mini explosion. I glanced at him.
"Yeah, Sure. But you refuse to work as a team, so there's no chance of us winning that way." I stated. He glared at me. "Unless of course, you were willing to actually work with me. I mean, I could probably take him in my demon form, but no one here could shock me out of it, and my demon is a bit mad at me for the cafeteria incident. So, that's not really an option." I said, sort of muttering to myself.
"I will not accept help from you!" He yelled, and blew something up. I sighed, and looked him dead in the eyes.
"Katsuki." The use of his first name, made him look at me. "You can't take him alone. I can't take him alone. Well, I mean, if I went full demon, I might be able to best him. but that's beside the point. Our attacks aren't going to do anything if they're not coordinated, and precise. We need to be logical about this." I reasoned. He growled, and exploded next to my head.
"No! I will not accept your help! I need to do this for myself! I am not a weakling! I can pass by myself!" he said angrily, and stormed out the door. I sighed. He was going to cause the both of us to fail. I ran a hand through my hair. How did I get him to see reason?
I shadow traveled to outside. Katsuki was going at All-Might with everything he had. It wasn't doing much. It blasted him back a little, but then nothing happened. I sighed, and watched from the shadows as All-Might slammed him into the ground once again. Bakugou never gave up. he got back onto his feet, and charged the pro again. I rolled my eyes as he was thrown to the floor once again.
"Excuse me." I called form the shadows. All-Might turned, and looked at me. "I was just wondering if I got a turn too." I said, with a pointed look at Bakugou who was now laying half dead on the ground. All-Might laughed.
"So cocky young hero! Come, let me show you true strength!" he announced. I smirked.
"I'd love to see that." I stated, and pulled out my knives. All-Might charged me. I crouched, and spread my wings. I jumped into the air, doing an aerial flip to avoid his hands. I chucked my dagger, and it missed. Dang. I flew over, and grabbed Katsuki. He would hate to win by being carried. I needed not to do what was right, but what was right for him. I flew us straight up. I channeled my energy, and pushed my energy into Bakugou. I basically refueled his stamina. He gasped, and woke.
"Morning. Would you mind carrying yourself? You're not as light as I would like." I stated. He glared at me, and pushed off of me. he kept himself airborne with blasts from his hands.
"Okay, I have a plan. Can we work together?" I asked, looking him in the eye. His features hardened, and he nodded reluctantly.
"Fine." He stated, and growled. I smirked, and told him my plan. His face went a little white.
"You really think that's a good idea?!" he asked, clearly upset.
"It's the best plan I can think of. Plus, he's not the number one for no reason. I'm sure it'll be fine." I said. In reality, I was hoping that All-Might wasn't as weak as I'd perceived. Otherwise, this might not work out too well.
"Well, no time like the present! Let's go!" I announced, and dived down.
Katsuki Bakugou's POV
I want happy. In fact, I was pissed. I wanted to do this My Way. But that hadn't worked out. All-Might was too powerful. Way too powerful. I'd been almost knocked out, but Nico had revived me. now, he wanted me to take part in this crazy plan of his. I sighed, and did as he wanted. I stayed airborne with my blasts for a few seconds, before landing on his back. I made sure not to step on his wings, as he dived us at an incredible speed back towards the ground.
Once we were in range, I started powering up my attack. We swooped in right behind All-Might, and I sent a huge blast at his head. Nico combined it with shadows, and our combined attack hit the pro dead on. Nico dropped to the ground, and I jumped off of him. we stood there for a moment, waiting to see if the pro was still there. the smoke cleared, and All-Might looked a little worse for the wear. We'd actually done damage!
"Wow. That actually worked." I stated. All-Might sent a one of his signature smiles.
"Good thinking young heroes! But not good enough!" he ran at me. Nico growled, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw his finger nails go black. Oh no. not here. Not now. I aimed, and sent a huge blast at Nico right as All-Might plowed into me. I hit the ground hard, scraping my back pretty badly. I groaned a little as I saw All-Might with his foot on my stomach holding me down. his strength was incredible!
"Thank you Katsuki." Came the slightly pained voice of Nico. I turned, and looked at him. his right arm was pretty burned, and his hair was definitely singed. He grinned, and turned to All-Might.
"Well, playing has been fun. but we only have ten minutes, and I'd rather not fail the end of term exam." He stated, and grinned ferally. "Also, thanks for holding down Katsuki. This would've been hard otherwise." He said. I gasped knowing what he was about to do. I screwed my eyes closed, and tried with every fiber of my being to stop his aura from affecting me.
I waited for a moment, before his aura hit me. the sense of power was overwhelming. The only urge was to go and- NO! I was better than this! I would not succumb again! I grit my teeth, and forced all of those kinds of thoughts out of my head. I hated it when he did that. The aura was gone a few moments later, and I released a shaky breath. I looked down, and saw that I was healed, and that my energy stores were at almost full again. I looked over to Nico, and saw that he was almost dead on his feet.
"This is it. Your chance." He stated, and fell into a fighting stance. I grinned, and blasted All-Might off of me. I jumped up, and ran over to the dark-haired teen.
"Together." I announced, and took up a fighting stance next to him. he smiled a slightly pained smile, and pulled two daggers out of his boots. Where did he keep all those things anyway? All-Might looked at us, and we grinned in perfect sync.
"Come, let us show you what true power is." Nico stated, and sunk lower into a crouch. I smirked, and readied my attack. The number one pro charged us faster than my eyes could see. then, he stopped, a dagger protruding from his left thigh. I smirked, and charged. I used his temporary stupor to blast him in the face with a large burst of firepower. He withstood it, but stumbled a bit. I did it again, and a third time before my arms started to really hurt. By this point, he was smoking slightly. His clothes were all singed, and he had a burn on his face.
"Hello." Nico stated, walking out of the shadows behind him. All-Might turned to the newcomer, and that was the distraction I needed. I slipped the cuffs from my back pocket, and clanked them around the pro's arm.
"We win." I announced, and took a step back, only to fall.
Nico's POV
"Hello." I stated, using the last of my energy to shadow travel to behind the pro. All-Might turned, and Katsuki fulfilled his part perfectly. It was a good compromise between fighting, and winning. Bakugou got the chance to prove that he could go head to head with the number one, and we passed. A win-win situation.
"We win." Katsuki announced, and took a step back. Only to catch his foot on a piece of rubble. My hand darted out, and I caught him with the shadows. I set him down gently, before I realized what I'd done. Oh no. I'd used too much energy. My left hand was starting to fade. Dammit! I hadn't faded since the statue trip! This was bad. I grit my teeth, and held my hand gingerly. I hadn't told anyone, but fading was painful. Like, really painful. Imagine being ripped apart, and slowly sewn back together. Now times that by about ten. That's what fading felt like.
I said a few cuss words, and sat down on the ground cradling my hand. I would rather pass out, and go into a coma. This, this was worse than that. I grit my teeth. I wouldn't cry in front of others. I hadn't done that since I was 12. I wouldn't start now.
"Nico, are you alright?" Bakugou asked, clearly seeing that something was wrong.
"I'm fine." I said through clenched teeth. He didn't need to know my problems.
"No. you're not. Stop being a hero, and tell me!" he demanded. Typical Katsuki. I sighed, and uncurled. I brought my hand up, and showed him that my left hand, and a good part of my forearm was fading in and out of the shadows.
"What the hell?!" he asked, jumping back. I sighed, and ran my not fading hand through my hair.
"When I use too much of my powers one of three things happens. 1, I go demon. In that form, my power is linked directly to the shadows, giving me almost infinite power levels. 2, I fall into a coma until my body heals itself, and my power levels are restored to normal. Or 3, I start fading. Fading is just that. Portions, and sometimes my entire body turns to shadows. It'll pass once my power levels go back up. until then, my hand sort of phases through things." I tried to explain. It was rather complicated after all.
"Uh," he said, unsure of what to make of that. I smiled through my pain.
"I'm fine. This sort of thing used to happen a lot when I was younger." I said, and stood. I wobbled, and tried to catch Bakugou to steady myself. Only problem? He was on my left. My hand went right through his arm, and he ended up catching me. I grit my teeth, as tears formed in my eyes. If something went through my body while it was fading it was even more painful. I choked my tears and stood back, more carefully this time. Katsuki didn't let go of my arm. I hissed a little as my hand phased through his sleeve.
"Are you alright?" Bakugou asked.
"Fine." I lied. He glared at me.
"Nico," he said, dangerously. I bit back a curse. Damn him and his insight!
"It's just a little painful. That's all." I lied again. He didn't need to know that I was in complete and utter agony. That was why my body usually fell into a coma; To keep me sane. He looked a little skeptical, but I was used to lying my now. He'd buy it. I went to pull away from his grasp, but he didn't let go.
"Nico, you can barely even stand. I'm not letting go." he stated. I sighed.
"Fine. Can we sit down then?" I requested. He grumbled, but complied, and we sat on the ground. All-Might had gone, and the teachers were on their way. I sighed, and laid back onto the ground. My hand was slowly staring to stop fading as much. That was good. It still hurt like hades, but that was to be expected.
"Nico, Katsuki! Man, you guys were awesome!" Present Mic said, coming with the other teachers. I sat up, and gave him a pained grin.
"Thanks." I said, and discretely moved my left arm out of view. I didn't want to have to go to the nurse's office. It was too much like the infirmary for my liking.
"Are either of you hurt?" Midnight asked.
"I'm not." I said, before Bakugou had a chance to rat me out.
"I'm not either. Nico healed me." the explosive teen said. I grinned. So, he wasn't going to sell me out. How nice of him. Snipe looked at me, before noticing that my left arm was behind Katsuki. He got the wrong impression.
"Bakugou, are you hurt?" he asked, looking at the explosive teen. Katsuki shook his head.
"I'm fine. I didn't get too hurt, and Nico healed me." he stated, a hard tone in his voice. I was screaming on the inside, but I managed to smile.
"Yeah, Katsuki wasn't hurt that much. Just sore arms, and slight quirk overuse. Nothing I couldn't help." I stated, trying to get my new friend out of trouble. Ectoplasm sent me a skeptical look.
"I see." Snipe said, and turned away. I let out the breath I'd been holding, and put my left arm slightly behind me so that the fading was immediately noticed. We walked out of the arena. None of the pros noticed my faded arm, and we were released to our classmates.
We got into the room, and were instantly bombarded with questions, and congratulations on all sides.
"You guys are so cool! Taking down All-Might like that!" Izuku said, eyes shining with praise. I faked a smile, and sat in my chair, my left arm behind me. I was running of leftover adrenaline. As soon as that wore off, I'd be out of commission. my arm phased slightly into the desk, and I let out a hiss of pain. I muffled it, but Shoto noticed.
"Nico, are you okay?" he asked, sitting in his chair next to me. I looked around the room. No one was close enough to hear our conversation.
"No." I stated, and pulled my arm out from behind me. he gasped.
"Nico, what happened?!" he asked in a whisper.
"This is what usually happens when I use too much of my power. I guess you could say I overextended my quirk." I stated, and put my arm back behind me.
"Then why aren't you in the Nurse's office?!" he demanded quietly.
"Because I really hate that place. Plus, the only way to fix it is to just abstain from using my powers for the rest of the day, and refueling. It'll be better by tomorrow morning. There is nothing recovery girl can do other than make me uncomfortable. I don't have good memories of being in medical places." I stated, and stood.
"Be careful Nico." He said, with a small squeeze on my shoulder. I smiled gently at him.
"I try." I told him. I sighed, and left, not before I caught the worried look Bakugou sent me. I sighed, and ran my right hand through my hair. I really did need to cut it now. It was burned. I walked part of the way to the bar. it was like 200 miles. I called Kurogiri.
"Hey, can you pick me up?" I gave him my coordinates. A portal appeared in front of me, and I stepped through.
"Nico." Kurogiri greeted. I gave him a pained smile.
"Hi. I am in need of a drink." I stated. I sat in 'my' spot, and rested my head on the bar.
"How did your exams go?" he asked, pouring me a whiskey. I sighed, and pulled my left arm up into plain view. He gasped as it faded in and out of view.
"I think they went fine." I said, and dropped my left arm onto the counter.
"What happened?" he asked, taking a closer look.
"I used too much power. If I overexert myself, I start to fade. Either that, or I go full demon. Usually when I start to fade, I pass out from pain. This time, I managed not to." I said, and gulped down the whiskey he offered.
"Does it still hurt?" he asked. I let out a mirthless laugh.
"Only about as much as getting my skin ripped off layer by layer, doused in lemon juice, and stapled back on." I answered. Kurogiri flinched.
"So, yes." He stated, and refilled my glass. I sighed, and knocked that back too.
"Gods I need a goal." I muttered, and leaned into the counter. The cold marble helped keep my mind of the extreme pain in my left hand.
"What do you mean?" he asked. I looked up at him.
"I mean I don't know what I'm doing with my life. I don't know what I want to be. I don't know what I am. I feel like I don't know anything. I have the powers of a villain, but I want to save those who are innocent. I want others to feel my pain, but I hate to see others in pain. I feel like my whole life is just one big puzzle, and I don't know how to solve it. I have friends, but the person I told one of my biggest secrets to was a total stranger. I'm just so confused Kurogiri. I'm lost, and I'm not sure if I can find my way again." I said. Whoops. I didn't mean to say all that. Oh well, not like I could just erase him memory.
"I'm sorry. I don't know how to help you." He said.
"I don't expect you to. This is my life, and I have to be the one to fix it. Even if I can't." I told him. why did I tell him all that? Maybe I just really needed to get it off my chest. I'm not sure. Well, maybe just having someone who knew would help. I wasn't sure. The door opened, and Dabi came in.
"Well hello there." I stated, and knocked back my third glass of whiskey. He stared at me, and blinked a few times before shrugging, and joining me at the counter.
"So," he started, before he caught sight of my fading arm. "What the hell?!" he asked, almost jumping. I sighed, and gave him the quick version. Used too much stamina; arm is fading; completely normal; hurts like hell.
"I see." he said, and sipped his own alcoholic beverage. I smirked, as my arm faded to shadows.
"No, you don't. it's see-through." I stated, and busted down giggling.
I think I had too much to drink.
End of chapter 20