Warning: homosexual content. (Nico being gay)
Chapter 22: Confessions, and day 2.
Nico's POV.
Kota led me to a cliff side with a beautiful view of the forest.
"This is a nice spot." I stated, ad sat down next to the wall. He smiled a little
"It's my secret spot, so you can't tell anyone! Ok?" he said. I smiled
"Of course not! I pinkie promise not to tell." I held out my pinkie finger. He smiled, and we shook on it. We stayed up there until I had to go and make dinner.
"We'd better head back." I said, and stood. I'd gotten closer to the young boy who reminded me so much of myself. He nodded. A ghost of a smile made its way to my face.
"Want me to shadow travel us back?" I asked. he nodded reluctantly. I smirked, and held out a hand. I didn't really like contact, but it was easier to shadow travel if I was touching the person. I closed my eyes, and we popped out of the kitchen wall, startling Pixie-bob quite a bit.
"Don't do that!" she cried, hand over her heart.
"Sorry." I replied sheepishly.
"Well, now that you're here, you can help us make dinner." She said. I smiled.
"Leave it to me. I can make everyone dinner." I told the pro. She gave me a skeptical look.
"Uh huh. You can cook for 45 people by yourself." She replied.
"Yeah. I can." I said, and opened the fridge. I looked through the fridge, and pulled out all the ingredients that I wanted. The shadows grabbed the food, and started cutting, mixing, and basically doing the work of six people. They made all sorts of dishes while I rummaged through the fridge.
"Wow. Okay then Nico." Pixie-bob left me alone in the kitchen. I smiled as I found all the ingredients for ice cream. I set to work, and made strawberry, razzberry, cookies and cream, and chocolate. I also left some vanilla for those who didn't like the other flavors. I made a lot of each, and put them all in the freezer to keep them good. I set to work on the rest of the food. The shadows helping me greatly. I was having so much fun though! Cooking helped take my mind off everything else.
About 8 hours after they were kicked off the cliff, the rest of my class showed up. I had just finished dinner a few minutes ago, and I went out to meet them.
"Hi guys!" I called out. Most of the class glared at me.
"How come you didn't take us with you?!" they wanted to know.
"It was a training exercise; you could use the extra training." I answered. The pussycats introduced the other two members of their group. A girl called ragdoll, and a very buff guy named Tiger. I led my classmates into the dining hall, and smiled as their mouths all dropped in perfect sync at the sheer amount of food prepared.
"Wow." Kirishima stated. I let out a small laugh, and turned to Mandalay.
"I guess that means I did good." I said, laughing slightly. They all turned to me.
"Wait, you made this?" Shoto asked. I nodded.
"Yep! And if you hurry, some ice cream might be left." I told them. Shoto's eyes went wide, and he made his way to the tables, the class following him. I had already eaten, and I watched as they all dug in; they really liked my cooking. I guess that was good. After dinner, we made our way to the lodgings, and put our clothes away.
After they all finished unpacking, Aizawa came in, and told us that we should go bathe. The others all jumped at the opportunity, and ran off towards the hot springs. I stayed in my corner.
Katsuki Bakugou's POV
"Hey, Nico. Aren't you coming?" Kaminari asked. Nico shook his head.
"No. I don't need a bath." He stated, and looked back down.
"Aw! Come on man! You've got to come with us!" Kirishima said. Nico glared at him, which didn't do much. I knew that from personal experience. That guys mind was like his quirk.
"No. I don't." Nico narrowed his eyes.
"But why not?" Mineta asked. he turned his gaze onto him instead.
"I don't want too." He said. The little pervert shivered under his gaze. Hah. Served him right.
"But why not? It'll be fun!" Kirishima stated. Nico growled, and stood. An aura of death was pouring off of him, but at that moment he didn't seem to really care.
"I. Said. No." the goth said, in a dangerous tone. By this point, everyone in the cabin was watching. Kaminari didn't get it.
"Come on!" he said, with a whine.
"Fine! You want to know why?!" the teen snapped. They all nodded. he turned his gaze on Kirishima.
"I'm gay alright?!" Nico said, and dissolved into the shadows. I blinked a few times. Well that was unexpected. Kirishima looked like someone had slapped him. half-and-half opened the door, and looked at all of us standing still.
"Um, is something wrong? I heard yelling." He tried to explain. Kaminari turned to Icy-Hot.
"Nico just came out of the closet." He explained. Shoto sent the whole class an incredulous glance.
"None of you knew? I mean, it was kind of obvious. He never changed in the locker rooms. I caught him staring at us at the pool, and he never blushed talking to the girls. In fact, he went and hung out with girls when all of us were swimming." Todoroki explained. I suddenly felt like a complete idiot. Of course. That was why he was so easy going around the girls.
"Well, let's go get our time in at the spring." Iida said, coming in. we all walked down the path. The spring was nice until Mineta tried to climb the wall. He was startled off of it by the kid who hated heroes. Deku caught the kid. Damn nerd. He went inside, and Iida got Mineta's butt to his face. I mean, that was kind of funny though.
Nico's POV.
I don't believe it. I just came out to my entire class. At summer camp. This was going to be really awkward tonight. I sighed as I walked around aimlessly. I'd shadow traveled out of there in a hurry. I didn't exactly know where I was, and I didn't really care.
"Nico?" someone asked. I turned. Ochaco was standing there. I blinked a few times before I realized that she was naked. I raised my wings to cover her body from my view.
"Hi." I said, pointedly looking at her eyes. She was bright red.
"Uh, what are you doing here?" she asked. I shrugged.
"Nothing much. I ran away from the rest of the boys, and I don't actually know where I am." I told her.
"You're near the girl's dorms. I was going back to get my towel." She said, still blushing. I shadow traveled one, and handed it to her. she wrapped it around herself, and gave me a small smile.
"Thanks" she said, and then looked at me. "Why did you run away?" she asked. I sighed.
"I'm gay." I stated. She blushed.
"Oh. Okay then. I feel a little less embarrassed now." She said and ran off. I headed in the opposite direction than that in which she ran. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going, and I ended up running into something pink. I fell on my butt.
"Nico!" the pink thing squealed. Then I realized that it was Mina.
"Oh, hi." I said, and brought my wings in front of me; hiding her naked form from view.
"What are you doing next to the girl's dorms?!" she asked. I sighed, and ran a hand through my hair.
"I too would like to know the answer to that question." Aizawa said, walking up to us. I stood, and moved my wings as to hide Ashido from his view, and mine.
"Ok, I was walking back to my dorms." I stated truthfully. Aizawa raised his eyebrow.
"And why weren't you in the springs with everyone else?" he asked. I growled in my throat, and raked a hand through my hair.
"How many times do you people want me to say it?!" I asked that sky angrily. Then, I switched my shirt. It was now black and said: I'm Gay. Live with it. In bright rainbow letters. Aizawa looked at my shirt, and shrugged. Then he just walked away. I sighed, and dropped my wing, handing Mina a newly summoned towel.
"Thanks." She said, and wrapped it around herself.
"So, what are you doing here?" I asked, and looked at her. "And naked no less." She blushed.
"I was going to the hot spring. I needed a little bit longer to unpack, and I told them to go ahead without me." she answered. I nodded.
"Okay. Well, it's been fun, but I have to go." I gave a wave, and walked back to the cabin. I sat down in my corner, and rested my head against the wall. This had been a long day. I closed my eyes, and before I knew, I'd fallen asleep.
Katsuki Bakugou's POV.
We finished up at the hot spring, and walked back to the dorms. When we got there Nico was asleep in the corner. His wings were wrapped around him like a blanket, and his head my rested on his shoulder against the wall. We all blushed a little, and got dressed in our pjs. I went over, and placed my sleeping bag far away from the rest of them. Todoroki grabbed his, and walked over to Nico. He gently pulled Nico down so that he wasn't sleeping against the wall anymore. Then, Icy-Hot got into his sleeping bag, and closed his eyes. I sighed, and rolled over in mine. I fell asleep almost instantly.
Early the next morning, Aizawa woke us all up. Nico sat up, and blushed bright red when he saw that Icy-Hot was curled up next to him. he carefully extracted himself, and swapped his clothes in the shadows before leaving. Today, his shirt read: I'm gay. I'd screw you. I doubted the teachers appreciated that.
Aizawa led us to a cliff, and told me to throw the ball. I did so, and I only threw it a few meters farther than I did at the quirk apprehension test. I was fuming.
"You've all grown mentally, and physically, but your quirks have not been trained. Today, and the rest of camp will be focusing on training your quirks, and making them stronger." He announced.
Oh joy.
He led us down to a clearing where the pussycats were. We all got our training things to do. I had to plunge my hands into boiling water to expand my sweat glands, and then release a large explosion into the sky. It was kind of painful. but if my quirk got better, than what was a little pain?
Nico's POV
"Nico, I'm afraid that we don't understand your quirk well enough to train it. Would you mind giving us a little insight?" he asked. I thought about it. I mean, a little information wouldn't hurt. right?
"I was born like this. I didn't manifest my quirk at 5 like the other kids. I was born with wings sprouting out of my back, and the ability to manipulate the shadows to my will. As I got older, that control grows, and as does my energy stores. My demon form isn't exactly that. It's just what I call it. Basically, that's me merging with the shadows. I draw their energy in return for that, I lose my mind a little bit. I get their thoughts combined with all the ones in my head. it's not exactly comfortable, but it is extraordinarily powerful. In that form, I could probably take down All-Might with a single kick. Anyway, I don't have control over my own body when I'm in that form, and if I was to stay in it too long, I'd eventually become one with the shadows, and stay a demon forever." I explained, and ran a hand through my hair.
"I can gain a small amount of energy from the shadows, but everything comes with a price. That price is if I take too much, I either turn demon, or I start fading. Neither of which I want to do. So, I'm not exactly sure how I should train either." I told my homeroom teacher. He sent me a long look.
"I want to test something." He announced. I looked at him warily.
"What?" I asked.
"I want to see if I can cancel your quirk. From what it sounds like, you have a metamorphic quirk, and I can't cancel those." He supplied. I nodded, and summoned a handful of hellfire. His eyes turned red, and he looked straight at me. nothing happened. His hair fell back to his shoulders.
"As I suspected. I can't cancel your quirk. That won't work then." He said, mostly to himself. I shifted on my feet. Then, a thought hit me.
"I have an idea." I said. He looked up at me in an invitation to share. "Well, the only way I've found to snap me out of the shadows is immense cold, or a great shock. Electricity might just do the trick. You have Denki running his electricity through an amp. If you can turn that into a weapon somehow, then I can practice controlling my demon form." It was a crazy idea, but it might just work.
"I do believe we can manage that." He said, and we walked over to where Denki was standing. Aizawa turned the amp off for a moment. Denki sighed, and collapsed to the ground panting.
"Are you willing to help me train Nico?" he asked Kaminari looked up, and nodded.
"Sure thing! I'd love to help my classmate!" he answered, and stood. I smiled.
"Great! This just might work!" I said, excited. I looked around, and formed a circular shadow wall with a radius of about 15 feet.
"So, what did you need help with?" Denki asked. I grinned and turned back to him. it was just him, Aizawa, and I in the circle.
"So, you remember the cafeteria incident?" I asked. he shuddered.
"Who doesn't?"
"Well, anyway, that was what I call my demon form. In that form, I become one with the shadows. The only thing that can stop it is if I'm shocked out of it. I've found only two ways to do that so far. One is ice, the other is pure force of will. I don't have enough of the latter, so I wanted to see if electricity shocked me out of it as well. Are you okay with that?" I asked. he looked a little scared.
"What if it doesn't work?" he asked.
"In that case, leave me alone. I've created this shadow barrier to keep the others out. It won't keep you in. if I don't come out of my demon form, run like hell. Once you're outside of the shadow barrier, I'll use the rest of my will to solidify it, keeping myself in, until I calm down enough to go back to normal." I replied.
"Okay! Let's do it!" he cried excited. I smiled.
"Okay. Remember to keep your distance. If you're too close, I'll pounce on you with no warning." I let out a small breath, and a shudder passed down my spine. I let myself become one with the shadows.
Shota Aizawa's POV.
A shudder went down Nico's spine. I readied my capture scarf. I needed to be prepared in case things got out of hand. his wings flared, and he turned to me. his eyes were blood red with no whites, and his finger nails were claws. His lips came up in a feral growl, and it displayed the fact that his incisors were now fangs. I shuddered slightly. He turned in a circle, and didn't attack anyone. His eyes came back to rest on me.
They were still blood red, but the whites of his eyes were there. he blinked a few times, and his eyes turned a darker red, before pupils shaped like a cat's faded into view. Nico grinned ferally.
"I think this is working." He said, in a distorted voice. Like it was coming through a broken radio. Then, a shudder passed through his spine, and his eyes went back to completely blood red.
"Now!" I yelled to Kaminari. He ran up, and took a hold of Nico's midsection. A jolt of electricity passed through the dark-haired teen, and Denki let go. Nico swayed on his feet before falling to his knees. He shook his head a few times, and looked up. his hands were back to normal, but his eyes were still red instead of the normal obsidian. He blinked a few times, and the remaining color vanished.
"It worked." He said, in his thankfully normal voice. The teen stood, and didn't wobble he smiled.
"Thanks, Kaminari. That worked even better than I thought it would." He told him.
"Call me Denki." The other boy said, smiling.
"Are you alright? Mr. Kaminari didn't hold back." I walked up. Nico nodded.
"Yep! The shadows took the brunt of the impact, letting me out of them to spare me the pain. It worked rather well actually. The shadows are like a pet viper; Treat them right, and they'll protect you to their last breath. But, like every pet; they need to be trained." Nico explained. That was an interesting concept. Thinking of the shadows as a living being.
"Well, shall we do it again?" Kaminari asked. Nico nodded. I sighed, and we all went back to our places.
Nico's POV.
Aizawa, Denki, and I trained all day. At the end of it I was more exhausted than I'd been in a very long time. But it wasn't completely useless. I now had a better connection with the shadows. They were less animalistic, but were still pretty violent, and quick to action. We got back to the dining hall, and everyone groaned as the pussycats declared that we had to make our own dinner.
"Hey Nico! Will you help me?" Ochaco asked. I looked over.
"Sure." I walked over, and taught her the basics of cooking. Pretty soon, everyone else was asking for my help too. Well, everyone but Bakugou. He didn't like help. Everyone got their meal cooking, and the shadows were doing mine while I helped the others. Pretty soon, all of us were finished, and we all sat down to eat. I don't think we did too bad.
After that, the rest of them went to the hot springs, and took a bath. I created a shower in the cabin, and took one while everyone else was gone. Then, I dispersed it, and got into my PJs. I sat back in 'my' corner, and rested against the wall waiting for the rest of them to get back. They did, and only then did I remember that they were just at the bath, and they were all stark naked. I blushed to the roots of my hair, and turned my back on them, wrapping my wings around myself.
"Nico, you can come out now. We're all dressed." They announced a few minutes later. I uncurled my wings, and looked out. Most of them were wearing shirts, but Katsuki, and Shoto weren't. I made a point of not looking at them, though I'd seen Todoroki without his shirt on when we'd exorcised every morning at Ms. Yung's house.
"Well, goodnight. We have another long day tomorrow." Iida said, waving his arms in that peculiar manner of his. We all sighed, as he turned off the lights. I fell asleep.
End of Chapter 22.