Warning: Violence. severe PTSD. Some self-harm. Also, Eraser-Mic is totally shipped. If you don't like it, then too bad. They're married, so get over yourself.

Chapter 23: Nightmares, and Nightmares in real life.

Nico's POV.

I opened my eyes. No one else was in the cabin. That was strange. I looked at my watch, only to see I wasn't wearing my watch. What was with that? I never took it off unless I was taking a shower. I looked down, and realized that I was wearing something odd. I was wearing rather ripped black jeans, and a scratched up black shirt. What the hell was going on?! This had better not be a prank! I stood, and found that I didn't have any of my daggers either. That was troubling. No one could touch them without getting their soul sucked out. I opened the door, and stepped outside. My foot sank into something, and I looked down. I'd stepped into a human rib cage. Oh No. No. No. No. No. I held back my bile and looked around. My heart plummeted into my stomach. I was There. No, No I wasn't! I wasn't here! This wasn't real!

My heart was beating frantically, and I looked around for something, anything to tell me this wasn't real. A cruel laugh sounded form behind me. my blood froze, and I slowly turned. There He was.

"Little demigod, you really thought you escaped?" he asked. my tongue got stuck in my throat. Oh no. No. No. No. No. this wasn't happening! This was just a memory! He let out a cold laugh, and suddenly he slashed my face. Blood dripped into my left eye.

"This isn't a memory. Or a bad dream." He announced. I fell to my knees. I wasn't, I wasn't. my thoughts died when a whip was taken to my back. I screamed in pain. I fell onto my hands as another lash was laid right on top of the first. I kept screaming until my throat was raw. I started coughing up blood, but he didn't care. He just kept laughing, and whipping my back.

"That's right Pet there is no escape." he roughly grabbed my face. My breath caught in my throat as I stared into his featureless face. "You are Mine." He announced. A growl was ripped from somewhere deep inside of me. I wrenched my face away, and stood despite the pain.

"I. Am. No one's." I stated. My wings came out. He started laughing harder, and clapping maniacally.

"Ah, it'll be so much more fun when I crush that spirit out of you!" he dived at me, and I screamed as his sharp fingers cut into my torso. This wasn't real. It wasn't real. It wasn't real. Not real. Not real. Not real.

Katsuki Bakugou's POV.

About 3 in the morning we were all woken from our sleep. Nico was tossing and turning in his sleep. Then he stopped moving, before letting out a scream of real pain and anguish.

"No. No. No." he started muttering before he started screaming again. He was screaming and screaming, and we couldn't do anything to stop it. If he didn't stop soon, the teachers were going to come.

"It's just a memory." He said, and froze again, before he convulsed and started screaming again. Then, he growled.

"I. Am. No one's." he said, in a cold tone that had us shivering. His wings came out around him, preventing us from waking him up. then, he jerked back unexpectedly, and let out another scream. Blood was dripping from his mouth; He'd screamed his throat dry.

"It's not real. It's not real. Not real. Not real." He started muttering, and violently thrashing, punctuated now and then by a scream. We all watched on; helpless. The door to the cabin was thrown open, and Aizawa came in. he saw what was happening, and our scared looks. He went over to Nico, his scarf holding him still, and upright. Aizawa started saying something into Nico's ear. none of us was close enough to hear what was being said, but slowly the screaming stopped, and Nico relaxed.

Nico's POV.

He continued lashing me, but I refused to acknowledge him. It wasn't real. It wasn't real. It wasn't real. Not real.

"Pet, this is as real as can be." He stated, and stopped hitting me for a moment. That's when I heard it. Someone whispering. They were saying to come closer. It was a comforting voice. I ran to it, tripping, and falling because of the excessive bleeding. He let out a scream of rage, and started following me. but I managed to find the voice. I touched the bright light hoping that this was the end, and that I would now get a second chance.

I opened my eyes. I blinked a few times as I didn't feel any pain in my back. I was being held my something, so I looked down. I was wrapped in Aizawa'a scarf. Oh, I'd had a nightmare. Again. Why here of all places? I blinked a few more times, and struggled a bit. I went to speak, but my throat felt dry, and I tasted blood in my mouth. Oh shit. I'd been screaming. How in hades was I going to explain this? I looked at my teacher.

"You can let go now." I said, in my dry and cracked voice. He slowly released me from the scarf. I pulled my wings closer around myself, trying to escape the looks. I didn't do that. Nothing happened. Yeah right. That wouldn't work.

"Nico, come with me." Aizawa said softly. I nodded mutely, and followed him out of the cabin. Neither of us said a word until we made to his sleeping quarters. He sat me down at his desk, and leaned against it his hands over each other.

"Nico, tell me what happened." He instructed. I pointed to my throat indicating that I couldn't talk. He nodded, and brought me a glass of water. I sipped at it slowly as to not damage my vocal cords any more. When I'd drained the water, I set the glass down, and bowed my head to look at my hands in my lap.

"I told you that I don't have the best past. I've done everything I can to escape it, but it comes back to me in my dreams. I get these vivid nightmares, and there's nothing I can do about them. I've tried everything including therapy, but nothing works." I said, and wiped at my face. Damn primordial. I went to a different freaking reality, and he still got into my dreams. My finger nails were digging into my palms again, but I didn't care. He saw what I was doing, and gave me a disapproving look.

"Nico, tell me about it." He said. I shook my head, and dug my finger nails in further. My palms were starting to bleed but I didn't care. Blood was dripping down my hands and onto my black sweats. I felt something next to me. Aizawa gently but firmly grabbed my hands, and pulled my fingers out of my palms. I avoided his gaze.

"Nico, I know you don't trust me, or any of the other teachers, but I truly do want to help you." He said. I pulled my hands out of his grasp, and ran them through my hair.

"When I was 13, I went to a place. No. I can't tell you the name of the place, because I can't physically say it. The name itself is a trigger. This place, has poisonous air, and villains run rampant in it. I was ditched there with no food, no water, and two broken legs." I heard the intake of breath, but I didn't stop.

"There was a man. He, he beat me. everyday. For all 8 days that I was there. I was whipped within an inch of my life every time. Then, he'd have me healed, just so he could do it again. After the second day, I gave up the will to live. I prayed ever time that he'd accidentally kill me just so I could escape. he never did. Then, I was kidnapped, and taken hostage as a trap for the people at my summer training camp. I have never been so happy to be kidnapped in my entire life. I was locked in a room with little to no air, and I was forced to go into a coma like state to survive. I don't know why I even tried, but I guess I still retained some will to live. In the end, I was rescued, and everyone thought I was fine. I never told anyone at the camp what really happened." I took a deep breath.

"Only a few weeks after that, I shadow traveled a giant statue, and two other people half way around the world. That was one of the first times I'd ever faded. After that, the camp doctor; Will. told me not to use my powers for a while to recuperate. I think he really just didn't want me to use them because I scared people with them. No one wanted to be my friend because of my quirk. They all shunned me because after that place my quirk kind of went out of control. I couldn't keep a handle on the shadows. They sensed weakness, and they exploited it." My finger nails were scratching deep dents into his desk at this point.

"Finally, I was banned from using my quirk at the camp, and they tried to pass a law to ban people like me from ever becoming heroes. A few months ago, I snapped. I tried to kill myself. I'd finally lost all will to live. Then, my bastard of a father's assistant came to me, and he talked me into attending UA. I agreed, and that's how I ended up here." I looked up into his eyes.

"Now you know my life's story." I told him, and laid my head down on his desk. I was tired. He didn't say anything for a few minutes, no doubt trying to digest what I'd just dumped on him.

"I won't try to understand what you've been through." He started, and laid a hand gently on my shoulder. I didn't shy away this time. "But if you ever want to talk, I'm here for you. I'm your teacher, and everything you've told me is strictly confidential. I won't tell the other teachers, or even my husband about what you've said." I blinked, and my ADHD zoned in on one part like normal.

"Husband?" I asked. he smiled.

"Hizashi Yamada, you know him as Present Mic. We've been married since the end of our own UA school year. We kept our own names, and didn't really tell anyone about it. It's not exactly public knowledge. Yes, all the other teachers know, but that's because we share a room." He explained.

"Oh. That's cool, I guess. I was kind of wondering if gay marriage was allowed here." I said, mostly to myself. I stood. "Well, it's been a lovely chat, but I'd like to go back to bed if you don't mind." I said.

"You really want to go back to your cabin? I doubt your peers will wait to question you." He offered. I paled. I was not ready for that.

"Ah, never mind then." I said.

"You can sleep here if you'd like. Just don't tell my husband." He smirked, and got into his yellow sleeping bag. I sat in the corner on the opposite side of the room, and curled up in my wings. I drifted off to sleep.

Flashes of camp, and that place went through my head as I dreamt, I may have cried out a few times as well. It was not a very restful sleep.

At exactly 7 the next morning, Aizawa woke me up. I groaned as the light pierced my eyes. I left his quarters, and changed using shadows. I didn't exactly feel like training today, but I didn't get a say. I walked onto the field at the same time as everyone else. I got many looks asking if I was okay. I ignored them all.

"Today, you will all do the same thing as yesterday." Aizawa announced, before looking at Denki and I. "Except for you two. Kaminari will be using the amp, and Nico and I will be training separately." I sighed. Should have seen that coming. Denki nodded, and walked away. I walked up to my teacher.

"So, what's the plan?" I asked. we set to work.

Hours of training later, we got to make our own dinner again. The girls all came up to me like normal, while the boys in my cabin all stayed back. I'd figured that would happen, but it was still like a dagger to the heart. I made my own food quietly, and waited while the others finished up.

"We have a surprise for you! You will be doing a special exorcise today!" they went on to tell us that we would be going through the woods in pairs of twos, while class 1-B tried to scare us. I rolled my eyes. I was teamed up with Shoji, and we were sent into the forest. We walked through before I heard screaming. I stopped, and motioned for him to stop as well. He turned all his arms to ears, and pointed in the direction of the screams. I nodded, and we raced into battle.

There was a villain. He was wearing a head to toe black suit that had his arms pinned to his sides. It also held it away from his face for some reason. Oh shit. The league of villains was attacking. He charged me, and I deflected him. his teeth grew out, and he caught himself. So that was his quirk. He was fast. I dodged, but Mezo wasn't as lucky. One of the villain's teeth sliced off Mezo's hand. I stiffened, and created a mask out of shadows. Smelling blood was not a good idea right now. I fought the villain for a while before he just ran away. I sighed, and turned to see Izuku. His arms were completely wrecked.

"Midoriya!" I yelled, and stared at him. he gave me a pained smile.

"We need to get to Kacchan! The villains are after him!" Deku announced. I nodded, and Mezo picked him up. we ran towards where explosions were coming. Mandalay had told us telepathically earlier that we could use our quirks to defend ourselves. We found Bakugou, he and Shoto were fighting the villain that I'd previously been fighting.

"Hey stupid! Your teeth are orange!" I yelled. The villain turned to me, and I knocked him over the head with a huge shadow hammer. He dropped like a stone. Chains came out of the ground, and bound him. I looked up.

"The villains are here for Katsuki. We need to make sure they don't get their hands on him." I said. Bakugou fumed.

"I'll be fine!" he yelled. I glared at him.

"Katsuki. I know these kinds of people. You won't be fine. Plus, extra safety never hurt anyone." I responded. We walked through the forest for a while, before I was suddenly encased in something blue. My heart leapt to my throat. No. I wasn't trapped. No. No. this wasn't happening. My claustrophobia came out in full force, and I started freaking out.

Izuku Midoriya's POV.

We were doing fine, until we realized that Bakugou and Nico were both missing. We frantically looked around for them.

"Oh, are you looking for these two?" someone asked. we looked up, and there was a villain. He was twirling two marbles in his fingers. We all gasped.

"Give us our friends back!" I yelled. The villain looked at me, and laughed.

"Really boy? You're so broken, your friend has to hold you up. I'm not giving you anything." He jumped as Shoto sent an ice blast at him, he jumped away over the trees. We started chasing them, but we weren't fast enough.

"Guys, this is a crazy plan, but it just might work." I told the others my plan. They all agreed that it was crazy, but we had to try something.

Mezo grabbed Shoto and I in his grasp, and Ochaco made us all weightless. Sue grabbed us in her tongue, and twirled us around before sending us flying at the villain. We hit him in midair, causing the 4 of us to fall to the ground. We snatched the two marbles, and he laughed.

"You really thought it would be that easy?" he asked, and the marbles turned into chunks of ice.

"You used my ice?" Todoroki sounded mad.

"Yes. If someone is flaunting something, it usually means that they have something that they don't want you to see." he opened his mouth showing off three marbles.

"Who do you have?" I asked.

"I have the one we came for, and two others I think we could turn easily. They both have dark aligned quirks." He announced. One of the class B students nearby gasped.

"They have Tokoyami!" he yelled. I didn't know who that was. Then, the villain was hit in the stomach by Yuga's laser. Shoto and Mezo both rushed forward. Mezo managed to snag one, but the villain with scars on his face got the other two.

"Quick, Kurogiri, we need to go!" he yelled. "Compress turn them back to make sure." He instructed. 'Compress' snapped his fingers, and Tokoyami popped up on our side. Nico, and Kacchan on theirs. I don't think anyone else noticed, but Nico's finger nails were black, and his eyes were red. The villains were all dead.

"Deku, get out of here!" Katsuki yelled, as he was pulled through the portal. I was too slow. I couldn't get to him in time.

Not 20 minutes later, the police showed up, and most of us were sent to the hospital. The look on Bakugou's face as he was pulled through the portal haunted me as I faded in and out of consciousness.

End of Chapter 23.