This fic is a 'crossover episode' with my personal original universe. Eventually, I plan to write the whole thing - so that I can then change the names a bit, reshuffle the whole thing and have a finished original work. Big Brain Moment at its earnest.
Before you ask, I have a LOT of original universes.
(***)
"Deku." Part of his mind DOES hear it, however hearing and acknowledging something is clearly two different things. "Deeeku. Deku!"
Izuku wakes up when Kacchan slaps him in the back. In an instant his mind is back in the classroom. The teacher is absent, the kids are taking advantage of it to rowdy around, and Kacchan is staring at him.
"W-what?" Izuku blinks at him.
"You were staring at her. Again." Bakugou announces, while glaring at him. "Are you in love with her or what?"
"I was staring?" Izuku quickly replies with a question. "I was just sleeping with my eyes open, I wasn't looking at anyone in particular."
"Deku." Kacchan growls slightly. "I know you since we were four years old. You're not fooling me. What the hell's your deal with the Messy Hair?"
"... you could have at least learned her name by now." Midoriya replies. "We've been in this school for almost half a year, Kacchan. It's Toga. Himiko Toga."
The girl in question remains remarkably calm and collected in the general chaos of the classroom. She is reading some book (more like a booklet), while ignoring her classmates entirely.
Like Kacchan, Izuku decides, except without her own Deku.
"Answer my question." Kacchan refuses to be let astray. "Do you have a crush on her or what?"
"Why are you interested in knowing that?" Izuku refuses to give up, and glares back at his childhood friend. "Do YOU have a crush on her?"
"What? No way." Kacchan shoots the accusation down instantly. Midoriya adapts a shit-eating grin on his face. "Don't you d…"
"So do you have a crush on me?" Midoriya says, his grin morphing into a smug smile as Kacchan lets out a choking sound. He actually looks like he was on the verge of retching. "Works every time."
"Fuck you, nerd." Kacchan responds. He realizes his mistake instantly, but manages to act fast enough to speak before Izuku opens his mouth. "Don't. Just don't. Or I swear to gods I'm punting you out of the window."
Will Kacchan attempt murder if Izuku says some version of 'how kinky Kacchan' concerning the 'punting out of the window' bit? Let's not go too far.
"Seriously though, what's your deal with the Messy Hair?" Kacchan returns to the main subject, clearly intent to bulldoze through any resistance.
"As if I know." Izuku replies almost wistfully. "I'm most certainly NOT having a crush on her. I mean, I'm a teenager, so I do realize that she has… uhm…"
"... tits and ass, Deku." Kacchan announces with an expression of utter tiredness on his face. "That's how it's called."
"R-right." Izuku is actually fairly grateful for the interruption. "But, like… I just kind of feel like there's something wrong with her? I don't know what exactly, but like…" Bakugou gives him a weird look. "You know what, forget it."
(***)
When the classes ended, Bakugou immediately dashed away. Apparently, he had something important to do (Midoriya was 99% certain that it was training at a gym or smth like that, Bakugou was… honestly, being himself).
Midoriya's definition of 'spending his free time' included reading books, playing video games or watching movies (especially horrors). So he was most certainly not interested in whatever his childhood friend/kind of best friend was doing right now, and decided to go home.
He wasn't in a hurry while doing that. His home wasn't far away from the school, and… he was the type of a person who preferred to plan his day properly in order to avoid having to be in a hurry to begin with.
He was alone on the school corridor, when his world decided to turn upside down. Out of nowhere and completely without a warning. Something shifted - that was the closest word he found later on to describe what he felt - but he couldn't figure out what. Nothing seemed to change.
He actually stopped walking for a few seconds, looking around in confusion. Did something happen and he… missed it?
Confusing experience. And he wasted a lot of time thinking about it. Was it some sort of deja vu? He felt that a few times, and it was somewhat similar. A sudden feeling that you actually had trouble explaining.
Except, it also didn't feel like deja vu. No faint flashback, just… a feeling of something being wrong.
He decided to ignore that. It was probably nothing. So, he continued his journey towards the school exit, the corridors already almost empty (he was packing himself VERY slowly, it seems).
Then he ran into Himiko Toga.
Her hair was messy as ever. Her uniform changed though - rather than the standard gray/green colors of the UA school uniforms, hers was black/red, although the shape was identical.
The miniskirt was short enough to reveal what looked like a knife holstered to her thigh, some weird symbol carved onto the sheath. Although Midoriya, being himself, quickly forced himself to stop staring at her thighs, merely noting the knife's existence in the passing.
She also seemed to be grinning, although probably to herself, since she wasn't looking at Midoriya. Which was… honestly, a bit weird, she normally acted in a rather 'reserved' way, not enough to be called an ice queen but she clearly had quite an unapproachable air around her and…
Alright, ignore it. Yes, Himiko Toga is walking around the school wearing a weird uniform and what's PROBABLY a knife. No, it might just be some cosplay thing, it's not like he knows the entirety of modern pop culture.
He isn't sure what betrayed him. Was it the sudden spike of nervousness when she was passing by him? Was it the brief glance at the knife attached to her leg? Whatever it was, it made her turn around suddenly and pin Midoriya to the wall.
"W-wh…" He tries to say, but she doesn't let him.
"What color is my uniform?" She asks. Midoriya tries to struggle but… she is strong. Surprisingly strong.
"What?" What the hell was it about? Should he yell for help or something? Kacchan is way too far to hear him, so whoever will come will hopefully not make fun of him being pinned to the wall by Toga, but…
He isn't sure what happened. She wasn't just strong, but also fast. All that he knows is that one second she was there, holding him by his shoulders, and the next one he had a knife by his throat.
"What color…" Himiko asks again. "...is my uniform?"
"B-black?" Midoriya replies. It's clearly not the moment to struggle further or try to call for help.
"... who initiated you?" She asks, her eyes suddenly narrow.
"Who did what?" Midoriya asks back, genuinely dumbfounded.
A second later a smile blooms on her face. It's wide. It's… wait, how long are her canines exact…
Something in her smile makes his blood freeze.
"Follow me." She announces, before pulling him by his arm down the corridor.
(***)
She, oddly enough, leads him into the library. It's in the basement of the school's main building, with a handful of small windows close to the ceiling. Not very welcoming, especially with bars on the outside to deter potential thieves, but it does its job.
It's also almost empty. The only person in the vicinity is a student with bi-colored hair (white and red), eyeing them emotionlessly over a low bookshelf. Midoriya considered calling for help, but… the student has a school uniform matching the one sported by Toga, at least in terms of color.
For a second, Midoriya catches something that looks like a look of pity on the teenager's face. Toga glances at the boy for a moment before pulling him deeper in.
Four seconds later Izuku gasps. He remembers that part of the library. He is 100% certain that the door (covered with the same weird symbol that he saw on Toga' sheath, except much bigger) wasn't there yesterday.
It's almost.. hard to look at them. His eyes sting when he gazes at the symbol for too long.
"Get inside." Toga urges him. "C'mon."
He, against himself (she is waving her knife around, a relatively intimidating sight) obeys. He opens the door and steps inside.
He finds himself in a small room. There is a small desk with some older looking books, some drawing supplies and an old-looking laptop. A small table and a chair, with some unfinished food (meat, looks kinda bloody to be honest) on it, and what looks like a bedroll hastily tucked under it. Plus a very small fridge in the corner.
There are more symbols of the walls. He doesn't feel the eye stings when he looks at them. Small mercy.
Realization strikes him.
"Wait, you live here?!" The bedroll and food is a rather major evidence towards it.
"Yep." She replies while locking the door behind them. "What, the first time you've ever visited a girl's house?"
"Err… yes?" Midoriya replies. Judging from the look she gave him, she found that amusing. "Look, I don't know what it is all about, but could you… uhm… hide the knife?" He is going to focus on essentials before trying to figure out why the fuck is Toga living in a room in his school's library that CLEARLY WASN'T THERE YESTERDAY.
"Sure, sure." Toga replies non-commitantly. Although, to Midoriya's great happiness, the knife goes back into the sheath. "Sit there. We have a very serious talk to have." She points towards the chair next to the desk. She takes the one by the table.
"U-uhm, alright?" He decides to obey. She is closer to the door AND the knife is still there, just… currently hidden.
"So, you probably have a lot of questions." Toga announced once he sat down. "About this room, about my knife, about the different uniform and so on. Let me summarize the answer quickly: Congratulations, you just discovered that we're all living in a fantasy setting, with an entire world of magical creatures, dusty tomes of magical spells and mages hiding from the muggles." He stares at her slackjawed. "Bad news, is that it's Call of Cthulhu more than Harry Potter, and to say it in the least vulgar way, you're now officially boned."
"W-what?" He manages to say before returning to staring at her in shock.
"I was wearing that uniform and carried that knife every day you saw me at school." She replies, while rolling her eyes around. "The room was also here the whole time. The symbols on the door kept 'muggles' like you from noticing that fact. But, since you are witnessing both, the glyphs no longer recognize you as a muggle, meaning that you are now among the Initiated. Except, you claim that no one initiated you, which is, like, super weird."
"You know that if I didn't remember the door to this room not being there yesterday, I'd start screaming for help right now?" He finally replies. This is all completely insane. But this one bit is something he can't find an alternative explanation for.
"Pffft, as if that would work." She says, before giggling. "You're within an enchanted space. No one is going to hear anything. Good for you that you're cute." She says before winking at him.
Uhm.
"A-and the uniform?" He decides to ask.
"UA is teaching Initiates as well." She replies. "The famed Black Course. There is a separate building and the dorms, but I'm not technically qualified yet. Just a Candidate. So I'm lounging around the part of the school dedicated for the muggles, waiting for the Principal to approve the transfer. There are quite a few of us around, like Todoroki. The boy you saw in the library." She adds when it's clear that he has no idea who that is. "It's quite fun, actually. Makes me wonder if you'll be given Candidate status." She looks at him quizzically. "It's typically for the gifted Initiates, I don't think that we had many cases of people from the normal course being Initiated while studying."
"... uhm." Midoriya really has no idea how to even BEGIN unpacking what he just heard. "So, run that through me again. Magic exists."
"Aye aye." She replies. "Magic exists. And a lot of supernatural creatures. Except we're all living in a Cosmic Horror Story, so we're officially boned. Normal courses have graduation rates, Black Course has survival rates. I think it's close to 50% on average. But sometimes entire classes don't make it."
She feels almost cheerful about it. Midoriya is creeped out. Like, a lot.
"If that's true, then… uhm… I guess that I really am boned?" He replies. He is too shocked for any actually constructive input on that.
"Oh, you already were boned." Toga either misunderstands him entirely or doesn't care. "It's not like the things that bump in the night ignore Non-Initiates entirely. They just draw less attention. There's this thing called Censor which keeps the muggles unaware of the scary stuff, it even takes care of victims! So, if something ate you, it would alter the memories of Non-Initiates that knew about you, make them think that you died of some conventional reasons."
… okay. That does sound like a Cosmic Horror Story. Worst of all, she isn't done with it.
"And if Censor has no idea how to do that, or if too many people die in short succession, it will make some of them into Shades!" She announces. "It's like an illusion of a person, except monochromatic for the Initiates. They can interact with physical objects and can mimic their original selves' behavior perfectly, but only last until the Censor decides that they can 'die' without freaking the normies too much."
"Wait." He blinks at her a few times. "Are you telling me that anyone I know… might actually be dead for who knows how long and I will only know about it now that I was 'Initiated'?"
"Yup." She nods. "I came home from my own Initiation only to discover that my entire family was Shades. No idea what happened to them, though. Riddle for the ages, I guess."
Midoriya stares at her for a few seconds. Toga looks surprised by his surprise.
"What?" She tilts her head a bit. "I didn't really like them, so it's not a big deal, right?"
Izuku decides that agreeing to follow her (even under a threat of a knife) might not have been his brightest idea ever. She is clearly insane or at least mentally unstable. How much of that are her delusions? Probably most if not all of that. But how do you explain the room? He saw an empty wall literally yesterday.
"Don't worry though, you can totally live until old age as an Initiated, for as long as you're cautious." She misreads his shock at her 'revelations' for being worried about himse… wait, he IS worried about himself, just mostly due to being in a room with her. "Want some tips on that?"
"Uhm, yeah?" How much of his agreement is due to buying her story, and how much about him trying to not irritate women with a knife and mental issues?
"Rule one." She says officially. "We all have a form of a sixth sense. If you suddenly get the feeling that something's wrong, it probably is. If you get the feeling that your life is in danger, it probably is. If you feel the former, be extremely wary. If you feel the latter, get away as fast as you can. Trust me, if something wants to kill you, you will know that immediately."
"What if I feel like that while being with a friend or a family member that aren't Initiated?" He decides to play along for now.
"Get away as fast as you can." She replies calmly. She can see the dawning protest on his face, so she quickly continues. "You being there only makes whatever is out there more likely to attack them. And if they are a target, you will most likely die trying to help them. It's not worth it. The Black Course is teaching Initiates, not superheroes."
He is still digesting her answer when she decides to continue.
"Rule two." She decides to continue. "If you hear spooky tales about a haunted house, a spooky internet page, an odd ritual dare or whatever, stay away. Don't try the ritual, don't enter the page, don't visit the house. Simple as that." He gives her a questioning stare. "Look, I'm serious here. A year ago a bunch of Candidates for the Black Course decided to investigate some spooky internet page urban legend. Three weeks later they committed group suicide after dumping their computers in the river. Learn from their mistakes."
She is… oddly serious. He kind of felt like she considered killing him or something earlier, now she feels almost protective. It's… strange.
"Why would I even do all of that?" He watched a lot of horror movies. He knows what NOT to do, at the very least, and not investigating stuff like that sounds like common sense to him. At least when he knows (does he know?) that there are spooky things out there.
"Ambitions I guess." She replies before shrugging. "Investigating stuff is how most Initiates learn magic, grab loot and so on. You've barely started, and nothing seems to have noticed your existence yet, so your best chance of a long life is to avoid drawing attention. Unless you want to learn magic, but that's… errr… dangerous. Very easy to destroy yourself or stop being yourself, if you catch my drift."
He played Call of Cthulhu. Both the tabletop game and the video game. He can, more or less, imagine that.
"Rule three is about being cautious." Toga continues. "So, like, keep stuff like a knife, matches, flashlight, compass and some food and water on you the whole time. You can keep problematic things like a weapon hidden with concealment glyphs. Also don't touch weird things."
"... I figured out that much." He replies. "Anything more?"
"Don't initiate people, I guess?" She looks slightly confused about that rule. "Though it's a flexible one. Just be aware that you can only initiate a single person at once. So you can't just go to the TV studio and initiate half of the country at once."
"How do you even do that?" He wants to know what he missed.
"You just grab someone, explain the situation to them, show them magic or something like that, and let them make a decision." She replies. "If they truly believe your story and consent to being Initiated, they will. If they don't believe you or say no, they'll forget about the whole thing in a minute or two. Censor's pretty handy."
"It certainly sounds like it." He agrees. "So, can I go n…"
"Not yet." She replies. "I'm going to show you basic warding and concealment glyphs. Normally the guy who Initiated you should teach you that, but at this point I'm almost certain that you actually had no one like that and that's weird as hell." She tilts her head a bit, before grinning at him. "We don't want you to die during your first night, right?"
(***)
Thirty minutes later she announces that he's good enough with those weird symbols she seemed adamant about teaching him. So, he can go. Midoriya is, naturally, overjoyed to do so.
He is almost at the door when… things happen. For a brief second he feels something, his senses screaming DANGER at him. He freezes midstep (is it the whole 'something wants to kill you thing she mentioned?!) but then it vanishes abruptly. Before he has the time to react, he can feel hands on himself.
One arm goes under his left arm, the hand pulling his chin upward. The other… is dangerously close to the belt.
"By… the… way…" Toga whispers into his ear. She is close, very close, he can feel her body pressing against his back. Her right hand is now almost under the belt, right above…" You're pretty cute, you know?"
He is still absolutely frozen stiff when he suddenly feels her tongue on the side of his neck, coming upwards. The contact lasts for a few seconds (feels like eternity), before she pulls back. Both the tongue and her right hand.
"Tasty too." She giggles into his ear, before smooching it. "You wouldn't believe how hungry it makes me."
Then she pulls back entirely. After a few seconds, he manages to start thinking again. Enough to turn his head back. She is there, smiling wryly before waving at him.
"Drop by occasionally." She says before winking at him. "Don't keep a lady lonely."
(***)
Midoriya steps out of Toga's safehouse, being clearly overtaken by a lot of emotions that he has no idea how to even start unpacking.
What the actual hell just happened?
"You're alive." Someone's voice calls him back to reality. It's… how was he called? Todoroki? He is still standing behind a low bookshelf. Did he wait there the whole time while Midoriya was inside? "Fascinating." He adds, sounding… very emotionless.
"W…why is it fascinating?" He decides to ask back.
"Because Toga murdered every Candidate she lured into her safehouse before you." Todoroki announces with a tone that's still entirely emotionless. Midoriya heard people announcing that there is rain outside with more emotions than the teenager in front of him just displayed. "In the meantime, all that you get from it was…" His eyes drift down, before coming back up. "... is what I assume to be a prime case of 'why boner'. Fascinating."
"E-eh?" Midoriya replies intelligently. "Wait, what do you mean by 'murdered'?"
"She's a serial killer." Todoroki replies. "Also eats her victims, though I can't exactly refer to that as cannibalism as she stopped being a human a long time ago. Did she take a liking to you? Strange. I can't imagine her sparing you otherwise. "
"A s-serial… And teachers are alright with that?" Midoriya shoots back, trying to ignore the dawning horror that he was (unless Todoroki was in on the joke) so close to dying and…
"Why wouldn't they be?" Todoroki looks faintly surprised with Midoriya being surprised by that. "If you let someone like Toga lure you into her safehouse, you're clearly too dumb to live. Being eaten by her is much less painful than what will probably happen to you after leaving the Black Course. She is as much a student as she is one of the Course' equivalents of pop quizzes."
That's just existentially dreadful, the still sane part of Midoriya's mind concludes.
"The only rule is to not attack the faculty members and the Non-Initiates." Todoroki continues. "And she upholds it to the letter. By the way, what made you think that following her was a good idea?" He says, as he tilts her head a little, his eyes narrowing down slightly. "Your initiator had to explain at least some basic safety measures to you."
"I… think I missed out on the introductory talk to the whole Initiated business." Midoriya replies after a few seconds. "I just suddenly started seeing weird things, and… she was actually the person to explain to me what was happening."
"Fascinating." Todoroki replies after a few seconds. Despite the word that he used, the cold emptiness of his face remains unchanged. "Someone probably erased your memories of your own Initiation, but why?" … that was, honestly, a potential explanation, except… Midoriya can't imagine himself saying 'yes' to the proposal. "Guess that you're not too dumb to live after all. I'm looking forward to studying with you."
"Y-yes, likewise." Midoriya lies. "Uhm, why didn't you try to intervene or something, if you knew what was happening?" It kind of bugs him.
"Too dumb to live." Todoroki deadpans. "Also she is a menace in close quarters. I'd most likely die trying. Besides, what would I get out in exchange for risking my life? The loyalty of someone who would probably die in a week?"
Oh. So it's that type of person. Then again, if it's really a Cosmic Horror Story (or at least a seriously lovecraftian setting), he'll probably live the longest of them all.
(***)
His hopes of all of that being one big prank that he somehow fell for entirely are extinguished when he runs into the librarian on the way out of the library. She was busy putting some books back onto the shelves, completely ignoring Midoriya.
She lost all colors, being reduced to white and black. A Shade.
She was always irritatingly serious. Painting her face for the purpose of a practical joke? No way. Not her.
Midoriya Izuku, it seems, is truly and thoroughly boned.
(***)
Canon Aizawa: You had a bad day and didn't perform well during the test? You're expelled.
WRF Aizawa: Toga ate two friends of yours? Git gud, kid.
What level of free-form education is that? I have no idea, but... well, wait until we meet the Principal. Or see where such a schooling leads people to. Let's just say that the UA's Black Course is an... uhm... interesting thing to have in your resume.