Warning: Cussing. Mentions of suicide. Gayness.
Chapter 3: Friends through it all.
Nico's POV.
I woke up in a cold sweat. Phew. It was just a dream. I got out of bed slowly, and walked carefully to the bathroom. I had installed my own shower with the shadows because I really hated communal showers. I took a quick shower, and walked to my closet. I put on a shirt with short sleeves, and workout shorts. I sat on the floor.
What to do? I'd get my sight back around 9 tonight. I twiddled with the hem of my shirt, before dropping into a push up position. No reason I couldn't exercise while blind.
After I finished a rather long workout, I heard a knock on the door.
"Come in!" I called out. I heard the door open, before I heard a gasp. I looked blindly at the person in my room "What?" I asked.
"Nico," I identified the voice as Shinso's. "you're covered in scars." He said, coming closer. Shit. I had on short sleeves and shorts. I pulled my arms in to myself, and wrapped them around my core to give me some sense of stability.
"Yeah. I do." I stated.
"What are they from?" he asked. I felt a feather light touch on my left arm. He traced the scars from Lycon the werewolf king. I shuddered, and pulled my arms in closer.
"Many different things. I don't want to talk about it." I said, shutting down the train of questions. I stood, and went to my closet. I ran my hand over the clothes, and grabbed out a long-sleeved shirt, and a pair of jeans. I set them on my bed.
"Did you need something?" I asked.
"No. Dad was just telling the other students where their dorms were, and I came with to check on you. I'll go now." He said, and I heard him turn the knob of the door.
"Thank you." I whispered. I heard him shut the door behind him. I walked over and locked it. then, I put on the clothes I had on my bed. I grabbed a hair tie, and put up my longer hair; It was annoying me. then, I laid back down on my bed. I didn't really want my classmates to see me blind. Too many questions.
"Nico? You in there?" I heard Katsuki ask, banging on my door. I sighed. No avoiding it, I guess. I stood, and opened the door.
"Hi." I stated. I heard him jump back in surprise.
"What's up with your eyes?" he asked.
"I'm temporarily blind." I stated factually. He gasped quite audibly.
"But, why?!" he demanded.
"You saw me fight All for One, I did something I shouldn't have, and now I'm paying the consequences. I'll get my sight back by tonight." I revealed. I sighed, and leaned against my door frame.
"Oh, alright." He said. he sounded rather confused.
"It's cool. Hey, whenever you finish decorating your room, want to come over? I'm bored." I asked.
"Sure." He said, I smiled.
"Great! I'll 'see' you later." I did 'see' in quotation marks with my hands.
"See you." He walked away. I shut my door, and locked it. then, I tripped on the floor. Dammit. Being blind was hard. I picked myself off the floor, and stumbled my way back to my bed.
9 o'clock couldn't come fast enough!
"Nico, I'm done." Katsuki said, waking me up and making me fall out of bed.
"Ouch!" I said, picking myself back up. "I'm coming!" I called out, and made my way to the door only tripping three times. I opened the door, and fell over again. I said a few things that would have gotten my mouth washed out if anyone there spoke Italian.
"Hi." I said, standing back up.
"Are you alright?" Bakugou asked.
"Nope. I'm blind. But do come in." I held the door open. He came in, and I shut it behind him.
"Wow, nice room you've got." He said.
"Really? I have no idea what it looks like. I had someone else help me because I'm blind right now." I said, feeling my way to the bed. I sat down, and leaned back.
"That's got to suck." He casually announced. I let out a small chuckle.
"Yeah. being blind is hard. I have a new appreciation for my sight." I stated, closing my sightless eyes.
"Sorry man, I bet that's pretty rough." he said quietly. I nodded, and opened my eyes again.
"Well, it's nothing new. And I still owe you an explanation. So, without further ado, may I present to you my crappy life's story." I gave a mock bow, and laid back against the pillows.
"So, my story starts shortly after my ninth birthday. My father came back from one of his many business trips. A freak accident happened, and my mother was killed in the aftermath. My sister who was eleven and I were sent to a place for a while before we were enrolled in military school. My cousins rescued us and took us to a summer camp for kids with OP quirks. My sister didn't want to go, and instead joined a girl gang. They went on a mission not long after, and my cousin Percy promised to protect her as he was going to follow them." I stopped talking as the memories threatened to overtake me.
"What happened then?" Bakugou asked.
"She died." I stated curtly. I hated talking about my family, and my past. I was of the opinion what's done is done, and leave the past in the past.
"I'm sorry." He said, putting a hand on my arm. I shrugged his hand off.
"After that, I ran away from the summer camp. I met a man, he said he could help me; he was a liar. He wanted to use my dark quirk to achieve his own goals. I figured this out with the help of Percy, and we vanquished many villains. Then, Percy got kidnapped. Annabeth, his girlfriend, was extremely distraught. I knew where he was, but couldn't tell anyone. He was at a rival camp. These two camps had been fighting each other since quirks began, and the fights got brutal many times leading to serious injury or even death. I tried to help, but only ended up getting myself stuck in literal hell, and then a trap. A lot of things happened, many people died, but in the end the camps agreed to get along." If only I could see Katsuki's face. I wanted to know what he thought of my life.
"Then what? How'd you end up here?" he asked.
"Then, Will came along. He was the light to my dark. He had a healing type quirk that let him ease the pain of anyone around him. I was injured in the battle, and he tried to fix me. many have. None have succeeded. Then, instead of trying to fix me, he tried to make me into a perfect boyfriend. At first, I didn't notice, but as time went by, I realized that I wasn't myself anymore. Then, one night I got hurt. I healed myself in my cabin, but little did I know Will was coming in the cabin."
"Wait, so you mean to say that-" Bakugou started, trailing off.
"You've felt my aura. I opened my eyes, and he was on top of me. I tried to fight him off, but I was so tired from the healing that I couldn't really do anything. As a last-ditch effort, I shoved raw power into him, knocking him across the room. We both passed out. I was in a coma for a week, in which Will was awake, telling the entire camp that I'd been the one attacking him, and that he'd had to fight me off. I was devasted to say the least. I started spending more and more time alone in my cabin." I took a deep breath.
"So, one day I woke up and I was tired of it. I was just so tired of it all. The looks, the hatred. I couldn't handle it anymore. So, I wrote a suicide note, and left." I stated.
"You what?!" he yelled. I flinched.
"I wrote a suicide note to my half-sister Hazel, and to Percy, and then I left the camp. I had every intention of ending my life. But my father's assistant offered me a chance at a new life instead. And guess what, I fucked this one up too. On the first weekend I arrived here, I got myself, and Todoroki passed out drunk on a rooftop. That very same day, I met Shigaraki for the first time. I didn't know he was a villain, but I did suspect that he was less than light. Well, life kind of just progressed form there. I became closer to Tomura, and eventually I moved in with him as I don't have any family or friends here that I could have moved in with." I closed my still sightless eyes.
"Is that the end?" Katsuki asked.
"Well, no. I'm still alive, aren't I?" I snarked.
"Ha, ha." He said, in a very unamused tone.
"But yes, that's the end of my life's story up until this point." I clarified. Bakugou's watch chimed, and I started.
"It's nine." He stated. I sighed, and nodded. I should get my sight back soon. I reached my hand forward, and felt around from Katsuki's arm. I felt his hand at my elbow. I grabbed it, and pulled him over.
"Ow." He complained. I smirked, and leaned against him.
"I'm tired." I stated, and rested against his shoulder. He made an undignified noise, and shifted in his seat.
"Nico, are you in there?" I heard the voice of Todoroki from my door.
"Yeah. Katsuki and I are in here. Come in!" I yelled back. I heard the door open, and footsteps.
"Icy-Hot." Bakugou greeted.
"Bakugou." Todoroki replied. I felt the bed shift, as Shoto sat next to me.
"Hi Shoto." I said, and shifted so that I was leaning on him instead.
"Hi Nico." He replied, and patted my head. I opened my eyes, and let out a small sigh as I still couldn't see a thing. "Why is Bakugou in your room?" he asked.
"He was keeping me company. I can't see as of right this minute." I replied, turning my eyes up so that my friend could see that they were white. He gasped.
"Why are you blind?!" he demanded, I felt him move, and I sat up as to not get hurt.
"I did a dumb thing. It'll wear off any minute now." I stated, and closed my still sightless eyes.
"Lay off Icy-Hot. He's been blind for three days." Bakugou said, wrapping an arm around me. I blinked in surprise. What in the world? That was new.
"What?! Three days?!" Todoroki demanded. I flinched away from his loud voice.
"Could you please be a little quieter? My other senses are overcompensating, and it makes everything loader than it is." I said quietly, plugging my ears.
"Sorry." Shoto said, leaning back with a creak.
"It's fine. I'd guessed you'd have that kind of reaction. That's why I wasn't going to tell you. I wasn't going to tell anyone actually, but Katsuki kind of found out." I said, and leaned back against the said teenager. He was really warm.
"Jeez, are you always this cold?" Bakugou asked, shivering.
"Yes. My body temperature is about 10 degrees cooler than the average person." I replied. "It's a part of my quirk. I'm a creature of the dark. The shadows are cold."
"Oh." Katsuki replied, running his hands up and down my arms. I might have smiled a little. I liked that people actually cared about me. but, on the flipside, there would only be more people to hate me once my secrets came out. No one could keep that many forever. I was going to let so many people down. I had already let so many down; Tomura, Toga, Dabi, Spinner, Magne, Twice, and Mr. Compress. I'd let them all down. they all believed in me, and I betrayed that trust. I was no better than All for One at this point.
I curled up on myself, and tried to calm my breathing. It wouldn't do to have a mental breakdown with my only two friends in the room now would it. I regulated my heart rate, and my breathing. I needed to calm the heck down.
"Nico, you alright?" Bakugou asked, leaning over me.
"Yeah. I'm fine." I stated, opening my eyes. To my surprise, I saw Todoroki's worried face. "Hey, my sight's back!" I announced, sitting up, and bonking my head on Katsuki's chin.
"Ow." He said, rubbing his face.
"Sorry." I sheepishly replied. "My bad." I looked around my room. It was tastefully done. Shinso really knew how to decorate. I'd give him that. I looked in the mirror at what I wearing. I had on a pair of ripped black jeans, and a blood red hoodie that made my eyes glow slightly.
"Dang, I look like a demon." I said, shifting my wings so that they were out. I blinked slowly, and looked at my friends. Shoto was wearing a cool blue jacket, and jeans. Katsuki was wearing gym shorts, and a workout shirt that showed off his toned arms. I may have turned slightly red. I was laying on him, and he wasn't even properly dressed! My gods, what in the world. Katsuki pulled my shoulders backwards so that I was laying on his rather warm chest again.
"You're still so cold." He said, running his hands once again up and down my arms. I bit my lip. I'm not sure he knew what he was doing. But I was most certainly aware of what he was doing, and my face was probably heating up pretty red. I sent Shoto a desperate look, but he just smirked at me. rude. Katsuki's hands were so warm. They radiated heat into my jacket, and my wings were tingling. I pulled my arms away.
"Thanks. I'm warm now." I said, and sat forward so that I was no longer laying on his very nicely toned chest. Oh, gods. I did not just think that. No. I was not crushing on another of my classmates! Was I? Hera, that was messed up. I snuck a peek in my mirror, and saw that my usually rather pale skin was most definitely warm, and I was blushing pretty badly. I sat with my back against the wall, looking towards my friends.
"So, what do you guys want to do?" I asked, crossing my arms over my middle. Katsuki shrugged. Shoto looked interested in my arm placement.
"Nico," Shoto started, looking me in the eyes. "Are you okay?" I bit my lip, and looked down.
"Yeah. I'm fine." I lied. No. I wasn't okay. I'd been through too much to go through more, I was crushing on two now of my classmates, both of whom I was almost positive were straight as sticks, and now I'd been blind for 75 plus hours. I was not okay in any sense of that word.
"No. you're not. I've known you the longest of anyone here. You have certain tells; That's one of them. You crossed your arms over your core, instead of over your chest." Todoroki analyzed. I closed my eyes, and hugged myself tighter.
"I'm fine." I repeated, not looking up. what I wouldn't give to just have a normal life. To just go to school, make friends, and act like a normal teen. To not have to worry about people finding out my secrets. To not have to wonder what would have happened if I'd chosen a different path. To not have this stupid power! I hated my power! If I was quirkless, at least people would look down on me, and ignore me. only those who truly wanted to be my friends would even offer. I would have nothing to give, and that would make it much easier.
I felt both of them move, but I didn't look up. being blind had its uses as well. I didn't have to see any looks of disappointment, or fear. At least then, I could pretend people liked me for me. or that they wanted to help me. hell! For all I knew, Shinso had been given a signal by his fathers to help me!
"Nico, we're here for you." I heard Katsuki say, and take my left arm. I felt Shoto on the other side. Both of them were so warm. I curled up tighter on myself.
"Why? Why are you friends with me?" I asked, choking back the sobs that threatened me, to keep talking. "What do you get out of it? I'm a broken demon with secrets I've kept from even the both of you. So, I ask, why are you my friends?" I whispered.
"Because you were there for me when I needed help." Shoto said, pulling me closer. "When I went onto that roof, I wasn't there to make friends Nico. I was going to jump off." Todoroki admitted.
"Really?" I asked, looking up. he nodded.
"Really. I was done with my father trying to mold me into his little hero. If that was what he thought I was then I was going to have to prove him wrong. He probably wouldn't have cared if it was a private death. He would have written the media out of it. but, if I'd committed suicide in a rather public place, the police would have to look into my father, and he'd get in loads of trouble." Todoroki stated calmly.
"I had no idea." I said, and curled up into his lap. Then I realized what I did, and blushed to the roots of my hair. I felt something cold at my head, and then he started petting my hair. His right hand was as cold as my skin.
"I'm your friend because you see me as an equal. I know I'm not, but you still gave me a chance." Bakugou stated. "That, and I don't really have friends." He added. I sat up so that my head was no longer on Todoroki's lap, and smiled a little at Katsuki.
"I'm glad. Where I was, I didn't have any friends. Except maybe Percy. But he was friends with almost everyone. Our friendship got strained and awkward when I was forced to confess that I'd crushed on him for years. That was a strange day." I said, remembering what cupid had put me through. "After I came out to the whole camp, I was ignored even more. All the girls thought I was creepy, and the guys avoided me because I was gay." I stated, closing my eyes.
"That sounds rough." Bakugou said.
"It was." The way I dealt with my stress wasn't good either. I thought of all the scars I carried. Monsters, Campers, my father, and myself were the people who put those there. I ran my hands along my arms, tracing the scars I knew to be there. the only one in UA who had seen my scars was Todoroki. And only because he'd stayed with me for 5 days, and seen me without my shirt on.
"Well, no use thinking about the past. It's dead, and it's going to stay that way if I have any say in it." I announced.
"So, what are we going to do?" Shoto asked.
"I'm not sure. Want to play a game?" I asked.
"Not truth or dare." Bakugou shuddered. I let out a laugh. A real genuine laugh.
"Why not? That was fun." I stated, and gave him a look. Bakugou cracked a smile.
"Not really. I regret a lot that happened. Worst night of my life." He said, pushing my shoulder lightly. Todoroki's expression was priceless.
"What are you two talking about?" he asked.
"When Katsuki and I were captured, we were taken to the villain base, which was also my home at the time. I suggested we play Truth or Dare. Let's just say we now know more than we'd like, and we both did things we most definitely regret." I replied.
"What do you regret? You looked like you were having the time of your life." Katsuki asked.
"You got me there, I don't really regret any of the things I did. I do however, regret what I made others do." I shuddered "Especially Dabi. I didn't think he'd actually do it." I stated.
"Yeah. I think we all regret that." Katsuki said, and cracked a grin. "Except Dabi. He didn't look like he regretted a thing." That got me laughing.
"I have no idea what you guys are talking about." Shoto interjected.
"Good. You don't want to be scarred for the rest of your life." I said, still chuckling.
"When playing truth of dare with villains, it is wise to keep in mind, that they have no moral, or shame." Katsuki supplied.
"Dabi most of all. Gods, I thought he would take the shot but nope, he did it."
"What did he do?" Todoroki asked. I smirked.
"I dared him to completely make out with Shigaraki. And damn, they did. That was the last time anyone dared Dabi to do anything like that." I said, wiping tears of laughter from my eyes.
"Not going to lie though, it was kind of funny to see Shigaraki's expression." Katsuki said.
"Yeah." I replied. "He looked so confused I almost felt bad for him. almost. We shared a bed because I lived in his room, and so no. I don't feel bad. He kept kicking me."
End of chapter 3.