a/n: Holy fuck, my bitches and bros and non-binary hoes. We've just surpassed 3k reads here, and that means you've earned yet another bonus chapter. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. We say it every time, but Affinity is a labour of love for both Hemza and I, and we're so eternally grateful that so many people are enjoying it. There are not enough ways to say thank you, so instead of me rambling forever, enjoy your bonus chapter 3
- d
As Emiko came back to consciousness, she looked up and was startled to find Shoji's masked face looming over her and saw Deku's battered face peeking out over Shoji's shoulder. She craned her neck and realized that Shoji was carrying her in front of him while a few of his dupli-arms were holding Deku on his back like some sort of human backpack.
"Shoji… What happened?" Midoriya groaned from Shoji's back.
"With those injuries, you should be laid up in bed recovering, but you want to save your friend, no matter what the cost," Shoji remarked, eyes crinkling as though he was smiling beneath the mask covering the lower half of his face.
"You're injured too," Deku remarked in shock, and Emiko's gaze was drawn to one of Shoji's dupli-arms where the end was covered in blood and dripping some more.
"Yes, we were ambushed by villains and I covered us… But the attack triggered Tokoyami's quirk, even though he was desperately trying to hold it back…" Shoji explained, and Emiko's eyes widened as her quirk hummed into existence and she felt it.
Rage. Boiling and turbulent like a pot of water unattended on a stovetop.
"Oh Fumi," she whispered, catching the attention of her classmates.
"Komatsu, you're awake, thank goodness," Shoji said in relief.
Emiko groaned, reaching up to rub at her head which throbbed anew thanks to her quirk reactivating, "How many damn times do I need to tell you all, just call me Emiko."
Shoji chuckled, "Good to see hitting your head off of a tree root hasn't gotten rid of your shining personality," he snarked.
"Screw you, I'm delightful."
Both shared a rueful chuckle but were cut off by Midoriya clearing his throat.
"Sorry to interrupt, but I think we should get back to the matter at hand, shouldn't we?" he interjected hesitantly.
Shoji set Emiko down on her feet and he hovered around her to make sure she could stand properly before stepping back to give her space, as they slowly made their way through the trees.
"So, wait, you're saying that thing just now…?" Deku added in disbelief.
"That's right, if we want to go through, we'll have to face Dark Shadow," Shoji confirmed, and she saw the shudder that ran through Midoriya as the blood in his veins no doubt went frigid at the thought of facing one of the most powerful students in their class.
Facing a villain- no matter how powerful- was one thing, but having to have a life and death fight with a friend- someone you shared a class with every day- when they couldn't help the state they were in, was an infinitely more difficult proposition.
As if on queue at the mention of Tokoyami's quirk, they heard the sonorous and anguished roar of their classmate as they came into a clearing. The raw pain, panic, and conflict from Fumikage tugged at Emiko's heartstrings, and tears welled up in her eyes at her classmate's predicament.
The scene that accompanied the sound was something out of a horror film. Compared to the smaller bird-shaped shadow she had seen emanating from Tokoyami during classes, this Dark Shadow was colossal, dark ectoplasmic energy filling up the clearing and vicious clawed appendages reached towards the sky, as if daring the moon and stars to come down and attack. Tokoyami himself was contorted uncomfortably as he was seemingly being swallowed up by his quirk's energy, his eyes widened and panicked as they were visible through the shadowed visage of the beast he had unleashed.
"STAY AWAY… FROM ME! YOU'LL DIE!" he cried out, his eyes pleading with them to comply as he seemed to strain every sinew of his being to try and assert control over his quirk once more, but it was in vain.
"Tokoyami, no!" Midoriya shouted, before Shoji grabbed Emiko by the arm and dragged her behind a tree.
They looked on as Dark Shadow began prowling through the clearing, in search of some prey to attack. Whether that quarry was friend or foe was a matter of no importance for this manifestation of rage and vengeance. It merely wanted to hunt.
Emiko barely listened as Shoji filled Midoriya in on the particulars of how Tokoyami lost control of Dark Shadow.
Shoji took a step and a twig snapped, prompting Dark Shadow to lash out and strike the tree they'd been hiding behind. Luckily, Shoji had known what to expect and had them sheltered behind another tree just in time.
Tokoyami's cries pleading them to leave him and save their classmates once more made Emiko's heart clench. Even when his quirk was causing him such anguish, Tokoyami was doing the heroic thing and making sure others were saved and that he didn't endanger any of them.
Here she was cowering behind a tree because her quirk made her head hurt.
"God, I'm pathetic," she whispered, scolding herself.
Shoji and Midoriya looked over in alarm at her words.
"Emiko, what-?" Shoji asked, only for his eyes to widen as she stood up and eased herself out of his grasp.
"What kind of a hero can I call myself if I'm not willing to use my quirk to save my classmate, danger and consequences be damned?" Emiko asked rhetorically before walking out into the clearing, all the sound in the world seemed to drop away in that instant as she heard the muffled cries of protest from the two boys.
Dark Shadow whirled around at the disturbance and locked onto her.
"Fumi, listen to me, you've got to fight it. You're so strong and brave, I know you can do this," she shouted, the tears that had welled up in her eyes now falling freely as she implored Tokoyami to calm down to bring Dark Shadow back under control.
"Komatsu, please, I can't have Dark Shadow hurt you," Tokoyami groaned out, tears of his own running down his beak.
"I'm sure this isn't what you meant by revelry in the dark, Fumi," she choked a chuckle out to cover her sob.
Sorry Fumi, this is gonna suck for both of us, Emiko thought, before she closed her eyes, felt the telltale breeze pick up as she reached deep within herself for her quirk.
Echo Cha-
She wasn't even allowed to finish the thought and activate her move before something enormous slammed into her, knocking the wind out of her and a cry escaped her lips when she slammed into the trunk of a tree.
"YOU DARE!" Dark Shadow roared, the edges of its being flickering more chaotically.
As she was trying to pick herself up off the ground, she yelped in surprise as a long arm wound itself around her waist and once more yanked her out of Dark Shadow's sight.
"What the hell, Komatsu?" Shoji demanded. "The goal is to not get ourselves killed. Hope you don't have any other bright ideas. Same goes for you, Midoriya."
Emiko looked down bashfully.
"Sorry Shoji, but I had to try. Thanks for saving me, again," she muttered bashfully.
Shoji merely nodded an acknowledgement as he scanned around, trying to figure out a good escape plan.
"Actually, I do have an idea," Midoriya piped up. "Might be a little risky, but it might stand us a chance of getting Tokoyami to somewhere where Dark Shadow is weaker."
"Right, Tokoyami's quirk is weak against light, so if we can lead him back to a fire or back to camp, we can contain it," Shoji explained, picking up on the end goal of Midoriya's plan. It was how they'd get there that would be tricky.
"Well, the fire and camp are far away, you'd be in danger," Midoriya pointed out.
"Comes with the territory of being a hero," Shoji countered, then he properly looked at Midoriya. "What was it you had in mind?"
Deku looked them both in the eyes before wetting his lips.
"Okay, here's what we'll do…"
If Midoriya's insistence on overusing his quirk and breaking his body repeatedly hadn't tipped her off before, Emiko realized that the green haired boy might possibly be insane.
She took the lead as Shoji ran behind her, his dupli-arms stretched out either side with mouths on the ends to cause noisy distractions to continue luring Dark Shadow with them.
They'd been keeping this cat-and-mouse routine up for a few minutes, hearing the tell-tale crashing of Dark Shadow's rampage behind them as a sign that Midoriya's plan was working so far.
Emiko's eyes were constantly scanning the treeline and the path up ahead and she saw a looming shape up ahead that forced her to squint her eyes and catch a good glimpse in order to make sure she was seeing what she thought she was.
"Shoji, Midoriya! Ice up ahead!" she exclaimed, excitedly.
The scene they came upon startled her somewhat.
A villain in a full-body straitjacket was suspended up in the air by a network of blades that came from-
Oh god, his teeth?!
"BAKUGO! TODOROKI! ONE OF YOU GIVE US SOME LIGHT!" Shoji exclaimed as Dark Shadow had begun to gain on them now that Shoji's antics to kite the beast along had ceased.
The villain turned and launched some blades from his mouth towards the new arrivals, only for the hulking shape of Dark Shadow to throw itself into the villain.
The cloud of dust that had been thrown up by the impact cleared and Dark Shadow had one giant claw pinning the villain to the forest floor.
Emiko took a moment to properly look at Shoto and Bakugo, who looked on in shock. Shoto had one of the class B students draped unconsciously on his back.
"KACCHAN!" Midoriya.
"Emiko, Shoji, and Midoriya," Shoto remarked in shock. "And is that… Tokoyami?!"
Dark Shadow roared again and continued its rampage in spite of subduing the villain.
"We need some light now! He's out of control!" Shoji exclaimed through a mouth on one of his arms.
Shoji dove out of the way as another of Dark Shadow's hands slammed down where he had just been moments ago.
"He's attacking blindly, I'll use my fire," Shoto offered, laying the unconscious student down gently.
"Not so fast," Bakugo interjected, holding an arm out to keep Shoto back.
"Flessshhhh, slabs of meat… No good, can't allow it! I'm the one that gets to slice them open!" came a chilling voice, and Emiko realized in horror that Dark Shadow's continued rampage left the villain free from its clutches and the villain began spitting out blades once again to prop themselves up. "DON'T STEAL FROM ME!"
A giant shadowy appendage encased the villain as Dark Shadow roared its retort: "YOU DON'T MATTER, INSIGNIFICANT BUG!" Before squeezing and shattering the blades, much to the villain's dismay.
"Now, finish him," Bakugo growled, looking on in respect towards the monstrous vision.
Dark Shadow's arm swung in a wide arc before launching the villain into a tree trunk with a resounding THUD, with the makeshift projectile sliding down to the base of the tree trunk in a daze.
As Dark Shadow roared victoriously before rounding once more on Emiko and the others, Shoto and Bakugo both leapt in and produced their respective light sources, instantly quelling Dark Shadow and finally freeing Tokoyami from the nightmarish apparition his quirk had manifested.
As Tokoyami dropped to his knees in fatigue and offered his thanks to Bakugo and Todoroki, Emiko slumped down as the adrenaline wore off and she once again felt the effects of her earlier fall.
A debate raged on shortly after, supposedly about protecting Bakugo before they set out again. Tokoyami was going to accompany Bakugo, and the explosive blonde walked up to Emiko and hauled her to her feet, slinging her arm around his shoulders and cautiously putting his arm around her waist to support her.
"What's the matter, Red? Villain beat the shit out of you?" Bakugo grunted.
Emiko reached her hand up and used her thumb and middle finger to squeeze in at her temples, which were once again throbbing with a pounding headache, pleading for the offending pain to dissipate.
"More like a tree root and then Dark Shadow swatting me like a fly," Emiko groused.
She heard a mournful sigh behind them even as Katsuki snorted.
"Sorry again, Komatsu," Tokoyami said, the regret heavy on his voice, as he was racked with remorse at the damage his quirk had inflicted on his own friends.
"All good, Fumi, just maybe a little heads-up next time so I can be outside your warpath," Emiko managed in spite of her predicament.
"One of these days, you'll have to learn to fend for yourself, Red," Bakugo lectured. "I ain't always going to be around to save your ass from embarrassing yourself."
"I know, I know," Emiko shot back, only to find her voice bouncing off a very close surface, and upon further inspection, realized she was encased in an orb with no room to maneuver.
Shit.
Emiko resorted to a half hearted punch to the walls of her new prison before she slumped down to the floor.
"Come to the forest for a training camp, they said, you'll be safe, they said," Emiko spat out, sarcasm dripping from every word.
She squinted at the cerulean walls of her prison, trying to see the world beyond them, but only saw vague shapes flying by. After what seemed like an eternity, a bright light enveloped the orb she was in and she once again was in the real world, but the scene around her was too much to take in.
Deku with both arms in makeshift splints rushing forward Shoji off to the side with Tokoyami and Shoto sprawled on the ground, and Bakugo to her right. A shiver ran up her spine as a large calloused hand forcefully gripped the back of her neck.
"Checkmate," the raspy voice behind her declared triumphantly.
