It was now that Yami fully understood why D.O.C. was afraid of his quirk.
Yami's opinion on his quirk hasn't changed much throughout his life, despite the massive changes in his life over time.
At first, it was just a thing he had. A tool he was born with to help him survive. Like his arms and legs.
Back when he lived in the wild, he didn't really have much time to think about it. Occasionally when he had eaten well, and was near a river and gazed upon his own reflection, he would wonder why he was the only one in the forest that looked the way he did. That could do the things that he could, and he'd wonder if he would ever meet something else like him.
And then he did.
When he saw Izuku and all the other children, he saw not only beings like himself, but beings who felt things other than negativity. He saw love and happiness.
This of course led him to his new life.
As another kid in the orphanage, Yami still viewed his quirk as but another tool, one that he would now barely use.
He no longer needed to fight for survival, so why would he need to create more Grimm? At first, when he got here he just wanted to lay back, and relax, meaning he only really needed his Grimm to carry him around.
It did kind of freak him out a bit when he realized just how much of a power gap there was between him and the other kids. Back in the wild, he was the apex predator, the one on top. But here, not so much. Many of the kids could easily tear through his Grimm, and kill him if they wanted to.
However as time went on he got more and more comfortable, as the knowledge that they wouldn't do that sunk in.
But then Izuku asked him to create some more Grimm. To help him around the house, and to act as security.
And who was he to refuse the man who had given him everything? So he did.
By watching Izuku work with these Grimm, he began to realize that he could use his quirk to help Izuku out more. By learning about the world around him, he could create new Grimm that could help Izuku out in new and different ways.
So he started doing just that.
This caught the attention of the other children, mainly Kiba, who further led him into the rabbit hole of Grimm making.
Still, it was limited. And despite his Grimm being useful, most of them weren't overly powerful. Sansan, Kiba, Shiruku and many of the other children could still rip through them in seconds, and it made Yami wonder why he was classified as an O.P.C., and why the world apparently feared him.
Not that it bothered him. Most of the kids weren't super resentful of their status as O.P.C... Except for Fu, whose negative emotions flared up a very tiny bit whenever it was brought up, and Kioku, who was oh so full of hate.
It was just confusing to him. That he was given the same classification as his powerful siblings.
And then the U.A. a trip happened. Or rather, that's when his trip around the city happened.
Yami had only been outside the house, once, to go to the amusement park. And it was surprising to see just how many people there were, but overall it was a place of fun and joy, so he didn't get a good understanding of how much more powerful he could become when he was around large numbers of people.
But his drive around the city opened his eyes.
In just a few hours, he had gained more negative energy than he had ever had in his life. Much, much, much more.
To put it into perspective, if all the negative energy he had ever gathered was a pond, then the amount he got from that trip was the sea.
That was when Yami understood, he was so much more powerful than he thought.
He could create entire armies! Make mighty beasts that could destroy forests and towns, and even give his siblings a hard time.
Except for Sansan. She was still far too powerful.
After that, he kinda understood why D.O.C. feared him.
But once Izuku collapsed. He got a real good understanding, as to why the world did, and should fear him.
When Yami was born, he didn't have any concepts of emotions or feelings. So he had to learn about them from his quirk. He realized that the dark energy he absorbed off of animals, was negative feelings because they'd come off of the animals more when he hunted them and when they were dying.
So it's not like it was new information that his quirk was powered by people's bad feelings.
But he never truly understood what that meant until now.
Once Izuku fell, the negativity in the house exploded.
Going back to the bodies of water comparison, if the normal amount of negativity he absorbed was a pond, then now it was like a lake. Still nowhere near as much as he got from his trip to the city, but still significantly more than usual.
Now, he had a good understanding of what it was that powered his quirk. Calling it negative energy, and bad feelings seemed to downplay it.
In truth, his quirk was powered by suffering. All the suffering his siblings were going through right now, was feeding him. Making him more powerful.
It was messed up. It felt wrong. It made him understand people's fears about him. Because not only was he strong enough to cause mass suffering, he would benefit from it.
Knock Knock!
As Yami was musing on his bed, there was a sudden knocking on his door.
Just by glancing at the door, he knew who it was. After all, there was only one person who wasn't bursting with negativity right now.
"Come in Fu," Yami said, just loud enough for it to be heard on the other side of the door.
Fu entered the room, his expression was his normal blank one, but he could see that there were more negative emotions in him than normal.
But notably less than yesterday. Maybe that meant good news?
Turns out. Yes.
"Dad's going to be ok." Fu blurted out, wanting to get that across as quickly as possible. "The hospital called the Pussy Cat's and they said he'll live. He overworked himself and that caused his body to weaken. And it also weakened his immune system, which is how he got so sick. He'll be asleep for a few days, and he'll be very weak and sick for a while, but he should make a full recovery."
There was about a minute of silence after that. Until Yami responded.
"He overworked himself," Yami repeated dejectedly. "So I failed."
"No," Fu said firmly. "If it weren't for your Grimm then it would have been a lot harder for him, and he may have worked himself to death. Your Grimm helped dad a lot, he just took on too much work. Work that could only be done by people. You did the best you could."
"But it wasn't enough." Yami countered with a light growl of frustration. "He suffered. And I could do nothing."
Fu was silent for a moment. But then eventually spoke. "There really was nothing we could have done. Dad wouldn't listen, no matter what we did. He loved us too much to trust anyone else to take care of us...Maybe this needed to happen?"
Yami gave him a weird look.
Fu shrugged. "If dad wouldn't listen to us and hire some help, maybe he will now after all this. Dad is stubborn, not dumb."
"Hmmm." Yami thought about that. As Fu said, it was clear Izuku needed to hire human help. And it made sense that after almost dying and worrying all his kids half to death, that he wouldn't want to repeat this.
So maybe something good could come out of this.
"Anyway, the Pussy Cats keep talking about how useful your Grimm are, and I've seen them do things that would have been either impossible or really hard for Izuku. Like lifting heavy things, feeding Kai, and other things. Don't blame yourself for this." Fu told him, before turning around to leave.
As Fu was leaving, Yami asked him a question.
"Is my quirk...evil?" The Grimm child asked.
Fu froze for a second, before looking back at Yami. "You've heard what we told Eri, right?"
"Eri's quirk doesn't need people to be in pain," Yami argued.
"Ahh. I see." Fu understood where this came from now. "You don't like the fact that you're getting stronger from everyone's suffering."
Yami nodded.
Fu paused for a moment, to consider his response. "A quirk is only evil if you use it to be evil. Your quirk doesn't make people suffer. It takes their suffering and uses it to make Grimm. If you use your Grimm to help people, then you're just taking something bad, and making something good out of it."
Yami's eyes widened. "Something...good."
"Right," Fu confirmed. "You've been a big help to everyone in the house. So-"
Fu did a thankful bow to him. "-Thank you for everything, little brother. And please continue to help us in the future."
There was another moment of silence before Yami started nodding frantically. "Yes!"
"Hmm." Fu's lip twitched upward in what was almost a smile. "I'm glad."
And with that, Fu turned to leave.
But Kyosei had other plans.
One of Kyosei's tendrils popped out of Fu, and grabbed Yami, bringing him towards Fu.
"What!?" Yami was shocked and tried to struggle out of the tendril's grasp.
"Huh….oh." Fu got the message Kyosei was sending. "Kyosei wants us to hug."
Yami didn't look pleased that Kyosei's method of asking for a hug was to grab him with a big slimy tentacle, but he didn't seem like he was going to refuse either.
Kyosei plopped Yami down right in front of Fu, and the two awkwardly embraced.
Meanwhile, elsewhere.
Fuku didn't sign up for this.
She only wanted to go outside to cook some food for everyone and support her friends. That was all.
But then they started asking her things!
To be specific, after the Pussy Cat's got the call from the hospital, they asked the children that weren't freaking out, to tell everyone else about it. Leaving it up to them as they were less familiar with everyone.
And Fuku was somehow considered one of the children not freaking out! So now she had to tell Kiba about the news! Something she really, really didn't want to do!
It's not that she didn't like Kiba. No, no it was actually the opposite.
Despite never meeting her in person, Fuku had gotten to know Kiba through her streams, and over time, came to admire her for her sheer confidence.
Kiba was a person living her best life, without fear of anything. Whereas Fuku was a person who was barely living. Trapped in her room by illogical fears and paranoia.
She was Fuku's complete opposite, and given what Fuku thought of herself, how could she not admire her.
With all that in mind, approaching her was terrifying. Not just because of her sheer speed and strength, but because of who she was.
She was Kiba, queen of eternal darkness! Who commanded almost a million followers! The future number one hero who could destroy buildings with her bare hands!
And she was Fuku. A coward who stayed in her room and did almost nothing and didn't know what she would do in the future at all.
She might as well be an ant in comparison to her.
On top of that, Kiba was in a terrible mood right now! Who knew what she would do to an ant that forgot her place and tried to speak to her! She could get beheaded!
But still, what was she supposed to do!? Refuse!? She knows what happens when you anger the adults! And these people weren't Izuku, she doubted they would be as nice!
So here she was. Standing in front of Kiba's door, her legs shaking.
She didn't have Eri for Fuku with her. She had already told them about the good news and naturally, the two of them cried tears of joy. They were probably still crying now. How could she interrupt their moment by selfishly asking them to help her? That would be cruel of her, and it may make them not want to be her friends anymore.
And of course, Mu was nowhere to be found. Who knows maybe he was next to her the whole time?
She wasn't sure if that was comforting or creepy.
Regardless, she had a task to do, and she needed to find the strength to do it.
Ok, Fuku! Think! Maybe I could just say it from outside the door! Yeah! I don't even have to enter the room! Just yell it out from behind her door! Fuku took a deep breath, clenched her fist, and got ready to yell.
"U-Um, La-la-lady Kiba! I-I have good news!" Fuku shouted at the door. "I-Izuku is going to be ok! The hospital called and said he was going to be ok! S-So…"
Fuku waited for Kiba to respond.
But she never did.
After about two minutes of silence, Fuku got the impression that maybe Kiba hadn't heard her.
"U-Um...Lady Kiba!? D-Did you hear me!?" Fuku asked.
Still no response.
That wasn't a good sign.
Oh no! Oh no! Oh no! Can she not hear me!? Is she not there? Fu said that Kiba has been in her room the entire time! Maybe she's asleep!? Fuku wondered. S-Should I leave? But this is important! If I don't tell her Izuku is ok and leave her worrying for who knows how long then she'll definitely be mad at me! Ahhh! What do I do!?
After a bit of panicking, Fuku decided the best course of action was to go inside and tell her face to face...or rather face to hoodie.
So using her shaking hand, she opened Kiba's door and prepared to face Kiba, the queen of eternal darkness.
So she entered.
And it was not what she expected at all.
It was dark inside, the only light coming from the T.V. screen. From what she could see the room was covered in scratches and holes, and many of the decorations were damaged in some way.
And in the center of the room, was Kiba herself, sitting on the floor, just staring at the T.V. with her legs crossed.
Her hair was a mess. Never before had Fuku seen her silver locks look so unkempt. It was like she spent the last few days in bed. And the fact that she was in her wrinkly pajamas as if they were the only things she'd worn for a while, supported this.
It was an eerie sight, and also...a sad one.
Fuku carefully came into the room, almost tiptoeing.
"L-L-Lady Kiba?" Fuku called out to her from the other side of the room.
Kiba didn't respond.
Fuku stepped forward, bringing herself closer and closer.
Until she was right next to Fuku. And was able to see her face.
Fuku's eyes were glazed over, and bloodshot, and bags marred her usually perfect face.
It looked like she had spent her nights crying rather than sleeping.
"L-Lady Kiba?" Fuku called out, now right next to her.
"Huh?" Kiba suddenly became alert, ripping her focus away from the T.V. and onto Fuku. "F-Fukunoko? W-W-What are you doing here?"
"W-W-Well I n-needed to t-tell you something!" Fuku explained, stuttering with fear and trepidation.
"...I never thought I would be you, coming to see me," Kiba admitted, her tone was about as sad as she looked. She didn't sound loud and cocky as she normally did. Right now she sounded quiet and fearful. "It must be important if you came out of your room."
"W-Well I've been doing that a lot after Izuku...you know." Fuku didn't want to say what happened out loud, lest she anger the tiny queen.
Nevertheless, Kiba's eyes darkened. "Yeah...I know."
Suddenly, Kiba's eyes widened, and a bit of life came back into them. "Wait...is this about daddy!? Is he ok!? Please tell me he's ok!?"
Kiba was begging. Fuku would now. She had spent so much of her life begging. Begging for love from her parents. Begging for the pain to stop. Begging to be good. Begging for someone, anyone to save her.
In front of her wasn't the strong and powerful Lady Kiba. The Kiba in front of her right now was just like Eri and Kei. A little girl begging for her father to be safe.
It was heartbreaking to see.
"He's ok! He's going to be ok!" Fuku said strongly. "The hospital called and they said that he's gonna be sick for a while, but he'll make a full recovery! S-so don't worry!"
Kiba stared at her wide-eyed for a moment, before her eyes shut as tears started to pour out.
And then she snagged Fuku into a tight embrace.
A bit too tight.
"L-L-Lady Kiba! Please, you're crushing me!" It took all of Fuku's restraint to keep her quirk from activating out of fear.
"Sorry!" Kiba remembered her strength and held back a bit. "I'm just...thank you!"
Kiba continued to sob while keeping Fuku in her embrace...her tight...inescapable...embrace.
"T-There there Lady Kiba." Fuku fearfully reassured her, awkwardly patting her back to try and soothe her, so she could release Fuku from her iron grip. "It's all gonna be ok."
"I was so worried!" Kiba started sobbing into Fuku's shoulder. "Wahhhhhhhh!"
Unfortunately for Fuku, Kiba didn't plan on letting her go anytime soon.
Alright, so you might be wondering why I didn't show more of the kids' reactions to Izuku being alright.
That's because they'd mostly be pretty similar, and kind of repetitive. So I just focused on four. Don't worry, you will still see how a lot of the kids are taking this, but those reactions will more be part of later parts.
Except to see more of Fuku and Kiba interacting. And more of Fuku in general. Also, Kiba is going to be...not ok for a while. And it's going to get even worse for her soon.
Next chapter we see Izuku again! So look forward to that.
Anyway, please review, and have a nice day.