UPDATE TIME, UPDATE TIME, UPDATE TIIIIIME.
More to say down below, read on my peeps!
Katsuki fumed. The sensation of anger was no stranger to him, obviously, but his anger came in many flavors. The typical one, the one he used the most, was irritation. Katsuki got irritated at everyone around him. Every inferior life form that surrounded him, that tried to pull and grasp on his own greatness.
The second was frustration. Frustration at the fact that pretty much everyone around him was far, far less amazing that he was, and they tried to do everything they could to stop him from achieving his potential. Katsuki was aiming for nothing less than the absolute top spot of herodom. To be greater than All Might himself. To stand atop of the world and grin viciously down on all the would-be's who looked on in envy at the outright perfection of his art.
The third was a simple sense of annoyance that Izuku Midoriya existed at all.
Because no matter what Katsuki tried to do to remind Izuku that he was nothing but a worm, a parasite sucking the life out of everyone around him, the teenager found some way to get past all of that and still get away with murder.
Which, apparently, he had done once. Though Katsuki had never managed to find if that rumor was true or not.
He walked the streets alone these days. His old friends, if he could even call the coat-tail riding parasites that hung around him like flies 'friends', no longer called. They were off with new friends, new people. Thus, Katsuki jogged alone, went to the gym alone, bought drinks from the convenience store alone.
He looked to his phone, checking for any new messages while knowing that there wouldn't be. For a moment, just before he shoved the phone back into pocket, he saw a darkened reflection of himself.
Scar lines. Long, surgical and perfectly formed crossed his features. They were already starting to fade, with time they would become only slightly lighter than the rest of his skin.
But they would never truly go away.
Permanent reminders of the time he had looked into the eyes of the devil himself.
He squeezed his eyes shut and growled. No, Izuku Midoriya was not the fucking devil. He was just… some idiot moron who had a quirk which was… it was…
His hands were shaking.
Katsuki shoved his hands into the pocket of his jacket and his jaw clenched tight. He didn't want to look at himself any longer. He didn't want to see the scars that lined his face or the bags under his eyes because he couldn't sleep at night without seeing… it. That thing which had come out of Izuku's skin.
His hands were still shaking.
The teenager flexed his fingers within his pockets and breathed deeply. It still hurt to do so, but only a little. The scarring across his chest would also heal in time, though they too would forever remain thanks to the burning of Izuku's claws.
Izuku's claws.
A year ago he would have laughed at the very thought of Izuku even giving him a mean look. The boy who had spent his entire childhood screaming and crying and having panic attacks at nothing. The boy with the stupid quirk which set him on fire and caused him constant pain.
And an easy target for him to pick on.
And it wasn't as if anyone had stopped him. Everyone had thought Izuku was pathetic, even Izuku had thought Izuku was pathetic.
His scars itched suddenly and felt tight across his skin. Goddamnit. Goddamnit, Goddamnit. What the hell had happened to his life? He was on top of the world only a few months ago. And now… now Izuku Midoriya had almost murdered him with his fists and U.A. just stood by and did nothing.
They had even considered punishing him for going too far in the exercise. Going too far? Too fucking far? Had they seen what Izuku had done to him? Well, they had obviously because they had backed off after his mother had exploded at them for even suggesting he apologize to Izuku.
He smirked. His mother at least had the backbone to call them out on their bullshit. She had already threatened to sue them for damages and Katsuki was eagerly awaiting the results of her threats. No doubt they'd hand his family a tidy sum and tell them to shut up.
But he knew his mother. She was a bitch, but her bitchiness served her well. She'd make sure justice was delivered.
The street lights above marked his path as he headed home, his gym bag thrown over his shoulder as he walked. He wore a dark tank top and a pair of sweatpants along with some running shoes, nothing fancy. The night air was chilled and cool, unusual for the summer when even the lack of sun didn't take away from the oppressive humidity.
As he came up upon his home, however, he paused. He could hear voices coming from his front door. He moved swiftly and silently across the small patch of grass and between the tall trees that lined the road to press himself up against the high wall that circled his home.
"-we could come to this agreement, Mr. Bakugo, Mrs. Bakugo."
"Y-Yeah."
Katsuki paused from his shadowed position by the open gate. Was that his mother? His mother never sounded like that, like she was… defeated.
"I'll fill out the relevant paperwork, don't worry now, I won't charge you for that." The voice chuckled softly and something dark crawled down Katsuki's spine, he knew that voice.
"S-sure. Thank you, Mr. Hokori."
Katuski's eyes widened. Mr. Hokori. The fucking U.A. lawyer. He'd talked to him after the exercise and he'd felt as though he'd had a knife pressed to his throat the entire time. At some points he'd almost openly admitted to pushing Izuku too much and he'd only just caught himself. How the lawyer had done that he didn't know, but it caused a deep well of insecurity to gather within him.
A well which hadn't gone down since.
"Well, good night to the both of you. Oh, and best of luck to your son's recovery." There was the mumblings of 'thank yous' and the sound of a door clicking to a close. The sound of expensive shoes on asphalt began to approach him and Katsuki could almost feel the shadows starting to gather around him, like vipers slithering up his skin.
Then he was there. The lawyer walked through the gate took several steps before suddenly stopping.
He turned and looked directly at the boy.
Katsuki's heart skipped a beat, the breath was stolen from his lungs and something deep inside him was gripped tight in a burning fist.
The corner of Hokori's mouth twitched in a smile and his eyes glowed with the horrible void-blue that brought spikes of pain across every fresh scar on Katsuki's body.
"Katsuki Bakugo, just the young man I wished to see." Hokori turned fully to face him. Half his body was cast in a shadow that seemed almost a little too dark for the lights around them.
"What- why are you here?" Katsuki stammered out and immediately cursed himself for doing so. Why was he so scared? What the hell was this terror crawling along his skin?
"I just needed to chat with your parents," The lawyer's cunning, snake-like smile remained on his lips, "And resolve a couple of issues that had come between them and the school. Don't worry, it's all been sorted now."
"We're- we're suing you, you know." Katsuki forced a smile to his lips. "We're going to-"
"No, you're not." The statement cut Katsuki down in a second. "At least, not anymore. Like I said, it's all been solved now."
"W-what?" Katsuki's eyes narrowed at the man and from somewhere within him he found the strength to even take a step forward. "How much did you-"
"Nothing." The change in Hokori's tone was barely an inch, but it was there, and it caused every muscle in Katsuki's body to freeze. "You get nothing. You will go back to school tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after that and you will do whatever it is you wish to do with yourself, but you will get nothing."
And then Hokori took a step forward.
Katsuki was shaking. God, why was he shaking? What the fuck was happening to him? Why did every shadow seem to grow longer and every sound fade away and-
"Let me give you a piece of advice, Katsuki Bakugo." Hokori's voice was everything. It drew him in and caged him and plunged him back into Izuku's claws swung at him and pain tore across his skin as wounds that would never truly heal were opened up and the air was filled with the stench of burning blood and profane fire and the battle-cry of a thousand furious demons and-
"Go back to your home and take a long, hard look in the mirror. Memorize every scar on your face and body, because you are very, very lucky to be alive." He was in front of him. Katsuki had blinked and the man was in front of him. Hokori leaned down, tear filled amber eyes looking up at a freezing, burning, abyss-like gaze which tore through his mind and heart and began ripping apart his soul. "Go home and count your blessings, you ungrateful little brat."
And then he turned and walked away.
It took almost ten full seconds until Katsuki snapped out of whatever spell he'd been placed under. Katsuki fell against the wall and clutched at his chest. It felt like all the warmth within him was suddenly released and it flooded back through his blood, sending energy back into his limbs as though he'd spent a thousand years encased in ice.
He was crying, no, more than that he was sobbing.
Katsuki curled his knees up to his chest as his mind raced, trying to force together some kind of logical explanation as to what the fuck just happened to him.
It was a quirk. It had to be some kind of quirk. Some kind of horrible, nightmarish quirk which had-
"Fuck…" Katsuki whispered to himself in the cool night air, and in that moment, he felt very, very alone.
His side ached. It was a slow, occasionally stabbing pain that bit at him on random occasions, though he found that being stressed or worried tended to exacerbate it. Recovery Girl had told him time and time again to slow down, to relax, to stop rushing off the moment he thought someone was in trouble.
But he never listened. He was stubborn that way. He remembered his old mentor, the woman he had received One For All from, telling him it was something of a trait for the users of their quirk. Utter, heels in the floor, fists raised stubbornness that would not budge for anyone.
Even so, the previous users had never had to live day in day out in a constant state of low-end pain. There was fighting a battle in a street, looking at your opponent dead in the eye, and there was spending every waking moment wishing you could down a bottle of painkillers just to get a moment's peace.
Still, he knew he wasn't exactly alone in his suffering.
The boy sitting across from him, for example, had suffered plenty through his life. It was a different kind of suffering, but it was a suffering nonetheless. Izuku looked exhausted, though somehow differently exhausted than usual. His skin was that sickly pale, his eyes heavy with purplish rings, his hair limp as always. And yet there was a different kind of aura to him than the scared youth he'd originally met over a year ago.
He supposed that he'd been through a lot lately. A lot of questions being answered, yet perhaps even more popping up. Not to mention what happened with the Bakugo boy and the test and no doubt yesterday's events with the gate and the irritating paparazzi didn't help much.
That wasn't even including the fact he'd started school with normal ears, now they pointed out from the sides of his head like a pair of daggers.
It'd been a hard start to the school year for young Izuku Midoriya.
"So, Izuku, my boy." Toshinori smiled warmly and he soothed down the pants of his obnoxiously yellow striped suit. "We finally get a chance to talk, as I promised we would."
He had pulled him aside during lunch, within his All Might form of course, and asked if he would kindly spare an hour to eat with him privately. His friends had seemed in awe at the prospect, yet Izuku had seemed almost distant, as if his mind was a thousand miles away.
Even now the boy sat, staring into his plate of curry as if it wasn't even there.
He had made sure the teacher's lounge was empty before inviting him in and transforming out of his All Might form. The comfortable couches eased his aching back better than the wooden chairs of the dining hall, and besides, he could save energy eating here, away from prying eyes. The sun shone through open windows, though there was a wind out today and the trees swayed silently in the distance.
"Izuku?"
"Wha- oh! Oh, yeah." The boy snapped out of his wonderings, dull green eyes suddenly flashing back to life. "Sorry."
"I figured I would start by explaining why I look like this," He cocked his head a little, "But I'm getting the impression you'd rather talk about something else."
"No! No, really, it's nothing." Izuku stammered out, the thin boy raising his bowl up and beginning to eat, as if he was trying to prove he was actually hungry and not just pretending. "I've just… had a lot on my mind lately."
Toshinori nodded, "Ah, yes, I saw the video of the quirk exam."
The boy hesitated for a moment, his chopsticks dripping with curry sauce before he chomped down on them with a flash of fanged teeth and made a sound of agreement. Once he swallowed he looked to one side. "Yeah that's… one of them."
"Look, Izuku." Toshinori let out a soft sigh. "You can't let that worry you. Aizawa has assured me that as far as he was concerned, you did great, though he told me you reacted harshly to his quirk."
Izuku nodded as he again chewed his food and swallowed. "Yes, sir. I don't know what happened but I…" He trailed off for a moment. "It was horrible, All Might. I never… I don't know why but…" His hand clenched around the chopstick it held. "It just always feels like it's me, you know?"
The teacher didn't know, but he felt as though he could certainly understand if he listened. He frowned, leaning forward a little. "Go on?"
"It's just," The boy started again, though this time he left his chopsticks in his rice bowl. His eyes didn't meet Toshinori's, and instead they seemed to be focused down, towards the floor. "I thought coming to U.A. would be the answer to all of… this," And he made an off hand gesture towards himself, "But ever since I got here I've just had more and more questions and every time I get close I…" He chewed his lip for a moment. "It just feels like it's always me. It's always me who has to have all this crap happen to them. It's always me who gets the worst end of everything."
His shoulders slumped low and he finally looked up again. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't complain. I know others have it worse and-"
"Hey, it's alright." Toshinori interrupted, though he did so with a warm smile. "You've had a rough start, but that's okay. Sometimes we gotta start off rough for things to get better. You'll never get all the answers all at once, but you've certainly got more answers than before, right?"
The boy paused before nodding to himself. "Yeah, yeah I suppose."
"And you know what? What's wrong with complaining every now and then?" Toshinori spread his arms wide. "Sometimes you just gotta let all that frustration out, you know? I mean," He chuckled and put a hand to his side. "I've got this big wound here that's been bugging me for years and sometimes the only way I feel better about it is by having a good old-fashioned rant about it."
Izuku blinked in surprise at this and leaned forward. "You got wounded? How?"
"It was a fight, a big one, a long time ago." He could already see the boy starting to wonder how and why and when and he quickly held a hand up. "It was never on the news, so don't bother searching the net for it. This one was," his voice faltered and lowered, "Kept quiet."
He gulped slowly at the memory and his lips suddenly felt dry. "It was the most challenging battle I've ever fought. By the end of it, I won, but it felt like a piece of my soul had been torn out of me." He sighed slowly. "I've been on a downhill ever since. Right now, I can only do about four, maybe five hours a day if I push myself."
Izuku's eyes went wide at Toshinori watched as the boy mouthed out 'oh my god'. He sat up straighter and simply asked. "So- wait- what villain was this? I mean, you're the number one hero. In the world." He looked away for another moment, his mind clearly racing, before looking back. "No villain can match you."
"Not every villain is reported in the news, young Midoriya. Some villains are so dangerous the government does everything it can to make sure you never hear of them."
"Wow…" Izuku trailed off, his mind running with a thousand thoughts until he suddenly looked back once again. "Um, All Might?"
"Yeah?"
"When you said," Izuku hesitated over his words, "When you said you felt a piece of your soul was taken. Did you mean that, you know," he hesitated again, as if unsure on even asking, "literally?"
Toshinori was shocked at the question, though he did his best to hide it. He had never taken Izuku for someone who would believe in things like souls, but he supposed that he shouldn't be so quick to read into people. "Well, I," He found himself unable to answer immediately and it took him a moment longer to gather his words. "Perhaps. I'm not so sure, to be honest. All I know is that since that fight I've never been the same since."
Izuku didn't reply other than a nod.
"And it goes to mention, of course, please don't go spreading this around." Toshinori added with a small, wry smile. "It's kind of a secret. Most of the top pro-heroes know, but if society at large got wind-"
"Oh! No, I'd never mention anything about it to anyone, ever!" Izuku swiftly replied before shying back. "I mean, I kind of assumed that the first time around."
"Ha! I knew you were a smart kid." Toshinori laughed and blood dripped from his lips. Again, he quickly wiped it away. "Now, lets talk about something a little more interesting." He flashed a warm smile. "Are you looking forward to your U.S.J. trip?"
Izuku blinked. "What U.S.J. trip?"
"Ah." Toshinori bit his lip. Aizawa was going to murder him.
The hot sun climbed above them, with only the occasional cloud drifting past for it to hide behind. The students under its intense gaze sweated in the heat, though the breeze whistling across the sports track helped keep them cool and on their feet. Within the oval confines of the track where placed a number of blue circular wrestling mats, large enough for two people to easily step inside.
The students stood together in their gym clothes, though if one was to take a second glance, they would clearly see that they were in groups formed of their own design, not just simply lined up ready for whatever lesson was about to be taught.
On one end stood Izuku, Uraraka, Tenya and Hitoshi, the four of them already finding their own little niche within the classroom dynamic.
Others had their own friend groups, Hanta, Denki, Eijiro and Mina being a notable one, while others simply stood alone, Todoroki Shouto for example, though Momo stood close enough to suggest a friendship between them. Fumikage and Katsuki both however seemed clearly alone, with no other choosing to stand by them.
Izuku's eyes glanced up at something in the sky that, at one point, only he had believed he could see, then they moved down to focus on something in the bleachers, then across to the gate.
They kept their distance from one another, of course, the horrific half-formed monstrosities. One was bird-like, in the very loosest sense of the word, and endlessly seemed to circle the entire field above them like a vulture. A vulture with no eyes made entirely of stretched, dried skin over thorny bone and wings of burning black smoke. Another was a decaying, bloated looking thing which lurked beneath the stands at the far end of the pitch making it mostly hidden, reveling no doubt in the filth it found there.
The third was a little different from the others. It was small, no bigger than a cat, and sat on the long metal fence which lined the field. It looked to be covered in lizard-like scales, but it was a burned, charred black, with one giant eye planted where its chest should have been and no head on its shoulders, only a weeping, infected looking wound where it had once been. It stared directly at the young man, unblinking and focused.
He'd had them notice him before, obviously, but while the other two seemed to simply be doing their own, weird, unexplainable thing, it was rare for one to just stare at him. He shuddered a little, then glanced down the line, his eyes lingering on Fumikage for a moment. Fumikage stared straight forward. If he could see them, he wasn't making it obvious.
Izuku suddenly felt an elbow jab him sharply in the ribs and heat flashed across his scars. He turned and frowned up at the royal purple eyes which grinned down at him. "Ow! What the hell-"
"Dude, you need to quit staring at Fumikage." Hitoshi half mumbled at him, turning his eyes to scan the field, "I mean, if you're crushing on him cool, but don't make it so obvious."
Izuku's face went bright red and his scars lit up with candle-flame. "I am not crushing on him!"
"You sure?" Hitoshi continued to tease, even glancing over to the bird-like teenager. "He's not bad looking. Kinda gothy but, yeah, I see it."
"Dude, shut up!" Izuku almost huffed. "I'm not crushing on Fumikage."
"Who's crushing on Fumikage?" Uraraka hissed over to them as she eyed Aizawa-sensei striding towards them from across the field.
"No one!"
"Izuku is."
"Oh, really? That's cute!"
"No, it's not- I mean, I'm not crushing on him!"
"Then why do you keep staring at him?"
Hitoshi's question hit him swiftly and Izuku opened his mouth to answer.
"Because we're going to destroy him."
Izuku shut his mouth and then looked away. "Just… I need to talk to him about… something."
Hitoshi's brow furrowed and he nodded thoughtfully, "Is it about how you're crushing on him?"
Izuku went to snipe back at his friend before Aizawa's voice cut over the class, silencing all chatter instantly. "Alright shut up, all of you." He paused for a moment and added. "That was half a second faster than last week. Good." He reached into his pocket and drew out a small holo-projector which shot up a sudden video showing two figures, one throwing the other over their shoulder. "Last week we learned how to disable and floor an attacker. This week we're going to move on to countering this move. I will be cycling you through opponents, so everyone will get a chance to face everyone else."
"Sir." Tenya's hand shot up, "Are we allowed to use our quirks?"
"For the sake of this exercise, yes." His eyes locked onto Izuku and the teenager felt as though he was sinking into the floor. "However, I do not want any of you going all out. I am not All Might, I don't expect you to break yourselves in expectations of getting better."
There was a slight murmur throughout the class before Aizawa further added. "Learning to use your quirks with restraint is an important part of being a hero, especially at close range when they typically do the most damage."
"He's so boring," Nemesis hissed through Izuku's mind as the teenager chewed a lip in thought. "Restraint. Caution. All that matters is victory, who cares if it is soaked in blood?"
"I care." Izuku mumbled back without thinking.
Instantly it drew Hitoshi's gaze and Izuku felt a shock of panic rush through him.
"About- erm- learning how to do this." Izuku continued to mumble, hoping it would pass.
"Something to add, Midoriya?" Aizawa suddenly snapped over at the boy and Izuku froze, feeling the eyes of the entire class now upon him.
"N-No, sir, just erm-" He paused for a moment as a genuine question came to mind. "I wasn't really here for the last lesson, so- erm-"
"Shinsou." Aizawa cut through before Izuku could ramble on. "Show Midoriya the move before you join the exercise. You have ten minutes."
"Yes, Sensei." Hitoshi replied back sharply.
The exercise began in full and Shinsou and Izuku took to a mat. The taller boy cracked his neck for a moment, though he didn't need to. The class had already warmed up before Aizawa had even arrived, it was practically the first thing they did the moment they had gotten onto the field.
"So, alright, remind me how much you know about throwing people again?"
Izuku opened his mouth, then suddenly shut it and slowly grinned over at the taller boy, wagging his finger and shaking his head.
Shinsou shrugged. "Eh, worth a try."
It took less than ten minutes for Izuku get the general hang of the throw, after all, he had been taught the basics of the theory at least by the group chat over the weekend. Still, he had to reign in Nemesis more than once as Hitoshi threw him onto his back three times in a row. His curse did not enjoy being beaten, even by someone it claimed to have a modicum of respect for.
But once it was his turn to throw Hitoshi over his shoulder Izuku found himself grinning wickedly. It was a mixture of the joy that he was actually learning something useful, something heroic for a change and… something else. Something that Nemesis flared at and reveled in.
Power perhaps, though he quietly suspected it was something darker than that. Izuku pushed it down and did his best to ignore it, even when Shinsou gave him a strange, slightly worried look when Izuku's grin grew wider after throwing him down a second time.
Nemesis begged at his heart to use more of his curse, to just allow even a trickle of black, oil-thick power to flow into his limbs. Just so he could move a little faster, throw a little harder.
The temptation made Izuku breath softly, though it helped that the exercise was strenuous in of itself. It masked the fact that inwardly he was gritting his teeth and refusing to budge even an inch. This was his first proper lesson after being out for almost a full week. He was determined to get through it without setting anything, or anyone, on fire.
After ten minutes of getting the hang of the throw and its immediate counter, which he had only enough time to practice once with Shinsou, he was ordered by Aizawa to change partners.
His luck held up and it was Tenya, who while absolutely beating him in every throw they tried, had at least the kindness to allow him to practice another few minutes with the counter throw to make sure he got it down properly.
Izuku could feel his heart picking up, and even though Nemesis was growling through his system like a rabid dog, muzzled and leashed, he felt as though for the first time since showing up at the academy, he was actually doing it. He was learning. He was feeling the pull of his inner monster, yes, but the exercise wasn't straining every limit he had, it wasn't forcing him to dig deep and release the flood of pure hellfire which existed inside him.
He was learning how to be a hero, step-by-step, throw-by-throw, he was learning.
Another change of partners, this time to the pink haired girl Mina, who was more than eager to match herself again 'the scariest kid in the class' as she had joyfully put it, much to Izuku's red-faced shame at the statement. She provided a much more competitive sport than his friends, especially as Izuku had been given little time to study her quirk and think of a decent countermeasure.
Still, after the first time she swiveled using her acidic quirk he'd gotten the idea and quickly backstepped to catch her off-guard and counter-throw her. By the end of the throws he was again grinning and for a second Mina seemed off-put by his sudden eagerness but continued on regardless.
On it went. Next was Aoyama, who was laughably easy to beat to the point where Nemesis even seemed irritated at what little challenge he provided. Tsuyu was slippery, almost literally, and beat him easily, even though Izuku knew inside if he had allowed a little fire he could have won. Momo lost, Ojiro won, Uraraka won on technicalities after floating him off the mat three times in a row, Jiro was a tough fight, as she didn't mind playing dirty, but was an eventual victory for Izuku.
Then they changed.
"Izuku go to Fumikage." Aizawa's comment was one of several, but it caused the boy's heart to skip a beat.
Fumikage kept where he was, arms folded tightly over his chest and his crimson gaze locked harshly onto Izuku as his own green emerald eyes looked to the bird-headed teenager.
As he stepped onto the mat, a cloud passed over the sun and for a moment a sudden cold shiver ran across him.
He gulped and raised a hand. "H-Hi."
Fumikage didn't reply.
"So… have your fights gone well?"
Nothing.
"I-erm-"
"I would rather we get this over with without conversation, so-called Izuku Midoriya." Fumikage's words slapped Izuku across the face with the pure, sheer disgust held within them. Izuku felt his heart ache suddenly as he realized, sharply, that for the first time since his childhood he'd met someone who truly despised him.
And yet he felt angry.
What the hell had he ever done to Fumikage to draw out such a reaction? Fire-heat suddenly thundered across his scars and his fists clenched at his sides. His chin dipped at he began glaring at Fumikage before he breathed through his nose to calm the growing fire within his chest.
"See? He is our enemy. We must destroy him."
Izuku's jaw clenched. He was not going to destroy Fumikage, but dammit, he was going to get at least one answer out of him.
"Go." Aizawa's bored tone echoed across the field and Izuku took the charge.
He dashed forwards suddenly but almost the second he did so every sense he had in his brain lit on fire in a screaming, klaxon-loud warning and he fell to the mat just in time as something huge and dark rushed over his head like the swiping of a great paw.
Nemesis roared in his limbs, rocking the oil of the great dam of power within him and causing drops to spill over the sides, lighting Izuku's scars on temporary fire.
He looked up and his eyes widened as he saw Dark Shadow, arching gracefully out of Fumikage's chest and reforming from a vast bird-like claw into the laughing Jackdaw form he'd seen the day before.
It grinned down at the boy and opened its mouth, as if to speak, but Fumikage looked up to the shadow-monster suddenly. "Dark Shadow! Silence."
Tarnished-yellow eyes turned and narrowed at its master, "But-"
"Dark Shadow," Fumikage's eyes narrowed back, "I said silence."
The monster growled in irritation but shut its mouth.
"Dark Shadow." Nemesis spoke as though it was regarding some old enemy, long reviled, "Parasite crow, shadow of a soulless creature, we must burn it to true death along with its pathetic host."
Izuku bit back a reply and climbed again to his feet. Rather than attack again he backed up, deciding instead to take another stab at some small measure of conversation. "Look, Fumikage, we need to talk. You know about-" He looked around, still speaking as he did, wondering for just a moment if someone was listening in.
That had been his mistake.
He barely reacted to the sound of Fumikage moving and as he turned his head back his vision was filled with a flurry of black feathers. He was grabbed sharply both by a surprisingly strong pair of hands and by something huge and cold which wrapped around his body.
Less than a heartbeat later and he was thrown to the mat with far more force than with any of his other opponents. The air rushed out of him and fire sparked into life along his scars. Not even Tenya had been that rough.
The dam cracked and Izuku's head spun for a moment as he tried to regain his tight control.
"LET US TEAR HIM APART!" Nemesis roared in a demonic battle-cry through his mind. His heart burned as the claws of blasphemous flame raked at it and he gasped as he sat up, his fingers digging tightly into the rough fabric of the mat.
Fumikage, however, backed away. He offered no words of comfort, support or even a commentary on his victory. He simply stood, once again, at his starting place on the mat and waited for the fight to restart.
Izuku looked to him, panting in both shock and in an attempt to pull back the leash of his vicious inner monster. He was starting to really, really dislike Fumikage.
But he had answers. Answers he desperately needed.
He gulped down his slightly coppery spit and got back to his feet, his body aching just a little. "Okay, good throw, well done."
Nothing.
"Fine, you know if you don't like me, fine." Izuku gathered himself back up and fell into a fighter's stance, his hands held up and open, his legs wide apart. "But you can't just ignore me, okay? We obviously have something in common."
This got a reaction from the bird-like teenager. He raised an eyebrow slowly at him. Izuku took this as a good sign.
"We need to talk. You know we need to talk. You-" Izuku wanted to glance around again, as a natural reaction, but he kept his eyes forward even as his voice dropped low. "You see them too, right?"
For a moment there was nothing from Fumikage. And then, suddenly his eyes flicked to one side, taking note of the horrible, blasphemous creature with the giant eye on the fence.
Izuku took his chance. He darted forward, and his limbs lit with a sudden flame he knew he shouldn't be using but some horrible, ugly part of him demanded that he did as revenge for Fumikage's cheap trick.
The bird-like boy reacted too slow to stop him, even as he attempted the counter they were supposed to be learning. His hands came up to break Izuku's sudden hold onto his arm, but Izuku had learned well enough by now and loosened his grip suddenly, causing Fumikage to stumble.
Dark Shadow screeched loudly and rushed forward, grabbing Izuku tightly around his middle in a corpse-cold grip that instantly began squeezing the life out of him.
But it was too late for the creature's master. Izuku flipped him quickly, throwing him over his shoulder with a rush of blasphemous power that stormed through his arms and for a moment he swore he could see blotches of shadow-black dot across his skin before it vanished.
Fumikage looked up at him, utterly shocked as Izuku made a choking-gurgling sound as Dark Shadow tightened its harsh grip on him. He could even feel the dagger-points of its claws digging through his uniform and almost breaking his skin.
"Dark Shadow." Fumikage breathed out suddenly. "Release him."
The monster and gnashed lipless teeth at Izuku before letting him go with a shove.
The teenager stumbled back and breathed deep again. And again, it wasn't simply because his lungs had been squeezed. Nemesis rattled within his heart and mind, thrashing against the confines of his flesh and demanding further action.
"He's at our whim!" The voice of a thousand bloody blades screamed through his mind. "Now is our chance to kill him!"
Izuku grit his teeth openly and stepped back again, wrapping his arms around his body and almost falling to one knee. He took several more deep breaths before the boiling heat along his scars faded, almost reluctantly, away.
He gulped, tried his best to clear his head and out of the corner of his eye he noticed Fumikage climbing to his feet.
"So." He finally breathed out. "One and one, okay, doing great." He spoke again once more air entered his lungs, gesturing at the very pissed looking shadow-monster that hung over Fumikage, "Thank you for-"
"It wasn't for you." Fumikage cut him off, a hint of heavy breathing to his own voice. "It was for me."
"O-oh." Izuku blinked and straightened up a little.
"If I'd let him run wild with my emotions, you'd already be dead."
"… ditto?"
Fumikage's eyes narrowed dangerously at Izuku.
"We could have burned him alive," Nemesis hissed like the falling of a guillotine blade, "He never stood a chance. He, nor that parasite monster."
"Okay," Izuku announced, ignoring his curse and finally getting his breath back. He moved back into his stance, if only for appearances. "Can we meet up after class? Please? To, you know, talk about…" He hesitated for a moment and pointed up at the sky, obviously meaning the monstrous vulture circling the field. "Those things?"
His heart spiked in his chest as Fumikage seemed to consider the idea for a moment. The flickering of his eyes told him it was true, Fumikage saw them. Which meant he wasn't crazy, or at least he wasn't that crazy. But what it now meant he had no idea. Could he see into some other world which a spare few could do? Or was this something darker, something more horrible than he'd ever thought before?
And how many others out there shared this curse?
Izuku watched as, curiously, Dark Shadow looked up to note the circling monster before it lowered back down and hissed something softly into his master's ear. In that moment, Izuku got a very strange sense of deja-vu.
Finally, Fumikage spoke, lowing himself into a similar fighter's stance as he did so as his shadow-monster arched up and over his head. His words were quiet but stern and clear. "I have nothing to discuss with your kind."
Your kind? Izuku blinked in shock at the words and every permeation of the meaning behind them.
His shock cost him the initiative. Fumikage rushed forward, Dark Shadow swooping at him before he could properly react.
He tried to counter, power spiking through his limbs but Fumikage had already noticed and adapted and moved instead to break the counter with a sudden hand shoving at his chest. Dark Shadow did the rest, moving and throwing Izuku down onto the mat far harder than they should have done.
Izuku caught his breath and choked on it and his scars lit up with sudden, defensive fire. The smell of burnt fabric filled the and air and only a moment later did Izuku realize that in his sudden panic he'd gripped the mat tight and his hands had lit with a momentary blue flame, burning through part of the fabric and sending its stink into the air.
He panicked again though this time at the sudden, hungry, furious rush of fiery hate that shot through him and he curled up into a ball tightly, breathing like he'd ran a marathon and forcing his horrific power back into him.
For a moment he could feel the shadow crawling up his arms from his far-too-sharp fingers before he successfully pushed it down. The world seemed sickeningly bright and nauseating for a second, then the feeling of his aching body, burning scars and the stench of the now blackened fabric brought him back to reality.
"WE SHOULD RIP HIS HEART OUT OF HIS CHEST." Nemesis roared through his mind, rattling his brain within his own skull and causing the boy to quite obviously wince. "We should drink his blood and feel his intestines on our claws! We should destroy him! We want it, we desire it, we hunger for his death by our fire!"
"Shuddup." Izuku growled out through sharp, gritted teeth. He rolled himself onto his knees, his head buried under his arms as he hissed, breathing hot, heavy breaths into his confined space. "Shut your stupid- just shuddup."
He suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder and he jumped in shock. Sitting up onto his knees and looking up he was greeted with the cold, yet somehow cautious eyes of Aizawa. "Midoriya?"
"I-I'm okay." He gulped down another coppery mouth of spit and licked dry lips. "I-I'm fine. I just-"
"We're taking a break." Aizawa suddenly announced in a loud, commanding tone. He stood up from where he'd been kneeling down to check on Izuku and looked around the class. "Take five, get rehydrated and work out any cramps. If anyone feels they've been injured report to me immediately for first aid or otherwise."
He glanced back down to Izuku and for a moment seemed to study him, carefully, as if looking for a single dent in his armor, before turning his head to Fumikage.
Dark Shadow snickered wickedly before suddenly vanishing back into their host. Fumikage bowed his head, respectfully, and calmly said, "I apologize for Dark Shadow, he acts rough when he gets excited."
Aizawa again seemed to pause and study the teenager as he had studied Izuku, before finally saying, "Don't let it get out of control."
"Of course, sensei. And again, I apologize."
Aizawa didn't speak again, and instead turned and walked away.
Fumikage went to follow him, as the rest of the class began heading back to the side of the field where their drinks and backpacks had been placed.
Izuku however, held out a hand. "Fumikage, wait I-"
"Like I said," Fumikage spoke without even looking to Izuku and continued to walk away, "I have nothing to discuss with your kind."
Your kind, huh? Wow I wonder if that Fumikage means main characters. He's so mean.
Anyway, so while last chapter I warned it might take a while for this update to roll around, I was kinda of right and kind of wrong. This update FLOWED out of me, mostly because it was filling plot holes (Katsuki's parents, the promised All Might meet up, talking to Fumikage before the USJ trip) but it also meant a lot of the previously written future chapters needed some HEAVY editing.
Which is... going along. Mostly. Hopefully I'll have it in good states by the time next next Friday is here.
Anyways, ENJOY YOUR WEEKENDS MY DUDES! And thank you for reading!
