UPDATE TIIIME. Who's ready for a mini-mini 2 chapter arc before Sports Fest?
Cos it's starting now. Countdown to fun times at the Sports Festival is on!
And to start the countdown, EVERYONE GO CHECK OUT THIS AMAZING FANART OF OUR DEMON BOI BY SAPPHIRECLAW!
post/182927038144/a-scarey-au-izuku-for-pipefoxesonthemoons-rad
(I don't know if the link will work on , if it doesn't, go over to my AO3 at Pipefoxesonthemoon for the link)
Give it all the reblogs and give them all the compliments!
Now, READ ON DUDES.
Izuku had barely risen from behind his arms all day. Through each class he had stayed in his seat, his head buried, his tail occasionally swinging in a dull, sorrowful motion. It had drawn more than a few eyes of course, and more than a few whispers had been passed around the classroom.
Very few had even greeted him. Mina had given him a tentative hello and asked how he was doing, Tsuyu had done the same, Eijiro had taken a step further had actually patted his shoulder and given him a smile, though Izuku had barely managed a red-eyed look back to him.
Fumikage had yet to say anything, though occasionally Izuku caught him looking over to his desk. He had a strange look to his eyes, a mixture of caution and concern. He had the right to be hesitant, after all, he more than anyone knew the true danger Izuku hid behind his green eyes and sallow skin.
He knew of the demon within him, waiting, like the embers of a fire that needed only a single breath to roar again.
The classes passed in the blink of an eye, or at least to Izuku it seemed that way, he wasn't focused on them anyway. Whenever he had looked up from his arms, he had glanced past Ojiro's tail and over to the empty seat at the front of the class.
He wanted to find Katsuki. He wanted to cry his eyes out and beg he return to the class. He wanted to spill everything to him in the hopes that he would understand, that maybe if he just knew they could find some way to reconcile everything that had come between them.
But he had seen the look in Katsuki's eyes. There would be no amount of words he could ever speak that would take away the hate he saw there.
It was over. All over. A bridge had been crossed at the USJ. A bridge which had gone up in flames of corrupt blue the second Izuku had stepped over it.
Tenya had practically dragged Izuku out of his seat when the lunch bell rang. They had found a table, one far in the corner of the cafeteria and away from the majority of the other students, and Ochaco had offered to sit with him while the other two got the lunches.
Izuku had once again buried his head into his arms the moment they had sat down.
"Izuku, come on, that wasn't your fault."
Nothing
"Look, Katsuki's been on edge all week. Maybe he'll change his mind and come back once he's had some time to cool off."
Nothing.
"… I heard Captain Celebrity got caught having a foursome in a cave in Brazil."
Izuku lifted his head and frowned at her, "What?"
"Oh yeah, saw it on the news this morning, I'm surprised you didn't."
Izuku hadn't bothered checking the news, he'd been mostly listening to podcasts and trying not to think about what everyone was going to think of him.
"That's… he said he was going to build houses for the underprivileged!" Izuku sat up a little straighter, "What the hell?"
"I know, right?" Ochaco nodded thoughtfully, "It's almost as bad as you beating yourself up for stuff you can't control."
"I-" Izuku went to argue but fell back into his self-pitying frown and looked down, "Alright- alright, fine. You got me. But still I- I have to take some responsibility. None of this would have happened if-"
"If the villains hadn't attacked the USJ. If that creepy fucking cult guy hadn't set his weird ass demon-monster-bird-thing on you. If you hadn't been brave and tried to get back to help me and Aizawa-sensei," Ochaco quickly filled in the gaps for him, her frown both determined and somehow friendly, "Seriously, Izuku. Stop."
"Stop what?" Hitoshi's voice drifted over as he and Tenya arrived carrying two lunch trays each. They quickly slid into place, Hitoshi beside Ochaco, Tenya beside Izuku.
"Nothing."
"He's still beating himself up over Katsuki." Ochaco was clearly having none of Izuku's self-pitying today.
"Yeah, you need to quit that, Katsuki's an asshat," Hitoshi quickly mumbled out as he shoved Izuku's tray over to him. As he spoke, however, his voice became sterner, "Seriously. Think about it, you don't have someone in class who's going to try and murder you the moment you look at him funny. And you know what, maybe he'll be a better person without you around to make him mad just by existing. He's a dick. Let it go."
"The Child of Pharaohs is right." Nemesis hissed with a lick of candle-flame along Izuku's scars. "Let the coward run, we've proven our point. We dominated him, we humbled him, now he lives his life in fear of us, just as it should be. And should he ever come at us again, we'll eat him alive."
Izuku made a low, irritated noise to himself and squeezed his eyes tight as he rubbed them with his fingers. He felt so stressed, so pressured. He should do the right thing, he should go apologize, but… but he knew that Katsuki needed time. Maybe they both did.
Maybe they were right. Maybe some space was for the best. And besides, right now he had more serious things on his plate, like finding out if he was actually human.
"Hey, did you guys hear about Captain Celebrity?" Hitoshi suddenly announced, changing the subject entirely. Both Ochaco and Tenya nodded in agreement and Hitoshi quickly added, "I heard he was caught having sex with a prostitute to and from his apology statement."
"You know I really don't think this is an appropriate topic of discussion at a UA lunch table!" Tenya said with a swift and robotic wave of his hand. However, after a small moment, he leaned forward and slyly added, "Don't take it from me, but my brother heard he has three lovechildren all by different women."
There was a round of 'ooohs' from the others and Izuku couldn't help a dumb but welcome smile move across his lips. Fine. Maybe he could relax just for a little while. He couldn't do anything to stop Katsuki, but he could still help his situation now, as it was. He needed to get back on track with his lessons, he needed to regain the confidence of the others in his class and prove to them now, more than ever, that he wasn't about to snap and unleash Nemesis again.
He had failed in that task twice already. The first time he'd been given a slap on the wrist, the second time he had died.
He doubted fate would be so kind a third time.
He also needed to get some answers from Fumikage now all the dust had settled. Though how and when he or the others would even begin approaching him with the subject of figuring out just what the hell Nemesis was, and why he had gone to Hell, and why he had been called Lucifer by some monstrous being of the underworld, well, he had absolutely no idea.
It wasn't as though Fumikage was going to walk right up to them and discuss it without prompting.
"Ahem."
The table stopped their idle chit-chat and looked up suddenly.
Standing there, tray in hand, looking amazingly sheepish for a boy with a beak for a mouth, was Fumikage.
The was a long moment of awkward silence while every eye at the table focused on the black-feathered teenager. He shifted uncomfortably before suddenly asking, "Izuku Midoriya, may we have a moment to talk," His crimson eyes flicked across the others, "In private, if possible."
"He wishes to talk to us?" Nemesis hissed across his mind and Izuku gulped softly as it did so, "He probably wishes to kill us. Or have Dark Shadow kill us. We should rip his heart out."
"Sit down, Brandon Lee," Hitoshi immediately spouted off, "Whatever you've got to say to the Oman you can say to the rest of us." There was a stretched moment of silence while Hitoshi's smug, knowing smirk faded to a look of disbelief, then to irritation. He looked back to his meal and stabbed a piece of chicken with one of his chopsticks. "Goddamnit I give you guys gold and I get nothing. Why do I even bother?"
"Ignore him, you can sit with us, Fumikage!" Ochaco quickly piped up with a cheery smile. She quickly began shoving Hitoshi down the table, who reluctantly moved a seat down, and then moved herself so that Fumikage could sit across from Izuku.
"Yes, join us!" Tenya announced with a smile, "We've been meaning to talk to you, so the timing is perfect!"
Fumikage narrowed his eyes at this and then turned his piercing gaze to Izuku, "Oh really?"
"I'm sorry, Fumikage, I kinda… told them things," Izuku announced in the most shamefaced tone he could muster, "… All the things." Under Fumikage's intense, crimson eyes Izuku suddenly felt like a very heavy mallet was being held against his head and at any moment Fumikage would swing and knock his brains out for being so stupid. "I'm really sorry, but after what happened I think… well, they needed to know. No one else knows, though!"
"And we're not going to tell anyone, we promise," Tenya added with a firm nod, "I give you my word, as an Iida, and as your class president."
"Same," Hitoshi mumbled through a mouthful of food.
"Promise," Ochaco added with a firm nod and a determined smile.
There was a moment where Fumikage honestly looked like he was debating whether to turn tail and march away, or sit, join them, and chew Izuku out for being a reckless idiot. Finally, however, he sat down at the table, looking remarkably… awkward. Angry, yes, but awkward.
Izuku wasn't always good at reading people, however, at that moment he knew the look that crossed Fumikage's face. He wasn't used to this. He was used to eating alone, working alone, being isolated from other people because of the curse within him.
No doubt it had been a lifelong problem for him, just as it had been for Izuku. Izuku, however, had been learning how to socialize and learning fast thanks to his newfound friends. He supposed that Fumikage was starting from step one.
Still, he had some things to clear up first, and he could at least try and get some guilt off his chest before moving forward. He ignored Nemesis's protests from within his head, as well as the rolling anger of flame that moved along his scars. His inner demon could shut the hell up for the time being, there were more important things to talk about here other than what Fumikage's blood would look like on his hands.
"I'm sorry again, Fumikage," Izuku mumbled his eyes down to his plate, "For telling them everything. I know the stuff about Dark Shadow was your secret and it wasn't right for me to tell them. I'm really sorry. Really, really, really sorry."
Fumikage seemed to consider this for a moment before simply looking to the others, "It seems you believe him."
"It's kind of hard not to, to be fair," Ochaco announced with a shrug, "I mean, we all saw what happened. Saying that Nemesis and Dark Shadow aren't exactly normal quirks kind of lines up a lot of things."
"We are far from normal, we are shadow and flame."
"I for one remain skeptical, but as I said, I will not say a word about this to anyone," Tenya announced in a stern tone, "Though, I would like some evidence, if possible."
"Evidence?" Fumikage raised an eyebrow at that, "You say that as if you are the only one with questions, Tenya Iida." The crow-teen's eyes turned back to Izuku, who seemed to shrink once again, he even felt his tail curling up around his waist. "And since you are so willing to share information," Izuku smarted at his tone, "There are things that I would like to find out about you."
"Don't tell him anything!" Nemesis snapped, causing Izuku to wince openly and bite the inside of his cheek in protest. "He's our enemy! He and his parasite crow!"
Hitoshi frowned over at Fumikage, "Hey, he's been through a lot lately, lay off."
"I am not threatening any harm, Hitoshi Shinsou," Fumikage replied with a slightly wry smile, apparently amused at Hitoshi's knee-jerk defense of Izuku, "I simply wish to… well, to put it bluntly, put Izuku through a test."
There was another moment of confused silence at the table before Ochaco spoke up, "Test? Like the thing with the holy water? Izuku said that didn't do anything."
"Ah- well, erm," Izuku suddenly spoke up, quietly realizing that he had somewhat lied to Fumikage on that and clearing the air with him would probably go some way to having the teenager forgive him for opening his big mouth about Dark Shadow's true nature. He'd also not really gone into it with the others at the beach, his mind simply skipping over it without giving it a lot of thought, "That's not… exactly true."
Now all eyes turned to Izuku with a rather intense gaze. Ochaco was the first to open her mouth, gasping out a quiet, "What?"
"Yeah, well, I, erm," Izuku fidgeted for a few moments before coughing politely, just to do something other than tap his chopsticks against his hand, and looked to Fumikage, "You never gave me the chance to tell you in the USJ and, well, we had more pressing things to take care of so…"
"So?" Fumikage's voice suddenly became like stone, and Izuku could see the mistrust rising with him.
"So, well, the holy water. It didn't burn really, but I did feel something when it hit my hand."
There was another moment of stretched silence and it seemed every member at the table, other than Izuku, was leaning in with interest. Finally, Hitoshi said, "Well?!" In a tone crossed with both interest and irritation.
"It was like… like when your arm goes to sleep, you know? Like, pins and needles, maybe? It was like a weird tingling-numbing-feeling-thing." Ugh, he hated the fact that he was terrible with words. It was probably going to make Fumikage get right up and leave the table in anger. No doubt it meant something horrible and-
"I see," Fumikage announced suddenly, his voice low and serious. He raised a finger to the edge of his beak and he looked down, seeing past his meal and clearly consumed with his own thoughts, "This is incredibly serious."
The tension at the table became thick and heavy. Everyone was focused on the black-feathered teenager, breaths caught in throats and even Tenya seemed to pale just a little at his statement.
"W-why? What does it mean?" Izuku asked in a voice barely above a whisper, and for a moment even Nemesis seemed to flow softly through his body as a quiet flame, creeping like a cautious cat.
Fumikage looked Izuku dead in the eyes and simply said, "I have no idea."
"AAAW!"
The group fell back into their chairs and Hitoshi even threw his arms up, "What the hell, man?"
Fumikage evidently hadn't been expecting such a reaction, and blinked over at the others, looking utterly confused and almost skittish, "I- well, I mean- this is why I wished to perform another test."
"He toys with us!" Nemesis growled through Izuku's brain and flooded his scars with spiking, prickling heat, "We should punish him! We should set his head on fire!"
"Nnnh," Izuku grit his teeth suddenly and squeezed his eyes shut. He felt a sudden hand on his shoulder, strong and comforting, and when he reopened them Tenya was looking to him with concerned eyes.
"Is it Nemesis?"
Izuku paused, and for a moment fear rushed through him before he reminded himself that it was okay. They knew, and it was okay to tell them. He nodded slowly and gulped, then picked up his water to take a quick drink. "Yeah, it's just…" He paused and looked to Fumikage, who continued to look confused, though there was something other to his eyes. A curiosity perhaps… and familiarity with it all. "Nemesis doesn't like Dark Shadow or Fumikage."
"We can't trust someone like him," His inner monster urged with the tone of tearing flesh, "He's dangerous."
"That's understandable," Fumikage nodded, "Dark Shadow feels similarly about you, Izuku, and Nemesis in kind."
"All the more reason to burn him alive."
There was another pause at the table before Izuku bravely, but quietly, asked, "Do- do you hear Dark Shadow in your head too?"
Fumikage shook his head, and for a moment Izuku felt the age-old familiar fear of being rejected, of being mocked and scorned for admitting he was insane. However, it passed once Fumikage spoke again, his voice was edged with something new, but something that Izuku knew all too well.
He was cautious about revealing this information. Cautious about being ridiculed and insulted and shoved to one side. And yet he was pressing through it with a confidence that Izuku could only envy.
"Dark Shadow does not talk to me while within me, no, however," He paused and then looked to the others, "I do… feel their emotions. It is an empathetic link of sorts."
"Wooow," Ochaco gasped softly as she looked, wide-eyed to Fumikage, "That's so… wow I mean, I don't want to say cool but…"
"It isn't cool," Fumikage added in a low, bitter tone before looking to his meal, "It's very far from cool. It's a nightmare under my skin waiting to hurt everyone I've known or cared about. If I lose control of my emotions for even a few moments…"
"Mood," Izuku replied without thinking, causing Fumikage to look to him with a sharp frown, "I mean, you know, I know how you feel!" He shrugged softly and offered a small, fanged smile.
Fumikage seemed to weigh this for a moment, before smiling softly back, along with a slight shake of his head.
"Well, what about this test you want to perform," Tenya asked suddenly, putting a hand to his chin, "I would be interested to know what you seek to learn from this, especially as you seem to be the only expert we have on the nature of these demonic creatures, if that's what they truly are."
"They are," Fumikage replied firmly, and in such a tone that Ochcaco seemed to shiver, "And I am no expert. All I have learned, I have learned only through trial and error, and with the help of someone very close to me."
Izuku wanted to ask exactly who that was, but a bell suddenly rang out across the hall and Tenya immediately rose to his feet, "That was the lunch bell, I suppose we should be getting back soon."
He wanted to protest. He wanted to sit there and drill Fumikage's brain for every bit of information he could gather, but he knew that Tenya would have none of it. Hitoshi rose and seemed to notice the look on Izuku's face. "Dude, don't worry," He even gave him a small smile, "We've got time, and besides, Fumikage's part of the crew now, right?"
"What?" Fumikage's face truly did not suit looking surprised, "The crew?"
"Yeah, you know, the 'we know demons are real' crew!" Ochaco smiled and gave him a light elbow to the arm. No doubt it would have been a punch, but her hands were full with her own tray, "It's working title."
"I'm sorry, Fumikage," Izuku admitted with a light shrug as he also stood to his feet. "I know I spilled everything but really, you can trust us, and if I've learned anything from the USJ, it's that trying to deal with it all alone is a really, really bad idea. I mean it can literally get you killed."
Fumikage seemed to hesitate at this and once again Izuku could see it written all over him. He wasn't used to this. To being part of a group, to having people he could talk to, to be open to. And yet he could also see within him that he wanted it. He wanted to have friends, to be welcomed by people who weren't going to run the moment they saw his quirk-familiar.
They were here for him. Izuku was, he knew that, and not just because Fumikage had answers.
Because they shared monsters, and Izuku had vowed to do everything he could to help those who suffered like he suffered.
"This is a mad banquet of darkness," Fumikage announced softly joining Izuku's side as they walked to put their trays away.
"Alright everyone, listen up," Aizawa announced in his usual commanding tone from behind his many, many bandages.
Once again, they were outside and once again, the summer sun glowed down on them from up high. Once again, the sky was an open, brilliant shade of blue, the grass was a lusty green and the world seemed as normal and as vibrant as any other summer day.
Except, as usual, the situation at U.A. was beyond the normal. Set up on the main field was a huge and complex-looking set of walls and corridors leading to the odd room, or dead end, or some other little trap.
Within the corridors were small robots moving back and forth and, even from where the students stood, they could hear them spouting off repeating phrases such as 'grr, arg' or 'down with justice'. One that made almost everyone laugh the first time was, 'All Might more like Filthy Meat Bag Might'.
There were several large screens on a command panel, showing images from where cameras mounted on poles looked down, giving everyone a birds-eye view of the tactical course. Aizawa stood before it and the students looked on, huddled in their usual cliques.
Though a notable difference this time was that Fumikage now stood with Tenya, Ochaco, Hitoshi, and Izuku… and almost everyone else stood far from them.
Aizawa's gaze narrowed at this, though it was well hidden from behind his bandages. He had only been back at the head of his class for a single day, really even less than that, and already he was seeing the divide within the classroom.
One on side, were those who were on Midoriya's side, and on the other, those who no longer trusted him.
He took a moment to breathe through his nose before moving forward with the lesson.
"One of the basic requirements for being a hero is the ability to storm a house or other place with narrow corridors, blind spots, and close quarters combat. Today we're going to run through the basics of this kind of exercise, so you all understand how it's supposed to work, on Thursday we're going to be performing it in full uniform on Ground Alpha where you will be facing off against one another. Is that understood?"
There were a number of nods and sounds of agreement.
"Good. I'm going to put you teams of two randomly decided by the computer." He was supposed to pick them himself, but he was tired and in a constant dull pain across his many, many injuries, and as such didn't feel up to it.
Besides, random team-ups were common enough, and it was better to see them work alongside people they might not have usually worked with otherwise. He wasn't blind, he could already see the groups forming in his classroom. He couldn't allow them to stick so closely together, at least not while training. Outside of class, he didn't really care.
He turned and ignored the mumblings of the students while he opened the program necessary to choose the teams. The first group came up quickly, Tsuyu and Shoto. The students looked on as the two took five minutes to form a plan, then move through the course. Shoto led the way, simply freezing everything in place while Tsuyu basically followed behind him.
Aizawa shook his head. The boy needed to learn that other people actually existed and that he couldn't simply rely on deep-freezing everyone, even if it seemed to have worked out for him in the apparent rescue of Hitoshi during the USJ incident. Why the young man seemed so reluctant to use his right side was another puzzle that Aizawa mentally added to his list of things to work on.
Then the next team was up. Rikido and the newest member to their class, Reiko Yanagi, their replacement for sending Katsuki to class 1-B.
The loss of Katsuki still stung at Aizawa, though he refused to show it. The boy had screamed and cried and almost torn his own hair out during their 'talk'. It had been… disturbing and worrying, to say the least, to watch one of his bravest, strongest and most promising students have what really amounted to an emotional and mental breakdown.
And all because of one student. A student whom Aizawa could see had the heart and the potential for greatness… and yet it seemed as though the world had declared him fated for evil.
Good thing he didn't believe in things like fate.
For a second, as the others watched the team move through the course, his eyes glanced to Izuku Midoriya. He still had some of his own bandages on, though he had been cleared for combat training. A second longer his eyes rested on the stumps that now came from his forehead, and the swishing all-black tail with the spear-tip end.
When he had first entered the class, he'd only sported a pair of fangs.
Now he looked like an imp ripped right from the pages of a fantasy novel.
What kind of quirk was Nemesis? That would mutate the user? That would cause such… horror to be unleashed upon anyone who saw it? Katsuki Bakugo had been traumatized by the sight of it, twice, and now his class had become divided over the issue of Izuku and his truly hellish quirk.
And yet Aizawa refused to give up on the boy.
He had been surprised when he had been told, loudly, by Hizashi, that Izuku wasn't being taken out the course. When he had managed to corner Nedzu, who had looked unusually frazzled for the past few days, the tiny Principal had simply told him that he had 'changed his mind', and that was that.
Suspicion curled in Aizawa's heart. Nedzu was not one to simply change his mind about anything, not without a damn good reason at least. Still, now wasn't the time to pry further, not with the Sports Festival, and the possible threat of more attacks, hanging over them all.
They couldn't afford another accident like the USJ. Izuku couldn't afford another accident, hell, Toshinori couldn't afford another accident. He knew getting Izuku to control his power was one step to avoiding further horrors, and getting him to stop believing he was somehow cursed was another.
Aizawa was determined to turn that thinking around. He needed to, for Izuku's sake, and perhaps for his own guilt to finally find its rest.
His eyes drifted to Shoto as he continued to muse on Izuku's future, and on his own past which seemed intent on repeating itself. He had failed one student before when they have become convinced their quirk, and therefore their own soul, was evil.
He wouldn't do it again.
The bell was rung and Aizawa looked back to the test, noting the time and the efficacy which his students had run the course. It seemed Yanagi's poltergeist quirk was quite handy in a pinch, and when teamed with Rikido's strength, made them a good one-two punch combo. He'd have to keep that one in mind for later.
The next names came up. Hanta and Izuku.
A look came over Hanta's face, and no one who was looking at him could have ever missed it.
Fear.
He glanced over to Izuku, who was already making his timid way over to him.
He was only a few steps from him when Hanta's hand shot up, "Aizawa-sensei?"
Aizawa felt his heart sink as he knew what was about to come next, "Yes, Sero?"
"I…" The boy glanced at the quickly slowing Izuku and then back to Aizawa, "Can I change partners?"
The excited chatter of the classroom began to die.
"Dude, what?" Eijiro asked with a huge but slightly puzzled grin across his sharp teeth, "Why do you wanna split?"
He had been standing beside Hanta, clearly waiting for his own name to be called up. Now however it seemed his attention had been pulled from the screen.
"Look I- Sir, I-" Hanta looked to Izuku again, who had the same kind of expression on his face as someone who had just been told they couldn't claim their winning lottery ticket. Hanta gulped and firmly announced, "I'm sorry, Izuku, dude, I just- I don't feel comfortable working with you."
The silence grew heavier and Aizawa couldn't help a spike of anger shoot through him. This was unfair. This was unfair on Izuku and on Hanta. It was unfair on his class, and Aizawa was not about to stand for it.
"No." He knew it was bordering on cruel, but he believed that they all needed to see what he already knew. Izuku wasn't a threat, he wasn't a time bomb about to explode at any moment. He was just a kid, a student just like the rest of them and he would be treated no differently. "No changing teams."
"Sir, I just- Sir," Hanta continued suddenly, looking from the utterly crestfallen Izuku back to his teacher, "Please. Please, I don't- Sir, what if Nemesis gets out?"
The very utterance of the word seemed to send a cold chill across the entire class, and even Aizawa felt the crawling rake of a blade-like claw move down his spine at the thought of the beast. He had only seen it for a second and the memory still sent gooseflesh rising across his arms. The class had seen it tear another creature apart, and then go after All Might. No wonder their reaction was stronger.
"It's okay," Izuku's voice broke the silence. Quiet, defeated and resigned. His head was down, his new tail drooping to the floor and he was blinking back tears, "I get it. It's fine. I'm… I'm sorry, Hanta. I'll join with someone else, I don't want to-"
"Hey!" Eijiro suddenly butted in, grabbing Izuku by the shoulder and giving it a tight squeeze, "You're not going anywhere," He turned to Hanta, his eyes blazing with an irritation not directed at either boy, but at the situation itself, "Dude, I know what you saw was scary, but come on, we all know it wasn't Izuku's fault. Nemesis isn't Izuku, they're not the same person."
"Dude," Hanta snapped back, a flash of anger moving across his usually calm and smiling features, "You didn't see it like I saw it. You weren't there."
"I heard it just as loud as you did," Eijiro almost growled back, "And guess what, I had all the same nightmares you did."
"No, you didn't I-"
"Stop!" Izuku snapped suddenly, causing the two to look back to him. "Just- just please, stop! It's okay, I get it, it's fine," The tone of his voice told everyone who was listening he was lying, and Aizawa felt his blood boil at the boy's attempt to shove his own feelings down for the sake of others. He rubbed his eyes on his sleeve as he quickly mumbled out, "I'll work with someone else. It's okay. I don't want to make anyone uncomfortable, I'll-"
"No," Aizawa's command cut through the air and caused almost everyone to jump suddenly, "I said, no changing the teams," He continued to growl out from behind his bandages, "And that's an order." His eyes began scanning the classroom. "I get you're all still recovering from what happened at the USJ. It was traumatic, for everyone, but I'm going to remind you all right here and now that you are heroes in the making. Heroes don't back down, they don't give up, and they certainly don't avoid things that make them uncomfortable. They confront them, they master them, and they push past their fears to do great things."
His eyes narrowed from behind his bandages, and while he was sure no one could see them, he knew that he was not taking any of this nonsense. Not today. Not ever.
"Izuku Midoriya," He addressed the teenager directly, causing Izuku to straighten up suddenly.
"Y-Yes, sensei?"
"Do you believe Nemesis will take control in this exercise?"
Izuku frowned in confusion, but answered, "N-No, sensei?"
"There's your answer then, Sero," Aizawa announced, looking back to the other teenager, "Now get ready, you have five minutes."
It was a disaster. Hanta's obvious fear of Izuku's quirk, combined with Izuku's complete lack of confidence in himself and his unwillingness to use his quirk around Hanta, led them to not only not completing the exercise, but somehow actually being caught by the robots.
In all the time Aizawa had been teaching, no one had ever managed to be caught by the robots. They had the same computing intelligence as a toaster. Collectively.
After spending a full minute simply facepalming at the ashamed looking boys, he took in a deep breath and announced, "This will not do. I'm assigning you both extra homework to be completed by Thursday. You're going to study tactical hand signals and infiltration tactics and write me a personalized two-thousand-word essay on each."
The two boys simply nodded, while Aizawa ignored some of the giggling from the rest of the class.
He took another breath through his nose and, in a lower, more serious tone, added, "Sero, Midoriya is not the enemy, he's trying just as hard as you are."
The taller teenager nodded.
"And Midoriya," The boy looked up at his name being spoken, his green eyes filled with anxiety and his tail twitching to match, "You need to work harder on controlling your quirk. I know it's not an easy task, but if you don't, you'll fail by the end of the year."
The boy's eyes flashed with fear, before he looked down again and nodded. To his credit, however, Aizawa noticed how he curled his fists tightly. He was determined, he could see that.
The problem was that outside of telling him to get better, Aizawa wasn't quite sure how he was supposed to get better. Nemesis was like no quirk he'd ever come across, and he'd come across some horrific things in his time as an underground hero.
But nothing like this. This… thing, this demon living under the boy's skin.
"You will not let this happen again on Thursday, have I made myself clear?"
Both the boys nodded, and with that, Aizawa dismissed them back to the rest of the class.
When was the last time Izuku had gone out with friends? He honestly couldn't remember. And yet here he was, heading towards someone's home. Not his own home, oh no, someone else's home, where they lived, and he didn't live.
Because it was their home, not his.
He hadn't felt this excited since… well, perhaps since his first day at U.A.
Of course, he was nervous too. This wasn't just a casual visit to a friend's house, and yes, he still grinned at the concept of actually having a friend who had a home he could go visit, but something a little more than that.
It had been discussed and decided upon last Wednesday, during the now regular gathering together of their little group, who were still deciding on a name since 'Hunters of Eternal Darkness', as suggested by Fumikage, hadn't quite landed with everyone. At least they had their own table, as no one else seemed to bother taking it before they claimed it, in the far corner, away from most and nicely secluded from prying eyes.
There they could discuss what they all held in the tightest of secrets, or rather, Izuku could pepper Fumikage with questions while he tried to give answers.
Thing was, he was a little… shy about explaining what he knew in U.A. It was the same reason why, in the few times he had allowed Dark Shadow to talk to the others, he had disallowed his quirk-familiar from doing much the same.
In his own words, there were 'too many ears listening' at U.A., and that it 'wasn't secure', though what he meant by it Izuku and the others had no idea, and he hadn't explained much after that.
His solution, however, was why Izuku was walking down an utterly unfamiliar dirt road, his skin warmed by the sun between patches in the overhanging canopy, and feeling just a little lost.
Fumikage had wished to conduct another test on Izuku, to see just how far his possession, if he was indeed possessed, went. He explained that his home was very secure, that he could practically guarantee privacy and the safety of the others.
And so, early that Saturday morning, with the sun shining high and nary a cloud in the sky, Izuku had set off out of his home to go hang out at a friend's house. The first time he had done so since he was five years old.
"Wow, Fumikage travels a while to get to class every morning," Ochaco mumbled as she walked beside Izuku. She had joined him at the main train terminal, the one they would usually get off to walk to U.A. from.
This time, however, they had taken a connecting train, which had taken another connecting train, picking up both Tenya and Hitoshi in the process before dropping them all of at a rather far-out location. Now all four of them were heading towards their new friend's house together.
The air was hot and humid and not one of them had brought anything heavy to wear. Around them they could hear the lifeblood of the forest. Birds chirped and sang, hidden in overhead branches of lush green leaves. Bugs made loud buzzing, krring noises from under rock and bush, and occasionally one could even hear the odd animal rushing through the long, untamed grass of the forest floor.
There was a freshness to the air that set candle-flame tickling along Izuku's scars, and the whole thing made him feel both comfortable and yet uneasy. He knew this had to be Nemesis within him, no doubt sulking at the vibrant sunshine and display of summer joy. Izuku knew, however, that it was simply his lot. He disliked the winter and autumn months, yet Nemesis had always felt easier within him when everything around him was dead or hibernating.
Just his luck, he supposed.
It was why he wore only a pair of beige shorts and a light green t-shirt with the words 'This is a t-shirt' written on it, along with a pair of trainers on his feet. Hitoshi had his blue jeans and dark purple shirt, this one with rough, yellow, eight-pointed star upon it. Tenya wore his smart dark blue striped polo-shirt and kakhi pants and Ochaco wore a pair of red jean shorts, trainers and a white and pink striped t-shirt
"I gotta admit, I'm liking this rural thing," Hitoshi added as he looked around, "I wonder why he lives so far out though. Can't be many people to hang out with in these parts."
"I would love to run this route," Tenya announced in his usual confident tone as he too turned his head and admired the heavy tree cover and glorious summer nature that surrounded them, "Such natural beauty! Living in the city makes me forget how lovely the countryside can be."
Ochaco chuckled softly at that and turned to look at him, "Oh really? Aren't you super rich? I bet you take holidays on fancy countryside resorts all the time."
"Not at all!" Tenya quickly counted, making a chopping motion with his hand towards her, "My family all work full time, even my mother! Running the Idatan Agency is a family business, so we only take a week off every year and we travel to our private resort on the New Caledonia islands."
"That explains a lot," Hitoshi added with his trademark smirk.
Izuku didn't say anything. His eyes were looking from one side of the tree line and across to the other. When they had first entered the forest he had seen plenty of them, the demonic-looking monsters which flitted and crawled through the dark shadows of the forest floor.
But now, however…
"Izuku?"
He blinked suddenly and turned back to the others, shock rushing through him, "S-Sorry!"
There was a moment of silence from the others before Hitoshi, in his ever-blunt manner, asked, "What is it? Can you see something?"
He was still not entirely used to this, talking about the things he could see, though he had found that allowing the others to know something was pulling his attention, all while Fumikage had coldly acknowledged the same thing, helped ease his anxiety. Still, the bolts of shame still shot through him before fading once again.
"Well, not really but…" He paused for a long moment before saying, "There's nothing. No demons, not a single one. And that's… weird."
The others looked to one another before Tenya simply asked, "Isn't that a good thing?"
"Well, yeah, it is but, you know, this is a forest. They love forests, usually, lots of shadows, I guess," Izuku replied before letting out a long sigh, "Sorry, I know it sounds crazy."
"Dude, you're not crazy," Hitoshi quickly cut in, "And we're proving it today."
"Yeah, so don't worry about it," Ochaco grinned over to him.
Tenya even put a hand squarely onto Izuku's shoulder and gave him a confident squeeze as they approached what looked to be a wide set opening. "Exactly. Today we all find some answers."
"And then maybe you won't epic fail, like you did on Thursday," Hitoshi quickly teased.
"Hey," Izuku managed a slightly fanged smile back, "At least I didn't get captured that time."
He had gotten used to Hitoshi's jokes-to-show-emotion behavior by now, and recently he had been working on joking back. He still had yet to truly match Hitoshi's English-dry wit, however.
"Only cos Eijiro was your partner, and it helps Momo legit ran away from you."
"Okay, that was-"
Izuku was about to protest it was all part of his plan, which it hadn't been, but what they saw as they came out of the forest path caused them all to stop suddenly and stare, eyes wide, mouths agape.
Hitoshi of course, quite elegantly put it into words as only Hitoshi could.
"Woah."
SO. Fumikage is in the gang, they're off to his house, the class mostly avoids and some actively dislike Izuku, but really everything is going... kinda swimmingly, ish, not really but it's not the flaming car wreck it was before at least. More like a flaming garbage can. Don't worry Izuku, one day we'll upgrade your life to a flaming bag of crisps, or maybe just a really burnt hamburger.
Next chapter and the chapter after are fun though, and by fun, I mean -totallynottraumatic- FUN!
Till next time my duderinos, and as always, thank you for reading!
