((Warning: hospitalization
Darkness, it was something he knew well. Just as the night fell, the light wouldn't come back to him till dawn, not even in his dreams. As he drifted down into sleep, the darkness swirled around him, when he opened his eyes again, the shadows around him were not much brighter than the back of his eyelids. Somewhere along the lines, his dreams had all become gray scale, it made them all ridiculously boring. It took him a little bit more effort to sit up than normal, when he did, he wanted to lie back down immediately. The very first thing he sat up to see were several small children clad in school uniforms, each wore an eerily white smirk that stood out against their gray skin, and where their eyes would be white scratch marks. He could only guess they were here to torment him over his childhood. The friendless boy with an evil quirk.
Ever since he could remember, his dreams were never pleasant. When he was young, he had suffered from frequent night terrors. As he grew up, he learned how to deal with his nightmares and eventually stopped screaming in the night. Many would think it was because he grew out of it, that was not what happened. His dreams never got better, he learned how to control them so that he didn't need to be afraid. Turns out, when you know you are in a dream, everything becomes dull and, apparently, gray scale.
As he found the motivation to stand, ignoring the eerie laughs that came from the children, he started his walk. When one got in his way, it passed through him like a ghost, one of the other benefits to lucid dreaming, none of his nightmares could actually touch him. As he walked, the nightmares went on, monsters he used to fear, people exploiting his insecurities, general creepy things, now they all seemed so dull and boring.
While dreaming, he couldn't have any real fun, all he could do was walk. Walk until his alarm woke him up in the morning, passing through all the things that had once terrified him. As he walked, various nightmares came at him, each passing through him. Though he continued on, the various nightmares played on as though he was there to witness them. If he wanted to, he could jump in and play the part of a terrified child, let the nightmare take him.
Tonight, there was something different among all the darkness he had come to know. He knew every detail of his dreams, especially the one he was walking through currently. The difference tonight was the gray scale was interrupted by blotches of colour. Grass, usually a darker gray, had blotches of green, some people had blotches of colours on their hands. After a lifetime of dreaming in black and white, seeing colour here was enough to make him nervous. He stopped, observing the area, the biggest clue he had at the moment was the trail of paw prints on the ground leading off into the distance.
He had debated on whether to follow them or not, it could be some new dream trying to catch him off guard. In the end, curiosity won and he followed the trail. More and more blotches of colour appeared until Shinso could hear the culprit. His jaw dropped as he spotted what was ahead of him, there was a golden retriever running wild, but that wasn't what he was looking at. He was looking at the canine weave between a giant divide. On one side, his dark and dreary nightmare, on the other a world that seemed so full of life, colours, it actually looked like a campsite.
The dog hopped between the two sides, barking and having the time of its life up until a voice called out for it. As the dog ran off, Shinso decided to approach the divide. His eyes scanned the area, trees, flowers, tents, a lake not too far away, it looked like a really nice campsite, but the colours seemed too saturated to be considered real. Looking down, there was a fine line between the two worlds. He was tempted to cross it, but he hesitated. What if it was a trap of some kind, tempt him with something that looked nice and then wrap him up in a nightmare… were his dreams that creative though? He wasn't sure if he should trust it or not. As he stood perfectly still, debating if he was going to cross, a voice broke the silence.
Before he had the chance to turn and look at who was coming, he was startled awake with a gasp. He let out the break steadily as he looked down at his stomach to see his cat had jumped on him. He huffed, plopping his head back onto his pillow. The little shit still had the audacity to crawl up and cuddle with him after waking him like that. As much as he wanted to stay upset with her, he couldn't. Instead, his cat enjoyed getting away with it, plus a few minutes of being loved until Shinso had to get out of bed.
That day went on to be as boring as every other day, everything was the same as it had been for years. He went to school, people spoke to him, joked with him, he learned a few things, and went home. Every day went the same, but there was hope. As the end of middle school approached, Shinso was closer to taking the entrance exam for U.A. Sadly, his dreams loved to take advantage of his nervousness.
That night, after a lengthy conversation with his parents over the entrance exam for U.A, he awoke in his dream to find it was trying to scare him over that very topic. Whether the dream tried to show him failing miserably or him getting hurt and humiliated, he didn't care to pay attention as he started his walk for that night.
As he had the previous dream, tonight he found the trail of colour that led him back to the divide. When he arrived, he found that it was no longer a campground, tonight it was a park with several people running around. He chose to keep his distance for a moment, at least until he knew that none of them could see him, it was proven when he threw a rock across. They were just like every other dream, they continued on with their pre-recorded actions as though nothing was around.
As he reached the line between dark and light, his temptation won over. One foot crossed the line. At first, there was a spark of joy as he thought about no longer dreaming in grayscale. All those hopes were dashed when he found the grass beneath his foot had turned gray. Wonderful, it seemed that he brought the dullness with him.
While he stared at the ground, disdain evident on his face. While he was preoccupied, he didn't realize that someone had started to pay attention to him. He didn't even realize someone could spot him. "Hey!" someone yelled from a short distance away, startling Shinso back across the line.
Shinso looked up to spot a blonde-haired boy jogging over to him, a tennis ball in his hands and that golden retriever running around him. He froze as if it would stop this guy from seeing him. "You okay?" the blond asked as he came to a stop just shy of the barrier. He wasn't sure if he actually wanted to answer, was he a dream too? It was hard to think this guy was anything different from the rest of the dream world. The question was, would Shinso play into it?
"I'm fine…" he answered, moving a few paces from the divide. When he answered, he observed a flash of emotions cross the other's face before a grin crossed his face. It seemed that this dream guy was also wary of the line as well, it was obvious as he remained on his side as he extended his hand out.
"I've never seen you here before, got a name?" he asked in a friendly tone, too friendly to be one of his dreams. That was a really stupid question.
"Obviously." Shinso answered as he shook the other's hand warily "Shinso, how about you?" he asked, keeping his expectations low.
"Kaminari!" the other answered, retracting his hand after the handshake. He took a step back, looking at the barrier "You… wouldn't happen to know what that is... Would you?" he gestured to the darkness behind Shinso.
He was joking, right? "It's a nightmare. I could ask the same of that." Shinso gestured to the lively side on Kaminari's side.
For a moment, Kaminari stood silent, a look of shock on his face. It was like he had never witnessed something like a nightmare before. "Wait, if that is nightmare land, why do you seem not nightmarish?" he retorted.
Shinso didn't even skip a beat "Don't trust everything you see, monsters look like normal people." he stated blatantly, eyes locking with Kaminari.
Again, his words caused another silence to wash over both of them. Instead of Shinso's statement turning the other away, he took a step forward, "Are you… okay?" he asked in a hushed tone.
He asked if he was okay? Shinso couldn't help but let out an amused scoff "I'm never okay." a smile may be on his face, but his eyes had a dead stare. His response was enough to elicit a laugh from Kaminari. Shinso felt a flush of heat rush to his ears out of embarrassment, there were not many people that understood his sense of humour. Not only that, but was it weird to find someone's laugh cute? Kaminari fell into a category between cute and goofy.
Shinso felt they had spent hours talking. As he learned more about this strange dream guy, Shinso found that the campsite and park were dreams that he had created himself from places he had seen and not so much been to. As they spoke, Shinso started coming to the conclusion that perhaps this guy was here to teach him how to make his dreams his own for the first time in his life.
Eventually, he loosened up and started to enjoy talking with Kaminari. He just so happened to be the perfect mixture of stupid and pleasant, not to mention he seemed to enjoy Shinso's sense of humour. They both sat in the grass, dreams moving about without them as they both told stories where they could judge people or make the other laugh. What made Shinso the most nervous was how he seemed so normal, so human. Had he once met someone that looked like this and he just doesn't remember it?
Sadly, all dreams come to an end. As the next morning came, Shinso felt a little disappointed in the face of leaving that conversation. Despite some of the stupid things that left the guy's mouth, he had enjoyed his company. For a moment, he had even dropped his guard, it left him with a nervous vibrating feeling in his body. Was he even capable of having a nice dream this sweet?
For several nights he met that strange dream guy, each time he was in a new place. A living room, hiking trail, backyard, he always asked how they did it and never got an answer. Somehow it didn't bother him, there was a fear that made its home in his stomach, a fear that wondered if he got the answer he sought, the dream would disappear. Though if he knew how to control his dreams, perhaps it wouldn't matter after all.
He spent nearly a week and a half talking with Kaminari, even laughing with him over stupid jokes he told. Shinso didn't even notice how close he had grown to the other, how close can two people get in a week? The answer was 'very close', the idea that this person he spoke with wasn't real, a figment of his subconscious allowed Shinso to drop his guard just a bit.
Shinso didn't mind when Kaminari touched him, grabbed his hoodie, pulled him around, it didn't bother him as it did with other people. Eventually, Kaminari even started to cross the boundary that separated them, Shinso didn't dare do the same. When Kaminari crossed he brought colour and life when Shinso dared step over, all colour died beneath his feet.
Regardless, night after night, Shinso found himself enjoying the other's presence, even their childish sense of humour. How he could stand the other defied logic, more so how he became so fond of him. By the time he started to come to terms with what he was starting to feel, it was too late to close the door. Kaminari's happiness was blinding, his warmth burned, and his smile was like a virus that Shinso caught each time they were near. It was starting to become obvious of what he was feeling as Kaminari was always in the back of his mind, bringing Shinso a ray of sunshine to look forward to every night when he prepared to go to sleep.
"What highschool are you aiming for?" Kaminari asked as he drew a smiley face in the grass.
Shinso added his own flair to the face as he drew cat ears to either side "U.A." he muttered with a hint of a smile.
"Same, I'm gonna be a hero one day." Kaminari hummed as he stood up and walked toward Shinso "Maybe we'll find each other there." the blonde said confidently. Before Shinso could move, Kaminari's hand was placed on his shoulder to keep him sitting "Isn't it weird that we can't use our quirks here?" Kaminari added, Shinso's head following him.
Shinso shrugged his shoulders "I never really thought about it too much." he stated as Kaminari knelt drawing something. Shinso couldn't see what he was doing and decided to wait patiently for him to finish.
There was silence as Kaminari moved about behind him. "What are you doing?" Shinso finally asked, Kaminari hopping from out behind him.
"I just drew a cat tail and ears on you… well, your shadow, but still." Kaminari told him as Shinso shifted to check it out.
Before he could make some kind of comment on the drawing he felt himself pulled from his dream. Everything around him faded as he jolted awake in his bed, his father above him. "Come on, get your jacket and shoes," he spoke in an unnaturally tense tone as he tossed over Shinso's jacket from the closet.
"Dad, what's going on?" Shinso asked, but his father didn't stop to say anything as he left the room. Shinso did as he was told and was out of his room just minutes after.
Rushing around the house, his father was searching high and low for something "Do you remember where I put my keys?" he asked finally. Shinso nodded, walking to the decorated bowl on the counter and fishing out his keys.
Shinso's father paused when his keys appeared. He soon walked toward Shinso and pulled him into a hug, since Shinso woke up, this was the first time he had stopped for a moment. "Dad, what's happening?" Shinso asked again, to which his father let out a deep breath.
"Shinso," his father let out a breath, obviously struggling "This isn't easy to say…" his father muttered.
"I can handle it," Shinso responded, his father looking down at him with a pained expression.
"Mom... is in the hospital." his father spoke, his voice filled with pain, not only for his wife but for his child.
At that moment, it felt like Shinso had been hit by a bus. He suddenly felt as though he were still stuck in his nightmares, nightmares that were seeking a new way to get to him. Their talk was short-lived as Shinso found himself struggling to find words. There was no doubt his father felt both worried and scared as he led the way out to the car.
Shinso was quiet throughout the drive to the hospital. He was obviously tired but unable to close his eyes, the anticipation of what he would hear or see once they reached the hospital haunted him more than any nightmare. Though the drive felt short, it had actually been quite a drive from their home.
A pleasant surprise shocked Shinso upon finally seeing his mother. Against all the horrors his mind threw at him, she didn't seem to be badly hurt. She smiled when he entered the room and welcomed him into her arms. All that Shinso could see were scrapes and bruises, but of course, some injuries can't be seen.
Though Shinso wanted so badly to drift off into sleep, his Mother's words doing their best to ease him, he couldn't. She had done her best to assure Shinso everything would be alright but he couldn't help but wait for the other shoe to drop. All he could do was sit still in that hospital chair, eyes closed, and hope that maybe he would fall asleep despite the early morning sunshine.
From not too far away, he could hear approaching footsteps. Usually, this would mean nothing to him as nurses had been coming in and out periodically for hours, but this time it was different. He could hear the voice of his father and someone else speaking. Though he didn't open his eyes, he could imagine his father and whoever he was speaking to stopping at the doorway, at least that's what it sounded like.
Their voices were low, but loud enough to hear with the false comfort of thinking Shinso was asleep. The voice he barely recognized was that of his mother's nurse, the one that spoke to them when they arrived a few hours ago. "She's not the only victim that is suffering from that quirk. We are still trying to analyze the long term effects it has had on your wife." the nurse spoke evenly.
"So, you have no idea what will happen? Do you even know what quirk did this?" his father uttered.
"We have narrowed it to a small list of quirks…" there was a short pause "There's a possibility that her condition may go away with no further side effects."
"What's the more likely outcome?" His father's voice was low, almost too low to hear.
"Her current condition could worsen." the nurse answered
So it had been a villain attack while his mother was working an overnight shift. One of the only overnight shifts she had taken that year. Out of every other night, it had to be the one night she worked. It took strength to continue pretending as though he were asleep as a single pair of footsteps entered the room. He could feel a presence hovering over him, no doubt it was his father. As if it wasn't hard enough to keep himself calm, he could hear the uneven breathing of his father above him.
Weeks passed slowly as the year went on, each day bringing Shinso closer to becoming a hero. Many things changed after the incident. The first and most evident thing that changed was Shinso's sleeping schedule. He didn't sleep nearly as much as he used to, and when he did sleep it was at odd hours, most often in the hours after he returns home from school. If he was lucky he would get five hours of sleep before being forced awake.
After that night his mother went to the hospital, he never saw Kaminari again. Each time he went to sleep there was a small hope that he would be there, but each time it wasn't to be. Eventually, he stopped hoping and came to the realization that he wouldn't be coming back.
His mother was in the hospital for just over a month after the incident, long enough to cause doubts in Shinso's mind, before she was finally released with nothing more than a lingering cough.
Just a month after his mother's release, the UA entrance exam had come bringing Shinso hope and passed leaving him feeling irresolute and anxious. He was left in suspense until the moment his father walked into his room with the acceptance letter. Though he had been accepted, it wasn't in the way he had been hoping for. Instead of becoming a hero, the damn school decided he wasn't good enough and put him in general education. This didn't stop him from attending UA, just like it wouldn't stop him from becoming a hero.
Shinso stared at the door, the letter upon it told him that he was a general education student. If there was anything that could put his mood in the trash, it would be that large number and letter that covered the door 'Class 1-C'. Shinso took a deep inhale and opened the door, the sight of inside the classroom reminded him more of his disappointment.
Before he could take a step in, there was a voice that echoed down the hallway, a voice that was yelling his name. Shinso turned his head to look down the hall to his left then to his right. The moment his eyes could comprehend the sight that stood not too far to his right, he recognized them instantly. It wasn't possible.
"Kaminari?" Shinso uttered under his breath. The blonde that stood down the hall, the same one he could remember talking with night after night, started sprinting toward him at full speed… wait. Shinso's expression changed to that of horror as he realized too late what Kaminari's intention was. Shinso could manage to say something, they were both on the ground thanks to Kaminari leaping on an unsuspecting victim.
"Found you!"