Heroes in the Dark chapter 12
The sun was beginning to fade from the sky, becoming blocked out by the building and trees. The air was steadily growing cooler, and yet Tokoyami's skin burned with heat. He was staring down at the ground again, hands clutching grass and chest heaving for breath. The shadows of dusk were starting to stretch across the field, bust the darkest ones present hovered over him.
Dabi stepped up to him, towering above his exhausted frame. "You're not done yet, are you? You haven't even shown me anything good. Is this what that U.A teaches its students? That's just disappointing."
Tokoyami tuned him out. This nuisance had been goading him on for hours. He didn't have the strength to keep this up for much longer. Even though this didn't seem like a dangerous situation where he could get hurt, it was still disheartening to be so beaten down in a place that offered no retreat. Not only that, but his energy was being continuously drained by having Dark Shadow remain in the physical realm. Even now, the sentient quirk was looking down at him with an unnerving amount of disinterest despite the fact that they were literally connected. Every time he slipped up and let the quirk disappear back into him, Dabi would stop and demand that he bring the thing back out. Not to fight, oh no that would've been useful. Instead the shadowy figure just watched him like an audience member sitting back on the sidelines, laughing at his expense sometimes and criticizing his moves. Admittedly, though, the quirk had grown less aggressive over time, even when the light had started to fade. It must be growing bored with his constant failures.
Tokoyami gathered himself enough to push himself into a sitting position and catch his breath. "That's…enough. Can we please…stop…for the day?"
"Oh? Giving up so soon?" Dabi smirked.
Tokoyami swiftly pushed himself up the rest of the way and clasped tightly onto the collar of the villain's white shirt. It was hard to pretend to be intimidating, but Tokoyami only hoped that he could get his point across. "It hasn't even been a single damn day since you – yes, you! – took everything away from me. I get what you and all those other criminals are trying to do with me, but just because I'm complying with you now doesn't mean that I'll let you push me around like this forever." Tokoyami had started trembling at some point, even while his voice had shown resolve and determination.
Dabi stared down at his, icy eyes unsympathetic. He carefully removed the kid's hand from his shirt, and when all the fingers were detached from his clothing, Tokoyami snatched his hand back, cringing at what he'd done. "Don't get snarky with me, Bird. Don't think you can order me around, either. Yeah, I get it. It sucks that you were forced to fly the coop like this. Hell, I'll even take responsibility for this, I admit I dragged you into this mess. Twice! And I'll keep pulling this shtick for as long as I have to so long as Shigaraki is determined to keep you with us. But while you're here, you may as well enjoy the free training."
Tokoyami simmered with resentment. At the very least, he was thankful that nobody else was around to hear this exchange. Their audience had long since grown weary of watching the one-sided sparring. Tokoyami would, however, notice that Kurogiri would check up on the two every now and again. Whether to ensure that he wasn't trying to pull any escapist tricks or confirm that Dabi wasn't being too hard on him, it wasn't certain, but both seemed like reasonable options. As much as Tokoyami didn't want to admit it, Dabi had done well to pull back his punches and keep his fire to a minimum. He'd still ended up with some new burns and bruises, while leaving hardly a mark on the more experienced fighter, but at this point his body felt so battered that he doubted it made much of a difference.
"I just want a break," Tokoyami murmured.
"Me too, kid." Dabi scratched the back of his head, tousling his greasy black hair with a sigh. "Yeah. I think we're done here. You can, uh, put your quirk back. I doubt it wants to be around like this much longer."
Tokoyami willed Dark Shadow to vanish; it did so without any lagging, but he could tell the quirk was disappointed. And yet having the entity retreat back into him was like having a heavy burden be lifted off his shoulders for instant relief. "On the contrary, I think he was having the most fun of us all," Tokoyami scoffed.
"He? I've only ever heard you refer to that thing as an it. Unless I'm missing something."
His feathers prickled with embarrassment. "That's hardly an important detail to notice. It doesn't matter. It is fine."
Dabi raised his open hands defensively, but the simple gesture was enough to make the crow-headed student tense in preparation for another attack. He could do nothing but anticipate whatever move came at him next and hope that he'd have what it takes to counter it. Of course, that wasn't supposed to ignite that response in him. It was supposed to come off as non-threatening. But Tokoyami has so wired from the day's events that he didn't care. And Dabi, seeing the kid's response, quickly put his hands back down with an aggravated huff.
"Whatever. I'll take your word for it." The villain turned and began walking back to the darkened building, making sure to keep his eyes on Tokoyami all the while just in case. "Now come on. I'd hate to be your babysitter for much longer."
Tokoyami resigned himself to following, too tired to offer up a biting response. He shuddered as he stepped over the threshold into the building and slowed to a stop, something that didn't go unnoticed.
"Oi. What's the matter. The day's not over yet."
Why not? "I just want to go back to my room."
Dabi checked his phone for the time. "Aren't you curious to know if Toga made it back?"
"Why should I care what happens to that deviant?" Tokoyami threw back at him with all the calmness he could muster. He didn't want to act so obviously spiteful, lest he get pestered further, but Dabi should know by now his distaste for the strange girl.
But Dabi persisted. "Well, we did send her out to get food and supplies. And she should be here by now. But if you really don't any food, then who am I to stop you?"
Tokoyami narrowed his eyes. "In my position it would be unwise to turn down that offer. Can't you…bring me something? I don't exactly look forward to seeing any other faces tonight."
Dabi laughed at him. "You don't actually expect me to take you up on that? Nah, I'm done doing stuff for you today." The only thing you've done is beat me up. "And besides, if that's what your views are, then I definitely can't let you hole up away from the others now." The villain came up behind him just to shove him lightly in the back in the direction of where the central room was. But it was enough to make him stumble on his weary feet. Despite this, and while grumbling with resentment, he found that they were making their way towards where the rest of the villains were no doubt lounging.
They entered the room to find that everyone was waiting impatiently for their line to the outside world to arrive. Shigaraki was still strangely absent, but even the strange man Twice was present this time around, looking to have for the most part recovered. When he caught sight of the two entering, he waved cheerily to them. "Hi! Hello! You two look great! Didja sleep well?"
"That sounds like a joke," Tokoyami huffed.
"Hey now, he doesn't mean any harm. It's just a question you don't have to answer," Dabi chastised.
Tokoyami sunk deeper into his tattered hoodie, wishing he wouldn't be given any more attention. It was one thing to be associated with this group of murderous thugs – and most of these people, if not all, had to have killed before – but to be involved in their interactions as well was stressful. A part of him still wanted to believe that he could get back on the path of being a hero, that U.A. and the public would forgive him for getting caught up with these villains.
Dabi went off to talk to Kurogiri, who was nervously looking at his watch, an open portal at his side. That was sure to be where Toga was went to come from upon her return, but Tokoyami wondered what would happen if he were to race into the purple window right now. Would he be restrained before he could make it? Or would he reach it just to find himself thrown a distorted place with no guarantee that he'd come out the other side. He didn't understand the misty bartender's quirk enough. He could just as well be easily tracked and followed, or maybe he'd come out the other side only to confront the sadistic girl Toga.
A hand was placed gently on his shoulder, but this time he didn't react as frantically as the last time this had happened. He already knew who this person was. Twice was looking at him with a worried expression. "Oh, uh, it's been a long day, so I figured you might want to sit down. You can relax here, y'know?"
In all actuality, Tokoyami hadn't been awake much longer than five hours, but with how much of that was spent fighting and getting tossed around, it had definitely been an exhausting day. He took him up on his offer and collapsed into a rickety metal chair nearby. He stared down at the dark and grimy floor, avoiding eye contact with all the others, and supported his head in his hands. The not so discreet sound of another chair being dragged across the floor could be heard as Twice brought up a chair to sit a few feet away from Tokoyami. It looked like he was hoping to talk to the crow-headed kid, but Tokoyami ignored him and kept his focus elsewhere. For a villain, he was quite respectful compared to the rest and left him alone, but it was evident that he had something he wanted to say.
The violet portal shimmered, causing everyone to look up. Kurogiri breathed out in relief. "Finally!" He could tell that everyone had been waiting anxiously.
Sure enough, everyone is glad to see the return of Toga and all that she had brought. She skipped out of the portal, towing in her wake a collection of grocery and shopping bags. "I'm back~" she sang, plopping the bags down with a pleased expression. The girl had changed outfits since they'd last seen her, having gotten herself a new school outfit and ribbons for her hair. She also had a frilly pink backpack slung over her shoulder that clinked with the sound of glass every time she moved. "Food's in these bags, clothes and other stuff over here. Go crazy, I already have what I want."
Kurogiri stepped up to her, exasperated. "Toga, you're late. I see you've had quite a productive day, and that's good, but what on earth took you so long?"
"My job wasn't as easy as you made it out to be, you know. I could've been caught, and then we'd all be in trouble." Kurogiri was staring her down evenly, waiting for her to continue. "Okay, yeah, and I may have gone back to my place and hit up some spots and maybe weren't necessary. But I did everything else you wanted! So everything's alright, right?"
"Did you at least bring me back any change?"
"Nope! But that's your own fault. So sit back and enoy all the goodies I brought you all."
Most everyone was already sitting down with whatever they'd found in the grocery bags: granola bars, cookies, chips…Spinner had located a greasy bag of cold fast food burgers, which seemed to him like the best thing ever. Magne unpacked some of the more essential items on a table, with stuff like blankets, clothes, toiletries, and portable phone chargers being set out for anyone to grab.
Tokoyami grabbed a bottle of water first thing, despite how much his stomach demanded food. He tore open the cap and tilted his beak to the side so that he could drink from it. Twice was looking at him curiously. "Sorry to interrupt, but do you need a straw or something?"
Tokoyami drank some more before stopping to address him. "Usually, yes, but it's not important enough to warrant asking for."
Twice handed him some energy bars, which he gladly accepted. "Well, I can put in a request for that next time anyway. Anything else?"
Tokoyami thought for a moment. "Some apples would be nice," he murmured just loud enough for him to hear.
Twice nodded in understanding and went back to his own food.
Before he could even think to relax in this environment, Toga strode up to him, instantly putting him back on edge. She tossed a dark plastic bag into his lap, a grin stretched across her face. "Brought you something!"
"This isn't some sort of sick prank, is it? Forgive me for being a bit hesitant to see what's in here."
She laughed. "Aw, I just thought I'd do something nice for you is all. Is that so hard to believe?" Without even waiting to see if he'd look at the contents of the bag, she turned and went on her merry way. Despite looking so innocent, everything she did felt like it had some malicious intent behind it. He had no reason to trust her, and yet here she'd brought something for him.
He peeked into the bag, his face a mask devoid of emotion. He reached his hand in and felt fabric. He pulled out part way what he had discovered to be a new black hoodie before shoving it back into the bag. For some reason, he hated the generosity being shown to him by these people that belonged in the darkness of the underworld crime scene. It wasn't right with him that they treat him like their own. Regardless, though, he found himself holding tightly onto the bag of clothes, as though afraid it'd be taken away but thankful to have it.