Chapter 16 - Sweet Dreams
The first day of training camp happened to coincide with Tomo's first day in hell. The devil himself had decided to grace their class with his presence and told them to make the trek across the forest belonging to the pro hero team "The Wild Wild Pussycats".
Normally, it would be a fair ask; hero students should be in top physical shape and a journey through the woods was reasonable. What was not reasonable was the numerous traps and obstacles they had to fight along the way. One of the Pussycats had a Quirk that let her summon monstrous constructs made out of earth that would attack them on-sight.
"This will be how I die," was a thought shared by many of the Class A students.
It ended up taking their class 8 hours to clear the forest and make it to the rendezvous point together. Everyone had contributed in one way or another in their trial. The people with Quirks that lacked in firepower acted as bait for those who had firepower, those with reconnaissance Quirks relayed enemy locations to the class, and those with firepower Quirks worked to the bone to overcome all their obstacles. If they weren't all dead tired on their feet, it could have been considered a nice class bonding experience.
After the class had all arrived at their destination, they were met with the sight of their tormentors looking around innocently as if everything was alright. A few praises were given out to the students with the most destructive powers who had taken out the most number of enemies. Tomo, who was one of the persons acknowledged, along with his other classmates could only nod as the praise went in one ear and out the other.
Whatever was said afterwards was nothing Tomo bothered listening to. He had used his Quirk for so long in the forest that the voices of Darkness were sounding less and less evil to him when he compared them to what Aizawa and the Pussycats had put them through. The longer he used his Quirk, the more powerful it became. This was both a good thing and a bad thing. Power was good, but trying to control it required more and more focus which Tomo was quickly running out of in his current state. As a result, Darkness danced around his hands like moths to a lamp.
"You alright man?" Kirishima asked Tomo with a tap on the shoulder. As soon as he touched his shoulder, Kirishima jerked his hand away when a bit of Darkness popped out.
Tomo turned to his friend in alarm at the sudden movement. He did his best to suppress all of the external Darkness immediately. "Sorry. Tired. Focus. Bad."
Kaminari laughed nearby. "Finally! Someone who isn't me acts like that!"
"Don't sweat it. You sure you're good though? Do you need anything? Some water or something?" Kirishima continued, noticeably not touching Tomo this time.
"Food. Sleep." Just trying to speak was draining Tomo. Complete thoughts were getting harder and harder as he focused on suppressing his Quirk. Every few blinks sent a paralyzing chill throughout Tomo's body as he relaxed more and more. He could actively feel his mind getting slower and slower.
"Go get your luggage from the bus. Once you've settled into your room, grab dinner. After that, take a bath, kick back, and unwind. The real deal starts tomorrow. And Tomo, come here for a moment," Aizawa directed.
Tomo zombie-walked over towards his teacher, who may or may not also be the devil, while the rest of his classmates scattered. "Yes?"
"This wasn't fair to you. I apologize for putting you through that without warning. How are you feeling? Will you be able to sleep through the night?" Aizawa asked quietly. The softness and seriousness of his voice gave Tomo whiplash.
"I'll manage," Tomo replied. After seeing the kind of day they had already, Tomo got a sudden concern about his upcoming sleep schedule. So far, he had managed to get only a single hour of sleep on the bus in the past 24. If he skipped dinner right now and went straight to bed, he would get at best another two or three more hours of sleep. Then, he would have to stay up for who knows how long for the next day. In the past, Tomo had stayed awake for multiple days in a row due to unfortunate circumstances, but he had never stayed awake for so long while being so physically exhausted. He was quickly beginning to regret his nonchalant response to Aizawa's question.
"Grab a quick bite to eat and go to sleep right after. I'll use my Quirk on you until you wake up. That will work, correct?"
That declaration made Tomo widen his eyes and look at his teacher. His skeptical look was met with one of complete seriousness. Sleep through the night? What?
"Will it work or not?" Aizawa pressed impatiently after Tomo had gone silent.
"Y-Yeah, it should. But how long are you going to watch me? You don't have to! I've stayed up through the night before. I'll be fine!" Tomo panically replied.
His teacher shook his head. "We can't have you stay up all day and all night after physically exerting yourself. We need to give you some time to rest before you train. You'll be on a different schedule than everyone else. I'm giving you four hours of rest tonight. That is just about the same amount of sleep that the remedial students are getting. There'll be moments where I have to blink. How bad will it be for you in those moments?"
"I don't know… I never slept through the night before. I guess I'll be fine if it's only a few minutes…? I can't guarantee anything though. But, are you sure you want to do this?"
Aizawa nodded. "Stop asking the same question. If you have nothing else useful to say, go unpack and eat. Come to the lounge when you're done. You'll sleep there."
Tomo nodded and walked off to get his stuff off the bus. The paralysis that was creeping throughout his body was increasing steadily.
"Tomo?"
Tomo jerked awake at the sound of the voice. He realized he had fallen asleep while standing in front of the bus. He turned to the voice of Toru, who looked at him with what he figured was a look of concern.
"What's up?" he asked casually as if he wasn't just caught sleeping while standing. He moved to secure his luggage out of the bus.
"Are you alright?" Toru inquired. "You need some rest. How are you going to sleep tonight? Are you going to sleep tonight?"
Tomo nodded slowly and had to actively resist the urge to close his eyes again. "Mr. Aizawa is going to use his Quirk on me so that Darkness won't come out while I sleep."
"Huh? Will that work?"
"I think it should. The only reason I don't sleep at night is so that Darkness doesn't go out of control while I can't suppress it. If I don't even have a Quirk, then it can't go out of control so no issues."
Toru paused briefly, considering his words. "He would do that for you? Are you sure? This is the same guy who constantly lies to us and tells us it's for our own good that we're talking about, right?"
"Right? I couldn't believe it myself. He is completely serious about this, though."
Toru hummed pleasantly. "A night without your Quirk does sound nice. Use the opportunity to rest up."
"Yeah, I will. He said it's to make up for making me go through all of that forest nonsense. Apparently I need some rest before the start of my training tonight."
"Tonight?"
"Yeah," Tomo replied, "Mr. Aizawa said I'll be on a different schedule than everyone else here. I guess that means I'll be up at night training and asleep during the day. Pretty cool, huh?"
"I guess."
"They probably have something planned for each of us to get stronger," Tomo continued. He found himself getting oddly excited at the thought of getting personalized training. "This could be your chance to improve yourself and show everyone that you are actually strong, don't ya think?"
"Yeah…" Toru replied after a pause, seemingly lost in thought.
Tomo frowned. "Hey, are you okay? I'm usually the one who gives one-word answers while you pester me about being more talkative. When it's the other way around, it feels… kinda… Wow, that's why you get so mad, huh?"
Toru shook her head, as if snapping out of her sudden daze. Then, with a more noticeable amount of energy, she spoke, "No, no! Sorry! Just thinking about an idea I have. Hey, I'm gonna go unpack and talk to some of the girls about it. You go eat and get your sleep. I'll see if I can stop by later and check up on you."
Tomo hummed in agreement. As someone who usually ended conversations abruptly, Tomo couldn't complain if Toru had something else more important on her mind. He really hoped that the teachers had something good planned for her training. Seeing her worry so much about it recently saddened him.
After going their separate ways, Tomo quickly unpacked his few possessions, engulfed his dinner in record pace, and made his way to the lounge he was told to report to. A small nervousness entered him as he put his hand on the door. What if something happens? Can he restrain me? Will I get hurt? Will he get hurt? Can Mr. Aizawa really Erase my Quirk for four whole hours? Will I really be able to sleep?
Tomo swallowed his worries and knocked on the door. A quick hum told him he was allowed to enter. Mr. Aizawa was reading through a notebook in his chair. He crossed out something on the page while he spoke, "Good. You're here. Put your sleeping bag over there in the corner. Tell me if anything feels off immediately. I'll be with you in a second."
Tomo nodded, feeling slightly awkward now that his teacher was going to literally watch him sleep. The silence in the room along with his increasing nerves compelled Tomo to speak. "Busy night?" he tried asking awkwardly.
Aizawa grunted, still looking down at his notebook. "Nothing for you to worry about; just going over the logistics for tonight and the rest of the week. Are you ready yet?"
Tomo finished setting his stuff down and hummed an affirmation. He then looked up at his teacher patiently, the nerves still eating away at him. "What if something bad happens while I'm asleep? Will you be safe? Just run if it gets too bad, okay?"
Aizawa closed his notebook and looked up to assess him. Then, he spoke with a soft smile. "Don't worry, kid. You'll be safe with me. Just close your eyes and relax.
Tomo found himself unable to maintain eye contact with that declaration and moved to lie down. The nerves that were pounding in his head were replaced by a warm feeling in his stomach. He embarrassingly felt his cheeks flush. The protective tone Aizawa spoke with reminded him of another warm, reassuring voice from his childhood. It was a voice long gone and yet, one he could still hear if he focused really hard.
Tomo closed his eyes, both to try to sleep, but also to remember the old voice. He smiled when the memory came to him instantly. The voice was still as clear as a cloudless night to him.
The moment he felt Erasure on him, Tomo was ejected out of his thoughts as he suddenly felt lightheaded.
It's so quiet… My shoulders feel so light… Wow. This is so crazy. And peaceful…
"Are you okay?" a distant voice asked.
The tiredness of the long day in combination with the peace and quiet under Erasure gave Tomo the best sleep he had ever had in his life.
Shota Aizawa watched his student's breath crawl to a snail's pace, indicating that he had fallen asleep. That surprised him. He hadn't expected this to work so well. Tomo's sleeping issues were a big source of headache for Shota in the planning for the trip. There was a light knock on the door.
"Yes?" he replied without taking his eyes off of the sleeping body of his student. Because the person at the door had knocked, Shota figured it was probably a student. He prayed they weren't here to waste his time and attention.
"Hey, Mr. Aizawa. Is he asleep?" The voice was feminine and full of worry. Toru Hagakure, Shota realized.
"Thankfully, yes. Do you need something?"
"I was just wondering if I could hang out here for a little bit. Just to be with him…" Toru asked hesitantly.
Shota grunted. "Normally, no, but I'll make an exception for you this time. Mainly because I assume this is something new for the two of you."
"Yeah, I don't think I can remember the last time I saw him sleep this late. Maybe back when our…" Toru paused whatever she was about to say with a gasp. She rushed to take a seat beside Tomo on the floor and watched. Shota saw an indent on Tomo's cheek, meaning that his sister had gently poked his cheek to see if he was really sleeping. When he didn't stir, she turned to Shota and then back to her brother as if in disbelief. What Shota assumed was Toru's hand then went through Tomo's hair. The soothing gesture made Tomo stir, but it was a peaceful one full of content.
Shota watched the twins in silence. Weirdly enough, despite the fact that she was invisible, Shota wanted to swear that Toru was about to cry. It was at that moment that he realized just how subtly expressive Toru was despite being invisible. He wondered how hard it was for her to pick up that skill.
"I've never seen him look so peaceful before," she said softly. "He sleeps pretty often and only in fragments, but his face is always so troubled. His face here is so soft and nice. I can't imagine how peaceful he must be feeling right now. Thank you for doing this for him."
Shota hummed, not wanting to say much. He strangely felt like he would be intruding on a moment between the twins if he spoke too much. He decided to just continue watching Tomo in silence with Toru.
The urge to blink came to him after five minutes. Shota came to this realization with concern. What would happen if he blinked for a moment? Logic told him nothing would happen. Darkness wasn't a powerful enough Quirk to rampage within the second he needed to blink. Reason told him that he would be able to stop Tomo even if something did happen. Stubbornness told him that nothing would happen. However, he could not risk anything when there was another student nearby.
"Toru. I have to blink. Stay back in case something happens," he commanded as he prepared to act in case something went wrong.
Toru looked in his direction before turning back to Tomo, a carefree chill in her voice as she spoke, "It's alright. He won't hurt me."
"I won't risk that. Get back. Now."
"Mr. Aizawa. I've known Tomo way longer than you have. I'll be fine," she then insisted stubbornly.
Shota grunted in annoyance. Why can't she see how irrational it is to risk Darkness lashing out in this split second? I'll just grab her if it looks like something is going to happen.
Soon enough, before he could argue any longer, Shota finally gave out. He blinked rapidly to give his eyes some much needed relief and then reactivated his Quirk with a bated breath. To his relief, nothing seemingly happened in the second he needed to rest. Tomo hadn't even budged from his spot.
He continued his watch. As time went on, Shota greedily increased the blinking he did. The first few times when nothing happened, he decided to increase the amount of rest he did for his eyes. This way, his student would be able to sleep longer if his Quirk cooperated.
There were several moments where Shota was slightly concerned at how still and quiet his student was while he slept. Toru had eventually fallen asleep too by his side and Shota didn't have the heart to tell her to go back to the girls' room to sleep. He let his students sleep until midnight, for a total of five hours, before waking them up.
Tomo found himself in the strange dream-world of darkness again. This time, his setting was the forest that had journeyed through earlier in the day. The world was quiet, void of people and life.
"Hello?" Tomo called out. "Is someone there?"
Despite being all alone, Tomo couldn't help but feel that someone was watching him. The shade in the distance by some of the trees caught his interest in particular. If Tomo squinted really hard, it almost looked like the silhouette of a person.
Before he could make any deductions, the scenery changed.
This time, Tomo found himself again facing his childhood home. The sound of laughter could be heard inside.
Tomo looked around for any signs of life but again found none. The ominous stare he had sensed before was gone as well. As he took a step towards the house, the scenery changed again.
Tomo was in a box. A figure shrouded in darkness stood opposite him, any distinguishing features hidden by the lack of light.
"Come," the deep voice beckoned. The voice was unfamiliar, but gave Tomo a strange itch in his head.
"Huh? What do you mean come? Come where? Who are you and where are we?" Tomo replied.
Before he could get an answer, the scenery frustratingly changed again.
This time, Tomo was outside the cabin he had gone to sleep in. When he took a test step forward, the scenery surprisingly did not change. He looked around and sensed something strange nearby. It was a strangeness different from the gaze belonging to the mysterious shrouded voice. This strangeness was one that challenged his curiosity.
Upon focusing on it, Tomo realized that the sensation oddly reminded him of his classmates' Quirks. It was hard to put into words but Tomo could feel something inside the boys' sleeping cabin. It was something that pulled him. A hypnotic trance that he could not resist.
As he walked into the cabin, he could see several dark silhouettes resembling the bodies of his classmates. Upon closer inspection, Tomo had a vague idea of what was pulling him. Within each silhouette was what he could only describe as a core. It was a core filled with the energy of a Quirk. The essence of power that could be summed up as this bundle of energy stood before him. The ones that stood out to him the most were Todoroki, Bakugo, Tokoyami, and strangely enough, Midoriya.
Tomo walked through the cabin, slowly watching each core as he passed. Todoroki's core was unsurprisingly both warm and cold just from sight alone. Bakugo's core felt dangerous to even approach. Tokoyami's core had a slumbering danger that lurked within and Tomo morbidly entertained the idea to stir it. Before he could decide whether or not to leave it alone, his gaze wandered to Midoriya. The core dwelling within Midoriya was bright, full of life and energy. It was blinding to the eyes and gave Tomo a strange sense of hope. He could feel the strength of his classmates' Quirks from their cores, but Midoriya's was on a whole different level.
This was when Tomo realized that he was dreaming. It was the absurdity that Midoriya might be the strongest member of their class that made him realize how strange all of this actually was.
Nonetheless, Tomo walked towards Midoriya to get a closer look at his core. As he approached, he suddenly felt a violent push on his mind. The intense feeling of being repelled flooded his consciousness until he jerked awake with a sudden fear. It felt like he was ejected out of his own dream.
"Everything's ok?" Aizawa's voice called out.
Tomo felt a weight on his right and saw the sleeping form of Toru at his bedside with Aizawa sitting in a chair behind her, looking at him in concern.
"Uh, yeah. Just some bad dreams… What time is it?"
"You still have just a bit over another hour of sleep. I'd recommend using it while you can."
"Right," Tomo replied before his teacher could change his mind and went right back to sleep.
A/N: Thanks for reading.