It is finally spring, sunny and new chapter day. Hope you are having a good day.

This chapter is bit of a interim fluff/comfort chapter for the most part, but Izuku finally finds his true soulmate that can understand him.

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Comments:

SonicMax: Around that part is by where some critical stuff is going to have to happen where the rest of the story is going to be defined. I have some plans, but several options are still open.

AnimeFan13579: Stain would be more likely to listen to Izuku than Tomura, but if they ever ended up working together, well Tenya better not find out.

S1XXT035: No need to wonder. I've held up to every third Saturday schedule for quite long now. Next chapter is going to be in three weeks.

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Proofread by 3DPhantom

Chapter 51: Shadows of Night

Izuku had promised to make sure everyone else would get a good night's sleep. He'd never said anything about his own, so he got up and tiptoed to the window, looking at the garden behind the curtains. There was the open space they trained on the most, the remnants of Eijiro's rocky punching bag, and a spot where Hitoshi had tripped and fallen on Izuku after one of their earliest training days when Izuku trained him to the point of barely being able to walk.

If those memories alone had been his life, he could be happy.

He stepped out to the corridor, opening up his phone for the first time since Tenya returned to look at the news. It was all about what had happened at the festival. He took little comfort in that the narrative in the media seemed to be at least divided with titles from "Number Two Hero a Domestic Abuser?" and "What happened to Shoto Todoroki?" to "A Quirk Stealer Stole This Hero's Son. See Images." At least no article seemed to name where they were, though Izuku still checked the security cameras.

Then there was the case of Stain. The near death and suspected crippling of Ingenium was already in the news. Unfortunately, there wasn't anything on the killer that Izuku didn't already know about. The third and largest, most interesting news was a case of people being burnt to literal ash on a random alley.

Izuku stopped scrolling when a single sentence mentioned people hearing explosions before the fire and its victims were found. The victims had not been identified, so could Bakugo be one of them… Izuku sighed. Bakugo might have been arrogant, but it was unlikely that someone he met randomly in an alley would beat him, and there were multiple victims. Bakugo was many things, but a team player wasn't one of them, that was for sure. Seemed more like he had become a solo vigilante in the past few weeks.

Izuku was just glad he apparently hadn't decided to come after Tenya or Hitoshi. He might have been happier about that if he hadn't just replaced Bakugo's threat with Endeavour. But first… Ingenium.

Izuku snuck away and into his 'dad's' room. That was nothing but a façade in case anyone looked at Izuku's family situation. He sent a coded message and a warp gate soon appeared in front of him. He stepped through it and into the fancy apartment in the Tokyo skyscraper his dad had taken him to after his mom…

His father was sitting on a sofa, looking at a laptop with his eyeless face. How did that work anyway?

"I thought you were having a sleepover."

"They're all sleeping. I couldn't."

"And why is that?"

"Many reasons." Izuku looked away from his father and out the window. "How much do you know about Stain?"

"Ah, I wondered how you would react to the case with Ingenium. You do… understand that your own mission at the most fundamental level is about… eliminating a 'hero' for what he represents, not much different from Stain I would say."

Izuku kept looking outside.

"I hope you aren't allowing your judgement and resolve to be clouded by Ingenium's personal connection."

Izuku continued staring out of the window quietly for a long moment.

"I'll make my own judgement on him, and Stain. Just tell me what you know."

"Less than you think. Stain operates alone, driven by strong convictions on what a hero should be and what should be done to the 'fakes', not too different from your beliefs, albeit more simplistic and more extreme. I doubt he shares your concern on how people are treated differently for their quirks. Or at the very least, it is not the basis of his crusade. His issue seems to be that heroes care for anything but helping people, little things like making a living or fame."

"Do you know where he is?"

"He doesn't seem to stay in any one place, though you could probably find him if you took enough time to collect information. Tomura might also be interested in him for the League, so try not to step on each other's toes."

"Stain in the League," Izuku muttered frowning.

"Perhaps. His strong convictions could help to turn more people against heroes, but how well those convictions suit the League, and Tomura, are a different matter. I am not sure Tomura is capable of convincing him yet, though you have had a positive impact on him in that sense. Try not to sabotage his efforts if he succeeds."

"I'll try."

His father smirked.

"What was that thing Shinso said? Do or do not, there is no try."

Izuku's eyes narrowed.

"Did you spend the day eavesdropping on me?"

"Don't give me that look. You had no problem with that particular feature when you caught Endeavour on record."

Izuku couldn't deny that.

"To be more serious, work with Tomura. I don't like when plans go wrong due to bickering within the family." There was a weight in his words, far heavier than a simple warning to keep Izuku in line. His father knew what family could do when it didn't pull in the same direction.

Izuku returned home with no answers to ease the weight on his shoulders and dragged his feet back into the room containing much of what he still cared about in this world. He opened the door slowly to not wake them up. The Brainwashing made them fall asleep; it didn't keep them sleeping.

"Hey," a low, quiet voice called. Izuku jolted as he was in the process of closing the door and spun around, prepared to kill any intruder threatening the sleeping group. There was no intruder, only a large black mass rising from the sofa bed closest to the door, which Tokoyami was sleeping on. The mass quickly grew to block the entire rest of the room from Izuku's sight.

"Dark Shadow," he whispered, "you're not sleeping?"

"You told Fumi to sleep, not me. Where did you go?"

Izuku carefully maintained a calm, neutral expression despite being faced by the giant shadow. He knew well that Dark Shadow was at his largest and most dangerous in the darkness of the night. He tried to glance at the rest of the group behind the shadow.

"We don't want to wake them," Izuku whispered and pulled the door open again. "Talk outside."

He backed into the corridor and Dark Shadow stretched after him, filling the door so Izuku felt safe talking without waking the others.

"Where did you go?" Dark Shadow asked curtly.

"I couldn't sleep," Izuku said in same manner. "There's too much to think about and I can't use the Brainwashing on myself. How about you?"

"Just because you made Fumi sleep doesn't mean I would sleep."

That was one interesting detail Izuku would have to remember. Dark Shadow was truly a separate consciousness.

"If I slept, I couldn't look after Fumi, and I have to look after him when he can't look after himself."

Izuku tilted his head and hummed.

"I can understand that feeling. So you stay up all nights guarding Tokoyami and sleep when he is awake?"

"No. I don't sleep. I don't need to. I can look after him all the time."

"Jealous," Izuku muttered.

"What?"

"We are… a lot alike, how you worry about Tokoyami, how I worry about them, but I have to sleep and can't be with anyone all the time."

"So why did you leave them sleeping on their own? Where did you go?"

Dark Shadow at night was dangerous in more than a physical sense.

"I didn't want to wake them up. I looked at news… and checked the security system. Tenya's brother is already on the news, and the sports festival of course. It is a mess and I'm not sure what to do next."

"Fumi feels bad for Speedy and Two Face. Is the Trashfire going to threaten him for that?"

"He could, but mostly he wants to burn me."

"I don't mind squashing him if he tries, as long as Fumi is safe."

"That is my goal too," Izuku looked at the wall behind of which the others slept. He felt a strange level of comradery with the dark quirk. "There is so much going on, but the one thing I can't stop thinking even for a moment is the fear of losing them."

"Always in the back of your mind, and keeps popping up when you aren't thinking about something else hard enough to distract you," Dark Shadow nodded.

"Making you restless or irritated if you don't have something else to focus on," Izuku added.

"Especially at night when nothing is happening," Dark Shadow said and seemed to shrink a bit although it was hard to say in the darkness.

"Can make you act more rashly and violently than you otherwise would," Izuku added.

"But people don't understand it and call you a bad quirk when you just want to keep someone safe."

There was a long quiet moment between them.

"Good to know someone who understands."

"Then you understand to not fail Fumi."

Izuku didn't answer anything out loud, not confident he could answer honestly, but his face staring at the wall must have been enough to satisfy Dark Shadow.

"You want to help Fumi train tomorrow?" The quirk suddenly asked.

"Umh," Izuku was caught off guard, "yes. That is why I invited him, you two, in the first place."

"Then you should go to sleep. You still need that, and you can't help Fumi well enough tired. You don't need to worry about keeping guard."

After the previous discussion Izuku didn't have any concerns about trusting the quirk with that job.

"Thank you," he whispered as the quirk pulled back into the room, letting him back inside. Izuku settled back on his bed and took one more look around. He had a lot to think about, but at least for tonight he wasn't alone in the room with space for his worries to echo. Closing his eyes, he focused on tracking the calm sounds of the breathing of those around him to keep any other thoughts away. It worked great, for as long as he was still awake…

…

Izuku was standing in the middle of an inferno. He couldn't even see the room around him, just flames everywhere. He screamed for the others, but no sound came out. He looked around, but had to squint his eyes from the shine and heat of the flames. A large form moved behind the flames. Could Endeavour have done this? There was a loud explosion behind the flames in another direction. Izuku kept running through the flames, looking for the others. He was supposed to keep them safe. They shouldn't have trusted him as much as they did, but he should have at least kept them safe. The large form appeared ahead again. The flames suddenly opened into a space where they were smaller, only reaching his feet.

Many charred human forms were laying on the ground, all with something remaining that Izuku could recognize despite flames licking their surface, and over them were standing the two completely black forms of All for One and Shirokuro, their faces covered by the helmets.

"No!" Izuku cried out, his voice finally audible, "no, no, no…"

Shirokuro raised his hand, reaching towards Izuku. Izuku lit his Dragon Blade to slash at the offending appendix, but even as he did so, his other arm reached out, accepting the wordless invitation. Izuku could not control it, not either of them.

A wave of darkness fell between them and surrounded Izuku. The scorching heat disappeared but was replaced by an all-consuming, suffocating blackness. It tied Izuku's arms and he could no longer control himself no matter how much he thrashed around or tried to cut the darkness with the Dragon Blade.

…

"Hey, hey! Stop that!"

Izuku's eyes flung open, but the blackness remained. He gasped for air, but the irritating smell of smoke had not gone away. He yanked his hand up as something intensely cold touched it. He glanced down as the blackness over him shifted away as Dark Shadow let him go. The edge of his bed below where his hand had been was frozen, with wafts of smoke still hanging over the ice alongside a confused Todoroki. Izuku stopped breathing mid-breath and swung around to ensure everyone was still there. They were, and they were unhurt.

And they were all wide awake.

Izuku glanced at the now ice-covered side of his bed and his hand that had lit it on fire. He had almost made his nightmare true. He started breathing faster and shaking while staring at the shaking hand.

"You might not want to do that," someone said somewhere.

A hand appeared in Izuku's vision and reached to grab his. Izuku jolted, ready to draw on his quirks. His eyes rose. He froze still as his defences shattered and Hitoshi grabbed his hand without resistance and sat on Izuku's bed next to him. He took both of Izuku's hands onto his, stopping their shaking.

"Was it about her?" He asked.

"No," Izuku said, finding the floor suddenly very interesting.

"So… us."

"Yeah."

"Bad or double bad?"

"I think… double."

"I guess it's understandable considering the situation." Hitoshi looked at the chunk of ice on Izuku's bed. "Still worse than before. Good thing Todoroki reacted quickly."

"I'm sorry. I…"

"Shh," Hitoshi hissed and brought his other arm over Izuku's shoulder. "Dark Shadow caught you off guard. With everything that has happened to you it is natural to lash out."

"Hey!" Dark Shadow interrupted, "I was trying to help."

"Dark Shadow, quiet," Tokoyami commanded.

"No," Izuku said. "He didn't do anything wrong. I needed to wake up before something worse happened. It's… It's me. Just… next time don't try to hold me down."

Izuku stopped for a moment just to focus on breathing more calmly.

"It's not usually this bad when I'm not alone."

There was a long moment of silence as Hitoshi gave him a long, thoughtful stare.

"Want to talk about it?"

Izuku hesitated.

"I… I thought I had woken up. The room was on fire. I think there were explosions. All of you…" He looked at his hand. "I almost…"

He couldn't say by whose feet their corpses had burned.

"You aren't going to get rid of us that easily."

Izuku drew a breath and didn't say anything for a long time, until he looked at Todoroki and Tenya.

"I'm sorry. You already have too much weight on your shoulders to be woken up by my night-"

Izuku shut up with a light slap to the face by Hitoshi.

"You are already helping all of us carry our worries. Don't try to hoard your own."

"What weight is he talking about?" Todoroki muttered.

"Is there something we can do to help?" Eijiro asked. He had gotten off his bed and come stand at the end of Izuku's.

"You already do," Izuku sighed, "and then I almost lit you on fire."

"Heh, don't think you need to worry about that. Todoroki already tried and it didn't work."

Izuku shook his head, stunned by the redhead's ability to shrug off anything, and not just in the physical sense. Eijiro sat on Izuku's bed, trapping Izuku between him and Hitoshi. It was a comfortable place to be and some of Izuku's tension slowly slipped away. After a long quiet moment Izuku turned his head, ending up facing Todoroki, sitting opposite to him on his own bed.

"Thanks for… that," Izuku gestured at the ice that had put out his fire and was now beginning to melt.

"Fire is not good," Todoroki responded, "or getting burned."

He raised his hand to the burned side of his face, seemingly not aware of the action until the fingers touched skin and he jolted.

"I know that nightmare," Todoroki continued. Izuku bit his teeth together at hearing that, but wasn't exactly surprised by the words. Todoroki stood up. "You shouldn't have those for me. It is better if I go."

Izuku's eyes widened as the tired look on them hardened.

"Dark Shadow, block the door," he commanded.

"Don't tell me what to do," the quirk responded, but only after doing exactly what Izuku told him.

"Todoroki, sit down," Izuku ordered in his most commanding voice, which was enough to make his two-faced classmate freeze, but still only figuratively. Izuku didn't even need the Brainwashing.

"I didn't just publicly declare war on Endeavour to let you go back anywhere near him, sleep be damned... Don't say it Toshi."

"Don't underestimate the importance of sleep."

Izuku raised his hand in front of Hitoshi's face without even looking at him. His own stare was focused on Todoroki.

"Sit."

He did. Izuku rubbed his forehead.

"Todoroki, I had nightmares long before we ever met, and yours aren't going to go anywhere if you just suffer alone and hope something changes without accepting help. If you want to be a hero, you have to meddle in other people's business."

"And let others meddle in yours when you have trouble," Eijiro said quietly. "I don't think either of you should worry about these things alone. I don't pretend to know anything like what Todoroki, or Ida, or any of you are going through, but I know I'm better off for having you guys meddle with what I have worried about, you especially Izuku. Don't worry about putting weight on my shoulders, either of you."

"Same," Dark Shadow said, and Izuku could just tell Tokoyami was nodding.

"So how about we agree that no one goes anywhere tonight," Hitoshi suggested, "and after everyone gets some sleep, we can meddle in each other's business all day."

"Still not sure what weight you are talking about," Todoroki said, "but if you are sure."

"I wouldn't be anywhere else tonight," Tenya added. Izuku nodded.

"That's all I need. Please lay down. You should still be sleeping."

"Hold on," Hitoshi said and held his hand in front of Izuku. "Hand 'em over."

Izuku stared at the hand, then Hitoshi's face.

"No, you are the worst sleeper out of all of us."

"The hell I am. Which one of us almost burned the bed?"

Izuku pressed his lips together, staring at Hitoshi, unable to argue. They were locked in a staring contest for a long moment. In a different situation they would have handed the Brainwashing to Tenya, but he needed all the sleep he could get, more so than anyone else there, which for this group was really saying something.

"Fine," Izuku said, but after a few seconds of thought of more added "but if Recovery girl comes after me for this you are going to come up with the excuses."

"It's already past midnight, she only told you to keep them 'till today, she never said what time."

"Morning, she said 'till morning."

"Well for me this can already be morning."

Izuku sighed and took Hitoshi's hand, returning his quirks. Todoroki stared at them throughout the process, despite there being basically nothing to see.

"Thanks," Hitoshi said after the transfer and climbed back on his own bed. "There anything else you want to say?"

"Well," Izuku started, and everything turned hazy. That bastard got him.

What would Izuku have done without him?

Everything went dark in a blissfully deep sleep.