09.10.2023
It is I, the Absolute Madman and I'm back with your weekly dose of Evil Within!
*checks comments* *tries not to cry* *cries a lot*
And without further ado, the chapter!:
They walked for a minute or two, leaving the dorm behind and ensuring that their conversation would remain a secret. Izuku had nothing against the guys and girls from Shiozaki's class, but with all the new things he'd learned about his powers, he'd prefer to have some time to himself before disclosing the information to other people. And to learn more about them first of course.
They were well out of earshot - and Izuku doubted any of Yanagi's classmates had enhanced sensory abilities like Jirou and Shoji - so he saw it fit to start the conversation.
"So, I have a good idea as to what you'd like to discuss, but I'll let you tell me yourself." Izuku spoke up, catching Yanagi's attention.
The girl didn't seem to react at first, but Izuku saw a thoughtful expression cross her features briefly, indicating that she was simply figuring out how to start.
"From my very birth I possessed the intrinsic ability to notice ethereal phenomena happening all around." She began, her choice of words and manner of speaking interestingly peculiar. "A remote that somehow ended deep inside the couch, a vase that suddenly toppled over and broke into pieces. Things that even my parents thought to be mere bad luck. But I knew the truth all along. Spirits that didn't pass into the afterlife were shackled to exist alongside the living and were responsible for all those things."
They passed by a bench and Izuku motioned for them to sit down so they could comfortably continue their conversation.
"I'm guessing you've seen a particularly high concentration of spirits around me then?" Izuku said, trying to delay the grand reveal while at the same time learning as much as he could about the girl next to him.
To his surprise, Yanagi responded by shaking her head.
"On the contrary, I watched as spirits actively sought ways to avoid your presence as much as they could." Yanagi revealed, catching Izuku off guard.
"You're so special that even ghosts get out of your way!" The daemon bellowed in joy, thoroughly enjoying the conversation so far.
"I've never seen anything like this." Yanagi continued, completely oblivious to the fact that she was talking to two separate entities at once. "Yes, they're known to play favorites and tend to flock to certain people, but they seem… almost afraid of you."
"I see…" Izuku responded thoughtfully. "Do you have an idea as to why they'd behave so strangely?" He asked, genuinely intrigued.
"Not an inkling." Yanagi stated right away, but a second later doubt appeared on her face. "Although… I believe it may have something to do with… another thing I wanted to discuss with you." She added mysteriously.
"And what would that be?" Izuku questioned, already having an idea as to what she might ask about.
"While I'm not sure about the specifics, I do know that you have some connection to the ethereal. Perhaps an attached relative that passed soon after your birth or a stray spirit that fancied your company." Yanagi shared her theory, her interest becoming more visible with time. "Have you ever dabbled in occultism or something akin to it?"
"I used to read about it when I was younger, but it didn't interest me that much." Izuku responded, remembering a book or two that he'd found when browsing through the extensive collection of books of Fujikuma Monastery. "I developed a severe aversion to ritual sacrifices and the likes." He added.
"A shame really." Yanagi hummed out. "While I do understand that extremists have thoroughly defiled occultism, not all who practice it are inherently evil." She defended the art. Izuku understood her point and saw what she was trying to convey.
"My apologies then. But what does occultism have to do with my case?" Izuku asked curiously.
"I was under the impression that you may have summoned a spirit onto our mortal plane and forcefully bound it to yourself. With your evident disinterest in the art however, my theory has been invalidated." Yanagi explained. "I assume that regular witchcraft is equally foreign to you?"
Izuku only nodded in response and watched as the girl's posture deflated a bit, her hunch becoming slightly more prominent as a result.
"Is there any other possibility?" Izuku questioned, trying to see if he'd exhausted all of Yanagi's questions yet.
"Unless you yourself know the answer to this conundrum, I'm afraid not." Yanagi responded, indicating the end of her questioning.
This meant that it was Izuku's turn to share information.
"I already know that you yourself are interested in occultism, but what about daemonology?" He asked, a small smirk coming to his face.
"I dabbled in it occasionally." Yanagi admitted after a few moments. "Why?"
"I hope you're prepared for one hell of a story." Izuku responded before starting to spin his tale.
Pure disbelief is what he expected and pure disbelief is exactly what he got. He had to admit, watching Yanagi's face go through so many different expressions before finally settling on disbelief was quite the amusing spectacle. He was prepared to defend what he'd just told her, but now it was his turn to be surprised.
"I… see…" Yanagi responded, her brain slowly wrapping itself around all those new concepts that were just introduced to her. "Everything you just said flows too well to be a lie. It must be true then."
He probably could've seen it coming since Yanagi herself enjoyed dabbling in the ethereal matters, but he still didn't expect her to believe him right off the bat. Well, it makes things easier anyhow, so he wasn't about to complain or anything of the sort.
"To be honest, I thought you'd be more thrilled by the revelations." Izuku stated with a small smile.
"Oh, I'm pretty ecstatic at the moment, although I have trouble expressing my emotions accurately." Yanagi responded.
"Hmm… Kind of like Tokoyami then…" Izuku mused before a stray thought invaded his mind. "Now that I think about it, you're pretty similar."
"How so?" Yanagi asked curiously, interest swirling in her eyes.
"Well, you both seem rather reserved and calm, you're interested in similar things, though I'm not exactly sure what Tokoyami's tastes are." Izuku explained.
"If he's a fellow enjoyer of the ethereal, then I stand to gain much from our partnership." Yanagi said after a few moments of contemplation. "Would it be possible for me to meet him?"
"I'll see what I can do." Izuku assured.
It was then that Yanagi yawned, the exhaustion accumulated throughout the day finally catching up to her.
"It seems I should retire to my chambers to rest." She stated as she stood up from the bench. "I thank thee for entrusting me with the secrets of your forbidden powers. I'll be sure to keep everything I've heard today to myself to honor your trust in me." She bowed curtly. "I hope to see you during our next study session, may the spirits bring you favor."
And with their goodbyes said, the two parted ways. Though it was actually just Yanagi who walked away as Izuku decided to stay behind for a few moments.
"You can come out now." Izuku spoke into the open, waiting for the eavesdropper to reveal themself.
Seconds later, Shiozaki walked into his view, a hefty amount of red dusting covering her cheeks and an overall uneasy expression on her face.
"How did you know I was here?" She questioned, clearly embarrassed at being found out spying.
"It's kind of a new development." Izuku responded and went on to explain in a bit more detail. "Ever since that Bakugo incident I've been able to kind of 'sense' people? It's nothing crazy, but I can more or less tell when someone is around even if I can't see them."
"Finding people without having to see them sounds very useful." Shiozaki mused.
"I believe that, with time, I should be able to improve this aspect even more, but that's a plan for the future." Izuku stated, ending this impromptu topic and moving onto the main one. "Why did you decide to follow us?"
"Well, I was curious as to why the two of you would go out together. I'm pretty sure you've never spoken before and you acted quite strangely during the study session." Shiozaki explained. "I never thought it'd have something to do with your abilities."
"It's not like I was prepared for it." Izuku responded with a chuckle. "This is the first time anyone was able to catch a glimpse of the daemon and so I just had to learn more about her circumstances."
"Is that why you decided to tell her everything?" Shiozaki guessed, having heard the entire conversation.
"I didn't tell her absolutely everything, but yes. Who knows, we might end up discovering some strange connection between her ability to see the spirits and my daemon-sourced powers." Izuku said, optimism evident in his words.
He wasn't really counting on anything like that happening, but outright dismissing the possibility didn't seem like a good idea. They already knew that Yanagi's ability could mingle with his, so maybe the two powers could affect each other in different ways as well? They're in no rush to experiment however, as they'd surely end up pitted against each other doing combat exercises in the future and could try out different things then. For now Izuku was content just knowing that there was someone like Yanagi out there.
"I believe we should head back." Izuku said as he stood up from the bench. "It's getting quite late already and we all have school tomorrow. Makes sense to get a good night's sleep."
"Yes, that seems like a reasonable idea. I'm sure our teachers are going to push us even harder now that our Finals are coming up." Shiozaki agreed, falling in step with her fellow greenette.
Gentleman - being that Izuku that he wa- wait, the other way around. Izuku - being the gentleman that he was - walked Shiozaki back to her dorm first, wishing her 'good night' at the doorstep, before heading back to his own dorm, eager to get some sleep in preparation for the day to come.
The next couple of days were filled with piles of homework and loads of exercises, ranging from 1v1 spars all the way to objective-focused team challenges. If they didn't feel the Finals coming before, they sure as hell did now. Still, it wasn't all bad. Well, the physical part was, but they could deal with that. What most of them were weary of were the written exams that their teachers eagerly sent their way on a nigh daily basis.
Thankfully, due to the combined efforts of students from class B and some supplementary help from their class A colleagues, most of their year was doing pretty good all things considered. Even those academically challenged managed to keep scoring only slightly below average and were as far away from failing grades as they could be given their previous track record.
As expected, Yaoyorozu was topping every subject and every test, but that was practically a given. People weren't competing for first place, because that'd be an exercise in futility. There's no way to surpass the raven-haired heiress, the daemon of knowledge in a league of her own. Fighting for second place however was very much a thing.
Todoroki and Iida continued butting heads for the spot, always coming close but never fully overtaking the other in grades. The very top wasn't the interesting part this time around however.
"How the hell did the two of you score higher than me?!" Sero exclaimed as he pointed an accusatory finger towards Ashido and Kirishima.
The duo - pretty infamous for their ability to skim the thin line between failing and passing - had confident smirks on their faces, barely able to stop themselves from flaunting their extraordinarily high marks.
"Let's just say that we've gotten serious." Ashido stated with smugness practically oozing out of her like acid.
"They're joining the guys from class B for study sessions." Jirou explained, ruining the whole moment for Ashido and her horn buddy. "Green, aren't you a part of that too?" She then asked, directing the question at their Class Representative.
"Yeah, he's the reason why we were able to join in the first place!" Ashido exclaimed, greatly exaggerating the story but they were already pretty used to her antics.
"They're super helpful!" Kirishima chimed in to throw his opinion onto the broader forum. "Midobro is a real one for getting us in!"
"Guys, you're exaggerating again." Izuku responded with a humble smile. "I might've asked Kendo to let you tag along, but the grades you've gotten are the result of your hard work. Don't let anyone take that away from you." He reminded them, spouting truth with every word. Had it not been for the roof being there, they'd see a stray ray of sunshine illuminating his form.
"That was so manly!" Kirishima exclaimed excitedly. "Now I'm pumped! I'm gonna study even harder!"
"Hell yeah!" Ashido joined in on the hype train. "Watch out you guys, we're gonna be top of the class in no time!" She proclaimed as she pointed a finger at Sero and Kaminari.
"No way!" Kaminari countered right away. "Just you wait, I'm gonna start studying like crazy!"
"Oh yeah!" Sero stood up. "We're not just gonna let you get ahead like that! We'll organize our own study sessions!"
"And who is gonna tutor you guys?" Jirou asked with a smirk. "I doubt your combined brain power will be enough to rival an entire class worth of people." She teased.
"If any of you need help with your studies I'd be happy to help!" Yaoyorozu offered, her fists balled up with giddy excitement.
"A brilliant idea!" Iida piped in. "Your drive to improve yourself is most noble! I shall aid you in whatever way I can!"
"Sweet!" Kaminari cheered before turning to Ashido and Kirishima. "YOU should watch out!" He declared. "We're not gonna go out without a fight!"
"Well, as long as everyone improves in the end…" Izuku mused to himself, watching the heated argument with a smile.
True to their claims, Yaoyorozu and Iida did gather a rather large portion of their class in the common room, all equipped with various textbooks and notebooks, ready to get some studying done. Izuku, Ashido and Kirishima were welcome to join despite the rivalry of course, but they'd politely declined the offer. Well, Izuku was the one to decline and both Ashido and Kirishima decided to stick with him, so they declined by proxy.
Izuku wasn't sure how he felt about them following him like shadows, but it wasn't doing any harm just yet, so he'd let it happen. For now that is. He was honored to have their trust, but heroes couldn't be strictly followers. Leadership skills were a vital part of being a hero, whether it be about leading your fellow companions or directing civilians away from danger, a hero should know how to lead even in the heat of battle.
Izuku, Ashido and Kirishima weren't the only ones to refuse Yaoyorozu and Iida's help however.
Todoroki was pretty adamant about studying alone - and it's not like he needed the help anyways - and about preferring to do it in silence. Izuku and his two shadows refused for obvious reasons, but another person to join them was - unsurprisingly to some - Tokoyami.
Izuku kept his end of the bargain and introduced Yanagi to Tokoyami during one of their shared lunch breaks. They became fast friends, bonding over their shared taste in macabre above all else. Sitting by themselves during lunch - which was the only real time the two could meet and chat - didn't sit well with them, they weren't at that stage yet, and so the two joined Izuku and his ever-expanding group.
All the new additions transformed Izuku's quiet corner into a traffic hotspot, with nearly a dozen people coming over to join him every day. The atmosphere - while staggeringly different from how things were in the beginning - was just as enjoyable as before, if not more. All those different personalities gathered in one place, exchanging pleasantries, stories and jokes. Even if he could, Izuku wouldn't change a thing about it.
I was kind of tempted to get the 1-A study session as well, but I decided against it. I think it's about time we hop into the Finals! Now I actually gotta figure out what the fuck I want to do for those... Anyone got suggestions? Without Bakugo I can't exactly go the canon route - not that I'd like to do so anyways - so I'm curious if there's anything in particular you might want to see!
For now though I'll take my leave so have a great day and I'll catch y'all in the next update!