This chapter takes inspiration from this wonderful little story I found

Only Then I am Human, Only Then I Am Clean

By TheNarator

Fumikage was quite content to stay where he was in his bed and continue dreaming about sitting at the bottom of a tranquil sea, so he very much did not appreciate it when he felt someone trying to nudge him awake *Fumi… Fumi.* he heard someone call in his head, Fumikage rolled over and covered his head with his pillow stubbornly trying to go back under the waves.

*Fumi!* Sadi squawked loudly through his mind and Fumikage gave up any pretext of trying to return to sleep and sat up in bed running a hand through his feathers *What is it Sadi?* taking a glance at his alarm clock to see just what ungodly hour they had demanded his attention at.

Fumikage's eye twitched when he saw it was four am, a full hour before he had to be up and Sadi knew he was up late studying last night so he hoped they had a satisfactory explanation or he would not eat any mice for a month just to spite them, Fumikage could be petty when he wanted to.

But his ire was easily quelled as they softly bumped their head to his *I had that nightmare again.* Sadi whimpered softly as they pressed their face into his chest, Fumikage felt his chest tightened and wrapped his arms around the small version of Sadi's form *Calm yourself Sadi, I am still here.* he assured and began gently stroking the shadowy wisps that gave his sibling form.

Fumikage was not sure how but sometimes due to their connection he and Sadi would share dreams and unfortunately that included nightmares, the most disturbing one was one where he had passed away and Sadi had been buried alive with his corpse, it was a truly horrid experience and one that happened more often either cared for.

There was little Fumikage could do when such dreams happened other than hold Sadi close and try his best to assure them he was very much alive, it would often take the rest of the day for Sadi to shake off the aftershocks from the dream and he hated it, as annoying as Sadi could get they were still his sibling and it pained him to see them so hurt.

*Do you want to get something to eat Sadi? It is about time for breakfast anyways.* Fumikage suggested after a few seconds *Ok… * they halfheartedly agreed, carefully Fumikage moved off the bed and slowly made his way over to his door, Fumikage's sight wasn't the best even on a sunny day so navigating his pitch-black room would be impossible if hadn't had Sadi to guide him.

But if Sadi was emotional like this Fumikage would just have to rely on his memory of the house to find his way out and to the kitchen, it wasn't that hard given they had grown up together in this house for as long as they could remember, it helped that there were plenty of windows to light up the hallways just a bit.

Once in the kitchen Fumikage got himself a bowl and began cutting up apples to have that for breakfast, Sadi resting on his shoulders with their small arms wrapped around his neck, considering how distressed they were Fumikage decided on treating them a little bit and went to the fridge.

Opening the freezer Fumikage grabbed one of the little white bundles inside and sat down at the table with his bowl of apple slices, Fumikage ate the bowl up quickly then opened the tightly wrapped bundle revealing a little white mouse which he grabbed by the tail and quickly swallowed it whole, he thought mice were an okay snack, but it was Sadi who truly adored them.

*Thanks Fumi* Sadi muttered nuzzling his face, Fumikage nuzzled them right back with some soft chirping attempting to further comfort his sibling *I will always be here, Sadi.* he told them enjoying the feeling of their feathers brushing against each other, it was such a simple comfort for the two of them.

Their moment however was interrupted as the kitchen light suddenly turned on and Sadi quickly dispelled their physical form "Chickadee? What are you doing up?" His mother asked, clearly surprised to see him up before her, Fumikage shrugged his shoulders "When I awoke this eve, I didn't want to risk the lunar temptress holding me captive in her embrace should I give into her siren song." He answered using purple prose to misdirect the conversation.

Fumikage got an amused huff from his mother, and she butted their heads together softly cooing in the way his vocal cords couldn't "Oh of course little Chickadee, think you've got the energy to help me make your mom's breakfast?" she asked, and he nodded, hopping out of his seat and going to wash his hands.

After that Fumikage Sadi had an average morning getting themselves ready for school with Sadi popping out when "appropriate" and putting on their act of just being a quirk, neither of them liked pretending that was what Sadi was but because of a stupid counselor they hadn't much choice, so for their own sake they stopped trying to prove Sadi was their own person.

That included their mothers, as far as the women knew Sadi was just a quirk that happened to be sentient so they would sometimes treat Sadi a bit like one would treat a pet, sure it could feel condescending at times but they both understood it could be much worse.

Their old counselor had tried to convince their mothers that Sadi was not sentient at all and that it was just Fumikage making up an imaginary friend using his quirk, thankfully they did not buy that, and they still talked with Sadi even if they did not think of them as a person.

It was hard at times for the pair especially when they were younger and not as well coordinated, for himself Fumikage hated how people would talk about his sibling like they were just some kind of puppet, and for Sadi they had no one they could rely on expect for him because no one else saw them as a person.

Fumikage was even the one that had helped give Sadi their name since no one else thought they needed one other than Dark Shadow, he was sure that if their mothers knew about Sadi they would embrace them as their child in a heartbeat, he just had no idea how to prove Sadi was real to anyone without sounding crazy.

So, for now they both had to continue this act for the rest of the world that Sadi was what everyone thought they were, which was why their parents had Fumikage enrolled in Osuka, a middle school meant for people like him with hard to control and sometimes dangerous quirks.

Fumikage couldn't say he particularly disliked this school more than any other, the way they were treated never seemed to change and it's not like he had made any friends, oh sure Fumikage had some "friendly" acquaintances, but he didn't really see those people as his friends, he'd set a firm line in his mind years ago about what people he'd allow be their friends.

It left them very isolated from their peers, but Fumikage hardly felt lonely with Sadi always there to cheer him on regardless of the situation, they were Fumikage's biggest supporter in his dream of being a hero and had even worked with him so the two of them could work together as partners, something that had taken a bigger commitment from Sadi than from Fumikage.

Fumikage was quite aware that he was the one with the better end of the deal in this situation which was one of the reasons he had developed his extensive vocabulary, Sadi found his acting rather entertaining given their shared interest in soap operas, Fumikage fully blamed their interest on their mom getting them into it with a gothic Victorian drama about twins.

Though Fumikage could not deny it was just fun to talk like that and the reactions he got from people were always nice to look back on, it did not make him any friends, but Fumikage could live with that just fine, he wasn't that involved in his school's social circles and didn't have any plans to be.

*Fumi!* Sadi cried physically manifesting and yanking him to the side causing him to choke out a sharp caw, Sadi would never do something like this without a good reason and only two seconds later Fumikage saw exactly what that reason was, a ball whipped past where he was and would have hit him dead in the face.

*Ah… Thank you Sadi.* He told them gulping *No problem, Fumi, people incoming on your six.* they warned him and Fumikage tensed up as a pair of upperclassmen approached him, the two that had shoved them into a supply closest back in February, it had already been a bad day for them and being locked into that closest made him panic which caused Sadi to panic and they destroyed some rooms in their fear.

And judging from the way they looked at him ever since he was sure his senpais did not like that he had gotten them in trouble with the school, an idea that was proven as they proceeded to corner Fumikage by the gate "Well, well if it isn't the little songbird." The first boy hissed at him "I bet you've been busy spilling your guts to the teacher again yeah?" the girl spat at him with hands on her hips.

Fumikage felt his hackles raise and immediately clamped down on his connection with Sadi knowing what they were thinking *Sadi no. Let me handle this.* Fumikage said much to their apprehension, Fumikage tried to remain calm knowing it would help Sadi stay calm in turn "I've done no such thin-" he tried to say only to jump as the boy's hand slammed against the wall right next to his head.

"Bullshit Tweety, we both know it was that doppelganger of yours that fucked up the halls." The guy venomously told him *You were the ones that locked us up!* Sadi shrieked back and Fumikage allowed it since that was better than them attempting to deal with their upper classmen.

"There's no way we would have gotten in trouble if you'd just learn to control that feral shadow of yours." The girl argued making Fumikage's feathers bristle, he did not like anyone trying to reduce Sadi to something less than human, even with their act Sadi was still a sentient being even if they were just made up of a quirk.

"Do not speak of matters in which you have no understanding." Fumikage darkly replied, switching eyes to look at her only to freeze when he spotted the girl had removed one of her gloves "You've got quite a mouth on you you emo, I think I have just the thing to fix that though." She said, stepping closer with her hand outstretched.

While Fumikage could not remember his senpai's name he did remember how she paralyzed someone with her quirk (it was how they were trapped in the closet in the first place) and it made him panic, because of their nightmares of being buried alive Sadi had developed an intense fear of being trapped and that had extended to him being paralyzed after their upperclassmen stuck them in the closet.

And he could feel Sadi vibrating under his skin with their terror and if he did not find a way to deescalate the situation they would lash out and hurt someone, but before Fumikage's mind could produce any kind of plan a hand suddenly grabbed the girl's arm.

Looking over Fumikage's breath caught as he met a pair of furious red eyes "The fuck do you think you're doing?" Bakugou snarled getting right up into the girl's face, the pinkette flinched back given Bakugou's ire was intense "Hey Bakugou-Kohai we were just-" the guy said trying to come off friendly, but he was interrupted by Bakugou shoving the pinkette at him.

"You're going to fuck off and leave us alone, yeah I know shithead." Bakugou spat at them grabbing Fumikage's arm and began dragging him along to the school *Fumi?* Sadi softly questioned still very on edge *Calm yourself Sadi, we shall be alright.* Fumikage replied, letting himself be dragged off into the school.

Bakugou did not say anything after that and had let go of his arm at one point and just walked along with him until they had to split ways given Bakugou was not in the same class as them.

Fumikage had wanted to thank the boy for helping them but he hadn't been able to find the words and Sadi was still too shaken up to help him like they would sometimes, he was still beating himself over it at lunchtime while he was sitting under the tree he always ate under, he started coming out here when he realized he could freely interact with Sadi outside away from the rest of the student body.

He would offer up some of the shrimp his mom had packed in his bento box to them, it was hard for them to physically eat but Sadi had been getting better over the years of practicing though they could only eat meat, everything else would just fall through their beak if they tried to eat them.

They were just finishing the shrimp when they must have spotted someone because they made their physical form disappear "Oi, Patchy." a voice called and Fumikage whirled his head around to see Bakugou was walking over to him and Fumikage gulped.

Socially inept as he was he knew exactly who the Bakugou family was, mainly because his mother was a big fan of them seeing as they were one of the few people in the fashion industry that regularly made lines of clothes for people with mutation quirks, his mother couldn't stop gushing about it when the Bakugou Mitsuki came to the spa she worked at and that she got to do the woman's nails herself.

So of course he couldn't not notice when their son transferred to Osuka even if they weren't in the same class but he had no idea why the blonde would want to talk to him, they weren't exactly friendly and they had only interacted the one time this morning before school, so Fumikage was reasonably nervous about what the seemingly always angry boy would want with him.

Once Bakugou was within a meter of him the boy looked around then scoffed "So this is where you stalk off to every day." He commented then sat down beside him "At least it's fucking quiet out here." He added leaning against the tree.

*Fumi why is he here?* Sadi asked, and he did not know how to answer because he was just as clueless, why would this boy want to talk with him when they had nothing to do with each other, Bakugou was not giving him any reasons either as he just sat beside him avoiding eye contact as he aggressively and repeatedly tapped his foot.

Just as Fumikage was going to ask why the boy was here, Bakugou tsked and threw a pair of boxes at his lap making him jump "The teachers were dumbasses for getting on your ass for what those shitheads did to you." Bakugou gruffly said, crossing his arms and still avoiding his eyes.

Fumikage blinked and stared at the two little boxes feeling very confused over the boy's sudden gifts, Fumikage could understand that Bakugou knew of the incident given Sadi's panic was far from quiet but why would the boy feel the need to go out of his way to get him something.

"Thank you for the gifts." Fumikage said feeling uncertain as he began to open the larger box finding himself staring at a small bird skull with antlers *What?* Fumikage thought, picking it up by the little attached keychain and realized it was not a real skull but fake one, it was also painted black with hints of gold and small gems.

The shininess made his avian instincts want to chirp in happiness with having a new shiny for his collection "Where did you acquire this?" he asked wondering if there were even more shiny bobbles for him to buy that were just like this, Bakugou scoffed "It ain't that hard to make that crap." The boy told him, further taking Fumikage aback.

"Y-you made this for me?" he said so shocked he dropped his fanciful descriptions and Bakugou rolled his eyes "Yeah so fucking what, it doesn't mean shit. I made something for Potty too." He growled back pointing to the other smaller box "Who?" Fumikage questioned and he got an angered look back "That fucking twin of yours." Bakugou responded, rudely gesturing to his shadow.

Fumikage found himself staring at the blonde "Me?" Sadi timidly asked, popping out and pointing to themself, Bakugou scoffed and rolled his eyes "As if you didn't have to also put up with those jackasses bullshit." The boy said not bothering to look at them.

Blinking the two siblings looked at each other before Sadi chose to open their gift and almost immediately squealed, they pulled out a fluffy and shiny little plushie that looked like a cat "I love it, Fumi it even has little bells!" they chirped, showing him the little glittery collar with shiny bells, using their claws to make the bells jingle then began to bat the toy back it forth much like a cat would.

Sadi have very few things to their name and the only other toys they had were shiny pet toys they got from their mothers, their enjoyment of such toys were a bit childish but Sadi had few outlets that they could take advantage of when they had to pretend all the time, and this gift was probably the only thing they had ever been given to Sadi by someone that wasn't in their family.

"I, thank you Bakugou-San, most do not give pause to consider the effect things have on my dear companion." Fumikage said unable to not be unaffected by Sadi's sudden joy, their mood having drastically risen from the unexpected gift.

Bakugou tsked "People are just shitty, don't thank me for this crap." The boy told him standing up and stalking off "Thanks for the kitty!" Sadi squawked loudly after the blonde "I just said not to thank me you secondhand parrot!" Bakugou yelled briefly turning back to them just to do so before stomping off even faster, which just made Sadi chuckle.

*I think he likes us! He gave us such pretty shinys Fumi!* Sadi told him as they hugged the cat close *Don't read too much into it, I'm sure he was just trying to be nice.* Fumikage replied turning his gaze to his own gift, Sadi huffed and butted their head against his *It's no wonder mother likes his mom so much, the Bakugous are so nice.* Sadi commented and Fumikage couldn't disagree given he was holding a very nice looking shiny for his collection.

*Oh! We should try to befriend him, Fumi! He'll give us more shinys if we're friends right?* Sadi excitedly exclaimed making him balk *Sadi no.* Fumikage told them knowing exactly how bad Sadi was going to get to try befriending the blonde and they gave him a big grin *Sadi yes!* they cried back then their shadowy body shot out after Bakugou.

"Dark Shadow no!" Fumikage yelled struggling to stop his sibling from forcibly befriending the boy as he was being dragged behind by them.

I gave Dark Shadow a name because when people go around naming pet rocks the idea of sentient being like them not getting one outside of the quirk name was ridiculous, so of course they would of course get a real name.

And as for the name I picked, I was caught between Sadiq and Sadia so I chose to shorten it to just Sadi (Sa-Dee) as a hopefully gender-neutral opinion since I couldn't find anything about an official gender for Dark shadow.

Edit: I have a character key up on Ao3 now and its connected to story on Ao3 so it won't be that hard to find, I'd crosspost it but as its a list it wouldn't follow posting rules here, https archive of our works 49419613 this should work to help you if you search it the search bar.