Son of a (Spirit) Gun!
Tears in the Dark
[Unknown Location
POV: Midoriya Izuku]
Izuku was never afraid of the dark.
Sure, a lot of people would assume that Izuku had that kind of fear but he truly savored the dark. It was the only time he felt able to be himself. However, the darkness that surrounded him was…oppressive and violent.
And the closer he got to the bed in the distance, the thicker the oppressive and violent darkness around him got. If he didn't get to that bed in the distance soon, he feared that the darkness around him wo—
Izuku screamed as a shadow tendril with a red outline lashed out toward him and despite moving at the last second, his right shoulder was clipped, sending blood flying into the air.
[Midoriya Residence - Musutafu, Japan (Nighttime)
POV: Hagakure Tōru]
"Grab me some towels, " Inko instructed Chikuchi, who nodded and sprinted off while Tōru watched blood bloom on the right shoulder of her hero.
Why was this happening to him?
Hadn't he suffered enough?
Tōru felt tears spilling down her cheeks as blood bloomed on Izuku's left forearm. "Tōru-san," Inko called out. "I need your help."
Tōru stifled her tears and immediately rushed to Inko's side. "Anything you need, I'll do," Tōru told the older woman.
"I need you to go to my job," Inko started while digging into her pocket to pull out a set of keys. "I work at the hospital nearby. I need you to grab adhesive bandages, sterile gauze pads, medical tape, antiseptic wipes, antibiotic ointment, and pain relievers. Explain the situation to a nurse. They'll assist." Inko looked at Tōru with a serious expression. "Can I count on you?"
"Y-Yes!" Tōru exclaimed, surprised at how stone-cold Inko was. She was used to the kind-hearted and teary-eyed woman so to see her in the zone was shocking and amazing at the same time. "I'll remember it all and get them for you."
"Good," Inko nodded before Chikuchi returned with a bundle of towels. "We don't have time. Go. Now!"
[Unknown Location
POV: Midoriya Izuku]
Izuku landed on a floating dresser and fell to one knee, blood dripping down his left forearm. Izuku then soared off the dresser, which was obliterated by several tendrils that pierced through the wood at the same time.
Izuku landed upside down on a closet door and jumped off as another set of tendrils flew toward him. He managed to sway his body to avoid the tendrils heading his way. After clearing them, he landed on a nightstand that held a lamp with the light off and panted, "This…is…whew…bad…" Izuku pushed himself off the nightstand and in the direction of the bed, only for a tendril to materialize and smack him in the chest, sending Izuku shooting back through the closet door and toward the unending darkness.
Izuku gritted his teeth and grabbed the edge of a lazily spinning box fan, causing both him and the fan to rapidly spin until he was launched back in the direction of the bed. An echoing roar filled the void as inky black/red portals appeared above the bed, where tendrils hot out toward Izuku's soaring body.
Izuku performed every maneuver he could to avoid the tendrils and while he succeeded in avoiding some of them, he was unable to avoid them all, leaving gashes on various parts of his body. But despite the opposition, Izuku managed to avoid just enough to clear the hail of tendrils. "Almost there," Izuku hissed as he reached out and grabbed the edge of the bed. "Made i—Ahh!" Izuku screamed as two tendrils pierced through his right thigh and left hip from behind.
Despite the white-hot pain running through him, Izuku tightened his grip, reached up with his other hand to grab the edge of the bed, and pulled himself closer to the bed, causing the tendrils that pierced his body to slide out of him inch by inch.
Izuku clawed his way up the bed, his vision blurring with each bit of movement, but he was tugged back, causing him to slide down the bed, only for a hand to grab his wrist. "Hang on!" an unfamiliar voice exclaimed.
Through blurry eyes, Izuku saw a short teenage boy with the head of a black bird that resembled a crow or a raven. He has a tan, yellowish beak, which is slightly hooked down at the end, and thin, red eyes with small black pupils. "I got you!" the boy shouted. "Get up here! You can do it!"
Izuku offered a weak but determined smile before he and the boy worked together to pull him onto the bed, with Izuku screaming in agony as the two tendrils finally removed themselves from his body. Izuku fell on top of the bed and panted as everything started to grow dark.
"You're bleeding everywhere," the boy noted with concern.
"Y-Yeah…Your Quirk is…whew…powerful," Izuku breathed, his skin growing pale.
"We have to stop the bleeding but I-I don't know how," the boy lamented. "This is all my fault…"
Another roar filled the area as Izuku took deep, shallow breaths. It was strange…all of the roars he heard, always sounded like they were filled with rage. But now, in this place…it sounded so…sad…
It was then that Hinageshi's analysis of his Quirk filled his mind.
"Its offensive power, as well as its personality (Izuku: Personality?), depends on the surrounding brightness levels. Under strong light, Dark Shadow is small in comparison to when it is engrossed by darkness, In the light, it's docile and weaker. However, in the darkness, it's far more powerful, unruly, and vicious while attacking anything that moves or makes sound indiscriminately. In this state, it can defy its user's commands and gradually take over their body with its expanding darkness."
But as Izuku looked at the distressed expression on the boy's face, he heard another sorrow-filled roar. It was then he realized that it was not just the brightness levels that affected its personality…It was the user himself…
"Y-You can't blame yourself," Izuku whispered. "Not for this…"
"What do you mean?" the boy asked. "My Quirk is going out of control because I can't control it! It's hurting people! It's the reason you're bleeding now!"
"Yeah…but I think I know why it's so…strong…" Izuku whispered. "Your Quirk…Its personality is fed by both the brightness of the world around it…and you, its user…"
"Personality?" the boy asked in shock. "It has a personality?"
"Y-You didn't know?" Izuku asked.
"N-No..No, I didn't…I could have hazarded a guess but…" Izuku's harsh cough caused the boy's eyes to widen as Izuku's blood splattered against his right cheek. "H-Hey! You gotta stay with me!"
"Listen," Izuku whispered as he grasped the boy's shirt collar. "You have to calm down and t-talk to it. See what's hurting it…And once you do…you can…" Izuku's irises faded and his head fell against the bed.
"H-Hey! Wake up! Hey!"
[Midoriya Residence - Musutafu, Japan (Nighttime)
POV: Hagakure Tōru]
There was so much blood.
Too much for any of them to stave off.
Tōru had stumbled back into the apartment ten minutes ago and spent the better part of that time doing everything she could to staunch the blood flow from her hero's body but he was growing deathly pale.
"His pulse is growing faint," Chikuchi told Inko with concern thick in her voice. "He keeps getting more wounds. What do we do?"
"We have to keep trying," Inko answered, sweat pouring from her forehead. "My son has survived so much, we can't let him go now."
Tōru's hands trembled against Izuku's hip as his blood dripped down the right side of her face from when he coughed. It was happening again. She was seeing him die again. How could she get into this situation twice? She wanted to stand up and run away but her legs wouldn't answer her call. Tears mingled with Izuku's blood before splattering against the back of her hand.
"P-Please Izuku…Please don't do this to me again…" Tōru whimpered. "Don't you fucking dare!"
Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Inko and Chikuchi jump.
"You already nearly died once for saving my life!" Tōru shouted as she pressed down harder on his wounded hip. "If you die again...I'll drag you back from Heaven and kill you myself! You hear me, Midoriya Izuku?! So unless you want me to kill you again...then stay alive! For your Mom, for Chikuchi-san...For me! Stay alive, Izuku! Stay alive!"