Chapter Text
Yaoyorozu stares down hard at the sheet in front of her, pencil in hand and expression twisted in thought. She taps the lead of the pencil onto the desk as she thinks, leaving small pencil dots on the wood, which she then wipes away with her thumb, lest she get scolded for vandalism.
Everyone else has already left the classroom, leaving her sat in her seat as she mulls over the last question on her paper. It wasn’t anything too back-breaking, merely some homework that needed to be done. The others had all stuffed the paper into their bags and return to the dorms, vowing to do it later. Yaoyorozu isn’t a fan of leaving things to the last minute, or vowing to do them later. She prefers to finish all her homework after class because it guarantees that she does it without distractions.
Suddenly, her eyes light up as the pieces fall into place- she scribbles hastily in the answer box, whilst still retaining her neat handwriting, before sitting back and going over the questions once more.
She quite likes the silence of the classroom as she does her work. Of course, she could do her work in her room back at the dorms, but the lack of space doesn’t provide the same feeling. The classroom is much more open and empty, giving the feeling of truly being alone.
Of course, she doesn’t realise that she isn’t actually alone, until a shadow is cast across her finished paper. For a moment, she wonders if she’s been alone the entire time, and why there’s still someone here when the bell has rung long ago.
Yaoyorozu daintily moves her head to the side, looking up at the student standing behind her. He looks...unusually flustered. Still quite calm, but rather ruffled. You could say he has ruffled feathers, both metaphorically and literally.
“Oh, Tokoyami! I didn’t realise you’d stayed behind too. Do you need something?” Her smile is always genuine, and she’s willing to help with whatever problem that appears to be ‘ruffling his feathers’.
Tokoyami doesn’t reply immediately- he crosses his arms, though the gesture isn’t as smooth considering he’s holding a piece of paper in his hand. His eyes close, as they often do, and he quietly clears his throat.
“Have you done the homework already?” He asks, almost testily, and Yaoyorozu can just about make out the typing on his paper that mirrors hers, though it look suspiciously empty. Her smile becomes a tad more knowing and, spotting this, Tokoyami swallows.
“Would you like some help?” She offers politely, and Tokoyami pauses, before sighing, dropping his hands to his sides. He holds out the paper for her to take. “I’m sorry about this. I don’t want to be a bother but...I’m really not getting the hang of this.” He scratches the back of his head.
Yaoyorozu giggles, “That’s okay, sometimes it just needs a better explanation. Here, grab a seat and I’ll walk you through it!” She almost looks excited by the prospect of doing homework with one of her classmates. Tokoyami finds it to be quite sweet, how much joy she takes in helping her friends.
As he takes a seat, though, he ponders the fact he’s never actually spoken to her properly before. He wasn’t even sure if they had anything in common to talk about, but there was nothing wrong with striking up a casual conversation.
Yaoyorozu looks over his paper- it’s totally empty. There’s no answers written on it, but there are a number of suspicious looking smudge marks, where Tokoyami may or may not have erased his answers multiple times. She smiles, fondly.
“So, let’s start with the first one.”
He leans over, sat on the opposite side of her desk and Yaoyorozu swivels the paper to the side so they can both read it. She begins to methodically explain the workings of the equation on the paper.
“So, whilst there’s a specific way to work this out, what you’re basically doing are solving these two equations and then adding the answers together.”
“That makes sense.” He nods, placidly, drumming his fingers on the table as he watches Yaoyorozu gently pencil a demonstration next to the answer box. “So...when you multiply the 3 and the ‘x’, you get 3x.”
“Ah,” He merely says. Yaoyorozu guesses he didn’t know that.
She continues to walk through the first question and together, they reach the answer. He stares hard at the paper, recollecting the steps in his head.
“Let’s go through the second one- just to make sure that you’ve got it.” Yaoyorozu says softly and Tokoyami nods quietly. He hasn’t said too much over the past ten minutes, other than the occasional noise of agreement, to let Yaoyorozu know that he’s still paying attention.
She demonstrates the next question and this time, Tokoyami seems to be picking it up quicker than before. He looks a little less flustered and a little more bright-eyed, which must be a good sign.
“Would you like to try the next question?” She holds out her mechanical pencil to him in an offer for him to take it and he eyes it, almost taken aback. He takes the pencil anyway and as he’s about to begin the question, he stares at the pencil, testing the weight in his hand.
“Fancy pencil.” He says simply, and Yaoyorozu goes a little bit pink. “Ah, yes. It was bought for me, actually.” It’s a metal, mechanical pencil, with gold spirals around it and a gold tip. There’s a small, pink, heart sticker stuck to the top and Tokoyami eyes it with a small smile.
As he begins the question, Yaoyorozu notes his expression. “I-I just had a few stickers spare.” She laughs quietly, almost nervously, and Tokoyami shakes his head. “Nothing wrong with that. I had...a bit of a sticker phase when I was younger.” He admits and as his smile grows a little, Yaoyorozu puts a hand to her lips.
“That’s...I wouldn’t expect that from you- I hope that’s not mean of me to say!”
“Oh, don’t get me wrong, they weren’t like that.” He lifts the pencil, indicating the pretty heart sticker, “It was just stuff like...bats and skulls.”
“Bats and skulls? Now that sounds a little more like you.” She says pleasantly and it’s almost a little bit surprising to her when he emits a small laugh. “I suppose it does. I don’t do that anymore, but it just reminded me.”
“Ashido has a rather extensive collection of stickers. She gave me a unicorn one the other week.” Yaoyorozu beams, “I stuck it to the back of my cell-phone.” Tokoyami shifts in his seat, “Mm. She stuck one on me, too. Right on the side of my face.”
There’s a small period of silence before Yaoyorozu unceremoniously snorts into her hand. She can’t tell whether the image of that situation or the fact he had said it in such a dull tone is what makes her laugh more, but she genuinely does her best to stifle her mirth. Tokoyami looks a bit bewildered when he looks up, seeing her bright red face and puffed out cheeks. He takes in her remarkable expression and covers his own beak with his free hand, looking down at the paper. What a strange face…
“I...I’m sorry!” She finally bursts out with a giggle, “I just-- I just...oh, my. You sounded so displeased.” She wipes the beginnings of a tear from her eyes and Tokoyami smiles into his hand. “I was at the time- it was the equivalent of getting something stuck to your hair.”
Her laughs don’t cease yet, “W-What sticker did she give you?”
“I have no idea- I think it was meant to be, like, a kitten? Whatever it was, it was ugly.” He says, amusedly, before swerving the conversation topic. “Here, did I do this right?” He turns the paper in her direction and Yaoyorozu continues to wipe her eyes, daintily.
“Uh-- let’s see...yes, that’s it! You’ve got it!” She claps her hands together, slightly breathless from her sudden fit of laughter. “Are you okay to do the next questions too?”
Tokoyami nods, “Sure. Guess it wasn’t as hard as I thought.” He admits, as Yaoyorozu begins to rummage in her bag. He continues the question, but watches her out of interest out of the corner of his eye. A few seconds later, she pulls out a small, flat packet. She holds it out at arms length, just in front of his face and he sits up to see better.
“Here! If you finish the questions, then I’ll give you a sticker!” She offers, cheerfully, but her cheeks are still red and it looks like she might be trying to make a joke out of it. Tokoyami laughs breathily, returning to the question, but his eyes suddenly widen and Yaoyorozu can see nothing but black.
“Me, me, I want a sticker!!”
Yaoyorozu feels the front legs of her chair leave the ground as she backs away suddenly, taken aback by the sudden, bird-shaped shadow in her face. Once she realises that this is, in fact, a normal occurrence, her expression becomes calm and she smiles.
Tokoyami grimaces. “Not now.” He mutters, but Dark Shadow doesn’t appear to be listening, in favour of stickers. Yaoyorozu chuckles, “I wonder, can I even stick these onto you? Here, would you like a heart, a star, or a cloud?” She says, removing the stickers from their packaging and Dark Shadow looks visibly excited. Tokoyami, however, looks ready to leave.
He rests his head on his hands, looking down at the paper and suppressing a groan. “Dark Shadow…” He begins, flatly, only to be ignored once more.
“Cloud!”
“Okay!” She carefully peels a sparkly cloud sticker from the sheet, before delicately sticking it onto Dark Shadow’s nose...or beak. Surprisingly, it sticks, and Dark Shadow looks incredibly happy. Tokoyami does not.
Dark Shadow turns to Tokoyami, pointing to himself with a misshapen, shadowed hand. “Look, look! Cool, right?”
“Sure.” He deadpans, eyes lidded with slight displeasure. Either way, he knows he’s going to end up with the sticker when Dark Shadow returns to his body. Yaoyorozu looks incredibly amused by the situation, setting the stickers down and leaning over to see what Tokoyami has done so far of the question.
“Yep, you’re doing well so far.”
Tokoyami continues the question, now feeling like he’s getting the hang of it, until he reaches the next question and Yaoyorozu, as if waiting for it, expecting it, watches his face contort in confusion. He looks up blankly at her.
“Need some help?” She smiles, glancing down at the equation, now increasing in difficulty.
“Please.”
Yaoyorozu takes the pencil from his hand and begins to explain the difference in equations and Tokoyami sits back, arms crossed, and nods. She walks him through the entire equation and then hands the pencil back to him.
“There’s only the last one left. Think you can do it?”
“I can give it a shot.” He murmurs, eyeing Dark Shadow, who is still roaming around, looking through Yaoyorozu’s pencil case with unashamed interest. He taps the desk.
“Hey. Get out of there.” He warns and Dark Shadow looks up with large, void-like eyes and he appears to believe he hasn’t done anything wrong but Yaoyorozu raises a hand, “No, it’s okay, I don’t mind. There’s nothing too important in there, anyway.”
Tokoyami looks a little uncertain, but he goes back to the equation and Yaoyorozu gazes at Dark Shadow with interest. He’s very peppy today- Tokoyami must’ve had time to charge him up earlier.
It’s a strange quirk alright, especially since Dark Shadow is sentient and Yaoyorozu wonders what it’s like to have a sentient being residing inside your own. She doesn’t even know the full extent of Dark Shadow’s capabilities, but she wonders.
She plucks out a pencil, holding it up to Dark Shadow, who watches it with intrigue.
“Does Dark Shadow know how to write?”
It’s a bit odd, asking Tokoyami whilst she’s looking right at Dark Shadow, and the shadow looks over to Tokoyami, as if expecting an answer as well. Tokoyami actually looks a bit surprised by the question, but he doesn’t put down the pencil. He sits back, glancing off into space.
“I...I actually don’t know.”
Dark Shadow turns back to Yaoyorozu, seemingly wordless.
“I mean...he appeared suddenly when I was very young- he was definitely around when I learnt to read and write, so I don’t know if he picked it up.” He swivels his gaze to Dark Shadow, who has yet to say anything on the matter.
“Can you?”
Dark Shadow looks between them both, before shrugging amicably.
“I never tried it.”
The cloud sticker is still stuck to his beak and Yaoyorozu thinks it’s adorable. She’s still holding out the pencil and she waves it back and forth to indicate her offer still stands. Dark Shadow reaches out and takes the pencil, trying to position it the way he sees Tokoyami do it.
“Can you read, too?” Yaoyorozu asks and Dark Shadow almost appears indignant, if not proud.
“Of course I can- that’s not hard!”
Yaoyorozu rests her chin on her hands, leaning over the desk slightly and perching her upper body on it. “I’m a little surprised I’ve never looked into your quirk more, Tokoyami. When you get down to it, it’s really something amazing!”
Dark Shadow turns to Tokoyami, “Hear that? She thinks I’m amazing!”
Tokoyami is very fond of Dark Shadow, but their slight conflict in personality sometimes exasperates him to no end. Tokoyami puts down his pencil, seeming to have finished the equation.
“I suppose so.” He says, finally. “People always tell me it must be strange being connected to another sentient being, but...I suppose when you’ve had him most of your life, you can’t really tell the difference.”
“Is he only sentient when he’s out of your body? I mean, I see him disappear frequently, so I assume you’ve both got limitations.” She tilts her head, inspecting Dark Shadow thoroughly. Tokoyami seems to not have noticed that Dark Shadow is using his homework as a practice sheet for writing, but Yaoyorozu decides not to point it out.
“He mostly comes out when I call him, providing he’s charged up enough to do so, but he comes out of his own free will from time to time.” It almost feels as if they’re talking about a pet and whilst Dark Shadow could very, very broadly be described as a pet, he probably doesn’t appreciate it.
“When you think about it…” Tokoyami begins, sitting back in his chair, crossing his arms as per usual, “My body may as well be his nest. I suppose you could describe it as sleeping.”
“I’m not always asleep, though!” Dark Shadow chirps, but his eyes narrow, “I can see things from his body! Even the really embarrassing things!”
Tokoyami jolts slightly in his chair and Yaoyorozu puts a hand to her mouth instinctively. The little bird shadow almost seems to grin, looking up at Tokoyami who looks less than pleased.
“No you don’t.” He tells him, darkly. Dark Shadow shrugs with indifference.
“Wanna bet?” He then turns to Yaoyorozu, “Last week, he--”
He’s interrupted when Tokoyami lurches forward to clamp a hand over his beak, pulling him away from the incredibly amused girl sat opposite them. Yaoyorozu wonders if Tokoyami can blush under all those feathers, but he certainly looks...flustered.
“He doesn’t know what he-- did you draw on my homework?” He releases the bird, quickly flipping the paper and Yaoyorozu can just about make out the words ‘Dark Shadow’ scrawled over half the page in wobbly writing. Tokoyami looks up incredulously at his shadow companion, who drops the pencil back into Yaoyorozu’s pencil case.
“What do you know? I can write!”
“So you can.” Tokoyami remarks, thickly. He stares at the writing and sighs, clearly not possessing enough willpower to erase the entire thing. Yaoyorozu chuckles, “I think it’s clever! You should hand it in like that.”
He sighs. “So long as it’s done.”
Yaoyorozu daringly reaches up to pat Dark Shadow’s head, who seems delighted by the affection as Tokoyami stuffs the finished homework back into his bag. “Thanks for helping me, by the way. I appreciate it.”
“Oh, it’s not a problem! If you have any other homework, I’m free to help you some more!” Yaoyorozu offers, not because she actually enjoys helping people with homework- well, she does- but because she genuinely wouldn’t mind spending more time with the strange bird boy and his shadowed companion. He might be a little...quirky, but he was interesting.
Tokoyami swallows, picking his bag up. “Um…” He definitely does not want to admit he needs more help on more homework, but before he can refuse, Dark Shadow butts in.
“Sure thing! He’s still got science homework from a week ago that needs doing!”
“Don’t you have better things to do?” Tokoyami snaps at his quirk, who takes no offense to it.
“Nope! But I can go if you want some alone time~!” He nudges Tokoyami teasingly and Tokoyami’s eyes narrow, but not threateningly. “Please, do.”
Dark Shadow plucks the cloud sticker from his beak before forcefully slapping it onto Tokoyami’s chest, “Look after this for me!” He instructs, before retracting right back into Tokoyami’s body and disappearing. A moment later, Tokoyami sighs.
“I am, uh, really sorry about that. He’s not usually that annoying.” He scratches his head and Yaoyorozu gets up from her own seat, shuffling her things away and beaming, “No, it’s no problem! I thought it was kind of funny.” She picks up her bag and blazer, tucking her chair in.
“So...do the two of you have conversations?”
Tokoyami looks intrigued, but uncertain by the question. “Hm. Well...I guess so. I mean, he knows more about me than anybody else- probably even more than myself.” The two of them take a moment, as if silently deciding who’s going to walk first, but in the end, they both awkwardly step towards the door.
“So he’s been around since you were little? I guess that’s to be expected of a quirk.” She muses. Tokoyami slings his bag over his back, shoving his other hand into his pocket and holding his blazer under that arm.
“It was...fun. When he appeared, I mean.” He replies, quietly, and Yaoyorozu feels like there’s a story to it. She tilts her head in interest, “How did he appear?”
Tokoyami seems to look away, out of the window. “Um. I suppose I was at an age where ‘monsters under the bed’ were still an absolutely believable thing. You know…”
“Oh, of course. I used to think there were monsters under my bed. Then, when I learnt how to use my quirk, I used to make monster traps and put them under there. I did that...well up until I was thirteen.” She suddenly flushes, realising she hasn’t stopped talking and has admitted that out loud and there’s a moment of actual surprise on his face until he begins laughing softly.
“That’s…” He can’t even continue the sentence. Yaoyorozu puts a hand to her face in embarrassment. Of all the people to admit that to.
“That’s fair enough.” He says finally, laughs dying down to a breath. “So you understand. I must’ve been about three or four, but I remember lying in bed and being really quite scared of the dark, hiding under my blankets and all that.”
“Then I remember hearing this weird noise, it’s...actually pretty indescribable. It sounded a bit like something was scratching at my bed and I could actually feel something moving so, naturally, I was terrified.”
“Aww…” Yaoyorozu coos and Tokoyami almost chokes for a moment, before continuing.
“Yeah, well...I decided to pull the blankets down and see what the noise was and...there he was, I guess.” He shrugs and Yaoyorozu eyes him very carefully. “I get the feeling the situation wasn’t as calm as you explained it to be.” She says, eyes sparkling and Tokoyami has the decency to act a little embarrassed.
“Well, yeah, it...it was a bit hectic. There was that moment of panic where you think you’re about to see something and I really didn’t expect to see him right there in front of my face.”
“What did you do?”
“Screamed. Very loudly.”
Yaoyorozu snorts at his plain tone. “That must’ve been so scary! And you were only so little, too!”
“I...I wasn’t that little.” He defends, “It was quite a scare, though. I must’ve cried for hours. I think Dark Shadow got scared, too.” He says, as they descend down the stairs and Yaoyorozu can just picture a tiny little Tokoyami with a tiny little Dark Shadow and the image is enough to melt her heart. “Was Dark Shadow a baby too? I mean...compared to how he is now.”
“Oh, yeah. He was a lot more active back then, too. Everything I learnt, he learnt as well. I really, really didn’t like him at first- I couldn’t sleep in my own bed for months, but I guess I just got used to him.”
“So you guys are like friends? Literally inseparable friends?” Yaoyorozu giggles. Tokoyami smiles. “You could say that. Guess we’ve done a lot together. I think I forget how close we are sometimes.”
“I think he’s quite neat.”
“He’s neat when he’s not being a nuisance.” He corrects, flatly, and Yaoyorozu laughs merrily and it’s almost contagious. He wouldn’t admit it, but it’s a laugh he could listen to all day.
They leave the school building together and head back to the dorms. The sun is shining pleasantly down on the city and Yaoyorozu thinks it’s a shame they hadn’t left earlier to enjoy the day.
“So...what about you? How did you discover your quirk?” He asks, casually. “Seems like a difficult one to just discover by accident.”
“You’d think that, but there was a point where I couldn’t control it at times. The first time I ever made something- not anything proper, just like a little scrap- was when I was sick at home. I had a terrible cold and since I didn’t have much else to do, I spent the day reading.”
“When you say ‘reading’...” Tokoyami smiles, “Is this ‘reading a nice storybook’ or reading something insane like an encyclopedia…?”
Yaoyorozu’s lips purse as she stares blankly at him. It was almost embarrassing how he knew that right from the off and she smiles. “I...might’ve been doing a bit of studying.” She says, shyly, brushing her fringe away from her eyes.
“Anyway, I was reading-- actually, yes, I think I was reading an encyclopedia, but I sneezed and a piece of plastic flew out of my face.”
Tokoyami looks wildly bewildered for a few seconds at the mental images she’s just provided him with. “You...huh?”
She laughs, “It’s true. I was a bit late with my hands, but I sneezed and accidentally made some plastic. I was so scared, too! I thought it came out of my nose…” She mumbles, pressing her fingers together habitually and Tokoyami laughs.
“You thought it...well, that’s fair enough. I mean, you don’t strike me as the type to have put foreign objects up your nose, but…”
Yaoyorozu looks a mix between embarrassment, amusement and indignation as she clenches her fists, “I didn’t do that at all! I wasn’t that kind of child!”
“It’s fine if you did, most children do that.” He teases, quite enjoying Yaoyorozu’s flustered reaction. She seemed like such a pure soul, teasing her felt a little bit mean. That is, if it wasn’t so fun. Still, there was no malice behind it. Yaoyorozu pouts.
“Well-- what about you? Did you do that?”
“Yaoyorozu, I...don’t have a nose.”
Yaoyorozu stares very vacantly at him for more than a few seconds, as an amused smile plays on his face. “You...you’re correct- you don’t have a nose.” She looks down, scratching her cheek awkwardly. “I really didn’t think that through.” She gives off a nervous half-laugh, but when she sees Tokoyami’s relaxed expression, she, too, relaxes.
“Trust me, I wasn’t that kind of child either.” He tells her, but Yaoyorozu feels compelled to have a little bit of revenge. “I wonder if Dark Shadow has anything to say about that…?” She suggests, innocently and Tokoyami’s face falls.
“H...He’s always got something to say.” He turns his head away and Yaoyorozu senses that he might- just might- be hiding something there. She doesn’t press it, however, she’s too nice to do that.
“It’s okay.” She assures him, “Children do all kinds of strange things. Just last week, we were visited by some family from across the country. I watched one my cousins effectively murder one of her stuffed animals. It was...very bizarre.” She admits, almost worried by the memory and Tokoyami almost seems to snort.
“Alright, that...I think I used to do things like that when I was younger, too.” He admits with a laugh that almost seems...shy. Yaoyorozu watches him intently, “I...I think I can believe that. I just don’t see why you would, though.”
He looks up uncertainly for a second, before opening his beak, “I suppose…” He looks back down and hums softly to himself, “Okay, I’ll tell you something. I don’t remember too much-- and don’t- don’t tell anybody else this, because it’s actually really strange.”
Yaoyorozu nods sagely, but her eyes are sparkling with curiosity.
“So, I know I had this collection of animals and...I don’t really know, I guess I used to make them interact with each other.”
“Of course, I did that a lot with my dolls. It was quite fun.”
“Exactly, but...I distinctly remember having one that was...like, I think I put it in a jail of some kind? I don’t remember what for, but then I remember throwing it down the stairs as some kind of execution and it was just...dead. I don’t even know why, but it was weird. It’s weird to think back on that.”
Now Yaoyorozu is the one to look bewildered. “Y-You...executed one of your stuffed animals? That’s really strange! Why would you do that?”
He shrugs, mirroring Yaoyorozu’s expression, “I genuinely don’t know. I did that a lot with Dark Shadow, too. He’d think up of all these stupid ways to do it. Kids are strange.” He adjusts his bag as they approach the dorm, looking down at the ground and looking genuinely quite perplexed and Yaoyorozu hears him murmur quietly to himself, “That really is quite weird.”
She almost laughs.
They enter the dorm together and most of their classmates are in the kitchen. They remove their shoes at the entrance and Yaoyorozu turns to Tokoyami, “Oh, yeah, didn’t you say you needed a little more help with homework?”
Tokoyami winces. “Dark Shadow said that...but I suppose I do.”
Yaoyorozu smiles graciously, “You can just say so! I’m happy to help! Besides, I don’t like seeing other people fail when I can help them.”
Tokoyami watches her finish removing her shoes before smiling more or less to himself.
“You’re very kind.”
They bypass everyone else and as they reach the stairs, Tokoyami looks a little nervous. Yaoyorozu stops, “We can do this in your room, if you’d like! My room is a bit cramped, so if you really want to do it there, we’d have to sit on the bed.” Though she’s innocent with her words, Tokoyami is having a mild internal meltdown at deciding which would be the better option. He isn’t a fan of people entering his room- he’s actually rather embarrassed by his unorthodox interests but on the other hand, the idea of sitting with Yaoyorozu on her bed is enough to give him a headache.
He thinks to himself, surely doing homework with her on her bed isn’t enough to fluster him in the slightest.
He doesn't want to risk embarrassing himself. He clears his throat and nods, “Sure. My room sounds fine.” He decides and Yaoyorozu’s expression visibly brightens. “I’ll go and get changed!” She announces, jogging up the stairs to the girls rooms with a certain spring in her step. Tokoyami watches her ascend until she disappears from view, before making his own way to his room.
The moment he closes the door to his bedroom, Dark Shadow makes his appearance and Tokoyami feels like he should’ve expected this. He turns around, looking down at the shadow expectantly, waiting to hear what it has to say.
“Gimme my sticker!”
That certainly wasn’t what he’d expected at first, but Tokoyami placidly removes the sticker from his chest and sticks it to Dark Shadow. “There.” He says with finality. “Did you need something else? I need to get changed before Yaoyorozu gets here.” He crosses his arms but Dark Shadow makes no attempt to move. He looks up at Tokoyami, almost leering.
“I know, I saw.” He replies, “Bet you’re excited!”
“Why would I be excited? It’s homework.” He responds, though he has this unnerving feeling that both of them are thinking the same thing. It concerns him, to be fair. Dark Shadow looks up at him with an unreadable expression- even more unreadable that normal.
“Why do you think I think you’re excited?”
Tokoyami’s eyes narrow. “Stop being cryptic. Spit it out.” He demands, arms crossed and Dark Shadow has the gall to act coy. He shrugs, taking the sticker with one of his gnarled claws and sticks it to the nearby desk, where it’ll most likely stay for the rest of the year.
“You like her!”
“Of course I like her,” Tokoyami deadpans, “She’s nice. It doesn’t mean there’s any more to it than that. I like Tsuyu as well, but you don’t say anything about that.” He opens one of his drawers, pulling out a pair of black jeans and shuffling his school trousers off as Dark Shadow brings himself to Tokoyami’s height.
“Well you didn’t tell her about when we were little! You told Yaoyomomo about the time you killed one of your animals throwing it down the stairs!”
“Technically, you did that.” Tokoyami replies sharply, and Dark Shadow replies evenly, “Maybe, but you were the one who used to string those figurines from the stairs! That was really creepy, even for me!”
Tokoyami sighs, pulling the jeans on, “First of all, I was too young to realise I was hanging them. Secondly, it was funny.”
Dark Shadow pauses, as if thinking up a suitable comeback, before relaxing, “It was kinda funny, wasn’t it. Still, that’s my point!”
“And what point was that?” Tokoyami eyes him with annoyance, “The fact I had a conversation with her? You’re grasping at straws.” He turns to him fully, putting his hands on his hips as he looks down at the shadow. “I know you relish in embarrassing me sometimes, but can we not do that this time around?”
“Why? Is she special?”
“No, it’s just bothersome.” He tuts, removing his shirt, and the link between him and Dark Shadow seems to phase right through the fabric.
“She likes me.”
“Everyone likes you.”
“She patted my head.”
“And so would most of the other girls, given the chance. You aren’t exactly the scariest thing in the world.” He points out, placing his school shirt on the top of his chest of drawers. Dark Shadow watches this and almost pouts, “I can be!”
Well, he has a fair point. Dark Shadow could definitely be scary sometimes, especially when he was in a position of control over Tokoyami. Those times rarely ended well. Dark Shadow looks like he’s about to open his beak to continue the conversation before a knock sounds on the door, echoing through the room and they both look up in mild alarm.
“Tokoyami…? It’s me!” Yaoyorozu calls through the door and Tokoyami has a brief moment, looking between the door and Dark Shadow, along with the shirt in his hands that’s supposed to be on his person.
“U-Um, yeah, can you just give me a second?” He responds, before hurriedly pulling the shirt on. It’s nothing special- black, long-sleeved with a grey emblem on it. Dark Shadow seems to look him up at down, at his appearance, and Tokoyami wafts at him with a wave of his hand. He backtracks to the door and opens it, seeing Yaoyorozu stood there with a pencil case and a notepad in her hands.
She’s wearing a dark red dress with a white collar that comes down to her collarbone and the sleeves fall a little way past her elbows. Needless to say, she looks very nice. To contrast that, however, she looks a little concerned.
“Sorry, should I have given you more time? I don’t want to hurry you!” She says softly, apologetically and Tokoyami shakes his head, “No, no, it’s okay. Sorry, I was just--”
“He was just masturb--”
Tokoyami full-forcedly backhands Dark Shadow with a sombre expression, “I was getting changed and he--” He glares at Dark Shadow, who looks entirely unapologetic, “--was just leaving.”
Yaoyorozu goes a bit pink at the suggestion, putting a finger to her lips as she watches the two have a rather intense battle of stares. Eventually, Dark Shadow gives in and resumes his place inside Tokoyami’s body. Tokoyami looks massively perturbed by the nuisance his little friend makes of himself and Yaoyorozu finds that to be rather endearing.
“Is it always like that?” She asks, stepping into the near pitch-black room and Tokoyami sighs heavily, “It’s only because you’re here. It’s not often he gets to have that much fun. Don’t listen to a word he says.” He closes the door behind them both and the rather grandiose room appears to be dimly lit by a candle or two.
Yaoyorozu nervously takes a seat at the desk, there isn’t anywhere else to sit, and watches Tokoyami go through the drawers on his desk. He mutters to himself and Yaoyorozu finds it to be quite sweet. He was a strange one, alright.
Finally, he pulls out a rather crumpled looking piece of paper. He unfolds it, looks it over quickly and nods, before setting it out on the desk in front of her. He backs away, looking for something else to sit on as Yaoyorozu takes the time to skim the homework. It did look familiar now, she’d definitely completed this one before, though she eyes the crease marks with intrigue.
“Why is it so crumpled?”
Tokoyami sits beside her on a stool, wearing a suspiciously guilty expression as he pulls a pen out of the drawer. “Um…”
She intakes the expression and smiles gently. “You...you didn’t get a little too mad about it, did you?” She asks, knowing full well Tokoyami would most likely have done so, or has the capacity to do so. Tokoyami sighs before she can even finish the sentence.
“I might’ve. It doesn’t help that he--” He jerks his thumb to nothing in particular, which Yaoyorozu can only assume means Dark Shadow, “--was being a colossal jackass.”
“Does he help you with your homework?” She asks, whilst also processing the first question and attempting to remember just what she had answered with. Tokoyami pulls a face, “He tries. Emphasis on ‘tries’.”
Yaoyorozu gives a polite giggle, before returning to the work. “Okay, do you remember the lesson where we covered protons and neutrons…?”
Tokoyami says nothing.
“I...guess not.” Yaoyorozu says slowly, “It’s okay, it’s not too hard to remember.” She says encouraging as she begins to explain. Her eyes really light up when she gets to explain something she enjoys, and she appears incredibly excited. Her smile is unmistakable.
It takes about half a minute for Tokoyami to realise that he’s staring at her and not at the paper. He coughs awkwardly, looking back at the paper and trying to piece together what she had spent the last few seconds explaining.
What was that all about? He doesn’t quite know.
A few minutes later, he discovers that, once again, he’s neglected to pay attention to Yaoyorozu and is, instead, staring hard at the cloud sticker Dark Shadow had stuck to his desk. He feels it would be a bit mean to remove it, but he’s only just become aware that he’s actually staring at it.
“Tokoyami, are you okay?”
His head snaps up and he looks rather alarmed at being caught, “Um, yeah. I’m sorry, I’m just…” He doesn’t have a valid excuse, but when Yaoyorozu follows his previous eyeline, she spots the sticker and smiles.
“You kept it.”
“Dark Shadow kept it.” He corrects.
She turns back to Tokoyami with a gentle expression. “You...don’t have a very good attention span, do you?” She tilts her head and for the first time, he genuinely looks self-conscious. He practically glares at the homework that had given him this much trouble as he sinks down lower in his seat.
“Not really…” He admits, “I really try, but...it can prove to be an insurmountable task sometimes.” Yaoyorozu notes his usual dramatic choice of words but he looks dismayed by the fact it’s even a task at all. She hadn’t realised that this was actually a problem for him of all people, who seemed so cool all the time.
She isn’t sure what else to do, but she rests a hand on his shoulder, “That’s why you’ve got us to help you! I don’t mind putting time in to help you through your work.”
Tokoyami stares at her with an unreadable expression. It’s hard to tell if he’s happy or sad, but it appears it could be a mix of both. His mouth opens and he’s genuinely touched by her offer. He looks down.
“I don’t really…” He isn’t sure how to say, but he’s sure he’s supposed to refuse here.
“It’s okay- really. You’re a good hero, I don’t want to see you get left behind because of something you struggle with- and besides, as much as I enjoy it, there won’t be too many instances where you’ll have to use algebra in the hero field.” She admits with a half-hearted laugh and Tokoyami appreciates her attempt to lighten the mood.
He returns the smile, unable to form any kind of response, but he’s happy.
“Here, why don’t we finish this page first and then we’ll take a break, okay?”
Suddenly, he feels a bit more motivated- a bit more ‘together’ and he nods with mild, almost concealed, determination. He feels an odd feeling in his chest and wonders if Dark Shadow is aware of what’s going on...if that is, in fact, Dark Shadow.
Yaoyorozu picks up where she left off last and goes back through it with the shorter boy, adding a few useful details here and there for context and after twenty minutes, he actually feels like he’s learnt something. As if he’s engrossed in his work, and that doesn’t happen all too often.
It’s only when he comes to the end of the page, does he realise how hard he’s been working. He slips the pen back into his drawer as Yaoyorozu packs away her pencil-case and he wonders what kind of spell she’s cast to make something like this happen.
“Here, I’ll leave these notes here in case you ever want to go back over them.” She says sweetly, neatly tearing out a page from her notebook and leaving it on the desk. Tokoyami thanks her quietly, but knows he probably will not do that.
He’s busy clearing up his desk but out of the corner of his eye, he notices the way she’s inspecting his collection of keychains. He’s unsure of what to say- surely, Yaoyorozu of all people wouldn’t have an interest in that kind of thing.
“Did you collect all of these? They’re interesting…” She murmurs and Tokoyami wonders if she’s just being polite, because in the end, ‘interesting’ did not equate to ‘enjoyable’. He scratches the back of his head, “Yeah, I did. Quite a while ago.” He stands next to her, watching how she daintily picks up a keychain and looks at it closer.
“It looks like a sword.”
“It is a sword.”
Yaoyorozu goes a bit pink- of course it’s a sword. Why did she have to make that abundantly clear? It’s a small replica of a short-sword, made out of dark metal with a black handle- the end of the handle sprouts out into a sharp point, making it look rather fearsome.
Tokoyami watches the way she inspects it closely, wondering why she’s taking so much time in doing so. Then again, back at the sports festival, she made a whole plethora of weapons to fight against him. That was incredibly impressive to see.
Suddenly, she holds the keychain out to him- “Here, could you hold this?”
He silently takes the keychain, not knowing in the slightest what was going through her head. Yaoyorozu puts a finger to her lips and closes her eyes, as if concentrating as hard as she could. She drops her hand down to her thigh and slowly, Tokoyami can see the familiar sparkle that she emits when she’s creating something. His first thought is- no, she can’t be.
It turns out, she is.
Yaoyorozu pulls her hand away, her fingers gripped around something dark and when she pulls her arm up, she is holding a much larger replica of the keychain in his hand. The material isn’t quite the same, but it looks very close and Tokoyami, despite having seen her quirk in action time and time again, is left wide-eyed.
She looks up at him with an expectant smile and rosy red cheeks as she holds the sword out to him. “Don’t you think the real thing would be much cooler?”
He looks her up and down, wordless, until he chokes out, “Definitely.”
She hands him the sword in exchange for the keychain and he tests the weight of it, marvelling at the design silently. He looks back up at her.
“...thank you?”
Yaoyorozu, hanging the key back up with its companions, beams, “Sorry, that might’ve been a little unexpected. I thought you’d like it! Think of it as...a gift for doing so well!”
He knows she’s not trying to be patronising in the slightest, but can’t help but feel a little useless. He sets the sword down beside his desk. “I’ll find a way to put it on the wall. Thank you, Yaoyorozu, it’s really nice.” He’s not so good at giving thanks, but he does his best.
“O-Oh, if you wanted, I could make you something to mount it on! Depending on where you wanted to put it--...” She looks around his room, eyebrows furrowed in thought, until she’s brought out of it by Tokoyami laughing quietly.
“It’s okay- really. You’ve done more than enough for me. I really appreciate it.” He feels like he should be doing something for her in return, but the most he can do at that moment is offer the most genuine smile he can muster.
Yaoyorozu is touched.
He looks down at the floor awkwardly. “Sorry, uh…” It doesn’t feel like enough, but Yaoyorozu doesn’t mind in the slightest. The fact he likes it is more than enough for her and Tokoyami finds that to be incredibly admirable.
“Perhaps I can take inspiration for new weapons from your little collection…?” She suggests humorously and he agrees. His smile splits for a moment when Dark Shadow suddenly emerges from his stomach without warning.
“Hey, Yaomomozu! You got anymore stickers?”
Tokoyami brings his hand up to rub the bridge of his beak with a sigh. Dark Shadow was really choosing today of all days to be a pain in the...stomach. He looks down at the shadow bird as Yaoyorozu bows to its level.
“Sorry, Dark Shadow! I didn’t bring them with me. I’ll bring you one next time, though.”
Dark Shadow throws its beak backwards to face Tokoyami, “Hear that? There’s a next time!” and Tokoyami had never felt so compelled to yell at his own shadow. Still, he meant well.
Probably.
“Yes, there is.” He finally says, before informing Dark Shadow quietly, “She’s going to be helping me…”
Dark Shadow nods understandingly. “If it means more stickers, sure!”
“Since when did you become so obsessed with stickers…?” Tokoyami asks rhetorically as he begins to escort Yaoyorozu towards the door- Yaoyorozu watches their conversation with amusement. Seeing them interact like that made them appear more like brothers than friends.
Yaoyorozu raises an eyebrow.
“Tokoyami...do you have any brothers or sisters?” She asks curiously, as she reaches for the door-handle. For a moment, both of them look surprised and Dark Shadow looks up at Tokoyami as he responds, “No. I’m an only child. Well...biologically, I’m an only child.”
He looks pointedly down at Dark Shadow with a very, very small smile.
Yaoyorozu feels like squealing, but she doesn’t. She puts a hand to her chest, as she opens the door. “I’m an only child, too. I...I’m not sure why I asked, actually.” She stumbles for a second over her words, “Sorry if that came off as intrusive!”
“Not at all. I suppose it’s something we have in common.” He says gently.
Yaoyorozu steps out of the door, adjusting her things as she gives Dark Shadow a little pat on the head. Dark Shadow naturally revels in the attention and Tokoyami watches him like a parent would watch their small child.
“I’ll see you later. We could work on our homework together tomorrow if you want.” She offers and Tokoyami is somehow surprised to find himself saying yes.
“That would...that would be very helpful.” He says quickly and Yaoyorozu’s expression visibly brightens. “Great!! I’ll see you later!” She calls, heading off down the hall, practically skipping. Tokoyami and Dark Shadow both watch her leave, before shutting the door.
“So…”
“So what?”
Tokoyami returns to his bed, taking a seat and relaxing. Dark Shadow watches him quietly, before bringing himself closer to his body.
“She gave you a sword.”
Tokoyami sags slightly at his words- of course he’s been watching the entire thing like a hawk, or whatever bird he was. Tokoyami lets out a very long, very drawn out sigh as a wordless indication that Dark Shadow was beginning to be a pest.
“She likes you.”
He jolts. “No she doesn’t. What even gave you that idea?” He asks, a little too quickly for his own tastes, but Dark Shadow’s eyes narrow into slits.
“She gave you a sword as a present. Doesn’t that mean she likes you?”
Tokoyami crosses his arms, “Yes, well, technically, you could ‘give’ someone a sword by stabbing it through their chest- it doesn’t mean you like them.” He replies bluntly and Dark Shadow lifts itself to meet his eyeline.
“She made it for you! I bet you lots of money that she does!”
“That’s an incredibly vague amount of money to be making a bet with.” Tokoyami slouches forward slightly, resting his hands in his lap. “Not to mention you don’t have any money. What would you even do with it…?”
“Buy stickers.”
Tokoyami sighs. “Of course you would.”