Chapter Text
Vampire(s) for Dummies
Lesson 1: A Vampiric Thank You
*Disclaimer: I don’t own My Hero Academia. No money is made with this, I live off kudos and comments. Enjoy!*
A low groan escaped Izuku when he let himself fall face-first onto his bed. Today had been very exhausting for the teen and he was glad he could catch a breath now. Even though he felt guilty about even thinking such a thing, Izuku was glad his mother was working the late shift that night so she wouldn’t notice how tired he was right now. And how late he had come home, not even making himself something to eat.
Rolling over, Izuku laid on his back and looked up at the ceiling of his room. He could see the posters he had pinned up there in the light coming from the street lamp outside, along with the fading light of the setting sun. Maybe he should get up and close the curtains. He also needed to change out of his uniform and wash it, because there was no way he could show up in class the next day looking like this. Another groan passed his lips and he took a deep breath before lifting himself back up.
“Guess it can’t be helped”, Izuku sighed and took off his blood and mud covered school uniform. He grabbed his hamper for dirty clothes, picked up a few items from around his room and made his way into the kitchen where their washing machine was. On autopilot, the green haired teen started doing his laundry, went to take a quick shower and put on his pajamas before making himself a sandwich. Izuku was pretty hungry after all and the cold water from the shower had woken him up enough to actually eat.
It took an eternity, but about two hours later, Izuku had managed to wash and dry his clothes including his uniform, had eaten, showered and had even managed a bit of homework to keep himself busy while he waited for the washing machine and then the dryer to be done with the laundry. He then went to bed, ready to fall asleep. But when Izuku made himself comfortable beneath the sheets, he found himself staring into the darkness of his room, suddenly wide awake. His thoughts went back to this day’s afternoon…
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Following his inquisitive nature, Izuku had gone into a secluded corner of a nearby park where historians had found a hidden grave the week before. Ever since, the place had become a buzzing beehive with scientists and historians, the press and lots of other curious people. But this afternoon, the place had finally been free, so Izuku had taken his time to look around himself. It wasn’t really that great though. Of course the findings had already been taken away to laboratories or wherever else the scientists would analyze them, so the location was empty.
But when Izuku was about to give up and go home for the day, his former childhood friend Bakugou Katsuki had made an appearance and made fun of Izuku’s curiosity. The explosive blonde had started chasing Izuku with his quirk when he hadn’t gotten the reaction he had wanted from the quirkless teen and then Izuku had slipped while he had been running through the bushes and trees. Or rather, the earth had given in under his feet, sending him falling down into a dark hole.
Thanks to some miracle, Izuku’s phone had survived the fall and Katsuki hadn’t followed him down there either. In fact, the other hadn’t known where Izuku had disappeared to, if his shouts and demands from far up there had been anything to go by. Izuku had brushed off some of the dirt and had started exploring the hole instead. It had seemed as if this was a secret chamber of the grave the historians had found a quarter mile away. Give or take a few yards.
The hole, or cave actually, was just high enough for Izuku to stand comfortably. But when he moved, he could feel his hair brushing the earthy ceiling. He had to lower his head if he didn’t want to catch all the dust and dirt in his eyes and mouth. The ground was covered with old paving stones though, most of them in a good condition. A few had fallen victim to roots or underground animals, but if Izuku took big steps, he could walk around pretty much without a hindrance. Following what looked like a hallway, Izuku came into the actual cave.
This one was a bit higher, thankfully, and in it stood three sarcophagi. They looked very old, much older then the stones in the ‘hallway’ that lead to this chamber of the cave. Roots had cracked them open and when Izuku came closer, he could actually peer inside… which he did and regretted that very moment. Because the sight of the rotten corpse inside of the first sarcophagus was pretty disgusting.
Yelping, Izuku took a step backwards… and stumbled over something… and dropped his phone into the sarcophagus. Blinking in shock, Izuku stared at the light coming out of the stone sarcophagus through the crack holes. Why did this have to happen to him? Why?
Cursing himself, his luck and whatever else came to his mind, Izuku swallowed heavily and took a step forward to peer inside again. The sight with much more light was actually not as bad as it had been before but Izuku still found the rotting corpse pretty loathsome. With shaking hands, he reached inside and grabbed his phone. When he was about to pull it outside again, his bad luck hit him again and he scratched the back of his hand pretty bad, dropping his phone once more. Cursing out loud now, Izuku instinctively ripped his hand out, examining the wound. It was bleeding a bit, not much though. Frowning at the surprisingly sharp-edged opening, Izuku reached inside again and finally managed to retrieve his phone without getting hurt again.
After that, Izuku had spend the next hour or so trying to find a way out of the cave, earning himself a few more scratches and bruises. But somehow he made it outside again and got home in one piece.
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And now that he was actually home and done for today, Izuku started wondering about whose graves he had found and if he should tell the historians. But what would happen then? And what if they got mad at him for whatever kind of damage he had done while being stuck down there? Just thinking about it made his stomach turn into knots. No, he would wait and see if they found the secret chamber on their own. It was their job after all, wasn’t it?
Just when Izuku closed his eyes, the sound of a knock forced him to open them once more. For a moment or two, Izuku stared into the room, wondering what he had heard just now. But when he caught sight of a figure sitting on his window sill, he yelped in shock, pulling his blanket up to his chin.
“What the hell?”, he whispered and watched the person move and knock at his window again. How had they gotten up here? There was no fire escape or anything by his window.
Knock-knock!
Against better knowledge, Izuku got up and walked over to the window, legs and hands shaking. With light coming from the street lamps down there and the half-full moon, Izuku caught sight of a… very enchanting looking young man, indeed. One half of his hair was dark though he couldn’t tell which color it was in the darkness, the other light and his skin looked very pale. He had sharp and pretty facial features as far as Izuku could tell and he was dressed in some strange looking robes… robes that looked torn. Concern overcame Izuku’s confusion. Maybe the stranger was running from someone? Maybe he needed help?
Without thinking any further, Izuku opened his window.
“Uhm… are you okay? Do you need help?”, he asked, looking up at the handsome stranger. The other tilted his head to the side, looking at Izuku even though he couldn’t really see it in the darkness. But he could feel it very well.
“May I come inside, please?”, the stranger asked with a voice that sounded pleasant like satin and had a deep rumble in it. It send shivers down Izuku’s back, good ones.
“O-of course. Come in”, he stuttered, blushing a bit.
With gracious movements, the stranger entered his room through the window.
“Thank you”, he said and stepped up to Izuku, cornering him against the wall. Panic rose inside of Izuku and he hastily looked for a way to escape. Inwardly he cursed his recklessness. What the hell was wrong with him?
“S-stop!”, Izuku said with as much determination as he could muster right then. “My p-parents are in the next room! If you come any closer, I’ll scream for help!”
His lie seemed to work because the stranger froze and tilted his head again. But then all the blood left Izuku’s face when he said: “There’s no one here except the two of us. Don’t be scared, little one, I just need a little bit more of your blood.”
“What?”, Izuku asked but then the stranger moved with unexpected speed and suddenly a piercing pain on his neck told Izuku that the other had bitten him. On his neck. Like a vampire. Oh my God, what if he broke the skin? What if Izuku bleed to death? What if he caught an infection?
But just when he couldn’t come up with more reasons to panic, the stranger let go of him again. The pain had already subsided a few seconds into the bite and now he felt a lick on the bite mark and the stranger stepped backwards again, giving Izuku some space.
“Ah, that was much needed. Thank you for the food”, he said and… bowed.
Izuku reached upwards and placed a shaking hand on his neck. He felt nothing except a bit of sensitive skin. No bite marks or blood or anything. Staring at the stranger, Izuku blinked wide-eyed.
“Y-you… Are you a vampire?”
The stranger tilted his head once more and Izuku couldn’t help but notice how cute the movement looked. No, not cute! A stranger who came into other people’s homes and bit them to suck their blood without consent was as far away from cute as possible. Right?
“I am. And thanks to you, I’m walking the earth again. I owe you my life, Midoriya Izuku.”
And just like that, the stranger, the vampire, went down on his knee and bowed even deeper in front of Izuku.
“I… I don’t understand?… how do you know my name?”, Izuku asked, feeling more and more overwhelmed.
“I apologize, Midoriya-san. It has been a… while since I have interacted with humans like you. I know your name because it is in your blood. It has been on my mind since the moment you offered me your blood by my… sleeping place.”
“Offered? Sleeping place?” The wheels started to turn inside of Izuku’s hand and when he glanced down at his scratched hand… jumping a little, he stared up at the vampire again.
“That… it was an accident… I accidentally cut myself on your…. Sarcophagus?”
“It doesn’t matter if it was an accident or not. Your blood woke me up after all this time and thanks to you, I’m alive again.”
“And you thought it would be a good idea to track me down and take some more blood? Why? I bet there were lots of… food sources closer to your… place.”
The vampire seemed to think about Izuku’s question. “To be honest with you… I was so hungry and your blood so delicious, I just followed my instincts here”, he answered after a while, leaving Izuku a little speechless. When he found his words again, though, the next question was asked right away.
“But this is not going to become a thing, right? Like, we’re not bonded or something like that? I don’t want to become your main food source without even having been asked beforehand.”
A low chuckle filled the darkness of Izuku’s room. “Do not worry, Midoriya-san. While it is possible for mates to become each other's primary food source, we did not form such a bond.”
Heaving a sigh, Izuku relaxed a bit. “Good, good. In that case… what is going to happen now?”
“Under normal circumstances, it would be my duty to erase your memories of this eventful night and leave you to sleep in peace. But since I owe you my life and you seem like a good man, I won’t do such a thing. Instead, I will just leave.”
And with that, the vampire got up and went over to the open window, standing between the curtains for a moment, said fabric and his clothes moving in a gentle breeze.
“Good night, Midoriya Izuku”, he said and bowed his head once more.
“Ah, wait! I don’t even know your name!”, Izuku called out, taking a step towards the vampire, his right hand reaching out in an attempt to hold him back.
The vampire climbed onto the window sill and his beautiful face was illuminated by the moon, revealing a small but heart warming, soft smile.
“My name is Todoroki Shouto.”
Izuku blinked and when his eyes opened again, the vampire, Todoroki, was gone. Gasping, Izuku ran over to his window and looked around but there was nothing out there except the empty street of his neighborhood.
For a while, he just stood there, staring out into the night. Then, Izuku closed the window again and went back to bed in a trance like state. This had to be a dream, right? This wasn’t possibly true. Maybe he had already fallen asleep? Or maybe this had been a quirk and the vampire thing had just been made up? There was no similarity between Todoroki-kun and that dead corpse after all. But why did he come up with such a name? Todoroki Shouto…
Curling up in his sheets once more, Izuku closed his eyes. And while he fell asleep, he thought about all the questions he would have liked to ask the stranger, no matter if he was a made up dream or a quirk user.