Chapter Text
You woke up.
You seemed to have woken up.
In fact, you can feel that you have woken up.
But the void that had overtaken your senses said otherwise.
Your eyes shot open, glancing around for anything to notice or to focus on. Yet, all you can see is the void—and nothing else. Yet, despite the visuals (or lack thereof), your vision seemed blurry, where any other detail would become a simple, shapeless blob to your eyes. Yet, you feel scared, alone, restrained. Yet, you both felt numb and…something else entirely.
You then realized that your sense of touch was a mere illusion, and you are not touching or feeling anything at all—not even your own body. You tried to move your limbs around, only to feel slack. You can't feel anything, and this void is internally consuming your feelings. You can’t even feel the subtle movements of your eyes, or your breathing…or anything of naught. You cannot even comprehend why you are stuck and lucid within an empty existence.
...or, if you were alive at all.
...That thought scared you, and—
"FUMI!"
…!
You felt your soul (or a faint impression of it) getting yanked back into the open, your body raising up by itself to face a shadow-like creature, beak-by-beak.
Beak?
You glanced at what you can notice from your face, and...yup, you have a yellowish beak, and raven black feathers bordering upon black. What else is there to say about it?
Your thoughts (are these even your own?) were distracted by the shadow grinning at your baffled expression, her smile radiating and feral as ever. For some reason, you can tell she had replaced her previous expression before you were awake, and you...were both relieved and grateful she didn't look gloomy anymore.
…you guessed so, at least. You mind’s too cloudy right now.
"What a way to ruin my sleep, Dark Shadow," you said sarcastically. You felt your words being second nature from how you remembered yourself speaking, but you waved those thoughts away from your brain. Of course it’s second nature…this is how you are.
“You're finally up, sleepyhead!" Dark Shadow exclaimed cheerily. "You were sleeping way too much now, but we need to drag each other towards UA so that we can get in!"
UA?
Oh, right...the entrance exam. You shuddered at the implications of what you will be facing, let alone how the results will be within its aftermath. After all, you've been a lot afraid of examinations, even if you have neglected to study at all. (Neglect? You're actually too diligent to do that!)
Speaking of neglect, you thought to yourself that there were a lot of blanks and blurry memories suddenly appearing within your mind. Call it paranoia, but you’re sure your mind wasn’t helping with your case, either. Something was blocking several details from it entirely, and for some reason, the blockage reminds you of a color that…
…
...nevermind, you were internally rambling again.
You took note of Dark Shadow as she rummaged around your room, her shadowy body long enough to have the ability to drag along your bag and clothing—one for each hand. The latter appeared to be casual clothing, all in shades of greys and blacks with an occasional flicker of color. For some reason, you feel annoyed and delighted by this chosen outfit—you decided not to debate upon which odd feelings of yours indicate which. On the other hand, the former appeared to be haphazardly filled in with various objects, including school supplies. It reminds you that you are around the prime age of 15, and you are supposed to be just entering the start of high school in a way.
(Entering high school? You recalled being part of the graduating class. In fact, you recalled that 13-year-olds and YOUNGER are the ones who are freshmen, not more than three years later!)
(What's going on? Why does everything feel unfamiliar and familiar? The answer is obvious, but you can't grasp it for some reason.)
Something—or things—within you are whispering about these details, although they appear to be as confused as you are. Instead of reacting to it in a typical manner, you chose to ignore their chatters and simply focus on Dark Shadow’s rambles.
"We’re gonna beat those practicals up to the top—" Dark Shadow boastfully declared, ignoring your internal monologue, "—and make our parents proud!"
You jolted at the mention of “parents”, yet it felt…very wrong for you to act that way. “Yea…of course,” you whispered. When Dark Shadow mentioned your parents, you recalled a couple who had gotten one of them out of a hate group, leading a peaceful life away from their past. But at the same time, you can recall them being…
…
Envy boiled within you. How did you have people like these, how are your parents like this, when you…you…
…you felt like resenting someone, but it felt too irrational to continue. You felt like resenting them, and yet the hatred within you was being realized to be irrelevant. Dark Shadow, however, noticed you, dropping your items immediately. “What’s bothering you, Fumi?” She asked, tilting her head. “You don’t have to worry about people who hate us for the way we are! I’ll make sure I’ll beat them up for our safety!”
Guilt welled up a bit within you, and you immediately shoved it down before it boiled up. You suddenly couldn’t speak properly…or think. Why were you feeling these? What are you thinking? You can’t think straight, going for horrible scenarios and encounters that can never happen. Dark Shadow said something else within your presence, but your auditory processes failed to comprehend what she said to you.
Fuck, was your anxiety making you overthink things?! You want to remain calm, and tell Dark Shadow your feelings are the way they are because the examinations are bothering you, yet you just. Cannot. Be. Calm. You cannot be calm for the life of you, even if you were able to remain a straight face before, and you can’t help but ignore the constant static that blocked your mind entirely. No, no, not again, why are you freaking out, stop this.
In reality, though, you desired entirely denying the fact half of these thoughts aren’t entirely yours. Not in the way you are literally multiple people and you in particular have no sense of identity, but in a way where your intrusive thoughts keep on taking over your head, taking over your rationality, taking over reason and logic..
Please, please calm down. You can’t bear disappointing people again.
You just want to be calm.
You just want to be normal.
You just want to be free and at peace.
You just want to be a hero and prove that you can become one...
But what is a hero who runs away from his problems?
(‘...sk…’)
What is a hero whose carelessness cost their life entirely through an avoidable accident?
(‘Du…k…’)
What kind of hero fucked up so hard he gets hit by a truck of all things—
‘Dusk!’/“Fumi!”
You opened your eyes again, unable to recognize reality at the moment. But as your senses returned properly to you, you realized you were facing the floor, hugging yourself, and body lying down entirely. Your eyes are burning, but no tears dropped upon the floor. Your grip on your arms felt too tough to not leave a mark, yet you can’t feel anything but your own breathing. Your head was throbbing, your mind was scattered, and you cannot help but feel something else break within you.
No, not a mental breakdown, you realized. You stared up at Dark Shadow and realized what face she was making at you. You felt the breakage being something that was blocking something that lets you and her feel each other, And…it’s…
…
…
Oh no.
You slowly got up, trembling and still partially dazed from reality, glancing at your quirk your sibling trying to communicate with you. But when she couldn’t talk, you started the conversation instead.
“...Dark Shadow…” You murmured, feeling sorry that you dragged her into this. Unfortunately, none of your selves ever consented to this sick twist of fate that happened to you. You didn’t entirely feel like Dusk, the guy who was both careless and tired of life, and had incidentally died in a road accident. But you didn’t feel like Fumikage Tokoyami, either, both the character from an anime AND a real person with real needs and wants, including becoming a hero. Yet, the internalized guilt and suppressed emotion of the former managed to overcome the latter’s stability, but something remained for both which stands true.
You were extremely guilty for fucking up before. You cannot fuck up this unwanted second chance of a life. You have to prevent yourself from the same fate you experienced and the same person that led to your internal demise.
“...I’m…” You’re not good at this, never good at the action as Dusk, and the emotions as Fumikage, but maybe… “I’m sorry for holding all those back. I didn’t even know what I just did.”
You tried controlling your internal panic before Dark Shadow could further grow into destruction, her form slowly growing into the room. “I thought I could hold it back for you, I, and everyone, and go through this day without addressing it. I thought I could keep it all for myself. But, perhaps, o–my mind said otherwise. I don’t know how to process these feelings and memories, but I still want to apologize.”
“I don’t want to bring harm to you, yet it seemed like my…merge fucked everything up instead.”
…
Dark Shadow’s eyes widened, before you felt your negative emotions becoming more docile (for the lack of a better word). She slowly shrunk, head low towards you. If she might be an ordinary person, she would have sniffed. “Can you promise that?” Dark Shadow inquired quietly. “Can you promise to not commit the same mistakes again?”
Guilt welled within you. You knew you used to be unable to shake off your mistakes. Yet, you’re no longer Dusk. Whether you were actually possessing yourself or otherwise, you…need to hold yourself accountable. “...I’ll try. For us.
“I’ll make sure I won’t succumb again.”
…
…
“REALLY?!” You were expecting every sort of reaction from her, and yet you did not expect her to…hug you?! Her claw-wings wrapped around your body, right on the floor, and you can’t help but awkwardly hug back at the quirk who’s larger than yourself in this length. “Don’t try to hide yourself now, okay!”
“Geez,” you declared. “You’ll make our reputation and aesthetic ruined. What if someone walked here seeing us hug, then?”
“Who else?” Dark Shadow tilted her head. “Nobody’s coming i—”
You two shivered as you saw a familiar silhouette opening the door to your room. Your mom, spatula on one hand and bowl in another, stared at you two hugging. You and Dark Shadow, in turn, stared back at her.
…
“Am I interrupting something?”
Turns out, things go by quickly if you just straight up admit what is going on.
Your parents—current parents, by the way—are astonished by your revelations that you are definitely not entirely their son anymore. Yet, they still accepted you, and even your…mental state. Fuck, those people will be dotty and they’ll surely try to shove you with a random therapist.
At least the therapist part is for your sense of self-esteem and anxiety. No, you will never address that part.
You and Dark Shadow, by the way, have taken the train. It was a bit…complicated trying to prevent yourself from staring at everyone due to their quirks (oh gog, are you becoming Midoriya?!), but you managed. Keeping your head low, you scrolled across some random social media, still baffled at recognizing Japanese.
‘And Filipino,’ someone supplied. You rolled your eyes at him—you know Dusk’s mother tongue is irrelevant here, unless you could utilize it for secrecy. Still, irrelevant, unfortunately. Your Filipino Pride™ was long gone, anyways, because you were sick of your nation’s corruption and your mind was set towards somewhere…bigger.
…speaking of nations, you just realized something.
(Dark Shadow), you internally declared, calling out for her. Instead of appearing physically, you felt her presence within your mind. As Tokoyami, this was usually how you two communicate internally, and as Dusk…well, you’re no normie to be freaked out. (Tell me, what was going on with Japan within the last few decades? What did All Might do to reach…)
“This???” You opened an article that you immediately caught an eye on, showing it into your own face. It was a memorial for what were called “Peacekeepers of Smash”, a group of heroes All Might lead as some sort of PR trick. None of you know how publicity truly works for heroism, and you never want to get into that, but you were sure this was something…unexpected.
‘Oh yeah! Didn’t they make some raids or something?’ Dark Shadow quipped. ‘Well, I’m disinterested in the news and history. All I knew was that everything happened so much in the bigger picture.’
You grimaced, gritting your teeth. Shit, what sort of changes happened here? You can easily assume that the raid was with a certain superpowered supervillain (which canon you had faced, right? But considering your current situation, you shouldn’t worry about the future…for now). However, that still opened up to a series of problems, and not just the various wars and incidents between organizations you knew of from canon.
You simply closed the article and slid your phone into your bag. You were about to tune into some chatter within your brain—something about Dark Shadow being…influenced. ‘If you all taught her brainrot, I’m gonna try to strangle you,’ you declared with empty threats. ‘Just keep it down.’
The train station announcement rang out, calling about the passengers heading towards UA. You got up quick, dusting your pants and making sure you lost nothing of value. As you head out, you manage to catch a glimpse of someone vaguely familiar (with her hair, but nothing else) before you lose that thought immediately.
Why?
You stared at the area of the train station near the UA premises. When people said it’s prestigious, especially those you managed to have short conversations with in the train…you thought to yourself, ‘Are they kidding me?’
Turns out, the correct response should be, ‘Damn, the anime did NOT do this justice.’
Yes, your brief interactions with the series didn’t help with describing how big this whole place is. And as you were a fanfiction reader, mostly, you don’t even have a proper, visual scale for this place. Trees are fresh, the crosswalk was as clean as you expected Japan to be, but most of all, you would have mistaken UA’s campus to belong within some rich asshole’s multi-building property with its grandness (at least if you didn’t know better).
So to say, one thing lingered within your mind:
“SHINY”.
…
Why would you blame yourself for saying that?
This place is incredibly beautiful, though.
Dark Shadow, however, have complaints.
“Let’s get in before the sun cooks us!” Dark Shadow complained. Dear gog, she’s mad at the sun of all things. “I don’t want to be here anymore!”
You two then went on a banter about how the sun isn’t a deadly laser (even if it can be for shadow-like creatures and quirks like herself) as you walked underneath an umbrella you just opened. You closed it and set it within your bag when you arrived at some sort of auditorium area. Several teenagers packed into the meeting hall, spaced out enough to not be claustrophobic, but still tight to the point it’s inevitable to knock over someone. Fortunately, you managed to wade and dodge any awkward encounter, canonical interactions or not.
(At least, what you believed to be possibly canon here.)
As you arrived at an area, you noticed a few familiar people milling around the general location. Izuku Midoriya, Mina Ashido, and a few more are there, Katsuki Bakugo is Katsuki Bakugo, Tenya Iida, Yuga Aoyama just sparkling it up, and…yup, you have zero comments about this whole thing.
An announcement was made, something about which positions per participant are you all going into. You were set near the middle area, not far away enough from the stage, and not too near from anyone you recognized (even 1B ones and Shinso). Dark Shadow popped up, surveying your surroundings and grinning at people. You allowed her to mill around, glancing at various quirks and colors.
You spotted someone who was indeed staring at you, though. You immediately turned towards him and pointed accusably. “Don’t ask.” They—someone who could fit into Support with the fact they have multiple things with them—shrunk back into their seat as you stated that, averting their gaze as soon as possible.
You then saw Dark Shadow turn around and back at you as the seats were almost full, seeing you take out a pen and twirl it. “Can I help you with your tests?” She teasingly declared.
You scoffed and said, “Hell no. That is on the grounds of cheating, even if you’re literally from me. Have shame, sister, have shame and weep.”
Dark Shadow pouted, and then she suddenly screeched as she hid underneath your desk. You just stared at the people who were baffled by her, and you glanced towards the microphone feedback at the stage. Some hobo in greys and blacks was tapping on the microphone, and he sighed as he started.
Oh…this is Aizawa
…damn, he’s washed.
“Is this thing on…?” He spoke out. “Alright then…”
“I’ll keep things brief so as to not waste everyone’s time here…,” he started. “I’m Shota Aizawa, and I'm here to explain your written exam to all of you. Whether you appropriately prepared yourself or not, whether you’re aiming for the hero course or not, you will all be graded under the same lens. So do your best.”
Yup, that’s a good thing. You had heard of horror stories of schools letting in people just by their status, and in your time before your death, Generative AI is fucking with everyone, education systems are, at best, ‘mid’, and people regressing knowledge to dangerous degrees. You’re thankful that this shit had died out immediately here…although that might be because bigger conflicts took place to change the world forever such as the Dawn of Quirks.
…ehem, anyways.
You turned towards a girl pointing out a pamphlet about the entrance exams, and asking Aizawa, “Our handout said that Ms. Midnight was going to be the one walking us through it?”
A crowd of the students suddenly perked up, and you rolled your eyes at their…thing. Fucking pervs.
“Yeah, yeah, she unfortunately had to step down, scheduling conflicts, particularly irrational.” Aizawa answered, receiving boos from the same crowd you criticized some time ago. Geez, hot women aren’t supposed to be your focus on exams, people!
“Aw, bummer…” The girl who asked in the first place pouted.
Aizawa continued, ignoring her entirely. “If those are all the interruptions out of the way…As I was about to say, I’m contractually obligated to inform those attempting to go into the hero course that they are not guaranteed to pass. Were any of you to fail either of the tests, or merely not qualify, you’ll be competing for a spot in general studies instead.”
You’re sure that you…might pass? No, focus Fumi, your sister can punch those bots to kingdom come. “With that said,” he kept on continuing, “the written exam will consist of what you’d expect, with specific questions for whichever course you’re applying for, etcetera.” He groaned. “Just don’t take too long, most of you got a practical to worry about as well after all.”
“‘Kay~! ★” That girl who asked cheered, but you? You felt nervous as you were handed the papers. Both memories clash as you stare at the Japanese questions upon the paper.
Taking out your pen and anxiously sifting through the questions, you sighed and started to write your name down.
If it wasn’t for the fact your mental fusion managed to retain language comprehension (despite panicking from seeing kanji) and other forms of knowledge, you would have thought you were COOKED. At least you managed to finish earlier, like, 30 minutes or more…and somehow compared to half of the participants who haven't finished at ALL.
“I don’t want to keep on walking!” Dark Shadow whined.
But, perhaps, Dark Shadow is worried about another thing instead.
You sighed, lowering your phone which was projecting the map towards the place to the second—and hopefully, last—portion of your examination. “You are not the person puppeting these legs to move. In fact, you have a lack of legs, to begin with.”
Dark Shadow pouted, shrinking down a bit and floating beside you. You raised your phone again, scrolling at the specific hallways leading up towards the next auditorium. At the same time, you have your eyes around you, watching your very steps and the scattered students with you. You swore you saw some odd pair-ups, but you didn’t mind it—in fact, it felt…refreshing.
In your other life as Dusk, you tend to imagine fictitious people in situations, and although some of it is worthy of an angsty novel, sometimes…you just want random people to talk awkwardly to each other. It might seem to be unhealthy to do, especially as you do the same for yourself, but what works just happens to work for you.
And, apparently, you as Fumikage have a similar sentiment, albeit just as depressing—you tend to imagine what it was like for YOU to interact with your peers without scrutiny or hesitation which was…sad to begin with. And like how you sometimes talk to your alters alone instead of keeping it silent, you also just communicate with Dark Shadow.
…why did your brain lead to that thought?
You’ll make sure you won’t be left behind this time!
However, you got preoccupied with those thoughts so much that you didn’t notice a leg coming up your way. And, so to say, that leg was merged with one, black section of the hallway.
Dark Shadow, however, was vigilant enough to bite it instead.
“Youch!” A slightly unfamiliar voice screamed, before you managed to catch your phone before it fell from you tossing it upwards. His body in black with white hair emerged from the shadows, and he was then groaning as soon as the possible ‘bite pain’ was subdued. You were…morbidly curious over this person, before you recognized his face entirely. As a casual watcher, you didn’t really get to know the 1B class well, even in fanfiction, due to their presentation. However, you know enough to recognize various character traits.
And this guy? It’s Kuroiro.
(And the same guy who can control Dark Shadow because of his own quirk.)
It seemed that whatever he did only embarrassed himself, as people stared at him as they went by. With an annoyed expression on his face, he stood up, facing you, before sighing to himself and composing his attitude.
…huh. Surprisingly mature. Or not.
‘You got a low bar of maturity, though.’
‘...that’s justifiable.’
You shook your head and glanced at him. “Apologies for my sister in darkness and her assault towards you,” you started. Dark Shadow sheepishly moved behind you. “In her defense, you would be blocking my way to our examinations. I wouldn’t have attempted this insolence at a time where people are running to avoid being reprimanded.”
“I was supposed to mess with anyone who comes my way as well,” Kuroiro complained. “Also, why the hell did you bit m-”
His eyes widened at seeing Dark Shadow behind you, and his eyes narrowed at the same time. “Oh, didn’t see that.”
Dark Shadow hissed at him before retreating back into your body, before you checked your phone now. “We have to head out,” you declared. “We’re wasting time worth wasting on waiting. Maybe we could…meet again later on.”
You started walking out, ignoring Kuroiro’s attempts at talking to you. Were you being petty at this time? Yes. Do you give a fuck? No. Plus, you can’t let that guy gain attention towards you, especially with that one scene from the Class 1A vs 1B war thing. And now, you worry about the implications of being in the same class as he is…
…or if you could make it into any class at all. You stopped as you reached the auditorium, future students, and possibly, heroes talking around you. What if you can’t excel at all? No, don’t think about that.
You raised your head upwards, the artificial light upon the ceiling almost blinding you. You can’t afford to fail now, or think that you will fail. You can only move forward, and hope for both the best and the worst to come heading your way. Darkness can march on without you, but you need to catch up to it.
Basically…you need to lock in.
“Good morning and welcome to today’s live performance, everyone!” You cocked your head towards a familiar voice. Present Mic stood in the distance, and you were able to discern him by his…hair (you can’t still get used to anime hair. Fusing with a guy from another life and having a sentient quirk for a sister? Sure. Hair that defies gravity? Hell no.) “Everybody say ‘hey’!”
...
“…Well, that’s cool—”
“HEY!!!” You winced, before you glanced towards a distance and saw Kirishima just hanging out in the open.
“HEY!!!!!” You can’t even tell where he is, but you were sure of Bakugo's that loud voice.
“WOO, PRESENT MIC, YEAH!!!” Aaaang Ashido. Damn, if only you have her confidence…
Nope. You’ll make sure to have that confidence.
“Thank you, random examinee listeners!” Present Mic yelled, pointing at Kirishima’s general direction. “Gee, it wouldn’t hurt y’all to be a little more like them!”
You rolled your eyes playfully as Present Mic dramatically lifted his arm and further raised his voice. You can handle this noise…maybe. “Now, for the main event! I’m here to present the guidelines for your practical! Are you ready!?”
“YEAH!!!”
“Yeah…?”
“Shut up!”
“You shut up!”
“FUCK YEAH, LET’S GO!!!”
“Gasp!”
All sorts of cheers and jeers came from the crowd, and all you did was to internal wither from the amount of noise. This…can’t be good for you for the long run.
“Glad to hear!” Present Mic declared. “This is how it’ll go, my passionate listeners! You’ll be experiencing ten-minutes long ‘mock-city maneuvers’! Bring along whatever you want, and after this presentation you’ll each head to your assigned location! Okay!?”
“OKAY!!!” Everyone, including your silent ‘okay’, joined in.
‘Will sanity and logic be considered part of what I can bring?’ You rhetorically thought to yourself. ‘No, it’s metaphors, not a physical thing.’
(Those aren’t metaphors), said Dark Shadow within you.
(I know.)
“Oh… oh, this is great!” Present Mic muttered. You tuned out the details about the fight, besides the implications that they apparently included the zero-pointer as well? Huh. It’ll be no problem if you fight from the shadows and ambush the robots, and there is enough shade within the shadows of larger robots (like the aforementioned zero-pointer) to empower Dark Shadow.
Still…can you take this risk?
“That’ll be all from me, everybody!” Present Mic concluded. “I’ll leave with our school’s motto… ‘True heroism consists in being superior to the ills of life.’ Plus Ultra! Break a leg, everyone!”
“YEAH!” You heard Kirishima yell again.
“Not literally!” Present Mic assured.
…we all know that’s not the case, although you’d rather break robot legs-
“I’LL BREAK ALL THE ROBOT LEGS I LITERALLY WANT!”
…Bakugo, stop ruining the non-existent mood.
You sighed as everyone started heading towards the faux city. You observed some teens stretching their arms and legs, some even practicing to bolt away into the robots. You observed the massive walls surrounding the faux city, and the implications of what you can encounter within it. You felt intimidated by it, especially as you-as-Tokoyami (you should decide on a better collective name) never encountered gargantuan villains of this scope.
‘Du-Fumi, no, this is NOT the worst thing you could ever face’, you murmured to yourself. ‘How did that song go? ‘You know you’re better than this’. There we go.’
You stared back into the entrance, seeing more students clump into it. The announcements blared, Present Mic readying all of you to be thrown like crows into unsuspecting victims. Well, except your victims are UA robots, and you’ve been craving to know what it truly was like to beat the shit out of one.
Dark Shadow came out, grinning. “Let’s beat ‘em up!” She cheered.
You only nodded, and as soon as Present Mic yelled out…
…
You went full THROTTLE.
'Save people, kill robots. Save people, kill robots.’
The mantra went over your head as you ran forward, pushing a random girl away before she got crushed by a falling two-Pointer. Said robot was immediately smacked to a wall by Dark Shadow, creating cracks around the impact point. She stared at you wordlessly, before she nodded and ran off somewhere. Dark Shadow, meanwhile, was relishing at destruction as she slithered back into you.
“AGAIN!” She yelled out like she was a wild bulldog given human speech, no offense to her level of consciousness. Although, you have to admit it was your own fault - you did go into more shaded areas for Dark Shadow to utilize her abilities better.
The downside? Feral Dark Shadow.
“We need to find more people and enemies to beat,” you declared to her. She cawed angrily, before you two started running off deeper into this section of the city. As you ran, you internally tallied the amount of robotic bloodshed you have committed. By far, you have already racked thirty points worth of Villain Points, maybe even more, and at least Ten from saving random people, or rather, Rescue Points. You don’t really know the system for Rescue Points, yet it was of less significance to your cause.
You glanced behind you, seeing the onslaught of robot parts thrown around haphazardly, a few even by your hands. Some robots laid waste upon the concrete roads, and ended up becoming decommissioned by the road. Some lacked body parts, courtesy of Dark Shadow. One of them even broke into a building’s interior, its limbs hanging by the outside area. Granted, that two-pointer was accidentally propelled by a two-pointer when you tricked it into grabbing the smaller robot instead of yourself, before Dark Shadow clawed at the big guy and beat the crap out of it.
Before, you might even hesitate beating up a weakened asshole, mostly because there aren’t any you actually encountered in daily life. But both of your lives suggested you have a lot of pent-up emotions - emotions you are desperately holding back to prevent others from being harmed by your hands. Justifiable or not, you never wished to be seen negatively due to the way you are.
Yet, you still experienced those stares.
But they’re no longer here.
You can go wild now.
You then heard a high-pitched scream from the distance, at an area where light was striking a bit more. Clenching your fists, you ran off towards it, observing the various concrete areas gradually transition to being covered by…mushroom? Yes, mushrooms, despite the lack of humidity within this place - and it was only increasing as you got closer.
What you ended up in, however, was seeing a girl with mushroom-shaped hair looking towards…a three-pointer. One of her hands was holding something - definitely spores - and the robot appeared to be entirely covered with mushrooms upon mushrooms. All neutral colors and some red, all shapes and sizes, and multiple even cover its joints and every single hole within its body, including its ‘heads’.
Yet, it was still moving. You then observed the area within her range has an unusual fog within it, and you ended up realizing what you ran into.
This girl was that one who can make mushrooms from 1B…and she’s cornered.
But a fog worth a million spores are blocking your way, and that bot is about to crush her into pulp.
“Dark Shadow, cover for me,” you ordered. You immediately blitzed towards the three-pointer, Dark Shadow fanning the fumes away and gradually shrinking under the light. You took a deep breath before you could inhale any spores, and you held your arms near you as you approached the machinery. Before the girl (Komori? Kikimori? No, that’s wrong.) could react to your presence, however, you immediately dropkicked the robot, slamming your right leg into one of its arms like Sanji from One Piece.
At the same time you did that, though a familiar, black figure suddenly emerged underneath the robot, sprouting out of its shadow. His fists ready, he immediately took a blow towards one of its heads…to no avail. He suddenly fell, and before he could touch the ground, you immediately lunged Dark Shadow at him. He then sank into her body, and…oh shit.
OH SHIT.
“Be careful in there!” You yelled at him. Thankfully, his vanishing confused the bot, before he reappeared from Dark Shadow’s mouth and pushed it with his entire body to the ground. The bot barely budged, but it did hold itself back from falling. Kuroiro grimaced once he managed to land upon its body, the mushrooms over it inhibiting his movement.
“Will you…aid a fellow being of darkness?” He seemed hesitant with stating that, due to the incident with his failed prank at you. You simply rolled your eyes before lifting yourself upon the arms of the three-pointer through Dark Shadow. Your heart skipped a beat as you started falling from above, due to swinging yourself like a monkey, yet you landed safely on top of one of its ‘heads.’ The robot tried to beat you up with an arm, only for Dark Shadow to block its moveset and for you to move into another head. It tried using its arm again…only for her to grin menacingly as she released it, the momentum hitting one of its heads entirely.
“Ignore my sister in darkness, but I will attempt to temporarily cooperate with you,” you declared, heading near where Kuroiro was standing. “It was incapacitated at some of its more lethal functions,” you explained, Dark Shadow trailing behind you. “We only need to tear it down by further inhibiting its movements. Do you know the girl who creates mushrooms?”
“I…kinda knew her?” He spoke out loud. “I just saved her from some two-pointers that a guy creating blue was blocking, and-”
“H-h-HELP!” Cue someone with an unusual head structure heading your way, right behind where the three-pointer was facing. He appeared to be squirting some…white substance out of his orifices (fuck, you can’t help but think of that one cursed image) while…way more two-pointers AND three- ones are running after him and some unknown people. Said machineries are covered to the BRIM with the glue, and other materials that are probably from Emitter quirks you cannot identify. You believed there was also a rose in there?
“BONDO!” Kuroiro barked. “Why did you have to bring them h-okay, new plans.” He turned towards the mushroom girl, still producing spores, and you saw him blush for a bit before he yelled again. “Komori! Create spores into the air!”
“Are you sure?” She spoke a little bit too quietly from below.
“We will distract these machines while your quirk immobilizes them overtime,” Kuroiro assured. “Bondo! You randos!” He pointed at you. “And you as well. For you down there, try to take down the two-pointers by yourself, and me and this raven guy here will crash the three-pointers into each other!”
You widened your eyes. “Oh wow…confidence, much?”
He grinned nervously, whispering, “Who said I wasn’t bluffing. Just, I dare you to tell everyone about this.”
“My beak is sealed, and I bear no negativities against you,” you declared. “Even when you tried to trip me. Anyways, no time to waste upon banter. We need to crush these things apart.”
What happened next was what you can describe as an absolute shitshow of distraction, evasion, and Dark Shadow hamming it up. Most two-pointers which reached Bondo and the other people are stuck within the former’s own glue, Komori’s mushrooms (she had to spontaneously learn how to make her spores just go into the bots instead of the people, but the rest of the participants just avoided her quirk’s effects by themselves), and before they could free themselves, you tend to use force and physics to use Dark Shadow as a bat to down the bots. Meanwhile, Kuroiro was taking advantage of the fact buildings are around to give shadows and shade to sneak attack, transferring between defeating the two-pointers (and two-pointers that show within the area) and even one three-pointer that floated too low. Scattered bodies spew around, robots flaming or not at all as they fall apart.
Surely these are enough to confuse all of these robots and let them not see it coming (even if they aren’t even intelligent), and you swear to whoever deity exists that all of you will be rewarded for points for this…but points aren’t the matter anymore.
It’s the love of the game, and the power of defeating things.
You hopped into another three-pointer, making Dark Shadow toss you upwards into it. You kicked its legs, jumping before it could hit you. Sure, you suffered through some scrapes, but you didn’t manage to break a single bone! Maybe it was because Dark Shadow was mostly the one with the effort to beat up these enemies, but who cares!
As you landed at the robot’s left head, you kicked it down a notch before it got lowered and got whipped downwards by someone with a lasso-like quirk. You used momentum again to swing Dark Shadow around, before she clawed repeatedly at its form and punched it down. You then held onto the bot as it fully went down, falling as soon as you’re near ground. Unfortunately, your fall was still too high…and your knees suffered.
“Fuck!” You swore out loud, seeing blood bleed right at your kneecaps. Komori noticed you scream out loud and started running towards you…and a three-pointer spotted her. Before you could react, however, you saw Kuroiro divebombed from a ground shadow…into Dark Shadow.
Again.
But this time, he actually controlled her.
FUCK.
“Sorry for taking control of this gal,” he yelled out, “but I gotta make her wild for this!”
“You don’t even know what are you attempt-”
Dark Shadow screeched, and you winced at her mental connection with you being torn partially and feel like pins and needles in your mind. Kuroiro directed her body towards the three-pointer, and he swung her hands towards one of the latter’s appendages. One appendage down, and multiple claw marks behind, Kuroiro tossed it immediately at the heads of the bot, before using all free limbs to grab at its center and send it hurling. Combine that with how he cannot control Dark Shadow well AND she’s currently exerting a lot of kinetic force at the machinery…the strike basically caused a sky explosion.
Kuroiro immediately stepped out of Dark Shadow, grabbing onto Komori as the bot exploded. You yelled out at the other participants in turn, Bondo completely losing glue as he stared back at the onslaught. The three-pointer’s shrapnel, combined with various materials and matter smacked into it, fell into unsuspecting two-pointers, creating an even bigger explosion.
You just…stared at it, ignoring Dark Shadow weakly retreating into your body. The speakers near your area blared out, Present Mic speaking.
“And that’s time!!!” Present Mic yelled out. “Pack your things everybody, the exam is over! If you need medical assistance, even just a scratch, don’t be shy and walk up to our Recovery Girl for help, yeah!”
You sighed in relief. Finally…you can rest…maybe even get your knees fixed up to Recovery Girl…although you fear her actually smacking you in the head for the way you and Dark Shadow moved together.
And then, you heard Present Mic hover at the speakers again…
What now?
“O-Oh! Hold on a second, little listeners! I’ve just got an important announcement to make!”
OH COME ON-
“Exam decided to go Plus Ultra after seeing y’all’s amazing performances! Take a little breather, of about five or so minutes, and gather up once more then!”
…
You cackled out loud, starting even Kuroiro and Komori at your reaction. Eyes wide, blood on your knees, you can’t fucking believe there is a round two.
The gods have left you, even if you never believed in them.
“Well, well, seems like we meet again!” No, you don’t want to be here again…not at all. You were within another lobby, impatiently sitting on the floor. You just want out, and these knees healed (at least it wasn’t shot 57 times). “This next, suddenly added, portion of the exam is an interesting one, everybody!”
Oh, it was added suddenly?
You jumped at a random UA robot, and Dark Shadow screeched to bite at it. However, you turned on your phone’s flashlight option, and made her screech at it instead. You then took the pamphlet from it, reading its…complex sets of mechanics. By what Present Mic then said, and what was written here…you have to either save a lot of dummy civilians. You also saw a small, also unreadable portion of it at the bottom.
Thank gog you read smaller fonts than this.
“All while this massive villain attempts to harm them, of course!” Present Mic seemed…enthusiastic with the zero-pointer looming over you all. You and Kuroiro were thankful at the fact you were far from the impact of that menacing bot, yet he seemed disappointed that he wasn’t able to join into its chaos. “And if you read the fine, tiny print on your handouts, you might see that there is a bit more to it!?
Yea…that small portion is just like Sonic the Hedgehog. Even if you only watched the films and knew of all of it via cultural osmosis…and a lot of fanart (you’ll never admit what those are, although it made Dark Shadow goes “you’re into that?”) “Like in this other video game… uh, Sunlight the Hedgehog, was it? You could also try to disable this colossal threat through destroying the generators that power it!”
Holy shit, Forsaken.
“Did you get all of that, my examinee listeners? No? Too bad, you’ll read as you go!”
You stretched your arms, noticing faux civilians being placed all over the area, and some people within your group splitting off. “Now c’mon, find and rescue those people, heroes!”
Oh…you will.
Before that, however, Kuroiro nudged at you. “Hey, you,” he declared. Komori was nowhere near both of you, and he appeared to be both annoyed…and impressed. “Cool quirk, but I’ll make mine better than yours!”
You scoffed. “You can merge with the void while I have one of its soldiers with me, and I bear responsibility towards her. Let us not commit our rivalry at this dire moment.”
“Fair enough.” He then coughed a bit. “Say-”
“Let me guess: you want my number?” You declared out loud. He was surprised about that, but you rolled your eyes. Actually, you don’t do phone numbers much…yet there are people who tend to ask for that information. “...after this examination.”
He grinned. “Meet you soon, rival in darkness,” he boasted out loud. And then he bolted away to the shadows.
…
You gotta start heading out now.
Staring at your now-bandaged knees, you refocused your eyes towards your phone. The sun was shining orange on the horizon, and there were scarce people outside of UA at this point. It was just an hour or so (you lost track) since Present Mic announced the end of the examinations, and you…weren’t sure about your scores.
Still, you have more important things to handle.
“Hey.” You perked up to see Kuroiro with a bunch of bandages all over his face and arms. You were tempted to chuckle at his expense—after all, it was kinda his fault for trying to go directly after the zero-pointer and fall. However you’re no asshole, so you kept it for yourself as you waved back.
“So, this is it?” You declared. “I still have no idea why you would desire to exchange numbers with me, even if you are implying we will be rivals soon…if both of us got in, somehow.”
He scoffed, grinning. “Nah, I was messing around with that part, although I was still genuinely curious about…you.” He frowned a bit, as if recalling something, before he shook his head and continued with, “So, what number would you give?”
You just…stared at him. And then, you snapped yourself out of staring at him. “I simply realized we have not disclosed our name. I shall disclose to you my own, and you shall disclose yours. Afterwards, we can exchange for real. Deal?”
He smiled subtly, saying, “Deal.”
You took a deep breath and thought deeply. You could give any names you thought of, including ones you used to have, but at the same time…you really want to stick to consistency. “The name bestowed upon me is no other than Fumikage Tokoyami, and my sentient quirk and sister-in-arms is Dark Shadow.”
Kuroiro smiled, responding with his own answer. “Shihai Kuroiro, and the quirk you saw is named Black. One day, I shall conquer the world of darkness!”
You rolled your eyes. “Not if I got to that first.”
“Hell nah.”
“Yes, I will.”
What happened after that light ‘banter’ was him and you exchanging numbers, and even usernames within some Tumblr knockoff (dear gog, the hellsite still exists), saying goodbye as soon as who appeared to be his parents/guardians (you haven’t asked at all) arrived in car. You then have no choice but to continue on waiting, and you…don’t really want to talk to other people.
(Hey, what should I do once I get home?)
(Sleep.)
(Sleep!)
(Sleep…)
(Plot the downfall of your enemies!)
(Maybe try to reform the Japanese government?)
(Sleep.)
(Again, sleep tight, you bozo.)
(Sleep.)
(...I regret asking you all. Screw you, jokingly.)
A familiar car beep sounded in the distance, and you perked up at the approaching vehicle. The vehicle in question immediately stopped, and its driver exited the driver’s seat—you did jump a bit, but you concealed the rest of your reactions. Your father slicked his hair to the back, smiling awkwardly. His scarred skin, which he usually showed from time-to-time as a sign of his resilience, was hidden from the fact he was wearing a shirt with longer sleeves, and you raised your brow at it.
You walked forward, taking note of his presence and…clothing of choice. “I believe your usual outfit upon heading home is formal attire. What happened to it.”
He just chuckled and ruffled your head feathers, which annoyed you a bit…but it wasn’t that bad, actually. “Nothing to worry, son,” he declared. “The most important thing that should matter for us is the fact you got the confidence to entirely finish this examination.”
You simply nodded. “I accept your praise. Although…I need to rest early.”
“Then let’s hop in…I guess.”
A short while later, you got into the side of the driver’s seat, and your father turned on the car. As you drove off from UA, you glanced at the outside world. Meanwhile, Dark Shadow took your phone and started playing…Tetris? Dear gog, how did that survive?
“My knees were scraped,” you mentioned. “And I got some bruises. But Recovery Girl managed to heal all of those up, and so are my sprains and strains. The second part of the examination was…unpleasant.”
“I see.” He let out a deep breath. “I always expected the Written half to be the part that will determine which majority gets booted out, but it seemed like the Practicals was the part where most of you will struggle the most due to your physical prowess. Honestly, with how current heroics go, I see why.”
“Mhm,” you hummed. “The Practicals gained a bonus part in the form of faux-civilians instead of bots. Me and Dark Shadow saved a lot of them, and barely made a dent on the legs of the ‘villain’, but…we weren’t precise nor careful about it.”
You shivered at the criticism you got, especially as it was entirely directed towards you. You know you’re sloppy with finesse, but apparently brute-saving people and potentially breaking their bones and spines are a concern. Thankfully, though, you managed to salvage yourself through destroying a random generator and the quantity of civilians you ‘rescued’.
“Something’s in your mind?” Your father asked curiously.
You shook your head. “Nothing…just admiring the view.”
“Buddy…you’re staring at your legs.”
“...oh.” You averted your gaze from him, feeling a bit awkward about that revelation. “Still, I managed to rack up a lot of points…I supposed.”
“That’s impressive,” he replied. “I’m proud of you, Fumikage.”
Your eyes widened at the sentence, barely able to move. ‘I’m proud of you’ resonated across your mind, and you felt like you were shutting down for a moment. One of your former halves—the one used to your father’s status of acting like a suburban white guy who genuinely cares for his family, used to your mother being a former pro hero and retired for the sake of your safety, and used to your sister existing that way and calling her as such despite being your quirk—was already used to this. After all, it was his norm, what he grew up with, what was nurtured within him.
But your other half? Dusk?
…
…
…
“Fumi?” You snapped out of your thoughts as your father shook you. You were back home now, by the familiar silhouette of it, but…it’s blurry.
…shit you’re crying again—
Your suddenly felt warm arms wrap around your body, and colder ones from a familiar quirk. Your father looked down at you with a face of worry and care, and Dark Shadow was merely reflecting the fact that you were feeling things again. You hesitantly hugged back, feeling some warm sensations across your father’s back. You were actually concerned about it, and so are the things you felt on his arms, covered by his casual sleeves. Yet, you tore your mind away from those thoughts, and just…accepted this feeling.
After a few minutes, all of you broke your embrace. Your father let out an awkward cough and started. “I-uh-sorry,” he declared. He stammered as he tried to compose himself. “I’m sorry if I just did that, I…know you don’t usually like hugs, but—”
“I’m more than thankful about it,” you admitted, actually smiling at him. “...thank you. I needed that on my way home.”
“What matters the most is that we’re here…I’m here…and we’re all safe in the blanket of this night.”
“And I’ll make sure this feeling won’t be taken away from me again.”