Izuku was the first to break the silence of that peaceful night.
"Tokoyami-san?" Part of him was greatly relieved knowing that there was no villain trying to infiltrate the campus. On the other hand, he simply couldn't understand what Fumika, his very reserved female classmate, might be doing on the dorm roof at two in the morning.
He started to look at her somewhat uneasily, waiting for her to say something and explain her presence there…
Didn't happen. She seemed to be much busier scanning him up and down with an unidentifiable expression while Dark Shadow merely looked at him and giggled.
Then Izuku became fully aware of the fact he was wearing his nightclothes: An All Might tank top, as well as All Might shorts and slippers. The ultimate fanboy nightclothes.
If it wasn't already too late for that, he would have jumped off the roof, returned to his room and pretended that none of that had happened...
"W-What are y-you doing here?" Asked Izuku, quite embarrassed but trying to not think too much about his appearance for now.
"Hmn ...I couldst question thee in kind, Midoriya," said Tokoyami with a slightly condescending tone, and then turned her attention forward. Towards the night sky.
Izuku flinched at her words and then sighed. Having watched before how evasive Fumika could be when she didn't want to talk with someone, he knew he would need to be patient if he really wanted to get somewhere with the conversation.
But this was too important to just let it pass.
"I was thirsty and couldn't sleep." A slight nod being the only sign that Fumika was even listening to him. "So I went to the g-ground floor to take a drink from the vending machine-."
"Power Cola?" She interrupted him, and Izuku blinked stupefied. How could she have known...? "I took the liberty to guess. If I'm not wrong, All Might is part of the logo, so I supposed thou wouldst choose it." She commented, answering Izuku's question before he even asked it.
"Y-Yeah, that one." Replied Izuku, with a slight blush. "T-Then I noticed the window open and d-decided to take a look out in case t-there was an intruder nearby."
"Rather than going out on thine own and taking the risk of being attacked, wouldst it not be less dangerous and considerably more advisable to have informed our teachers that we might be under attack by the forces of darkness...?" She turned and asked in her very particular way of speaking, an expression in her feathered face as if she was raising an eyebrow at his stupidity.
Izuku was glad that he took the time to research some basic info about archaic japanese or he would have problems trying to understand some of the things she was saying. But he was also confused about her question. After all, Fumika was too smart to not understand the implications that would have had.
"E-Eh...? But if I had done that, y-you would have gotten in trouble." Then curiosity showed in her eyes. Dark Shadow seemed equally curious, protruding from her hostess's cloak. "I knew t-there was a possibility that there would be no problems. That m-maybe the open window was just the result of a c-classmate who had decided to go to g-get some fresh air or something... And I w-was right so…"
"Fool." She snorted and turned her focus back to the sky, in an utterly cold gesture. Meanwhile, Dark Shadow showed its support to its hostess by blowing a raspberry at him.
"E-EH?!"
What did he even do to deserve that?
"That is precisely the foolish behavior that made thee and the others fall from the high pedestal thou had climbed after so much time and effort, just to end up on Aizawa-sensei's blacklist." Izuku began to feel his mood decline and lowered his gaze. He already knew that his actions after Katsuki's kidnapping had been completely stupid; Aizawa and everyone else around him had made it as clear as water to him on multiple occasions. But it was the right thing to do, and if he had to go through such a situation again he was sure he would do the same thing once more. "But thou dost not have need to torture thyself." Fumika added after a few seconds, causing Izuku to look up. "Beyond the fact that my pride doth not allow me to drag others into my descent into darkness. I'm able to recognize the appeal in such chivalry and loyalty; such art traits of a true hero, after all." Her sincere words made him feel somewhat embarrassed, though happy.
"I was just joking before, you´re cool, Midoriya!" Exclaimed Dark Shadow, in an apparent attempt to cheer him up. It only gained a not very happy look from Fumika, causing the shadowy creature to hide.
"T-Thank you!" said Izuku, bowing slightly distressed. Not every day a girl complimented him like that, even if it was after calling him an insensate fool. However... "But you never answered me, Tokoyami-san..."
"About what?" She asked as if ignorant of what Izuku was trying to say.
Izuku didn't believe her one bit.
"W-Why are you out here? " Rather than finding his insistence annoying, Fumika actually seemed to smile slightly at him.
"And why didst thou leave thy room in the middle of the night, Midoriya?" She returned the question back to him without any mercy. Even though technically he had already answered that question just a moment ago.
Izuku began to suspect that the more he talked with Fumika, the less he would be able to really understand what was going on in her mind. She probably would keep evading his questions, while giving him ambiguous answers or just simply refusing to answer altogether until Izuku got tired of trying and gave up. And yet, despite how difficult it was for him to be in this kind of situation, trying to make conversation with someone who was probably as reserved as him, someone that -even more importantly- was a girl; it felt impossible for Izuku to just leave things like that. It was probably that heroic part of him, which was really nosy and liked to meddle in other people's problems, like he had done with Shouto.
"I w-was very thirsty and really wanted to drink a Power Cola, but the cans I had in my room disappeared and I felt like I w-wouldn't be able to sleep until I drank at least one..."
"So, to simplify it, thou left thine enclosure to get something thou wanted, something thou needed..." Izuku nodded even though it wasn't really a question. "Well, in my case the answer is exactly the same," she said solemnly and turned around again.
Izuku looked at the raven girl and sighed. That had been the end unless he came up with another conversation topic to talk about.
So, not quite sure about what else to say, and not wanting to give up yet, Izuku simply walked nervously towards Fumika and sat next to her, all the while trying to keep his gaze fixed forward on the clear sky.
After a moment he slowly moved his eyes to her. Fumika was looking at him curiously again. Izuku tried to keep with her stare, but stopped after a full minute had passed without her saying anything and not even blinking.
Fortunately, for the well-being of his poor, nervous little heart, the fear he had of the girl wearing some kind of sexy sleepwear or something like that under her black cloak hadn't been fulfilled. Instead, Fumika wore simple, but cute, lavender flannel pajamas with long sleeves, and to Izuku's surprise she was barefoot.
"What art thou doing?" Fumika asked in a completely calm tone.
"I-I'm waiting ..."
"And for what art thou waiting?"
"The m-moment you feel ready to return, Tokoyami-san, so I can accompany you back into the dorms," Izuku said, weighing every word, in order not to end up annoying or exasperating Fumika.
"Why?" To Izuku's relief, he didn't detect any impatience in her voice. She seemed truly interested in the reasons behind his behavior. "Thou art wasting your precious but limited time as a mortal staying here... I don't even know how much time I'm going to stay until finally being prepared to leave the darkness of the night. Staying will only guarantee that thou drown thyself in the uncomfortable and immeasurable silence that inevitably awaits if thou decide to remain here... In addition, the longer our stay is made, the more problems we will be having if they discover us while returning to our enclosures..."
Izuku looked at her somewhat surprised at her words. She wasn't trying to just make him go or something, she was actually being serious… Instead of feeling uncomfortable or irritated by his presence, Fumika simply didn't want to be an inconvenience for him.
That made a shy smile appear on his face.
"I-it's fine. Waiting d-doesn't bother me, and silence doesn't either. I-I'm not that good at talking, after all." Especially with girls. Izuku managed to stop before saying it out loud, and laughed a little to cover his nerves. "And I-I'm genuinely sorry if I'm inconveniencing you. I swear it wasn't my intention to d-do it, but I can't just go and leave y-you here alone." Fumika frowned at him immediately, at the same time that Dark Shadow appeared looking clearly indignant. "I know well that y-you can perfectly defend yourself! ...And I know that technically y-you are never really alone because you have D-Dark Shadow with you," Izuku said defensively. "B-But I still don't really feel comfortable with the idea of leaving you two here." Tokoyami's expression seemed to soften and she nodded, placing her hand on Dark Shadow's head to make it hide again. "I'm also p-perfectly aware that we'll be in great trouble if we are discovered awake out here, especially in my case after K-Kacchan's rescue, but I already accepted that possibility when I decided to not warn our t-teachers but come on my own instead. So you don't have to worry, Tokoyami-san. Whatever happens to me for t-taking that decision falls completely under my responsibility."
"Thou art completely incapable of even pondering the idea of leaving someone else behind to their fate, art thou not, Midoriya?" Fumika asked him. Nothing in her voice seemed to indicate that she believed that was something bad.
"N-No! ...After all I'm just a insensate f-fool who wants to be a hero!" Izuku said cheerfully, trying to smile like All Might, no matter how shaky and uncomfortable his smile turned out to be.
"I see... Definitely a fool." Her tone somewhat amused and her beak seeming to curve slightly in a smile.
So they both stayed there. Fumika focused on the sky, while Izuku tried to figure out what exactly was in the sky that was drawing so much of the raven girl's attention, throwing small occasional glances in her direction.
Neither of them was making an attempt to speak, but Izuku no longer felt the earlier discomfort. It was a pleasant silence, so much that Izuku felt somewhat surprised when it was Fumika who decided to break it.
"What knowledge dost thou have about Dark Shadow?" She asked as calmly as ever.
"Eh?" Izuku looked at her with wide eyes. Everything would have been a presumptuous but adequate response.
"I myself explained the most important aspects of Dark Shadow to thou during the Sports Festival. Both its strengths and weaknesses... Dost thou still remember them?"
"O-Of course I do!" Exclaimed Izuku, almost offended that she would really believe that he would forget info about one of the most brilliant Quirks he had known in his life, especially when most of the intel in his notebooks had come from its very user.
"Hmn. Good to know. So rephrasing my question. Given all the information I gave thee, what other details have thou succeeded in theorizing about Dark Shadow...?" Izuku was rendered completely speechless. "I'm fully aware of thine immense ability to analyze people's innate talents and abilities, reaching a level of understanding that sometimes not even the users themselves have. So I'm quite intrigued with respect to what thou wouldst have to say about Dark Shadow."
"Yay! Praise me! Praise me!" Dark Shadow hummed, to Fumika's irritation.
Izuku would have found the scene somewhat comical if he weren't too busy almost having a seizure; his face red and his heart beating like crazy.
Not only had Fumika praised him again, but showed an open and sincere interest in the observations he might have on her Quirk...
Even now as a student at AU, Izuku still felt uncomfortable with the idea of showing his Quirk analysis notebooks to someone else, fearing they would find them ridiculous or creepy, and yet now he regretted not having them on hand so Fumika could take a look herself.
He was filled with so much excitement, happiness and pride to find someone genuinely interested in knowing his opinion. Unfortunately, the emotional overload was such that the filter between his brain and his mouth just stopped working...
"O-of course! no problem!" Izuku shouted, forgetting the hour and place he was at the moment. "D-Dark shadow is seriously great! In its own merit it´s at the same level of quirks as strong as Kacchan's Explosion and as versatile as Todoroki-kun's Half-cold Half-hot. It's fascinating how high Dark Shadow's offensive and defensive capabilities are, and how it can be functional at almost any distance! Its night-day factor is incredible too! The only thing better than that is its sentiency, working as your shield and spear!
"The only quirks minimally similar to Dark Shadow that I have found are Koda-kun's animal voice, that allows him to communicate with animals and ask them for help, and Shinso-kun's brainwashing, which lets him control other people's actions directly, but none of them are the same as Dark Shadow! Also, it was absolutely spectacular how you annulled one of your weaknesses by learning how to use Dark Shadow as armor! As someone who had so many problems learning how to use my Quirk, I almost envy you, Tokoyami-san! I'm sure you needed a lot of effort to develop a super-move like that! You are incredibly great too...!"
Only when his verbiage was over was Izuku able to really process everything he had said without even thinking. For a moment he felt like he was going to burn in fire like Endeavor until he ended up as mere ashes and disappeared, dragged by the wind.
This whole situation was so damned embarrassing!
Any attempt to apologize got stuck in his throat and Izuku just remained there; a trembling and embarrassed mess.
And meanwhile Fumika watched him eyes wide open, with Dark Shadow peeking shyly from behind her back. It had never crossed Izuku's mind that a creature made of shadows could blush, but that seemed to be the case...
"I see..." Fumika muttered, clearly not knowing what to say. "Hmn, anyway, thou also someone worthy of being held in high esteem." Izuku turned red as a tomato; she was avoiding his eyes, and Izuku couldn't help but notice a slight trembling in her black feathers. Apparently, despite not being externalized as much as Izuku, Fumika also was nervous. However, there was sincerity in her words. For Izuku's relief, Fumika wasn't irritated or disgusted by his words but had taken them for what they were, simple and sincere compliments without any hidden intentions. "After all, despite owning a Quirk so superbly devastating, thou still required a lot of effort in order to become one of the paramount of our year.
"Especially considering that on our first day, thou finished in the last place during the Quirk apprehension test..." Slowly Fumika turned and looked back at Izuku, her expression as calm as before, but there was a peculiar glow in her eyes that seemed to hypnotize Izuku. "Someone like me, who has suffered and strived so much to control my own darkness so as to not harm myself or others, can understand and admire the great determination that thou possess... Even though that same determination makes thou act in an incredibly non-sensible way, considering how intelligent and analytical thou usually art under normal conditions." She smiled softly, so Izuku understood she didn't mean to offend him.
Now it was Izuku who had to avoid the raven girl's gaze. He felt incredibly embarrassed... But incredibly happy. Usually it would bother him tremendously to be in this kind of situation, especially with how unaccustomed he was to being treated in such a friendly way by other people his age, without them wanting to take advantage of him or mess with him...
But once again, there were no lies or deceptions in Fumika's words; that was her genuine opinion about him. And knowing that made him feel a really warm and nice sensation in his chest, so it didn't even bother him if he had to feel some embarrassment in return.
"T-T-THANK YOU!" Izuku nodded profusely, trying to not smile like an idiot, with little success.
"Thanks art not necessary, every word I've said is just the truth." The warmth only increased in strength.
Now that Izuku thought about it, it was really curious how the raven girl turned out to be more expressive in her own peculiar way than he would have imagined. While her face didn't reveal much, which was understandable considering that her avian face was naturally inexpressive, the look in her eyes and the tone of her voice did a very good job of conveying the emotions Fumika felt, even when she seemed to make attempts to act naturally or in an excessively theatrical way...
It was at that moment that a spark of curiosity ignited in Izuku's mind, as he became fully aware of how interesting the girl by his side was beyond her immensely striking appearance and complex Quirk. Every little thing about her, from her calm attitude and strange way of expressing herself, to her dark and esoteric tastes and hobbies. Just everything.
And in that precise moment, he was reminded of a very specific aspect of her Quirk that he hadn't dared to ask about before. But now, feeling more comfortable in Fumika's presence, Izuku decided that it was perhaps the most perfect opportunity he would have to try...
"Tokoyami-san," the girl looked at him, silent, "can I ask you a question...?" Fumika tilted her head. 'You already asked one', her eyes seemed to express and Izuku laughed somewhat uncomfortably. "S-Sorry, it's just... Maybe this question is something private to you... But I'm..."
"Thou art curious but dost not want to invoke my immortal wrath and vengeance upon thee, art thou not?" she said as if it were nothing.
"Y-YES!" After getting on such good terms with Fumika, the last thing he wanted was to ruin everything because of a stupid question.
"Do not worry about that, just ask thy question... If I find it inappropriate or offensive in any way, I will simply not answer it," she said sympathetically, and Izuku decided to take the risk.
"Tokoyami-san, is D-Dark Shadow a fusion...?"
"Fusion?" Fumika seemed clearly confused about his question. "Thou willst have to elaborate a bit more on what thou doth mean, Midoriya."
Izuku just nodded.
"I-it's probably going to sound like a question a little out of nowhere but, do you remember how hereditary characteristics work...?" After a pause the girl nodded. "Q-Quirks work in a similar way, but not all the time, I'm an example of that… My mother's Q-Quirk allows her to float small objects while my father can breathe fire, but I... Well, you know..." I'm Quirkless. "Some people simply develop Quirks completely different from those of their parents and relatives in a spontaneous and inexplicable way. However, the most common thing is for a person to inherit one of their p-parent's Quirks or, what I wanted to get, a fusion of both. In some cases, thanks to a great compatibility between the parents' Quirks it can result in a perfect blend of them as it happened with K-Kacchan, while on other occasions the Quirk's aspects, paternal and maternal, may express themselves in a starkly differentiated way as it happened with Todoroki-kun's two sides...
"I just don't understand where you fit in all this..." Despite beginning to partially regret bringing the subject up, Izuku noticed how all of Fumika's attention was on his words, so he forced himself to continue. "Considering not only D-Dark Shadow, which is already quite complex in itself, but also..." Izuku swallowed nervously. After all, most people would be uncomfortable or displeased to have their physical features put under a magnifying glass, which was especially true in the case of people with mutant type Quirks, and even more so in the case of girls. "A-Also considering your avian features..." Izuku finally said in a hurry, and focused all his attention on analyzing Fumika's expression for any minimal signs that he had screwed everything up.
Fumika looked down at the ground, looking thoughtful but slightly dismayed. She was clearly feeling somewhat uncomfortable toward the question, but at the same time she seemed to be thinking about it.
"Tokoyami-san, it's fine if you don't-."
"No. Thou art right, Midoriya…" said Fumika suddenly, with determination in her eyes. "Dark Shadow is a chimera." Izuku guessed that was her particular way of confirming that Dark Shadow was indeed a compound Quirk. "However, its origin is somewhat more complicated than thou doth think..."
"W-What do you mean?"
"Dark Shadow owes its existence to three people before me." Such a comment gained the attention of that part of Izuku who was still obsessed with Quirks. "First, my father... Mine and Dark Shadow's majestic appearances art due to his power, Bird Visage…" She crossed her arms and lifted her head, with clear pride. However, after a few seconds her disposition changed and her expression became irritated, her former good mood disappearing. "Second... My father's former mate." Clear disdain in her voice.
"Y-Your w-what...?" Even leaving aside the displeasure with which Fumika had said it, there was something seriously wrong with the way she had formulated that phrase. "You mean... your mother?" She just gave him a sulky look and nodded.
"Anyway... That woman has the ability to control shadows..." Izuku's eyes lit up for a moment, before Fumika decided to break his bubble. "It's not as remarkable as thou may believe. It was my grandmother from whom that woman inherited such a power... But while my grandmother could create different types of weapons and armor after absorbing, molding and solidifying shadows, that woman can only decrease, expand or modify the shadows distribution on a room, basically controlling its illumination. It's not a skill that can be used for heroics."
"I-it could be! In a catastrophe scenario, she could absorb shadows in a room with electrical problems to light it up. Or in the scenario of a closed room full of villains, she could expand shadows to make the room completely dark, and beat her enemies easily using some kinds of night vision goggles or something to be able to see and move in the dark without problems." Added Izuku. Honestly, he felt a bit uncomfortable, noticing how extremely angry Fumika seemed to be towards her own mother; she hadn't even mentioned the name of her mother's Quirk.
"Thou art committing a misunderstanding, Midoriya," she said and shook her head. "My anger towards that woman stems not from the fact that her ability isn't as strong as my grandmother's or Dark Shadow, but from all the despicable actions she hath committed…" Well, it was official, Fumika genuinely seemed to hate or at least dislike -a lot- her own mother. Izuku just nodded, knowing without being told that Fumika wouldn't divulge exactly what actions her mother had taken. Clearly she didn't want to discuss the subject any further. "Finally, the third and last person to contribute part of their spirit to create Dark Shadow is the father of that woman. My grandfather." Fumika's expression softened and brightened considerably, marking the end of her previous uncomfortable mood. Such was the girl's appreciation for her grandfather. "His power is called Ghost Version, and it allows him to summon from within a spectral copy of himself."
Based on that description Izuku tried to imagine the Quirk's appearance and functions, and if he wasn't mistaken...
"I-is G-Ghost Version like D-Dark Shadow?"
"Indeed." She nodded smiling. "The only differences between the both of them, art that Ghost Version isn't influenced by darkness, so its range, strength and defense are fixed and doth not change... Specifically, Ghost Version can only get about three meters away from my grandfather and it doth not possess any superhuman abilities, being only as strong and resilient as my grandfather. Though if Ghost Version suffers what would be considered as mortal damage by a human, it can easily recover itself after draining a bit of energy from my grandfather, that's its drawback."
Processing all the information that Fumika had given him, it was very easy for Izuku to understand how everything fit together.
"Now I understand. First Ghost Version served as Dark Shadow's base form or mold, then its appearance and yours was influenced by your father's avian m-mutation, and finally the shadow element from your mother's Quirk enhanced D-Dark Shadow's physical skills much beyond yours. I-it's amazing!" Fumika's satisfied expression seemed to indicate that his conclusion was spot on. However, her good mood seemed to vanish in an instant as she sighed.
"But it's also a curse." Her voice so low that Izuku almost didn't hear it, and suddenly she looked so tired...
"W-What do you mean, Tokoyami-san?"
"It's simple. What wouldst thou say is thy worst enemy?" Izuku weighed the question for a minute. The image of Shigaraki floated in his mind, but that didn't seem like the right answer. Eventually, his gaze went to his own hand, scarred and twisted by the multiple times he had broken it using One for All. "We art… We ourselves art our greatest allies and our worst enemies, both at the same time."
"I-I see…"
"Yes... Thou have the scars to prove it... In my case... I've always known that I'm a danger to myself and the people around me... What would I even do if some day I commit a mistake so bad that I cannot go back to being the same…?" Her voice was back to its normal volume, but there was no emotion in it.
"Tokoyami-san..." For a moment it crossed Izuku's mind to put his hand on Fumika's shoulder, but he ended up cowering at the last moment.
It was that moment that Dark Shadow chose to re-appear, wrapping Fumika in a hug.
"Most children awaken to their abilities at four or five years old, Midoriya, but not in my case... Dark Shadow hath always been with me, from the very moment I was born, clouding my mind and making me feel cranky and easily irritable while in the dark of the night. Even though I couldn't summon Dark Shadow until I was five years old, I always knew there was darkness deep in my soul... Thou already witnessed the consequences if I don't control my negative emotions and let them overflow..." Dark Shadow took one of Fumika's hands and squeezed it. At that moment there was a kind of vulnerable aura surrounding Fumika that left Izuku paralyzed. He felt bad seeing her like that, he wanted to get close to her and... And what...? Failing to understand his own feelings made him become confused and somewhat frightened. "And that's the reason why I'm here."
"E-Eh? W-What?" He asked, taken out of his thoughts, and to his surprise she let out a small giggle.
"Hast thou truly not noticed it...? I imagined that someone with thine expertise would have taken seconds to notice..."
"W-What?" He asked, completely intrigued.
There wasn't anything strange that he could notice.
Only Fumika sitting there with Dark Shadow wrapped around her…
Suddenly Izuku's mind was filled with images of Fumika and every different emotion she had expressed around him the last hour. All of them, both positive and negative.
Only then Izuku understanded the obvious.
"H-How can D-Dark Shadow be so docile being out here in the night...?!"
The only response that Izuku received was a huge laugh, both from Fumika and Dark Shadow, which for Izuku's shame lasted a considerable while until Fumika started coughing.
"M-My apologies, Midoriya. I-I could not resist..." she said with some difficulty while Dark Shadow patted her back carefully. Izuku just pouted with his cheeks blushed; although he should be at least a bit angry with Fumika for laughing at his expense, he mostly just wanted to move his arm and pat her on the back too. "As for thy question, the answer is right there." Having already recovered, she raised her arm and pointed her index finger towards the sky.
No. Not exactly the sky...
"T-The moon..." Of course. It was right there from the beginning, every time Fumika looked at the sky instead of at him.
"Not only the moon… it's the full moon, happening every twenty nine days, the night that the earth finds itself between the sun and the moon... Although commonly associated with a maddening effect on both humans and lycans, it's also the lunar phase that provides the greatest spiritual energy of all." Izuku nodded with interest, not really knowledgeable on the topic of the supernatural or the occult. "And since I can remember, the full moon nights hath always been the only ones when I don't have to fight against the negative pressure of Dark Shadow trying to break free of my control... When I'm out here with the full moon emitting its dim luminosity over me, I feel completely calm. Able to say, think and do as I please without the fear of being consumed by the darkness and ending up hurting someone, and finally give up all my worries, anguish and stress... So I truly apologize for being so disrespectful when thou wast asking for my reasons to be out here before. It was really inconsiderate on my part, taking in account that thou wast acting with my best interests in mind... I would just ask thou to please forget the pitiful way I was acting before. I unfortunately tend to get overly emotional during full moons..." She didn't need to be specific for him to understand that she was referring to her depressed mood earlier.
"It's fine, y-you don't need to apologize!" he said quickly, trying to not frown at her request. There wasn't anything bad or weak about being a bit emotional sometimes. Maybe it was a bad example, but Izuku himself was overly emotional all the time. It was one of his best/worst traits. "So, that was the reason you decided to come here at night." She nodded.
"I ended up getting used to climbing the roof of my family lair with my father or my grandfather during each full moon night to see it in all its glory. It just became a habit... And today..." Fumika let out a sigh, a sad look in her red eyes. "It's the first time in a long while that I have to see the full moon while being so far away from them…"
Izuku blinked and looked back at his scarred hand.
The only reason Fumika was out here instead of just looking at the moon from her bedroom window was because she missed her family. And she wanted to do the same things she did with them when she was back at her home...
Izuku's cheeks began to burn and he started to fear that perhaps he would regret what he was about to do... But at that moment it seemed the right thing to do.
He simply extended his trembling hand and placed it on the raven girl's shoulder, squeezing gently to try to convey some comfort to her. At first Izuku felt Fumika flinch under his touch, but after a few seconds her body relaxed.
Izuku began repeating in his mind that what he was doing was the right and expected thing to do for a great hero and a good friend in such a situation, trying to ignore -with difficulty- the intimacy of his bold little action. This was made even more complicated by having to deal with Dark Shadow smiling dreamily at him from over his shoulder.
It was a weird situation... Weird... But nice…
Izuku frankly wasn't quite sure what he had gotten himself into.
Suddenly, macabre music started to sound around him. Izuku got to his feet fast and raised his guard.
"Hmn." Before he could say anything, Fumika took out her cell phone from a pocket in her pajamas; the terrifying music seemed to come from the little purple mobile device in her hands. "It's my alarm. Seems it's already three o'clock in the morning," she said with her typical calmness, as if the strange intimate mood just a moment ago hadn't happened, and she stood up with a certain grace that called Izuku's attention. "It's about time to go back... If thou agree."
"Ah... Y-Yes, it's fine."
The raven girl walked across the roof towards the side of the building where the window she had left open was located. Then she turned her head slightly for a second to look at Izuku. Once again her eyes shone with that strange brightness that Izuku couldn't understand. The only thing he knew was that it was enough to make him blush and feel slightly giddy.
Without saying anything else, Fumika took one end of her cloak and moved it, making it wave dramatically, before jumping off the roof to the tree that was in front of her.
Dark Shadow immediately moved its arms and grabbed ahold of the branches, making Fumika swing and land upright on the ground with great skill.
Meanwhile, Izuku just stood there watching her. A part of him recognized how great that had looked, while on the other hand he realized that he had no idea how to actually get off the roof.
To start, the building had five floors... Climbing down would take a lot of concentration and there was a high probability of him sliding and falling to his death. The tree wasn't close enough for him to jump onto it using his own normal strength, and using One for All seemed like a horrible idea; going up with his Quirk had been one thing but using it to get down... Izuku could perfectly see himself jumping at the tree using Full Cowl, only to crash into the trunk at full speed.
Yes. It was definitely a bad idea.
But now what...?
"H-Help to get down…?" Izuku looked up just to see Dark Shadow there, stretched six stories up to his position, its hands towards him and still somewhat blushing like before.
...How was Izuku supposed to interpret that?
"O-Okay," he said, accepting he had no other option. Immediately the shadow creature grabbed him with total ease, bridal style. "E-EH?!"
(…)
After the embarrassment of being assisted by Dark Shadow in coming down from the roof -which Fumika simply ignored and didn't comment on- the two teenagers went back inside the dorms and then into the hall. After a silent exchange, Izuku decided to wait with Fumika until she took the elevator from the right wing to the 5th floor where her room was.
Once the door opened Fumika entered the cabin and looked at Izuku, silent but with her eyes shining.
"G-Good night, T-Tokoyami-san," he said softly. There it was again, that intimate feeling around the whole situation. It was genuinely starting to scare him a little.
The elevator doors began to close. However at the last moment Dark Shadow, without Fumika giving it any order, grabbed the doors with force stopping their movement and forcing them to reopen.
Fumika immediately moved her hand and pushed the elevator button to keep the doors open. Despite the girl's quietness, it was perfectly clear to Izuku that Fumika felt as nervous and out of place as him.
"Why dost thou think it is like that?" She asked. Izuku just blinked, not getting the context behind a question like that. "The full moon." She added. "Why dost thou think it hath such a calming effect on Dark Shadow and I, while other nights are so tiring and hard to deal with?"
Izuku took a moment to think, processing all the details that he knew about it. He only came up with one conclusion.
"I t-think it's the light," said Izuku simply and Fumika stared at him nonplussed. "Light makes D-Dark Shadow more docile and friendly, and full moon nights are the ones with a greater lunar illumination." The certainty left his voice. "So I-I suppose that's it…" He felt a bit like an idiot and gave Fumika a slight bow. "Sorry for not giving you a more p-professional theory. I wasn't able to think of any o-other reason…"
"No. It's fine," she said to his surprise. "I myself arrived to the same conclusion. So it seems we agree." She smiled and stared at him silently for a few seconds before stopping pushing the elevator button. "Good night to thee too... Izuku."
Then the door closed, leaving Izuku alone, extremely close to having a mini heart attack.
There was no way in the world that what just happened had been unintentional. She had decided to call him by his first name, on purpose, completely deliberately...
Maybe it was just a result of his absolutely poor social experience with people his age, especially girls, that made him feel like the situation was bigger than it truly was... Maybe tomorrow morning Fumika and him would return to being the same as before, simple classmates with mutual respect for each other but not really friends… They wouldn't have any more conversations like the ones they had the previous hour and he wouldn't learn more fascinating and interesting facts about Dark Shadow and her, she wouldn't call him Izuku ever again but Midoriya as always, and the nice and warm feeling in his chest that she had made him feel would disappear forever...
And thinking all that made him feel awful…
He didn't want that to happen.
But maybe there was nothing to fear. Perhaps the atmosphere between them and the way they seemed to get closer to each other was real... Perhaps inadvertently and completely unintentionally he had genuinely begun to pave the way to one of life's most terrifying challenges ever, one that he didn't believe he would come to experience:
LOVE!
Oh, he was in so much trouble...
And yet, the very idea of Fumika and him in such a way... It seemed nice, actually.
"F-Fumika-san... " Izuku muttered, just to hear how it sounded like. And yeah, it sounded good. Leaving out stuff like love and romance, at least for now, it was really nice to count on Fumika as a close friend.
Anyway, there was no reason to stress himself any more than necessary -even though he was Midoriya Izuku, the worry-wart, and it was just impossible for him to not feel worried about it- so he pressed the elevator button on the left wing and started to wait.
Tomorrow would be an interesting day...
(…)
Meanwhile, several meters away from the dorms in UA's main building, the little rodent-bear-thing that acted as headmaster laughed at having witnessed the entire exchange between the both teens from beginning to end, through the security cameras hidden throughout the campus' common areas.
"These kids from Class 1-A never get boring!" Nezu kept laughing as he tried to drink his coffee.
Tomorrow would be a fun day...
