Schrödinger's cat

Legacy

"It's about the journey - mine and yours - and the lives we can touch, the legacy we can leave and the world we can change for the better." -Tony Dungy

At first, Tokoyami didn't know exactly what to think about Izuku Midoriya.

At first glance, he looked like a strange creature, which coming from him just proved how true that was. He didn't say that just because he was a contradiction: with some childish behaviour, but with very old doe eyes. Or even for the strange relationship that he had with some of his colleagues and even Aizawa-Sensei.

No, the reason was the reaction he produced in Dark Shadow.

From the first time he had seen Midoriya, the creature that was his quirk had been alert and that made him wary. There was curiosity coming from the shadowed beast and he even detected some fear.

Looking at Midoriya, who looked so fragile, it was hard to understand the feeling. Even when the others commented on the destruction he had caused against Bakugou, Tokoyami still couldn't understand the reason for these strange feelings the other boy generated in the creature that had him as his host.

That was until Aizawa-Sensei came to talk to him one afternoon, a month after the internship.

"So, it is like Dark Shadow. "

The man nodded, his expression looking even more tired as he led him across campus to a practice area. He had been wary of the offer and request at first. Even when his class had wrapped itself around the strange creature that was Midoriya, he had kept his distance. But now curiosity spoke louder.

"Well, it is definitely sentient."

When they reached the entrance he saw Midoriya. Todoroki was there, which was not a surprise as the two always seemed to be together. Bakugou being there too, however, was a surprise.

Dark Shadow stepped out and looked toward the other boy, torn between confusion and curiosity.

The teacher paused and turned before they entered, staring at him seriously.

"Tokoyami, first of all, you need to know that Izuku's relationship with his quirk is very complicated."

Tokoyami could understand the feeling. If the situation was like his own, he'd had trouble with his quirk, too, until he had made peace with it, even though the occasional loss of control still fueled his nightmares.

"Only recently has he agreed to train again with it, but the situation is still delicate. I count on you to help him."

He was taken aback by the sincerity in the hero's voice. His chest tightened with a strange feeling. It was ... peculiar to feel important that way.

"I'll do my best."

"That's all I ask."

....................................... ..

That day Tokoyami understood some things about Midoriya.

The first one was that he was right in his assumption, Izuku Midoriya was a strange creature. Even though he was less debilitated than when he first saw him, he still looked fragile beside the others. Like Tokoyami himself, his quirk also prevented him from developing in stature further, but what in himself was offset by his dark appearance, in Midoriya the effect was the opposite. He looked harmless and defenceless.

Until his quirk kicks in.

That was the second fact about Midoriya: he was dangerous. It was like watching a calm lake in the surface that carried inside destructive creatures with apocalyptic forces. The potential for destruction was something they had in common, the fact that they carried something monstrous within themselves, being the guards who held the destruction, was something that brought them camaraderie.