The Shadows I Hide

Chapter 25: Shatter

The moon shone through the windows of an abandoned office building, throwing shadows across the pair standing next to each other. The room was quiet, but it was a content sort of quiet, in the way that a married couple needs no words to express their feelings towards each other.

"Are you going to come back to school?" asked Uraraka suddenly, breaking the silence. Izuku had known the question would come but had been dreading it all the same.

"I don't know," he said lamely. "Why not?" asked Uraraka calmly, almost as if she had been expecting this sort of response. Knowing her, she probably was.

"I still don't fully understand what's happening to me, and I don't want to end up hurting anyone. Least of all you,"

"You won't though," she said. "Even when you weren't yourself at all. Even when you didn't recognize me at first, you couldn't bring yourself to hurt me." Izuku looked at her in shock and disbelief. Ochako smiled at him.

"Don't you see? You don't have anything to worry about. You could never hurt me. And if you were to try and hurt someone else, I would be there to stop you. You have my word," Izuku was at a loss for words.

"A-are you sure about this," he asked. Ochako nodded.

"One hundred percent. So just come back alright?" Izuku thought for a moment. He still didn't trust himself with the things that had been going on. However, looking into her eyes he couldn't help but be a bit more optimistic. He might not trust himself but did trust her. Looking into her eyes one more time, he gave in.

"Alright. Alright, I'll come back," Uraraka smiled.

"Good, then when you're ready we should probably-" suddenly Izuku's head jerked upwards and his eyes seemed to lose focus.

"Deku?" asked Uraraka, unable to keep the worry out of her voice.

"I'm still me, don't worry," he said not looking at her.

"Then what are you-"

"Shhhhh-" said Izuku, putting his finger to his lips. Izuku walked closer to one of the windows and stared out into the city. He seemed really bothered by something and it was really worrying her. "Someones coming," he said.

"What?" He turned around and grabbed Ochako's hand, leading her away from the windows.

"Listen to me," he said grabbing her other hand. "Someone is approaching this building incredibly fast, and they're flying. This is probably not going to be someone we want to meet. But they're going to be here very soon, so this is what we're going to do. If it's who I think it is, I'll take him on while you run for the exit. Got it?" Ochako could only stare for a moment as she tried to absorb all the information Izuku had thrown at her.

"Wait," she said. "What happens to you in that situation?" she asked.

"Don't worry," replied Izuku."Once I know you've gotten away, I'll follow,"

"But wait, I still don't understand what's goin-"

"Ten seconds," interrupted Izuku, "I'm sorry, we don't have time. Get behind me," Ochako got behind Izuku, and a moment later the window they were both facing shattered as a dark silhouette blasted through it. She noticed Izuku begin to crouch down a bit. Ochako saw Izuku's eyes narrow and his mouth twist into a snarl. She didn't like how similar his actions were to that of some kind of predator. The silhouette stood up from the place it had landed in and removed the dark hood concealing his face revealing pale skin and a pile of disheveled white hair. His clothes were all black aside from the red cloak he wore on top of it all. His eyes were a bright red that she could make out clearly despite the darkness. A pair of dark wings sprouted from underneath his back. Looking over in their direction he smiled. It wasn't a warm smile, it was more of a sadistic smile of someone who had cornered their prey.