Dead eyes. Lifeless dead eyes stared back at him. Tokoyami Fumikage was looking through a portal. Like a one-sided mirror, everything he sees cannot be seen from the other end. He was held captive by a villain of murderous intent, wearing a sadistic smile. Class 1A was unknowingly at the mercy of the villain. Tokoyami was the only one who knew. He was scared to death, scarred for life, but he had to act.

Some writing style instructions:

[Italics = Thoughts

Mostly Dark Shadow's speech (if combined bold and italics, it would be Dark Shadow talking to Tokoyami in his mind.)

These types of wording may change sometimes, it may be used as a sound, for emphasis or a double meaning.

If there are confusions within the story, please highlight them out so that I can edit them. Thanks and have fun reading my very first fanfiction!]

Tokoyami Fumikage. A boy who is mostly depicted as a loner with little relationships. Why?

He was afraid.

But being afraid was so unlike him, from his classmates' perspectives.

"Always the cool and collected guy. Nothing will ever faze him" Kirishima had stated.

A mere assumption. Kirishima wasn't close to him. He never did explore what was under that shell. This continues for most of the student's relationships with him.

It wasn't due to his displeasure of working with others. It wasn't because he found them annoying, like Bakugo. It's his quirk, Dark shadow, more specifically his control over dark shadow.

The truth was... He killed someone.

It was when he was......

No, he did not ever want to recall such a horrific incident again. He was afraid that if he did he might panic and lose control over his quirk. (Especially since he was in class right now.)

It was literally because of that incident, he had vowed to be an arm's length away from anyone; closer than that and he can't guarantee the safety for the other person. In the light of day, that's his range. In the dark, no person should be visible from sight. (he can't see in the dark anyway, so he had to be in his room). His distant personality strained his relationship with the class. That's why no one cared about him.

Once in the UA sports festival, Shoji carried him when he felt his knees buckle after his match with Bakugo.

He was dreadfully tired as dark shadow experienced blinding exploding lights in his face and had to resist the glaring sun on a day without clouds.

He immediately flinched on contact, prying open Shoji's comforting arms a little too aggressively. His face scrunched up in the process, eyes a mix of horror and fatigue.

Stupidly, he did not have enough energy to soften his landing and fell flat on the ground with a loud thud. Shoji was confused by his actions, his eyes widening in surprise by what he was seeing.

"Tokoyami!", He exclaimed, looking down at Tokoyami's unconscious body on the floor.

"TOKOYAMI!", he yelled again, strangely in a different voice, to the limp body.

"What?" Tokoyami replied a little harshly, confused at the illogical exclamation.

He shook his head to get back into reality. The whole class was silent and staring at him.

"How rude of you to talk back to me? Have you got no respect for your teachers?". Ectoplasm, his math teacher, scolded, his face seething with anger.

He could feel eyes staring at him. Probably in disgust and disdain.

"I'm sorry for my behaviour, please continue sensei. " Tokoyami suddenly found his math worksheet on the table very interesting, ironically.

"Did you doze off? You did not do well for my lesson, yet you still dare not pay attention?! " Ectoplasm chided.

"I will go to the hallway now, I shall not disturb the lesson any further." He said with difficulty.

His feathers were drooping. He wanted to escape from this situation immediately.

He never accepted the fact that people were trying to help him. He was like a shadow, who would even give a thought for a shadow?

Thankfully, Ectoplasm was a great teacher that cared for his students.

"Standing outside won't help your grades. "

Ectoplasm never gave chances. He made use of punishments to further improve his students.

"You'll be called more frequently now, be prepared."

Tokoyami groaned inwardly. A voice whispered from his back left.

"I'll tell you the answer if you're having problems. " Tokoyami glanced back, realising the voice belonged to Momo Yaoyorozu. His eyes widened.

Huh? Why? Did someone try to help me?

He thought in surprise.

No, she probably did not want me to slow down the entire class with my slow thinking.

However, Ectoplasm caught her actions. So once again, it was up to Tokoyami alone to guess the answers.

"Stop guessing, Tokoyami! Mathematics isn't a guessing game, it's about logical thinking and problem-solving!" Ectoplasm lectured after Tokoyami gave an answer that was far from correct.

Tokoyami was not used to drawing attention. Some of them may be their first time laying their eyes at him. It's making him feel nauseous.

"U... Uhh, I don't k-know the answers, s-sensei!" He stuttered.

The teacher, after seeing his tensions, decided to stop his aggressive questionings.

"I will be enforcing more personal consultations with you after school."

As the day ended, Tokoyami strolled glumly to his dorm, avoiding contact with the rest of the class. He was tired and wanted to rid of the terrible memories he had experienced today.

Unfortunately, fate was not on his side as Shoji appeared from the corner of the hallway just as he was about to enter his room.

"Tokoyami, you were not yourself this morning, what happened? " Shoji called out using one of his arms, forming a mouth.

Tokoyami wanted to dart into his room. However, knowing Shoji, this would just make him more suspicious.

"I'm fine" He simply stated. He realised Shoji was probably worried about him. Letting his classmates see a different version of himself was a terrible mistake.

To his defence, enduring a scolding whilst having an entire class stare down at him was unnerving.

Shoji didn't accept that brief of an answer, much to his disappointment.

"You're clearly not fine after all that humiliation in class. It's not healthy to keep that kind of emotions to yourself!"

Shoji understood his worries quickly. Tokoyami was secretly grateful for that.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," he repeated.

The last thing he wanted was Shoji demanding to accompany Tokoyami into his room.

He had an unstable mind right now, whatever happens next...

He doesn't want to regret his actions again.

He recalled the incident in the forest camp. Dark shadow had gone on a rampage after Tokoyami saw Shoji's amputated hand on the floor. If Bakugo and Todoroki weren't there...

It was a miracle he didn't harm anyone.

But he did...

In his nightmares.

It traumatized him so much, in another alternate reality where his classmates were murdered.

Midoriya, who was already wounded before, was clawed by dark shadow. Three huge gashes ran across his torso. One exposing his ribcage, another carving a window to his heart, the last spilling his guts on the floor. Blood was everywhere, Midoriya's fountain of tears he cried during his cavalry battle was now replaced by red liquid with the occasional pieces of guts from his body.

"Tokoyami..." Midoriya whispered, deadly silent.

It was a revolting sight. The sight of the green-haired boy's heart especially reminded him of a terrible memory...

He usually doesn't yell when he has nightmares, having lots of self-control... But this time, it was different. He woke up in a start in his bed, drenched in sweat and tears, his eyes dilated and frantically darting across the room.

"Tokoyami" a sound came from his side.

Tokoyami practically jumped out of bed with a squawk, as if the events in his sleep had come to reality.

His feathers prickling with fear and stood on its end.

Shoji was on his bed next to Tokoyami.

Ugh, the second time today I dozed off...

Wait... This isn't my room!

He realised it wasn't a bed but a futon that he was on. It was slowly getting apparent that the room was unfamiliar to him.

"Why am I here?" Tokoyami demanded, wide awake.

"Never mind that, were you having a nightmare?" Shoji interrupted.

He nodded simply. He recalled the events that led him to Shoji's room.

He remembered being overly worried about Shoji's well being. He must've passed out due to fear or exhaustion.

But why did Shoji bring me into his own room instead of mine?

"Do you want to tell me?"

Tokoyami had forgotten that he was standing there with a blank gaze. He snapped out of his trance and looked at Shoji. His eyebrows were scrunched up with concern.

He wondered what did he ever do that deserve such care from him, especially after endangering Shoji's life in the forest. He ignored them, tried to push them away, yet they kept coming back to him.

That's what kids in his past did to him, why wasn't Shoji the same? Why didn't Todoroki ignored him? Why did even Bakugo treat Tokoyami like a human being? He didn't deserve the concern that they gave.

"It's OK, Tokoyami. I am here." Shoji whispered in a soft voice, All Might's voice echoed right after.

Hot tears started accumulating in his eye sockets. He realised he'd started crying. After years of torment and bullying, he never imagined that statement uttered to him. Even his parents had abandoned him, calling him a demon. He was an orphan, all alone.

He didn't have a pillar of support... Until now.

He sobbed quietly. Two strong arms wrapped around him, pulling him into Shoji's warm embrace on his chest.

Normally, he hated physical contact, but this felt different. It was a hug he never felt before, like an embrace from a mother.

Tokoyami cried harder and harder, pouring out all of his contained emotions.

This time, he didn't lose control of Dark Shadow. Shoji had gained its trust. He materialised and looked at the scene at a corner of the room, seeing Shoji comforting the broken state of its host.

Once Tokoyami regained composure, Shoji wondered how bad the nightmare was to trigger such emotion from the usually stoic and unwavering Tokoyami. It must be truly horrifying.

However, he was glad that Tokoyami finally let out some of his emotions. He had friends that became suicidal when they didn't open up their feelings.

No more. No more regrets.

Shoji thought.

"Why did you bring me here instead of my room?" Tokoyami asked in a hoarse voice.

"What would you do if you'd seen your friend pass out in front of you? Leave you there alone? Never in a million years." Shoji explained.

Tokoyami kept quiet, feeling drowsy in Shoji's warm embrace.

"Wouldn't this position seem suspicious if someone entered?"

" That doesn't matter now. Your well being is my priority. "

Tokoyami seemed deep in thought for a while...

"Thank you, Shoji."

"My pleasure."

The two teens lay there, unmoving. Everything was silent...

Their heartbeats slowly beat in rhythm. Tokoyami slowly calmed down...

Within minutes, Tokoyami dozed off.

Shoji looked at his sleeping expression. It was peaceful and relaxed, unlike the serious expression he usually has. Shoji didn't know what exactly caused Tokoyami to cry, but at least, he had succeeded in comforting his friend...

... and he was grateful that Tokoyami accepted his words of encouragement.

He listened to Tokoyami's steady breathing, not even able to hear a slight snore.

It wasn't long before he dozed off too.