Chapter 06: Revelations in Shadow
Kaito stepped through the doors of the center, his backpack feeling heavy. The sound of children shouting and laughing hit him immediately. It was a cacophony of high-pitched energy signatures, and he instinctively flinched.
"Kurosawa Kaito?" A cheerful voice cut through the noise. A woman, a teacher by her warm, calm energy, knelt in front of him. "Welcome! It's nice to meet you. Right this way."
She led him into a massive playroom filled with colorful toys, soft mats, and children. Kaito could sense immediately that friendships had already been formed. He sensed clumps of energy—three shapes huddled over blocks, two shapes chasing each other, a large group sitting with another teacher.
And he sensed one shape, sitting alone.
He approached the lone specter quietly. It was leaning against the far wall, away from everyone else. As Kaito got closer, he sensed something... strange. The specter was that of a boy his age, but there was a second energy attached to him. It was a volatile, shifting mass of purple shadow, pulsing from the boy's center.
"You look new here."
The voice was low and gravelly, surprising from such a small shape. Kaito stopped.
"Are you new, too?" Kaito asked.
"Sort of," the boy replied. "This is my third day."
Kaito shuffled over and leaned against the wall next to him, copying his posture. They both "looked" out at the playing children. After a long silence, the boy sighed.
"This," he said, "is a waste of time."
Suddenly, the shadowy mass at his stomach spoke, its voice a strange, echoing hiss. "You seem very annoyed, Tokoyami."
"Of course I'm annoyed," Tokoyami snapped, crossing his arms. "This is all your fault, Dark Shadow."
Kaito tilted his head. "Your name is Tokoyami? And... what is that thing you're talking to?"
"Yes. And this is Dark Shadow," Tokoyami said flatly. "My Quirk."
"Hah? I thought I was your friend!" Dark Shadow swirled out, its shape forming a vague head. "My heart hurts!"
"Quiet," Tokoyami hissed. "This is your fault. If you'd just go back in when I tell you to, we wouldn't be here."
"It's not my fault your control is weak!" Dark Shadow countered. "You'll be here until you get better!"
Kaito laughed.
Both Tokoyami and Dark Shadow turned their attention to him. "What's funny?" Tokoyami demanded.
"I'm sorry," Kaito said, covering his mouth. "It's just... very strange that your Quirk talks back." He held out his hand. "I'm Kurosawa Kaito. It's nice to meet you, Tokoyami-kun."
Dark Shadow shot out a shadowy appendage and shook Kaito's hand first. "Me too!"
"You childish...!" Tokoyami roared, grabbing Dark Shadow's "head" with his hands and trying to physically shove the energy mass back into his own stomach.
"Ow! I'm sorry! I was just kidding! Calm down!"
Kaito laughed harder.
The days turned into years. Kaito and Tokoyami enrolled in the same elementary school. They were an odd pair: the blind boy who saw energy, and the bird-headed boy with a living shadow.
One winter, as heavy snow blanketed the streets, they walked home together, their footsteps muffled. It was difficult for Kaito to keep up academically. At first, the books were meaningless. He couldn't see the letters.
But he wanted to.
He sat for hours, tracing the embossed letters in a children's book, willing his Quirk to see them. And one day, it adapted. The black ink, a null-energy on the white paper, suddenly registered. The shapes began to form in his mind, glowing with the same faint, purple energy as everything else.
He learned to read.
When he read a simple sentence from a book aloud for his mother, she sank to the floor, her tears of joy making no sound. He was slower than the other students. His handwriting was a desperate, barely legible scrawl. But he was trying.
The years rolled on, through elementary and into middle school.
Now, they were in their final year. The two of them stood on the seawall of a local beach, the wind cold, pulling at their school uniforms. Kaito's black hair whipped across his face.
"I think I'm going to do it, Kaito," Tokoyami said, his voice now a permanent low rumble. "I'm applying to U.A. High."
Kaito "looked" at his friend, sensing the determination radiating from him. "Really?"
"My control over Dark Shadow is perfect in the daylight now," Tokoyami said, staring out at the gray ocean. "I can do this. I can become a hero."
"That's amazing, Tokoyami-kun. You'll be great," Kaito said immediately.
"That's not what I want to hear."
Kaito paused, confused.
"I'm talking about you, Kaito," Tokoyami said, turning to face him fully. "Are you coming, or not?"
The violet glow in Kaito's eyes seemed to flicker. In his mind, he heard his mother's voice, sharp and fearful. The path of a hero is paved with danger.
"I... I don't know," Kaito said.
"Your control over your Quirk is better than anyone expected," Tokoyami pressed. "You and I both know the weight of that power. Why don't you try the entrance exam, too?"
Kaito was silent, sensing only the cold energy of the wind and the hot, unwavering resolve of his friend.
"I guess..." Kaito said, "...I'll think about it."
.
.
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