Hidden Blades, Hidden Hearts (BakuDeku x OC)

Chapter 27 - Genie in a Bottle

I snuggled into Kacchan and Izu in Kacchan's bed. Kaede and Keigo went down to his apartment. I felt more comfortable with Kaede now, in fact, I felt better with her being here. Keigo could be protected and not have to be a fourth wheel for Kacchan, Izu, and I. Kacchan was on my right side and Izu was on my left side. I was curled into Kacchan's side with my clasped fists laying on his chest. While Izu was being the big spoon against my back. My wings were wrapped around Kacchan, Izu was gently running his scarred hand against my sensitive wings. He wasn't trying to get me flustered, his hands were more gentle than that. He was just gently massaging them, a loud purr filled my throat against my will.

I feel like a real bird with this stupid purr!

Shadow: Hehe, they think it's cute.

That's all that matters then.

I was curled into Kacchan because he was putting off more heat. My wings were large and it was hard to travel my warmth through them and the rest of my body. So I was often cold. It was early evening, maybe around seven or eight. The moon was just breaking through the closed blinds in the room. My little breakdown somehow ended up being brought into Kacchan's room. After a few minutes of curling up in bed, I was calm once again, and I couldn't feel Dark Shadow anymore. Although my breathing was still shaky. The panic attack wasn't in full swing anymore, but I was still dealing with the after-effects. I had thought they had fallen asleep, as I was close to it too. But when Kacchan suddenly spoke, I was surprised to find them both awake. "What just happened Kaori? What was that?" Kacchan asked, his voice was serious although not mean or aggressive. I was shocked stiff, out of the two of them I would not have guessed he would be the one to ask. I knew I couldn't lie, for one, Kacchan was good at exploiting lies, and for two I didn't want to lie to them anymore. "Keigo mentioned when you were gone that your Quirk: Shadow is really hard to deal with because it's two different minds in one. But he added that you grew up differently to where you trained her to be more like a best friend than an enemy or dark personality. Although, before you were kidnapped you never had panic attacks and Shadow never seemed to be a difficulty for you. But after we got you back, you had a horrible fever, and Keigo seemed to be hiding something about what really happened with Dabi. My suspicion is that... something happened with your Quirk when you were kidnapped. Something bad that's caused panic attacks and for you to get so... sick. My question to you is, what really happened with Dabi, Kaori?" Kacchan monologued with himself for a little bit, but the more he talked, the farther my heart dropped.

This is it... he discovered it... I have to tell them... I have to tell them I murdered Dabi... they have to know what happened then...

Shadow: What if they look at us differently....

It's too late... I can't work my way out of this one...

I knew Izu was just as curious as Kacchan because he stayed quiet. Waiting for my answer right along with Kacchan. The silence in the room was creating a little bit of tension, which only made me want to stay quiet even more. "When Dabi kidnapped me... he put me in Quirk canceling cuffs.... and when he did... it reset my Quirk back to the way it was when it first showed up... Exactly like my fathers, where it acts as a dark personality... Her name is Dark Shadow. She's like a double personality to my Shadow... While I was strapped to the chair.. with the trap Dabi set up to kill me... He knew that Keigo would be too distracted trying to free me to take care of himself... So Keigo kept falling right into Dabi's trap.. playing right into his hand... when Dabi completely destroyed his wings... Dark Shadow took over... and I murdered Dabi like a fucking serial killer... ... Keigo wanted to protect me so he lied and said he killed Dabi... After I killed Dabi... Keigo tried to make me stop... and I.. turned on him... I almost killed him... but I guess Shadow pulled Dark Shadow away so that I snapped back into reality before I killed him... after I coward away... Dark Shadow knocked me out... I suppose the sudden change of my Quirk knocked my system into shock. Which made me sick... but now... Dark Shadow is there.. she'll randomly appear and that's what the panic attack was... She um... got in my head... and played my dark personality..." I knew my voice was quiet, my body had started shaking as I explained. My fears of them leaving me or turning me in were almost overpowering after Izu stopped massaging my wings in the middle of my explanation. But he started massaging again when I was done. That still didn't calm me down all the way but it helped. A tense silence followed after and it was starting to make me sick. The thought of losing them because of a side of me was making my body want to throw up. "Why didn't you tell us sooner?" Kacchan filled the empty silence with a question that made me even sicker. "We could've helped you... we could've done more so that you didn't have to suffer alone..." he added, freezing me to the spot. "Wha-what?" I stuttered, confused. "Puppy, we love you. We don't like seeing you down.. we don't like seeing you in pain... we want to help you any way we can but we can't if you don't tell us what you're struggling with," Izu replied, as his hands gently rubbed my wings. "It's not your fault that you killed Dabi. He deserved it. In fact, you saved more lives by killing him, even if Dark Shadow was the one who killed him. You saved more people than his life was worth," Kacchan continued. My anxieties completely flew away at that claim, their acceptance and encouragement helped me calm down in minutes. I snuggled more into their sides, "You have to promise us to be more honest about the way you feel, puppy. We want to help you, so let us." I slowly nodded my head. I never had anyone to rely on before, I knew it was going to be a hard switch, but for them... I was willing to do anything.