Switched

chapter 5

He doesn't remember closing his eyes.

It's funny, in a way, because he also can't remember opening them either. He was just… here suddenly, but it wasn't like teleportation or anything else he had ever experienced before.

His surroundings are dark, and when he strains to listen, he can hear quiet whispers coming from nearby. He tries to move forwards, but he can't… where is his body? He looks down, and is startled to find that only his left hand is there, the rest wreathed in a strange smoke.

It doesn't make sense. He doesn't make sense; and then eight pairs of eyes turn and stare straight at him, and the whispering falls away to silence.

"Their souls are mixed up," someone murmurs.

"We can't interfere."

"But if it continues like this-"

"Who even is the real successor?" Someone else finishes.

Where am I? He wants to demand, but he has no voice, no way to communicate with these strangers.

The figures start to shift, parting in front of him, and suddenly he can see another figure swathed in black mist in a similar predicament on the other side of the eight people. They turn and meet his eyes, their right hand stretching out futilely to wave at him. He can't quite make out their face, but it looks familiar…

"Well, we can't just keep blocking One for All indefinitely. It has to go somewhere," a black-haired man spoke up.

"But one body is too weak, and the other's spirit-"

"-wasn't chosen to be the successor. Yes," a woman agreed. "But if it goes on like this, we're placing the boy in grave danger."

"So we're in agreement?"

"Yes," a chorus of voices agreed.

He struggles, but there is no way to fight against being nothing, so his hand stretches out towards the other person-

Tomura sits up in bed, his breath coming in short gasps. He drags a hand down his face, his head pulsing, and groans. He turns, looking out the window; it's early enough out that the sun has only just risen. If he hurries, he can make it out of the house before the mother even wakes up.

In the back of his mind he wonders why one of the figures nearest to him in that dream, a woman with black hair, seemed so familiar.

In the same instant, in a room cut off from the light, Izuku also jerks awake, his breath coming in short pants. "One for All," he whispers.

"Midoriya! Over here!"

Tomura resists the urge to sigh and turns, glancing at Kirishima, who is waving franticly at him. He almost goes with his first instinct to say fuck off, I don't want you near me, when Bakugou shoulder checks him, hefting one bag over his shoulder as he pauses and turns his head slightly to look at Tomura.

"Out of my way, fake," he sneers, getting onto the bus.

Tomura glowers after him, and Kirishima takes the opportunity to wander over to his side. "Whoah," he says. "What did you do to make Bakugou be in a worse mood than usual?"