The Shadows I Hide

Chapter 22: Confrontation

Izuku woke up later that day tied up in Katchans' room. He was released once Kacchan saw he was back.

"This is bad!" said Izuku. "I've only ever changed at night before, and I didn't even get the chance to try and stop it. I don't understand what happened!" The blond boy shook his head.

"It seems to be getting worse," Before Deku could reply an alarm began to sound. It seemed to come from every loudspeaker on campus. The siren trilled from outside at full volume.

"Warning, level five security breach! All students please evacuate, use quirks if needed for self-defense,"

The two teens looked at each other in shock for a moment before a loud explosion rang out and the two rushed outside. Stepping outside they were shocked to see UA's main building up in flames. The campus was in chaos, students were rushing towards the exit from every direction while teachers frantically tried to keep the chaos organized to no avail. Looking up at the building Izuku felt something watching him, and he shuddered involuntarily.

"It's them," said Izuku to his companion. Kacchan's eyes narrowed.

"Let's go after them!" Izuku's eyes widened,

. "Are you crazy?! We were told to evacuate!"

"Well, if we don't confront them then you'll never get any answers about what's going on. And besides, I've been wanting to see one of these things for myself for a while," Izuku didn't like the idea, but he couldn't disagree with his logic.

"Fine, but we get out of there the second things start looking bad," With both the pair in agreement they charged into the fray and fought their way through the other students making their way towards the main building. They plunged into it and started climbing upwards. The first three stories were completely deserted and normal, the fourth floor, however, was bathed in flames. The pair pushed through the heat and smoke, covering their noses with their sleeves to try and clear the air they breathed a bit. They kept climbing and as they did they felt the heat increase. Reaching the eighth floor it began to feel like the air was suffocating them, the air was so hot it felt like no oxygen was entering their lungs. Both of them plunged forwards, forcing themselves to continue despite the feeling of suffocation that was coming over each of them. It was when they reached the tenth floor that they stopped. All the other floors had just been filled with the sound of the crackling fire and the hiss of scorching heat but now they heard a faint murmuring muffled by the sounds of the burning building. Izuku looked over at Bakugo who nodded. The pair crept in silently as they could following the sound of muffled voices. The voices were getting clearer, but not enough to make out words. Izuku was getting frustrated that he still couldn't make out what he was saying he kept his eyes trained ahead trying to pick up any sign of who or what might be here with them. Unfortunately for Izuku with his focus trained ahead, he didn't notice the table to his left or the potted plant which was on it until he had knocked it over. A loud crash echoed through the room seeming impossibly loud. It rang out, the sound of it making itself known over the sound of the flames. The first thing Izuku noticed afterward was that he couldn't make out the voices anymore. They had seemed relatively close before, but now he couldn't pick them up at all. Izuku turned around and gave Bakugo an apologetic look but halted when the shadows behind Katsuki seemed to start moving on their own. Izuku opened his mouth.

"Look ou-!" but it was too late. Something large slammed into Katsuki's side sending him flying into the window. A loud crash ensued as the glass shattered from the force and suddenly Bakugo was gone. Izuku stared at the broken window numbly.

"That's better. That human wasn't invited to this event."

Izuku turned his head towards the voice to see the demon emerging from the shadows. It wore a large cloak and hood which concealed its face but judging from its voice and build he was sure it was male.