Kaminari shot up with a jolt.
No pun intended.
Either way, the sudden noise had drawn out his natural survival instincts. He whipped his head around to search for the cause of his disturbance.
However, he was only left with an empty silence.
A silence that was only momentarily interrupted by the sound of the entrance door shutting in the distance.
There seemed to be no imminent threat, so Kaminari relaxed and let his tired self sink back into the couch. The couch? That's right. He was sitting on the couch in the main room of the dorms. Kirishima, Ashido, Sero, Ojiro, and Jiro were scattered about, either on the couch or the floor, fast asleep.
In front of them, the idle loop of the movie menu played on the T.V. screen they had been watching. It was one of their many choices to get their minds off… the USJ.
Anyway, how was he the only to wake up from the noise? He had no idea.
Now that he thought about it, his nearly passed out state pondered if what he had heard was hurried footsteps. Sure sounded like it.
Oh well.
Back to sleep.
..............................…
The night was quiet.
Nothing but the sound of distant crickets and other nightly insects could be heard.
That and the faint shaky breath of the one who leaned against the wall, in a panic.
Izuku was understandably… well, terrified.
Hearing those three words, two of those being his name, Izuku acted without much thought.
Only that he needed to be somewhere else.
His calming state of dread led him outside the dorm building and all the way to the back. There, he was isolated and free to do… something.
He had expected some sort of event to take place, but ever since he first heard those deep words in his head, there was nothing.
No voices, no words, no fluctuation of his quirk.
And, thankfully, no attempt to take over.
Had he… had he misheard it? Was the voice just his imagination? That was hard to believe, but he would rather believe that than the possibility that Grimm was now talking to him. He wasn't even sure if it was Grimm. It had never spoken to him before. Not directly anyway. The ringing in his ears had left entirely. So, could it have something to do with that?
So many questions and no answers.
Izuku sighed. He relaxed upon the conclusion that this was a false alarm. At least, this time, anyway. Who knew what other strange things that would happen in his lifetime.
"Why couldn't I have been born with a normal quirk?" Izuku said to no one as he looked up to the star-filled sky.
And then, the ring.
"Then we wouldn't be here today."
The same voice.
It came back at the end of the ring that only lasted a second this time.
But the effect of it?
That would last forever.
"What!?" Izuku shouted with disbelief. He no longer leaned against the wall, instead he was in a wide stance, staring off into the distance. He had nothing else to look at. The voice he heard had no physical form. It resonated within his head like a thought he could hear.
It was less distorted than it had been earlier. It was clear that this voice was getting better at speaking.
"Who are you!?" Izuku shouted again, this time with aggression.
There was a pause of silence followed by the beginning of a ring. It stopped only moments after rising in volume before cutting off.
It was almost like an echo that was reversed.
"You know who I am."
On that warm night, a chill ran down Izuku's spine.
The voice.
It was deep and raw. It was not a voice that was created by the vocal cords of a human being, or anything sort of living creature.
Something unnatural, something otherworldly created that voice.
Something that was not meant to be heard by human ears.
It responded to his demand with its own aggression. A sort of warning for Izuku to watch his tone.
Izuku couldn't even properly react for several seconds. He was in shock. He was dumbfounded, bewildered, stunned, every different kind of word to describe this terrible emotion that filled him to his very core.
"G… Grimm?" Simply saying the name made his stomach drop.
The sound of a smooth crackling growl swirled in his mind, like it was annoyed with his question.
"Of course." The voice, or Grimm as Izuku should start to call it, made it sound like it was obvious.
"Wh…wh-what? H-How, why!? I don't understand how you can suddenly talk." There was so much going through Izuku's mind that he didn't even know how to react. Or he did, and that he didn't know where to start.
There again came the sound of the short ring. It wasn't near as painful at first and only lasted a second this time.
"Before, I could not. It was only after I met a certain… condition that I am now able to effectively communicate with you." Grimm's answer came slowly, like he was choosing his words carefully.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean? What condition?" Izuku was curious as to what could possibly be the reason for this new development.
"Something you don't need to worry about." That same dangerous tone came as Grimm's response. But that didn't stop Izuku from dropping the topic. But, for now, he had other questions.
"…What are you?"
It felt as if this singular question held far greater importance. For Izuku's entire life, ever since his strange manifestation, he has begged to know the answer behind the mystery of his quirk.
But it would seem Grimm would keep him waiting for a few more seconds as he did not answer right away. Only did Izuku think he even was going to answer when the ring came back.
"Your quirk. Always have been. Always will be." Grimm grumbled with a slight edge to his words.
"Tell me what I don't know." Izuku retorted. "You keep dodging my questions with stupid answers. Eleven years, you've been silent, and now that you can finally talk, you're doing nothing but evading." The greenette accused his sentient quirk. But before he could get another word out or ask another question, he was interrupted by a powerful ring in his ears that was followed by an even louder hiss.
Izuku tried to cover his ears, but it was all in vain. The sound came from within, not some external source. Once It was finally over, an annoyed snort could be heard.
"I do not have to tell you anything. You are lucky I have even made myself known." Grimm growled. Izuku was equally as annoyed with this conversation. Grimm was his quirk. The damn thing needed to listen to his commands. That was how quirks worked.
But no. His quirk just had to be a sentient monster that did as it pleased.
"Then why even bother?" Izuku asked.
"Is it so bad that I was simply curious? I've only had one way to interact with you after all this time, after all." Grimm answered.
It was so strange. Actually talking with his quirk was something Izuku had hoped for, but never thought it would happen.
Was he… being too harsh?
But then he remembered.
"Yeah. Those past years have been nothing but you being a nuisance, constantly trying to take over my body." Izuku accused. This time, he expected the ring and the hiss in his head.
But then… it cut short. Like an insult that stopped just before it finished. The sound that came next was even stranger. It wasn't a growl per se, but rather a neutral grumble.
Almost like a hum of contemplation.
"The only one here to blame is yourself." Whether it was Izuku's imagination or he misheard Grimm, but it sounded like he was offended.
"I'm sorry, but you're gonna have to run that by me again. My fault?" It was Izuku's turn to sound offended. Not only that, but downright confused. This entire time, it had been Grimm continuously trying to take hold of his body.
"You know what a sentient quirk is, correct?" Grimm ignored Izuku's question and gave his own. The boy just went along with it because of how stupid the question was.
"You're asking me, a sentient quirk user, what a sentient quirk is. Do you have any idea how ridiculous that sounds?" Izuku jabbed at the voice in his head. The ring came again, but not accompanied by a growl this time.
"It is your response that makes you sound like the ridiculous one here." Grimm retorted. Before Izuku could say anything back, Grimm continued. "The name, sentient quirk, has one key work in it. 'Sentient'. That means the user's quirk has a mind of their own and has the capability to act and make decisions as if they were a person themselves." Izuku stayed silent throughout this, realizing that Grimm's voice was gradually rising in anger before he paused. "What do you possibly think would happen to someone if they were trapped within another being all their lives?"
That question.
That singular question made Izuku finally see what was hidden to him all these years. Not once had he even thought about.
"You were born with your quirk. You were born with me. I watched ever since you first opened your eyes. Ever since you said your first word. Ever since you took your first step, I have been there… I have been there… but could do nothing as I watched someone else live their life. You think you are the one who can't control yourself?" Izuku couldn't even bring himself to stutter a response. Not that Grimm gave him the chance anyway. "I haven't a day of truly learning what I am or what I can do. It's always been you. It's only been you."
"I-I-I d-don't-"
"You think you're the one who was being used? I've been being used for most of my life!" It was until now that Grimm finally shouted. His grated voice was full of resentment and anger. "All I have ever done is maybe try to help if I can't be a part of the bigger picture! It hurt when Mother only thought of me as a monster! I hated the way you treated me, but I still tried! Did you really think all those 'coincidences' were just that!? Coincidences!? The day the sludge villain attacked you, why did you think I tried to warn you at the entrance!? When that explosive bastard that you used to call a friend cornered you in the alley, was it just some accident that I made you kick that Koi Pond!? Or what about the entrance exam with that girl!? Was that also just some dumb luck that I helped you catch her!? All those times, it was me trying whatever I could, yet you still rejected me! Your own quirk just because of an incident that happened eleven years ago!"
…
…
…
Everything was quiet.
It was as if the whole world just stopped.
No.
That's not enough of a description.
It was as if the whole world had been flipped up-side-down.
Izuku didn't even bother to reply.
He didn't know how.
He stared blankly ahead of him as he tried to swallow the lump in his throat. His legs felt shaky. Izuku wobbled backwards and found himself leaning against the wall again. He slid down until he sat on the floor.
This was just too much.
But Grimm wasn't finished quite yet, for the ring came much softer than before. And then, a low and calm voice spoke.
"For user and sentient quirk to work together, they must be in the same mindset. Do you remember the end of the entrance exam? With the girl?" Izuku thought back to that day.
Everything was a mess. Students were fleeing as the giant 0-pointer unleashed chaos on the fake city. He remembered Uraraka caught beneath the rubble.
"You felt that surge of power then because we both had the same goal. To save her. We were in the same mindset. The same happened against the fight with that Nomu creature. We both wanted to protect our classmates from it." This was real. Everything that Grimm said made sense to Izuku. Had his entire life really come to this? Just because of one misunderstanding? "You see, for the past eleven years, you haven't been fighting me… You have been fighting yourself."
…
…
"…I…"
Izuku couldn't bring himself to muster anything to say.
It all felt like a lie.
Not what Grimm had told him, although he had considered it.
But no. His life felt like a lie. Everything that he has worked for. His control over his power. His control to keep Grimm within the deepest confines of himself. Was it all just a big waste of time?
Was there truly anything he needed to control or protect the people around him from Grimm?
As he sat there, his back against the wall and his gaze to the floor… no.
He really didn't think there was.
"…I…"
"That is enough." Grimm spoke softly, which was sort of strange due to his otherworldly voice. "We will continue this conversation another time. It is late. I just… needed to finally say those words that have been trapped inside me for so long. We both need to rest." With one final ring, Grimm went silent for the rest of that night.
Even as Izuku stayed there, sat up against that wall for the next ten minutes, all by himself, in the dark.
From there and until he finally stood up from his motionless state.
Through his slow walk back into the building and up the stairs.
Past the other dorm rooms and into his own.
And finally, as he lay face up in his cold bed.
What would tomorrow bring?