(In case you did not notice, i have a bad naming sense)
(Author note: This chapter focuses a lot on abilities and how they work. A lot of yap but i absolutely love these concepts. So tell me what you think. There will be an explanation for the big yap in the Author note at the end of the chapter. Feel free to discuss or argue though.)
(Pov:Fumikage Tokoyami)
Kindergarten.
T'was a realm bathed in relentless brilliance, a light so fierce it threatened to erase the very shadows beneath it.
'But how could a place's light exist without its shadows?'
Such were the solemn thoughts of the steadfast guardian of darkness.
'For light, though often praised as comfort and salvation, is not always kind.'
Young Fumikage Tokoyami blinked against the sun's harsh glare, his dark eyes nearly scorched by its brilliance.
'Indeed, it is the light that gives us shelter from the abyss... but also the darkness that shields us from the cruel sun.'
He sprinted across the playground, the heat pressing down like a merciless ruler, until he found refuge beneath a small tent set up at the far edge.
A gentle voice broke through the heat.
"Hmm? Tokoyami? Are you thirsty? We have grape juice, apple juice, and orange juice."
An impossible choice.
He liked them all. But orange juice only made him thirstier. So no.
"Apple juice, please."
Sip... aaah.
He returned the glass with a quiet nod.
'Where was he? Ah, yes. The light. For even the noblest creatures of the day cannot stand eternal brightness!'
Tokoyami's dark gaze sharpened as it settled on his comrades, who seemed happily lost in the sun's burning warmth.
'In the end... even they shall return to the comforting shroud of oblivion. They all wait for the night... the quiet shelter beneath its... its...'
His frown deepened.
Damn. The words slipped away.
'Something... has distracted me.'
His eyes scanned the playground, alert for any sign of villainy among his friends.
Past the girl trying to put her leg behind her head, past the boy poking sticks in his nose, his gaze found him.
'He must have felt it too... the disturbance.'
His eyes locked on the tall figure of Riku Shindai.
"The brightest, yet darkest creature of them all..."
His whisper didn't attract anyone's attention... except the teacher behind him, who smiled softly.
"Agh."
Awkward. Still, he needed one more thing.
"An orange juice, please. For my comrade."
The teacher nodded.
Tokoyami was about to shuffle over to Riku...
'The sun... it's hot.'
His eyes narrowed. The Phantom of the Abyss would never stop in the face of hardship.
"Nevertheless... i'll have to hurry!"
So he ran. Glass in hand.
In the span of mere moments... the hero of darkness arrived at his Comrades location beneath a tree. He was panting after his display, yet proudly presented the Creature of Shadows an more-empty-than-full-glass of orange juice. He ignored the sticky feeling on his hand.
His comrade acknowledged his timely arrival with a grunt and movement of the tail.
"Here."
Riku took the Orange juice.
Appreciation.
Such was the feeling he received in his head and Tokoyami soon made himself comfortable in the shadow of the tree. His gaze was thoughtful as he mulled over his dark comrade's existence.
Riku Shindai... His friend... whose appearance belied his personality. His physical traits which terrified the day-light dwellers... led to ... isolation.
"Tis a fate unjust..."
That was his truest opinion. But...
'...even i have fallen victim to it... His appearance hath brought me to rash and witless conclusions...'
Regret gnawed at him. Which was immediately replaced by determination.
"For withering away in the fields of regret i shall not. I... Fumikage Tokoyami, vow to never repeat such a mistake!"
Next to him, his friend tilted his head. Then simply shrugged and proceeded to drink the juice in one go.
Tokoyami solemnly shook his head, feathers rustling faintly.
He had realized his mistake a weeks ago, and had then did his best to apologize about it to his friend, but the reaction he had gotten was no more than a shrug. As if saying: "It happens."
"A resolve fit for a warrior of the night..."
Indeed, it was. Shamed and judged for his appearance, yet stalwart on his goal of becoming a hero.
"To carry himself onwards with pride..."
But despite that.... Tokoyami knew.
Through meticulous investigation, he knew... it was a plea... a plea for acceptance!
(Note: It's not.) (Extra-note: His mom told him it was.)
"Even in the dark... one seeks another."
So how could he... the Night's blade, ignore the call of his fellow?!
His tiny hand balled into a fist.
"I have heard thy call... my darkest comrade."
He placed his hand onto his friends shoulder and gave him a solemn look.
"And i have answered."
...
... (POV: Riku)
'...what the hell is he thinking now?'
Spending time with Toyogami, or rather, Tokoyami was always rather cool. The guy was usually rather calm and seemed to try to suppress his emotions, mostly due to his quirk being rather volatile.
In the beginning, Riku had deemed his newfound friend as really mature for his age.
Which... he kind of was.
He didn't stress over much, handled responsibilities better than most kids, and acted like he was carrying some deep, noble purpose.
He was also a Chuunibyou.
Yes, that kind.
The kind who covered one eye during long, dramatic monologues. Who narrowed his eyes suspiciously at passing butterflies and seemed on guard even when there was absolutely nothing.
And it took Riku way too long to notice. In fact, the only clue he had where the occasional movements... and the emotions.
Like right now.
First, curiosity, then slight outrage, followed by a wave of shame and then finally blazing determination.
Just a beat later came admiration and pity. Or compassion? Hard to tell it apart sometimes. But all of these emotions appeared in the span of a few seconds.
'Another episode... why'd he place his hand on my shoulder?'
The point was that his friend had a pretty bad case of Chuunibyou... which Riku did not have a problem with . A little bit of Chuuni made the world more fun. More imaginative.
And honestly, who's to say that Tokoyami's delusion even were delusions?
This world had quirks. What was imagination in his past Life was a reality here.
Whatever the hell Tokoyami's mind cooked up, was actually quite possible underneath the guise of everyone's different abilities.
And both he and his friend were actually proof of that.
His birdy friend happened to have a "dark shadow" who he could control. The "incarnation of the night" which was probably a first-place holder in a Chuuni's delusion.
That shit was real. And the warnings he gave about his quirks potential rampage should he ever lose control?
It sounded like some goofy and dramatic delusion, but there happened to be a rule in Anime.
Never underestimate the weird ones.
If a guy looks goofy, keep him goofy. The moment he turns serious? You're screwed. That's how entire battles flipped. That's how major villains got bodied.
How many times had things turned because some weirdo was secretly broken?
So yeah. In the words of a certain wise man: "When you base your expectations only on what you see, you blind yourself to the possibilities of a new reality."
'And I'm not about to blind myself...huh?'
…Well. Not that he could.
Bit late for that, wasn't it?
Being blind and deaf changed the way he thought a lot. He couldn't even say "I listen to reason" anymore. Honestly really weird.
Whatever.
Tokoyami also applied his Chuuni delusions to him. He liked to scribble "prophetic warnings" about the wheel on Riku's palm. Something about how it would "unleash his dormant darkness" the day it turned.
'Well, the wheel got a fucking downgrade.'
Because when it did turn?
His "darkness" was no more than a 10cm growth-spurt.
...
In addition to that, his mother had not wanted that he and his dad returned to the gym, so there had not been any change for him in the last few days.
Nevertheless, this only barred his training for a short while. It was just the mother fussing over her kids non-existent injuries.
Nevertheless, he had theorized about his wheel for a bit and came to a few conclusions.
(:Ramble start:)
It happened to be nowhere close to the crazy adaptations Mahoraga was capable of.
At the same time, his youth was probably a reason for that. Just like every quirk, the wheel needed to be trained and honed in order to make effective use of it.
Although barely noticeably, Riku thought the wheel seemed to slowly and continuously spin. 'Maybe a passive adaptation?'
Nevertheless, he was pretty sure he'd need to train for it to get effective.
The same thing applied to his Cursed Energy.
That was something he had come to notice during his spar against Kenzo, but focusing his CE on sensory and reinforcement at the same time was difficult.
He had gotten used to emitting a continuous flow of CE into his surroundings, basically creating an Aura of CE which he used for to replace his senses.
In JJK, there was CE reserve which spoke for itself. (storage-Tank)
CE output, which was basically the amount of CE you could use at once. (Hose)
And CE control, which was how precisely one could manipulate it. With high mastery, you could essentially recycle it, making it so that you do not lose much CE. (Aim)
It was basically the Watertank, the hose and the aim.
Creating an Aura of CE without wasting it, was something he had trained with the moment he had gained CE.
Riku couldn't compare himself to other sorcerers to be sure, but he thought his output was pretty decent. And given his control, he could maintain the Aura of CE without going "blind" while doing anything.
His reserves? He didn't know. He did feel like his reserves were emptying at the beginning, when he only started experimenting with his CE, but ever since pretty much mastering his "CE Aura," he had not expended all of his reserves.
But while maintaining his CE Aura was rather simple now, doing so and reinforcing his limbs at the same time split his focus and made him waste CE.
Focusing on how the energy flows through the body and how the enemy moves through his Aura was something he could not do yet.
Not to mention the fact that it had been his first fight. Manipulating CE while stressed/emotional wasn't easy and the multitude of disabilities he carried did not help. Constantly paying attention as to not take too much CE from his "CE Aura" as to avoid ending up... even more blind, was really cumbersome.
:(Ramble end):
'I just need more training...'
His tail twitched as his head turned to Tokoyami.
The training he needed, applied to his "Telepathy" as well. He had only managed it once, when at the gym, but not another time. At least not as strong as it was back then.
'I wish i could hit a black flash... it's supposed to get you in the zone.'
As far as he understood, it was the perfect coordination of CE reinforcement and a hit. A hit which when landed, simply "jolted" the user into a heightened mental state, basically giving a boost to CE output, control and focus.
And he wanted to experience that boost. Badly.
Nevertheless, he was not about pommel his bird-friend just for that. Kenzo and Genzo would be punching bags enough.
.
.
.
The day ended soon enough and as it had become ritual for the two friends, Riku attempted to send something akin to "Goodbye" to Tokoyami. It ended with a failure but Tokoyami got the message nevertheless.
His mom was the one bringing him home this time and it accompanied by an onslaught of questions about his "little friend" which he dutifully answered.
'I guess she didn't want her son to end up with zero friends.'
"Maybe you and your friend could play outside sometime?"
'...hearing stuff like this is weird at my age....'
Well, not hearing. Brailleing. Goddamnit, is there a word for this shit???
But while Bird-man was cool, inviting him home sounded awkward. Especially given the fact that there wasn't much to do.
'Nah. Hmm. Maybe just chill at a playground?'
It was indeed one of his favorite activities. Climbing towards the highest spot and roaring like the world was yours, was amazing.
Even more fun now when doing so as a kid. People still gave strange looks but they were easier to shrug off.
'Yeah, i'll invite him to a playground once i figure out telepathy.'
(RAMBLE 2)
He honestly thought he was close. He probably just needed one more push to figure it out. His goal was to have the "listener's" brain speak out the message Riku would send. His father had experienced it the day of the fight and he just needed to somehow replicate that. He needed to somehow turn his CE into something which the brain would interpret as sound.
How did he manage that before?
'...was it passion? Excitement?'
He remembered the "message" being pushed through his CE which practically formed a tunnel for his "message" to be pushed through. But it had happened nearly by instinct and rather quickly so...
'...Wait...'
Quickly?
Did it have to do with speed?
'How fast does sound travel?'
He and his mother were already in front of the apartment. He held back his excitement as they climbed up the stairs. The moment they were inside, he stopped his mother and asked her to look it up.
"Mom. Can you look up how fast sound travels?"
His mother's confusion rose.
"Sure my angel. But why do you want to know?"
"It's for my telepathy."
His mother's confusion remained but she soon took out her phone and typed away. He soon received an answer.
"Around 343m/s."
'Crap, that's pretty fast.'
"Can i try Telepathy on you, mom?"
Consent is important.
He received affirmation in the form of a nod and then just took a big step back.
'Alright, so i form a tunnel and push my intent. Let's try to say "i want food."'
He began as he usually did, simply forming a pathway and pushing his intent.
(Just see "intent" as the "structurization of emotion." Basically combining "logic" and "emotion.")
This was what he usually did, but it resulted in only "emotion" being felt and while the logic/thought was not lost, it simply didn't properly land.
'...dad mentioned that his ears rang... maybe that's the "logic/thought" not being interpreted?'
Like a residual? An after effect?
'So now... if i speed it up!'
Same process. Just a lot faster. He also lost a little bit of control. 'Didn't work? Not fast enough? Or lack of control?'
He took a step closer and took his mum's hand.
"Was it different?"
She lightly shook her head.
"Not really. You wanted something twice. The second time was just briefer and weaker."
'What the hell? It got worse?'
His mom seemed to notice his confusion and added.
"Although more comfortable."
Now, he was confused. He thanked his mom and went to sit down in order to overthink it a little.
'I usually push the "intent" as precisely as i can and shove it into the recipients brain.
Intent is like a package of "Emotion" + "thought/logic."
"Emotion" usually lands, but "thought" disappears, it probably becomes the cause for ear ringing.
I thought maybe higher speed makes it clearer, but it became less clear. But more comfortable. More quiet?
What's missing?
.
.
.
He still sat at the table when his dad came home. The short talk which ensued between his parents most likely consisted of his dad asking what the hell Riku's problem was now, but that didn't matter.
He walked over to his parents and simply asked them to describe the feeling of his failed telepathy.
His dad first.
"The first thing is like a very weak nausea, followed by ear-ringing."
His mom after.
"It also just isn't comfortable. Like a headache. As if someone shoves something into your head."
'Probably because that's exactly what i'm doing.'
He shook his head in frustration as he thought. The properties of sound mostly were speed and vibration...oh.
Sound carried Vibration. Yet, he had been focused on delivering it without paying attention to that factor.
Another attempt. This time less controlled. CE extended forming a stream instead of a tunnel. No blocking the Vibration anymore. A flow of cursed energy reached towards his mom... but once more, she simply shook her head.
'It should naturally vibrate right? Or do i have force my CE into a vibration? Or is it speed?'
Did speed regulate Vibration? Like frequency?
'Let's go again. "I want Food."'
He focused. A loose stream of CE which pulled his "Intent."
'No. I shouldn't pull. It has to be fast. It needs to be thrown or shot.'
He tried again.
This time, a larger tunnel was formed and cursed energy compressed behind his "Intent."
It snapped forward like a slingshot and "intent" reached it's recipient in less than a second.
Given the crude method, it had obviously been aimed at the dad who simply blinked and rubbed his ear.
"..."
His dad took his hand. "There was a noise. Static."
'Hell yeah.'
Vibration and speed. Speed regulates frequency of vibration, vibration is the thought which gets interpreted by the brain. Cursed energy emulates those things.
It was finally coming together.
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CHAPTER END
Read author note. Or don't. I don't care. Hmmphf.