Chapter Text
Izuku’s college expectations amounted to this: ungodly amounts of cramming and maybe the occasional night out.
What it actually was, most of the time, is this: outside his gruelling lectures (because Sakamoto-san was sixty years old, had one foot already half planted in his grave, and an enthusiasm that was as dead as Hitoshi-kun’s eyes), Izuku’s hobbies consisted of trying not to get killed.
Because the one thing he didn’t expect and absolutely shouldn’t have to, in any given situation that required attending a third level institution, was getting roomed with someone who had an alarming propensity for the supernatural.
“Why...my blood specifically?” He asks while Tokoyami-kun drags him out of his bed and into their living room. Izuku eyes the way their furniture – the couch and the coffee table from eBay that they paid half a month’s wages for – was pushed to the walls in order to accommodate for the suspiciously drawn – He squints, by sharpie what the hell Tokoyami-kun? – circle on their floor.
Tokoyami-kun manhandles him until Izuku stumbles, less than a foot away from the life-threatening vignette on their floor, and oh god, he knew his friend was insane but he really hopes that that wasn’t what he thought it was.
Tokoyami-kun retracts his hands from Izuku’s shoulders and asks, "Am I right in assuming that you haven’t participated in any form of coitus yet?”
He doesn’t wait for an answer however, before he promptly squirrels off into their kitchen.
Izuku feels a faint blush rise to his cheek, because how did he - what was the correlation -
“What does my lack of sexual…uh, experience have to do with anything?”
Tokoyami-kun returns quickly with four candles and a lighter in his hands. Izuku blinks at them, feeling an odd sort of hysteria bubbling from inside his chest.
“Creatures of the night are more likely to heed our call using blood from a person who has not, in explicit terms, had sexual intercourse yet,” He kneels down and places each candle at the beginning of the circle’s quadrants, lighting the tip of them subsequently, “I do not meet those terms, unfortunately, but you Izuku, do. Therefore, I require your presence for this ritual.”
“Creatures of the night – do you mean you’re going to summon a demon ?” He squeaks, “Using my blood?”
“That is the idea, yes,” Tokoyami-kun responds blithely, before swivelling towards him and making an obscure gesture with his hand that Izuku desperately wanted to ignore, “Your hand, if you will.”
“My blood,” Izuku whispers in horror, takes a step back and cradles both his hands to his chest, “This is – it’s my blood, Tokoyami-kun.”
Tokoyami-kun raises an eyebrow at him, managing to be both patient and slightly patronising, “I think that we’ve already established that.”
“Exactly!” Izuku makes a disjointed noise behind his throat, “I can’t consent to use my blood just so you could summon a demon! What if I accidentally forge a contract? Like - in exchange for three wishes, I’d be handing my soul over on a skull, plated platter and I really like my soul, Tokoyami-kun, as battered and very much stressed it is, I would highly appreciate it if my soul stays in my body.”
Tokoyami-kun falters at that, makes a face as if Izuku had kicked a puppy, specifically Tokoyami-kun and damn it - Izuku has never been good at denying people what they want. The first and last time he said no, Kacchan hadn’t spoken to him in three weeks and the blond had never forgiven him for bailing out on play date Wednesday. That was fourteen years ago but Kacchan likes to bring it up every time Izuku tries to bail on something.
“I apologise,” Tokoyami-kun says carefully, hand falling to rub his arm, “I should have asked to use your virgin blood instead of assuming you would hand it to me at my own terms,” Izuku mouths ‘virgin blood’ to himself and tries not to cry as Tokoyami-kun clears his throat and, in a much more determined tone, says, “Izuku, would you be willing to provide me your blood in order to summon a demon?”
Everything about that sentence is wrong and seven different kinds of fucked up. The obvious answer should be no, here’s my therapist’s business card Tokoyami-kun, please consider giving her a ring, and politely getting the fuck out of their dorm room if Izuku had any self-preservation left in his bone.
But it wasn’t like Tokoyami-kun was just going to stop there. He’d probably find someone that fits Izuku’s same specifications but instead of you know, having functional and rational thought, they would actually be insane enough to agree.
And yes, Izuku might be an unwilling participant but that doesn’t negate the fact that he still has a year of experience being wheedled into every single one of Tokoyami-kun’s supernatural escapades – from the haunted cottage by the woods, a kilometre and a half away from their dorms, to the mildly dubious antique shop near the gates that he swears hadn’t existed when he’d first gotten into UA.
It’s just – if Tokoyami-kun manages to get eaten by a werewolf or sucked dry by a vampire, at the very least, he tries to reason, Izuku would be there to film it and post it online just in time for the world to see before Izuku disappears as well. Someone has to look over Tokoyami-kun and Izuku’s goddamn compassion won’t let him leave Tokoyami-kun to his own devices without supervision.
“Fine,” He breathes out, exasperated and feels like it’s almost worth it by the blinding smile Tokoyami-kun shoots in his direction, which it definitely won’t be, “Alright – just, draw up some protective charm before proceeding with the ritual? Please?”
“You have my word,” Tokoyami-kun promises solemnly, taking Izuku’s reluctantly proffered hand in his own. He runs a reverential thumb on his palm and a hysterical giggle slips from Izuku’s lips, “I shall endeavour to protect you should something go wrong.”
“You know, this is a terrible idea.” Izuku reminds him, and lets the other prick his finger.
“Yes, but I still appreciate your unconditional support nonetheless. Without you, this would never be possible. So thank you, Izuku, for being sexually inexperienced.” Tokoyami-kun replies.
For someone who was in dire need of Izuku’s blood, Tokoyami-kun sure makes it sound like he’s shaming him for it. And if they die, it’s probably going to be all of Izuku’s fault.
The tabloids were going to have an absolute field day with their case.
Tokoyami-kun was still squeezing the last bit of blood from his finger when his attention snaps back. Izuku watches the glass vial fill up with the red liquid in vague resignation.
Tokoyami-kun then smiles at him, “I am truly lucky for being blessed with someone willing enough to indulge my hobbies and I,” He sounds so sincere about it that Izuku just - he just can't.
Tokoyami-kun even fishes out a marker and takes a few minutes to painstakingly draw an intricate pattern on Izuku’s hand.
How is he supposed to be mad at this sincerity?
Very easily, his mind pipes up, Considering you might actually die you fool.
“This should protect you.” Tokoyami-kun murmurs, caps the utensil and marches over to the demon summoning circle he’s drawn on their floor.
He then smashes the vial with Izuku’s blood at the centre of the circle.
The chanting was going to haunt him for the rest of his life.
Like, Izuku would tell you, Kacchan would tell you, the one cashier at the Seiyu they’d always frequent would tell you, that before he'd managed to somehow assimilate himself in Tokoyami's good graces, Izuku was absolutely petrified of his own shadow on his best days.
He went to sleep with a night light on for the first fifteen years of his life and he'd been scared to his wits end when Kacchan had shoved the entire Scary Movies series into face during a group sleepover night. The fact that it was a comedic satire of the actual horror films wasn’t lost to Izuku and he never really did lived that down.
But case in point, Midoriya Izuku doesn't play with demons.
Except, somehow, in between trying to explain that to Fumikage Tokoyami (19 years old and all things supernatural connoisseur) and laying out a set of ground rules that must be followed at all cost, do you understand Fumikage-san? when the other felt it was necessary to start messing with a ouija board, they were forced to evacuate their dorm room after three days of just moving in because well - what did they expect, playing with a ouija board of all things. Christ.
In all fairness, Mineta was a good ghost, if not slightly irritating, but despite asking him to leave, politely, and with a few pointed threats to indicate that he wasn’t welcome, Mineta had still followed them into their new rooms.
He seemed utterly incapable of stopping his chatter as well and his inane complaints about anything and everything wasn’t something Izuku had enjoyed listening to after hauling their belongings three floors up from where they initially stayed at.
What really broke the camel’s back was his disturbingly perverted sermon detailing the female body. Izuku was glad that Fumigake-san now turned Tokoyami-kun, had elected to immediately exorcise him.
It spiralled down from there, he supposes.
In an effort to keep Tokoyami-kun alive whilst also wondering how the other hadn't managed to enter himself in a slave contract from hell, Izuku had decided that braving it out was more necessary than hiding underneath the duvet. Tokoyami-kun was a friend now, and by god, Izuku would rather be sucked into whatever mess Tokoyami-kun had created than let him trudge through it on his own.
It's why he hadn't so much as ran at the first sign that something was going to go terribly wrong.
The candles flicker out.
"I told you this was going to be a terrible idea," He says, scampering away from the demonic circle and furiously tugging Tokoyami-kun along with him, "We're going to die and it's all because of that fact that I can’t get laid."
Tokoyami-kun makes a noncommittal hum, "Before the inevitable, comes an ultimatum. Then and only then, does Death consume us whole."
Izuku deadpans, "That is not reassuring. At all."
On cue, a deep, rumbling sound erupts from their floor, echoing around them eerily.
They both freeze.
"Is that meant to happen?" Izuku asks.
Tokoyami-kun says, with a flicker of hesitance, "I assume so."
He laughs nervously, "Gives a whole literal meaning to crawling out of hell, doesn't it?"
Tokoyami-kun steps forward, just enough so Izuku was right behind him as the temperature drops.
A frisson of dread slithers down Izuku's spine.
"Tokoyami-kun?" he whispers, fingers clutching at the other's sleeves.
Before he could suggest that maybe, they should leg it, everything starts to shake. The walls, floors, the frames pinned against the wall and the pot of plants Izuku has by the window starts to rattle, throwing the room into disarray.
"Oh hell." He says with a pained grimace.
The surface by the circle sinks downwards and Izuku watches it happening with his eyes wide in disbelief.
This isn’t happening, This isn't happening, oh my god, this can’t be happening -
He tries to assure that he wasn't going to become demon bait in less than a second, even as a bottomless maw of black opens up like a portal at the centre of their room. Izuku feels his cheek spasms when it pans out, the shadows stretching, reaching towards them in ribbons.
He's going to kill Tokoyami-kun if this demon doesn't get to them first.
Like all things the go horribly in Izuku’s life, he jinxes himself.
Izuku hears his friend shouts out in alarm as the fabric of Tokoyami-kun's sleeves were forcefully ripped out of his hands.
"Tokoyami-kun!" he cries and shoots out an arm to grab him.
He tries to snatch the other back, but fails, and from the corner of his eye, a large blur propels itself towards his direction, knocking the breath out of him and slamming him against the wall – though not necessarily in that order.
Izuku shivers as a gust of air brushes over his ears.
At that moment, it felt like someone had dumped cold water over him, and a hand, every bit of icy as the rest of it, wraps around his own.
Izuku flickers his gaze up to the shadow looming over him.
He sees two glowing orbs, blue and grey, staring intently at him and his breath hitches.
“Are you the one that summoned me?” It – the demon says. Red and white hair, a curl of horns on his crown, slits for pupils and a hint of grey to his skin tone.
Izuku can’t find it in himself to search for his voice, and even if he could answer, the demon doesn’t let him.
He brings Izuku’s hand to his lips – again, cold, almost like a corpse, except a part of it almost felt hot and Izuku wasn’t sure if that was just his imagination or not – and Izuku feels himself wilt when he sees that whatever protective pattern that had been there before, it definitely wasn’t there now.
The demon gives a tentative lick to his finger, the one that Tokoyami-kun had pricked earlier on, and almost immediately, a pleased purr resonates from his chest.
"So you are, " Izuku watches, frozen, as the other’s eyes narrow, the corners of his mouth curling up to reveal sharp, serrated teeth as he says, “ My name is Shouto. It’s a pleasure to serve you, Midoriya Izuku.”
Izuku does what he’s been taught to do in situations that he can't get out of. He curls his other hand into a fist, draws it back and punches the demon in the face.
Kacchan would have a riot if he heard about this.
The demon stumbles back with the force of Izuku’s punch.
“Oh my god,” He says in horror, mouth moving reflexively to ask, “Oh my god, are you okay?” as if he hadn’t been the one to drive a fist into the other’s face.
Shouto – his name – gives him a look of amusement.
Izuku almost berates himself, “What am I saying, of course you’re okay,” Izuku’s mortal punch probably felt like a love tap to him, except -
“But still,” He scrunches his nose, “I mean – just to make sure. Are you really okay?”
“ Quite ,” The other says, still looking faintly amused, “ But the concern is appreciated.”
“Right. Okay – I’m sorry for punching you. That’s just – just my defense mechanism to all things I don’t understand. And no offense but I very much don’t understand you, which isn’t meant as an insult – “
“Izuku,” Izuku jumps at that, forgetting Tokoyami-kun until now. His eyes snap towards him, Tokoyami-kun shakily attempting to stand up using the wall as leverage, “Please, step away from him.”
Shouto-kun turns to Tokoyami-kun, smile sliding off his face, “Who are you to tell my master what to do?”
“I believe that he isn’t your anything.” Tokoyami-kun responds.
Izuku rushes to him and helps him up, “Are you okay? Don’t talk too much, you might hurt yourself even more.”
“You haven’t answered my question, human,” Shouto almost snarls, “Who are you to tell my master what to do?”
“Alright that’s enough,” Izuku cuts in, stern, “There’s going to be no fighting in this house. Everyone, play nice,” He gives both of them a glare before addressing Shouto-kun, “Tokoyami-kun summoned you, although technically we used my blood. So going by the basis of all things and semantics, he’s technically your master. So, this is Tokoyami-kun, my roommate and friend and Tokoyami-kun, this is Shouto-kun.”
Izuku didn’t really think that there was a charter drawn up when dealing with demons. He didn’t really think demons existed either until Tokoyami-kun showed up in his life, and outside of avoiding anything synonymous to things in the world that one shouldn’t mess with, Izuku didn’t spare any more of his time actively thinking about them.
However if there was one thing Tokoyami-kun has told him about said creatures, it’s that “If they give you a name, never say it out loud.”
Izuku forgets this rule, judging by the way both Tokoyami-kun and Shouto-kun’s eyes widen.
“Oh dear.” Tokoyami-kun says, and Izuku feels a rush of power coursing through him, unexpectedly.
His knees crumple and he gasps, a flash of white light blinding him, forcing him to close his eyes.
By the time he’s more aware of his surroundings, he’s leaning against the demon’s chest with Shouto-kun’s arms around his waist, heaving as the other creature noses his neck.
“First strike, Midoriya,” The demon whispers, gleeful and he turns to Tokoyami-kun, “I believe that this makes him my something now.”
“W-What – “
“You’re a contract incubus,” Tokoyami’s grimace was fear inducing, “Damn it. Damn, shit.”
Tokoyami never curses and Izuku realises that he must’ve seriously fucked up if he’d done it three consecutive times.
“What d-does – “ Izuku feels heady and warm, and inexplicably good for some reason, “What does that entail, exactly?”
Shouto-kun says, “First iteration is a Contract. Second is a Proposal. Third,” He sounds triumphant as he says the final condition, his smile and sharp teeth grazing the skin on his neck, “An Eternal Bond.”
Oh , he thinks, Oh no.