Eyes flickering open, Midoriya's head snapped up in surprise. He clocked his teacher and classmates at the opposite end of Class 1-A's form room, watching him intently. He glanced around the room then lowered his gaze to the restraints on his wrists and legs, binding him to a chair.
"Don't bother trying to escape. We'll just knock you out again," Aizawa deadpanned. To back up his statement, the students poised themselves in preparation to fight.
Midoriya looked back up at everyone with a perplexed and fearful expression. "W-why am I tied up? Why is there glass everywhere? What's going on?" The class appeared to be taken aback at his reaction.
Aizawa scrutinised him, "You're trying to trick us."
Midoriya blinked innocently, tears welling up in his eyes, "What did I do? I-I don't even remember how I got here."
——
One week ago
Midoriya inhaled sharply as he jumped awake in bed, coughing into the back of his hand. The humid air hung heavy in his room and small beads of sweat were gathered on his forehead. Crawling out of bed, he stepped lackadaisically over to his window and pushed it open. He bathed in the bliss of the cool zephyr for a moment as it smoothly drifted into his room and ruffled the curls of his hair. It was dark outside and the moon was in full bloom, casting eerie shadows across the grass and forestry below. Reaching for his phone on his desk, he sat back down on his bed and squinted at the dazzling screen, waiting for his eyes to adjust. When his vision cleared he could finally make out '23:54'. Glancing at the empty glass on his desk, he let out a haggard breath and stood up again, putting his slippers on. He was parched and in need of a refreshing glass of water.
Walking quiety down the hallway, he headed for the stairs but paused when he reached Tokoyami's room. Dim orange light was seeping through the slightly ajar door and he could hear hushed voices muttering incomprehensibly. He hovered his fingers over the handle, hesitating at his impending intrusion as he didn't want to seem rude by barging into someone else's room.
A precipitous shriek came from inside the room, startling Midoriya. Before he knew it, his reflex had driven him swiftly inside and he nearly tripped over someone sat on the floor. He froze as he absorbed the sight before him and four pairs of eyes stared back at him, equally as nonplussed.
Tokoyami, Kaminari, Jirou and Shinsou were sat in a circle around a pentagram painted in red on a large piece of paper. Candles were scattered across various places in the room and the lights were dimmed down to a sickly orange.
Midoriya blinked in bewilderment, utterly speechless.
"Midoriya-kun! You scared the shit outta me... What's up, man?" Kaminari spoke nonchalantly, as if whatever activity they were currently participating in was completely normal.
"What's going on...? I heard a scream." Midoriya managed to force out.
Jirou laughed sheepishly, "Oh, that was me. The idiot thought it would be funny to make me jump just as we were starting the ritual." She elbowed Kaminari in the ribs, who pouted and rubbed his side.
"Ritual?"
"Yes. We're doing a ritual to summon the Devil," Shinsou replied, dead serious.
"Oh. I see..."
Tokoyami nodded to Shinsou's statement. "You are welcome to join us if you'd like, Midoriya," he offered.
"Yeah, bro!" Kaminari said and they all looked at Midoriya expectantly.
"I-I'm good, thanks." He replied awkwardly but then he hesitated to rethink his answer. "Actually, can I hang here with you guys? Not—to perform any rituals but just to watch. I find it hard to get back to sleep after I wake up."
"Of course!" Jirou said with a smile. "Oh, and shut the door would ya?" Midoriya complied then walked over to sit on the edge of Tokoyami's bed whilst Jirou scolded Kaminari for not shutting the door after himself.
"It is almost midnight. Are we ready to begin?" Tokoyami asked calmly. The group nodded silently and they held hands with the person sat either side of them. Midoriya had to stifle a laugh; they were so serious about this. "Let's begin," Tokoyami said and they all began to chant in Latin, reading from the parchment placed in front of them.
"Te invoco a profundus inferni. Revertetur in Terram, mala tua libera vagari. Diabolus eos, ad hominum, ad ligandum eos, pariter et solvendum, et ad congregantum eos coram me! Daemon, esto subjecto voluntati meae!"
A chilling breeze trickled through the open window and the candles flickered. The adolescents held their breath, waiting in silence for a few moments.
"...Satan, is that you?"
"Shut up, Kaminari." Jirou hissed and they waited a bit longer, but nothing happened.
Shinsou shrugged, "I guess it didn't work."
"At least we tried," Tokoyami noted.
"What would we even do if we summoned a real demon?" Shinsou pondered.
Jirou smirked, "Get it to do our evil bidding, of course."
"You can be really creepy sometimes," Kaminari said warily.
"Well, we can always try again tomor—" Shinsou lowered his voice, "When did Midoriya fall asleep?" The group turned around to see him sleeping soundlessly on the bed, the empty glass slipping from his light grasp.
"We should carry him back to his room," Jirou said, standing up. "And Kaminari, I swear to Zeppelin, if you wake him up—"
"Wha—why would you immediately come to that conclusion?!" Denki retorted loudly in disbelief and the others narrowed their eyes at him. He winced, rubbing the back of his head and smiling guiltily. "Oh...Fair enough."
The group quietly carried an unconcious Midoriya back to his room and left a glass of water on his desk before returning to Tokoyami's room to clean everything up.
——
Midoriya awoke with a jolt, sitting up in bed. Blinking slowly, he observed his surroundings then gazed down at his hands, turning them around to examine them.
Standing up, he walked into the en-suite and analysed his reflection in the mirror. An incongruous smile curled at his lips.
After changing into the Yuuei uniform, Midoriya made his way downstairs, where he was met by his classmates bustling about as they chatted and ate their breakfast. Uraraka approached him with a rosy smile, "Good morning, Deku-kun!" She frowned slightly, "You have bags under your eyes, did you not sleep well?" Midoriya's green eyes locked onto the girl.
He returned the smile, "Good morning! Yeah...I woke up in the middle of the night. I'll make sure to catch up on my sleep tonight, though."
Uraraka beamed, "Great! Let's go get some breakfast, class starts soon and we don't want to be late."
"Of course not," Midoriya replied, following her into the kitchen. They made omelettes before heading to the dining table, where most of their classmates were eating. He took a moment to glance at each person in the room, his eyes lingering on the gang from last night.
Fools.
"Earth to Deku-kun~" Uraraka wafted a hand in front of Midoriya's eyes, reclaiming his attention. "Iida-kun's waiting over there."
"Ah, sorry. I got caught up in thought," he smiled, flushing.
Uraraka laughed, "We're used to it by now." They took their seats next to Iida and were soon joined by Todoroki, Asui and Aoyama. The group conversed casually while eating their food. They had just begun to tidy away when Kaminari and Shinsou approached them.
"Midoriya-kun! How you feeling, bro? You totally passed out last night. You must'a been zonked out," Kaminari said with a grin, ruffling Midoriya's hair.
Smiling, Midoriya replied, "Oh, yeah. I closed my eyes for one moment and the next, it was morning." He glanced at his group, who seemed to be clearing up whilst vaguely listening in on the conversation. Turning back, he leaned in to mumble, "So, why were you guys trying to summon a demon, anyway?"
Kaminari shrugged, "I don't even know, man. For me, it was just for a laugh."
"I was bored," Shinsou said.
"So you don't believe in demons?" Midoriya questioned curiously.
"I mean, they could be real, they could be made up. For all our sakes, I hope they're not real." Kaminari shivered. "But there was no way some jibberish on a piece of old paper could summon a real demon anyway, so if you were worrying about that, it's chill."
Midoriya raised a brow. He giggled a little before regaining his composure, "I'll keep that in mind, thank you."
Kaminari and Shinsou exchanged a glance. "Are you sure you're alright?" Shinsou asked with a hint of uncertainty to his monotonous voice.
Midoriya tilted his head, smiling, "I'm great! In fact, I've never been better."
——
Author's Note:
Hear that? Midoriya is totally fine, guys.
Spotify playlist made specially for this fanfiction: Devil Within (@Satan Herself)
Next chapter coming soon!