In Time We'll Kiss The World Goodbye 4/?

[crezhul]

Title: In Time We'll Kiss The World Goodbye
Author: crezhul
Fandom: Boku no Hero Academia
Pairing: Midoriya x Todoroki
Category: Drama/Romance/Supernatural
Rating: T
Content: Yaoi

Summary: We want what we cannot have. Dream Eater Shouto grows obsessed with a young pianist from the human world.




Chapter Four

Crystal light pierced the darkness of Izuku's room, marking the arrival of a Dream Eater. Fingers curled, Shouto marched over to the bed, peering down at the human sleeping on his side, eyelids closed against the glow of the Dream Stone.

"Why did I grow curious about you?" The Dream Eater asked, voicing the question gnawing at him.

For centuries Shouto reflected the human spirit in his pieces, without falling into concern for any of the humans who had inspired those works. Yet Izuku came along one night and changed that, breaking the cycle."What makes you different?"

"I will have you tell me for the sake of my art."

With that declaration, the Dream Stone yielded to Shouto's will, thrusting Shouto into the uncharted territory of Izuku's Dreamscape.

:::

Green filled the vision of the Dream Eater now standing in the midst of a rolling meadow.

There butterflies flitted above swaying wild flowers and birds flapped their wings, sailing beneath a blue stretch of sky.

"It is peaceful here," Shouto said softly, appreciating the idyllic view.

A rustling noise caught Shouto's ears, alerting him to movement in the grass. Whirling around, Shouto expected to see Izuku but he looked down at a white rabbit instead."You are not Izuku."

Dismissing the creature as a random feature of the Dreamscape, Shouto was ready to search for Izuku when the rabbit proved the contrary; it broke into a leap, transforming blades of grass into slabs of cobblestone with every spring.

"It might be guiding the way to Izuku." Shouto nodded, staring at the newly formed path. Stepping on to it, he trailed behind the bunny, glimpsing odd objects scattered in the grass as he walked.

And it was at the foot of a billowing tree where the rabbit came to a halt and the pathway vanished without a trace but Shouto did not notice its disappearance.

His eyes were locked on to the human, sitting under the canopy of swaying branches, back pressed against the tree bark.

"Hi there!" Izuku gave Shouto a soft smile after noticing him.

Forgoing the greeting, Shouto lowered his gaze to the curve of Izuku's smile, mesmerised by its warmth; it had been too long since the Dream Eater had been the recipient of a human's kind smile.

"Are you okay?" An oblivious Izuku climbed to his feet, frowning.

The Dream Eater managed to tear his gaze away from Izuku's lips, answering."I am...fine."

"Phew, I'm glad, you were kind of staring at me, so I thought something was wrong."Izuku scratched the back of his head, chuckling.

Nevertheless, mismatched brows wrinkled at the irony of the situation since it was partly Shouto's concern for Izuku that brought Shouto here. Moreover Shouto needed to raise the topic of Toshinori next.

However, the forgotten rabbit beat the Dream Eater to gaining Izuku's attention, nudging Izuku on the leg.

Crouching down, Izuku gently stroked the rabbit's long, floppy ears."Ah sorry Zoccha! Were you there all this time?"

Zoccha nuzzled Izuku's hand for a while then darted into the field, leaving Izuku to gaze fondly at it. A moment later, Izuku gasped and stole into the field, rousing Shouto's curiosity.

"What did he see?" The Dream Eater watched as the man stopped, bended down, seemingly scooping something off of the ground.

Evidently it was the last thing Shouto expected for Izuku returned to his side, cradling a keyboard."I haven't seen this in forever."

"I used to play on this when I was small." Izuku's voice leaked with nostalgia.

And just as Shouto recalled the mention of a keyboard in Izuku's first dream, Izuku brought a finger down on a key and the greenery around them disappeared.

Walls of music supplies, records and shiny instruments replaced it in the lighted interior of the music shop where Shouto and Izuku now stood.

"How interesting." Shouto glanced at the customers browsing the items displayed on a nearby shelf. Returning his gaze to Izuku, spotted Izuku walking away."This human..."

Luckily Izuku did not go far, picking up a guitar off a rack. Strumming it, he made an awful sound."Hehe I'm no good."

"Want to give it a shot?" Izuku asked, passing the instrument to the Dream Eater.

Not at all. Shouto did not come here for this, still appeasing Izuku was in Shouto's best interest. So Shouto accepted the thing with one hand,swiping his fingers across the strings.

The offending noise that followed, drew Izuku's laughter."You're not good at it either."

"I am not a musician," Shouto said simply, handing the guitar back to Izuku.

Intrigued, Izuku drew closer."What are you then?"

"I am an artist." Shouto replied.

"Eh? We're the same then!"

lifting a brow in surprise, Shouto regarded the excited human."Do you paint as well?"

"No, I mean we're both artists." Izuku clarified.

"You use the canvas and I use the piano and together we use our respective mediums to express our feelings and our emotions!"

Shouto blinked, realising Izuku was right. Somehow Shouto had overlooked such a blatant fact until now."That is one way right of putting it."

"But you get me."

"I do."

A satisfied sigh escaped Izuku's lips as if he were somehow pleased by the devlopment but before Shouto could begin to ponder the reason, Izuku set the guitar down, extending a hand towards Shouto.

Mismatched brows drew together in confusion."I do not understand."

"Oh! I'm introducing myself to you. Izuku pointed at himself."I'm Midoriya Izuku."

"I'd like to know the name of my new friend."

Shouto's eyes grew impossibly wide at that. Surely Shouto misheard what Izuku said. There was no way Izuku could consider Shouto a friend."By friend...do you refer to me?"

"Yup."Izuku nodded.

Mind still reeling, Shouto tried to grasp what Shouto had done to earn such a position. Why would Izuku even want this."Why...how?"

Rubbing the back of his own neck, Izuku blushed and prepared to answer but the time in Izuku's Dreamscape expired, robbing Shouto of the answer.

"You are not what I expected."The Dream Eater breathed, roving curious eyes across Izuku's face.

---

There was an amused twitch on the lips of the Dream Eater lying on the chaise lounge.

Absently, he smoothed long fingers across his crystal, reflecting on his meeting with Izuku."He is truly not like the others."

Whereas most humans ignored Shouto or drove Shouto out of their Dreamscapes, Izuku had been friendly to Shouto, welcoming him in an uncanny way, showing concern for him and Izuku even went as far to declare Shouto a fellow artist and a friend."I still do not understand why he called me a friend."
Shifting on the chaise lounge, the Dream Eater glanced at the likeliness of the heartbroken Izuku in the framed painting and frowned at a contradiction.

Izuku did not show any signs of distress in his Dreamscape, despite the fact that Dreamscapes could reflect the moods and desires of their owners."He was oddly cheerful despite his last dream."

And speaking of dreams, Shouto's failure to discuss Toshinori with Izuku, would cost Shouto his ability to paint. Yet Shouto could not bring himself to regret the way his meeting with Izuku turned out.

He only regretted that it forced his hand, leaving him to do the inevitable."I need to feed on a new human."

Logically it was the best step to take instead of continuing to feed on a human who proved difficult to paint. Still Shouto rejected the idea, curling his fingers into a fist."I do not want to paint anyone else."

Shouto enjoyed seeing Izuzu's life via Izuku's dreams, he wanted to witness more of Izuku's emotions and yes he could admit he was curious about Izuku. So how could Shouto turn beneath this all by eating the dreams of someone else?

Hence those thoughts drove Shouto to sit before the blank canvas, gripping a paintbrush and a palette.

An amazing thing happened when Shouto brought the tip of the brush to the board. He actually painted, gliding the blended oils of cobalt blue, white and ivory across the top of the canvas to make the sky Shouto had stood beneath.

With combing movements of the brush,the artist sketched the magnificent tree which shaded him in the balmy meadow.

And little by little the human who had talked to Shouto under that very tree was illustrated, so the suns rose to the completed painting of Izuku resting against the tree, with streams of sunlight dancing on his smiling face.

Letting out a sigh, Shouto gazed at mirror image of the Izuku from the Dreamscape."Beautiful."

Then it him, realisation dawned on the Dream Eater, parting his lips. He had created this masterpiece without relying on a dream for inspiration. A feat no artistic Dream Eater could manage.

Therefore Shouto had somehow changed and the cause was staring right back at him in the portrait."I need to see you again."

TBC

---

A/N: The Dreamscape is a special realm in the human's subconscious that Dream Eaters can access to talk with humans.

The chat with Izuku sure didn't go as Shouto expected.

Thank you for reading.