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It has not gone as planned. It was supposed to be a joke, a hypothetical situation where everyone would scare the living shit out of themselves. But alas, nothing good happens to the infamous class 1-A.A few weeks before the summer camp, when the class was over with their midterm exams and could breathe a little bit better, most of them were hanging out in the main lobby. Iida, Midoriya and Uraraka were sitting near the table, discussing class notes and other things. Mina, Jirou, Asui, Yaoyrozu and Hagakure were in their usual spot in front of the couch, and a few others were in there too, doing their own thing. It was a relaxing evening, but still very lively because of the lingering anticipation of the incoming summer camp.Mina, the cheerful centre of the class, suddenly perked up and asked, "Hey, do you guys believe in demons?" The exclamation was nexpected and tad a bit too loud, so in turn the lobby turned silent. The silence didin’t last long, though. Kaminari answered her question with his own."What?""I said do you guys think demons are real?"The frog girl across from Mina croaked, "I don’t know, what makes you ask that?"Mina shrugged, "Dunno, I had a which girl phase in middle school. You know, that one?"Hagakure perked up and waved her invisible arm, "Oh yeah! I had one too! Mine lasted for about a year. So?" Mina pointed at her excitedly, " Right! So, I just remembered how demons struck on me because of their horns and aesthetic, so I wanted to ask you if any of you believe in them.""Oh, I don’t know. They seem more like fiction to me, honestly," said Yaoyrozu who sat next to Mina, "I don’t fully believe in things I can’t prove or see." Beside her from the other side Jirou nodded, "It’s kinda dumb, no offense. Even if supernatural is cool."Hagakure hummed, "I was more into ghosts and poltergeists, so I don’t know much about demons."Asui put her finger on her chin, "We can’t really prove that they exist, kero.""What about summoning one?" Exclaimed Kaminari.Everyone turned to look at him."Really? I knew you were dumb but not that much." Jirou snorted. Never one to miss an opportunity to tease Kaminari."Oh c’mon! Don’t you want to at least try? I’m pretty sure Tokoyami is an expert in those things, always talking about darkness and all that." The said person in question turned his head at hearing his name and blinked. His dumbfounded look just made him look more like a pigeon."I know the workings of the deep darkness, but I wasn’t given an opportunity to learn about them thoroughly.""Do you know how to summon a demon though?"Tokoyami shook his head, "I know that there are 72 demons that we can summon with the help of göetia magic, but I am not qualified enough to do it." At his answer Mina deflated in disappointment. If Tokoyami didin’t know how to summon demons then surely no one-"Um, I-" Midoriya Izuku raised his hand, "I know how to do it, maybe?"The class exploded, "WHAT?!""Oh my god, really?! You, a cinnamon roll, know how to summon a demon?""A what?!""Honestly, I wasn’t expecting it from you, Midoriya.""Whaa- Midori-kun, you really do? Could you tell us how?""Uhm, I-I...""Silence, please!" The class president, Iida, ushered everyone to silence, "While the reveal is certainly surprising, we shouldn’t overwhelm Midoriya so much. And we certainly shouldn’t make him do this if he doesn’t want it!" He pushed up his glasses, "Personally, I don’t approve of this. We don’t want to break any rules by doing this... summoning.""Man, Iida, don’t be so upright. We can at least relax after all those exams! I don’t think it’ll work anyways." Said Kirishima, the red-haired student. Iida flinched in mild offence "But-!""Yeah, Kiri’s right! And if that doesn’t work out then we can tell scary stories to each other!" Interrupted Mina, "So, who’s in?"
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Almost everyone were in.Midoriya was scared and slightly disappointed in his classmates. Didn’t everyone know that playing with paranormal was not a joke? Apparently, his classmates did not. Not that Midoriya really believed in paranormal, but– he had read enough horror stories about consequences of messing up. Hence, he was scared. Plainly terrified, of messing up. What if everything turned out to be real? What if they succeeded in summoning a real demon? What if Aizawa-sensei found out about their little stunt? Somehow, being found out by Aizawa-sensei terrified him more than the prospect of summoning an evil immortal being.But he couldn’t find strength to refuse his classmates, curse his bleeding heart.So, in the next hour and a half, they set up the whole place for the ritual. Chalk, scentless candles, a lighter, unbleached paper, crushed charcoal paint, several grimoires and magick guidebooks were taken out from the boxes underneath Midoriya’s bed. Everyone were glancing at the items Midoriya brought in with shock and distrust, like the items would bite them at any moment. Midoriya dismissed their glances, secretly amused. Was their surprise so warranted? He didn't know.Next was the space setup. The chalk circle needed to be drawn big enough to fit the supposed demon. Nobody wanted to stain the carpet floor in the lounge area, so the ritual was moved to the kitchen. With complaints, the stools and tables were pushed back to give some space.Before Midoriya could start drawing the circle, Tokoyami tapped Midoriya on the shoulder."What kind of demon are we summoning into this realm, may I ask?"Midoriya paused, and then realization struck him, "Oh, we didin’t decide on that yet." He smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck, "Well, that depends on what we want to ask of the demon.""Oh! Oh! Maybe we can ask the demon to give us luck?" Hagakure butted in, "Or we can ask them to give us unlimited knowledge!""But if we succeed, wouldn’t that bring up many questions? Maybe ask for something milder." Hummed Uraraka with a faraway gaze, "getting some money wouldn't hurt though...""I dunno man, personally I’d like for them to make us meals every morning. Making them at the crack of dawn is a pain in the ass," Kirishima groaned from his seat on the kitchen chair nearby."Bro, you usually just make meals for yourself, like most of us do.""That doesn’t matter! Everyone should eat healthy, right? And, we get to have more free time, not wasting it on cooking meals.""Boooring!" Mina groaned, "if you want to have more free time then why don’t you ask for reducing the amount of sleep you need?""That is bound to raise questions between our teachers. We definitely don’t get to wander around in the dorms at 2 am, kero." Asui spoke. Everyone looked at the clock and then back at her, exchanging glances. To the knowledge of everyone, no one saw that.The little group started talking over one another, each one louder than the other, trying to bring their own opinions and rebuttals. Midoriya franticly tried to butt in and calm everyone down, but it didn’t work. He was about to give up when Kaminari interrupted everyone."Guys, guys!" He said with the most excited expression on his face — like he was a little kid that found out pokémon was real, "We can ask the demon to protect us! Like from the Villains that always attack us."When several people attempted to open their mouths in retaliation, he quickly waved his arms, "I mean, of course it’s our future job to fight the villains. But don’t you get tired of constantly being attacked by the League? No other class had so much encounters with Villains in their whole high school careers! Most of those attacks wouldn’t have happened if not because of the League!" Several people shared some glances. Kaminari, seeing this, deflated, "C’mon guys, we had enough of that in our first semester!" He whined.Kirishima placed his hand on Kaminari’s shoulder, "No bro, you’re right. You’re really onto something here." He said with a nod. Kaminari almost fell over in surprise, visibly exited."Really?!"Jirou nodded with a mock smirk, "Yeah. You’re sometimes not as dumb as you appear to be," she poked fun at Kaminari, but then turned serious, "it’s true that we encounter villains more than we should. No other class did as much as we do. The confrontations also certainly didin’t leave us without.. marks..." her voice tapered off. The absence of one dual-haired boy became harder to ignore.But then Mina, bless her soul, jumped onto her feet, "Alright. It’s decided then!" She exclaimed cheerfully with a thumbs up, "Protection it is!"The gloomy atmosphere dissipated along with her boisterous cheer and it looked like the group was ready to continue. Midoriya smiled, glad that his friends were alright. He already decided which candles and sacrifices he will be using during the summoning. Smoke-less red chime candles will be perfect for symbolizing power and protection. A knife and a net would be good enough of a sacrifice. Maybe a shield too? After all, they’re about to summon one of the low-born demonics! He could ask Yaoyrozu about it. Oh, right! This is a lengthy task they’re asking for. So, a binding with blood needs to be done. Wards for protection will also be needed. Maybe salt and sand will be good for this? Yeah, blood too."Uhm, Midoriya-kun..." Asui tapped his shoulder. Midoriya jumped, startled, and turned to look at Asu–eh,–Tsu, "Midoriya-kun, you’re creeping some of us out with your muttering. Especially when you mutter about sacrifices and blood." Asui informed him with a blank look. She didn’t look fazed at all though."E-eh? Sorry," He smiled apologetically, "I’m a bit nervous about this. I really want this to go smoothly, so that I wouldn’t worry about this later." He fidgeted in his place, looking somewhere behind his friends, "Although, the stories I’ve read don’t help me at all."Kirishima tossed his arm around Midoriya’s shoulders, "Don’t worry about it man! I’m pretty sure demons don’t exist, the same as ghosts." Jirou threw a deadpan look at Kirishima, "You’re telling this to a guy who most certainly knows about this more than you do." Kishima awkwardly laughed in response.Midoriya removed Kirishima’s arm, "I’m fine, thank you. More importantly, we’ll have to start the ritual soon if you want to go to bed before midnight." He sighed. The others visibly stood to attention, now intently listening to what Midoriya was going to say."Okay, um, Yaoyrozu," he turned to the girl in question, "Can you please make a dagger and a shield, or maybe armor- some kind of weaponry for us? I would be very grateful for that!"Yaoyorozu blinked. "Oh? Alright, I’ll do it. But I want to warn you that I won’t participate in this ritual." She sighed, already pulling up her t-shirt.Iida, with his choppy hands, butted in, "Midoriya, I will also not participate in this. However, as your class president, I will stay here to supervise your questionable activities and be ready to interrupt if anything goes astray."Midoriya smiled, "Thanks, Iida.""What's that needed for?" Kaminari chimed in, picking up and examining a dagger that dropped out of Yaoyrozu's arm."The weaponry would be an offering for the entity. A sacrifice, if you must." Tokoyami, who was standing next to him, answered instead of Midoriya. The green haired boy just nodded while taking the said offerings from Yaoyrozu's and Kirishima's hands."I thought murdering a baby sheep would count as a sacrifice.""We're in a hero course, idiot." Answered Jirou, while Hagakure and Uraraka protested with a loud 'No!' and several other comments about how cute animals don't deserve to be slaughtered.
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After the preparations were done everyone sat around the pentagram. Candles were lit and lights turned off. The air was buzzing with nervous fear and excitement."Alright, if someone wants to withdraw, you better do it now!" After a pause when no one did Mina continued "It’s decided then. You can start now, Mido!""Um, right, so..." He flipped few pages in his guidebook, "So, we have to write a name of the Master on paper and burn it along with the wool in the bowl. Then we have to start the chant while cutting a bit of blood from each of the summoners and leaking it into the bowl. The master will then use that blood for wards, along with-" he gestured towards the bags of chalk and mountain salt on the floor, "-other materials.""When the climax of the chant is reached we hold hands and walk around the circle trice and repeating the last line. We in no circumstances should let go of our companion’s hands, sing not in unison or smudge the penchant because it will, um, release the demon." Tokoyami nodded his head in agreement."What does the Master do?""The Master proposes the terms and conditions of the pact in exchange of either his uh, soul, his energy, any sacrifice that is given or um, s-sexual energy." Midoriya shivered. Gosh, that was uncomfortable. He needs God right now. Or was it impolite to call God when he was summoning a demon? Whatever."The summoned demon in turn gives his own power or favour to the summoner. Since we’re summoning a demon as a group, we should pinpoint the Master of the group for demon to give powers to. That’s why the paper with the name is needed. The Master should be clear and firm with his requests and rules. We should also give a sacrifice to please and attract the demon, in this case it’s our blood and other things, like raw meat. We should also try not to scare or intimidate it because our world is very unfamiliar to it and the demon might become very aggressive and-""Whoa, whoa. I think you said enough, Midoriya. Enough to make me uncomfortable." Sero, who was also in the group, stopped Midoriya from his tangent of words. The group laughed and the atmosphere loosened a little."So, what’s the chant we have to sing in this summoning?" Asked Kaminari."Oh! It’s written here, in this page. We should all memorize it before the summoning." Midoriya passed the book for everyone to read."Shouldn’t it be in latin or something?" Asked Mina, who already passed the book to Uraraka. "Not that I’m complaining but as far as I know about summoning, usually everyone chants in Latin.""Oh, no, it’s not necessary. Demons don’t talk only in latin, they can understand and talk to people regardless of the language. As long as we call out to the demon by its name or description then it’s alright.""Cool! So demons are accessible," Kaminari commented while taking the book. He squinted at the pages, "wow huh, this sure is.. dramatic.""How do you even know all of this?" Uraraka turned to look at the green-haired boy."I.. had a bit of an interest in it while growing up.." Midoriya awkwardly laughed, but invardly he cringed at his past self.“Interest”, right. He was frankly obsessed with this stuff for a few months in his early middle school days. Not as much as with heroes — those always came in first — but it was close enough. Little Izuku wanted to try and summon a demon so that it would grant him a quirk... or let him extract revenge over his bullies."But- never mind that! Everyone ready?"
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The first floor area was dark. Red chimney candles illuminated multiple circles and runes drawn on the floor. In the center of all those circles lay a dagger and a set of platinum armor. A group of seven people were standing around the whole circle, so as to not disturb the main summoner in his work.Midoriya lifted his bloodied finger off the floor. The final circle was complete. He shook his hand, and an incense stick was immediately given to him. When he lit it, plumes of smoke began filling the room. Midoriya held it in his hand for a moment and then started writing in the air.
"Within this circle I call thee,
Smoke and fire surround thee.
O,
The savior, destroyer,
Protector and mentor.
Ye shall cross the line,
Between our worlds,
By my request.
And let the smoke surround thy form,
Give you shape and form,
In this mortal world."
The bystanders around the circle began to chant – "The savior, destroyer, protector and mentor..." – as Midoriya put out the incense. He took a bag of sand and started pouring it around the circles while chanting a new chant. Wards were the most important part of the ritual, and Midoriya knew that, as he proceeded to draw a new circle with salt.The fire from the candles flashed and shimmered. The chanters faltered in unease, but didn't stop repeating after Midoriya. Smoke surrounded them everywhere, flowing lightly in waves and circles and invisible letters. The room seemed to grow darker and darker with each word, the candles dimmed and the sacrifices in the middle of the circle drew everyone’s anticipatory gazes like it was the—Koda, with his little pet rabbit, entered the room.Now, he just wanted to get a late night drink for himself before going back to bed. But his little rabbit was really nervous for some unknown reason, and didn’t want him to go anywhere. Koda managed to negotiate with her, so that he could go to the kitchen but only with her in his hands. The whole trip was fine, until he turned a corner and stepped into the kitchen itself.What he immediately sees is that: eight strangers dressed in dark robes, standing around a what seems to be a demonic pentagram, chanting incomprehensible things while a body covered in armor was lying in the middle.Koda screams — like a little girl, all high-pitched and squeaky — and lets go of the rabbit.The summoners stop chanting.The little rabbit — frightened out of her poor mind — runs where her legs take her. Which, coincidentally, take her right into the circle. Not a second after she crosses the line, her side explodes with red.Screams fill the air. Some shriek in horror, some stagger back or freeze in shock, Kirishima and Koda are crying, Uraraka and Asui are hugging eachother in fear, Midoriya panics, rushing to look over the rabbit with watery eyes while Iida and Yaoyrozu are trying and failing to calm everyone down.That’s the scene that greets the ever exhausted 1-A homeroom teacher, Mr. Aizawa.
