"So, because I'm Quirkless, I can take three Quirks before my mind starts to deteriorate, right? Would it possible to swap out a Quirk, or would that decrease mental capacity as well?" he asked the screen, balancing on a pole.
"That would be possible, yes. It's never been tested, but I think it would work." the gravelly voice responded.
"Great! Do you have a subtle hypnosis Quirk, one that would let me get close to a person who hates me without him trying to hurt me? Like could I implant a suggestion like 'talk to him first before beating him up'? And then I also need a speed enhancement quirk and fast regeneration."
The voice responded after a beat. "I have all of those Quirks, although the hypnosis Quirk would most likely give you a headache after prolonged use."
"That works." he responded, flipping off the pole. "Can I drop by in three days for those three Quirks? Then I'll practice with them for four months, and then go after my target."
"Drop by anytime." The connection cut out, and he turned to the door.
"You can stop eavesdropping now Shouto. You too, Shigaraki." he said, sitting down on a barstool. He reached over the counter to grab a bottle of vodka, chugging it straight from the bottle as they came in.
"You have a surprisingly high tolerance for a kid." Shigaraki commented.
He scoffed. "No I don't, I'm twenty three and have been drinking since I was sixteen and my mother died. I stole her entire alcohol cabinet, selling the unopened ones. I had enough to rent an apartment for a year. My mom loved her expensive wines." He took one more swig from the bottle then broke it over the counter, the pieces scattering over the floor and countertop. He brandished the sharp remains towards Shigaraki lazily. "I need you to find me some people to kill so I get used to the sight of blood. Drunk kills don't count, as much as I want them too, so could you find some scumbag and kidnap him in like two hours? While I still have no inhibitions I'm going to shamelessly flirt with my reason for living over here."
Shigaraki nodded, already pulling out his phone with his partially gloved hands. "Hey, Toga, could you find me a scumbag for our new recruit to kill? He doesn't feel like hunting himself. Says he wants a rapist-" The conversation cut off as Shigaraki walked out of the room, talking to God-knows-who.
He turned back to Shouto with a shit-eating grin on his face, but was interrupted before he could do anything by his cellphone ringing. "Hello?" he asked in his best customer service voice.
"Hello, is this Izuku Midoriya? My name is Ochako Uraraka, and I'm looking for an I.T. specialist?"
"Yeah, I'm Izuku. What can I help you with?"
"My computer won't turn on, no matter what tricks I try. I've already tried restarting it, plugging it in, changing the battery, and restarting the Wifi."
"Oh, sounds serious. I can come take a look at it. Would you prefer we meet at your house or place of business, or would you feel more comfortable going to a coffee shop?"
"A coffee shop sounds good. Is there one specifically you had in mind?"
"Janet's Bakery and Sweets is where I usually take clients. Would that work for you? it's on 22nd and Main."
"Sounds good. Can I meet you there tomorrow at 8?"
"Would nine work, miss Uraraka? I'm staying up late tonight and don't want to be late."
"Sure!"
"See you at nine tomorrow then."
"See you!"
He hung up, sighing. "Fuuuuuuuuck. I hate my stupid job."
Shouto raised an eyebrow. "You seem really good at hiding it. That was some of the best acting I've heard in awhile."
"Well, she doesn't know I hate my job. It's easy to lie when it'll make others' lives easier. Like with this girl. She gets help from a friendly I.T. guy who is probably going to discreetly replace her computer, and she won't know any difference. She gets a new computer, and it'll make her life much easier. If I'm stealing to make that happen, she doesn't need to know. By that I mean I stole from a rich asshole to pay for her computer. I won't give a random girl stolen merchandise."
"Sure." Shouto replied.
"Are you aware that at one point I thought about being a Quirk specialist?" Shouto shook his head. "Yeah, I thought that since I spent all my free time researching and studying Quirks, that I'd be able to help those who actually had what I could never hope to achieve. When I told my teacher, she said that I needed to be more realistic. That people wouldn't want help from a Quirkless person, who would never understand what it was like to have a Quirk."
Shouto scoffed. "Sounds like this stupid hero society. Do you know why I only go by Shouto?"
"No. I have a guess."
"Let's hear your guess."
"Well," he cleared his throat. "based on your hair, the way you act, your two different eye colors, and old news articles, I'd say you're the missing son of Endeavor, and dislike anything associated with him, including his last name. I don't blame you. If my father did something like that to my mother I would have killed them. I'm assuming that's why you barely ever use your flames, right? I think that's ridiculous, and I also think that you should use them, to show your father the bastardization of his so called 'perfect creation'. Show him that your power can be used to make a mockery of his."
Shouto was speechless. His lips moved, but nothing came out. And suddenly, his left side burst into flames, barely warm enough for him to even feel it. He shut it off as soon as he noticed.
"So pretty." Izuku muttered under his breath.
"What?" Shouto asked, his voice cracked.
"Your flames. They're so pretty." he repeated, then blushed furiously. "Oh, my goodness, that probably sounded super creepy, it's just, they look like they're dancing, so unlike the scary inferno that Endeavor always showed on TV. It just goes to show, not all flames are scary. Can I see them again?"
"Uh, sure." He lit his hand up once again, but was barely paying attention. He was far away, trapped in a distant memory he had all but forgotten.
He looked up into blue-purple eyes, reflecting the flames that danced in unblemished hands.
He put his hand into a much larger one, watching in awe as the blue flame lit, but it didn't hurt his hand like when he used his fire.
"See, fire isn't always that scary. You should never be afraid to use your left, because as long as you've trained for it, you won't hurt anyone.
Strong hand lifted him in the air, and he looked through dark red hair to purple eyes that he knew he trusted.
"Wow. I could you help you learn how to control your fire. I'll need the training too, for my new Regeneration Quirk." Izuku offered. Shouto didn't respond. "Shouto?"
Shouto's flames burst before dying again. "What? Sorry, I got lost in thought. What did you say?"
"I can help you train your fire once I get my regeneration Quirk, so I can learn how it works as well. How does that sound? That way you aren't hurting me and I'm training too."
"Uh, sure."
Just then, Shigaraki came through the same door he had left from. "Okay, so I just got off the phone with Toga, she says she's tracking down a hero who sexually assaults the females he saves. His hero name's Grape Juice. He is absolutely disgusting."
"Alrighty then. I was just gonna slit the bastard's throat but I might need to torture him first, just because I hate guys like him." Izuku said. "Is there a place where I can set up, or should I go find an abandoned warehouse?"
"Set up in the basement." Shigaraki replied flippantly. "It's soundproofed, and I hear he'd loud. You want headphones?"
"Sure." He followed Shigaraki to the basement, where he was handed {ha} a pair of noise cancellation headphones and a dark green rabbit mask. "Why the mask?" he questioned, placing it experimentally on his face. He could see out of it fine, and it covered everything but his mouth and wild green hair. "Never mind, I don't care. It looks cool, I'm keeping it."
He put the headphones on while he walked, leaving Shigaraki behind as he chose a torture room. He chose one that was painted in various greens on one wall, the rest made of concrete as well as the floor. "I'm claiming this one, it's mine now." he said, sticking his head out the door. He was immediately met with a knife flying towards his face, and he just barely dodged, grabbing it with his hand. "What the actual fuck."
"Hiya!" a bubbly girly voice cheered, and he peeked back out the door. There stood a girl in a schoolgirl uniform, blonde with messy buns. "So, who are you, Bunny-san?" she asked.
"Izuku. Man, if I didn't play for the other softball team, you'd be hella interesting. But since I don't, I'm just going to say your voice is annoying. You're Toga, right? You have that Mineta fucker?"
"Oh, is that his name? Yeah. He was a total perv. You taking this torture room?" Toga asked, pointing to the one behind him. He nodded. "Okay. Ne, Bunny-san, can you record your playtime? I like seeing how bloody it gets."
He shrugged, and went back into the room he had chosen. To his surprise, there was a camera already set up in the corner, facing away from the green wall. On it was a note that read, 'Hey, Shouto here. I figured you'd pick this room above the rest, so I put a camera in the corner. Toga likes to watch when we torture our victims, so I figured why not give you a camera because she's sure to ask once she sees you. Have fun.' He crumpled up the note, setting up the camera to the desired height and angle.
"Here he is!" Toga chimed cheerily, dumping a large duffel bag on the ground. "There's extra chairs on the other end of the hall, would you like me to grab you one?" she asked.
"Two, if possible." he replied.
"Roger!" She marched off, and he unzipped the bag to find a short guy, not super unattractive, with super curly hair up in bunches atop his head. They looked like balls, and he supposed that's how his Quirk worked. Izuku honestly thought the Quirk was kind of idiotic, but as long as it worked, he didn't care. He heard a clattering at the door, and turned around to find Toga dumping the two chairs off along with a table {how had she gotten that here?} and a large sack, where he supposed the clattering had come from.
"Thanks, Toga. I'll record it for you."
"Yay!" she cheered. "See you in a few hours!"
"See you."
With her taken care of, he set up the rest of the things, starting with setting the two chairs up so they faced each other in opposite sections of the room. Then, he placed the camera so it faced the one farther from the door, and set Mineta up in that one so he couldn't move. Then, he went to find Shouto, locking the door behind him. He estimated he had another hour before Mineta woke up, and he planned to use it well.
"Shouto, I need help!" he called. Like magic, Shouto appeared directly next to him, scaring him half to death.
"Yes?" he said.
"Jesus fuck. I need you to be my other kidnapped person. I'm going to have Mineta pee his pants before I even do anything to him, but for that I need another kidnapped person, two leather collars, and a lead. All you need to do is be listless and cry when I molest you. Unless you'd rather molest me, because I think I can be pretty convincing."
"I don't have to say anything?"
"Nope, just ride me and like lick away my tears or something. Something super kinky and absolutely disgusting. Then you lead me away, and we give me some fake bruising on my face before sending me back in. I need a second camera, doesn't even have to work, to point at me. Then, after you've taken me away and brought me back, I'll pretend to be broken for like thirty minutes, but when I blink three times and roll my head over, I need you to come back in and lead me away again. Then you take a knife, stab his arm, and I walk in and ask him how it felt, psychologically torturing him. Then I'll kill him for real, once he's broken."
"Sounds like a plan. Be back at your room in ten minutes."
"Roger."
They split off, Izuku going back to his room. He finished his setup, placing the table next to the still knocked-out Mineta, and opening the sack to find a large assortment of knives, guns, needles, and various pointy objects. He placed them all neatly on the table, then moved the second chair so it was more against the wall facing the door, then found an old hook that he could chain himself to. He took off his jacket and shirt, dirtying them before throwing them in the corner across from Mineta's. Then he lied so his back was against the green wall, like he was drugged or asleep.
There came a knock at the door. "Izuku, I brought everything." Shouto said through the door.
"Come in, it's unlocked." he said.
Shouto entered, handing Izuku a collar. "Here, this one should fit you." Izuku fastened it around his neck quickly, and grabbed the other one out of Shouto's hands, placing it in a designated spot amongst the pointy objects.
"Grab this knife when you stab him." Izuku said, gesturing to a black handled knife that looked sharper than any knife ought to be.
"Okay."
"Now help me chain myself to the wall." he joked, laying in the same position as before. Shouto grabbed the chain he had brought, fastening it first to Izuku's collar and then to the hook in the wall, finding that it was just long enough that it looked like Izuku was at the longest his chain could go when he leaned against the wall.
"You actually look really hot like this. Standing above me, chaining me to a wall so I can't escape." Izuku commented. Shouto couldn't stop the blush that slid it's way onto his face.
"How can you just... say stuff like that?!" Shouto whisper-shouted.
"One, still partially drunk, two, it's true?" Izuku guessed.
"Alrighty then. I should better get going." Shouto replied, leaving and locking the door behind him after starting the camera.
Izuku waited a minute or two, then put on his most physically and mentally exhausted look. He strained, tapping Mineta's foot with his own. He kept it up until it looked like Mineta was stirring.
"Mr. Mr. Purple Hair, um, please wake up, Mr. Purple Hair. Oh, the master won't be pleased if you're not awake..." he whined, trying to act as meek and scared as possible.
"Wha-What? What's going on?"
"Sir, please, please don't be loud. The master hates it when I'm loud. Please, don't strain yourself, sir. It wouldn't be a good idea." he pleaded, mentally giggling at how absolutely pathetic he sounded.
"Where am I, what's going on? Who're you?"
"I'm... I'm called Rabbit, sir. I don't know where we are, but I know if you're here then Master probably wants to get rid of me. He said he would, one day, so..." Here he did his most convincing job of bursting into tears. "I- I don't want to die, not here! I want to go outside, and not worry about this stuff, oh, I don't want to die here!"
Just then, the door unlocked, and Izuku tried to look like he was absolutely terrified. He thought it might have worked, because Mineta showed similar apprehension.
"Rabbit, rabbit, time to play." Shouto said as he opened the door, slamming it inches from Izuku's face. He walked in, squatting next to the seemingly terrified Izuku. He firmly grabbed Izuku's face, pulling it close to lick off the tears, and Izuku went limp. Shouto smiled sadistically, getting up and unchaining Izuku before yanking the chain up, grinning in satisfaction as Izuku got up, his face blank.
"Rabbit! Rabbit, it's okay! I'll get us out of here, I promise!" Mineta shouted.
Shouto merely glared at him, before smiling sadistically. "And who's going to help the Pervert Hero and a Quirkless nobody?"
Then he dragged Izuku out of the room.