Leska: Thank you for reading! And here is the next chapter. :)
Notes: This took waaaaaay longer than I'd anticipated. I guess it was more difficult to write because this is basically a setup chapter. And a lot of explanations. Hope I didn't make it boring.
Also, I fixed some of the terms. Instead of 'Villain Alliance', I've opted for 'League of Villains'.
Warning: mentions of implied (imagined) suicide and gory details. Also, major spoilers about manga chapters, specifically of the Intern Arc.
About two months ago.
"...Midoriya Izuku, a student at the UA Academy and a Hero-in-Training... missing in action... the League of Villains suspected... Rest assured that the authorities from both the police force and the hero association have not lost hope and are continuing their investigation..."
Izuku stared down at his own body.
He shouldn't have recognized it. It was in pieces. Just a reddish mess spilling out from a heap of green fabric, topped almost comically with a mop of blood-flecked hair.
Yet he knew it to be his. Even the jutting bits of whitish bones. Belonging to him.
A part of him thought: That's ridiculous. Human body doesn't break like that, even from so much height. And the school rooftop isn't that high -
He found himself riveted by the sight of his toe.
To be exact, its bones. The littlest toe had been neatly stripped of its flesh, as if someone had sucked it clean. It gleamed. Flaunting its two joints.
'It used to be a way to tell how one wouldn't have a quirk, two joints on the smallest toe...'
A banner of his worthlessness. That was the sole pristine thing to survive among the wreckage.
'Jump off the school building. Hoping for next life.'
Was this next life? Doomed to forever look upon the evidence of his failed existence, his broken dreams?
But this didn't happen. I picked up my burnt notebook and... On the way back, I was attacked by a villain. Then... All Might saved me and...
'You can't be a hero.'
Electric blue eyes softening with pity as his hero spoke the words that crushed his hope. Only... they weren't blue anymore. Dull green, veins of blood reaching at it like some sickening growth.
His own dead eye stared at him among the ruin of his body.
'Deku. Useless.'
Muffled scream thrashed Izuku's body. Muffled because of the bile that bubbled up his throat. He choked on it, and dropped on all fours to retch.
He couldn't stop heaving even when he'd emptied his stomach. The spasm stopped only when he'd sapped all strength.
He dropped his head on the floor, heedless of the stink of his own vomit. He wrapped his arms tight around his body. Almost crushing himself in violent shivers.
Alive. Whole. Still here. HERE.
And here was...?
Had tears glued his eyelids? No, he could blink. But why was everything so dark? Had he gone blind?
Or... was he truly...
Still on all fours, Izuku tried to shout. The first few attempts ended in mere gasps. When a sound finally emerged, it was a whine.
He didn't notice another sound at first. Only when he stopped voicing his own did he hear it. It reminded Izuku of growls from an animal in pain, or that of an angry beast.
There was a dull thud. Then another. Repeatedly. Like flesh against a hard surface. Something that resembled a human voice broke through intermittently. But Izuku was sure he was imagining the words. Sorry? Dad?
"Anyone... there?"
The sound stopped. Then a scratchy whisper crawled over to him, so low and barely there. Izuku could sense its desperation, as if a scared child was saying it.
"...Sensei?"
The word, without context, disoriented Izuku further. Then recognition dawned slowly. Memory coming bit by bit…
He'd been visiting Bubble Girl and Centipeder. For the first time since Sir Nighteye had... had...
The two of them were about to investigate a nearby shipping container yard, concerning a possible sighting of the League. They tried to stop Izuku from getting involved but he'd insisted he'd help. They gave in under the condition that he kept to patrolling the premises.
They'd arrived at the yard with Izuku staying by the edge of the area. The moment the pros went in, explosions burst out from all over as if timed to their arrival. Reinforcement came in the form of police force and other heroes but all were soon lost among the smoke and the flame that had enveloped the whole yard. Izuku tried to contact Bubble Girl and Centipeder to no avail. A jamming device? A quirk? The sounds of fights breaking out from behind the smoke made Izuku even more anxious.
He jumped high to escape the suffocating smoke and to survey the situation and sighted flashes of blue light slamming down from sky - one narrowly missing him.
Like dividing screens raining down. Then Izuku realized that was exactly the purpose of the blue-light blocks. Dividing the area into neat enclosed squares - separating everyone. Surely the work of a quirk.
Izuku landed on a spot just outside of the blue lights. Since he couldn't be sure of the situation, he was debating whether to run for help but then...
"...are you trying to pull?"
A voice he couldn't forget. From inside one of the containers. Still, should he just barge in or... Then a cry for help made the decision for him.
The first thing he saw as he rushed in was a dark figure topped with pale hair, looming over a man. A hand twitching just over the man's face.
"Shigaraki Tomura!"
The villain whirled instantly, the deathly hand covering his face also swiveling towards him.
Then... Izuku felt something both like a knife and a mighty wind slash him from behind, knocking him over – as if he'd run into a storm - or a mixer -
Then – darkness - .
Izuku groaned. The memory brought back all the physical pain. He could feel slashed bits of his hero costume chafe against his wounds. From that - knife-like wind? Another quirk attack?
He heard rustle of clothing as the other presence shifted. Izuku cautiously called out.
"...Shigaraki?"
Silence. Then:
"You."
Izuku recoiled at the amount of venom in the voice. He instinctively shuffled back and almost immediately hit something hard. A wall? But... with a rugged surface and strange lumps.
The other's hoarse voice snapped.
"Explain."
Izuku's mouth hung open at the sheer unfairness of the accusation.
"I should ask you that!"
But that short word already 'explained' some things. This, at least, wasn't the work of the League. Of course, Shigaraki could be playing with him but what would be the point? And that genuinely frightened tone he'd heard just before...
"Can - can you see - anything?"
The reply came a while later, with an irritated smacking of mouth.
"... I suppose that means we're stuck in the same… predicament. Your communication line?"
Izuku checked his comm built into the suit, as well as his phone. Both were on. But the signal was still jammed. Izuku shook his head no, realized the foolishness of the act, and called out in negative. There was an exasperated expulsion of breath that indicated the situation was same for the villain.
"Wha...what is this...place?"
Nothing. Obviously the villain didn't deem the question worthy of a reply. Izuku offered a possibly more valuable contribution.
"I can feel... a sort of wall behind me."
"... And I can feel a floor under me, Hero Genius Sir,"
Okay. Perhaps not so insightful. But the villain's next question alerted him anew.
"What's the last thing you remember?"
At least the previous hostility from the villain had... thinned somewhat. So likely Shigaraki didn't intend to... antagonize him at the moment. At least, not until the situation was clearer. In any case, he'd been thinking about that question himself. So Izuku complied.
"There was... sharp... wind...? Then something like... not smoke... more like black paint spreading along the ceiling and the walls... Wait, can we still be inside the container? But... the wall are... strange and lumpy,"
"Yeah, that's how it was," the other's voice interrupted him with a displeased grunt. "That was what made me suspicious when I entered."
"... And... there was a voice,"
Just after the darkness had engulfed everything. Something unique about it, but Izuku couldn't place it. It'd said...
"'Sleep well, and sweet dreams'?"
Izuku let out an exclamation. There was a snort from the source that'd repeated those ominous words.
"I suppose it's definite we've entered the same game. But what kind?"
Izuku tried to control his shudders. What the voice had said... and the dream had come. Izuku bit his lips as bile surged up again.
"Was it the... man... you held?"
"That rodent? Not at all likely."
"Did you...?" Kill him?
"Regrettably, no."
"Who was that man? What were you doing there?"
There was no answer. Which left Izuku to his own contemplation. He turned off his phone and comm. It'd be better, he decided, to save their batteries for a crucial time.
"Break the wall."
"Wha-?"
Izuku jerked his head up at the sudden command. The voice came again.
"Try. Breaking. The wall. With your. Damn. Quirk."
The clipped words were pronounced as if to a particularly dense child, dripping contempt. Izuku cringed, yet forced himself to stand up, knees shaking. Really, he should've tried this earlier. But he needed to control the damage, since there was no telling what lay beyond this – prison. Izuku drew up One for All throughout his body – and released it along with his fist.
He felt the power fizz out the moment he struck.
He let out a yep of pain, reeling. At least nothing felt broken when he rubbed his knuckles.
"From that sound, and the continued existence of this room, I guess - a failure?"
Ignoring the mocking words, Izuku tried to summon One for All again and felt dread pierce his skull when the heat of the quirk seeped out the moment he felt it rise up.
"Similar to Erasurehead," Izuku turned, even though it made absolutely no difference. The villain's speech continued, accompanied by what sounded like tapping of fingers against the floor.
"This - place - negates the quirk used against it. And it seems to suppress the said quirk for a short while. After the 'downtime', the quirk is restored, although it only seems to work on anything that is NOT part of the room,"
There was a chuckle.
"So we're able to kill each other, at least, if it comes to that."
Izuku tensed. One for All firing up almost automatically. This time, although the quirk 'sputtered' like an old engine, it managed to climb up over his body, spreading slowly to the ends of his limbs, proving Shigaraki's theory.
Izuku forced himself to relax. Bubble Girl, Centipeder, and the other heroes... had they gotten away? Or were they in a similar situation? Izuku slowly felt his way along the wall. He wasn't sure for what. It was better than just standing still - except the almost tangible darkness robbed him of all sense of balance. He tried to count the steps he took but soon lost it as he bumped into... something. A cold, smooth pipe-like structure. At the end, texture of... porcelain...
After quite a few minutes, Izuku succeeded in turning the handle, and was rewarded with a wet trickle. Then he bumped into something else that almost cracked his knee and bent over in pain, banging his head over an object equally hard and smooth. The painful revelation led to further exploration and Izuku felt compelled to share his discovery.
"There's a... faucet here, and possibly a... toilet."
"...Congratulations, you've unlocked... a new feature in the dungeon."
Was it his imagination, or was there a drowsy lilt in the reply?
"So the host... intends to make this a long stay,"
Izuku's heart sank at the other's statement. Of course, it was only a logical conclusion...
"But... this space, this room... it must be due to a quirk. Then it surely can't last that long, right?"
Silence.
"It can't, right?"
No answer.
Izuku tried to shout, then found his voice sapped out in a similar manner as his quirk had done. Then his knees gave and he slipped onto the floor. His whole flesh felt as if they weighed a ton and his fragile bones couldn't stand them.
Izuku folded upon himself. He put up a weak fight against the darkness invading inside his head but was soon overwhelmed.
Next brief bout of consciousness was exactly that. Brief.
He spent that time flat on his stomach. Tears pooling between his cheek and the cold floor.
He could not get up. He'd failed the exam. He'd failed All Might. Not only that, his entire body was broken. By his own quirk.
No, not his. Never his. All Might had been wrong. He didn't deserve this quirk. All that training was for nothing. Except to wake him up to bitter reality.
He was never worthy of any quirk. That was why he'd been born without one. It seemed so clear now. And he'd spend the rest of his life crippled for his stupidity. That is, if anyone found him at all. Perhaps he'll be found as a desiccated remains only after clearing up the exam area for the next - proper - applicants, stuck under the very lowest of the rubble -
How his mother would cry.
He should've listened to Kacchan. Then at least, One for All would have gone to someone worthy...
Guttural moans. Too distant to be his own. Too different. A piece of memory flickered at that sound, like a weak amber buried under ashes. Groans, then a series of curses, the last ending in a screech that reverberated through the floor, through his bones. Izuku twitched. Curling up into a ball to shield himself. He screamed to block out those howls of rage and pain.
It shocked him. Hadn't his body completely broken? How could he move, and shout...
The miniscule awareness fanned the frail flame of recognition. It still stayed out of his reach like the trail of a dream upon waking...
A dream.
"... rat ... brat!..."
Someone... calling. Then... a sound like something being... dragged over.
Something prodded his side, his wet face, making him gurgle.
"... riya,"
It was a marginally familiar voice. But Izuku's couldn't make out what it meant.
The only clear thought that flashed through before his consciousness shut down again was: Thank goodness someone came.
"Kacchan!"
Izuku reached out. Screams tore our of his lungs.
All Might was gone. All for One had defeated him. Then, because he had lost all hope when All Might fell... he'd faltered, making Kirishima slip - and Kacchan also fell...
He heard coughing. Then, raspy sighs.
All was suddenly clear.
Shigaraki Tomura.
It was all his fault. He was the one who'd orchestrated the abduction of Kacchan, who'd led All Might to...
He'd nearly crippled Aizawa-sensei. He'd have killed Mineta and Asui just to provoke All Might.
It was all him.
He blinked away heat from his eyes. Anger boiling at the villain trapped with him. The sheer hatred amassed into physical strength that pushed him up. This was a chance to stop him from all that pain he had caused - could cause -.
He was summoning One for All without even realizing it.
He'll pay for all he's done. I'll make him pay.
A small part of him stirred, trying to catch his attention. But it was a faint signal.
I'll take back everything you've taken away -
The coughs morphed into sobbing.
It halted Izuku in his vengeful tracks.
Then the sobs congealed into muffled words.
Someone. Help. Please.
It was as if those words had flicked a different switch inside Izuku.
Izuku moved - it had nothing to do with his own will. Just the same urgency that took over when he'd seen Kacchan taken by the sludge villain, when Eri had clutched at him.
His rage forgotten, he padded over to where he figured the sound was coming from – whimpers, loud thumps, and some disturbing scratchy sound - increasing as if reflecting the crescendo of desperation and madness behind them -
He nearly tripped over something, balancing himself at the last moment. Izuku froze and he felt the body below him to the same. He cautiously knelt down, groping with his hands. After some hesitation, Izuku took off the gloves in favor of more sensitivity. He fingers traced a shaking, bony slope which heaved with a loud gasp. His hand brushed against a section of bare skin - nape? Izuku was startled at the wetness that smudged over his fingertips.
What... what do I do? Izuku ended up saying the first thing that came to his mind:
"I'm... here..."
Something whipped across his chest.
A flash of burning sensation both cold and hot, as if he were slashed with a sharp piece of dry ice. Then a feel of powdery texture slipping against his flesh – almost ticklish -
Then the pain.
A chunk of his costume, and a layer of skin - he could feel them evaporate, even the blood turning to wisps, like an abrasive smoke flowing out of his chest-.
Then it stopped.
Izuku drew in a deep breath, half-thinking the act would make his body collapse like a sand castle. His knees did crumple. But his body held.
His trembling hand went over his chest - just below the collarbone. Feeling along a rough, long groove made of scabs.
Another stuttering breath. Only this time, it wasn't his.
"Are you..."
The amount of fear weighed in those words made Izuku forget his own.
"I'm... alright, alright."
A shuddering sigh was the only answer.
I am alright. The revelation made him aware how close to death he'd been. Izuku found himself breaking into panicked babbling, as if the action itself confirmed his survival.
"You must've been usingyourquirk on the floor without reallyknowing and it must've suppressed yourquirk enough to..."
"... Midoriya."
"... not disintegrate me completely justasmallpart soyeah I'mreallyalrightandwhole..."
"Shut up."
"Okay."
The ensuing silence was awkward. But it gave Izuku time to get his bearings. Which, admittedly, weren't so good. He was parched, the burst of speech hadn't helped. And the insides of his stomach and back seemed plastered together. The hunger and exhaustion making his limbs shake.
He found himself swaying, nodding off while standing. Izuku pinched himself.
"Water,"
Izuku clamped his hand over his mouth. The villain didn't stir. At least, Izuku couldn't sense him. After waiting a while, Izuku whispered slowly, carefully.
"I'm… going to get some. What about - "
Izuku had meant to reach for the walls. Instead, his hands touched something softer.
Both jerked away.
"Don't. Touch. Me."
"I didn't mean to –"
Izuku held his breath until the snarl from the other subsided. Then he slowly got up.
"So… going. Do you…?"
Izuku hadn't expected it and was surprised when he felt the villain get up. Supporting himself against the wall like Izuku, by the sound of it.
Eventually, they managed to work out a system – the one coming up behind would align the sole of his foot to the heel of the one walking front – Izuku taking up the latter role – and crawl along the walls. Izuku supposed Shigaraki figured necessity outweighed the… unpleasantry of working with him. Besides, it was best to stick together. If only to avoid the danger of accidental collision, which could cause the other to - lash out -.
Shigaraki was having trouble walking, dragging his legs. Izuku wondered if the villain had been seriously injured by that knife-wind. He was fairly sure what he'd stumbled over before was the villain's leg and the lower hem of his pants now felt wet. Blood? Izuku rubbed his stained fingers.
The journey felt like forever, and the reward, meager. The faucet gave a thinnest flow, which dwindled to a drip now and then. Izuku gave up on washing and just quenched the thirst. Water felt like needles in his throat, but it was welcome pain.
In an unexpected display of patience, Shigaraki let Izuku take his time, before following his example. Only the sound of harsh gulps and a sigh hinted that the villain had been just as parched as him.
Izuku swallowed a few times before speaking. It was definitely easier now.
"... How long... do you think we've been here? It can't have been days..."
"Depends on how long we'd been... knocked out."
Perhaps they were wasting precious energy this way. But if they just kept still, they'd just fall asleep again. The very thought of another dream was enough to make Izuku hurl his very organs.
No, it was better to keep talking, just to keep awake.
"... Wanted to join the League, he said, that rodent."
"... Huh?"
Izuku blinked at the out-of-the blue statement.
"That was why I - we - were there,"
It took time for Izuku to figure out that Shigaraki was giving a delayed answer to his previous questions.
"Our... broker confirmed he wasn't a threat. Obviously, he and I are going to have a talk later on,"
"Then... why were you interested in recruiting him?"
"The rodent had some… useful connections. Perhaps more than we gave him credit for."
So, it was a secret meeting between criminals that heroes had crashed into.
"That's why you weren't in your costume? Without all those... hands... except the one on your face..."
Izuku hadn't meant to say that aloud. At a time like this, you're going on about that? A wheezing sound very much like a laugh didn't help with his embarrassment.
"The rendevouz necessitated a more... inconspicuous presence. Now, your turn, why were you there?"
Izuku hesitated. Wondering how much he should tell. But then, here wasn't really much to tell.
"There was an anonymous tip about sighting the League at the yard."
A tut, then a fit of furious scratching that made Izuku wince.
"So, a setup, after all."
"Do you think the others... I mean, the heroes, the rest of the League..."
"Probably fine. If the - culprits had enough raw strength to subdue all of them, they wouldn't have bothered with the diversion. Likely they bailed after the - target - was separated and then..." The villain snapped his fingers. "Still, I doubt they expected to get something... extra.
"Why did you... decide to tell me this?"
"I'm just arranging my thoughts out loud. You're just a talkative echo. Which reminds me, you still haven't answered my question. Rather away from UA, weren't you?"
"Just... visiting. I also heard the tip about the League and..."
"... Offered to interfere?"
Izuku could imagine that scarred face break into a smirk.
"Your luck stat must rank negative."
Izuku wondered by now whether he'd just hallucinated that child-like, fearful voice. The one talking to him now was definitely villain Shigaraki. Izuku was actually glad of it because it grounded him. It was also worrying because a terrible theory was forming in his mind and he wasn't sure how the other might react.
"Ah, um. You're having those too, aren't you? The... dreams..."
A sibilant expletive. Which was as good as a 'yes'. Izuku carried on.
"The way they just... continue to happen... I mean, it may be coincidence but..."
There was a bark of a laughter, and the lilting response:
"'Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time...'"
"'It's enemy action.''"
A new voice boomed through darkness, almost physically rattling both of them.
Izuku frantically looked around, and immediately sank because of the vertigo caused by the sudden movement. His only consolation was that the other couldn't see him making a fool of himself.
And him trembling.
Sleep well. Sweet dreams.
This was the voice they'd heard right before. Its unnatural resonance lent it an eerie quality, although Izuku could tell it sounded male.
"I apologize for the delayed greeting. Did you have ample time to figure out the amenities? And there'll be room service as well. I'm no monster, you see."
Izuku realized what had struck as unusual about the voice was the accent. This was a foreigner speaking.
"... And how long will our stay be?"
Shigaraki's voice countering it shouldn't have been so reassuring. But it was. Immeasurably so. Izuku found himself trying to twitch nearer to it. But the voice of their captor was just as all-permeating as this darkness.
"Until the desired state is reached."
"And the purpose of this... 'desired state' is...?"
"Let's say that... we're keen on collecting useful assets," a pause, then, "at least assets some surmise could be useful, or possessing a certain rarity value - such as being the supposed successor of All for One."
"If I understood correctly, your recruiting tactics could use some work,"
You're the one to talk. Izuku couldn't help retorting inwardly at that.
The voice gave an exaggerating cough.
"Sorry, I'm afraid my Japanese isn't perfect. But, recruit as in 'recruiting members', isn't it? I do mean collect… as in, 'collecting butterflies'."
"And was the rodent a member? Or a bait?"
"A rodent is a vermin. And what is a vermin good for? I'd appreciate it if you do not bring us down to its level."
Izuku stood up. He heard Shigaraki huff in warning. But he needed to say something, just to combat the feeling of helplessness.
"And just who - who are you?"
Izuku could somehow feel the voice 'swivel' towards him.
"Ah, the little larvae of a hero. I'm sorry you got into this. Be assured that my focus isn't you. If you stay - docile - there's a good chance your - inconvenience - may be short-lived."
"Are you behind this... room, this quirk?"
"Do not lump me in with this... mere contraption." A flash of annoyance breaching towards anger, bled into the voice before simmering down. "As for your first question, you may address me as Sandman."
"What... kind of organization do you belong to?"
There was a sigh, and a muttering in English that Izuku couldn't make out. He only caught the word 'idiot'. Then the voice directed its attention back to Shigaraki.
"Aren't you being rather passive, Shigaraki-kun? Letting this... boy take over the conversation?"
After a few seconds of silence, Shigaraki spoke in a different tone, with a slight sway to it: "Sandman… subtle." Then, to Izuku's astonishment, Shigaraki broke into English.
The voice sounded also taken aback. But it answered in the same language. Shigaraki's English had a mocking cheer that set his speech into something between a purr and a hiss. It was apparent that 'Sandman' was finding whatever Shigaraki was saying infuriating – he had lost what smidgen of politeness he'd deigned to display prior. Instead, his tone had changed into a domineering one, with some seething emotion barely held in check. Both spoke rapid-fire and Izuku couldn't understand at all apart from some stray words: 'Bell boy', 'boss'...
'Overhaul.'
Sandman gradually regained composure, leeriness increasing tenfold as he spoke deliberately slow. Izuku still wondered whether he heard right: '...break eggs...', '...your teacher...' Shigaraki's response to those last words was a near-snarl.
"Fuck off."
Well, Izuku got that one.
Echoing laughter trailed off into nothingness. They waited for a while. Izuku even called out. The voice was gone.
Shigaraki let out a deep sigh. Izuku turned towards the general direction of it.
"What did you say to him?"
"That I wanted to talk to the boss instead of a bellboy,"
'Why do you think-' Izuku's thoughts caught up before his mouth went off. The voice - Sandman - had admitted that there were more than one of them. Had hinted that Shigaraki hadn't been his choice of target - if the irritated tone when he'd said 'some of them' was anything to go by. Which meant someone had overrode Sandman's opinion. Obviously, Shigaraki had goaded the other using that point. Still, their captor sounded like he got back by mentioning Shigaraki's teacher.
Izuku decided not to press that particular point.
"Didn't... didn't he say Overhaul?"
"Very good, Midoriya. Apparently he was our Sandman's preferred target. Sounded quite a bit peeved that he's no longer... useful."
A snicker slipped into the last word and Izuku bit his lip. He'd heard what'd happened to the police and the hero who'd been transferring Overhaul and to Overhaul himself. It once again reminded him just what kind of man he was trapped with.
"You were trying to get him mad. Is that a good idea?"
"Oh, our Sandman was pissed to begin with. You are responsible for that, Midoriya."
"Me?!"
The word came out as a squawk. It earned a chuckle from Shigaraki.
"When he was muttering to himself - hmm, something like – 'those fucking idiots can't do anything right, letting some mite contaminate my work' - pity I can't recreate the original rancor,"
Shigaraki took a pause while Izuku took it in.
" - I'm guessing 'contaminating mite' refers to you. For some reason, your presence seems to have thrown a major wrench in his plan." Another laugh. "It almost makes me like you,"
This didn't offer any comfort to Izuku.
"And, er, didn't he say something about... eggs?"
Izuku braced himself for a major taunt, sure he'd misheard. But the answer came casually.
"That was bout omelettes,"
"...Omelettes...?"
"How one has to break eggs first to make one," Shigaraki gave a derisive tut.
"Although, he sounded like he'd enjoy the breaking part a bit more."
End Notes: Don't worry, I'm not going to describe every dream from this point on since it'd get tedious. But I wanted to convey the relative 'theme' these dreams were getting at on this chapter.
The quote "Once is happenstance..." is from "Goldfinger" by Ian Fleming.
Shigaraki speaking English just an original bit I threw in. It'll serve some purpose in other scenes as well.
It struck me anew just how powerful quirks these two have. I had to invent some 'hack' quirks just to contain them!