It took some convincing to make Spinner wait outside, but she knew that bringing him in with her would be a huge mistake. He claimed to follow Stain's weird code of ethics so if he went in and she started killing people unprovoked, she was sure he would ruin her fun. It had been a while since she really got to let loose so she was actually looking forward to the confrontation ahead of her.
Inside the bar, it was basically what she had expected. A group of guys that were trying to look tough. Sitting around in a dimly lit bar, drinking, smoking, and laughing when she stepped into the bar. As soon as the door closed behind her, someone stepped in front of it to block her from leaving.
Kugutsu's heart started to race with excitement, but she maintained a calm expression as she regarded the men around her. There's a lot of them, she started to realize. If I make too much of a mess, I'll get blood stains on this UA uniform and I don't have a spare one. This is the only disguise I've got right now.
"Well, well. Look, everyone. Giran decided to send his little errand girl after us," one of the men taunted.
Another one started toward her, smirking and cracking his knuckles. "You know what I heard? I heard a rumor you quit being his assistant and became a call girl. Is that what that uniform's about? Is that guy outside a client of yours and he's just into weird roleplay or something?"
Her hands curled into fists and she let her nails sink into her palms as she considered her next move. The idea of sending up shadow spikes to ward everyone away from her was a good one and she prepared to do that when she felt a hand on her shoulder. The person gripped tightly and jerked her backwards toward them, nearly knocking her off her feet.
"You know what I heard? I heard the yakuza's got a price on her head for maiming their boss. A guy I know said she messed him up pretty bad. He was able to fix it himself, but he's probably pissed off at her. How much do you think she's worth dead?" The guy behind her pressed a knife against Kugutsu's neck, his hold on her shoulder so tight it would bruise.
Beneath her hat, the girl's ears were flat with rage. A growl was forming at the back of her throat and she was using every ounce of self-control to keep herself from using her quirk to shred these men into ribbons. Blood would get everywhere and she wanted to preserve her disguise. She knew from experience just how messy it could get to eviscerate a human being.
"What about the guy outside?"
"What's he gonna do? He's out there. If he comes in, we'll just take care of him, too."
She bristled when they mentioned killing Spinner and her eyes narrowed. "Don't touch him. He's not part of this."
"Oh, now she talks!" A hand planted on the top of her head, pushing her hat down onto her ears more and actually causing her some pain. "What? Is that your favorite client or something?"
"Hey, I saw her hanging around some other guy in the shopping center. Some crusty-looking guy with blue hair that looked like he'd never heard of lotion!"
Kugutsu could handle them threatening her life. She could keep her rage contained when they threatened to kill Spinner, too. When they brought up Shigaraki, that was what made her finally snap. Glaring up at the man in front of her, the girl's lips slowly drew back and exposed her teeth in a menacing snarl.
"Oh, I know the one you're talking about! That guy that looks like he hasn't showered in a week, right? With the scars around his mouth! A dude like that would have to pay a girl to hang out with him, wouldn't he?"
The man in front of her chuckled and leaned down toward her. "Hey, what's your rate? How about-?" Blood dripped from the corner of his mouth as a narrow shadow spike impaled him through the chest. He stared down at it curiously before three more punched through his midsection. All four violently pulled away from each other, tearing his chest open and splattering the floor with blood and meat.
Dark spikes rose from the ground around her feet, wavering in the air as they went from solid to almost liquid-like. Kugutsu's hands dripped with her own blood from where her nails had torn into her palms and she closed her eyes. She thought of the dating simulator from her youth, but it did nothing to calm her down. Shigaraki had been insulted and that was beyond unforgivable.
The other men were running from the bar now, one of the taking with them the file that Giran had actually sent her to retrieve. Kugutsu spared no time walking out of the bar, bringing the shadows with her. They stretched and spread out, claiming more shadows from buildings outside and people walking past. Even Spinner's shadow was pulled to join the growing mass of darkness on the ground around Kugutsu's boots.
"Yami, what happened in there?! Your neck is bleeding!" The reptilian villain glanced down at the weaving, dancing shadows and still pushed himself to approach her. He saw that there was a cut on her neck, but she seemed to have not noticed.
She stared after the fleeing men, her pulse so fast and hard that she could feel it in her ears. It drowned out all other sound as she focused on what they had said about her idol. Calling him "crusty". Insulting him. Saying he had to pay a girl to spend time with him.
Her rage became too much for her to contain and Kugutsu reached out toward the fleeing group. Her intention was to use her shadows to make a long tendril big enough to gather all of them and drag them back to her. From there, she would make spikes along the tendril to pierce into their torsos and destroy their organs. That was what she wanted to happen.
What actually happened was pretty different and even more horrifying. The shadows did stretch forward, but they began touching more shadows and even more. The shadows began to bubble and grow massive, forming into a sheet almost. Powered by her rage and fueled by each little shadow they managed to snag, they were growing out of control. Seconds later, the neighborhood was in darkness.
Her shadows were still acting on behalf of her own fury so the spikes began forming and, to her absolute delight, she heard people screaming along the street. Civilians. Housewives that were out shopping. Businessmen that were on their lunch break. Those pieces of trash that had insulted the love of her life.
Kugutsu stared wide-eyed into the darkness before her as a warmth ran down the front of her neck. Her free hand lifted to it, trembling, and her fingertips came away red. Blood…? That jerk that was behind me. He must have cut me when I killed his friend.
"Yami, we need to go! Come on!" Spinner grabbed her hand through the ring of shadows around her and pulled her free. His eyes widened when he saw the darkness seem to spread further through the neighborhood like a wave. "What is that?! Yami, your quirk-! Call it back! Make it disappear!"
"I don't know how," she admitted, staring at the massive curtain of shadow that was falling over the area. Block by block, building by building. Civilians were running and screaming. Her mouth twitched at the corners before spreading into a wide grin. Blood rushed to her face as she stared at the masterpiece. The thing born from her desire to defend Shigaraki. The symbol of her love for him.
It was difficult for her to turn away. Physically and mentally difficult. Her body suddenly felt heavy. Her eyes wanted to close, her knees started to shake. It was then that it dawned on her that this symbol of her love was draining her stamina. However, she desperately wanted him to see it. I need to make it bigger!
Shift P.O.V
"What's going on?! Is it a solar eclipse?" Magne's voice cut through the darkness, rising above the screams of terror outside.
It was too dark to see anything, but Shigaraki could hear running footsteps. They were followed by a thud as someone crashed into something. Twice loudly exclaimed over running into the wall and then scolded himself for not seeing it. Toga's voice came from that direction as well, questioning what was happening. Footsteps to the left indicated he was approached by someone, who then had the audacity to reach out and put their fingertips on his shoulder.
"Who's this?"
"Don't touch me."
"Oh! My apologies, Shigaraki!" Compress pulled his hand away and stayed where he was. "What do you suppose this is? Do you think it could be a hero? Have we been found already?"
"What kind of hero would do something like this?" Shigaraki challenged him, scratching at his neck. He turned his head, trying to find some source of light even if it was small. Even the open windows were dark as night. Now a coldness was starting to settle over the building.
He felt a faint tug at the back of his shirt and scowled. "What do you want? What do you expect me to do about this? We have lanterns. Why don't one of you make yourselves useful and-?"
"Lanterns? That's…stupid."
There was a burst of light behind Shigaraki, lighting up the villain's silhouette and nearly blinding the other villains down the hallway. With the light came a wave of heat that made Shigaraki start to sweat and he turned to glare at Dabi over his shoulder. The others all began to approach like moths to an actual flame.
They're so easily impressed. This is probably the only time he can really make himself useful with that quirk. I guess I should let him enjoy it while the moment lasts. When this is over, he'll just go back to being burnable trash. Realizing that he was yet again referring to Dabi in a way that Kugutsu would, he bit his lip.
People were still screaming outside in the darkness. Screams of pain. Screams of terror. Doubtless, there would be a few dead bodies out there when this was all over. At least the League was safe inside their new hideout. Well, the members that were actually there.
He tucked himself into a doorway, away from the others, and checked his phone. No calls from Kugutsu or Spinner. No correspondence whatsoever. Pulling up the app to track the girl's phone, he was irritated to find himself relieved to see her moving. It was when he saw her location that his eyes narrowed.
His fan girl was just a few blocks away and she was moving further away from the base. Shigaraki looked outside at the intense darkness and then back to his phone as realization hit him. The chaos taking place outside was Kugutsu's quirk. He turned toward the other villains, focusing his glare on Kurogiri.
Shift P.O.V
"Yami, wait! What're you doing?!" Spinner was able to keep up with her as she ran, but he was looking over his shoulder in a panic as the shadows spread wider.
"I want him to see it! Shigaraki has to see what I did for him!" She giggled as the excitement became too much to keep bottled up any more. The girl's giggling only grew more intense when she imagined her idol marveling at the sheet of darkness. Imagined him patting her on the head and telling her how much he liked this display of her love and devotion.
Beside her, Spinner was gritting his teeth and trying to decide what he should do now. He had never seen her act like this before. He was definitely impressed by her quirk's power, but he was also terrified at the same time.
When he sees it…he's going to love me even more! How can he not?! This darkness is a manifestation of my love! It's all for him! Kugutsu paused in her steps, panting and grinning like a maniac. She turned to look at her beautiful creation, listening to the cries of terror that rang out from within the darkness.
Holding her arms out at her sides, she almost felt like she could cry. She had never felt so powerful and so weak at the same time. It honestly felt like her knees would buckle at any second. Tears of fatigue were rolling down her face and dotted the shadowy links that kept her tethered to her creation. She was so happy, but it felt like the life was slowly being drained from her.
"Heh…heheheh…ahahahaha! He's going to…love it so much! You'll see! This is…so…" Kugutsu tumbled forward onto the cement, her strength gone. Her scarred cheek made a hard impact with the ground, sending a burst of pain through her face. Her fingers weakly pressed at the surface beneath her as she tried to push herself up, but her body was too weak to keep her up for long.
"Yami?! Hold on! I'll carry you back so just-!" Spinner had started to crouch down, but froze and stared at something on her other side.
The girl weakly managed to turn her head and her eyes went wide. The sole of a red shoe rested on top of her left hand, pressing just enough to serve as a warning to not move. Kugutsu's pulse skipped as she stared up and into the blood-colored eyes of her idol.
"What're you doing out here? I sent you two to get supplies and instead of bringing back something useful, you brought this." His nails dragged along his neck and he looked to where the shadows were receding and then breaking apart. "Looks like it's over. You drew too much attention. What if you led a hero to us?"
"I…I didn't consider it," Kugutsu admitted.
He grumbled quietly and looked to Spinner, realizing there was no choice. Either the reptilian villain would carry her or he would be forced to do manual labor. "We can worry about supplies later. Now we've got to hide for a while." He turned away and lifted his shoe from her hand. "I bet you didn't think there'd be consequences since you're my fan. I wonder what I should do with you."
