triggers in this chapter mentioning of rape and blackmail
"It feels weird hiding things from them," Deku said.
Shigaraki rolled his eyes.
"You don't need to be friends with everybody. That's why Eri tricked you into her pants so easily."
The hero pouted slightly before looking at the ground to hide the shame on his face. Shigaraki was right.
"We need more battle information. He really likes his ice but he can use his fire. I suppose that's the similarity they have," the villain said, "We need to find him and pick a fight."
"What if it's too much? He pays lowly criminals to cause issues around the city. What makes you think he'll come out and fight us?"
"It sounds like he wants chaos to continue even if he isn't the one causing it. I suppose if things continue to stay in chaos it'll make things easier on him to take over when he wants. It'll make him look good and no one will question it. That's why no one stood up after all this time. He plays hero but he's an asshole."
"I guess you would be the expert on villains."
"Do you even know what half the people in my League want?"
Deku shook his head since he had no real idea.
"To be accepted. You think people like Spinner? He looks like a fucking lizard. Toga isn't liked by anyone because of her quirk. She can't help herself- if she was taught how to deal with it at a young age then she's wouldn't be the way she is. Each one of them want something different but it boils down to the same thing- acceptance. I guess the Toga here finally found someone who appreciates her. I'm glad for her."
The green haired hero hadn't really thought about what each one of them really wanted. They were villains... Who cared what they were trying to get when they were hurting people?
"Oh."
"We might go about it the unconventional way but it's going to happen anyways. So expect me to kick your ass later too."
Deku gave him a small smile but had no words to argue back. In a way, it would the very sad reality they would end up facing soon or the near future. Nothing anyone could do about it. All this right here, right now was just temporary. It seemed it was just a test to see if he would do what he could for peace.
"I think the best is confront him outside of the school. You watch on the side lines. He's fast, cunning and an evil little bastard."
"Can you fight? No offense..."
Shigaraki gave him a dirty look.
"I can fight. Luckily we're both long range fighters. The only difference is he has two and I have one."
"Are you aiming to kill him?" Deku asked with concern.
"The other brat already asked me too."
"What?"
"Yea, he asked me to kill him. He didn't say why."
Deku stared at him for the longest and it creeped the villain out.
"You're scaring me. What's wrong with you?" the villain asked trying to avoid his looks.
"I... I can't watch you do it."
Tomura blinked.
"What? I know I won't be able to do this without you. That's even hard for me to say."
"I can't because he looks like one of my best friends and I just can't do it. I can't- How can I go back to my old life and look him in the face knowing I killed a version of him even if it was bad?"
Tears welled up in those big green eyes. Shigaraki just stared at him, speechless. He shook his head like he was seeing stuff.
"Wait- what? Are you crying?" he asked in disbelief.
He placed his hands on his face trying to hide it but Shigaraki could see the tears rolling down his freckled cheeks.
What the hell is going on? Why has my life come to this?
"Calm down. Everything is going to be fine?" Tomura said almost in a questioning way.
He patted Deku's shoulder with the back of his hand trying to be comforting.
"It's not the worst case scenario, right?"
Deku pulled his hands away and stared at the villain before him.
"I would be helping kill a version of my best friend. Could you kill any of your friends here?"
Shigaraki sat there unable to answer. Would he have been able to actually kill any of them? Maybe in a fit of rage and betrayal he would be able too... He would have no reason otherwise too try,
"If in some case they betrayed me or tried to kill me, probably."
The young hero blinked away the tears as annoyance and anger over took his features.
"How can you be like that?" he asked, "How can you take away lives without a single thought about it? What is wrong with you?"
"So... You would allow one of your friends to attack you and take your life? You would be ok with it, laying down and letting them kill you?" Shigaraki asked.
"I..."
He looked down at his hands.
"I never fought back against Kacchan anyways. He's changed a lot and I forgive him for it. I couldn't fight him back anyways if I wanted. I was quirkless."
Silence fell between them.
"Do you think we are any less superior because of our quirks?" Tomura asked.
Deku just stared at him.
"I think we would be if we succumb to them. Fear them. Anytime I use mine, I break my own body. I've gotten better about it but one day I won't have it anymore and I will be nothing again. In many ways I fear it more than anything else."
Tomura chewed on his bottom lip.
This is turning into a pity party therapy session than a fucking plan. Jesus Christ. I feel for him... That's a lot.
"I can't kill him."
The villain rubbed his temples, internally screaming.
"I don't think we can beat him alone anyways. We are going to have to ask wanna be hero and emotionally crippled asshole to help."
"You put in some real thought into this, haven't you?" Deku asked, "I haven't seen Izuku come into the house... I can't remember the last time I saw him. I wonder if he hides in his room more now?"
"I don't think he's here now... Let's break into his room."
"What the hell?"
Tomura pulled out a pair of gloves and slipped them onto his hands. He grabbed Deku's arm and pulled him down the stair well to their hide out. They checked the whole house and no one was home it seemed. It just seemed odd.
"Let's go."
"We shouldn't be snooping in someone else's stuff," Deku hissed, "Didn't your parents teach you that?"
"Well, my dad beat me for just about anything so it's hard to remember if he did or not."
Deku's mouth dropped open in shock. He tried to find something to say but no sound came out.
"Alright, finally! I didn't think there was a way to shut you the fuck up."
He grabbed the door knob but it stayed still. No surprise it was locked. He pulled his right glove off and grabbed the handle. It disappeared into ash into the carpet. He scattered the ashes with his foot and forced his body against the door until it gave way.
"He's gonna know it was you!"
"Good, he deserved it."
Tomura walked in first. He smelled something odd about the room... It smelled like pennies. It's been a long time since he smelled something like that.
X
X
"Izuku... I have to say... These results aren't good," Recovery Girl said flipping through the chart.
He fidgeted on the exam table.
"How bad is it?" he asked.
"You're aging every two weeks by a year. I can't tell if it accelerates as time goes on or not. You were definitely drugged but that's not what was causing the issues at hand here."
Izuku squeezed his fists in his lap. Tenko had been at school even though he tried to fight to stay with him. School was more important. He didn't want him here. He wanted to face it alone.
"It isn't?"
"No," she said scratching her head, "You were hit with a quirk. It seems it accelerates your age and the power of your quirk. It could cause you to lose control of it because you aren't exactly growing with it. It would take years to learn new control as it does anyone else but... You could cause devastation at... You would be just like an atom bomb but in the form of a whirlwind."
It felt as if the room became cold. His heart thumped hard enough to hurt him and tears started stinging his eyes.
"Who did this to you?" she asked.
"I don't know-
"Tenko isn't here so stop with the bullshit."
He swallowed hard.
"Son, you have to tell me. What happened?"
"I don't-
She slammed the clipboard against the counter, snapping it in half.
"Goddamnit! Just tell Izuku! You've done so much for the people in this city and you're gonna give up like that?!"
He shrank away as shame overcame him. She grabbed his shoulders, shaking him. Izuku tried to pull away as she started screaming at him. Tears soaked his face.
"TELL ME!"
Izuku grabbed two fist fulls of her shirt.
"Todoroki did it! He- he ra... I swear I don't how it happened! It just happened! I woke up drowsy and messed up-
The look of anger was replaced by horror on Recovery Girl's face. She let go of his shoulders.
"Izuku... That's... That's-
"Don't tell Tenko! Please! I don't... I don't want him to know I betrayed him!"
"Sweetie, that's not betrayal."
She pulled away. She pulled up a seat and sat down by him.
"Izuku... Did you get checked out afterwards?" she asked softly.
"Neito did... he said he couldn't see any lasting damage."
Her lips thinned into a straight line.
"I wouldn't trust him."
He looked down at her.
"What... what do you mean?" he asked.
"I um... Seen he around UA. You had instructed everyone to stay away but he's been hanging around."
He made a face.
"Let me check you myself. Just be careful."
Recovery Girl stood up. She pulled open a cabinet, handed him a gown.
"I can fix just about anything. This though... Will be dangerous for you. Only because of the way your body is aging. I will heal everything but there is some risks."
"That's all we do isn't it? Take risks?" he asked with a weird smile on his face.
X
X
"It smells like blood in here."
"What?" Deku said sniffing the air.
"It's old... I think. There's a lot in here."
Deku stared at him.
"You haven't had to smell old ass blood apparently. It's almost similar to smelling death."
Tomura felt odd about being in that room. It just seemed there was something that wasn't right. It felt... wrong.
"You ok?" the young hero asked.
"I almost regret coming in here and it's not because I'm invading someone's space either."
"What is it then?"
His mouth felt dry for some reason.
"I can't explain it."
"What are we looking for?"
Tomura said nothing as he dropped to his knees beside of Izuku's bed. The room in general smelled weird. His gut was screaming that something was wrong.
He made sure his gloves were on so he didn't destroy anything else. As he looked under, he saw a wadded up shirt. He pulled it out to see it was stained with spots of old, dried blood. He placed to the side and looked under again to see a box shoved against the wall. He managed to pull it out using his finger tips.
"What's that?" Deku asked.
The shoe box wasn't dusty... So it wasn't just left there and forgotten.
I have a bad feeling. Do I want to open this?
Shigaraki pulled the lid off to see papers that were handwritten. He pulled a few out then saw the disturbing pictures underneath. His heart stopped briefly and he almost puked. There were multiple pictures of Izuku naked, with a few of Shouto Todoroki in the shots but in all of them the freckled vigilante was asleep or knocked out. Tomura looked up at Deku who had gone white as a sheet.
"Did... did you know about this?" the villain whispered.
He said nothing.
"This..."
The papers were threats. Notes about exposing Izuku to his boyfriend.
"This... this isn't what it looks like... Is it?" Shigaraki asked.
"What does it look like to you?" the young man whispered.
The pictures were horrifying. They were graphic and disgusting.
"There's razor blades down here at the bottom."
Much to Deku's shock, he saw a few tear drops land on the pictures in Shigaraki's hands.
"He asked you here... for this," Shigaraki asked with his voice choking up.
"Yes and no."
"Who knows?" he asked, his voice barely heard.
"Not many of them."
Shigaraki wiped his face before looking at Deku.
"Look at this," the villain hissed thrusting the pictures in his face, "You're going to look me in the eyes and tell me this sick fuck doesn't deserve to die."
Deku jerked his head away. He didn't want to see the pictures. Because it was him. It was him from another dimension in that horrifying situation.
"That is not your friend. Would your friend do that to you?" Shigaraki asked, "Would he?"
"N-no."
He pulled his gloves off quickly, sniffing his nose. He disintegrated the pictures to ash in front of him. Ash covered the carpet, his hands and legs.
"No one deserves that."
Shigaraki was shaking with rage as he stood up.
"Shigaraki?"
"Are we killing him or not?" he asked almost growling.
Deku swallowed hard.
Hal was right... I can't do this.