A/N: Shorter than usual, but no less important!

Tomura stooped to pick up the dirty accessory, and vaguely realized that it was Inko's purse. The green pin of her son's hero mask was still stuck to the front of the worn leather, and as he opened it, her wallet was gone.

"Dirty lowlifes," he sneered as he tucked the purse under his arm and peeked into the alleyway.

A little further in was a familiar shoe, a shoe that he remembered seeing next to the front door every single morning since they moved into the dingy building.

So she was here, he mused as he picked up the tiny shoe. Her kidnapper must not have gone far if he's leaving behind so much evidence. What an idiot.

Glancing around the shadowy path, he felt around until his finger brushed over an uneven panel in the wall. Gripping it, he pried and pried to no avail.

Tomura frowned. "There's got to be a way…"

Instead, he took his hand away and pushed with all his might - and with a deep, reverberating groan, it swung inward, and he had to catch himself on the doorway before he stumbled in.

Peering inside, he saw only dim walls, a sickly yellow color from the lightbulbs above, a color that made a headache throb in the back of his skull.

He shook his head and stepped in, peeking around the corner this way and that.

When he heard voices coming closer, he hid behind some crates near the door - and carefully pushed it shut.

"... man, she ain't that good-looking, but she's gonna net us a ton of money!" One of the men jeered, his raspy voice making Tomura's eyes narrow. "It's not every day you catch a pig like that."

"Even pigs can squeal," the other man replied. "Didn't you hear the way she tried to scream for help?"

"She's a screamer for sure," the first added. "It's such a shame she has a husband. I'd hate to get caught just because someone got too nosy."

"Forget about it," the second scoffed. "She didn't even wear a ring. She's probably just saying she's married to scare us into letting her go."

He'd heard enough.

Scratching his neck with one hand, he slapped his palm on the side of the boxes and stepped out of his hiding spot, catching the attention of the two shady men.

The first barely had enough time to scream as he was dusted, his voice choking out into garbles of nothing as his body fell to the ground in a bloody heap.

The second watched in horror as Tomura turned his attention his way, and as he was slammed up against the side of the hall by his shirt collar he raised his hands in surrender.

"A- aren't you Shigaraki?" He stammered. "From the League?"

"That's me," he sneered, tightening his grip. "And unless you want to join your friend in the sweet hereafter, you're gonna tell me every single last thing you know about where you hid Midoriya Inko."

"Wh- who?"

"The woman you took a few days ago. Five-foot-two, shoulder-length dark-green hair, green eyes," his own eyes narrowed, " married ."

"I- I- I swear man, I don't know!" He squeaked, raising his hands higher. "She isn't here, I think they- moved her out last night, I don't-"

"That's not good enough!" He barked, slamming him harder against the wall. "Where is she?!"

"Why do you wanna know so bad?" The older man's voice was strained, even as he grasped at the villain's hand to attempt to pry it away.

"Because she's my ticket to luring out that kid," he snarled before he had a chance to think of a good excuse. "Word on the street is that the Yuuei kid, Deku, is looking for her. If I find her first, I have leverage. So Cough. It. Up."

He squeezed tighter, and the man wheezed and scratched harder at his hand. "O- okay! Okay! Okay! I'll tell you!"

A smirk spread across the silvery-haired young man's face, and as he set him back down on the ground, he commented, "That wasn't so hard, now was it?"

The older thug didn't reply, coughing weakly and hacking as he caught his breath. Finally, he sighed and straightened up, eyeing him in fear as he smoothed down his shirt.

"The address is on this card," he finally admitted, pulling a business card out of his shirt pocket. "Ask for Phoenix and they'll let you in. There's gonna be a big auction on Friday, and I guarantee she'll be there."

"That wasn't so hard," he repeated quietly before pocketing the card. Smiling wider at the man, he rested a hand on his shoulder - pinky down.

In a split-second, the man realized what was happening. He began to scream as cracks began to spread across his body, trying to shove the villain away even as his grip tightened.

"I gave you what you wanted!" he hollered as his legs decayed away to nothing. "I gave you what you wanted!"

When he fell to the ground, moaning in pain while his body continued to crumble beneath its own weight, Tomura scoffed.

"You may have told me where she'll be," he stated, "but you didn't give me the information I asked for."

A/N: Boy do I love exact words... and making Shigaraki delightfully devious with them.

Perhaps I made him too devious. Oh well.

Please tell me what you thought!