We're switching to Tokoyami's POV for this chapter and heading back in time to learn what happened to him before Hawks got involved. The next few chapters take place around the same time as the events in "Gathering Shadows."

Chapter Summary: Tokoyami is kidnapped and endures his first encounter with the League of Villains.

Chapter 3: Tokoyami

One Month Ago

Tokoyami Fumikage disappears on a Sunday afternoon. He takes the bus into Musutafu's city center with Shoji and Kouda – after giving Mr. Aizawa a detailed account of their plans, of course. All three have different errands to run, however, so they agree to go their separate ways and meet up again for lunch before heading back to campus.

Tokoyami's first stop is a music store. He picks up new strings for his guitar and spends some time browsing the music books. Nothing catches his interest, so he pays for the strings and tucks them into his pocket, then begins winding his way towards a small bakery. The shop is nearby but tricky to find. He and his parents stumbled upon it by accident the first time they came to visit him at the dorms, after getting lost in a seedier part of the city. The adventure was well worth it; the bakery specializes in homemade apple candies and apple cider donuts. He plans to buy enough of the later to share with his friends after lunch. The candies, however, are just for him and Dark Shadow, who likes to crunch them.

As he turns a corner, Tokoyami nearly runs into a tall man wearing a long yellowcoat. He glances up to offer an apology, and finds the man staring at him. Tokoyami shrugs it off; plenty of people stare at mutant type quirks, in spite of their relative commonality. He supposes a bird head is still something of a rarity. With a polite bow, he continues on his way.

He reaches the bakery without further incident and takes his time picking out the candy and donuts. Dark Shadow pops out of his back to give his (unasked for) opinion, and the shopkeeper tosses a broken candy piece to him. "You'll spoil him," Tokoyami sighs.

The shopkeeper, an old lady who both student and quirk have grown very fond of, laughs and tosses a candy to Tokoyami as well. "What's the harm in a little sweetness now and then? It's always best to share what we have."

Taking her sage advice to heart, Tokoyami picks up a second bag of candy to share. He'll save some for Aizawa to give to the little Eri as well; according to Midoriya, she's as fond of apples as he is. The shopkeeper gives him a discount on the second bag, and Tokoyami thanks her profusely.

She waves him off. "You and your friends enjoy that; I know how hard you U.A. students work. Take care of yourselves now, and make sure you get home soon. It's going to rain."

"Thank you again," Tokoyami says. Dark Shadow waves over his shoulder, and the pair make their way back out into the street.

"Shall we walk or take the bus? We have plenty of time before we need to meet the others," Tokoyami asks his quirk.

"Walk!" Dark Shadow replies. "It's cloudy. I like it."

"And will you be sheltering us from the rain when it starts, or hiding?"

Dark Shadow stretches himself over Tokoyami's head, then cackles and shrinks to rest on his shoulder. Tokoyami shakes his head but begins to walk. "If you don't shelter us, the donuts will be damp and I won't give you any candy to crunch."

"No fair!" Dark Shadow whines.

Distracted by his quirk's antics, Tokoyami doesn't notice the tall man walk up beside him. He assumes the bump against his shoulder is only Dark Shadow until he feels his skin tingle like he's stepped into a cold shower. The sensation is familiar, but he has no time to identify it before the world around him expands and widens, turning glassy. Tokoyami suddenly feels weightless, and Dark Shadow is forced back into his body.

They're both trapped, he realizes. He can barely move and his senses are dull: sound echoes unintelligibly, his vision is covered by frosted glass, and he can feel nothing beyond the clothes on his body. A memory of the summer training camp resurfaces. The last time he felt like this he had been taken by surprise as well, and he curses himself for falling for the same trick twice.

The tall man. Mr. Compress.

He needs to learn to be more wary of the people around him. Tokoyami has never seen Mr. Compress without a mask, but he should have noticed something was wrong with the way the man stared at him. The only good news is that he was on his way to meet Shoji and Kouda. Even if they think he's just running late, Mr. Aizawa will certainly notice if he misses their curfew. Shoji, Kouda, and Mr. Aizawa know where he was going, and even on a side street like this someone must have seen something. They'll find him soon. He and Dark Shadow can endure until then.

XXX

Tokoyami isn't sure how long he's compressed. Within the marble everything takes on a dreamlike quality, although dream might be the wrong word. It's more like a nightmare. He's frustrated by his own helplessness and frightened of what waits for him on the other side of the marble. Last time he was released only to watch Bakugo disappear in the hands of the villains, followed by All Might's final fight. He tries to let his anxiety fuel Dark Shadow, just to see if his quirk can break them out. Dark Shadow pounds on the walls of their prison only to produce a bright spark that sends him cowering back inside Tokoyami's consciousness, leaving Tokoyami with a headache.

Then there are voices, muffled and indistinct, as though he is underwater.

"Why did …child?!"

"You said…allies…the plan…easy opportunity…"

"Fool! …lay low…be seen! Now every…looking for him!"

"They won't find…"

"…not stop…last time…lost…"

"What…do with him?"

"Kill…rid of the problem."

"…just a kid!"

"Idiot, those…still look…revenge…"

"…can't keep him here…"

"…quirk?"

"A shadow monster. I saw…and Moonfish…destroyed…"

"Can we use…?"

"Last time…"

"This is different."

"…your fault, your responsibility!"

"Alright…prepare…need some light."

Tokoyami's senses snap back into focus, his skin prickling and stretching and noise rushing past his ears. He is immediately greeted by a bright blue fire that blinds him to everything else. He squints and blinks until his eyes clear enough to see the room around him. It's an empty basement, as far as he can tell, illuminated by humming overhead lights and the flames resting in the hand of a man with terrible scars. He recognizes Dabi from the newsreel on the Kamino Ward attack, and from Bakugo's description of the villains involved in the event.

The rest of the League of Villains is gathered around him as well. Mr. Compress is close by, and Tokoyami can feel his stare even though his usual mask is back in place. Toga is next to him, bouncing on her toes and grinning. Spinner leans against the far wall, his arms crossed, and Twice stands next to him. Then there's Shigaraki himself. He pushes Dabi to the side and fills Tokoyami's line of vision, the blue fire giving the hand on Shigaraki's face an eerie glow.

"No moving, no fighting, and no summoning shadows, or Dabi here will burn you alive. Got it?" Shigaraki says.

Tokoyami nods slowly. He keeps still and pushes down on the bristling Dark Shadow, willing his mind and body to remain calm.

"Good. You're already smarter than the last brat. Still, I'm not taking any chances." Shigaraki snaps his fingers. Twice immediately grabs Tokoyami's arms and twists them behind his back. Spinner pats him down, pulling out whatever he finds in Tokoyami's pockets: wallet, phone, key, mini flashlight, and guitar strings. He must have dropped the bag from the bakery when Mr. Compress grabbed him.

Spinner lays his things out on a table, while Twice shoves Tokoyami into a chair. He forces Tokoyami's hands through the slats on the back of the chair, then secures a zip tie around his wrists.

"Is that too tight? I should've made it tighter!" says Twice, coming around to his side.

Unsure how to respond and well aware of Dabi's flames, Tokoyami remains silent. They've had classes about these types of situations, so he knows to keep his bound limbs stretched apart and to comply with his captors until the right opportunity presents itself. A rush of adrenaline has his heart pumping wildly in his chest, and every instinct is telling him to run. However, Tokoyami has had a lifetime of practice at self-control in order to keep Dark Shadow in check. He breathes in slowly and stills his panic.

"You're the quiet type, huh?" says Toga, looking through his wallet instead of at him. "That's no fun."

"He isn't here for fun," Shigaraki snaps.

"Then why am I here?" Tokoyami asks quietly. "Surely you can allow me that much."

"I don't think we have to allow you anything," Shigaraki replies.

"I cannot meet demands that I do not know," Tokoyami says, growing slightly more confident when he's not immediately burned.

"Careful, Fumi," Dark Shadow warns in his head.

"You plan to cooperate then?" Shigaraki asks.

Dabi scoffs. "Are you sure this is the right kid, Compress? He's not even putting up a fight."

"He does seem pretty useless," says Toga.

"Not at all! He's intelligent enough to listen. A cool head is just what we need, wouldn't you say Shigaraki?" says Mr. Compress. Tokoyami isn't sure how to feel about his kidnapper defending him.

"What we need is more power, and perhaps some information." Shigaraki circles Tokoyami's chair slowly, eyeing him up and down. "What's your name?"

"Tokoyami Fumikage," says Toga, holding up his ID. "He's in 1-A, just like my sweetheart."

Shigaraki glares at the girl. "I wasn't asking you. I wanted to see what he would tell us."

"Tsukuyomi," Tokoyami says, surprising both the villains and himself.

"What was that?" Shigaraki asks.

Tokoyami takes a breath. Now that he's said it, there's no point in backing down. "My hero name is Tsukuyomi. As you are villains, that is the name you should remember."

Shigaraki laughs. "Is that so? Well then, Tsukuyomi, do you really think you have the power of a god?"

"My hubris is not so great as to equate my abilities with that of a deity. It is not Tsukuyomi's power, but his association with the night that I wish to emulate," Tokoyami replies. There are other things he relates to, of course – the god's loneliness, his sense of justice, his misguided violence – but those are not things he plans to share with the League voluntarily.

"That's brilliant! That's stupid," Twice shouts.

"Tsukuyomi it is," Mr. Compress says with a bow. "I respect the need for a stage name. We are not unreasonable, after all."

Tokoyami wants to argue that kidnapping him off the street seems pretty unreasonable, but he won't antagonize the villains while he's at such a disadvantage. There's no telling when they'll stop talking and start hurting him. Instead he says, "I hope you'll allow my questions, then. Why am I here? What do you want?"

Shigaraki studies him again, then says, "I am recruiting unique talents to the League of Villains. Mr. Compress believes that you have some potential."

"You want me to join you?" Tokoyami asks. Perhaps he shouldn't be so surprised. He's heard enough about Bakugo's encounter to know that's why they kidnapped his classmate in the first place. If it hadn't been for Aoyama's laser and Shoji's speed, he would have faced this months ago.

"I'm offering you an opportunity to prove yourself," says Shigaraki.

"How often have you had to hold back your quirk because everyone else said it was destructive?" Mr. Compress adds. "Wouldn't you like the chance to see your true, full potential?"

"My quirk is destructive. I've spent years training to contain it and trying to make up for the times that we hurt people because I lost control. I won't do anything to jeopardize that," Tokoyami argues. "Not that it matters. Even if you had the means to offer me complete control I would not take it. I have no intention of joining you."

"I don't either," Dark Shadow mentally adds. "We're gonna be heroes!"

"I am glad to know that on this, at least, we are of one mind," Tokoyami replies.

Dabi's fire burns a little hotter. "You may want to reconsider your answer, kid."

Shigaraki puts four fingers on Dabi's shoulder and draws him back. "Don't be so hasty. He's just arrived. We can afford to give him some time to think about it until we decide on another use for him."

"And where exactly are we going to put him? I'm not babysitting for the next week," says Dabi.

"We finished switching out some of the locks in the basement. We could clear out one of the rooms," Spinner suggests.

"And add some more lights, as many as we can find," Mr. Compress says.

Shigaraki scratches at his neck. "I wasn't expecting a child to be our first prisoner, but fine. Toga, Compress – find the lights. The rest of us will clear the room. And Dabi-"

"Watch the brat. I've got it," Dabi interrupts, his flames flaring.

"Here," says Mr. Compress, producing Tokoyami's flashlight and the guitar strings with a twist of his hand. Tokoyami never saw him take them from the tabletop, where his wallet, phone, and key remain. "A show of good faith. We don't steal from our own – well, not much."

Mr. Compress tucks the flashlight and strings into the pocket of Tokoyami's sweatshirt. It's probably the best outcome Tokoyami can hope for at the moment. All he needs is time; if he can hold out for a day, maybe two, then he's certain he'll be rescued.