CHAPTER SIX - CONFRONTATION

Thirty minutes into first period, it sounded like the bell had gone off prematurely. Only, in addition to the usual shrill sound, emergency lights began to blink and flash out in the hallway.

Ten seconds later, it was still going off.

FIRE ALARM!

Each of the classroom doors slammed open and teachers moved to direct the flow of students pouring into the hallway.

"All right, everyone outside." Mr. Aizawa instructed with a lazy gesture of his hand, but not one of the students in the hero course seemed interested in getting up or making it out in a hurry. "Now, please." All the students did eventually gravitate in the right direction, however, to join the entire student body that was gathered en masse on the lawn outside the UA building.

Shigaraki hid under his hoodie, leaning heavily into the first tree he came across to save him from being bumped into and pushed about by the other students milling around. The scene was chaotic to say the least, disorderly, with no one really knowing what was going on. Was it a real fire or just a drill? The gossip had already begun - too much excitement for some people so early in the morning.

"Free period, total win." Kurogiri stated, taking up a post next to Shigaraki.

"Hopefully the school is actually on fire and we can get the rest of the year off." Shigaraki added, a yawn quickly followed. Unfortunately, he spoke just as Mr. Aizawa passed by them and he was visibly irritated, none too impressed by the boy's banter about the school burning down.

"Come see me after class, Mr. Tomura."

"I was kidding." Shigaraki grumbled and folded his arms over his chest with a huff. Great. Just what he needed.

Kurogiri snickered.

In front of them, the crowd seemed to part like the red sea, someone was pushing their way through, and from out of the sea came Takami with the new transfer student in tow. Of all the people, how did he manage to find Shigaraki? And why was the better question?

"Oi, fuckhands!" He called out, heading straight for the two boys. "I was looking for you!"

Shigaraki scowled and pushed away from the tree.

"Have you met Kai yet?" He asked introducing the dark-haired boy who looked equally as exhausted by Takami as Shigaraki usually was. The blond never shut up. "You know, you're going to have some competition now. He's got some sweet hand..."

Shigaraki didn't wait for the blond to finish his sentence. He grabbed the front of Takami's shirt and twisted his fingers in the material. "What did you just call me?" He yanked him in close, snarling.

"Geez, relax!" Takami suggested with an anxious laugh. He knew he was in trouble and struggled, trying to dislodge Shigaraki's knotted fingers.

"What. Did. You. Just. Call. Me?" Shigaraki repeated.

"Let go of me!"

Shigaraki had heard the nickname, oh did he, loud and clear, but he was baiting the boy to say it again, almost as if it were a dare. But he also wasn't going to wait around for an answer either, he had no patience where Takami was concerned, and especially with that level of disrespect. It was staggering.

Shigaraki lashed out with his fist, knuckles connecting with the other boy's face. Takami grunted as his head snapped to the side, and then he was falling backwards, knocked off balance from the force of the punch.

"You broke my fucking nose!" He howled. Long-fingered hands came up to cover his face as long tendrils of blood began to trickle down his cheeks leaving a pattern of sadistic like markings over his face.

Shigaraki stormed over and stamped his right foot down onto the center of Takami's chest, pressing his weight into the other boy so he couldn't escape. He leaned over, close to the fallen body, lip curled. "You think that name is funny?"

"What? No!" Takami mumbled through his bloodied hands, "It was just a joke!"

"Jokes are funny." Shigaraki returned without budging.

"Get off me!"

Someone laughed.

Kurogiri lifted his arm, pointing firmly at Kai, who was the source of the laughter, "You! Don't move."

The new kid lifted his hands, palms up in submission before folding them neatly over his chest. Clearly, he had no interest in getting involved but was thoroughly amused by the show, "Not my fight, not my problem."

"Shigaraki. Careful." Kurogiri cautioned, turning his head from one side to the next, to see who, if anyone, had noticed the action. He wouldn't intervene unless there was a chance of more trouble, and usually, wherever Takami was, Dabi and the remainder of their troupe of misfits would be close behind. This could turn real ugly, real quick.

"I'm just going to teach this little bird a lesson in respect." Shigaraki hissed without taking his eyes off Takami. He ground his rubber-soled sneaker into the other boy, the sounds of his distress fuelling Shigaraki's malevolence, and admittedly, his excitement.

"HEY! What's going on?"

Without hesitating, Kurogiri stepped out to act as a shield for Shigaraki while he did whatever he wanted and needed to do to Takami.

"Get out of the way!" Dabi barked in warning.

Shigaraki whipped his head around, lip twitching with a vicious smile. It seemed Takami's support had finally arrived. Too bad he was out-numbered. "Stay out of it!"

"I can't do that, Shigaraki. Back off." Dabi appealed, his mouth a hard line, "I don't want to fight with you. Come on."

"Tch," Shiagaraki sneered. He didn't want to fight with Dabi either, and that realization really bothered him. A week ago, he wouldn't have hesitated, neither of them would have. He was becoming soft! Fuck!

Turning back to Takami, Shigaraki reached down to drag the other boy up, gripping his school tie until his shoulders were lifted just off the ground. "Call me that name again and you'll lose one of your precious wings." He threatened, letting go, and allowing Takami's back to hit the ground once more.

"Asshole." The blond boy muttered.

With a firm push, one that was a lot rougher than it needed to be, Shigaraki removed his foot from Takami's chest and straightened out to his full height. "Peasant." He spat at the shaken bird boy who was trembling on the ground and then whipped his head back to Dabi. "Tell your friend to watch his mouth."

Dabi's brow furrowed, he was smart enough to keep his trap shut.

"Let's go." Shigaraki mumbled to Kurogiri. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and headed directly into the thickest part of the crowd. He wasn't running, and it wasn't as if he cared about being caught, or blamed, for the assault, he just couldn't stand being in the presence of the pseudo-perfect golden hero any longer. He was already tempted to decay one of those wings just for the fun of it.

Briefly, he glanced back over his shoulder, eyeing Dabi before disappearing into the bevy of UA uniforms.

Dabi watched Shigaraki leave, his heart heavy and beating rapidly. He wanted to say… something, anything, but couldn't find the right words. Not in front of Takami, or Kurogiri. Or the new kid who was idling by, unphased by the sudden conflict. He took a calming breath, just grateful that their brief confrontation didn't end in a physical fight.

"By the way, good job having my back," Takami mumbled sarcastically, lifting himself up into a sitting position, "You're supposed to be my bestfriend and you just let him walk away. What's got into you?"

"What did you say to him?" Dabi asked, ignoring his moody friend and holding out his hand, offering to help him up.

"What did I…?! He's got a short fuse, Dabi. You know that." Even if wasn't ready to stand, Takami didn't want to look more pathetic than he already did so he took the hand and bit back a groan as he was lifted to his feet.

Dabi couldn't disagree with Takami, he knew very well that it didn't take much for Shigaraki to snap, but he also knew that Shigaraki wouldn't attack Takami unprovoked. He wasn't stupid and there were teachers and other students everywhere around them. He wasn't a complete dick either, as Takami was implying.

"You said something to him." Dabi mumbled under his breath, not wanting to aggravate Takami any further.

Then Kai was there. Standing in front of the two boys, smirking like something real funny was going on. "Your friend has a smart mouth, Dabi. Unfortunately, he doesn't have the balls to back it up." He snickered.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Dabi said, his head tilting slightly.

"Takami, what was it you called Shigaraki? Hmm." Kai scrubbed his hand over his chin just below his mask, pretending to have trouble recalling the nickname the blond boy had used, and then he snapped his fingers, like it was a sudden revelation. "Oh yeah, that's it. Fuckhands." He said matter-of-factly. "He called him fuckhands."

"Jesus." Dabi pressed the heel of his palm to his forehead, shaking his head in astonishment.

"It was just a fucking joke! How'd I know he would overreact like that?" Takami explained, lifting his arm and pressing his shirt sleeve against his bleeding nose to stop the flow of blood, "You know, you could have stepped in to help too." He said, chewing the new kid out.

The other boy scoffed, "Like I said, it wasn't my fight. Who was I to stop it?" He retorted, eyes narrowed, going very serious suddenly, "And that jab you took at Shigaraki, I also found it a little offensive to be honest. So, I can't say I didn't enjoy watching him mess up that pretty face." He wiggled his fingers, reminding Takami that he had a similar quirk to the boy he had just insulted.

"Nice job, idiot. Made another enemy today." Dabi muttered to his friend. "Bravo."

"Shut up." Takami returned, trying to turn his head and shoot Dabi a look, but it didn't come across half as angry as he'd hoped.

"Anyways, it's been real fun but i'm out… of this." Kai gave a casual two-fingered salute and then retreated backwards into the crowd of students. He wanted to catch up to Shigaraki before he lost him in the muddle of people. Considering what he had witnessed, he thought they'd get along well, they could be friends, that was if he could actually get Shigaraki to talk to him.

"ALL RIGHT, STUDENTS!" The voice of Present Mic filled the air, "BACK INSIDE!"

"Let's go. Stragglers will be spending their afternoons with me." Mr. Aizawa mumbled, ambling slowly beside the students. He stopped when he came to Takami and Dabi, his lazy gaze taking in the picture of 1-A's class president with a bloody nose and his best friend looking more than a little pissed off.

Neither of the boys said anything.

"Takami. Dabi." He raised a curious brow, "Either of you care to explain what happened here?"

Takami opened his mouth to speak but Dabi immediately interjected, shoving his friend aside, "Idiot walked into a tree. You know, pretty crowded out here." Dabi laughed awkwardly, and then grabbed at Takami's forearm, "I'm going to take him to see the nurse."

It was pretty obvious that Mr. Aizawa didn't believe a single word of Dabi's stumbling explanation, but he also didn't question them further. He probably didn't care, as long as no one was currently fighting, "I expect to see you in class next period. Both of you."

"Yes, sir." Dabi muttered, dragging Takami forward and along with the flow of students.

"Seriously?" Takami grumbled, "You're going to cover for that piece of trash?"

"Looks like it." Dabi affirmed, tossing his friends arm away.

"Dude." He couldn't quite believe what he was hearing, "Not cool."

"Neither is calling someone fuckhands, but you did it. You reap what you sow."