"This freaking society had always pissed me off." Izuku relaxes slightly as the hand leaves his throat and settles on his shoulder. "But what i didn't expect was for a villain to piss me off so much, that Hero Killer." He blinks a little at the new information, and glances up at the man.
"Isn't he your ally though?" He asks, trying to keep his voice light.
"Ally? Nah..." Shigaraki hisses though his teeth. "He pisses me off. He pisses me off so much. We're both just destroying the things we don't like, aren't we? Why the hell does he get his own merch?" The villain huffs like a kid complaining about someone getting more toys than him, "Where the hell is mine, huh? ...Everyone else's talking about him... I set off a whole hoard of Nomus in Hosu and everyone's just talking about him, Hero Killer this, Stain that. I even broke into UA, and no one's ever done that before. Why the hell is it like this?!" He hisses and Izuku shivers. "We're both just destroying the things we don't like, aren't we? What's so different about him that made him so much better, huh?" He leans in towards him and grins, and Izuku gulps.
How the hell is he supposed to know? He glances around and looks for something, anything to help, for an answer. He's not sure what he's gonna find in a shopping mall like this for a question like that, but anything is better than nothing. Then, just between the people a little away from him, he spots something that made him freeze.
It's Kōki-San. Her hair is all tucked back into her cap and she is now wearing a surgical mask over her face but it's her. She's got a cup full of some kind of drink in her hand, and is glancing at him with a weird look in her eyes. Then she brings a hand up, and gestures for him to stay quiet.
Kōki-San knows he's in trouble, which means she'd most likely alerted Akemi. Izuku breaths shackily, and relaxes. Akemi knows what to do. The heroes are probably on their way now, and everyone's going to be safe.
"Well? What's your answer?" He stiffens, and the hand slowly begin to close around his throat again, "Midoriya, you better say something..."
Kōki-san darts out from the crowd in a light jog, trips over something, and splashes the drink in her hand all over the man sitting a little away from them. He's sitting far enough from Izuku that the splash didn't effect them, but close enough that no one is going to come anywhere near them untill the mess is cleaned up.
"Ah- sorry!" Kōki-san apologizes as the man jumps up from his seat, "I'll get you a new shirt- I'm really sorry, sir!" The man began cursing a little, and Kōki leads him away from the bench, "Really, really- I'm sorry!"
"Tsk." Shigaraki huffs, "Well? Midoriya?"
Watching Kōki-san's back fading away into the crowd, an idea came to mind, and before he could stop himself, he blurts out.
"My friend writes novels."
"...Huh?"
Shit, Izuku swallows the lump in his throat, shit, shit, shit. "My friend Akemi. She, uh, writes novels." He mentally curses for mentioning Akemi's name, but too late. Izuku glances around as Kōki-san returns, and sits by the family of two next to them and begins chatting. "She told me that villains are her favourite characters to write about."
It's true. Akemi did tell him that villains are one of the most interesting characters to write about. And most of the time, the characters in Akemi's stories are just so grayscale that there's no villains and no heroes, it's just what she likes.
"The bitch who fought the Nomu?" Shigaraki asks, "Doesn't seems like it... I'm flattered though." He grins at him, "and what does that have to do with anything?"
"Well, she says that writing villains is hard." He said hurriedly, digging through his memories for what the heck did Akemi tell him exactly, "and... and that it's tough to make the readers like the bad guy... And that a good story always needs a good antagonist."
"True." Shigaraki hums, "And?"
"A-and well," He glanced towards Kōki-San who seems to be chatting with the child about a shop she spotted on the third floor, trying to get the two away from them. "Then she showed me how to write good villains, and I think... I think she's right." He relaxes a little as Kōki finally leads the woman and her child away to the elevator. Stall. He need to stall for time. "She's right about how to write good villains."
"And what makes good villains, Midoriya?" Shigaraki narrows his eyes at him, "What does that have to do with anything?"
The hand around his neck closes in again. "I-I'll get to it." He stutters out, "W-well, to write good villains, you need to make them understandable." He recalls Akemi's grand speech about her webtoon with the serial killer as the protagonist, "There's no need to justify or make people agree with them, but you need to make people see where they're coming from." Shigaraki stays silent, "She says that- that writing a good villain is a little like writing an Antihero. You know Antiheroes, right?" Shigaraki nods slowly, and Izuku gulps. "She says that... that writing a good character, villain or not, you need to show that they're more than what they do."
"...I don't get what you're trying to say." Shigaraki narrows his eyes, "Are you telling me to be nicer, is that it?"
"W-well, not exactly." He stutters, "I- I'm trying to say..." Izuku's eyes dart towards the crowd, where Kōki-San is starting to emerge, walking towards them slowly. "I'm trying to say that-" He breaths in, "That it's the same in real life?"
"...What does that mean." The villain hisses.
"I mean that- that." He pauses, "That like characters, Stain... Stain did the things he did for something, he said it's for a more just society and all. And while I can't agree, nor justify what he did, I... people can understand why he did those things." He glances up at the villain, "What about you?"
"..." The villain stays silent, "But I am doing it for something." He grumbles. " This society is broken... Heroes are useless... why don't people like me then?" He hisses.
"Because people can't tell?" Izuku chokes out, "Even if you are thinking those things... it's like in a book, if you don't write it, no one will know. And no one will like the villain, and no one will like the story."
The hand loosens.
"Huh." Shigaraki mulls over his words, "For a hero... Your friend sure knows a lot about being a villain." He grins, "You sure she doesn't want to become one herself?"
Izuku freezes, and glances around desperately. Kōki-San is approaching, and the mall seemed a lot emptier than it was, with just a few people around, gradually making their way out of the shopping district. The authorities are probably here and the people are evacuating, good. "I- um-I..." He eyes the floors around, and Shigaraki finally notices.
"You told your friends. didn't you?"
He freezes.
"Ahh..." Izuku watches as the hand around his throat loosens and reaches out toa child running by- what is she doing here didn't Kōki-San warn the people around them please get away before he touches you—"I guess I'll just have to-"
Within a blink of an eye, the hand reaching for the child was violently smacked to the side, and Shigaraki's wrist snaps in an awkward angle. Izuku was suddenly grabbed and pulled away from the villain's side, and by the time his eyes comes back into focus, Kōki-San stands a little away from him, the child running away unharmed behind her, and is glaring down at Shigaraki with little fear, and a lot of anger.
"Hands off," The martial arts club vice captain snarls, "you vermin."
Current Poll Results~ (from both the poll and the reviews)
Akemi's paring:
Todoroki Shouto: 17
Midoriya Izuku: 5
Iida Tenya: 3
Seiba Hiroi: 0
Ueno Hibiki: 4
Kaminari Denki: 1
Bakugou Katsuki: 3
Iida Tensei: 1
Others (Please state in review!)
Hibiki's pairing:
Todoroki Shouto: 0
Midoriya Izuku: 0
Iida Tenya: 4
Seiba Hiroi: 0
Kimura Akemi: 3
Shinsou Hitoshi: 7
Others (Please state in review!)
Kōki is the school martial arts club vice captain, she learned combat from a former American soldier, and she taught Akemi how to fight. Time to give her some action. *snickers*
I was a little uncertain about this part, really— I got stuck here about a month ago, and had to stop writing it for almost an entire week before continuing.
Onto the comments!
To darkpaladin89: Kōki: *Drags Shigaraki away by the wrist* Yeah, let him go.
To Ree.Human: Fight Shigaraki, appearantly. And, well, the stuff you do when you're stuck at home. *shrugs* (Wait is that really 37 chapters ahead? Huh.)
