At that, Shigaraki sat up, wide eyed and attentive, finally. "Blind?" he repeated, hesitantly, as if afraid to know the answer, reaching out slowly towards Dabi's face.
Dabi didn't flinch away when Shigaraki made contact, but Shigaraki must not have liked what he saw anyway because he grimaced and turned to look at Hawks, repeating the process with his other lover.
"What happened? Who did this?" he demanded, turning to see that Denki's eyes were open but unfocused as well, relaxing only slightly when he made intentional eye contact with Hitoshi that didn't waver. They weren't completely just sitting ducks.
"Actually, our best theory is that you did, Shigs," Hitoshi said, trying to be gentle in his delivery. Fuck, the last thing he would ever want to do would to be the reason that he caused any harm to come to his soulmates, so he could only imagine how this would make Shigaraki feel.
Shigaraki allowed himself to flop back onto the grass and groaned, pressing the heels of his hands into his eyes and kicking his feet in pure restlessness. "What? How? I'm not even supposed to be alive right now."
"Surprise!" Denki chirped, throwing in some jazz hands for extra effect to make up for the fact that he wasn't even looking in the right direction. "And hey! No broken ribs this time, even! I call that a total win!"
"How are you feeling?" Hawks asked.
Shigaraki took a second to do a mental scan of his own body from head to toe. "Really good. I don't think I've ever felt this good, actually, but something feels different, too."
"That's probably the other quirks," Dabi said.
"I'm sorry," Shigaraki said, not sounding sorry at all, and maybe even a little flabbergasted at the implication. "What? Other quirks?!"
It was chaos at first as everyone jumped in, trying to be the one to explain to Shigaraki what was happening. It ended up being Present Mic who did the explaining from beginning to end, giving the most important details without leaving anything out, and also being sure not to muddle anything with extra, unneeded emotion like many other members of the present party might have.
"So, I really am the one who took away your sight," Shigaraki said once everything was explained.
He took a second to look down at his hands, once so destructive, now having the potential to be something different.
Shigaraki reached out his hand to Dabi, and experimentally pulled.
"Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope," Shigaraki chanted. "That was all wrong. Oh, fuck. Oh, fuck. Oh, fuck. Oh, fuck. How do I give it back?!"
"His vision?" Hitoshi asked.
"Well, yes," Shigaraki asked, panic lacing his voice, "but also his fucking quirk."
Shigaraki shook his hands like he might be able to shake Dabi's quirk off of his hands and fling it back to its original owner. When that failed, he tried to scramble backwards, trying to distance himself from his lovers, his friends, anyone else he might unintentionally bring harm to just by being in the immediate vicinity, but Dabi and Hawks were faster, already predicting Shigaraki's next move. They had reached out, grabbing on, and pulling him into them.
"I'm a monster," Shigaraki protested.
"You're ours," Hawks snarled in response.
Dabi nodded his agreement against Shigaraki's chest where he weighed him down in place with his own body weight.
And wasn't that just the most straight-forward way of putting it that could not be argued further? They could argue in circles for hours whether or not Shigaraki could be considered a monster or not, but how, after everything they've been through, could Shigaraki tell them that he is not fully and completely theirs?
He couldn't.
The argument was over with two words.
Shigaraki relaxed into their hold and didn't try to pull away further, even as a groan of discontent ripped from his throat, even when they knew he thought they'd be safer if only they would let him go. They all knew if the situation was reversed, he wouldn't dream of letting either of them go. He wouldn't dare argue against his lovers and insult them in such a way, no matter how absolutely dangerous he felt at that moment. If they saw something worth saving in him, then he would have to trust in that.
"You're fine, you're perfect, baby. As many tries as it takes, okay? Hell, you can keep the damn quirk, if that's what it comes down to. Caused me nothing but pain, anyway. And my vision, too. If the last thing I ever saw was you, that would be damn perfect. You know that, already, Tomura. So, no pressure, yeah?" Dabi rambled, trailing hands over Shigaraki's face, neck, and shoulders in soothing patterns.
Shigaraki furiously wiped away the few traitorous tears that escaped from his eyes and forced himself to nod. "Yeah. Okay," he rasped.
Shigaraki looked surprised when he finally figured it out.
He let out a self-depreciating laugh.
"He always made it seem so difficult. Like it was such a heavy ask, the highest favor someone could ever request, you know? But it's like nothing—like a puzzle piece that already belongs clicking into place," Shigaraki explained, looking between his hands and Dabi, but not really seeing. "I wonder if it feels different if the quirk doesn't belong…"
"You can try it out on me any time," Dabi said. "Can you imagine?" He laughed. "Finding me out in the field and having no idea what quirk to expect? Absolutely wild!"
"You might need your vision back, first," Shigaraki said, reaching out once again to try his hand at restoring vision with a quirk he has in his newly acquired arsenal.
"I know what I said, and I meant every word, but I'm so relieved that my boyfriend is so smart and figured it out so quickly," Dabi said when the focus came back to his, Hawks's, and Denki's eyes.
"That wasn't too bad, either," Shigaraki said, frowning down at his hands again.
"Careful," Denki said. "You'll give away all your secrets that everything is super easy. You're going to show your whole hand this way!"
"Good," Shigaraki said, turning a mischievous smile in Denki's direction. "The less I'm like him, the better. Don't you think?"
"Plus Ultra?" Denki offered with a wry smile and shrug.
Shigaraki snorted.
"You mentioned giving quirks to where they don't belong earlier," Hawks said. "I think you made some of the tag-alongs nervous." He tilted his head in the direction of the HPSC agents who were looking rather pale.
"Oh, fuck. You think I'm going to make more Nomu or some shit? I might threaten Midoriya on occasion—" they paled further, "—but I never thought that I'd ever actually have the ability, you know, so it was never all that serious, and hey—" he cut himself off abruptly, head swiveling, eyes narrowing on a figure across the field. "Speaking of Nomu, I think it's about time I undid some damage. If it's even possible, yeah?"
-.-.-
Team Tartarus waited, diligently watching over their charge with Erasure, waiting for any word from the in-field team.
They watched as All For One slowly started to deteriorate physically, then socially, starting to lose his cool and throw more demands about before outright begging for help, any help that anyone could possibly provide with offers of endless power in return.
They startlingly watched him take his last breath, thinking it to be some kind of trick.
They watched him for minutes more, just in case.
When the communication devices in their ears crackled to life again, they expected some kind of news that the fight was finally over, that Shigaraki had indicated somehow from his end some kind of signal that All For One was officially down for the count.
They didn't expect Present Mic's voice.
"Shouta! Sho—Oh, fuck. Oh, gods. Oh, Sho! Are you there? Please tell me you're there!"
"This is still a professional and open line of communication, Present Mic," Eraserhead grit out through a clenched jaw, wondering what the hell could be happening to have his husband so flustered.
"It's Oboro!" Present Mic blurted, forgoing all pretenses. "Shigaraki—he—he undid what All For One did. Oboro is back. He's back, Sho."
Eraserhead didn't wait a second longer to leave.
It was fine; Toga and Phantom Thief covered for him until the mission was officially dismissed.
Aizawa had his soulmates to greet, after all.