Heroes in the Dark: Chapter 14
Tokoyami held his breath upon being greeted by the sight before him. He crouched down in the foliage, his desire to retreat held fast by both fear of being discovered and morbid curiosity. His gaze wandered around the area of destruction that lay before him before settling on its epicenter. There stood Shigaraki Tomura, the previously absent leading figure of the villains. The gray hands that typically adorned his body were absent, but he was still as intimidating as ever. He had wondered where this corrupt man had been, but seeing him now made Tokoyami wish that he hadn't stumbled across him.
Dark Shadow, why would you have me come here?!
The response he got came from Tomura, who was acting with unconstrained destruction upon the forested area. A sweep of his hand left a tree into a darkened stump, expanding the range that he'd been using his quirk. Foliage had been pulled up and disintegrated, and the ground had turned blotchy and dead in the places where he'd rested his hands. It was evident that he had been going at this for a while, for his breathing was heavy and he was visibly strained at this point. And still he was compelled by some unreasonable determination, like a dark cloud of persistence that failed to leave him. Unable to divert his eyes away from the scene, Tokoyami watched with baited breath.
"Damn them. Damn them all," he rasped in a surprisingly quiet voice. Whatever had evoked the anger that had resonated earlier seemed to be dissipating as weariness set into the young man, but the lividness dripping from his voice was still present. "It won't be like this for long. Don't worry, Master, those bastards won't have you forever. I've decided that."
Shigaraki looked up from where he stood amidst the effects of his own quirk, staring off into some unforeseen future. But from Tokoyami's perspective, he was looking right in his direction. Instinctively, he ducked down ever so slightly, muscles tensed.
Shigaraki, even in this state of cloudy frustration, was perceptive, and seeing this smallest of movements rustling in the growth alerted him. With a growl, he grabbed a rock off the ground and flung it into the bushes, but it disintegrated before it could even reach him. Every part of him was telling Tokoyami to run, but he doubted he would have the strength to make it too much farther if he pushed himself as fast as he could go. I was foolish to try getting away so soon. I can't…I'm not prepared to encounter anyone. So please…please don't come over here.
The villain narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Tch, you really need to stop checking in on me. Can't you tell I'm not done here?"
Tokoyami flicked his eyes behind him, but he was the only one hidden from his line of sight. Nobody's here. Just go back to what you were doing so I can leave.
But it stood to reason that the villain would persist. "Kurogiri? No need to be so timid. What do you want now?" He took a few steps forward, crossing over the scoured earth. "That is you, right?" His voice became a raspy growl as he stared down the bushes that Tokoyami had hidden behind. "No. No, it's not."
Run!
Tokoyami broke from where he was crouching into a full-fledged sprint, eliciting an enraged hiss from his pursuer. His legs took him only so far before he was met with resistance. A desperate grab from Shigaraki had gotten ahold of his coat sleeve, and he squawked in surprise as his feet were swept out from under him. Tokoyami landed on the forest floor with a resounding thud, knocking the air out of him. He gasped and yanked his arm towards him, alarmed with how quickly the fabric of his hoodie had crumbled away. Tokoyami twisted to look up and face the tall, lanky, and horribly dangerous man that was glaring down upon him with unrestrained spite. Shigaraki's tired bloodshot eyes were frantic, and his chest heaved with exertion.
"You," the lead villain seethed. "You. You. You. It's all your fault, isn't it? That Master is gone."
Before he could react, Shigaraki had a hand wrapped around his neck. Alarm bells went off in his head and his eyes went wide with shock. After everything he'd gone through, he'd hoped it wouldn't end. Seeing everything that the horribly destructive quirk could do, the idea of what it'd do to him made him sick, and he was all too aware that there was no resistance at this point. But out of the corner of his eye he could see that the villain's little finger was raised, preventing the activation of his ability. Something about this seemed achingly familiar, and then Tokoyami realized that this was the same position that Midoriya had been in on that day so long ago when they had all gone to the mall. He'd had the misfortune of encountering this villain, and Tokoyami remembered how shaken his fellow student was after it had all gone down. Shigaraki had targeted him like that, just to have a quick conversation. Now he was the one at his mercy, and he had the displeasure of being here while the villain was at his most unstable. It would be all too easy for this adversary to end his existence with a single, insignificant flick of his finger. And the twisted expression of disgust written across his face suggested that he was more than willing.
"Something tells me…that you shouldn't be here. That maybe you don't deserve to be here." The fingers clasped around his neck tightened just a bit more, but it was enough to send panic shooting through him. "Master isn't here for me. In case you don't know, he's been locked away beyond my reach. If only everything had gone according to plan, then I'd have Bakugou at my side and Master to oversee everything. But things haven't worked out, and if you can't tell I'm not content with these results." The dry lines of his emaciated face cracked as he grimaced, looking down at the terror-filled student. His grasp loosened just enough for Tokoyami to take a shuttered breath. "Now, I'm not very good with kids. But I'd hate to do anything too damaging. There must be some reason everyone can see your potential. Personally, I think you're a disaster waiting to happen, regardless of what side you're on. I wonder if any of this will even make a difference in the long-run, but for now I can't afford to let you leave us. Lucky for you that means I also don't have the right to end your miserable, chaotic existence."
Tomura let go of him with a dejected sigh, his anger having effectively ebbed away on its own. Tokoyami crumpled to the ground, wheezing for breath while clutching at the red fabric that he always had wrapped around his neck but now felt stifling. He dared not make any suggestive move or get up from the ground least he be met with force once more.
"I'd ask what you're doing so far out here but I think the answer is pretty obvious. I doubt anyone would send you out to find me, seeing how you're supposed to be our captive. That just goes to show how truly incompetent the people who follow me can be. Or maybe you're just that much more capable than them. Either way, you really piss me off." He grew quite after that, and crouched down, demanding Tokoyami's attention. "But I can't help but wonder if Master saw something in you too. Now that I think about it, you were still with him for a moment after he sent me through the portal. There was a moment where you and Dabi were there with him while I was gone. Did he…" There was a pause as he hesitated, and Tokoyami thought back to that encounter with the masked man who had spoken with such eerie calmness while fighting All Might. "Did he say anything else?"
Tokoyami opened his beak, but words failed to come to him. How could he be expected to respond to this intimidating figure after he'd grabbed him by the neck? Instead, he let out a feeble cough and averted the villain's cold stare.
"Oi, you better not be ignoring me. This is important, dammit!"
Tokoyami struggled to get up but failed ust as quickly, scrambling for purchase on the forest floor. "I-I don't—"
"Don't think you can get away with not answering me! You were the last to see him; I know he said something to you that I don't know about, right? Right?" Fueled by the deadly combination of anger and desperation, Shigaraki lurched towards him again. Without the strength to run, he called out to Dark Shadow. Protect me!
Not until you do the same.
Tokoyami felt time slow down as that horrible hand reached towards him once more. His quirk had refused him. Even after everything, he was still vulnerable. His futility in this situation was both frustrating and infuriating, and yet it was nothing he wasn't starting to get used to. He found himself again cursing his foolishness, and every action he'd made to end up in this situation. There were things he could've done differently, surely! But he didn't know what, and he thought – not for the first time – that he was somehow deserving of this fate.
"Tomura, that's enough!"
Shigaraki froze in place with precise accuracy, neither turning to acknowledge the new presence nor reeling in his threatening actions. His hand gripped into a fist mere inches from Tokoyami, and he let out an exasperated sigh. "It's about time you showed up. Or is it just in your nature to forgo your responsibilities?"
Kurogiri stepped out to where they could both see him. "This was in no way intentional. Merely an unfortunate little mishap, but it won't be happening again, I'm sure. Spare this incident no mind, for it was sure to happen with the condition that everyone is currently in. I would hope that you'd take a bit more responsibility for this yourself."
Shigaraki growled and stood up to his full height. "You're chiding me now? How annoying. I've been too busy to bother with any of this."
"What we should be trying to figure out where to go from here. The rest of the League is already growing antsy. In order to create a plan going forward with them and young Fumikage, I suggest you put aside your misgivings and focus on more important matters."
Kurogiri stepped forward and extended a hand to help up Tokoyami. With a look of disgust, he turned his beak up and found the strength to get himself onto his own feet. The mist-cloaked man responded with a disappointed hum, but didn't seem overly fazed by the small act of refusal.
"Whether you like it or not, this is what we have to work with. If you can calmly accept that Master isn't around right now, then you would know that this student is essential to our success."
Tokoyami tensed, remembering those same words as spoken to him by All for One. "I don't think you'll disappoint me," he had said with such certainty, as though he could predict what would happen beyond what anyone else could foresee.
"Fine. Fine! Okay, let's do that," Shigaraki seethed, growing impatient with the lecture. "But it'd be great if we had some extra security. And just where is everyone else in all this? You may think me foolish to be out here so long, but had I not been then our reward for everything we went through would still be running farther beyond our grasp."
"Nonsense, I would never have allowed that to go on much longer." That got Tokoyami's attention. Does he have some way of tracking me? No. No, it must only be scare tactics. "In any case," Kurogiri continued, "everyone else has been diligently searching for our missing member, though nobody is particularly happy to be doing so, I'm afraid. That said, they should be nearby."
As though called forth from the darkness of the woods, Mr. Compress appeared, making his way through the dense foliage. "Ah! There you all are. I thought I'd heard something, but I'm relieved to see that the emergency of this matter is no longer critical. Is everything quite all right?"
"Oh, good timing," Shigaraki rasped. He gestured to where Tokoyami has standing. "Do us all a favor and bubble this troublesome kid. I'm done dealing with him for now."
"Ah…makes sense, I suppose," Mr. Compress murmured, stepping forward.
"What? No!" Tokoyami flinched away. For as little freedom as he had already, the feeling of being encapsulated in that quirk was that of true helplessness, with no possibility for anything other than thought.
"What made you think I was giving you a say in all this?" the leading villain sneered. "But don't worry. Give us enough time, and we'll be in a position where we can get a better grasp of the situation. Only then can we begin the next phase of planning."
Kurogiri nodded in agreement. "That would be the best mode of action, yes. But I think we've had enough going on for one day. I do hope that you aren't too uncomfortable, young Fumikage, but you'll understand why this is all necessary." He gestured to Mr. Compress, who lightly tapped the shoulder of the compliantly defeated bird-headed student. His grasp on the world and his sense of self vanished as the quirk took him into the capsulated state, and the second night of futile struggling ended with him having accomplished no more than before. All he had now was the foreboding promise that things would be different when next he was allowed the freedom of movement.