A/N: I'm sorry for the late update, I was on a little hiatus. I don't like making author's notes cause it messes with the flow of the story, but I'll make an exception this time. I would like to mention that from time to time I'll go back and rewrite some things in past chapters in order to polish and fix some things as needed, and I hope you enjoy future chapters!
I've always been impatient. Worst of all, I've always bottled things up no matter what they were. Habits like that are incredibly unhealthy but hard as hell to break. After semi-accidentally spilling some words to Bakugo, it was too late to take them back and act like I never said anything. Being tied to a chair with weird concrete handcuffs covering my hands and weighing them down, preventing me from using the most efficient means of my quirk, the consequences of my stupid actions start seeping into my head. The sense of giving up, failure, disappointment, and emptiness has clouded my head and swirls around, preventing me from thinking hardly anything else as I just sit still. Bakugo's still tied behind me, and we haven't spoken a word in what feels like forever. Unfortunately, Shigiraki and Dabi heard my little outburst, and now Dabi and Toga sit near us on bar stools, keeping a close watch. My eyelids feel heavy and my chest feels heavy and tight with guilt. Toga cheerfully swings her legs back and forth as she holds onto the brim of the stool she's sitting on, humming a sort of tune. Every so often, she stares right at me.
I know Kirishima could be on his way, but god knows how long it'll be until then… I could try to escape, but that would make me even more of an idiot...
I imagine how my aunt will react to waking up in the morning, ready to go to work and heading to my room to check on me, only to find the bed empty, phone on my desk, and no signs of me throughout the house. My heart sinks even deeper as I think of how she'll feel, coming to the conclusion that I snuck out, with even her desperate warning not being enough to get my head straight and out of trouble. I think of her face as she realizes I left my phone, leaving no possible way for her to get into contact with me and make sure I'm safe. Or she'll just assume I'm not safe at all. I don't blame her if that's her first thought.
Why am I this way…? Why do I have to hurt everyone who cares about me...? Why the fuck do I always make the worst possible desicions...? Just why…
I know damn well it's my fault. It always is. But a part of me just wants to blame it on how the world has treated me rather than myself, but avoiding the blame just makes me feel guilty. Toga then sighs and glares at me.
"You guys are no fun. I thought you would say something interesting while we were here. Hmph."
She pouts and turns away, but her eyes quickly flicked back to mine, and I look up to face her.
"What the hell do you want, you wench…"
My words are just as defeated as I look. She grinds widely and scoots her stool closer to me.
"That's not a nice thing to say, Tazuma-chan!"
"I don't care. And stop calling me that…"
"Why are you whining so much, huh? I thought you were all tough and stuff! This isn't your first time feeling defeated right, right? I can tell by the look in your eyes!"
I glare at her, not knowing whether I want to dip my head down or lean against the uncomfortable chair.
"Your right, it's not my first time. But that doesn't mean I'm used to it. I don't think I'd be here if I ever felt defeated enough times to get used to it."
She spins on the stool, her eyes tempted to roll into the back of her head, and giving me an uneasy feeling. She sighs and stops spinning, staring right at me with her beady yellow eyes. It reminds me of how Overhaul would look at me when I progressed in my training...
Why does everything reminds me of h-him...
"What's the matter? Why aren't you looking at me?"
Toga pesters me and pokes my cheek as I whip my face around, eyes wide with anger and fangs aiming to bite off her hand. My jaw snaps down on the tip of her finger as she pulls away just in time, yelping a bit. She stares at her bleeding finger and gazes at it, her wide smile soon returning to smear across her face.
"You bit me... You bit me!"
She laughs as I pull my head back, pressing against the back of the chair, feeling the warm blood on the tip of my fang and a tiny bit on my bottom lip. She stares at me with a strange infatuation in her eyes. Suddenly, she jolts from her stool and her hand lurches towards my mouth, prying my jaw open.
What the fuck?!
Her right thumb pressed upwards against my teeth, forcing my head up a little and pricking herself on a fang, her pointer finger running back and forth along my teeth, and her middle finger pressing down on my bottom teeth and keeping my jaw open. She peers at the blood on my fang and lip, and her eyes widen with excitement.
"Don't be so tense, Tazuma-chan! I just wanna see the blood! I don't know if you know, but blood gets me really excited...!"
She giggles and removes her hand from my mouth, leaving a dry, dirty, and very uncomfortable feeling as I turn my head around and cough onto my shoulder, spitting out the blood. I stare at her with frightened eyes, growing more scared of her by the second as she sucks the blood off of her thumb. Her face then morphs into an exact replica of mine, getting every detail down perfectly, her smile still wide and unhinged. Her face then turns back to normal as Dabi sneers at her in disgust.
"Why the hell did you feel the need to do that?"
Toga giggles as she sits back down in her stool, her hands clenched as she puts them over her mouth and giggles, her legs swinging back and forth.
"Just because...!"
He scoffs.
"You're so weird you psycho freak."
She groans and frowns.
"Why is everyone calling me names all of a sudden?! I have feelings too y'know!"
I roll my eyes.
"Sure you do."
She glares at me, the infatuation in her eyes having disappeared.
"That hurts more coming from you."
"I don't care... There are few things in this world more powerful than a useless bitch who stops giving a shit and right now that's me so if you could kindly shut the fuck up that would be fantastic..."
She grumbles and turns around to kick the bar, almost falling from her stool but regaining her balance.
"Hmph!"
She pouts and crosses her arms, turning away from me.
This kind of stalling will make things go by faster... As long as I don't anger either of them enough to hurt me and Bakugo, we'll be fine... I noticed that neither of them had made threats to expose me, so maybe they're planning something else if we mess up... They might know already that as long as they keep their mouths shut about it, they'll still have someone to spy at U.A for them... But what makes me think I'm the only one? Oh shit... Oh, fuck no…
I start to panic a bit, as if I wasn't already.
Yeah, there's a lot of stuff the League does that I don't know about but Shigiraki wouldn't go that far would he? I mean, it just doesn't make sense that he wouldn't tell me because I've been a member since before Dabi and Toga joined, so would he really tell them and not me? Or maybe he's always thought of the possibility that U.A would grow on me and I wouldn't wanna betray them anymore after a certain amount of time. Maybe he knew that would happen but didn't expect me to want to change sides so soon... There's a high possibility that Shigiraki is much smarter than he looks or All for One thought of it, maybe even Kurogiri... But thinking of the present, from what I remember, Kirishima said he didn't know when they plan to rescue Bakugo, well, us now I guess... Anyway, if the current time is around 3 am, no it feels later than that...
I lift up my head and stare at a still grumpy Toga.
"Hey, what time is it?"
She huffs.
"How would I know? And why do you want to know in the first place?"
Dabi sighs.
"It's too early in the morning that's what it is. 5 am."
I nod.
Bakugo's been awfully quiet... I hope he's feeling alright... God knows what's going through his head right now... But now that I have the time and going off of what Kirishima said, he and a few others should get here at a minimum time of sometime tonight at around 8 pm, maybe even 7 pm. But that seems risky knowing it might not be dark yet at that time... Either way, he needs to hurry up...
It would be two days before anything happened. From the minute I asked Dabi about the time, to the next day at around 9:30 or 10 pm. Toga and Dabi were told to force-feed me and Bakugo cheap food from a gas station so we wouldn't "whine" about being hungry at around noon and the occasional glass of water. Because you obviously need to keep hostages alive or else what's the fucking point? Whenever we needed to use the bathroom we both on separate instances tried to escape before being caught and dragged back to the uncomfortable chairs we were tied to and the big concrete handcuffs built to restrain us. Because of this we obviously had some time to think, but Bakugo and I rarely talked. Reason one being that Dabi, Twice, and Toga were always watching us, and reason two being that we didn't know how to start one and I kept thinking back to my outburst and wanted to tell him it was alright if he felt guilty for making me pop off like that. During the long hours in which I had nothing to kill but time and thoughts, I thought of Aunt Usama... I tried thinking of other things, but everything just led back to how worried and panicked she must feel. It just made me want to completely disappear rather than be forced to come face to face with my aunt, Aizawa, and Mina after she told me to not do it, and the inevitable intense scolding I would get from my teacher. In times like this, I would much rather run away from everything forever than confront it… Everything was just one big pile of flaming shit. But, I did mention that something happened. And god was it something...
Aizawa-sensei, Vlad king, and Principal Nezu are right there on TV, apologizing and reassuring the media as I feel my stomach sink lower. Now with us are Spinner, Big Sis Magne, and Kurogiri as Shigiraki shuts off the TV and turns to me and Bakugo.
"Isn't that strange? The heroes are becoming the bad guys… Seems like they're not dealing with this very well at all. Even with only one student gone, things were looking pretty bad… But everyone makes a mistake or two right?"
I can't even see them, but I feel Shigiraki's eyes stare at me as he says "Mistake".
Shut up… I got the fucking message already…
"It's not like they're supposed to be perfect. Modern-day heroes sure have it rough… Don't you think, Bakugo? I don't need to ask Oritsu, I can already tell she despises heroes yet strives to become one, for some reason…"
I glare back at him as Spinner crosses his arms.
"Once a hero receives payment to protect people, they aren't a real hero anymore. That's what Stain's actions taught us."
Shigiraki tilts his head.
"A hero in this current system only cares about money and glory. And since society buys into those idiotic fools, anyone deemed the loser is shoved aside. So we want to propose some questions. What is a hero? What is justice? Is this society truly fair? Soon, everyone will be asking. That's when we'll know we've won. You two like winning, don't you…?"
There's a pause as I can tell Bakugo is glaring hard at Shigiraki.
"Dabi, let them go."
"Huh? You know they'll just fight."
"It's fine. We're recruiting them so we should treat them as equals. Besides, they're both smart enough to know they can't take us all right? After all, U.A students are so clever."
Dabi turns to Twice.
"Hey Twice, you do it."
"Sure thing! No way…"
Dabi glares at him.
"Do it."
"Aw man."
finally speaks up from the corner of the bar as Twice makes his way towards us, kneeling down to unlock the restraints.
"I do apologize for using such forceful methods, but please understand we aren't some unruly mod committing crimes without a third act in mind. We didn't kidnap Bakugo on accident."
Shigiraki stands up, the floorboards creaking.
"Even though our backgrounds are different, everyone here has suffered. Because of people, rules, unfortunate circumstances, and heroes who tried to hold us back."
Bakugo feels his wrists, looking surprisingly calm as Twice takes off the handcuffs, and takes off mine.
"-I'm sure they're the same."
Bakugo's shouts fill the bar as he knee's Twice in the face, launching the chair backward, his palms blasting right at Shigiraki's face. I move out of the way, but not before Bakugo's chair almost flies right into me. Kicking it out of the way quickly, I stand up and glare with wide eyes at Bakugo.
What the hell was he thinking?!
As the smoke clears, Shigiraki's hand mask falls onto the floor, as Twice starts to panic.
"I'm done listening to your endless talking…"
Bakugo stands up, facing downwards at the floor and fists full of smoke.
"Can you not get to the point or do you just like your own voice? What you're saying is basically you wanna cause some trouble and you want me to join you."
He looks up, a wide glare in his eyes.
"Well screw you...!"
A wicked grin forms on his face as he raises his fist.
"I like to win, I wanna win just like All Might, no matter what you have to offer me. That will never change,do you understand?!
No one reacts, and the air goes still. I stand near Bakugo, but my eyes are glued to Shigiraki. He seems to stare at his hand mask lying on the floor, his shaggy hair covering his face. Bakugo grins wildly.
"Ha! I'll never join your league of bastards!"
I can tell Bakugo's mind is hard at work as I move next to him, my face nonchalant. His sentence hangs unanswered in the air as I roll my eyes.
"You guys are stupid to think either of us would've obliged to your stupid request."
Toga's pupils dilate for a moment at the sound of my voice as I avoid eye contact with each one of them.
"If we were to become villains, we would've done it on our own. In fact, joining a so-called 'League' would only drag you down, especially if a member was caught and or interrogated into getting information."
Why don't I listen to my own advice, huh? Oh wait, I fucking can't. Not right now especially.
Bakugo's hands twitch, and I assume he just ignored what I said, while Shigiraki has no reaction to anything.
"We may not be at camp, but I'm still allowed to fight!"
Big sis Magne takes a step closer and Dabi sighs
"Must've figured out he's important to us. What a clever boy."
"No, he's a fool."
Toga claps her hands together, her sickeningly excited expression forming already.
"Let me stab him!"
"A clever performer would have acted like we were winning him over. Now that he's broken character he's finished."
"I only do whatever I want to and I won't even pretend otherwise! And I'm tired of being surrounded by a bunch of lame-ass wannabe's!"
Shigiraki's hand trembles for a moment before he whispers something, causing Kurogiri to panic.
"No, Tomura Shigiraki, be calm!"
His wide glare turns to Bakugo and I notice him flinch for a second as Shigiraki stretches out his hand beside him, blocking the others.
"Don't lay a finger on them. Any of you…"
He kneels down to pick up his hand mask.
"This hero…"
Placing it gently onto his face, he takes a deep breath.
"...Is still a valuable piece…"
His hands fall by his sides.
"I wish you would've listened to what I had to say. I thought you and I could come to an understanding…"
Bakugo scoffs.
"What, you think we're the same? Not a chance!"
"Then I have no choice… The heroes said they'd continue their investigation of our group, so we don't have time to stay and talk."
He turns to the black TV, with the words "Sound Only" flickering on the screen.
"Master, lend me your power…"
Bakugo scoffs.
" 'Master'? I thought you were the boss around here. Guess you're a sidekick…"
"Kurogiri, Compress, it's time to put them back to sleep."
sighs as he starts to approach us.
"I can't believe he's such a bad audience member. It's almost impressive."
"If you want me to listen then get on your knees and beg!"
...What the fuck did he just say-
"Oi, Bakugo, don't-"
Compress steadily moves towards us as I take a nervous step back, then suddenly, someone knocks on the door. We all turn to face it, confused.
"Hello, got a pizza delivery here."
What the fu-
The whole wall comes bursting apart at the seams as debris and dust fly in the air, All Might appearing in the midst of the sudden chaos.
"What the?!"
"Kurogiri, gate!"
Kamui Woods leaps in, his wooden fingers rocketing towards the League and wrapping them up with his quirk, and keeping them contained. Dabi mutters something in annoyance, his flames coming to life, but an elderly hero with a yellow cape swiftly flies in and kicks him square in the face, making a disturbing sound.
"Don't do anything foolish! It's in your best interest to cooperate with us!"
"Just what I'd expect from a competent old hero! A veteran pro who moves faster than the eye can see."
All Might towers between them, his eyes glowing blue.
"You can't run anymore, League of villains! Understand?! Because we are here now!"
Compress struggles to move, saying something about the press conference that we saw on TV, but I'm still trying to compute what just happened so quickly. Toga groans in pain and Twice twitches.
"Tree man, you hugging me too tight! Harder!"
"One tends to neglect defense when their on the offense,"
Edgeshot slides through a crack in the door, turning the lock and opening it wide.
"-and we didn't come alone. You're surrounded by police, not to mention powerful heroes."
All Might turns to me and Bakugo, a surprised look on his face.
"You must've been scared young Bakugo, but you stayed strong. And what on earth are you doing here, young Oritsu?!"
Shigiraki chuckles and shouts at All Might.
"She thought she could save him all by herself! That's what happened!"
I whip around to face his disgusting hand mask, glaring at him.
"Shut up you crusty sack of shit! So what if I got caught?! It was better than sitting around doing nothing! And what kinda place are you in to act all cocky?! Apparently you did soooo well when attacking the U.S.J, remember?! Snipe should've aimed for your dirty little mouth instead of your limbs, then maybe you would've died right then and there!"
I huff aggressively as there's a moment of silence. No matter how many times I try to tell myself to keep my big mouth shut, I always spill something like this…
All Might clears his throat as I turn to him like I never said anything.
"Your determination and care for a friend is admired, but acting so recklessly as to travel into enemy territory full of villains willing to kill, by yourself, is incredibly irresponsible."
I swallow hard.
"I know that... and I'm saying that I'm sorry…That might not be enough but-"
"Whatever All Might, I wasn't scared! Not even close!"
Bakugo shouts, his voice cracking the tiniest bit as All Might gives a subtle thumbs up.
"Kurogiri!"
Shigiraki shouts out of nowhere, and I immediately know what he's trying to do.
"-Warp over as many as you can!"
"The nomu, right?"
All Might says tauntingly. However, nothing happens...
'What? What are you waiting for god damnit?!"
"I'm sorry, Tomura Shigiraki. The nomu's were supposed to be in a fixed location but, they're gone…"
All Might rests an arm on Bakugo's shoulder, and another one on mine. Bakugo glares at All Might's hand on his shoulder, looking as though he wants to just chop it off.
"I'd say it seems you have a lot to learn, Shigiraki. You're still green. Your little League underestimated all of us. The souls of these young students, the police's diligent investigations, and our righteous fury."
All Might's hands return to his sides.
"Enough is enough. Your game has come to an end… Tomura Shigiraki!"
Spinner cries out.
"All Might, please! You're the only hero Stain respects! You are worthy!"
His constant ramblings about Stain annoy me to death, even if I do somewhat agree with his ideals. Shigiraki grumbles.
"What do you mean it's over? Don't be stupid… I've only just begun to play…"
He struggles to stand up, still wrapped by Kamui Wood's quirk.
"Justice, peace. You created a garbage society by lifting up such ridiculous ideals! That's why I targeted you, All Might. That's why I started gathering people to my cause. If you think this is the end, then you've lost!"
Shigiraki shoes for Kurogiri again, but a red string shoots through him, and his body becomes limp. Big Sis Magne panics.
"Eugh! What just happened?! I couldn't see anything! Did they kill him?!"
She freaks out as the red string approaches her and starts to unravel.
"I played with his insides and made him fall unconscious."
He untangles himself, revealing his head as he glances at Kurogiri's limp figure.
"He was such a nuisance. He had to sleep."
"Weren't you listening earlier? You'll all be better off if you take us seriously."
The old hero grumbles, and stares at each member of the League, naming them as he does so.
"Kenji Hikiishi, Atsuhiro Sako, Shuichi Iguchi, Himiko Toga, Jin Bubaigawara. Though they had little time and information, the police worked through the night to discover your true identities. Do you understand? There's nowhere left for any of you to run. So Shigiraki, one question, where is your boss hiding?"
Shigiraki breathes heavily for a moment, like he's reminiscing on something.
"No… This is… Not over… Just you wait, the game's still on!"
"Tell us where he is right now!"
All Might is starting to get impatient as Shigiraki's eyes twitch. All Might grunts and prepares to launch himself towards him.
"Shigiraki!"
"This is your fault! I HATE YOU!"
Shigiraki shouts at the top of his lungs as black globs appear beside him, oozing and dripping all while keeping a single form. They burst with energy as grey nomu's groan and screech, emerging from the black liquid.
"What?! How'd they get here?! What is this?!"
"Damn it, Edgshot! Stop Kurogiri"
Kamui Woods and the old hero panic as my mind races, panicking and not being able to think properly with everything happening a mile a minute.
"He's still out, this isn't his doing!"
All Might points at Kamui Woods and gets a grip on Bakugo's shoulder.
"Don't let them go under any circumstances, got it?!"
"Right!"
Suddenly, a wretched feeling erupts from my throat. It's the black liquid, and my eyes widen as it gets bigger and bigger, encasing me into it, as I just barely notice the same thing happening to Bakugo. The liquid feels violating and disgusting as it's cold touch sends shivers up my spine. I can't open my eyes, and I assume the worst as I try to trash around, but it only proves to be useless. Suddenly, I'm facing the ground as the black liquid disperses and drops me on the concrete. I just barely land on my feet as I whip my head around and cough aggressively onto my arm, bits and pieces of the black liquid dripping out. Bakugo does the same as he staggers upright next to me, and I feel a bit of relief knowing we're at least in the same place.
"-The hell?!"
He splutters between coughs as my eyes widen, realizing who's in front of us, just a few feet away.
"My apologies, you two…"
I've never seen All for One in person, but I recognize his voice. As if things weren't chaotic enough already, Shigiraki's Master has to be right in front of me. Behind us, glumps of the black liquid appear slightly in the air, dropping various members of the League onto the ground. Spinner hacks up onto the concrete, Toga clutches her stomach with one hand and covers her mouth with the other, and Twice wobbles a little as he gets to his feet.
"That was so gross…!"
"This stuff reeks! I love it!"
Soon, Spinner, Big Sis Magne, Shigiraki, and an unconscious Kurogiri and Dabi are behind us as well. Shigiraki's on his knees, gazing at All for One.
"Master...
"So, you've failed once more Tomura…"
I feel my body freeze as he takes a few steps towards him.
I-It's him… Shigiraki's master…
"...But you must not be discouraged. You'll try again. That's why I brought your associates back with you. Even these children deemed important pieces on your gameboard."
He walks past us and reaches a hand out to Shigiraki.
Why is he lumping me with Bakugo? He's acting as if they kidnapped me too and that it was all part of the plan…
"Start over as many times as it takes. I am here to provide you with help. All of this, is for you…"
Everything goes silent. I glance at Bakugo, noticing how he seems visibly on edge with beads of sweat dripping slowly from his forehead.
"Ah, there you are…"
A gust of wind rockets past us, a muscular silhouette landing his fists right onto All for One, who blocks them effortlessly. All Might pushes him back, the vibration shaking through the ground.
"I'll have you return my students! All for One!"
"Have you come to kill me a second time, All Might?"
The vibration and friction from their fists causes a huge whiplash, blowing everyone and chunks of debris backward, the wind flying around furiously. Turning my skin to scales, I avoid any possible damage as I hear All for One speak again.
"It's only five kilometers from the bar to here, and yet it was at least thirty seconds from when I sent the nomu that you arrived. You've gotten weaker, All Might."
"You're one to talk. It's kind of difficult to ignore that fancy life support mask you've got on. Aren't you over exerting yourself?!"
All Might stands proudly as I look around, spotting Bakugo on his side amidst the rubble. Unhurt, but that doesn't mean I don't walk over to him-carefully as to not draw attention to myself- and kneeling down next to him.
"You alright?"
I notice his eyes are wide, not tearing his gaze from All Might and All for One, his hands gripping onto the concrete.
"I won't repeat the mistake i made five years ago! You hear me?! I will take my students back! And I'll make sure that your locked up for the rest of your sad life, right next to your despicable League of Villains!"
All Might launches himself towards All for One once more, his fist aimed at his head.
"Sounds like you've got your work cut out for you. This will be hard for us both…!"
Red and black electricity spark around his arm, his tuxedo sleeve puffing out as a massive gust of wind pushes back against All Might the second his fist makes contact. He's thrust backward, crashing into multiple buildings, and toppling over one of them.
"...Before we begin our fight once more, I do wish to ask you something…"
All Might propels towards him, ignoring his words.
"And I don't want to hear it!"
All for One dodges, firing another burst of wind at him. It shoots him back once more, although not as far.
"I advise you to listen either way. It's about one of your precious students, and I don't think you'd want to miss it…"
I tense up, as if a shock of electricity just shot through me, forcing all of my muscles to a halt. I know he's talking about me, and I know where this is going. My eyes widen as my thoughts go still for a moment.
H-he can't be planning on revealing me just yet… Right? T-the plan was to keep it a secret for as long as possible to utilize everything about my position then I get a share when the League wins… If they win… At least that was the plan at first but now that I hardly want anything to do with the League I can't… All for One can't just do this! If he-
All Might grumbles and shouts at All for One.
"What kind of question could you-"
"Are you aware that one of your students has been missing for eight years? Officially they've been missing for over twelve years if you count from the year they were born... It's strange… U.A never bothered to do a background check on them, so I did it for you. Whether you believe me or not is your choice, but they're far too aware of it. Just ask them yourself… They had such luck as to be here with us at this moment, so now's the perfect opportunity wouldn't you say?
Go on…
Ask her."