Shuichi was rather glad that Deku's visit to the South Side was so soon after his... discovery? What did someone even call finding out one of your friends was apparently a high ranking villain?
Shaking his head Shuichi continued to fix the wiring within the wall so that his co-workers internet connection returned to its normal speed and bandwidth.
It was going to be his last job here for the day then he could try and flag down Deku to get the answers that had been leaving him wondering.
Mainly he'd been wondering just how much of "Chase" was real.
Sure, he'd had the heard the joke about how no one ever suspected the next door neighbor was a serial killer because he was always so gosh darn sweet.
Which Shigaraki admittedly wasn't, he could be very abrasive at times and actively threatened others with bodily harm... not to mention the doxing of all of the bigots they ran into in game.
But strangely enough it was part of his charm, he was super gruff and been so chronically online before that his vocabulary was premaritally game related.
He just, felt a bit too real.
Like someone that was equally burned by the world in the same ways that he had and sure he was bitter about it, but that deep down it hadn't stopped him from living his best life.
With everything back in place Shuichi closed up the wall and went over to one of the bathrooms to clean himself up and then went to grab his things.
Only to pause when he saw that Cotton-Tail's files were still out.
He'd probably feel bad about it later, but currently there wasn't anyone there to stop him and he looked through the folders until he found the one, he was looking for on Shigaraki.
Shuichi carefully opened the file, a photo of Shigaraki no doubt in 'work' mode, wearing a black hoodie and had a bunch of hands all over him.
He gulped at the sight, and remembered why it was a shock for him to realize that Chase and Shigaraki were the same person, If he hadn't been the one to buy Chase that hoodie, he never would have recognized the hand covered villain as his friend.
The little Sun-Wukong key chain hanging out of his pocket also helped to identify him.
Shuichi's eyes glazed over as he read through the number of crimes Shigaraki had been believed to have committed.
B&Es weren't unexpected, nor the hacking.
It was the murders though that took him out of it.
From confirmed murders: fifty-nine people.
To the unconfirmed ones: seventy-eight more.
Some of the names familiar, from his own attempts to go behind bigots back and expose them to their bosses only to find out the person had passed away before he could get his chance.
And now he looked at one of the pictures of the victims for a brief second, the splash of gore there making him close the file as soon as he could.
The sight of the open ribcage enough to turn his stomach and he couldn't help remembering one of the body's back in Toga's murder den and-
*Nope! Nope, not going to think about that.* Shuichi very hurriedly decided as he put the files away and walked out of the H.E.R.D's den to go back home.
Waving to Ladybird as the man clocked in for night watch.
The run home wasn't that long, and he did feel the creep of being outside for too long keeping up on him.
Feeling his scales 'shifting' as if they were shooting up like they were the hairs on the back of his neck, the feeling similar to when he was molting, like they were just much too tight, and he needed to scratch at them.
If he didn't the feeling would just keep getting worse and worse.
From his 'skin' crawling to the point of legitimately thinking that there might be something squirming around underneath his skin.
Shaking his head Shuichi saw he'd started unconsciously itching at his arm, missing a few scales now and he rubbed the skin to ease the aches from scales pulled too soon, the soft skin under painfully exposed to the open air.
He'd have to wrap the arm once he was back to keep any of the spots from getting infected.
But first he would need to talk with Deku about Chase, straighten everything out about him also being Shigaraki.
Thankfully, it wasn't that hard to find him.
Deku usually spent the nights here at the Tanaka's apartment and he doubted that today would be any different.
So, he made his way to the apartment complex and up to the right room to knock on the door.
Waiting long enough he was going to knock a second time when Izuku opened up, blinked tired green eyes up at him.
"Iguchi-San? Do you need something?" Deku asked rubbing at one of his eyes, pausing only for a quick yawn mid-sentence.
Shuichi nodded clenching the air to keep from picking at himself again.
"I, need to talk with you, in private." Shuichi told him, quietly so as to not wake the Tanaka's dog.
Deku stared at him for a moment then nodded, carefully closing the door behind him and the two walked up to the roof, disregarding the fact the boy was still in his pajamas since he doubted anyone in the South Side would actually care about that.
The boy stared at him, waiting for Shuichi to start talking without there being any pressure to speak right away in his gaze.
Shuichi had to steel himself with a deep breath before he found the right words.
"I need some answers about one of my friends, the one you teach." Shuichi admitted, both of them sat on the roof across from each other.
Deku sighed.
"So, you found out he was Shigaraki?" Deku guessed and part of it stung, knowing that Deku had known, even if the chance of him not knowing was very small.
"Why, why did you let me stay friends with a villain? Or teach him when you know who he's working for?" Shuichi questioned, clenching his hands.
It was one thing for Chase not to tell them about his secret identity, to either protect them or himself clearly.
And yes, Shuichi did technically know Chase first, but Deku had to meet him and know who he was, so why would he work for someone like that?
Deku... for the first time Shuichi could ever recall, looked back at him both sad and defeated.
A look that was very foreign on the boy's face.
"Given how you came across the information of who Shigaraki is," Deku began, implying that he was aware of Shuichi's new job.
"Then I think it would be best that I tell you everything." Deku finished taking on the air he usually did when he was wearing a suit.
Shuichi mentally gulped, bracing himself for whatever answers the boy would give him.
"I'm going to tell you this in order, starting with his civilian name first, Shimura Tenko." he explained.
*Just how many names does Shigaraki need?* Shuichi thought incredulously.
"And he was unfortunately born in an abusive family that was doomed from the start because they were already being watched by All For One." Deku sadly informed them.
Shuichi's heart dropped in his chest "What? Why would he be paying attention to his family at all?" Shuichi questioned taken aback.
"Tenko's grandmother was a hero that got on the wrong side of All For One, and All For One is a petty bastard of a man that holds multi-generational grudges. So, naturally he was watching her family even after he killed her." Deku answered, his hands moving like they always did when Deku was explaining something to someone.
"I... can't ever know just how much All For One manipulated the Shimura family, if his father could have been a good man that had his mind warped like Tenko's was later on, or just a rotten man on his own, but Tenko's father was physically and verbally abusive to his son at the very least." Deku said, elaborating on the 'abusive family' he mentioned earlier.
Shuichi shakily nodded his head, feeling choked from the thought.
Having been raised in an abusive house before the Miyakes took him in, it hurt to think that Shigaraki- or was should he call him Tenko?- was also raised in such a house too?
And that wasn't even touching the layers of literally fucked up it was to think of whether or not Chase's father might've only been abusive because a centuries old villain with limitless powers brainwashed him.
God that sounded like the plot of some kind of horror movie.
"H-how did Cha- Shimura end up working for All For One?" Shuichi managed to ask after collecting himself somewhat.
Deku's eyes dimmed and he hung his head.
"Did you know that Shimura Tenko was born quirkless?" Deku asked back, his tone like he was reciting a little fact he found in trivia book.
Shuichi stared at the boy confused, his mouth opening slightly.
Chase had a quirk.
He'd seen the man get rid of their trash with it before, much to the chagrin of Miles who'd hiss at him for public quirk use.
And Shuichi had seen a picture of one of Shigaraki's victims.
"But he has one." Shuichi finally choked out.
Green eyes that were normally so bright were much darker than normal with a way Deku held his head when he met Shuichi's eyes.
"Tenko got a quirk at the same time most late bloomers do... but he was never born with it." Deku told him.
Shuichi felt like his brain was melting as he tried to understand what Deku was trying to tell him, his mind stubbornly refusing to make the connection for some godforsaken reason.
At least until Deku spoke again and the final piece fell in place alongside his heart.
"If he did, then he would have had either a floating quirk or air manipulation like everyone else in his family."
Shuichi couldn't breathe for a moment.
"All... All For One put a quirk in him." Shuichi realized, and Deku confirmed it ruefully.
"And I'm sure you can imagine the carnage that would happen when a formerly quirkless boy in an abusive household is given a quirk so wildly different from everyone else in said family." Deku said as tears began rolling down Shuichi's face.
Because he could imagine it.
And with each new idea of how Chase's family could have fallen apart one day in front of a toddler version of Chase left him feeling absolutely gutted.
"So, like any child would Tenko ran out of the house begging everyone he ran into for help while covered in their blood." Deku continued to explain.
"But All For One made sure that no one would help and that anyone that ran into him quickly forgot it, leaving Tenko crying in an alley and so desperate for help he'd go with the first person that offered their hand out to him." Deku further told him.
Shuichi had lost his voice in that moment.
His vocal cords to tied up with his emotions to mutter even a syllable as the boy continued to detail the tragedy for him.
"From there All For One used both quirks and carefully manipulation to ensure that Tenko would grow into a hateful and shallow villain of a man called Shigaraki Tomura whose whole being was focused on tearing the world apart." Deku said mournfully.
'But he wasn't that!' Shuichi wanted to scream.
Shigaraki would never have encouraged Miles to become a hero like he wanted to be or drop thousands of dollars on whatever stuff made them so happy, and he certainly wouldn't have helped him dox every one of Miles bullies instead of flat out murdering them.
"But there was just one thing he couldn't of predicted to tear his plans apart." Deku commented.
What? Shuichi was sure his face asked for him since Deku answered a moment later.
"That for how deep he buried Tenko in mind-control that he'd ever still be able to reach out, and cry for help, in his own roundabout way." Deku told him, a hint of light returning to his eyes.
"Or that Tenko would reach out to you of all people." Deku added a moment later.
Shuichi's breath got caught in his throat.
"But- Chase never-" Shuichi sputtered, his mind racing trying to search his memories for even a hint of a secret S.O.S. that Chase could have given him and coming up blank.
"He didn't, he just asked you if there was anyone that could help him learn more." Deku countered with a soft smile.
Shuichi stared at Deku in disbelief.
Chase... had asked if there was anyone that could tutor him and he remembered making a comment that Deku-Sensei would be a perfect fit to help him.
"And it only took me a couple of weeks to figure out what was happening behind the scenes around Shigaraki, and with some help slowly start to pull him out of the brain-washing." Deku further explained moving closer to Shuichi.
His chest feeling far too tight suddenly and only being numbly aware on Deku's hands on his shoulders.
"And now we can save him, there is a plan in motion already to save him, one we can't tell anyone about, especially not Tenko himself since he's still too deep in the fog." Deku told him, his words helping to ground him as he began to shake.
"But we are going to save Tenko, and it is all thanks to you Shuichi." Deku said his eyes teary as he stared at him with such gratitude it left Shuichi feeling utterly choked.
He... remembered once, so very long ago when he was still a toddler that he wanted to be a hero like the one he saw on some foreign channel he randomly found one day.
That someday his parents might look at him with the same awe the children on the T.V. looked at the larger scaly man.
It was crushed very early on but the longing to be able to reach out and be able to help someone still clung to him somewhere in the pits of his heart.
Had... had he really somehow done that for Chase?
Deku as if reading his mind took his head in his hands.
"Once you told Tenko about me Shuichi, you became the hero Tenko had always dreamed of saving him since he was five." Deku said with such heart wrenching sincerity Shuichi couldn't help but believe him.
And it was all too much.
Shuichi collapsed into Deku's arms, openly sobbing as he buried his face in the boy's chest.
Later the next morning after a fitful night of trying to sleep Shuichi woke to the sun just starting to rise and the feeling that his room was far too cramped.
Shuichi, still groggy then got up and walked outside the apartment to get some fresh air.
It took him a few moments to notice.
Between the pleasant warmth from the sun hitting his scales and wind blowing just enough to make his hair flutter around his face somewhat to understand what he wasn't feeling.
That for the first time since his birthday being outside didn't make him feel like ripping his scales out.
When he did, he'd shed a few tears and be unable to stop himself from chuckling.
Funny, that finding out he'd helped to save his friend from one from the most powerful villains of all recorded history for him to finally overcome some of the terror that Toga struck in him.
That somehow, by simply holding out his hand had been enough to keep his friend from being fully consumed by the monsters around him.
This knowledge settled under his skin like some kind of armor built from softly forming pride.
Was this how Deku felt?
Was it how he was able to argue straight to the faces of some of the most dangerous gangs in country without wavering?
Shuichi couldn't help smiling at the thought.
It would be just like Deku.
Shuichi took a deep breath and looked out over the horizon, a litter of broken or rundown buildings, and the few nice looking new places colored by the rising sun's light.
Another feeling blooming in his chest that had him tightening his grip on the railing.
He was Chase's hero and he'd helped Chase start on the path to escape from the hold All For One had on him since he was child.
But the job wasn't done yet, Chase still had a long way to go before he could be rescued.
And what kind of hero would he be if just stood by and waited?
He was a member of the HERD gosh dang it.
He was Orb-Weaver and he'd use every single thing the HERD taught him to scour the internet to help save his friend.
Shuichi couldn't help a smirk.
Maybe Dabi's nickname for him wasn't so far off.
He was no Godzilla after all.
But he seemed to be holding his own against the same kind of titan that the king of lizards would have fought.
Canon Shuichi: call me Spinner, for I shall spin Stain's dreams into reality
Deku-Sensei Shuichi, lowers his sunglasses then pushes them back up.
Deku-Sensei Shuichi, holding out his hand: Nice to meet you, I'm Orb-Weaver, weaver of fates, bringer of digital ruin, conqueror of ancient evils and savoir of the damned.
Canon Shuichi, stares
Deku-Sensei Shuichi: Oh, unless Imouto-Chan asks, then I'm Princess Mini-Zilla of the dragons of the Undercroft.
Canon Shuichi stares harder, mouth open
Deku-Sensei Shuichi: Don't give me that look, Imouto-Chan's tea parties are serious business