MIST - Shinso x Reader

CHAPTER EIGHT: Let There Be Light

"What you're doing is pointless. There's no use trying to make things comfortable. The only way to truly live on is to repent for your sins!" With one chaotic blond gone, another chose to take his place. We turned to glare at Monoma, and his grossly superior expression.
"Nobody's stopping you, man." I replied curtly, trying to hold back from saying anything too offensive. I didn't want to bash anybody's religion, but boy, did he make it hard.

Puffing his chest out and swinging his arms wide open, the blue-eyed blond looked anything but welcoming. In fact, his pose was kind of creepy.
"You'll see! This is all in the great book! A rapture! Stain is judging us!" Honestly, prior to hearing the bastard preaching in the streets last summer, I had never even heard of this Stain guy he worshipped.

"Yeah, I'm judging you, too. Please be quiet, Monoma. People are trying to sleep." Uraraka snapped, wagging her finger towards him. Unphased, he was about to burst into another rant of holiness before someone started towards him. Metaphorical tail between his legs, the boy scurried away, likely to go pester somebody else.

Shrugging off the short encounter, Dabi, the tattooed miscreant, decided to sidle over to us instead.
"Last one's done." He grunted, rolling his neck around, his many piercings catching what little light was available. Clapping her hands together, Uraraka grinned, bopping up and down.
"Thank you, Dabi! I'll have to go find Midoriya and let him know we're all ready to go!"

Uncaring, the ruffian waved her off, hands slipping into the pockets of his scuffed leather jacket.
"No sweat. Here's hoping a little light'll stop the morons from losing it. Need anything else?" As intimidating as the man appeared at first glance, he seemed pretty decent. I had heard a lot of nasty rumours around town, about how he'd done time, among other, far more sinister things, but I tried not to judge by that.

"Maybe just stick close by? We wanted to hold a meeting really soon. If we're going to be here a while, we need to sort out rationing and other stuff!" Uraraka was already on her way towards the back of the store, leaving me with Dabi. We met eyes for a moment, and I cleared my throat.
"So, uh, this is pretty inconvenient, huh..?"

And that's on social anxiety.

"Damn straight it is. All I wanted was a pack of cigarettes. Now I'm stuck with a damn circus..." He muttered, shifting his weight from one booted foot to the other. "No offence. I mean the preacher and the other dregs. You ain't too bad, I guess. Saw you with that little girl before when the quake hit. Daughter?"

Shaking my head, I began feeling a little more at ease, my stance relaxing.
"Little sister, actually. She got a real scare..." I replied, recalling her loud, heavy sobs. "You probably heard about what happened out the back earlier..." Clicking his tongue, Dabi glanced around before his eyes settled back on me.

"Only about six different versions of it, though I'm gathering something killed the poor bastard." He pulled a cigarette from his pocket, placing it between his teeth, but he didn't light it. "Don't go thinking I'm one of those conspiracy theorists, but I reckon it all has something to do with that Yuuei lot. There's been a lot more of the fuckers lurking around the last few weeks..."

He had a point. I wasn't usually one to stray from the property unless needed, but Aizawa had mentioned a stronger military presence a few times after picking Eri up from school. It was likely just a coincidence, but the more I thought about it, the more I wondered.

"Hey, how are you two holding up?" I nearly leapt out of my skin when Kirishima popped out of nowhere, a hand patting against my back, but I quickly recovered.
"Coping, I suppose..." I murmured, realising that he was actually someone who would believe me. "Wait, Kirishima, right? Before, when the mist rolled in, what exactly did you see?"