Shigaraki watched the TV screen with a curious look in his eye.
In front of him, the cameras of the Sports Festival panned to the woman he'd encountered at USJ, with a girl on her shoulders as they cheered.
Shigaraki couldn't get her out of his head. And he wasn't sure if it was because she agreed with him. After all, she caught 2 of the bullets shot at him, or if it was because she was simply... breathtaking. He remembered how easily she defeated his Nomu and protected All Might from it for fucks sake.
He had a small theory about her Quirk but didn't want to make any assumptions, and his Sensei had told him if handled carefully, she could be a vital player in his game.
Shigaraki wasn't even sure if he wanted that.
He sneered, rolling his eyes at her display of affection towards a particular group of students, before standing up abruptly from his computer screen and leaving his room.
His fingers twitched in irritation, and he couldn't help bringing up his hand to scratch his neck with 3 fingers. Walking towards the bar where Kurogiri stood, calmly polishing a glass, Shigaraki sat down and glared quietly at the counter.
"The information broker found what you were looking for," Kurogiri spoke, pulling a thick file from underneath the bar and putting it on the table in front of Shigaraki.
"Is this all of it?" Shigraraki asked, a huff of a sigh leaving his body as he irritably placed his elbow on the counter, holding his head up with 2 fingers.
"Yes," Kurogiri nodded.
"Did you read it?" Shigaraki asked.
"Yes," he answered.
"And?" Shigaraki asked.
"It is... quite the tragedy I believe," Kurogiri said placing the polished glass with the others before picking up another and beginning the process again.
Shigaraki scowled, having to resist the urge to roll his eyes as his elbow shifted, and he began to incessantly scratch his neck once more. He then wasted no time in flipping the file open and seeing the picture of a young woman, the Strength Hero: Kinetic popped up.
"Taken in by Inko and Hisashi Midoriya at age 6 blah, blah, blah, Hisashi leaves, Inko dies, and she goes on to take care of Hitoshi and Izuku Midoriya, whatever whatever," Shigaraki reads out before letting out an irritated huff as he closed the files and slid them away.
"Why is there nothing on her before she turned 6?" Shigaraki grunted, an irritated twinge in his voice as he looked over at Kurogiri.
"She was too young to cover it up, and even if she erased it all when she got older, there would still be a bread crumb trail," Kurogiri told him.
"So what, you're saying that she didn't exist before she turned 6?" Shigaraki asked, still scratching at his neck as he tried to think things through.
"Maybe look deeper into the Midoriya family see what you find," Kurogiri suggested, calmy polishing his glasses. After years, he was used to this kind of behavior, childish behavior.
"Yes... but for now, have somebody keep an eye on her, find her routes, and whatnot," Shigaraki ordered, and Kurogiri nodded. Shigaraki was about to walk off, but Kurogiri spoke up, stopping him.
"It may... be in our best interest to find the villain, known as Dabi. Maybe he can be one of your... players," Kurogiri said, a suggestive tone in his voice.
Glancing back at him, Shigaraki nodded with a small smirk on his face before retreating to his room where he'd continue his scheming and plotting as he watched the UA Sports Festival.
·٠•●♥ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ♥●•٠·˙ ˙·٠•●♥ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ ♥●•٠·˙
Three days after the Sports Festival, Eli was out on patrol.
It was a rather quiet night, and she'd spent it stopping a couple of muggers and knocking the teeth out of would-be-rapists. She heard a whooshing sound behind her, and her Quirk activated on instinct as she turned her head only for her blood-red eyes to meet a matching pair.
"Oh, Shigaraki," Eli voiced, her Quirk deactivating, allowing her hair to flop over her face and her red eyes to vanish.
Shigaraki was surprised at how she deactivated her Quirk and he couldn't decide whether she was absolutely stupid or if she was hiding something. He had got a message from the little birdie he sent to watch out for her, telling him that this was the building she was usually at during patrol.
"Why did you catch those bullets?" Shigaraki asked, getting straight to the point.
"Is that what this is about?" Eli asked, quirking her eyebrow up at him as she crossed her arms.
"You're a hero, and I attacked a group of kids, it's simple math really. So, why?" he asked as his finger twitching to scratch his neck in irritation.
Why was he so frustrated?
"Because, I wasn't sure how old you were, and I wasn't about to let someone who I thought was a kid, die," she told him before shrugging.
Shigaraki's eyes widened at her answer before his eyes settled back into a glare.
"So, had you thought I was an adult-" Eli cut him off with a chuckle.
"I'm sorry, I worded that wrong. Even if you are, legally an adult, I still would've caught those bullets. Age doesn't determine adulthood, well, not in my book anyway," she told him, shrugging again as she looked off to the city.
"You are a rather strange hero," he said taking a couple of steps towards her. It was a test, and she passed as she did nothing but bring her arm up to gingerly rub her neck.
"Yeah, maybe. I like to think I'm just doing my job," she said as she turned around to sit back on the edge of the building she was sitting at before.
"And what exactly do you consider your job, hero," he almost sneered when he said the term hero, but even if he didn't, Eli caught the animosity in his voice.
"Well, my job is to take care of my kids, but as a hero, my job is simply to help people," she told him with a small nod to herself.
"You seem to be a little young to have children," he voiced out, choosing to address the heroics later.
"I am," she said in agreement.
"But, who am I to stop the wheels of fate," Eli said with a small shrug.
"Can I ask you something?" Eli asked, Shigaraki taking a couple of steps towards her, sitting a good deal away from her on the rooftop.
"What?" he asked.
"Why'd you become a 'villain'?" she asked, already hearing the irritation in his voice.
"Why'd you become a hero?" Shigaraki sneered.
"For my brothers. I know you haven't met them, but they were at the USJ thing. I don't know if you've ever had a kid but they're pretty expensive. I was already at UA, and I wanted to be an engineer but honestly being a hero pays more," she spoke honestly.
"So you're a fake hero?" he asked, a small glare on his face.
"Why are you even asking this if you already contacted an information broker about me?" she asked giving him a bored look. His eyes widened a bit at her response.
"I don't know what's a real hero and a fake hero because at the end of the day all heroes get paid. We have to, because no money, no food, no energy, no civil service. But if I had to guess, I think that you believe that real heroes are heroes only to be heroes. I'm sorry to tell you that, that is one dimensional because I'm sure there isn't a sole reason as for why you turned out the way you are," she told him simply.
"Granted, I still agree with how you feel towards hero society, particularly the Hero Commission, and between us there's nothing more I'd like that to snuff some of their... employees. But, unfortunately, I'm busy, so I can't devote myself to a task like that," Eli finished up.
"Are you going to report this?" he asked.
"Report what? That the murderous villain Shigaraki met up with me on a random rooftop and we talked. Oh, by the way, I in no way tried to stop him, he didn't try to hurt me, no instead we had a philosophical conversation about the morality of hero work," Eli laid out sarcastically.
Shigaraki let out a huff as the corner of his lips curved upwards, not that she could see it behind the hand on his face.
She chuckled a bit before she stood up on the edge, activating her Quirk as she did so before she turned to look at Shigaraki, sliding her hand in her pocket to pull out a burner phone, holding it out for him to see.
It was his messenger's phone.
Shigaraki's eyes widened.
"Just to let you know, I left your little friend who was watching me in a hospital somewhere. I got him pretty good, so you'll be lucky to get him to tell you the truth if he can still talk afterward. This isn't my route, but I'll be happy to meet you here anytime you want to talk. But, until then, no more spying, I have enough on my plate as it is, okay?" Eli said before her hair floated up and her face was revealed.
He expected a glare, a scowl, or maybe even a frown, but no.
She gave him her typical kind smile before she lifted her hand with the burner phone in it and crushed it, dropping the pieces on the roof of the building.
"I expect an answer to my question next time. It was nice seeing you Tomura," she said before she took a step and walked off the building.
Shigaraki with bulged eyes, leaned over the edge to see her walking through a stream of people leisurely before he grunted under his breath.
Teal blue eyes watched him from afar as a portal opened up minutes later and the light blue-haired man was gone.
Dabi smirked before creeping out of the shadows and chuckling under his breath.
"She's never ceased to surprise me," he mutters before he too abandoned the roof.
1723 words.