The next morning, Satoko was first to wake up. Shigaraki was still sound asleep. His hair looked irresistible to not pet. Her hands stroked his hair softly. Her face heated up as she didn't expect to fall for someone else so fast.
(Maybe I liked him longer than I realized...?)
To not wake him up, she crept out of the bed. She was super thirsty more than hungry. Checking the cabinets and such, there wasn't any drinks. Sure, she could have the sandwich Shigaraki made her, but she wanted to get a drink.
There was leftover cash burning in her pocket. (I could supply us with better food options!)
She didn't want to leave Shigaraki without saying anything, but she wanted to surprise him.
It will be quick anyway. She started to head out the door, she went on her way to the store.
...
Satoko was walking in lengthy alleyways as a shortcut to find the nearest market store. She went to look at her phone to check the time. (Oh right... It's dead.)
What she didn't know was that her phone had a tracking device put there by Hawks. The commission was still able to use that to track her location. There was a group of people walking behind her that she didn't notice at first.
A bullet went into each one of her legs, causing her to fall.
There was tranquilizers in the bullets. Satoko hissed in pain, but she was immediately blacked out. Her body was carried away by people who were in black clothes and masks.
She was gone for hours.
....
Hawks couldn't take it anymore. He wanted to win Satoko back and he knew she would go back to the League. Suddenly, his phone started to ring.
It was the Commission. They told him they didn't need him anymore. They found a way to use Satoko as bait to get Shigaraki to get out. They didn't need Hawks anymore since he wouldn't tell them the location.
"If she's so important to the League, Shigaraki will be bound to come out." Hearing that on the other end of the phone, Hawks felt angry.
"You won't hurt her! I won't let you-" Hawks furiously yelled, but he was disconnected from the call.
He felt so overwhelmed. What could he do to help Satoko? The heroes? Nah. He can't trust them.
As terrible as it sounded, he will let the UA students in on this mission. They couldn't harm kids, right?
That would give him the upper hand. He started a group conversation to ask the students to meet him somewhere.
He didn't give any more information on that. He didn't bother putting Shoto into the conversation. He knew Endeavor wouldn't forgive him if he got him involved.
He got responses back from a few students. They should be coming to meet him soon.
...
Izuku, Melissa, Ochako, and Katsuki showed up to meet him. Izuku hadn't wanted Melissa to go, but she insisted that she could do her best to help.
She was trying to hide her nervousness. She knew that if she showed it too much, Izuku would want her to go back.
Ochako stood with her hand in Katsuki's. There was a curious look in her eyes. "What did you need our help for?"
"Well, before I get to that," Hawks narrowed his eyes towards Melissa. "Not to underestimate your abilities, but I didn't have you in mind with coming."
He knew that Melissa was quirkless that she could possibly hinder this mission. Hawks wasn't trying to be mean, but it came across that way.
Melissa felt her heart rate pick up a little. There was a tiny bit of regret gnawing at the back of her mind. More than anything, she was worried that she may do more harm than good. She tried to push it away. (No, this is what I want to do. I want to help them in any way that I can.)
She kept a strong face. "I may not be up to everyone else's level when it comes to fighting, but I can help out in other ways. Even if I can't do that, I promise to keep up with the others. I won't fall behind or slow us down."
Izuku stood closer next to Melissa. Instead of doubting her, he believed in her. "I second that. She's more than capable with whatever this mission brings us."
He then gave her a genuine smile to give her more reassurance. "I know she's strong."
Melissa smiled right back at him. His smile seemed to give her strength, warming her heart and making her feel stronger. "Thank you."
"Out with it, birdbrain!" Katsuki hissed as he didn't want to waste any more time. He hated mindless chatter.
Hawks sighed as he started to tell them briefly about Satoko. How she's in danger by her kidnappers.
"It's not the League of Villains," He continued. "They have a lot of power. You may know them as the Commission. What I plan to do is ambush them, but I couldn't do it myself."
Izuku was shocked to hear about that. He started muttering to himself about concrete plans in his head. He paused. "Something doesn't seem right with me. Why us?"
"You're the only ones I can count on." Hawks gave a half truth. "I've heard and seen what you're capable of. It's very impressive." He then shrugged. "As for being suspicious over Satoko, she's rescued one of your classmates before. Shoto Todoroki."
"What does she look like?" Izuku asked.
Once Hawks started explaining Satoko's appearance, Ochako and Katsuki realized that she was the woman from the other night.
Ochako always did believe that she was a good person. She wasn't aware that she saved Shoto though. If it wasn't for her help, Momo and Shoto would both be dead. They definitely owed it to her to rescue her in return. Even if that wasn't the case, that was what a hero would do.
"Katsuki and I have seen her before," she pointed out. "She was being attacked in an alleyway, so we helped her out. I'm pretty sure the people attacking her weren't involved with the Commission though."
"Really..?" Hawks wanted to question it, but Satoko could be getting hurt. The Commission are really powerful people. Even she's no match for them.
"I need an answer this very moment. Are you with me? Or will you back out? I'm leaving it up to you." Hawks waited for everyone's answers as he was sure they couldn't turn down saving someone.
...
When Shigaraki started to wake up, he expected to be greeted by the same warmth he fell asleep to. However, he felt cold. Something was missing. He sat up quickly, looking around. "Satoko?"
She was nowhere to be seen in the room. He looked around the entire building calling out her name. She truly wasn't there.
He knew that he had to look around for her. He was reluctant to step outside due to the risk of getting arrested. He didn't bring his family's hands with him. He changed into a hoodie to cover his head and walked out.
He didn't see any sign of her. Not until he walked into a long alley, anyway.
The alleyway has low traffic, so whoever did this may have figured Shigaraki to go this route.
There, all over the walls had words and notes on it.
WE HAVE HER SHIGARAKI
SURRENDER YOURSELF TO THE COMMISSION
There were so many things taped up and graffiti like that. Even scribbles resembling Satoko's hair color with a skull drawn into it.
His eyes went wide as he took everything in. Rage boiled up inside with the fear that he felt for her wellbeing. He was completely livid. Satoko was innocent compared to him. She didn't deserve to be treated badly. What were those monsters doing to her while he was away?
He started running as fast as he could. The wind pushing against him caused his hood to fly back. Some people walking around pointed him out in fear that he would harm them. He didn't even notice.
(I'll get you back. Don't worry. I won't let them hurt you!)
He finally got close to where they were located. Before he could go inside, he caught sight of some other people approaching. It was Hawks. For a reason that was unknown to Shigaraki, he had a small group of UA students with him.
Shigaraki immediately reached a hand out towards Hawks to use his quirk on him. He could hear some of the students yelling for him to stop, but he didn't listen. He was too angry to care.
Hawks swiftly dodged Shigaraki's hand as he commented nonchalantly. "Surprised to see you here."
The students were unaware why Hawks's presence alone was such an eyesore to Shigaraki. This man, no, scumbag cheated on Satoko.
Shigaraki was panting from running all the way there. There was so much hatred in his eyes. "I'm here to save Satoko from these horrible people. What are you here to do? Make the situation worse?"
"We plan on doing the same thing." Izuku intervened, but Hawks took over speaking.
"I'm here to get her back by my side." Hawks's eyes glinted in a way indicating that she was rightfully his.
"So you can cheat on her again?!" Shigaraki accused. "She doesn't want to go back with you after what you did!"
Everyone else was shocked by that. Ochako recalled Satoko's words from before. She said something about how the heroes were corrupt. It was hard for her to wrap her head around the fact that Hawks would do something like that, but it did make sense. "Hawks, you...how could you do something like that? You're supposed to be a hero!"
Melissa felt deeply hurt by that as well. Especially because of how close she was with All Might. She admired heroes just as much as the other students. "That's terrible!"
"Is...is that true, Hawks?" Izuku asked with a paled face.
Katsuki didn't say anything but glared.
"Look, he's a villain. He's lying." Hawks fibbed. "I'm here for a good cause to rescue Satoko" He had a cocky smile on his face. "Why would you believe a villain so easily?"
Ochako had an expression full of anger. She looked almost as angry as Katsuki. "It makes sense with the way that she acted when we last saw her. I'm not taking a villain's side. I'm taking Takahashi's side."
Shigaraki had a small smile of triumph. "I guess some of these wannabe heroes have some sense after all." His expression turned serious again. "We're wasting too much time talking. We need to rescue her before those corrupt 'heroes' realize we're here."
"Oi. I don't think HE should come with us." Katsuki glared at Hawks. Sparks came forth from his hands. "This is a rescue mission. Not something for your selfish ambitions."
"Say what you want, I'll go on ahead-" Hawks went to spread his wings. He wasn't going to let these kids and Shigaraki ruin his chance with Satoko.
Shigaraki reached his hands out. He managed to grab both of Hawks's wings before he could pull away. He decayed his feathers with his quirk. "I won't kill you. I won't let you take Satoko though."
"Shigaraki!" Hawks yelled out as he felt utterly powerless. He felt a pent up anger building up. He was useless without his wings. He watched as everyone ran up ahead without him.
He looked towards the building and his glance caught onto a vent.
(I can go through there...) He wasn't about to give up Satoko. He doesn't want Shigaraki to have her.
...
Izuku held onto Melissa's hand as the group was cautious going into the building. Security seemed to be very high. Katsuki kept close to Ochako, feeling the urge to blow people up. That wouldn't be a very smart thing to do.
They heard the sound of someone readying a gun. It all happened so fast. One second, they were walking. The next, they were completely surrounded with guns aimed at them.
Melissa gave Izuku's hand a squeeze, reminding herself that he was right there. It would be alright. Before anyone could talk, one of the people with guns spoke up.
"Tomura Shigaraki. You're working with these students?" The voice asked.
Shigaraki only glared. "Villains aren't the only ones who are sick of corruption. Now let us through before I decay you all."
The person seemed unbothered. "That's a shame for them. It seems we'll have to lock all of you up."
"You can't lock us up!" Izuku argued. "You holding an innocent person hostage so we must stop you! This isn't heroic at all!"
"You think we wouldn't be able to with you kids?" Another man mocked. "We'll just say you were in a training accident. The media would believe us over anything."
Katsuki cursed. "What kinda cowards do this?! I'll kill you all!!"
"You're all technically traitors, so the Tartarus prison is where you'll go," someone spoke up. He had quirk disabling handcuffs. He started to move towards Katsuki. "You will have no freedom at all there. You will all be separated from one another and stuck in a tiny cell for the rest of your lives. That is simply what happens when you go against us."
Ochako's eyes looked like she was on the brink of tears. She couldn't stand the idea of a life like that. It made her especially upset to see them try to take Katsuki away. She grabbed his arm in a desperate attempt to keep him with her. To not have him go away where she could never see him again. "Stop!"
The man roughly pushed Ochako away. He started trying to pull Katsuki's arms back to restrain him. "Don't do anything stupid. It would be a shame for a pretty little girl like her to wind up dead, wouldn't it?"
"GET OFF ME! YOU WON'T TOUCH HER!!" Katsuki yelled out with starting to make sparks fly forth from him. He tried to gear himself towards Ochako, but it was useless. He was restrained fully and forcefully that the handcuffs reached his wrists.
These people were clearly strong that he underestimated them. His eyes became bloodshot as he looked towards Ochako. "Get outta here!!!"
Ochako was terrified, but she still couldn't accept the fact that they would take him away from her. Her eyebrows furrowed as she pushed herself forward, trying to grab the man who had restrained Katsuki.
A loud gunshot went through the air.
Ochako could feel the blood coming out of the bullet wound in her stomach. She fell forwards a little, her head landing on Katsuki's shoulder. She struggled to take in a pained breath. "Katsuki-"
She was kicked away from him carelessly. She curled in on herself, trying not to scream from the pain.
The man who kicked her spoke up. "Look, she's in pain. The most merciful thing to do is to just kill her." He looked towards Katsuki. "Unless you want to see her suffer a little while longer. Maybe you really are that selfish to see her alive for just a few more minutes."
It was like they were playing some twisted psychological game. It was fun to them. They wanted to get a painful reaction from them.
All of those people were so messed up. They wanted to cause suffering to others. They enjoyed it. That's probably why they chose that job to begin with.
'What if someone who you cared about was dead? You wouldn't feel like talking to anyone either.'
Shoto's words started echoing inside Katsuki's mind. His face paled in a cold sweat. There was a brief shock as he gazed at the pool of blood coming beneath her.
Katsuki started choking on his words with his raspy voice. "Ochako, don't-" His eyes looked angry, but tears stung his pupils. "You can't die-!!"
He tried to struggle, but he was met with a knee in his stomach. He coughed up phlegm as he couldn't look away from Ochako. Not for a moment. He started swearing at the man who did this. How sickening and repulsive he was.
Ochako struggled to push herself up off of the ground. She locked eyes with Katsuki as her face became streaked with tears.
There was one thing that she wanted to hear from him before she died. She wanted to hear that from him more than anything else. It was difficult to talk without sobbing, but she managed to say the words. "I love you."
Before Katsuki could say it back, they heard another gunshot. There was an incredible force to Ochako's head, but it happened too fast for her to feel any pain. She couldn't even think of anything else before everything went dark.
The ringing in Katsuki's ears were intense. The facial expression on Ochako's demeanor was terrifying.
'You like Uraraka, right?'
Shoto's words became louder in his mind. Katsuki felt a sheer numbness expand his body.
'If she died instead of Momo, how would you feel?'
His chest heaved. Heavy breaths wouldn't falter. This can't be real.
This was a nightmare, wasn't it? Katsuki will just wake up to Ochako poking his cheek with that adoring smile of hers.
He would snuggle her aggressively to make sure to make this tragic memory disappear.
But it wasn't a dream. This was the unfortunate reality Katsuki was facing. A grief that he never felt before in his life. He screamed on top of his lungs in agony.
All kinds of profanity escaped his lips. There was a great hatred unleashing. If he could, he would explode this whole building for them to feel his wrath.
It would have happened if he wasn't bound to these handcuffs that disabled his quirk. Why did this ensue?
Izuku felt the need to fight back, but he was honestly terrified. Their numbers were too grand. It would only take them moments to shoot him down too.
Seeing Ochako die like that left a bad taste in his mouth. It was utterly dreadful. He kept himself near Melissa so she wouldn't get hurt next. "..I surrender. Please." He lifted his hands up to show he wasn't going to fight. "Don't kill anyone else!!! Let us go!!"
"You know we aren't going to let you go." The source of the voice put a gun against Melissa's head. His finger lightly touched the trigger, not yet pulling it. "It would be in your best interest to cooperate."
Melissa bit her lip to stifle a sob. She was terrified after seeing Ochako die. The last thing she wanted was to never see Izuku again.
"Izuku..." She lifted his hand up a bit, looking him in the eyes. Her expression was difficult to look at. Her eyes were so full of terror and desperation. "Please..."
She wasn't sure what she was asking for. It wasn't like there was anything that Izuku could do. She just needed to hear his voice reassuring her. She needed to know that she wasn't alone, even though she soon would be.
"We're cooperating! Don't do anything more!" Izuku pleaded as his pulse peaked high. His own eyes was filling up with tears. He couldn't lose anyone else important to him. Especially not Melissa.
There was a huge hole of regret he was feeling in his heart. He wished he never had come at all. None of this would be happening. For all he knows, perhaps the person they were rescuing was dead too.
Melissa's hand was pulled away from Izuku. She struggled a little to reach out to him, but it was useless. She was handcuffed too. She started to get more desperate then, trying to kick the one who handcuffed her.
He hit her with the gun instead, knocking her out. He waved a hand towards Izuku. "Someone get that one."
"Stop! You don't need to hurt her!!" Izuku's eyes were stinging. It made him so angry they did her harm like that. "All she was trying to do was to be near me! Are you even human?!"
There was another person who went to put the handcuffs on Izuku. "We are whatever we need to be in order to better this society."
...
Shigaraki had managed to get past the people surrounding them. It was more like he was let through. They could have easily grabbed him, but they didn't. There had to be some reason why they let him through so easily. He knew that. But he decided that he would cross that bridge when he got there. He needed to find Satoko.
He came across a room. Satoko was on the ground with her hands and feet bound. Before he could reach her, the vent fell from the ceiling above him. It was Hawks.
Hawks used his body to impact Shigaraki to stun him. From the distance, they can't tell if Satoko was aware of them being there. She wasn't budging.
"I won't let you near her, Shigaraki!" Hawks yelled.
"I'll get near her if I want to." Shigaraki outstretched his hand. "I'm the one who actually loves her!"
With that, not only did Hawks decay, but the others in the room around Satoko did too. He wasn't aware that he was capable of something like that. His emotions strengthened his quirk to allow him to kill them without even touching them.
He ran over to Satoko. He sat down. Without hesitation, he propped her up and held her against his chest. "Satoko? Can you hear me?"
He could feel that she was alive even though she was barely moving. It scared him that she was so still.
Somehow, her eyes opened. "Shi...garaki....?"
When his eyes lingered to take a better look at her, he felt a warm feeling against him. It was her coming from the middle of her stomach. A fatal wound that punctured a nerve was causing internal bleeding. Not only that, a lot of parts of her body was covered in bruises and scrapes.
He hated that feeling. It made him feel sick to his stomach. This wasn't just any person. It was Satoko. He didn't want to lose her. However, it was clear what was going to happen. He didn't want to waste any time trying to get help when she was already dying. He could only be there with her in her final moments.
"I'm here." He held her tightly as tears welled up in his eyes. He tried to hide the shake in his voice. "It's ok now."
"You... came for me..?" She asked as he released her bondage on her. Her hand was weak. It felt weighted as she lifted it against his face. "I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough."
He gritted his teeth. "It was their fault! They're the ones who did this to you! You...didn't do anything wrong. It's not your fault."
"Heh... I could have taken them..." Her eyes were half lidded as she stared at him. Only then, she remembered the painful memory of hers.
How she was assaulted. Meeting a young boy. It was like she saw him there a split moment. "You're... that boy... from years ago. I remember." Her voice started to crack.
He wasn't sure if he felt pained or relieved that she recollected. He knew that kind of thing was probably hard on her mentally. "That's what I asked you about before. I remembered it recently. Aside from my family, you were...the first person I really cared about. I told you that I would see you again someday, didn't I?"
"Ha..." She took a sharp breath in. She couldn't take the burning sensation in her eyes. Her tears flooded down her cheeks. There was that anxiety she was starting to feel. Death. "I...don't want to die... I want...to stay with you...."
It was too harsh for her to end like this. All she wanted was to live an easy life. Perhaps with Shigaraki.
No.
Not perhaps. She wanted it, but knew she couldn't have it. (Why must my life be this way?)
"Hey. Look!" Shigaraki tried to sound enthusiastic. It was difficult to even fake it when he knew that she was going to die. He was trying to distract her from the harsh reality and cheer her up. If that was even possible.
He grabbed her hand. "I'm holding your hand! I was never able to do that before. Does that...help?" His voice became shakier. There was a sob that forced its way past his lips. "Does it make you happy?"
She gave a strained sob. "You're not decaying me..." She knew his backstory about his family. Perhaps he was always afraid, like her, getting closer to people.
"This is... a huge accomplishment..." Her hand couldn't squeeze his as her strength was lessening. "I'm so... happy I am not alone..."
She felt his droplets fall upon her face, mixing in with her own tears. "Tomu...ra..."
It was hard for her to express her feelings for him with words. As the world faded around her, her lips lightly brushed against his hand. A farewell kiss.
He felt her last breath on his hand as her body went limp.
Shigaraki finally didn't have to hold back for her. All of his emotions came pouring out in a heartbreaking scream. She was truly gone. He was all alone.
So that's what his life was leading up to? Everything that had happened to him was leading up to him losing the woman he loved?
He heard a gunshot nearby. He couldn't feel anything due to where the bullet hit, but he was aware of himself falling forward towards the floor.
His eyes were barely open. He gazed across of him to see Satoko's face. He was still holding onto her hand.
His breathing began to slow. (I hope that I see you again...)
SHIGARAKIROUTE – TRAGIC END