I shakily pushed myself up from the floor, and looked around.
It was some sort of bar...
I glanced up, to find Shigaraki staring down at me.
A small group of villains stood around him.
"(Y/N) (L/N) and Katsuki Bakugo." Shigaraki grinned.
I grimaced.
I slowly got to my feet, winching slightly as my weight shifted onto my ankle. I was surprised that they hadn't stopped me.
From behind me, I heard yelling ensue, and I turned to see Bakugo trying to break Dabi's grip.
It was now, in better light, that I fully took in what he looked like.
A black-haired man dressed in a long, open dark blue coat, with a loose white shirt that dipped low down his chest underneath it. He wore navy pants and boots, and metal bands around his arms where his coat sleeves ended above his elbow. Below that was heavily burnt and scarred tissue that ended neatly stitched with metal rings holding the skin together.
His face was heavily scarred as well, with the line of where the burnt flesh and the regular skin met looking somewhat like a large, terrifying smile. The scarred flesh continued down his neck and stopped above his pecs. Semi-circles of burnt skin were held in place underneath his eyes, which were a startling shade of blue.
Seeing his scars reminded me of my own, and I quickly wrapped one arm around my midriff.
Bakugo continued yelling, bringing me back to the present.
"Let him go!"
Dabi stared coolly back at me as I tried to pry his fingers from Bakugo's neck.
Is he toying with me?
Then he smiled.
"Twice, take her."
Who...?
Suddenly my arms were pulled together from behind.
Out of instinct, I broke their grip immediately, spinning around to swing a kick at them.
I swallowed a cry of pain as I made contact.
It came out as a muffled umph.
As I stumbled to regain balance, I placed all my weight on the wrong foot.
"U-ugh, f*ck."
"Maybe you should watch your language."
Dabi lifted a hand, and blue flames began dancing in the palm of it.
Then he inched it towards my face, and I turned my face and pulled my head back to try to avoid the fire.
I tried to activate my quirk.
It didn't work.
Why wasn't it working?
I focused on my breathing, trying not to let my panic show.
"Now, why don't the two of you simply behave and let us tie you up?"
I rolled my eyes.
The flames grew suddenly, and I flinched back.
"That's what I thought."
~
We watched the TV as Shigaraki flipped through the different news channels, which were all reporting on the incident that had occurred not too long ago.
A man was speaking to the two other hosts when Shigaraki shut the TV off, cutting the man off mid-sentence.
"I'm really grateful for all the publicity we've been getting." He turned to us. "Hey, don't you agree...? Katsuki Bakugo... (Y/N) (L/N)..."
I said nothing, purposely directing my eyes to the floor.
"Now, Bakugo... I have a question for you. An offer. For you... to join us. What do you say?"
"Why the hell would I do that?!" He gritted out.
Shigaraki sighed.
"I'll ask you one more time, aspiring hero, Katsuki Bakugo... will you join me?"
I didn't understand why he wasn't asking me. Why else could I possibly be here for, other than to convince me to join them...?
"If you're going to talk in your sleep, you should just go sleep and die."
That statement didn't make much sense, but it was good that he was still refusing.
Shigaraki sighed, then turned the television on again, changing the channel until he found the press conference with Mr. Aizawa, Principal Nezu, and Class B's teacher, Vlad King.
"And now, please watch a clip from UA High School's apology press conference that just occurred."
The three bowed to the camera, and I was astonished to see that Mr. Aizawa had shaved his five-o-clock shadow, tied back his hair, and was wearing a suit and tie.
He's serious about this...
"We deeply apologize for the incident that allowed harm to come to 27 first years of the hero course because of our unpreparedness. We apologize for causing unease in society due to our negligence in properly defending ourselves as a place of learning. We are truly sorry."
They bowed in sync once again.
"I'm from Yumuri TV." A voice stated from somewhere behind the camera. "Since the beginning of the year, UA students have had four encounters with villains. This time, there were even students injured. How did you explain to their families, and what are some specific countermeasures you are taking?"
"'We will increase policing in the surrounding area and review the security within the school, ensuring the students' safety with a strong position.' That is what we told them."
They began asking more questions, but Shigaraki shut off the TV, then turned to us. "It's so strange... why are the heroes being criticized? The way they were dealing with things was just a little off the mark. Is it because it's their job to protect? Everyone makes a mistake or two. Are they supposed to be perfect? Modern-day heroes are so uptight. Don't you think, Bakugo? (L/N)?"
I resumed stubbornly staring at the floor.
"Once heroes receive compensation to protect people, they aren't heroes anymore. That is Stain's teaching."
Shigaraki was right... but being a villain was no solution to something like that. But the lizard guy? He wasn't exactly right, I don't think.
It does become less of a heroic act once you get things from it, but some heroes really do need the money too, to be able to continue saving people. A half-starved man wouldn't be a very strong opponent against a villain.
"The strange system of transforming people's lives into money or glory... the society that sticks tight to those rules... the citizens who blame the losers rather than encourage them... our fight is to question: What is a hero? What is justice? Is this society truly just? We'll have everyone thinking about it. We're planning on winning. You like winning too, right?"
I glanced up.
Shigaraki tilted his head, staring straight at Bakugo.
"Dabi, release his restraints."
"Huh? This guy's gonna fight, you know."
"It's fine. We need to treat him like an equal, since we're scouting him. Plus... we've got the girl, too."
Oh, great. Is that why I'm here?
"Besides, you can tell if you'll win or not if you fight in this situation, right, UA student?"
"Twice, you do it."
The indecisive man that I had kicked instantly rejected the idea. "What, me? No way."
"Do it."
"Man..."
He approached us warily to let Bakugo out.
"I do apologize for using such forceful methods. But please understand that we are not just a mob trying to commit crimes."
"We didn't kidnap you by accident."
It was then that I decided to speak up.
The situation had set me on edge, and I needed to release some pent up aggression.
"Oh, really? You don't say. I never would have guessed."
This was bad... keeping my emotions trapped made them harder to contain inside my head. The way they mixed together and brought up old memories turned me into a completely different person that did insane things that I regretted afterwards. I must have gotten used to having free reign of my quirk at Todoroki's house.
I didn't like this. Any of this.
But... the thing that scared me the most about this... was that maybe one day, I would just never return to normal. That I would become her.
But maybe it wasn't that she "wasn't me," but that I was just pretending to be an "okay" person to make myself feel better, and that the personality everyone saw was just the mask I was wearing.
Shigaraki turned to me. "I haven't told you why you're here yet, have I? Well, let's start by bringing in a guest who's here to see you."
A guest?
What could that possibly mean?
Yes, another update!
Who's the guest? Give me your guesses! I'll tag the first person to get it :)
Though no one has said anything about this, feel like I should just mention that I can't reply to every comment.
I don't see them all, and sometimes I just don't know how to reply 😅. I do go out of my way to try to respond to questions about the story, so if I didn't see your comment, don't be afraid to message me!
Of course, I'm also much more likely to reply to comments:
A. On my most recent chapter
Or
B. Around the time that I've posted a chapter.
Anyways, hope you enjoyed! Till next time, bai Marshmalløws!
-Cøcøa-Malløw