#shigaraki f***ing tomura | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

haleigh-sloth · 2 years

Text

Tenko vs. Tomura

Okay, so in light of chapter 361 and the insanity that unfolded afterward in regards to the "Tenko vs. Tomura" situation, I'm gonna try to target the big main reason for it here. Aside from the obvious "healing your inner child" trope that is at play here, there's reasoning behind the specific memories that was triggered here and the timing of them. There is more to this Tenko situation than just chapter 361, more than his childhood friends, more than his dog.

I'm gonna start with my Hot Take that: Shigaraki's biggest personal obstacle is not rooted in society. The societal issues are not necessarily personal to Shigaraki, as we've seen that it's actually a macro level issue with all of the League. They've all been outcasted and screwed over, as a result of a failing system. But each of them has personal demons that take the front seat of their arcs and I'm gonna dive into Shigaraki's.

I think his personal obstacle is incredibly obvious:

Because before society failed Tenko, Tenko was already ruined and a complete wreck. His family died at his hands, he felt guilty over it, and he felt that him being ignored by everyone was a punishment for killing his family.

I'm taking it back to chapter 270 when Shigaraki created this "dreamscape" as I call it. He recreated the last comforting moments he had with them because that's all he has to hold onto. His family is not coming back, there is no undoing what has been done.

So he recreates those moments to try to give himself closure, to try to move on:

Because due to AFO, he was never able to:

And guess who makes an appearance in the dreamscape! Little Tenko!

Tenko appearing here is showing that there is a part of Shigaraki that desperately wants to move on and heal from what happened. Because we know how he's felt this entire time ever since then:

But the thing is, he cannot move on. He cannot give himself closure, not on his own. His attempt at moving on from what happened just resulted in the same story being told again: Rejection

SO. My point there is that--the biggest issue he has is overcoming what happened to his family. Well, more like understanding that it was an accident, not a murder. His dad's death was an impulse reaction, still not necessarily considered a cold-blooded murder.

But this is what Shigaraki thinks about the situation with his family:

But we know, we KNOW, that deep down that's not how he feels. I mean, that's not up for debate, as evidenced by the entire scene in chapter 270 where he tried to forgive and forget, but in the end he couldn't.

So taking it back to my opinion that his biggest personal OBSTACLE isn't necessarily the failing system, but rather with the internal conflict surrounding his family--

As much as he talks about the failing system (which, it's true, it's failing), I think we're finally seeing now that his real core issue isn't that. It's the internal turmoil he's been living with for 16 years regarding his family and what happened.

That's why when an opportunity to capitalize on the societal complaints and relate it to the League was provided in the dialogue by Mirio--it wasn't. Instead, we got Shigaraki regressing to the version of himself that last experienced any kind of joy.

And the last time he felt anything good was when his family was still alive, his mother was asking him about his dreams, he had his sister and his dog and his dream of being a hero still intact, and his entire world hadn't come crashing down in shambles yet.

SO NOW--my thesis: TENKO AND TOMURA ARE THE SAME F***ING PERSON.

Okay, I've said this a million times. And I have explained a thousand reasons as for why they're the same person--

symbolism, metaphors, the fact that Tenko's thoughts and feelings are surfacing in the BODY of Tomura--there is only one person, healing the inner child trope, etc.

But the main argument for this is that the reason Tenko--specifically black haired Tenko, specifically Tenko who thought about his childhood play mates in that one moment--was used here, is because of the way that most of Shigaraki's emotional turmoil is rooted in his family and his memories from what happened. Every time his memories are triggered, he falls further into his despair. We saw it in MVA, we saw it here, and we saw a tiiiiny bit of it during the war arc:

Most of his issues go back to those last moments he had before everything turned to dust, BEFORE society continued the misery by failing him afterward.

We have been seeing Tenko represent Shigaraki's attempts to hang onto the few good things he has a couple of times now. It's not new. Seeing it happen here is no different than the dreamscape. It's not any different from Izuku seeing that part of him in the vestige. It's all him, it's all a part of him that makes up the whole person.

The thing about AFO saying that "Shimura is separate", is that AFO can't fully take over the body and take full control. We're seeing this now, that sometimes words will slip that AFO isn't wanting. It's not that Tenko is literally a whole other sentient being, it's that AFO just can't fully do what he's trying to do. It's that the part of Shigaraki that continues to hold onto the last good moments he had is keeping a full-on takeover/possession from happening. We saw Shigaraki seemingly reject and "move on" from the last few memories of his family right before he woke up in the war arc, right before accepting AFO in its entirety--and after that he succumbed to AFO's control and influence almost immediately.

But if there is anything we've learned by now, it's that literally no matter what he does, he cannot move on. He tried to forgive and forget, but it just ended with his dad rejecting him again. He tried to reject all of them out of hatred, but that didn't work either, because now we're seeing that that part of him is still very present and very influential. He can't move on until he fixes the way he views that entire situation. Which would mean admitting that he didn't want them to die, wishes they weren't dead now, and acknowledging that he wasn't just born to destroy. How he is going to come to that realization remains to be seen, though I think the trajectory of it is pretty obvious by now.

But anyway the bottom line is that--until Shigaraki overcomes those internal issues surrounding his family, how he remembers them, how he remembers their deaths, and how he views himself, nothing is going to set him free from AFO, and nothing is going to make him happy. Until that endless source of rage is taken away:

--nothing is going to make him feel good again. Fixing society isn't going to address his personal issues. They can fix the system all they want, but nothing will take this particular pain away.

That's why right now all the child-coding he's been plagued with since the beginning of the story is being hammered in now more than ever. That's why his inner child is screaming to be set free, so he can actually grow up and mature properly, and not just trauma-react his way through life forever.

#bnha #boku no hero academia #shigaraki tomura #shimura tenko #bnha meta #bnha 361 #mha meta #my hero academia

117 notes · View notes

makeste · 5 years

Text

BnHA Chapter 236: Mr. Stark I Don’t

Previously on BnHA: We kicked off Year Five Of This Bullshit with another Tomura flashback! Once upon a time there was a boy named Tenko. Little Tenko was very cute and happened to have a real prick of a father who forbid his kids from talking about heroes and punished them severely when they broke that rule. Like, he locked Tenko outside for hours and even fucking hit him when he found out he looked at that picture of Nana. It was super fucked up and very unpleasant to read, and on top of that Horikoshi peppered the entire chapter with hints that the supposedly quirkless Tenko was slowly developing his Decay quirk, so much of the chapter was also spent waiting for that shoe to drop. The chapter ended with a sobbing Tenko hugging his dog Mon-chan (a very good boy) and thinking that he hated everyone, as the scene slowly faded to black. After that we don’t know what happened. Presumably Mon-chan went to live on a farm with lots of other puppies where he could spend the rest of his days in cute doggy bliss. I’m sure Horikoshi will allow me to continue indulging in this theory.

Today on BnHA: Horikoshi doesn’t let me indulge in shit! Horikoshi is all “lol bitch you thought!!” Horikoshi shows us the dead dog!! Horikoshi shows us the scared and sobbing child! Horikoshi shows us the sister! Horikoshi shows us the grandma and grandpa and the mom! Meanwhile poor Kotaro is all, “I suddenly wonder where my whole family has gone,” and goes outside and sees All Of That and is horror-struck. Through a series of terrible but also hilarious coincidences he accidentally smacks Tenko with a big stick, and Tenko suddenly realizes he’d like nothing more than to just STRAIGHT UP!! MURDER HIS DAD!! and so he does. And that’s basically it, guys. That’s my summary of the chapter. I would also like to add that for some reason I ended up fucking loving it in the end, though it was a real roller coaster back and forth until those last few pages. So yeah. Might want to steer clear of me, because I’m sure that’s some kind of red flag there. This motherfucking chapter, guys. I don’t even know.

(All comments are my unspoiled reactions from my initial readthrough of the chapter. I did a quick edit for grammar and clarity immediately afterward, and added one or two ETAs in the process, but aside from that there are no changes.)

thank you anon but rest assured I’m already filled with a deep and profound dread. so we’re good

oh. heh

well that’s just. okay. sure. so a whole nother chapter of this. okay yeah that’s great

oh sweet jesus mary joseph oh shit oh fuck oh SHIT

THAT’S NOT A FARM!! HORIKOSHI!! WE HAD A DEAL! YOU SET ME UP

holy shit!?!? and this is only the start of the chapter oh god. oh god oh god. MR. STARK I DON’T

no thank you I want to return it. reason: item exactly as described. I don’t know what I was expecting. we knew exactly what was going to happen. but I still -- !!

how is the anime going to show this?? no one even wants to watch the senseless blood and violence for once. does Japan do those warning things where a “the following program includes scenes of graphic violence that may be disturbing to some viewers” screen appears before the thing airs? if not they should probably consider it. maybe change “some” to “all”, because let’s be real

anyway so guys I’m waiting for Horikoshi to email me my free shipping label so I can send this back, but in the meantime let’s continue to read I guess

WOW

THAT’S A DEAD DOG. THAT DOG IS LYING IN PIECES IN A POOL OF HIS OWN BLOOD, HUFFING HIS LAST HUFFS. HORIKOSHI REALLY DREW THAT. THAT IMAGE WAS BURNED INTO TENKO’S MIND FOR THE REST OF HIS EXISTENCE AND NOW I GET TO LIVE WITH IT AS WELL. WELL THAT’S JUST REALLY FUCKING GREAT. YIPPY SKIPPY

OH JOY

HANA GO BACK INSIDE, IF HORIKOSHI GRAPHICALLY DRAWS YOU BEING BLOWN INTO CHUNKS BY THIS FUCKING QUIRK I’M FUCKING DONE AND I QUIT. AND I KIND OF NEED TO CONTINUE UNTIL I AT LEAST LEARN BAKUGOU’S FUCKING HERO NAME, SO I’M COUNTING ON YOU HERE OKAY

by the way, this is weird though. because that didn’t look anything like the prior instances where we’ve seen Tomura use his quirk! there was no crumbling apart, no dust ominously drifting away on the breeze. it was more like poor Mon-chan just kind of fell apart into pieces. is this because the quirk is still developing and not yet at full power? or is this more AFO shenanigans in play. it at least explains why it was plausible for their hands to be intact once everything was said and done though

really I’m just trying to talk myself into believing that this didn’t actually happen and is all some grand fucked up psych out and his family is actually fine. I saw this post going around about Tenko’s mole (you know, the one on his chin) not being present in all the scenes last chapter, and the theory was that the scenes where he doesn’t have the mole were not actually real and were implanted by AFO. I personally think this is a reach, but I’m also prepared to 100% subscribe to this theory if and when anything happens to this precious baby girl when I click to the next page you guys. we shall see

okay so Hana’s apologizing because I guess she’s the one that ratted him out to their dad? girl it’s okay you were under a lot of pressure. it’s not like it’s your fault Kotaro flew off the deep end and started beating your brother

anyways but this is currently the least of your worries though oh god. she hasn’t noticed yet, and Tenko’s sobbing and trying to talk to her but his voice isn’t working??

is that because he’s traumatized, or because this is in fact a fake memory? not being able to warn a beloved person of an imminent danger is basic nightmares 101, I’m just saying. I’m actually a bit more convinced than I was just a minute ago

anyway so now she sees the dead dog, and I have a new least favorite panel in the entire series, great

hello, I hate everything about this. what the actual fuck

now she’s turning to run and I SWEAR TO GOD if Tenko instinctively reaches out to grab her... shit. I fucking...

-- WHAT DID I JUST -- !! !!!

son of a bitch. fuck. I’m literally frozen in place and having trouble willing myself to scroll down to see the rest of this. like, can we seriously just stop here. fuck!!

shit. I need a minute. holy fucking shit. I want an actual apology from Horikoshi, and an explanation for why he thought his readers apparently lacked the imagination to fill in the rest of the blanks themselves. like, I was perfectly fine with all of this just being Very Much Implied, dude. seriously

fuck me. I’m just gonna do it. power through the rest of the chapter and assess the resulting psychological damage once it’s all over and done with. okay deep breath. we’re going in

oh honey. oh baby no. oh my god the “crack crack” sound effects again, and the lines of blood appearing oh god

and of course he didn’t realize what was happening at first, didn’t realize it was him. honey it’s not your fault. but you now officially have Murder Rights to All for One, and if anyone else gets to deal the final blow I will fucking sue

hahaha, fuck

at least he didn’t go into the same level of detail as with the fucking dog. but I’m still calling the police, holy shit

if anything, Tenko’s reaction actually makes this even worse than Mon-chan’s death, though. and you know, also the fact that it was a six-year-old girl. who died terrified and in agony and not knowing why this was happening to her. fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck

somewhere Ito Junji is reading this and wishing he’d come up with this shit. Nakayama Masaaki is taking notes. Stephen King is waking up in a cold sweat thinking to himself that for some reason he really wants to start reading shounen manga all of a sudden

sob now everyone is running outside except for his father. of course. saving the best for last. it’s almost as though someone fucking engineered all of this to make it as psychologically damaging to the kid as possible! but who could possibly be twisted enough to do something like that? oh hey there All for One, you sure look happy. why are you smiling so much. what do you mean, it’s a secret. you son of a bitch

hey do you guys want to see the expression of a mother seeing her youngest child screaming and sobbing and covered in blood and surrounded by the bloodied remains of a dead dog and something else that is hopefully unidentifiable because if not holy shit for real? anyways, do you? you don’t? sure you do. Horikoshi thinks you do, so here it is

t-minus five seconds before the level of Horrifying escalates yet again! five... four... three...

oh shit??

did he do that thing again?? disintegrate them without even touching?? or did we just jump-cut to right afterward? because if it’s the latter, you mean to tell me we did that with the mom and grandparents but couldn’t do it with Hana and the dog!? and if it��s the former then that’s really interesting though, because I was under the impression he’d been incapable of that until just a few chapters ago when the grown-up him awakened the ability in the middle of Deika City. maybe it’s something he can only do when under extreme mental duress

oh wait, never mind, I scrolled a bit further down and it seems like his mom is still alive. I guess that was Hana he was reaching out towards there. anyways so here’s his mom’s horrified face again

actually, wait. before we click to the next page, let me go back to the four panels right above these, because this is actually really interesting and deserves more analysis

I really like this actually. Horikoshi acknowledging that even though his mother and grandparents were very kind and loving, they were still complicit in his suffering in a way because they knew what was going on, and they let it happen. this is actually huge, and I’m really grateful to Horikoshi for calling attention to it and pointing out how damaging that was. I’m actually very pleasantly surprised to see it acknowledged

but maybe I shouldn’t be, because this is after all something that’s very important to the story’s themes of heroism. my thoughts immediately ran to Horikoshi’s own favorite hero, Spider-Man, and the whole “with great power comes great responsibility” thing. if someone needs help, and you’re in a position where you could do something but you choose to not take action, then you do bear some responsibility for what follows. “when you can do the things that I can, but you don’t, and then the bad things happen, they happen because of you”

just, this is a theme that has always resonated with me, and one of the most important themes of hero stories in general. and obviously I’m not saying Tenko’s mom and grandparents are in any way bad people, or that what happened is their fault, because it’s not! but all the same they could have done something and they didn’t, and if you were to ask me what I think is the most essential, defining aspect of what makes someone a hero, I would say it’s that. the difference between stepping in, and not stepping in. if you were to boil it down to one single point, that would be it. a hero is someone who helps

anyway. so I really like that. maybe I won’t send this chapter back after all

OR MAYBE I WILL AND NEVER FUCKING MIND!! I DON’T!! FEEL SO GOOD!! MR. STARK!!

holy shit you guys. I have no words. somewhere the person who wrote Mufasa’s death scene is taking notes. the person who wrote Littlefoot’s mom’s death is shook. the person who wrote Bambi’s mom’s death is rubbing their chin and thinking, “honestly mine is still more traumatizing, but I can still respect that”

meanwhile I, a millennial forged in the ashes of all of those childhood-defining fictional tragedies, am going to just suck it up and move on because fuck. my whole life has been preparing me for this day

oh my fucking god

fuck me why did I laugh. I fucking lost it just now. fucking gallows humor, idk

just. his entire family is being blown to little bits in the backyard, and Kotaro cracks open his fucking door and peers his head out like “hmm I thought I heard something just now. hey, where is everyone. did I miss something.” no you didn’t miss anything Kotaro, go back inside

he looks like a kid who’s not sure if he just heard the ice cream man driving by

sob. “better go investigate”

look what happened while you were taking your fucking nap, Kotaro. JUST LOOK! your son disintegrated your whole entire family and uprooted a fucking tree somehow. jesus christ

you know, the irony is I bet you that despite all of his hang-ups, he’s probably thinking “okay maybe a hero would come in fucking handy right about now”

oh shit

“you think this is a fucking joke?!” Horikoshi screams, shoving this page in my face. “you’re just going to sit there and keep making your cute little remarks?? A FAMILY IS DEAD!!” okay jeez I get it fuck

oh no, oh shit for real though I can’t

he’s so scared and traumatized and now he knows, he knows it was him who did it and he can’t bear it, and even though he hates his dad, he’s still his dad, and he’s terrified and looking for comfort from anyone at this point oh god

and for Kotaro to see his son like this, and the rest of his family dead in such a horrifying way! just!!

and fuck me, because if he reaches out to try and comfort him, if he ends up dying because his better instincts finally take over now of all fucking times; if he tries to help and Tenko knows what’s going to happen when they touch and tries to stop him but can’t...

okay but what

Tenko’s quirk is really behaving strangely though. like this is ridiculous. at this rate he’s gonna take the whole house down with him

also there’s no way all of the neighbors just sat by all la dee da and didn’t go to investigate afterwards. 100% AFO had a hand in all this. shit

now also feels like a good time to point out, before we wrap this all up, that with Kotaro being the only one still alive now, there is no one around to shout “Tenko, no...!” when that hand is reaching out to his forehead. so I’m very curious to see how Horikoshi plays this out, because now more than ever I’m suspecting that the altered memory theory is really true

(ETA: well. shit.)

anyway, so now what looks like a tree pruner is just randomly falling into Kotaro’s hands, for some reason. just like we all expected

of all the ways I imagined this actually playing out, this was not one of them

hmm, interesting

so did he disintegrate the pruner and then get pissed at his dad thinking he was trying to hurt him again? and then instinct just took over? guess we’re about to see

oh SHIT!!!

shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit

just, imagine like another 7 paragraphs of me just typing out “shit” over and over again. I don’t feel like actually doing it, but that’s basically an accurate summation of my thought process right now

I bet even AFO wasn’t expecting that. I picture him whistling softly from his hiding place nearby, watching all of this go down and making that excited Andy Dwyer face to nobody in particular

holy fucking shit, holy hell

guys I just decided this is actually my favorite villain origin story of all time. just like that. holy shit. this page though

okay you know what, let me just finish this up, and then I’ll try to sort out all of my messed up feelings. one more page to go I think. probably his hair turning white

why didn’t his hair turn white. Horikoshi you’re such a fucking troll

(ETA: or did it start to change though?? it’s really hard to tell with the shading on this page tbh. but it does seem to be lighter than his shirt, and closer to the shade of his pants instead. but I can’t tell if that’s just due to the lighting here or not. anyways.)

anyways, wow. so that’s the end. let me just sit down here for a moment and try to process this

that page, though. that mental break. the idea of him being so overwhelmed by the pain and trauma of what just happened that when his dad shows up and tries (from his perspective) to hurt him again, his mind just goes !! and snaps and goes “you know what, this is better, let’s just reframe all this shit to make it a good thing so that we can cope, because to hell with that. big fat nope to the alternative, right there! yeah no thanks we are not going to do that”

and him realizing that he finally has the power to stand up to his father and stop him from hurting him. and probably a part of him is also irrationally blaming his dad for being the reason this all happened, because it’s much easier to assign blame to something tangible here, rather than it all being a freak tragic accident that no one could have prevented. (or worse, his own fault. which it isn’t, but I’m sure he subconsciously blames himself regardless, so)

and even better if the person to blame is someone you already hated. so yes, that’s much better, let’s just do that

and that whole “somewhere deep in my heart” thing, I don’t buy that for a second to be honest. but I do believe that he believes that. that for his own self-preservation he desperately latched on to this idea and convinced himself that he’d wanted this all along. that it felt good. fine, then, I’ll become a monster to save myself

I keep going back to look at his face, though. and just. holy shit. if you’d told me a week ago or even five minutes ago that Horikoshi would write out the entire thing, all of it, in all of its sickeningly detailed glory, that he would just say “fuck it” and go all out, and that I would go from “take it back” to “okay I’ll allow it” to “you can pry this incredibly fucked up chapter out of my cold dead hands” in the span of three pages, I would have thought you were insane. and yet here we are. and it is insane. and I’m fairly disturbed by my own heel-turn here actually, but I can’t deny it though

just, shit. that was so good. I’m blown away by how good that was. Deku, stop looking at me like that

you know what, you don’t get to judge me, kid, okay. shut up

anyway guys, so that was one hell of a ride. I learned some things about myself, like that I will follow this maniac of a mangaka into much deeper and more fucked up chasms than I ever expected. and Tomura learned some things about himself, and I have a lot of Concerns about those things, but I guess that’ll just have to wait until next week! all the best until then, everyone

#bnha #boku no hero academia #bnha 236 #shigaraki tomura #shimura hana #shimura kotaro #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #makeste reads bnha #I'm working from home and it's a slow day so this recap is earlier than usual #do you know who is not having a slow day #shigaraki f***ing tomura #holy hell my man #I'm so sorry kiddo

216 notes · View notes

faketextsfromlastmight · 4 years

Conversation

All Might : I should have known you were my master's grandson. They say it's the fate of children born of a broken homes to become criminals.

Dabi : HEY!!! That's a harmful stereotype! Not all victims of childhood trauma grow up to become villains.

Shigaraki Tomura : For the last f**ing time, Dabi, you idiot, it's not convincing when WE say it!

Dabi : Oh, you're going to take his side, now? You're punishing me? You're humiliating me in public? You little s**t!

Dabi and Shigaraki : [more pointless bickering]

All Might : Children born of broken homes also tend to develop toxic relationships.

2K notes · View notes

five-rivers · 3 years

Text

Long Night in the Valley chapter 9

“But what if it’s the hospital?” Inko asked, still staring at the phone, cheek cupped in one hand. “What if it’s an emergency with one of your patients? It could be important.”

It wasn’t. Mostly because nothing could possibly be as important as dealing with Midoriya Inko.

Without a doubt, the woman was the most difficult to deal with person in the entire world. It was no reflection on her personality, of course, but rather on her unique position.

Garaki could cope with rabid villains. He had handled heroes cursing him. He could even converse normally with All for One.

But then, compared to this woman, All for One was easy. As long as she wasn’t part of the picture, all Garaki had to do was follow orders. When she did, every interaction became a balancing act between All for Ones previous orders and not upsetting her.

Garaki was too valuable to All for One for the man to kill him, which only meant that Garaki had been on the receiving end of some truly creative punishments in the past.

Also, Midoriya Inko once threatened to pull his pancreas out of his nose if he ever spoke ‘like that’ to her son again. Truly, she was a match for All for One, who had threatened much the same thing only hours later, despite the fact the results presented had been ordered by him.

This was truly a terrifying situation, and he had to face it without even little Johnny at his side. How pitiful…

“Really,” said Inko, “I think you should answer it. Maybe it’ll give you some idea about how we can help Izuku.”

That seemed unlikely at best. Even so, it would be unwise to go against the wishes of All for One’s chosen queen.

He smiled tightly. “I’ll have to step out,” he said.

“Of course,” said Inko, nodding.

He stepped out if the dining room and checked the phone. It was Shigaraki Tomura. Because of course it was. Normally, he would have scrambled to answer, but… He looked over his shoulder, to make sure Midoriya Inko hadn’t spontaneously appeared there.

One way or another, he feared, he was going to die today.

No, he told himself, focus on the positives.

For example, Midoriya Inko seemed to have taken quite well to the longevity quirk All for One had slipped her while they were dating. Very well indeed. He’d already known that, of course, but it was good to see it in person. All for One’s youngest son was now in conflict with the heroes, even if he was still clinging to All Might’s emaciated skeleton. The call from Shigaraki Tomura meant that Gigantomachia hadn’t killed him while Garaki was distracted.

Overall, this day was going wonderfully.

He answered his phone.

“You f—”

Ah, so it was Shigaraki Tomura.

“How did you and Sensei manage to lose an entire-a—” And there he went again. “—ing feral child?”

Wait. Garaki knew about Midoriya Izuku. How did Shigaraki Tomura? “Er, what feral child?”

“The green brat! Except he’s not green anymore. He died his stupid puffball hair white—”

“—honestly, I always thought it was more broccoli—HA! He’s a cauliflower now-!”

“Shut up, Twice! He was wearing a suit, using Eraserhead’s quirk. Did you guys think I was stupid or something?”

“What?”

“Do you not have the news in your crappy lab?”

“Erm.”

“What are you even doing, that it took so long for you to pick up your phone?”

“Well…”

“Never mind. We need a fast travel out of here. This place is crawling with heroes, and the giant boss is going to wake up soon—”

“I can’t,” said Garaki. “I’m not in my lab.”

It wasn’t quite silent on the other side of the line.

“What do you mean, you aren’t in your lab?” A pause. “What are you doing, old man? Where are you?”

“I have to go, now,” said Garaki, feeling oddly detached. The phone beeped as he hung up on Shigaraki Tomura. He opened his news app.

Masterfully, he avoided crying as he read through the top local stories. The real shock was that All for One hadn’t broken out of prison yet.

Oh, and Eraserhead’s quirk, because he absolutely shouldn’t have been able to do that. The quirks of the past users, yes, fine, that made sense. The mechanism between All for One and One for All was presumably sufficiently similar. But Eraserhead’s, that was a different story.

Unless… The remnants…

Garaki found that he was very afraid.

He replayed the video of the incident. Mentally calculated the trajectory of All Might and the younger Midoriya. Perhaps… perhaps rather than taking a phone call, he should be making one.

“’S like Ragdoll,” explained Izuku, as the pair of One for All members limped through the forest. “Shiretoko-san, I mean.”

“Mhm,” said Toshinori, lifting Izuku over a spot that would give his sprained and swollen ankle some difficulty.

“Even though she can’t use Search anymore, there’s still remnants. She can- She can keep track of a lot more objects at once. Her organizational skills, visual acuity… Some things have actually improved, now that she’s not using that part of her head. The point is, not all of the support structures disappear when the quirk does. And I think- I think not all of the quirk itself goes away, either.”

“I’m not sure I follow you on that part.”

“It’s—It’s a, um. All for One, I think, physically, obviously, there has to be psionic component as well, the way it works is by destructively copying the quirk and the quirk factor of the target individual. It’s like—Like if there was a copier in a shredder? I guess? Can’t copy without destroying the original. But, yeah. There has to be a mental component. So, my—So, what, I mean, I mean what I—Hmmnnng.”

“My boy?”

“My head hurts.” He swiped ineffectively at his sluggishly bleeding nose.

Toshinori pressed his lips together, concerned. Izuku rarely admitted to feeling pain, no matter how beaten up he was. This must be serious.

“We have some painkillers,” said Toshinori.

“No,” said Izuku. “I’m okay. What was I-? I was saying… Quirks. My quirk when he—There’s still remnants, and the emergent behavior—” He took a deep, shuddering breath. “The bits left behind when he took my quirk, with One for All—assuming that’s what happened, and they’re not wrong—they let me access the past users’ quirks, and also since Saito-san’s quirk seems to interact with quirk ghosts, at least partially, it can use that to pick up Aizawa-sensei’s quirk. Probably could get the others’ as well, although I’m less confident about mutant quirks like Iida’s.”

For a moment, they let the conversation lapse.

“I think we’re handling these revelations very well,” opined Toshinori.

“I know, right?” Izuku giggled like someone at the edge of a very tall cliff. “Anyway, One for All uses more of a passive copying mechanism, but I’d guess there’s something wrong with its writing mechanism, unless the stockpile quirk just takes up all its time, or something, or there was a problem with interpretation? Or, or! The others are wrong about me ever having a quirk, and it’s really just One for All finally processing and writing in the other quirks. Maybe because I’m genetically closer to One than any of the others?” Izuku’s breath caught.

“Izuku?”

“Toshinori,” he whined, “it hurts…”

“What does?”

“Everything,” said Izuku. “My head. My eyes.” He’d mostly relied on Toshinori’s vision while navigating through the forest. Since using Aizawa-sensei’s quirk, he’d barely opened his eyes.

“We’ve made some distance since we landed,” said Toshinori. “Why don’t we rest for a little while?”

“We can’t,” protested Izuku. “We’re still too close.”

“Izuku, you’re suffering from quirk exhaustion.”

“Oh,” said Izuku. “Oh. I guess I never felt—Never felt it before? Because I’d just break my bones first.”

Toshinori visibly cringed. “If I understand what you just said correctly,” he said, taking Izuku by the shoulders and guiding him gently towards a fallen tree, “what you did back there with young Aizawa’s quirk was akin to running a race with a broken leg.”

“W-well, I mean, only if—only if—they’re right about it being my quirk. And n-not just something One for All can do.”

“Mm,” said Toshinori, dubiously. “Even then, it isn’t something quite natural for you, is it? And this right after receiving Float.”

“It,” said Izuku, frowning, and letting himself be directed. “Actually, it felt… Good? Right before it started hurting. Like… satisfying, almost? Like when I used One for All for the first time… Well, before I realized all my bones were broken.”

“It wasn’t quite all of them, was it?”

Izuku shrugged. He blinked slowly as he sat down on the log. “It’s cold.”

“It is December,” said Toshinori, unzipping his coat. “Let me see here, I had some winter clothing for you in here somewhere… and we should take a better look at your ankle.” He sat down next to Izuku, who immediately leaned towards him, not quite touching.

On impulse, Toshinori wrapped the open edge of the coat around Izuku, pulling him close.

Izuku rested his head against Toshinori’s chest and brought up his knees to hug them. “This’s warm,” he mumbled.

“How about,” said Toshinori, “you just rest for a few minutes. Then we can sort everything else out.”

“Okay…”

“Well,” said Recovery Girl, entering the conference room the hospital had lent them, “no one is in any danger of dying.”

“But?” said Hitoshi, bracing himself for bad news.

“No but. They’re all fine, beyond not waking up, but you all already knew that. So.” She hopped into a seat at the table they’d all squeezed around. “What have you found out?”

She directed the question to Hizashi, who had his head in his hands, his elaborately styled hair almost hitting Jirou and Kaminari, who were seated across from him.

“Midoriya has a sentient quirk and no one bothered to mention it.”

“I’m not sure Midori knew,” said Tsuyu. “It does seem like something he’d mention.”

“I don’t know,” said Kaminari. “He’s, like, weirdly cagey about his quirk.”

Tokoyami crossed his arms. “Hm. He may have been hiding it. Possession of a sentient quirk casts one into the shadow of the commission’s regard.”

“Huh?”

“People with sentient quirks are monitored by the Hero Commission,” said Hitoshi. “Just like people with ‘villainous’ quirks.

“He was not hiding, mes amis,” said Aoyama. “That’s absurd! He was simply a late bloomer, like myself.”

“Does it really matter if he knew or not?” asked Jirou. “Everyone has stuff they’d rather not tell other people.”

“She’s right,” said Kayama-sensei.

“Well,” said Yaoyorzu, “we’re going to try to help him, aren’t we?”

There was a murmur of agreement.

“But how?”

“Overthrow the government?” suggested Jirou.

“Start a social media campaign?” said Kaminari, at the same time.

They looked at each other.

“And you call yourself an anarchist,” scoffed Jirou.

“In my defense, I have never once called myself an anarchist.”

“As much as I like the idea of overthrowing the government, the social media idea is probably more doable,” said Hitoshi. “I mean, there’s only fourteen of us here. What are we going to do against the government?”

“As much as I hate to say it,” said Kayama-sensei, “we do have more resources than just the people in this room. Like the person who sent us to extract you in the first place.”

“You mean,” said Shouji, voice hushed, “the rat god?”

Kayama-sensei blanched. “Where did you hear that?”

All the students, including Hitoshi, pointed at Hizashi, because, really, she should have known that. Actually, wait, one of them hadn’t and had instead buried his face in his hands. That was… Kouda. Yeah. Kouda.

“What’s up with him?” asked Hitoshi.

Mineta snickered. A baleful collective glare was turned on him.

“What?” he whined.

Aoyama sighed. “Midoriya once asked him if he could control our fantabulous Principal Nezu, since Principal Nezu is technically an animal.”

“Ever since then,” continued Yaoyorozu, “he has a crisis whenever the principal is brought up.”

“Man,” said Kaminari, nodding in Hitoshi’s direction, “I bet that if Midoriya was here, he’d be asking you if you could control Principal Nezu, since he’s not human.”

… That was a good question.

“Speaking of Midoriya,” said Satou, as if they hadn’t been doing exactly that all along, “I don’t think we can overthrow the government without him. He’s our plan guy, usually.”

“Even with Nezu?” asked Hizashi.

The members of class 1-A seemed thoughtful.

“Maybe.”

“Yeah, maybe.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” said Mineta, “we’re serious about that? I thought it was a joke.”

“Okay,” said Yaoyorozu, “perhaps we should discuss our other options first.”

“Oh!” said Aoyama. “We could become vigilantes!”

“What… What would be the point of that?” asked Hitoshi.

Aoyama did not have an answer.

Hizashi’s phone started ringing. “Oh, no,” he said, “it’s him. Does he know I’ve been calling him the rat god behind his back?”

“Probably,” said Kayama-sensei, “but I don’t think that’s what this is about.”

Hizashi answered his phone. “Heeeeeyyyyyy, Principal Nezu, what-? Oh! Oh, yeah, yeah, we were planning on that, but we weren’t sure—yeah, yeah, I’ll tell them, and –” He went pale. “You already knew about that, huh? Haha, yeah, yep, okay, okay. See you soon?” He cringed as he hung up. “He wants us all back at school before the commission decides to interrogate us. Also, he said to check the news.”

“It’s just going to be more slander of Midoriya,” said Jirou, looking at her own phone, “why both—Oh.”

“Still can’t believe they think Midoriya kidnapped All Might,” mumbled one of Shouji’s free mouth hands as Hitoshi unlocked his own phone.

“I know. Do you remember when he came into the cafeteria to ask Midoriya to eat lunch with him?” asked Kaminari.

“Which time?” asked Dark Shadow, cackling.

“It was cute, kero,” said Asui. “I have pictures.”

“We can use those for the social media campaign!”

Hitoshi’s news app loaded. He looked up and met Jirou’s eyes. Judging by her pale face, what he’d seen wasn’t a hallucination.

“Am I a dog, a mouse, or a bear?” chirped Nezu as he answered his phone. “One thing’s for sure, I’m Principal Nezu? How can I help you, Mr. Hero Commission President?”

“I’m sure you’re following the news,” said the president.

“Of course,” said Nezu, patting Eri’s head. She’d been staring at his phone like a predator faced with prey since he answered. They had, indeed, been watching the news.

“We need Midoriya Izuku’s medical records and the blood sample you have from him. You should have it ready by the time our investigators arrive.”

“Oh? Investigators?”

“To search Midoriya Izuku’s personal effects for clues. You should also prepare Chisaki Eri, Togata Mirio, and the teachers involved in Midoriya Izuku’s education for questioning.”

“Thank you for giving me a heads up, Mr. President.”

There was a suspicious silence on the other end of the line. “What are you planning?”

“Nothing at all!”

“You aren’t going to win this fight.”

“What fight, Mr. President? Aren’t we both on the side of heroes?”

“If you get in our way, I will make sure your precious school goes down with Midoriya.”

“Oh-ho! Is that a threat, Mr. President?”

“A promise. Public opinion isn’t something you can think your way out of, and UA has been on thin ice since the attack on the USJ.”

“I see,” said Nezu, fighting against the urge to bare his teeth and snarl. “In any case, I will not stand in the way of the law.”

“Good.”

The line went dead. “Oh, dear,” said Nezu. “He really doesn’t understand me at all.”

“What areya going to do?” asked Eri.

“Follow the law,” said Nezu.

Eri scowled.

“Bothering by the book, sir?” asked Togata, who had been hiding in Aizawa’s kitchen, baking.

“Oh, yes. The good heroes who were here earlier had the authority to request a piece of Midoriya-kun’s clothing, but what Mr. Hero Commission President is asking for is quite different.”

“How?” asked Eri.

“They need certain forms and paperwork in order to force me to do so much as let them in the front gate. Which cannot, of course, be opened to outsiders by teachers without my express permission. And if I am involved in an emergency involving one of my wards at the time…”

“That’s me!” said Eri, bouncing on the couch.

“Indeed, it is.”

“So,” she said, “I’ve got to be an em-er-gen-cy?” she asked, carefully sounding out the word.”

“You don’t need to do anything,” said Nezu, “except say that I was occupied with you when the commission representatives arrived.”

Eri nodded very seriously. “Can we watch Deku kick the bad guy again?”

Nezu chortled.

“Did I say something funny?” asked Eri, her face pinching again.

“Not at all, not at all. I’m just imagining how others might react to you calling Hawks a bad guy.”

“He’s fighting Deku, so he’s a bad guy.”

“Immaculate logic, young lady,” said Nezu, patting Eri on the head.

Izuku walked through Nana’s misty memories, searching for her and Suzuki.

Hopefully, Nana hadn’t reached through the dream to kill the guy in real life. He didn’t like Suzuki. In fact, he pretty much hated him. But murder was still, well, murder.

He had some things to talk to Nana about.

The far more comprehensive connection he currently had to One for All, thanks to Saito-san’s quirk, meant that he knew far more than he usually did, about One for All, the others, All for One, and even himself. Enough that he was twitching for his notebook and pencil, because he was afraid he would forget once the quirk wore off.

One of the things he knew now was that One for All had usability adaptations. Little things that tweaked the user’s body and subconscious in such a way that made the quirk actually viable. Required secondary powers, to use an older term.

A common one was the heat and burn resistance most fire users had. Bakugou had lighters in his palms to set his sweat off. Tokoyami had amazing night vision. Hagakure was resistant to cancer.

One for All read the DNA of potential recipients, to see if they could handle the quirk. One couldn’t go shoving quirks into random people all willy-nilly, even if the quirk in question was One for All. That’s why the noumu were so messed up. All for One didn’t have that compatibility-checking adaptation.

But since compatibility here was a function of both mentality and DNA… that meant…

“Were you ever going to tell me that we’re all related?” he asked Nana. “Speaking of which.” He pointed at the memory-shade of a young Gran Torino. “How is it that everyone I’m related to is so tall? Why are Mom and I midgets? And where did the green hair come from? I’m having a crisis.”

Nana chuckled, but it was a sad sound. “Thanks for trying to cheer me up, kiddo.”

(The effect would have been better if her boots weren’t stained with blood.)

“Okay, but seriously,” said Izuku, sitting on the railing next to Nana. They watched the memory play out. “You guys all knew. Why didn’t you say anything? I think Toshinori’d be happy to be related to you, even if it’s only tangentially.”

“But would he be happy with the other part?”

“Huh?”

“Being related to him.”

“I think he’d overlook that. I mean, One was related to him, too. So it doesn’t really matter. And I’m…” He faltered. They had yet to confront this particular thing.

“You should talk to One and Four,” suggested Nana, gently. “Their perspective is probably closest to yours.”

“Will I have time?”

“As long as we’re with you, eventually,” said Nana. “This,” she gestured at the dreamscape, “changes things. You know this feeling, now. You won’t forget.”

Izuku nodded. “Should I call you grandma, now?”

“That makes me feel old.”

“You are old.”

“Ouch, kid. But sure.”

“That aside, I do want to know where the green hair comes from.”

Nana sighed. “It’s from me. I used to dye my hair. Then I got a stylist to permanently change it with a quirk.”

“But… why?”

Nana slumped sideways. “The kids at my school… They were always saying, ‘Oh, Nana, you’re so green. Just like your name. Green Vegetable Nana.”

“Name related trauma is something we have in common.”

“Unfortunately.”

“So. Suzuki.”

“Under that rock.” She pointed to a massive boulder.

Izuku sighed. “What are we going to do with him?”

“Your call,” said Nana.

“Does it have to be?”

Gigantomachia shrugged dirt and trees from his shoulders and sniffed the air. The radio around his neck crackled as the doctor stopped transmitting. This, he decided, catching the scent of the Little Lord, was a joyful day.

Only once before had he received the privilege of smelling this scent. That day was eternally carved into his memory. The Little Lord had been so small, but so smart! So cunning! So much better than Shigaraki Tomura!

Machia wondered if he would still be small, or if he had grown up to be as big as Lord! Or even Machia!

Probably, he would not be as big as Machia. Still!

How wonderful!

Machia wondered if the Little Lord would smile at him again. That had been nice.

#bnha #boku no hero academia #fic #my fic #fanfic #long night in the valley

40 notes · View notes

tillyblogs · 5 years

Text

To all of y’all who thought Shigaraki F-ing Tomura wasn’t a good character or had no good motivations...

Put on your clown wigs, you fools! You absolute baffoons!

385 notes · View notes

ao3feed-todoroki · 4 years

Text

Imitation is the Sincerest Form of F-ing Up Someone's Secret Identity

Imitation is the Sincerest Form of F-ing Up Someone's Secret Identity by Kendrick Harlow

It was supposed to be a prank—harmless retaliation for Dabi teasing Toga about taking so long getting ready, as if he hadn't taken upwards of 40 minutes in the bathroom himself, the chemical fog of hair dye lingering behind him. Shifting into Dabi—minus his edgelord accessorizing—seemed like the perfect solution.

But now that everyone was gawking at her, she realized she might have miscalculated.

Words: 2523, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: Gen

Characters: Dabi, Toga Himiko, Shigaraki Tomura | Shimura Tenko, Iguchi Shuuichi | Spinner, Bubaigawara Jin | Twice, Sako Atsuhiro | Mr. Compress, Todoroki Touya, League of Villains

Relationships: Dabi & Shigaraki Tomura | Shimura Tenko, Dabi & Toga Himiko

Additional Tags: Dabi is a Todoroki, dabi is Touya, The League finds out, Todoroki family (Mentioned), Shigaraki is a good leader, Even if Shigaraki is not a good person, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Manga spoilers up to 192, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence

Read Here: http://archiveofourown.org/works/15900264

#AO3 Feed #FanFiction #AO3 Dabi #♠#Dabi #Touya Todoroki #Toga Himiko #Tomura Shigaraki #🔥#🏮#R:T #A:Kendrick #Abuse

8 notes · View notes

ao3feed-izuku-midoriya · 5 years

Text

Save the Rejects! Midoriya Rehab Center for Outcasts, Villains, and Other Social Rejects!

Project; Save the Rejects! Midoriya Rehab Center for Outcasts, Villains, and Other Social Rejects! by GinTsuki Okami

This is a story about broken souls coming together to form an unconventional family, aid one another, and in the prosses maybe even save the world every now and then. Easy, right? (Yeah, sure, whatever floats your boat...) ... Follow the Midoriya's in their wild adventures of unorthodox hero-ing, and awkward bonding right here in "Project; Save the Rejects! Midoriya Rehab Center for Outcasts, Villains, and Other Social Rejects!"

Words: 918, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi, Other

Characters: Midoriya Izuku, Midoriya Inko, Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead, Shinsou Hitoshi, Kayama Nemuri | Midnight, Todoroki Shouto, Yamada Hizashi | Present Mic, Iida Tenya, Iida Tensei | Ingenium, Shigaraki Tomura | Shimura Tenko, Dabi, Bakugou Katsuki, Bakugou Mitsuki, Bakugou Masaru, Yagi Toshinori | All Might, Midoriya Hisashi, Class 1-A, Original Non-Human Character(s), Original Characters, Original Human Character(s)

Additional Tags: Quirkless Midoriya Izuku, Shota is a Midoriya, so is Hitoshi, Inko adopting Children like it's nobody's bussiness, Midoriya Izuku is a magical Dork, big sister Kayama Nemuri, Inko adopts Nemuri, Dabi and Shigaraki get adopted by Izuku, Big Brother Dabi, Big Brother Shigaraki Tomura | Shimura Tenko, todoroki Enji is not really evil, Still he fucked up, But he's got reasons, Sensei | All For One is Midoriya Hisashi, but not really, Sensei | All For One is Midoriya Hisashi's dad, The real Sensei is dead, Hisashi is evil incarnate, Dabi is a Todoroki, shoto is an awkward cinnamon roll, too many tags, Grammar is my nemesis, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, No Beta, crack fic treated semi-serious, I'm writing for fun, more like stress writing, Author needs a life, or more sweets-sweets are good!, almost forgot, Izuku is Quirkless but not powerless, like at all, He can kick your butt like a total champ and smile like an angel while he's at it, he's got good trainers, Vigilantism, Villains to vigilantes, Vigilantes to Heroes, Izuku is a problem child, Hitoshi is one too, Midoriya Izuku Does Not Have One for All Quirk, All might will have One for all for a while longer here, but he can shill shapeshift because i like Small might, Parental Yagi Toshinori | All Might, ok now im done, for now, Tags May Change, Maybe - Freeform, someone remind me please, author has bad memory, And swears a lot, some facts are wrong and or purposefully twisted for the sake of the story, or so i would like to say, quite honestly i just made things up on the go to accommodate for my lack of skills, The Author Regrets Nothing, Lies, The Author Regrets Everything

Read Here: http://archiveofourown.org/works/18073811

#AO3 Feed #FanFiction #AO3 Izuku #♢#Erasermic·#Nightsei #Izuku Midoriya #Inko Midoriya #Yagi Toshinori #R:T #A:Gin #Vigilante AU #Quirkless AU #Dad for One #Dad Might

8 notes · View notes

ao3feed-shigadabi · 5 years

Text

Project; Save the Rejects! Midoriya Rehab Center for Outcasts, Villains, and Other Social Rejects!

by GinTsuki_Okami

Words: 918, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi, Other

Characters: Midoriya Izuku, Midoriya Inko, Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead, Shinsou Hitoshi, Kayama Nemuri | Midnight, Todoroki Shouto, Yamada Hizashi | Present Mic, Iida Tenya, Iida Tensei | Ingenium, Shigaraki Tomura | Shimura Tenko, Dabi (My Hero Academia), Bakugou Katsuki, Bakugou Mitsuki, Bakugou Masaru, Yagi Toshinori | All Might, Midoriya Hisashi, Class 1-A (My Hero Academia), Original Non-Human Character(s), Original Characters, Original Human Character(s)

source http://archiveofourown.org/works/18073811

#ifttt #shigadabi #dabishiga #boku no hero academia #fanfic #ao3feed

2 notes · View notes

dabiapologist · 7 years

Text

[My Hero Academia Fanfiction]: come find me in the dark

Sequel to Warmth

Rating: T

Word Count: 4.9k

Pairing: Shigadabi, Shigaraki Tomura/Dabi

Tags: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, but also comedy, shigaraki really fucking hates the cold, Dabi isn't gonna let him live it down, 0-60 angst, Dabi has a song stuck in his head, reference to the “Dabi is a Todoroki” Theory, brief implications and mentions of child abuse

Summary: It’s astounding how a person’s sense of self-preservation can make them seem like someone totally different in the moment.

The last thing Dabi expected to hear was an audible sigh of relief, and he swears he heard a tiny ‘thank you’ creep out from between those chapped, scarred lips. He catches himself before he comments on it, though. It must've taken a lot for the mophead to swallow his pride and come down here again after all the mocking, so he lets it slide for now.

It’s ammunition he’ll store for another day.

Read on || AO3

Read Warmth on || AO3

Tomura stirs at the smell of smoke drifting into his nose and the low rumble of humming from beneath him. The TV is on in the background, but the volume is too low for him to make out what is being said. His eyes flutter open for a moment before pinching shut at the light that immediately hits his eyes.

“...Ugh…” He groans as he rolls over onto his stomach, trying to get comfortable again. He doesn’t remember it ever being this warm in his room.But this is nice, he thinks as he settles onto his stomach and buries his face back into the dark fabric of his bedspread.

...Wait.

His bedspread isn’t dark. And it sure as fuck isn’t this solid, either.

Tomura lies there for a moment, fingers prodding the unknown surface beneath him, mind riddled with sleepy confusion and trying to understand how the hell his sheets went from off-white to a dingy black, and, more importantly, from medium plush to rock hard.

That is, until a new, albeit tired sounding voice floats into his ear from right next to him.

“Mornin’, sunshine.” Dabi drawls through a cloud of cigarette smoke, “D’ya have a nice sleep?”

While it was previously noted that Tomura is not always rational when his personal comfort is at stake, let it also be noted that it takes Tomura a good five minutes or so before really coming online when he wakes up.

And for those five minutes, Shigaraki Tomura is a stone-cold disaster.

He lifts his head slowly, still trying to register in his sleep-fogged mind just what the hell this ashy black and purple blob that is talking to him is, and why he’s lying on it instead of his bed. But once he blinks said blob into focus, it only takes about a fraction of a second for the chain-reaction to begin.

The bar is suddenly alive with noise; specifically death threats and several strings of impressively strung together insults and curse words, all courtesy of their resident leader in villainy and gamer enthusiast.

“What the actual fucking fuck- ”

“I’m gonna take all these hands, and shove them so far up your fucking ass-”

“I’m gonna slit open all those fucking staples and wear you like a mothershitting jacket-”

Luckily for Tomura, there isn’t currently anyone in the bar to witness his rather undignified fall from grace.

Except for Dabi, of course.

Throughout it all, Dabi just sits, calmly smoking his cigarette and half-listening as Tomura runs his insult well dry and right into a drought. It’s more funny than anything, mostly because through all of it, Tomura hasn’t actually moved from where he is curled up against Dabi’s side, and his yelling tantrum sort of spiraled into him sleepily muttering his strings of expletives as he buries his face back into Dabi’s chest.

When he does finally go silent, a good ten minutes later, Dabi finally sees his chance to speak. “Oi, mophead, as precious as watching you drool on me for twelve hours straight has been, I really need to fuckin’ pee.”

It takes a minute for his words to process, but once he starts jabbing his finger into Tomura’s ribs, the smaller man finally shifts. Like a switch flicking on, Tomura jolts and flings himself to the other side of the small couch, wild-eyed and limbs akimbo. Dabi stares back, exhaling the last of his cigarette.

“...What the fuck.” Is Tomura’s first truly coherent sentence of the morning.

“Yeah, I was wondering that for the first four hours, too.” Dabi replies.

“Okay, but actually, what the f-”

“Pause,” Dabi holds his hand up to silence him as he stands up from the couch, smacking his leg to wake it up, “I’ve had to pee the whole fucking night. You can have your meltdown after I do that.”

Without another word, Dabi leaves the room, dragging his still sleeping leg and complaining, and without another word, Tomura stares at his retreating back, still trying to comprehend what the hell is going in this bar.

It’s hard to focus while he’s still trying to shake the sleepiness from his mind and limbs, but the only thing he is really sure of at the moment is that there is a draft in here, and it’s awful.

“I’m pretty sure I have an ulcer on my ass.” Is the first thing Dabi says when he comes back a few minutes later.

“You don’t get ulcers that quickly, idiot.” Tomura quips groggily as he turns to him from watching the news, face wrinkled in disgust. “But that wouldn’t surprise me. I’m pretty sure there’s a new form of flesh-eating bacteria festering on this shitty old couch.”

Dabi plops down in the exact same spot, chuckling. “And yet you’re still sitting on it, dickhead. For the record, it’s because you wouldn’t let me get up or even move since yesterday.”

“Yesterday ?” Tomura repeats.

“Yeah.”

“I’ve been sleeping here since fucking yesterday ?”

“Mmhmm. Well, technically,” Dabi turns to him, “We’ve been sleeping here since yesterday. Since, you know, I was also here. Hungry, and needing to pee. And not being able to.”

“Why didn’t you just wake me up?!”

“Yeah, I tried that,” Dabi grimaces. “A couple of times...” He trails off as he brings his hand to his shirt collar and tugs it down. His collarbone is littered with scratches and teeth marks. Tomura flushes. Today just keeps getting better and better.

“I did that?”

“Yeah, man. You’re even more of a savage in your sleep.” Dabi mutters as he sets his shirt right again, “What, did you just escape from the fucking woods? Sure seems like it.”

“Fuck you.”

“Tch, and to think I had spent the day sleeping so I could stay out on patrol all night. And instead I stayed up the whole night watching old ass movies on TV while you bit and slobbered all over me. They played the Mask three times in a row.”

Tomura wipes off some crusted spit on the side of his mouth disdainfully. “The fuck is that?”

“I dunno, some American movie, I guess. I didn’t really know what was going on, but I sat through it three fucking times because there was nothing else on, and now I have Cuban Pete playing in a loop in my head. So thanks.”

Tomura stands up and walks over to the bar, snatching up the morning paper from the end of the bar. “Pfft. Whatever.”

But Dabi doesn’t let him escape that easily.

The edges of the paper start to disintegrate when Tomura crushes them in his grip. Instead of staying over on his gross couch, or better yet, leaving, Dabi comes over and slides into the seat next to him, hooded eyes twinkling with amusement.

It was foolish of Tomura to hope that Dabi would let it go just like that. He really should’ve known better.

“So… are you planning on actually telling me? Or are you going to act like it didn’t happen?”

The paper rips. “Tell you what ?”

“Why you were sleeping on me?”

Tomura tries to focus on the article --the part that isn’t dust yet-- that he’s reading, but he can feel Dabi’s eyes on him, probing. He pointedly stares at his newspaper, hoping that if he stays silent long enough, Dabi will eventually give up and fuck off.

But after five minutes of uncomfortable silence and even more uncomfortable staring, Tomura starts to think this might be futile.

“I’m still waiting.”

“You’re gonna be waiting fucking forever. Now get away from me.”

Goddammit. He never would’ve pegged Dabi as someone who was persistent, let alone annoyingly so; and yet here he is, now nearly ten minutes later, still trying to read his stupid paper while Dabi stares at him with his chin resting in his palm, grinning like the cat that caught the canary. They both know that Tomura’s nerves are wearing thin.

“Did you know that you purr in your sleep sometimes?”

More of the paper turns to dust.

“I never thought I’d say this, creep, but you sure have your cute moments. You kept making these little noises when you’d move, and when I wanted to get up, you’d like, paw at me. So precious.”

That paper never stood a fucking chance. And it only gets worse when Dabi lets the topic drop in favor of something even worse.

“They call me Cuban Pete, I’m the king of the rumba beat, ” Dabi hums the rest, adding too many ‘ chic-chic-ky-boom ’s in as he shakes his fists like he’s holding maracas.

Tomura has never wished for telekinetic powers more than he has right now; he’s been glaring at a bottle of scotch on one of the shelves, willing it to fly across the bar and hit Dabi right in his stupid, smug, chic-chic-ky-boom-ing face.

“I don’t know what it means, but it’s really catchy.”

“.....”

“Chic-chic-ky-boom, chic-chic-ky-boom ,”

“Shut up! Fuck.”

“Then answer my question.”

The bell above the door suddenly chimes, signalling a new arrival at the bar. Toga flounces in, grinning and tap-tap-tapping at her phone at the speed of light, singing some annoying pop song that Tomura is sure he would hate if he were actually listening to the words.

Her smile explodes when she finally looks up and notices the two of them sitting at the bar.

“Tomura-kun, you’re finally awake!” She says as she throws herself onto him in a big hug. “You were sleeping for so long! Like an evil, angry sleeping beauty!”

Dabi snorts. Tomura’s hand twitches.

“I need a fucking drink.” He mutters to himself. The fact that he hasn’t eaten anything yet makes no nevermind to him. The faster he can get drunk, the better.

He nudges the girl off of him and slides out of his stool. He grabs a bottle off the shelf, not really caring what it is as long as it’s alcohol, and brings it back with him to his designated spot.

“He really bit you?! Oh wow!” Toga suddenly chirps, catching his attention; more accurately, it makes him want to murder everyone in the bar. It feels a lot like that day the old man brought these two along and they all almost killed each other.

Right now, Tomura is regretting letting them live.

“That’s kinda kinky,” She says, giggling as she ogles at the welts and scabbed over teeth marks that trail up and down Dabi’s neck and collar.

Dabi smirks. “Yeah, crazy right? He almost ripped one of my staples out. The guy’s an animal.”

“Shut... the fuck... up.”

“Why were you sleeping with Dabi, Tomura-kun?” Toga asks. She and Dabi are wearing identical smiles; one that makes Tomura feel like he’s being cornered. Whatever. It’s their funeral. Once he finishes this bottle.

“Yeah, mophead. Answer the girl.”

“Do you two want to die today?”

Toga pouts. “But you were so cute, Tomura-kun! Like a sleepy little kitty! And Dabi was cute, too!” She says, tugging on Dabi’s shirt, “He didn’t wanna wake you up even though you were drooling on him.”

If it wasn’t holding his precious liquor, the bottle would’ve met the same fate as the newspaper.

“I fucking drooled?!”

Dabi nods. “Yeah buddy, you were running like a backwater creek. I never would’ve guessed that you had that much moisture in your body at one time.”

Tomura wishes he wasn’t immune to his quirk. Death would be better than this.

“Oh my god…” He mutters.

“Ah, Shigaraki Tomura, you’re finally awake.” Kurogiri says as he enters the bar. His shapeless countenance shifts upward at the edges, into a misty smile.

Understandably, Tomura does not return the gesture. “Great, you’re here now.” He snaps. Kurogiri looks taken aback at the outburst, but only for a second, used to Tomura’s moods swings.

“Yes, great.” Dabi parrots, eyes flashing. “Yo vapeman, maybe you can answer us. Why was mophead over here draped on top of me like fucking Cleopatra when he has a perfectly good bedroom upstairs?”

“It’s Blackmist, and because he was cold.” Kurogiri, in a poorly timed moment of not paying attention to his young master’s mood or the mood of the room, answers without thinking. He’s stocking a shelf, so he doesn’t see the acidic look Tomura throws at him.

“Kurogiri…” Tomura growls, but it doesn’t matter anyway, because his gaze quickly turns to the two next to him. Dabi and Toga are both staring at him, their mouths making little ‘o’s, though Dabi’s is quickly turning into a full-on smile.

Toga squeaks in demented delight. “Oh! I get it!~” She sing-songs, shaking Dabi’s arm roughly, “Because Dabi is always warm ‘cause he shoots fire!”

“You were cold? N’aww...” Dabi teases, a hand to his chest in mock tenderness. “Sorry, have you never heard of a little thing called a sweater? Or a blanket?”

“I’m wearing a sweater right now, you pit stain.”

But the insult goes unheard as Dabi snaps his fingers. “Oh, but wait. That pile of clothing on the floor must be yours then, huh?”

“.....”

“You were so eager to snuggle up with me-”

Tomura abruptly stands, tossing the gritty, tattered remains of his newspaper on the counter with a low growl.

“Fuck this. I’m leaving.” He grunts. They hear him stomp up the stairs; the sound fades away steadily and then all of a sudden gets louder again when Tomura comes back and, without a single word, grabs his forgotten liquor bottle off the counter and storms off again. The three of them watch him go wordlessly, until the distant slam of a door is heard.

No one says anything for a beat, not until Dabi pulls out his cigarettes and realizes he’s down to two sticks. Seems about right, since he spent the entirety of the night smoking to distract himself from how bad he had to go to the bathroom.

“Shit.” He curses with a sigh. “Hey, brat.”

Toga looks up at him, still clinging to his arm. “Yeah?”

Dabi pops the last cigarettes out onto the counter and hands her the empty box. “You’re better at blending in than I am. Go steal me a pack of cigarettes.”

Toga considers it for a second before shrugging. “‘Kay.”

“Get those, but the ones that say 100’s. I like those better.”

“Okie dokie~!”

“Don’t let anyone see you, Himiko!” Kurogiri calls after her as she exits.

Dabi stares at the door as it swings shut, lighting up one of the cigarettes and taking a deep inhale. “I probably should’ve told her to get us food, too.” He says as afterthought, “I’m fuckin’ starving. Eh, whatever.”

“Were you two the only ones here?” Kurogiri asks as he continues stocking the empty shelves.

“Uh-hunh.”

“Where is everyone else?”

Dabi shrugs. “No clue.”

“I see.”

They sit in silence after that, Dabi smoking and watching the news while Kurogiri goes around the bar performing his usual morning routine, including picking up the bundle of sweaters and overshirts Tomura had unceremoniously dumped on the floor the night before.

“When I play the maracas I go chic-chic-ky-boom, chic-chic-ky-boom. Yes sir, I'm Cuban Pe- ”

“...I beg your pardon, Dabi?”

“Oh, it’s nothing. Just this stupid song I have stuck in my head.” Dabi replies, waving his hand in dismissal.

“Heh, so our little mophead hates the cold, huh? I guess that’s not surprising. He’s sort of tiny under all that black. He’s so light I barely even noticed him.”

He recalls one show he saw on TV once a long time ago, some nature show about reptiles. “It’s kinda like when snakes get cold, like how they look for the warmest thing to raise their body temperature back up. Mophead’s kinda like that.”

Kurogiri chuckles, nodding in agreement. “That’s an accurate analogy, though I hope it wasn’t too much of an imposition. He doesn’t sleep well in the winter time, for obvious reasons.”

Dabi laughs. “It’s fine. I know I was teasing him a lot, but I just like ruffling his feathers. To be honest I didn’t really mind all that much. I actually... I liked seeing that side of him. Makes him seem less like a complete psycho and more like a real human.”

It is then that something from the night before comes back to him. Something that had been sitting like a thorn in the back of his mind since then. “Actually... say, blackmist… can I ask you something… kinda personal?”

Kurogiri looks up at that. “Personal?”

Dabi hesitates for a second, taking a slow, contemplative drag on his cigarette, choosing his words carefully. “Did you know that mophead… that he cries in his sleep?”

Kurogiri goes still for a moment, foggy yellow eyes widening as he looks over at Dabi. “... He does?”

Dabi nods, exhaling thoughtfully. “Yeah.” He looks up from the counter. “This morning when I tried to wake him up... I think he was having a nightmare.”

Dabi turns in the stool, facing Kurogiri. “He wasn’t sobbing or anything, but his eyes and cheeks were wet. He kept saying that he was sorry. And...” He pauses to look up the dark stairway. “He said, ‘please don’t hit me’.”

At that, Kurogiri stops. “I…” He stumbles over his words, before trailing off, at a loss. Dabi notices his discomfort, wondering if maybe he should’ve kept it to himself after all.

“I won’t pry,” He says with an indifferent shrug, “But, ya know...” He pauses for a beat, a wry smile forming on his lips. “...It kinda hit close to home.”

Kurogiri’s eyes sink, as if to furrow with the weight of that casual admittance. “...I see.”

“That’s part of the reason I left him alone. I didn’t have the heart to wake him up after hearing that. It sort of freaked me out. But also, I get the sense that if he knew I heard him say that, he might really try to kill me.”

Kurogiri chuckles, despite himself. “That would be a fair assumption.”

The two share a laugh at that as Kurogiri resumes tidying up the bar.

“I do hope you’ll keep that information to yourself, Dabi.” Kurogiri says after a long silence.

“Naturally,” Dabi says. “I have no reason to tell anyone that.”

Dabi pulls over an ashtray and taps some long forgotten ash off the end of his cigarette. By then, most of it is already on the counter-top. “People are at their most honest when they’re angry, but who you really are shows most when you’re asleep, I think. And for all that talk and all that rage, he’s just a scared kid who never really got to grow up.”

Kurogiri nods somberly at that, but the soft ‘I can relate’ that follows cuts him deep. After all is said and done, he’s glad that Tomura accepted Dabi, and Toga, and everyone, into his organization. It’d just been the two of them before, and Kurogiri is glad that his young charge finally has others around that can relate to him on his level. Even if they tease him to the point of homicide.

“And he is cute when he’s asleep. Toga hit it right on the head. He is like a little cat. Fluffy and irritable.” Dabi rubs at his collar. “...Just wish he didn’t bite the shit out of me, though. I mean, it didn't hurt or anything, but still.”

“I apologize for that.” Kurogiri says. “But try not to tease him too much.”

Dabi quickly swipes the ash off with his hand when Kurogiri’s back is turned. “I make no promises, vapeman.”

“Blackmist. ”

*******

He hadn’t intended to stay at the bar that night, but in the end, Dabi decided he didn’t really feel like going back to his rundown hovel of an apartment which was on the other, even shadier side of town, but he didn’t feel like joining Twice and Mr. Compress out on patrol, either. He liked his crappy couch here better than the glorified army cot he called a bed, anyway. Besides, he rather liked the ambiance of the bar after hours.The dim, burlesque lighting settled him down, and Kurogiri didn’t mind if he left the TV on, for which Dabi was grateful. The white noise in the background and the pale light from the screen helped him fall asleep.

He pillows his arm behind his head and shifts onto his side, curling into the worn but soft cushions of the couch. Some time passes as he stares at the inside of his eyelids, his mind slowly emptying itself of the day’s events and his ever-racing thoughts. He’s almost completely drifted off when a sudden presence makes itself known right above him.

“Oi,” grunts the familiar voice.

Dabi’s eyes flutter back open. He can just make out Tomura’s light hair and scowling face staring back down at him, but it’s not hard to see that he’s at least twice his size from all the layers he’s got on. And it certainly doesn’t take a genius to figure out why he’s here.

Dabi can’t help but grin up at him. “Cold again?”

Tomura looks ready to spit nails down at him, and for a second, Dabi is certain he’s going to get a tongue lashing for all the teasing earlier. But then Tomura’s jaw snaps shut, and with a huff, the younger man slowly nods in affirmation.

“...yeah.” He mutters, clearly ashamed of himself.

In the silence of the room, almost fading in with the soft laugh track playing from the sitcom in the background, Dabi can hear Tomura shuddering and his teeth chattering.

Well, Dabi thinks, it is snowing outside tonight. He supposes that that is something normal people, as in, people that don’t have a fire-emitting type quirk, would notice. To him, it’s just another night. But to Tomura, who he can see is trembling even under a million layers, it’s a fucking nightmare.

Dabi rolls his eyes with a sigh, but still turns over and lies flat on his back. “Come on, then.”

It’s astounding how a person’s sense of self-preservation can make them seem like someone totally different in the moment.

It’s ammunition he’ll store for another day.

It takes a few minutes and a few ‘accidents’ (“You just kneed me right in the balls.” “You deserved it.”) before they properly settle on the cramped couch, but once Tomura finds his place splayed out against Dabi’s side like before, Dabi can’t help but notice that this is way more comfortable than he’d ever be willing to admit out loud. He can feel Tomura’s shivering body gradually beginning to relax against him, milking the warmth provided by his quirk.

Creepy lunatics like Tomura shouldn’t be this cute, but here he is. Being cute as hell. It’s not fair.

“Um, ‘kay. Goodnight, I guess.” Dabi says, not taking it to heart when he doesn’t get a response. And for a few minutes, the room is quiet. Awkwardly quiet, but quiet nonetheless.

Tomura’s gone still, and his breathing has evened out a bit, so Dabi assumes he’s asleep already. His own eyes drift shut again, and he sighs the last bit of tension out of his body. Dabi is almost out when,

“I heard you, you know.”

Dabi’s eyes snap right back open. Fucking hell.

Dabi tries to look down at him, but all he gets is a face-full of light blue hair. “Heard what?”

“You talking with Kurogiri earlier. I heard you.”

The conversation replays over in Dabi’s mind, particularly the part about Tomura crying in his sleep, and Dabi goes rigid. The subject of Tomura’s past and Father, the hand affixed to his face normally, are the one taboo subject among the league of villains, the one thing that makes Tomura see red faster than anything else.

Dabi swallows thickly. Well, he’s lived an alright life, he supposes.

“Listen, I-”

“...was I really crying?”

Dabi tenses. But it’s not out of fear. It’s from flat out shock.

He never thought he could hear someone sound so meek, least of all someone like Shigaraki Tomura. And yet here they are, lying together on a cruddy old couch in dark bar on a random Tuesday, and Tomura sounding like he’s on the verge of tears again.

He has no idea how to handle this. Tomura is nothing if not unpredictable on his best days, and they all learned early on that this particular subject is a veritable minefield.

Shit.

“Yeah, you were.” He breathes out reluctantly after a moment. May as well be honest.

He can feel Tomura begin to tense next to him, and his hand starting to clench into a fist, bunching up Dabi’s shirt.

“Hey, hey, don’t do that!”

Dabi strokes at the now trembling hand, carefully but firmly coaxing the lethal digits out of the tightly balled fist Tomura had made. When they’re all laid out flat on his stomach again, thumb up, he breathes a sigh of relief.

“What are you gonna do if you accidentally kill your new heater?”Dabi jokes, trying to lighten the mood again. But Tomura is dead silent, and to be honest Dabi feels a little unnerved by it. It’s safe to say he has stepped on the landmine.

“Hey-”

Tomura shuffles awkwardly against him, leaning further into his neck.

“... sorry .”

And just like that, the weight of that single word, of that tiny, childlike utterance, nearly crushes the air out of his lungs. It’s the most pathetic, heartbreaking thing Dabi has ever heard in his life. For the first time ever, truly, he is at a complete loss for words.

His hand moves on its own before he can even process what’s he doing, or the very real consequences it might incur for him later. This might get him killed, but he just can’t help himself. He leans down, brushing Tomura’s messy bangs aside, and, his life expectancy be damned, he places a soft kiss on the damp skin underneath, followed by another. And another.

There is a small gasp of surprise, but for once, it’s not followed by a snappy insult or a death threat. To his surprise, Tomura’s head tilts up a bit, and Dabi takes it as silent approval of his sudden show of affection.

“You’re not the only one who had a shitty dad.” He whispers, carding through the soft curls, finding himself enjoying the feeling. Tomura is really fluffy. And this might be pushing it, but he spreads his fingers out, moving his hand in small, serene circles. He’s never had to comfort someone before, and he hopes this is how it goes. The feeling is somewhat alien to him, but it’s not really unpleasant, either.

Tomura relaxes after a beat, laughing quietly at that. Dabi feels like he should say something to fill the sudden quiet that follows, but nothing really comes to mind. So in the end, he decides to just let it be.

They fall into a semi-comfortable silence for a long while after that; so long that Dabi is sure that Tomura has finally fallen asleep. His hand drops to the bony waist, cracking his knuckles out of habit, and lets out a silent yawn.

He decides to have a quick cigarette before he falls asleep, half-watching an infomercial for some garbage product that Dabi can’t imagine anyone ever actually using.

“They call me Cuban Pete, I’m the king of the rumba beat,” He starts whisper-singing mindlessly, “when I play the maracas I go chic-chic-ky-boom, chic-chic-ky- uugff!”

“Don’t you dare start with that bullshit.” Tomura rasps, one bleary eye cracked open and glaring.

“Fucking hell,” Dabi mutters, rubbing his now sore ribs, “This is what I get for being nice.”

Tomura reaches for his hand and places it back on his head. “Keep doing what you were doing before. I like it.”

Dabi smokes the rest of his cigarette, fingers making tiny soothing circles on Tomura's scalp and occasionally curling the light locks around his fingers, wondering how it was that someone's hair could be so fucking soft. They fall asleep like that, with Dabi’s fingers tangled in Tomura’s hair, and Tomura curled against him like a lifeline.

********

“So, is this gonna be like a regular thing with these two?” Spinner whispers to Twice the next morning.

“Eh, just leave ‘em alone, man! No big deal!” Twice replies animatedly, waving it off. “But yeah, we should probably wake them up, right?”

“Well, how about that, ladies and gentlemen?” Mr. Compress quips, a quarter dancing over his knuckles idly. “Call me crazy, but I think we’re seeing a new act beginning.”

“...if you three fuckers don’t want to be burned alive, I suggest you leave. Now.” Dabi’s quiet, albeit groggy voice suddenly cuts into the chatter like a knife. “Mophead’s a grouchy riser.”

“...You know he’s drooling on you, right?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

#shigadabi #shigaraki tomura #dabi #BNHA fic #fanfiction meme #comments/kudos on ao3 greatly appreciated! <3

85 notes · View notes