Chapter 15: Pulling Legs Off Of Spiders
Jirou wheezed as she finally straightened her arms fully, and held the bar out as far away from her body as possible. "Come on," she wheezed, "if you won't take off a weight then take away the gravity."
"Nope! You asked to work out with me and this is part of my warm up."
Jirou made a noise that sounded more like it should have come from a dying horse than a stick thin girl before she pushed the bar up and into the stand. She let her arms fall over her as she gasped, then rolled over on the bench so her back was to the door. Uraraka bounced on the balls of her feet and clapped her hands together to try to rouse her.
"Come on, Jirou! Next we'll do reps with dumbbells!"
"I hate you. You're the worst girlfriend ever," Jirou said without looking up. Uraraka laughed brightly, her whole face crinkling up as she put her hands on her round hips.
"Or I could bench press you if you like," she offered. Jirou only groaned weakly.
"So long as I don't have to move."
Mina chewed on her lip and pressed her fingers hard against the door frame. They looked like they were having so much fun and she so, so didn't was to interrupt it. But Mina was certain they didn't know. Uraraka was tough but she had a soft heart, she wouldn't be so cavalier if she knew, and since neither of them had responded to her tagging in the group text it was safe to say they hadn't looked at their phones since the article went up.
Maybe she should just leave? Let them have fun then tell them after? But no, if Uraraka heard about it over the school announcement system then . . . it would be better to hear from a friend first. Right? She didn't have any real experience with this. With loss or death, outside of when her dad died when she was eight.
The wood frame sizzled slightly and Mina yanked her hand away quickly as she shook off the acid that had been forming on her skin like sweat. She hadn't been so close to losing control in years, and now was not the time to accidentally melt off her clothing. Again.
The school gym was crowded, even before school started. Kids who lived in the dorms were encouraged to use the facilities and Uraraka did indeed live in school dorms, even if it was off campus.
Mina was the only one not in gym uniform, and she felt a bit overdressed in her pleated skirt and bowtie but no one so much as glanced at her as she stepped in, not even her friends. At least, not until she was standing right behind them and said, "hey, Uraraka? Can I talk to you?"
Jirou and Uraraka had found two of those big inflatable yoga balls, and Uraraka had been trying to talk Jirou into doing stomach crunches on the soft cushion rather than on the floor. For what reason that was better than the normal way was beyond Mina but that was hardly her priority. "Oh hey Mina," Uraraka said. She stopped mid crunch and flopped back, turning up her head to look her in the eye. Jirou was sitting slouched on hers, balanced carefully and she greeted Mina with a little smile and a wave. On any other day she would have jokingly teased them before asking how their weeks were, but today she couldn't even muster a smile. She gripped her upper right forearm and shifted nervously from foot to foot.
"Hi – I need to talk to you," Mina repeated.
Uraraka frowned as she sat up, and Jirou straightened up. "Are you okay?"
"What's wrong?"
Mina shook her head and avoided looking either of them in the eye. "I'm . . . look, please can we go to the locker room? I need to talk to you. Well, you too Jirou." Uraraka had been the only one who really seemed to be friends with Iida but it would probably help to hear it as a pair.
Uraraka blinked before she nodded. "Okay." Her voice had adopted Mina's serious tone and she rose up. Jirou wobbled slightly, almost falling onto her face before Mina oh-so helpfully caught her by her elbow and pulled her up.
"Thanks," Jirou said weakly. She was moving as though her legs had turned to jelly and Mina held on when Jirou tried to pull away. Before she could protest, Mina guided her along, taking up a pace too quick for Jirou to match unaided. She really was a wimp, wasn't she? Even Mina could bench more than that! Whatever, it just went to prove that Uraraka was a good match.
As soon as they were in the locker room Mina deposited Jirou on a bench and darted around Uraraka, making sure no other girls were in the little nook she had claimed. "Um . . . Mina? Are you okay?" Uraraka was standing beside Jirou, who looked like she had melted over the seat. Without a word Mina turned on her and wrapped her arms tightly around Uraraka's shoulders, and buried her face against her neck so her broken horn pressed against Uraraka's cheek. Her forehead had pressed against one of the burned gouges in her shoulder and Mina's knees suddenly buckled. "Woah!" Uraraka yelped as she was almost dragged down to the floor.
Behind them Jirou had managed to pulled herself up, clearly recognizing that for even someone as theatrical as Mina this was uncharacteristic. Uraraka carefully sat her down as well, and propped her up against Jirou. "Okay, what's going on? Did something happen with Kaminari?" Uraraka prompted but Mina furiously shook her head. Oh god she needed to tell him too! The moment she opened the article she had thought about Uraraka, and not stopped until she found her.
"You didn't read the news?" Mina asked, fumbling for words. She knew the answer, and she didn't bother to look up to see Uraraka shaking her head. "Iida-" She didn't know him, but she did care. Mina always cared about things, maybe too much so. Her mom had said that would make her a good hero but right now it just hurt. "Iida's-" She didn't want to say it. Instead, Mina shifted her weight to her hip and dug around in her jacket pocket until she pulled out her phone. It had a clunky corrosive-resistant case in a loud tiger striped teal and pink, and the charms tied to the bottom bounced against her wrist as she unlocked it, then passed it to Uraraka. 'Student of prestigious academy, U.A., killed by infamous serial killer Stain,' read the top of the screen in bold, black font.
"Iida was killed, Uraraka."
Uraraka was silent, but the phone had been lifted out of Mina's hand and she decided to just look down at her feet. Her chest felt tight and when Jirou slung an arm around her she leaned in close, and buried her face into Jirou's chest. "What-? You mean his brother?"
"No, our Iida," Mina said. On her other side Uraraka sat down, her thumb flicking down the screen as she read the report.
"A-and now people are saying they should close the school and the school hasn't said anything." Mina tugged on her skirt and shook her head. Th bell was going to ring soon. How soon Mina didn't know, not without her phone but she did know that her friends would have to shower and change beforehand. Not that she cared. Honestly, with the trackrecord of their class so far Iida's friends being late should be the least of Aizawa's concern. After a pause Mina sat upright, looking straight forward for a moment before she spread her arms wide and grabbed both Jirou and Uraraka, pulling them into her and squeezing them in a hug so tight both girls were gasping for air.
Mina hadn't really though that High School was going to be like this. She had always imagined it would be like Middle School with cute boys and that she would finally have found something to work for. She didn't think her choices would have already lead to some of her friends getting kidnapped and another dead. "Uh, Mina your boob is smothering me," Jirou protested but all that happened was she got a much tighter squeeze. It wasn't supposed to be like this. They were supposed to be happy. This wasn't supposed to happen and Mina didn't know if she could hold on tight enough.
XXX
The second Stain walked into the bar a small red sneaker came swinging into the middle of his face. He lurched back out of habit and the sole only grazed his chin. The younger of the two brothers – the weedy looking one with a wet noodle in place of his spine – had actually attacked him. He had put his hands on one of the many uneven, wobbly tables and swung himself around so he was perched on all fours and glaring at him. "Hmm? What's got into you, brat?"
"You killed Iida! He was my friend!" The boy snarled. His green eyes were rimmed with red and his voice had an unpleasant rasp, "I told you no hurting anyone who wasn't a hero!"
"Couldn't be helped." Stain dodged another kick with relative ease, and elbowed the kid between the shoulder blades so he went face first into the floor. But his hero training had payed off, and he managed to tumble over into a crouch facing Stain. His face was hard-set and furious, an expression not dissimilar to the one the dead boy wore. The main difference was this one had no disillusion of grandeur, no desire to be a hero. He was a villain and he knew it.
"Couldn't be helped!? Of course it could be helped! You've left people alive before! You left his brother alive, didn't you!?" he threw a punch this time, but this time as Stain side stepped he pulled out his knife. Not to kill, for a villain it was clear the younger Shigaraki had a strong creed, but to paralyze until his brother or the bartender decided to show up. But when he aimed the knife at the child, rather than scratch him the blade phased into his arm. As if he had simply cut through open air. For the briefest moment he caught a smirk on the boy's face before he aimed another kick . . . only for that to phase straight through Stain's hip. "Shit!" The younger brother yelped as he tripped and fell over.
"Heh, seriously kid? You're that bad with your quirk?"
"I don't use this one in combat!" The boy protested. Stain licked his lips and sneered. 'This one'? His brother had told him to take Stain's own quirk as well. Ahhh, so the younger brother was a mimic, then? Or something to that effect. Not a bad talent to have, even if he was trying to use a quirk he was unfamiliar with. Stain stepped down hard on the kid's wrist as soon as Shigaraki moved to throw another punch, and therefore made himself solid again.
"Some things can't be helped, brat, you should know that by now." Shigaraki squirmed furiously before he made himself intangible once more and Stain stepped through him. His foot made contact with the floor as the boy rolled then popped up again. He seemed to have figured out how to switch between tangible and intangible in a matter of seconds since he grabbed the blade at the hilt before he made both himself and the blade phase through Stain as he sprang back. "Heh, you're a squirrely little bastard, ain't ya? What do you think you can do with that?"
"You can only use your quirk if you can cut skin, right?" The younger Shigaraki said. He held one knife in front of him but in his other hand . . . Stain glanced down at his hip then laughed. Little brat, when had he taken that? It wasn't like Stain only had two and the boy held them clumsily, uselessly even. Heroes didn't learn how to use blades very often, and clearly Shigaraki junior didn't know what he was doing.
"So what're you planning to do now?" Stain taunted and the boy ground his teeth together. Evidently he hadn't even bothered to plan anything out after trying to kick him in the face.
"I-I'm going t-"
"Izuku. What are you doing?" The boy flinched and looked absolutely horrified, and Stain just threw up an eyebrow as he glared at the bar. The guy who probably should have been leading was back at his post behind the bar, the angle of his glowing yellow eyes indicating his agitation. "Do not destroy my bar or attack our guest."
"Sorry," the boy muttered. He shuffled over to the bar and left the blades on the counter before he slid into his regular seat, a safe distance away. He looked shamefaced and flustered, but more likely because he was caught having a tantrum rather than any sort of regret. "Where's-?"
"Shigaraki Tomura will not be joining us. In the meanwhile, please allow me to fill you into our plan," Kurogiri said graciously as he gestured pointedly to the seat furthest away from where the boy was. Stain sneered but he stalked to the bar, not sitting down and not reclaiming his blades just yet. "Would you like anything to drink?"
"Stop wasting my time and tell me what the fuck you want." Kurogiri hummed and passed the drink he had been mixing to the child, who wordlessly took it and started sipping.
"We're going to shut down the City." The boy spoke up this time, "the city is powered primarily by the two plants to the east, we're going to shut them down simultaneously. Back up power will take around fifteen minutes to kick on but the city won't be at full power for another few hours. Since your . . . stunt U.A. announced students will be living on dorms and the staff will have highly limited access to the outside world. Since our goal is still to attack All Might the only way to get anyone in or out effectively and without alerting anyone to our true intentions the most effective way is to attack the entire city."
"How do you plan to shut down two powerplants?"
"Let us worry about that," Kurogiri said, and from the look he shared with the boy Stain figured they had already planned that out long before factoring him in, they just didn't trust him to know all of it. Wasn't any skin off his teeth.
"With the power down you'll be able to do whatever you want but . . . we want you to attack the Endeavor agency. It's close to U.A. so when the school is alerted the teachers will be more focused on keeping their students safe from you. Seeing as how you've clearly got no issue with murdering first year students," the boy glared daggers at him as he spoke, "we're going to draw out All Might."
"Going to abduct another little girl?"
"No," the boy bristled. "We already have someone he wants."
Stain arched an eyebrow and Kurogiri rather cryptically provided, "Shimura. All Might has a personal history with that person."
"Alright so, in brief, you're going to shut down city power and during that citywide panic you want me to attack the Endeavor Agency while you guys try to lure out All Might? All Might is my goal too, why would I go with that?"
"Because I know you want to purge the world of heroes, and I don't think Endeavor lives up to your standards."
Perceptive little shit. Stain licked his lips then shrugged. "All right. Is that it?"
"No . . . We still have many relatively low ranking villains as members of the league who will be mobilized across the city to keep heroes scattered. Since they won't be able to mobilize effectively we're trusting that you'll be able to eliminate Endeavor while we take out All Might. When the power comes back Japan will no longer have her two greatest heroes anymore." The boy actually smiled genuinely at the idea as he said, "and then the world will see Tomura."
"You lost me at that last bit, brat, but it works for me. When is this shit going down?"
"The ninth of next month, three and a half weeks from today," Kurogiri said smoothly, "shortly after three in the afternoon. We can assist you in getting whatever you need to be prepared."
"I don't need shit from you. All I want is the opportunity to fight All Might when you fail. Is that everything?"
"Yes . . . if we have any change in plans I will send word," Kurogiri said.
Stain stalked over and picked up his knives, shoving them roughly into his belt before he paused. He had a smaller, thin knife made to puncture rather than slice. It was easy enough to hide and he set it straight up and down in the counter so it was embedded in the wood. "You're useless with hand to hand." the brat looked up sharply, his brow knitting and his lips drawing into a thin line. "Try playing around with this thing, you could make use of a knife with a quirk like yours."
Shigaraki cocked his head before he pointedly looked away and took a swig from his glass. He was too young to be drinking, but that was hardly up to Stain to dictate the boy's behavior. That was up to the brother. Kurogiri glanced warily between the two before he nodded. "Have a good day," he said politely as Stain banged the door open, and walked out into the black night and swirling wind.
Rain spattered into the bar and the wind slammed the door a few times before it shut completely, and the bar was once again a still shelter in the center of a storm. "Where is Tomura? For real?" Izuku asked after a long pause.
"He threw a fit when he found out Stain was coming. I was going to ask you to go get him but you apparently decided to pick a fight yourself."
"He killed Iida!"
"Hmm?"
"Don't 'hmm' me! Iida was my friend! H-he was a good person."
"Izuku, if we get our way a lot more people are going to die. Some of them will be people you know, people you care about. On both sides." Izuku glared furiously at his now empty glass and Kurogiri took it without a word and handed him a second. "But he will assist greatly in our cause. I thought you would be able to see that."
"I . . . h-he came early. I didn't think I would be alone when I saw him and my body just . . . reacted." He couldn't help himself. It was as though, for a moment, everything was simple again. Stain was The Bad Guy and Izuku was going to stop him. It had actually been rather pleasant truth be told. God, Izuku wished he was still on speaking terms with Jirou. He glanced up at Kurogiri's face, then followed his gaze down to the knife stuck in the table. Was Stain mocking him or trying to give him advice? It was hard to tell.
"Hey, Kurogiri?"
"Yes?"
"W-would . . . would you tell me about your daughter?"
Kurogiri froze, his hands growing tight. He didn't look down at Izuku but after a long pause he shook his head. "Another time, perhaps. First if you wouldn't mind finding Tomura? He is not dressed for this weather and he'll be out all night if no one fetches him." It was the least subtle deflection Izuku had ever seen in his life. But he supposed he couldn't blame Kurogiri. The question had clearly caught him off guard and it wasn't something he had ever talked about, not even to Sensei.
"I'll bring an umbrella for him," Izuku said as he slid off his chair, leaving his second glass untouched. He walked along the bar, to the small walk in coat closet when he paused parallel to the knife. He had felt like Stain was mocking him. The knife was tiny, a switchblade that gangsters might have used before quirks existed. Slowly, Izuku reached out and picked it up, folding down the blade with one thumb then slipping it into his jeans pocket. He could figure out if Stain wanted to insult him later, he decided. For now finding Tomura would take priority.
XXX
"Uraraka!" Mina whipped her head around as the door creaked open and Katsuki dropped the razor with a furious hiss.
"You wanna lose a fuckin' ear, dumbass!?" He spat but Mina was already on her feet and throwing open the door to welcome Ochako into the boy's dorm room. It was already rather crowded. Kirishima was on his back on the bed, thumbing through a textbook that he wasn't actually reading likely with the intentions of tutoring Kaminari who had fallen asleep next to him. He was supposed to be tutoring Mina as well, but apparently that had devolved as well since Katsuki was sitting on the middle of a black trash bag with a razor and scissors in his lap and Mina's hair was . . .
"What-"
"It's called an undercut and I'm not fucking finished so shut your damn mouth." Katsuki snarled. He rose to his feet and practically carried Mina back to her seat on the middle of the bag so he could continue with the hair cut. "Where's your girl?"
"We went on a jog around the dorms," Ochako explained as she sat down on the computer chair, "she fell asleep as soon as we got back." Pity, since it was a friday they could actually try to relax as a friend group. For the first time since becoming a friend group, honestly. "If you really want to wake her up just tag her in the group chat, she forgot to get her jack out of her phone."
"Don't do that! That's mean," Kirishima protested but Katsuki just mouthed something along the lines of 'oh my god I don't care' before the razor flicked to life and he began to press it against the back of Mina's head again. Uraraka arched an eyebrow but didn't question it. He knew makeup and dresses, of course he knew hair. Besides, it seemed that he had made it his mission to drag Mina out of the eighties whether she wanted to leave it alone or not. Like that would ever happen. It would be a cold day in hell before Mina changed what she liked.
"So is this a study group, hair stylizing, nap time, orrrrr will we actually watch a movie?" Ochako finally ventured.
"All of the above?" Kaminari surprised her by answering. Only to roll over and use Kirishima's shoulder as a pillow. "No scary movies though, Uraraka. Can we just watch like a prank show?"
"Mm-mn, I hate watching people being mean to each other," Kirishima said.
"Dude, that's like every movie ever. There's gotta be conflict," Kaminari retorted and the red head shrugged. "But if it's scary I'll piss myself Uraraka so seriously do not."
"If you piss on my bed I'll fucking murder you," Katsuki said without looking up. He had finished shaving around the lower part of Mina's head, cutting it close so it almost looked like a bowl cut around the top but that was hardly what he was going for. He picked up the scissors in his lap and brushed off the long strands of pink hair before he began to clip her hair shorter into a cute little whirl.
"Something not scary where people are nice?" Ochako pressed her thumb to her lip thoughtfully.
"The Labyrinth?"
"Mina I'll burn out your fucking eyes," Katsuki snarled and she pouted. But wordlessly Ochako had started flipping through the streaming account on her phone to find the glitter-tastic movie. "I will kill you," Katsuki said, this time glaring at her.
"I like that movie!" Kirishima said, sitting up and almost knocking the pikachu off the bed. Ochako doubted he would have an issue with his girlfriend's taste in movies ans she smiled brightly before she stooped in front of Katsuki's television, hooking up her streaming account to the screen.
"Bitch do not-"
"Kirishima, hug Katsuki if he tries to attack anyone."
"You got it." He grinned as he slid off the bed and took up a seat behind Katsuki, resting his chin on the blond's shoulder as Katsuki continued to cut Mina's hair. He looked irritable, but no more than usual and Ochako giggled as she tapped play.
XXX
It had been a koi pond the first time he had come to the rotten city. He had been young and small, before his quirk activated. He could remember his small hand in his father's, each of his tiny fingers pressed into warm and living skin. He pressed the cold skin of the hand in his pocket with three fingers, wondering what he would think of the pond now.
It seemed so much smaller than before. People had recklessly added more fish and never fed them until the fish cannibalized, and now only three were left, huge ugly things with blotchy scars breaking up their colorful patterns. They stayed far away from one another, wary and hostile and prepared to do what needed to be done. Tomura made a game of trying to bounce the little pellets of fish food off their flat faces every time they rose too close to the surface.
It had been more fun as a child, when each little pellet was met with a whirling mass of flashing orange scales but there was something entrancing about the way the three big, mean things moved. He was just as fascinated now as he had been as a kid, and one pellet bounced a little too close to on of the fishes eyes. He heard the wet sound of footsteps approaching him, but he didn't look up until the slow patter of rain overhead stopped and a clear umbrella distorted the streetlamp glowing overhead. "Um, Tomura? Going out might not be the best idea right now."
"Why?"
"Because . . . you're a wanted criminal?"
"That's been the case for years." Tomura stood and flipped back his hood. His wet hair hung limp against his face, water dripping down his face and stinging his cracked skin. He grinned down at the soggy green mop who looked up from the shadows of his own purple hoodie, lips pressed into a frown. "What? Not many people have seen me, and no one but your 'friends' have seen you, 'Deku'. We're fine. Want to throw food at fish?"
". . . yeah, okay."
Izuku took the bag of food carefully from Tomura, then rested it on the wooden rail in a way that it was open and he could pluck up pellets and lightly throw them into the water. It was strange, the fish seemed to be more at ease and they flicked lazily from food pellet to food pellet as Izuku threw them. Tomura leaned closer to watch and caught a strong smell of booze on Izuku's breath.
"Oh? Isn't it a little early for drinking?"
"Shut up. You didn't have to deal with Stain. Besides the sun hasn't come up so it's still last night."
"It's five in the morning, that's pretty solidly tomorrow." Izuku snorted and shook his head, before he upturned the bag into the water entirely, then crinkled the plastic so he could jam it into one of his many pockets. The fish far below began to boil. Writhing as they all tried to get the most food into their own thin stomachs. Izuku didn't look down and watch the way Tomura did. He didn't even notice the chaos that overwhelmed the pond as a result of his careless action.
"I wanna sober up a bit, lets get coffee," Izuku said and he elbowed Tomura until the silver-haired man sighed and relented, allowing Izuku to lead him along under the umbrella. They were just fish. No more significant for the memory than they would have been without.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Tyler_Yu
Tyler_Yu I am so sorry for not updating recently I have been having family problems and really bad thoughts but the worst is over and I am back with another chapter!
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