Shigaraki and Scribe

Chapter 6

Scribe spent the afternoon in the store using every resource she had to gather information about Tomura Shigaraki. A few of her sources were more talkative than informative, some flatly said they knew nothing, and a couple asked her why she was inquiring. She hung up her final call with the receptionist at the Genius Office, frustrated.

Either no one knew anything or no one was talking.

It's quite possible that I know more about Tomura Shigaraki than the entire Japanese hero community. Not that what I know is going to do anyone any good. She smiled a little at the thought. No, it definitely wouldn't be beneficial to the hero community to know that the lightest touch of Tomura's fingertips on her skin tingled in a very pleasant way. That when he pulled her into his arms and she tilted her head so he could kiss the spot under her ear, he always obliged. That his scarred lips could somehow be incredibly soft and sensual.

She groaned inwardly. What about the fact that he tried to kill a bunch of kids at the USJ? How about that? And All Might, the only friend I've had since... And Aizawa? What about Shota Aizawa? I still don't know if he's going to recover fully. How do I fix this? How do I resolve what I feel for the man when the villain has done so many awful things?

The bell jangled at the door and she looked up to see Chelsea, her part-time assistant. "Hi Chelsea." She remembered with a start that she'd asked Chelsea to come in. "Oh, good." She stood. "Thank you for coming in."

"Sure. Is everything okay? Not that I mind coming in any time at all, but..."

"Well, I had an appointment, but I think...I think I'll just be upstairs working. Don't...don't disturb me, though. I have a lot to do." Scribe reached for her computer and started for the back room.

"Sure." Chelsea shrugged. "Hope you get everything done. Don't worry about anything down here, and I'll close up before I leave. You working on anything in particular?"

"I just realized I've been asking the same questions of all the wrong people. There's only one person who can tell me what I need to know." Scribe waved and headed upstairs.

Once in her apartment with the door locked, she tossed a pillow on the floor and sat on it. She didn't really enjoy meditating and usually thought of it as a waste of time. But that's how he got in my head.

She winced, feeling a little guilty. But she didn't plan to be quiet about her intrusion. She wanted him to know she was there. And once he acknowledged her presence, she planned to ask him what she needed to know. In his own head, maybe he'd have no choice but to answer.

She spent several minutes concentrating on her breathing, keeping his name and face forefront in her mind. When she felt her consciousness begin to drift, she focused on him even closer. Tomura.

She opened her eyes in a dark space almost like an empty field. She looked around, surprised. Tomura? A small figure in the center of the space attracted her attention. A child, sobbing alone, its shoulders shaking with loneliness and fear. She touched the hunched figure's shoulder. Hello? Are you all right?

The red eyes of Tomura Shigaraki looked up at her. They widened in shock as he recognized her. What are you doing here? He stood, facing her, the tears gone but the haunting sorrow lingering. She could feel other things too, as if they crept about just outside the light. Rage. Betrayal. Fear. Isolation. And the horrible, twisted feeling of grief binding it all together.

Scribe began to wonder if she'd done the right thing. She was here in his innermost thoughts. Tomura Shigaraki had never bothered to build walls and passageways to guard his most sacred places, to lock away his most painful thoughts. Or maybe he'd never learned how. Everything he was and everything he'd ever been was here right now, the dark and the light, pressing in on her. It would smother her in another moment...