RENEGADE [Izuku Midoriya x OC]

Chapter 30 - Fight

-

Noriko decided to play dumb.

Which, to be honest, was easier said than done.

"Anyone know where Shigs is?" she asked, waltzing into the League Headquarters the day after New Years feeling equal parts refreshed and terrified. Her weekend away at the Midoriya-Yagi household did wonders for her, both body and soul; she hadn't eaten so well in years and thought she may have accidentally gained ten pounds. With all of her renewed energy, Noriko could stay undercover for another ten years if necessary. But, you know, preferably her mission would be over before that.

"My phone's busted because someone-" Noriko tossed a pointed glare at Hawks over at the pool table, who held up his hands defensively, "-Broke my phone just before the new year."

Decked out in a cotton-candy-colored teddy bear kigurumi and matching fuzzy socks, Toga piped up, sitting upside down on the couch and tapping away on her phone. "Shiggy's in his office!" she explained without looking up from her shiny screen, "He's been in a bad mood the whole new year. Hasn't even left for his shrine visit... So villain. Such committed. Much angst."

Nori rolled her eyes at Toga's dated meme reference and plopped down beside her on the ancient sofa. "Know why he's in a bad mood, Toga Party?" she prodded, trying not to pry too hard. "I don't want to push the boss off the ledge with my dumb request for a new phone or anything, you know?"

Dabi spoke first, eyes trained on the shelves of alcohol behind Kurogiri, as he swirled his indeterminate liquor in his glass. "You, asswipe. He needed you for something yesterday, and since your phone's offline, he couldn't get ahold of you," he grumbled. When he finished, he knocked back the last of his drink, hissing through clenched teeth at the burn. "So you better have a way to make it up to him."

Fuck fuck fuck.

Pure anxiety trickled down Noriko's spine like spiders on her skin, her mouth popping open to give a futile excuse or half-hearted retort.

Except Shigaraki beat her to the punch. He slammed the door to his office wide open behind the group, rattling the cobweb-covered chandelier dangling above their heads and casting dancing shadows across the room. "Red... how nice of you to finally join us," he hissed. His crimson eyes bore into her, completely unhindered by the lack of hands blocking his face.

Mentally shitting her pants, Noriko stood and slapped a forced smile to her face. "Hey Shigs! Miss me? I heard you tried to call, but uh," she fished the broken pieces of her phone from her pocket, holding them out for him to see in her cupped hands, "A certain birdie got a little tipsy and broke it."

"In my defense... my bad," Hawks shouted from across the room, cupping his hand around his mouth to amplify his annoying alter ego's voice.

Shigaraki said nothing, letting this new information settle into the anger of his heart and soothe him slightly. Noriko wasn't willingly ignoring him... she just didn't know she was needed. She didn't know. Something about that eased the irritation in Shigaraki's chest, and the tension in his frown softened. "Fine. Follow me," he spat, crooking a finger at Noriko.

She did as she was told.

-

Izuku strolled into work lighter than air.

His interns instantly noticed the shift in his behavior and appearance--the effortless smile, the color in his cheeks, the healthy weight on their boss's bones--and chalked it up to finally getting some, but they would never say that to Deku's face.