【𝐂𝐑𝐎𝐒𝐒𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐄 • 𝐕𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐀𝐈𝐍 𝐃𝐄𝐊𝐔 𝐗 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐑】

76| Too Easy

[ warning: chapter may contain disturbing images and depictions of self-harm that may upset some readers. viewer discretion is advised. ]

You shake your head, the aching returning. You start to sob, unable to breathe through your tears and the smoke filling the air.

It'd be so easy.

It's like the fire is reaching for you, like Shinimi is asking you to join him.

It'd be so easy.

It stinks. Your head hurts. Your muscles ache. Your heart stings for the boy, and your eyes hurt from the constant tears.

It'd be so easy.

❧

You look at his blood. You look at his empty eyes. And despite how selfish and cruel it feels, you can't help but think that he's lucky to be gone before you.

Staggering forward, you're not sure what you're planning to do, but you can feel the heat from his burning body.

If someone sweet as Shinimi died, then what does that mean for you? Shouldn't you be the one dead, while the boy lives out his dreams?

You take his hand, still and hotter than fire, remembering something he once told you.

"I wish I could've been a hero," he had said, "just like Red Riot! And Deku!"

Now he'll never get to redeem himself. To be the hero he wanted to be. To change, and break free from his murderous past.

Even as the fire curls up your arm, springing from his body to yours, you can't move. Maybe this is for the best; that you go down the same way he did, the same way Horyo did. 

It burns. You shouldn't be surprised.

Isn't it for the best; that you feel the same thing Shinimi did as he died? Suffered? Begged for death to take him before the poison did?

You want to scream, but stop yourself.

Why? There's no one to hear you.

You scream, a wail of choked back tears and pain and bottled up emotions. Now you can hurt out loud. You can scream. Who's here to wonder why? Who's here to care?

Blisters are forming on your skin, the Liquid Fire encasing your body in flame.

Still you feel cold. The ocean is drowning you.

You hug Shinimi's body, lighting yourself aflame at the touch of his skin. His blood soaks your clothes. 

Now, it's warm. Not hot. Not cold. The icy ocean is gone, replaced by the growing heat.

Now you can feel. It doesn't matter that it hurts. You wanted to feel something, anything.

You sigh against him as your breath slowly turns into another scream. It forms into a cough, and you can barely see because of the smoke. The burns are clear on your skin, though.

So this is what's it's like, you think, to become ash.

It's almost mesmerizing, the way your skin becomes ember. You aren't succumbing to the fire, you refuse to believe it. You are becoming a part of it. A kindred flame, ashes in the wind. You laugh.

And that's when you start to realize why Shinimi wanted you to kill him. Yes, it hurts, but oh, the pleasure of choosing to die, of knowing that it was your decision to make. Your choice to burn. Your choice to leave. Your choice to become a part of the fire.

Shinimi is gone now, his body ashes in the wind. You hold on to open air, your arms eventually encasing yourself. Only one part of the boy isn't gone; a small, silver ring, laying in his poison-infused blood. You pick it up, slipping it onto your finger. 

It doesn't matter. You'll join him soon, flying in the wind.

Finally free.

You gasp, watching your skin once again. Your quirk, trying desperately to heal the burns, fighting the fire. Tears well up in your eyes. But this is what you want. Right? So why? Why are you still fighting?

You touch your face, and realize tears are falling faster than they ever have before. You clench your fists.

Is this . . . is this what Shinimi would want?

" . . . it's more like a habit now. It used to bother me. I was being forced, I still am, but now? I don't mind it."

 "I fight because there's nothing else to do. I fight in hope that, when I reach the top and someone takes notice, I'll finally have . . . somewhere to be."

"I think I want to be caught. I want someone to realize what I'm doing, and either stop me, or take me in."

"Yeah, I'd like that. I don't have anywhere else to go."

"Does that mean . . . that my brother's dead?"

 "I threw up three times!"

"Wow! I've never held more than twenty dollars in my lifetime!"

"I've never had one before It's, like, new. Brand new." 

"R-Red brings out my eyes."

 "O-Of course not! You're the manliest hero in the world!"

"Are you two, like, boyfriend and girlfriend now?"

"Of course. But surprise attacks are my specialty, so don't worry. I'll find them, take control, and we can interrogate them afterward. It's that simple!"

"He wasn't the one shooting at us. He didn't hurt anyone."

"I thought . . . I thought it was cool how he could fight without hurting people."

"I didn't want to be like this. I didn't want to become a murderer. I only killed because they made me, and a-after the first time . . . I knew I couldn't . . . I couldn't go back to normal. I didn't choose this life! I want to go back home with Kurai! I have to find him!"

"You killed him. You did it all by yourself."

"S-Sorry, that sounded so dumb. I don't know why I'm telling you this, you're just . . . easy to talk to."

"I'm sorry. We'll see each other again, right?"

"I-I don't wanna die!" 

You can hear his voice, a thousand words in your head, his smile in your heart. Now, there are a thousand words he'll never get to say. A thousand smiles he'll never make. A thousand ways you'll never see him again.

No, he wouldn't want this.

But as soon as that thought crosses your mind, the world goes dark, a sharp pain in your chest. 

It was too easy.

❧