Into the Shadows...

A Chance Encounter

"Please don't kill me, just let me go! What are you going to do to me? Are you a villain?!" The middle-aged businessman pleads for his life in a dark alleyway, only a flickering streetlight eerily illuminating the entrance. Mei didn't mind the dark, she welcomed it, like a friend she leaned on to feel safe and in control. " Will you chill and shut up?" She mentally asks her friend to squeeze a little harder, causing the man to barely choke out incoherent profanities as his airway constricts to a close. She wasn't planning on knocking him out, but he was really starting to give the girl a headache. The man slowly slips into sweet unconsciousness. Once she was sure he was asleep, she reals her quirk back letting the man fall to the ground a little too harshly. Mei didn't care though, she had caught the man taking a picture under a women's skirt on the escalator at the mall earlier. She decided then that she would rob the perverted man who looks like he works in the stock market and deletes the picture in the process.

Leaning down to the man sleeping too peacefully on the filthy ground of the alleyway, she pats down his expensive-looking suit searching for his phone and wallet, finally finding them in his jacket pocket. Taking the phone, she turns it on to see a picture of what she can only assume are his wife and kids on his lock screen. Scoffing and shaking her head in disappointment, she swipes up the screen with her thumb, thanking whoever's doing the shit job of looking over this world, that there's no passcode. Continuing on with her quest she finds the photo taken without the innocent woman's consent and deletes it, checking the other applications to make sure he didn't send it to anyone after he took the picture.

Around the corner of the alleyway, a figure looms witnessing the interaction of the two, the young girl currently removing the credit cards and cash from the wallet of the man she just incapacitated. To say he was impressed was an understatement, the girl couldn't be much younger than him, maybe in her early teens, yet she put the man that doubles her in size to sleep in a matter of seconds. At least he thinks he's asleep. He could be dead. It doesn't matter, the point is her quirk looks interesting and powerful, she could be useful in The League. Finally, the boyish man makes his presence known. As softly as he can, as to not spook the girl, he scuffs his shoe lightly on the pavement paired with a "Hello." Unfortunately, he can't help the menacing tone that trickled out like a leaky faucet along with it.

The girl jumps slightly at the voice directed at her from behind. Hesitantly, she slowly turns around fully expecting to have been caught by a policeman or Pro-Hero on his nightly patrol of the area. To her surprise, as she turned to face the voice, she didn't see a policeman, and she was pretty sure the sketchy-looking guy, with what looked like dismembered hands placed all over his face and body, was most likely not a hero. If he was a hero, she couldn't imagine he was very popular, the hands were creepy. She musters up the courage to interact with the man before finally speaking in a monotone voice, "Can I help you?"Wanting to be prepared for anything that might happen in this encounter with the looming man, she slowly creeps her shadow to possess the one cast under the man from the streetlight illuminating the entranceway behind him.

"What's your na-" he begins to ask, but the girl is quick to cut him off.

"You first."

The man chuckles a bit before answering, slightly baffled he's letting the little brat talk to him like this.

"It's Shigaraki Tomura..." cocking his head to the side a bit with a smirk he continues, "...your turn".

"Kumori Mei, I'll ask again... can I help you?" The girl's essence changes in the blink of an eye, going from blank and bored to offensive and threatening. The sudden feel of something wrapping around his leg confirmed her change in demeanor. The quick switch threw Shigaraki off a little, he wasn't scared of a teenage girl obviously, but he would be lying if he didn't think the sudden coldness was intimidating. He loved it. He wanted, no, needed to know more. A Cheshire-cat-like grin spread from ear to ear as he finally answered her question along with one of his own, " Yes, I believe you can...you hungry?"

"Obviously. What do you think I robbed that guy for? Funsies?" Mei couldn't help her sarcastic tort as she quirked her brow questioningly, simultaneously calling her quirk back to release the man and his shadow from its possession.

"Alright, you little shi- " he cuts himself off with a frustrated inhale through his nose, before collecting himself and exhaling his frustrations out his mouth. "Will you just hurry it up and come on, there's a diner down the street.". Mei doesn't respond, she just walks past the man down the street in the wrong direction of the diner. Shigaraki watches the girl in awe of her confidence which clearly masks her lack of intellect. He chuckles inwardly deciding to mess with her a bit, the same way she did to him. He catches up to her still going the wrong way and walks next to her for a second, stuffing his hands in his pockets before speaking up, " You know the diner is the other way, right?" Shigaraki walks with his chin up, side-eyeing the girl with raised eyebrows under the hand covering the majority of his face, awaiting her answer. The girl takes a quick glance up at the man before turning on her heels and responding, " I knew that...". Shigaraki couldn't help but laugh, and at that moment he realized it wasn't a mocking chuckle or an evil cackle like the ones he usually gave, but a genuine laugh, full and hearty, one that made his shoulders shake and head drop down. He couldn't remember the last time he laughed like that. As he calmed down he finally noticed Mei glaring at him with narrowed eyes, but maintaining her same bored expression, almost as if she knew that laugh was uncharacteristic for the man. Breaking the eye-contact after a moment of analyzing each other, the strangers continued their walk to the diner in surprisingly comfortable silence.

*   *   *   *

" So, in short, you want me to join your little league? I'm not really into baseball."

"Christ, it's the League of Villains..."

"Didn't I say that?"

The man let out a defeated sigh, debating if the pros of this teen's ability outweigh the cons of her annoying mouth. The two had gotten their food from the 24-hour diner to-go, deciding the sensitive topic of their conversation was not appropriate for its lobby. They took their food to the park on the corner, the full moon illuminating the night nicely, as they walked Shigaraki explained the purpose of the League of Villains and their goals, as well as how Mei would fit into their plans. They settled onto a bench looking out to the empty playground, never straying from the conversation as they ate. Now, the man with pale blue hair, just glares at the small blonde slurping down the rest of her soda, clearly having too much fun annoying the shit of him.

" Do you want to want to join The League or not?" He has never been this patient and it's starting to wear thin. Mei could tell just by the short time she spent with this Shigaraki man that he was dangerous, but that didn't stop her from wanting to poke the bear with a stick. However, even she knows that eventually the bear will snap and attack whoever holds the stick...so she decided to stop poking.

"But I'm not a villain..." she responded genuinely. Shigaraki understood, but he needed her for his plan in the long run, and at her young age, her naivety will be how he gets what he wants, " Well you aren't a hero...". As the blonde ponders, Shigaraki continues, "...it's just a name, don't get stuck on the formalities. I just think you could be an asset in taking down the heroes."

" I don't care about the heroes, I just want to find my brother." Shigaraki gives a knowing hum and nod, Mei had informed him about her old home life and about her brother being lost within the foster system...but that's for another day. He just needed her to join the LOV and he would worry about her brother later. "Yes well, as I told you earlier I can help you find him, but I need your help in return, I need you to be a member of the LOV."

"Fine."

"Fine?"

" Yeah, fine. I'll help you, as long as you help me find my brother, I don't care. Just don't ask me to kill kids, I'll refuse, so don't even ask." Her stoic expression never falters as she agrees to Shigaraki's proposition. He was a little taken aback, he didn't really expect it to be so easy. Nonetheless, she'll be a great addition to the League, he couldn't wait to see more of her quirk in action. The thought unintentionally caused his crimson eyes to glisten in the moonlight, a smile creeping its way across his face under the dismembered hand residing there.

"Fine. Welcome to the League of Villains, Kumori Mei."

"Thank you..."