Brainwashed - A Villain Shinsou AU

Chapter 10 - Cannibal

I sat on a rooftop with Ikasaki, squinting to see Itadori in an alleyway below. "Com check, can you hear me, Nikawara?" asked Itadori through his earpiece.

"Loud and clear, Saiko," Ikasaki replied.

"Do you have a visual on Red Gauntlet yet?"

Ikasaki squinted, using his quirk to magnify the streets below as he scanned for any sign of the hero. "Negative, but he should be here soon. His patrol is in five minutes."

Itadori nodded, holding his position. "Poor boy, he must be starving," Ikasaki said to me, making sure that his earpiece didn't pick up that comment.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Itadori's body burns calories like crazy to compensate for whenever he unhinges his jaw. Every time he uses his quirk, muscles in his jaw get torn and his body has to heal them quickly so that he can move his mouth. His quirk is pretty much tearing him apart then stitching him back together just so he can do it all over again."

"That sounds painful."

"It's excruciating, but he'd never admit it. Beyond that, Itadori's stomach can't digest anything other than meat, it's just his physiology. People see him as a monster, so that's why he tries so hard to please Osamu." Ikasaki looked at me with an empathetic expression. "Because Ikki is the first person who didn't run from him."

I looked down at Itadori, who was whistling a tune now that sounded vaguely familiar to me. Suddenly, Ikasaki stiffened. "Saiko, Red Gauntlet is headed your way. In five seconds, exit the alleyway and begin pursuing him. Shinsou and I will follow you loosely on the rooftops."

Itadori nodded and followed Ikasaki's directions. Now, Ikki's plan was in action. I did my best to keep up with Ikasaki, who was hopping from roof to roof with ease and grace. Meanwhile, Itadori stalked Red Gauntlet like a predator who was getting ready to kill his prey. "When Red turns left down this street, you'll have an opportunity to strike with little to no witnesses," Ikasaki advised.

As if on cue, the hero turned left exactly as planned. Itadori rushed after the man with a huge grin and a terrifying look in his eye. It was like looking at a completely different person. Before Red Gauntlet had too much time to react, Itadori had already closed in on him. The hero barely managed to dodge Itadori's initial attack, spinning around to face his attacker. "Whoa, what the hell?!"

"Gauntlet stands no chance against Itadori, it's like sending a lamb to the slaughter."

"What do you mean?" I asked, watching as the chaos of a fight began down below.

Ikasaki sighed, finding one of his bullets more interesting than the fight. "As I said before, Saiko is starving. When he gets this way, he goes ballistic. Poor little Red Gauntlet is going to be decimated." Ikasaki was no longer paying attention to the scene happening below, examining the bullet he'd pulled out of his pocket.

I stared as Red Gauntlet was barraged with rapid attacks from Itadori, his wild grin not diminishing in the slightest as the hero landed a blow to his stomach. Ikasaki's statement started to make more sense to me as the fight went on. Red Gauntlet's movements became slower and evading Itadori's constant attacks was becoming harder for him. Moments later, Itadori managed to bite Red Gauntlet's jugular, killing him. The hero let out a weak scream before going limp and still. I stared at the man in a mix of shock and horror. Of course, I knew that Red Gauntlet was going to be killed, but I didn't expect it to be this bloody. Itadori stood still, illuminated under a street light. His face and clothes splattered with the blood of Red Gauntlet, who hung lifelessly from his jaws. Suddenly, the blue-haired man ran into an alleyway below the roof where Ikasaki and I were, dropping the body on the ground.

"Is he going to eat..." my voice trailed off as Itadori inspected the corpse hungrily.

"Yeah, we'd better leave him alone." Ikasaki stood up, walking away, and jumping to another rooftop. I shut my eyes tightly as the sound of bones crunching and flesh being ripped apart filled my ears. I didn't want to imagine the gruesome scene of Itadori tearing Red Gauntlet limb from limb and consuming him to fill his hunger so I ran after Ikasaki, eager to get away from the awful sight.

Once we reached the base, I slumped onto the floor wide-eyed, realizing that I was shaking. "He ate..." I trailed off. Nanami walked into the common area, glaring at Ikki.

"Ikki, why did you send him on that mission?" she hissed, walking over to me.

"He needed to see for himself what missions are like."

"But you sent him with Saiko. Don't you think that's traumatizing?! Saiko is our messiest member!"

"What, so you want me to sugarcoat reality? At least now the kid knows that that's as bad as it'll get!"

Nanami flipped her dark purple hair over her shoulder in annoyance before turning and sitting by me. "Are you okay?" she asked.

I had no response. For some reason, that was a loaded question. What was I supposed to say? My family had just been kidnapped, I was acting as a spy at UA, and I'd just witnessed the brutal murder of a pro hero. At that moment, I just wanted to run away and hide from all of these people. I wanted to get away and never see them again. But my legs were still shaking and I felt too weak to run, so instead, I started to cry. I felt helpless and small as Nanami wrapped her arms around me in a hug, trying to calm me down. I then started to sob uncontrollably, shaking and burying my face in Nanami's shoulder.

After a while, I couldn't cry anymore and Nanami let go of me. "Sorry," I said, wiping my face with my hand.

"It's okay. Do you want to eat?"

I shook my head, my appetite was completely gone thanks to Itadori's unappetizing meal. Moments later, Itadori himself walked into the base. His shirt was no longer bloody, and his face was clean. He looked over to me and gave a small smile before walking over and squatting by me. "Hey kid, sorry about that."

I scooted away, my fight or flight response coming back. Itadori looked down, his smile fading. "I'm sorry."

I remembered what Ikasaki had said; that Itadori was shunned for his quirk. It reminded me of myself back in middle school, how I was told that I could never be a hero. "Don't apologize, I'll get over it," I said in a harsher tone than I intended.

"Still doesn't make it right. I was just following orders from Ikki."

I stood up, trying not to look like a frightened child as I looked down at Itadori with a mix of understanding and terror. Did this man really have no control over his actions? How many people had he killed to be this nonchalant about it?

I could barely sleep that night because I kept thinking about the horrible scene I'd witnessed. Even though I accepted Itadori's apology, it didn't change the fact that the sight of that much blood made me sick. I eventually managed to tire myself out by practicing some of my combat skills and fell asleep on the floor, only to be woken up by my alarm clock an hour later. I groaned and got ready for school before heading out to another day of spy work.