Her Decay ~Tomura Shigaraki x OC AU~

Chapter 2: Shh... Help

Illika

I used to feel guilty.

Used to. Back when I first began doing this. Back when I first began using my quirk to do the things I do. Lying, cheating, and stealing. Just the usual tropes.

The first time I used it to steal I was ten. I stole my teacher's purse. At first, there was this rush and wave of excitement crashing over me, but by that night – as I stared at it perched on my desk – guilt consumed me. I returned it the next day, saying I found it on the playground. She believed me. Then she offered me a cash reward. I refused it.

A week later, I stole another woman's purse. I did not return it.

After that, it became easier. Just as a band-aid loses its grip with each reapplication, the guilt lessened and lessened until it was just gone.

These days, I feel no remorse for the things I do. I barely feel a rush anymore. After eleven years of stealing and lying, I guess it loses that thrill aspect of it. It just becomes second nature.

That's why I'm able to do this – to be here. Back in England, I stole Mary-Beth's and Karina's credit cards, which has allowed me to fund the long air travel here. Then, once I arrived here in Japan, I stole another woman's credit card, which paid for the train ride from Tokyo to Musutafu.

After all, if I want to see the chaos for myself, why not be in the middle of it all? It's the only logical thing to do.

Or at least, that was my intention. However, as I stand here, fresh off the train and in the center of Musutafu, it is anything but hectic. If anything, it appears like any other city I've ever been to. People are just making it about their day – men and women walk around, either running errands or going to or from work. Children jump and skip, laughing along their parents' sides. Teenagers move briskly, heading home from school I assume. All is normal.

All is calm. There is no chaos. There is no uproar. There is nothing of that nature.

Where is the calamity that Mary-Beth and Karina spoke of? Where are the riots and fights? Where are the chaos and disorder? Just where?

I adjust my bag and begin to walk, passing a hero on patrol.

As I pass him, I almost freeze, remembering the PLF – the heroes rumored to be working alongside the villains. Obviously, the croaked heroes are unknown, but as I watch this man – seeing how he smiles and interacts with civilians – I can't help but wonder if maybe he is one of them.

Is he a double agent? Does he patrol these streets by day, offering some sense of security to the citizens, then by night plot alongside villains to bring down the current system? Is he?

Of course, it's not as if I can come out and ask him. For starters, that would blow his cover if he was one of the PLF members. That's just not something I want to do. And secondly, the language is still a jumbled mess in my brain. All the syllables and words still feel funny in my mouth. So, even if I could bring myself to ask him, I'm almost certain the words would fall like lead from my tongue.

Plus, there's still the possibility he isn't a PLF member. To ask such a thing would mark my own back with a major target. Though, I'm confident I could escape any situation should that ever arise.

After all, my quirk has come in handy many times in the past. It has allowed me to live this frivolous life of mine. The lying, cheating, and stealing? My quirk gives me the ability to do that almost effortlessly. And I use it. I use it often.

The crosswalk icon flashes and I start to walk, the soles of my boots scuffing the pavement with each step. A cool breeze blows, rattling the branches. Winter's last breath clings to whatever it can grip, but I can still feel the way spring teeters. It nips at winter.