The Flap of a Butterfly's Wings

Quatervois

Hato runs, hopping across rooftops as fast as he could. He hears Eraserhead behind him, and knows that he should tell him to stay back, but his mind is only focused on one objective: seeing Tomura. He trips over something and falls to the ground, somersaulting as he hits the ground and stands up to start running again.

He still sees Tomura, and he's so close. He watches as Tomura notices him, squinting his eyes as he does. Izuku stops running, only a roof's jump away from being on the same building as him. He moves to take off his mask, but right before he can, Tomura starts slowly backing away.

Hato reaches out, "Wait, Tom-" but it's too late. Tomura runs towards the other direction, running into a purple portal.

He sags to the ground, disappointment and dread weighing him down. He couldn't get to him, and now no amount of make believe will cover up the truth that Tomura is still with All For One.

Aizawa steps next to him, "Who was that?"

He sighs, "Someone I used to know."

_________

Tomura lays awake in his bed, body bruised and exhausted but his mind swirling with a thunderstorm of thoughts.

He's thinking about the person he saw hardly an hour ago, running toward him. It freaked him out, but he was also curious. There was something so achingly familiar about the masked person, and for a brief moment, Shigaraki played with the thought that it might've been Hato.

He dismisses the thought, knowing that hope will get him nowhere.

Tomura is not a good person; he knows this. He's stolen and hurt and threatened. The worst part of it all is that he doesn't hate it. Sometimes, he gets lost in the feeling of revenge- of bloodthirst anger. It exhilarates and terrifies him at the same time. There are nights where he can't sleep because closing his eyes will bring a new tomorrow, and each day he knows he changes. He's morphing into a mold that Master created for him, and it's getting harder to believe that he won't be able to fit in it.

He thinks that Hato would be angry at him, but not entirely. A part of him is angry at Hato for not keeping his promise of letting Tomura live with him and his family. Although he knows this is irrational. Neither of them had any control over where he had ended up. But he needs to direct his anger towards someone, Hato or not. Or else it'll just stir in his heart and he'll go crazy.

He doesn't want to be a bad person. Not necessarily. But he doesn't know how to stop. Not with Master, who's taken care of him for years, and is probably the closest thing he'll ever have to a father.

Maybe it's already too late for Shigaraki Tomura. After all, he had agreed to attack U.A. If only to prove himself and illustrate how the hero system failed Tomura. Hato, too. How could the heroes let something as monstrous as The Arena to exist for so long? He was stuck in there for years. Not once was there even a hint that the heroes would save them. Not until Hato showed up.

The heroes were ignorant of the deeper hells of the world. He would make them see what life could really be like. How painful it was for someone like him and Hato.

Even if that made him a villain.

________

It's now two months until the entrance exam, and the beach is once again clean. Izuku's grown both taller and stronger along with Kacchan; with the help of All Might, of course.

All three were standing on the warming sand. The sun was just rising from its slumber, a new day starting.

"Are you ready my boy?" All Might asks. Much too serious for what he's going to reveal in a moment.