Crimson Eyes

Chapter 32

By the end of school, Ashido had devised a plan of action. It wasn't necessarily good, but I guess I had no room to talk. 

I had been pacing my room since I got home from school, my phone in hand. Waiting was the worst part of the whole process. Even worse than the actual confrontation. 

I nearly jumped out of my skin when my phone finally buzzed. It's now or never, I thought to myself. Is it too late to decide on never? 

I checked the notification, but it wasn't from Ashido. It was an unknown number. 

Unknown~

Found you, little snitch

My heart dropped to my stomach at the words. I knew exactly who sent that text. How had he found me? I was on the other side of the country for crying out loud. I didn't have long to panic about the new threat before I received a message from Ashido. Fuck, it was actually time. 

I had to pause and think. Shigaraki was back and gunning for me now. Did that change anything? Fuck yes, it did. I destroyed his life and got him thrown in jail. There was no way he was going to let that slide. 

Did I want Eijirou and Katsuki to get pulled into my mess? Did I want Kaminari, Sero, and Ashido on his radar? I knew how his brain ticked, I was actually decent friends with him for a year. I watched from his side as he manipulated everyone around him. His enemy's allies were pawns for him to throw around and watch topple. He used the people closest to you to ensure your destruction. 

"Fuck!" I screamed, throwing my phone against my wall, not caring if it ruined the device. I was a dead man walking now anyway. There was no way I could walk out of this unscathed, my only option was to reduce that collateral damage as much as possible. 

I was back to pacing. I had too much energy and no outlet for it. All I could do was walk back and forth through my room, getting lost in my own swirling thoughts. 

Shigaraki found me. 

If he just found me, then he probably doesn't know about Eijirou and Katsuki. 

I could protect them by keeping my distance, which would be easy considering they hated me. 

I chuckled to myself, shaking my head. "I should have known this plan wouldn't work. The universe hates seeing me happy," I mumbled bitterly. 

The sound of my front doorbell shook me from my thoughts. I froze in place. That bell hadn't been used once since we moved here. My mom never ordered anything, she never had people stopping by, and it's not like I did either. Everyone I knew in this town wouldn't touch that doorbell. 

Call me paranoid, but I was convinced it was it had to be Shigaraki. The timing was too perfect to be anyone else. 

It rang again. 

He knows where I live, where my mom lives, those thoughts were on repeat in my mind. I slowly and steadily made my way from my room. I was careful to avoid all the floorboards that creaked. I took a detour to the kitchen, grabbing a decently sized carving knife. Not too big that it would be awkward to wield, but big enough to do the damage I needed. I took a deep breath and made my way to the front door just as the bell rang again. 

Slowly, I unhitched the deadbolt lock, and then the handle. With one more breath to try and steady my nerves, I swung the door open, my knife up in case I was jumped right away.  

"Whoa, what the fuck are you doing?" Ashido asked, holding her hands up quickly. 

My eyes darted from her to Eijirou and Katsuki standing behind her. Both looked pissed to be there and honestly a little scared of the knife in my hand. I loosened a breath, the lesser of my two evils on my doorstep. I could survive that.