STRINGS // KATSUKI BAKUGO [2]

Chapter 25 // Firsts and Lasts

When ten o'clock rolled around, you found the perfect moment to escape the party. With Aizawa busy trying to prevent Eri from getting sick by eating too many desserts and the entirely of the class playing monopoly in teams, you snuck out unnoticed in the clothes you originally arrived in and headed to the place that cursed you with a slow death.

The Shie Hassaikai Compound hadn't been rebuilt, repurposed, or cleaned up at all. It was still a wreckage haunting the city.

Silhouetted by the moonlight, you found Shigaraki sitting atop of a pile of rubble, staring up at the night sky.

You carefully climbed your way to the peak of the mound of debris where you sat beside the villain leader with a tired sigh.

"Emerson shared the conversation the two of you had," Shigaraki began, not wasting a moment. "We are more alike than you think."

"I highly doubt that," you replied.

"You were picked on when you were little," he said. It wasn't a question but an accusation, a statement. "Others thought your quirk was either dangerous or stupid. Us villains have similar stories. The only difference between yours and ours is that you followed the path of a hero."

"As I mentioned to Emerson before," you started. "Is this going somewhere?"

Shigaraki hummed, and, for a moment, his crimson red eyes, which reflected almost beautifully off the moon, showed no violence, evil, or malicious intent.

"I sympathize with you [Y/N]," he assured, and you inhaled sharply at the use of your first name. "I've been conditioned not to show such an emotion, but there was a moment in time when I was just like you, alone. My parents were gone, my sister too. Even my dog left me. I was already down to the road of insanity until my master found me, took me in. I suppose I'm still traveling down that road. It's just...controlled insanity now."

"You're the one who put me in this situation," you gritted out. "You took my mother and Bakugo away from me, and you put my father in a mental institution."

"Yes, I'm at fault," he agreed, "but I knew there'd be no other way to get you to come after me."

You scoffed, shaking your head as you asked, "why the hell do you want to fight me so badly?"

You stared at the villain, awaiting an answer, and then, unexpectedly, Shigaraki turned to look at you, and he smiled.

It was quite an odd and slightly disgusting sight. Flakes fell from his chapped lips as they curled up into a smile, and his eyes narrowed, only displaying his wrinkled complexion even more. Still, it was a smile.

"I envy you, [Y/N]," he stated, and the exhale you were in the process of releasing caught in your throat at the claim.

Shigaraki looked back up to the moon, saying, "I wanted to be a hero. It was an obsession at one point, but my father loathed the idea. I used to think he hated me, but I think he just hated the fact that I yearned the same path as my grandmother, who left him to pursue the career I dreamt of. Her name was Nana Shimura."

Your eyes bulged at his final statement, and you stilled, tensed so much that a knot grew in your neck.

Shigaraki's grandmother was Nana Shimura, All Might's Predecessor, the seventh user of All For One.

"What's your name," you wondered aloud, "the name you share with her?"

Shigaraki exhaled through his nose, continuing to admire the piece of art that hung in the sky.

"Tenko," he answered, "Tenko Shimura."

You were nothing like Tomura Shigaraki. You weren't a murderer. You were a manipulator. You weren't a criminal. You weren't a villain.

You were a bit like Tenko Shimura. You felt like you were alone. You were traumatized. You were tormented by your demons everyday. You were on the road to insanity.

"I gave into the idea of what my father saw me as," Shigaraki, no, Shimura, proceeded to say, "a filthy villain, and this is my revenge, my revolution."

You remained silent, admiring the night sky as it would most likely be one of your final times doing so.

"This is the last time you'll see me as Tomura Shigaraki," the villain stated, his voice growing quieter with every word he spoke.

"No," you disagreed.

Your head fell onto his shoulder as you found yourself too tired to even sit up straight. At least, that's what you told yourself.

However, deep down in the pit of your gut, you hoped the gesture would give Shimura the comfort he was never shown.

"This is my first time seeing you as Tenko Shimura."

[EDITED]