Made to Destroy | BNHA x OP!Reader

[30] Defective Product

What was supposed to have been the day the Symbol of Peace finally took his last breath, instead ended in the League of Villains' one-sided, humiliating defeat. If not for Kurogiri's ability to use warp gates and help them escape, Shigaraki would probably have met his end back at USJ. He felt it from the moment All Might defeated the Nomu. He instinctively knew he didn't have a chance of winning.

Knowing when to back off and retreat is a valuable skill, without a doubt, and Shigaraki is far from stupid.

Still.

He's really, really fucking pissed off.

"Fuck," Shigaraki seethes, lying on the cold floor of his bar hideout, blood leaking from his bullet wounds. "They shot my arms and legs... I barely made it out alive. We were completely defeated. Even the Nomu was done in! Not to mention that the Symbol of Peace was none the worse for wear. That thing you said before, about All Might being weakened... you were completely wrong, sensei."

There's a slight pause. Apart from Kurogiri, no one else besides Shigaraki is in the room. From an outsider's perspective, it looks like he may as well be talking to himself. Talking to some figment of his imagination.

But regretfully, Shigaraki's mentor-his master-is very much real. Even if he isn't here right now. Even if he isn't able to act right at this moment.

The greatest evil of all has yet to be extinguished.

"No, I wasn't," All for One's voice hums, transmitting across a monitor. "We just weren't prepared enough."

"I suppose we underestimated them," a second voice then chimes in. Unfortunately, this is a voice you know all too well. "But it's a good thing we launched this attack under the name of the League of Villains, which is still a newly-established force. In any case... what became of the joint creation that sensei and I made together, Nomu? Was the body not retrieved?"

"It was blown away," Kurogiri replies. "We don't know the exact coordinates of its location. I wasn't able to find it, even with my warp ability. I didn't have the time to continue searching. We were forced to retreat and hide."

The second voice lets out a mutter of displeasure. "After all the work we did to make him as powerful as All Might. Tsk."

"It can't be helped," All for One dismisses. "It's an unfortunate loss. We must simply be more careful going forward."

"As powerful as All Might..."

Shigaraki blinks slowly. Even though he escaped, even though he's finally safe now, he still feels completely on edge. Because it wasn't just that All Might defied their expectations. As the Symbol of Peace, it's no surprise that he is, in fact, unbelievably strong.

But Shigaraki feels as if he's incurred an even bigger loss than failing to kill All Might.

He failed to kill you.

"Speaking of power, there were two students," he mutters bitterly, "both of which had similar superhuman strength. Strength that reminded me of All Might."

"...oh?"

"I only saw one of them briefly, near the end. If he hadn't interfered, we might have actually been able to kill All Might in time. He jumped in to help All Might when it looked like he was in a pinch. He also... stopped me from killing another student. But to be honest, I'm still not sure she would've died, even without his interference. She may as well have been invincible."

"Invincible in what way?" All for One asks.

"She just kept on regenerating! No matter how serious her injuries were! Even my decay Quirk couldn't kill her. She wouldn't die even when I destroyed her heart! Have you ever heard of something like that? It sounds impossible, but I swear it happened."