This time I will protect them I won't be a coward

183

“Oi, angel.”

Denki froze mid-step. The playful lightness in his expression drained as cold reality set in. He slowly turned, his heart pounding as though it might break free of his chest. That nickname… It had been months since anyone had called him that, but Denki remembered exactly who had—Shigaraki Tomura. The memories of the USJ incident slammed into him like a tidal wave, and for the first time in a while, Denki felt truly vulnerable.

The cold night seemed to intensify as Shigaraki Tomura leaned against the rough bark of a tree trunk, his crimson eyes slicing through the darkness to meet Denki's golden gaze.

His stare was piercing, almost predatory, as if dissecting Denki layer by layer, exposing vulnerabilities he didn’t even know he had.

The black trench coat clung tightly to Shigaraki’s buffed figure, shielding him from the biting chill and adding an ominous air to his presence.

The absence of the grotesque hands that once adorned him was unsettling in its own right—he seemed less like a tortured soul and more like an unrestrained force of malice.

Denki, on the other hand, was a storm of emotions beneath his outwardly composed facade. His mind raced with conflicting thoughts. Should he seize the opportunity to alert the authorities? Or was it already too late to act? He felt cornered, not just physically but mentally, as Shigaraki's unsettling aura dominated the space between them.

Minutes stretched into an eternity before the silence was finally broken. Shigaraki's voice, gravelly and sharp, cut through the tension like a blade. “You should stop mingling with the wrong sort,” he said, his tone cryptic, yet strangely paternal. “Stick with that All Might-loving nerd. You might just survive.”

Denki furrowed his brows, baffled by the odd shift in the villain’s demeanor.

His voice betrayed a mixture of confusion and defiance as he cautiously asked, “What’s your deal, anyway?”

The response came not in words but laughter—dark, unhinged laughter that echoed through the desolate park like a twisted symphony. “My deal?” Shigaraki mocked, leaning in slightly closer. “I’m just… keeping tabs on you. After all, you seem cozy with Overhaul lately.”

Denki’s face flushed with indignation and embarrassment. He stammered, “Wha—what?! When did you change your profession from being a villain to being a stalker?”

Shigaraki’s grin widened, his lips curling into a sinister smirk. His figure moved, fluid and deliberate, closing the space between them.

Denki instinctively backed away, his pulse hammering in his ears, until he collided with the rough surface of a tree. He let out a panicked yelp as Shigaraki’s hand slammed against the trunk beside him, effectively trapping him.

The air around them seemed to thicken as Shigaraki bent down, his voice a whisper that crawled down Denki’s spine like ice. “Listen, angel,” he murmured, his words dripping with menace and a hint of twisted fondness. “If you don’t want to die, stick with that All Might-loving fool.”

Denki’s breath hitched as Shigaraki’s finger moved, trailing across his lips with an unsettling tenderness.

His golden eyes flickered with a mixture of fear and curiosity, and he managed a weak whimper as Shigaraki’s touch lingered. “You know,” Shigaraki muttered under his breath, his eyes locked on Denki’s, “you remind me of that game character… Columbina. Beautiful, but deadly. It makes me wonder—did Sensei ever see you as a threat, or just a pawn?”

Denki swallowed hard, his mind screaming for him to act, to move, to escape this nightmarish encounter. But something in Shigaraki’s gaze held him captive, a vortex of darkness that he couldn’t pull himself out of.