Villainous [Hitoshi Shinso X Reader]

[Chapter 2]: Explode

     "You're a pretty little thing, aren't you?"
     A pungent scent flooded my senses and numbed me to the core. It was that of comforting dirt and musty, rotting wood that formed the caving walls of the building I was forced into.
I was barely coherent at this point, the blood loss was too much. However, I could still feel the chill of the damp, cool earth seeping into my bones. I could still hear the nasty bickering amongst the men surrounding me and I could still see the clouds starting to roll in over the bright blue sky—just out of my reach and so full of promise—through the small hole in the wall of the warehouse.
Even though my situation was quickly becoming dire, I couldn't help the tingling sensation of satisfaction I felt rooting itself deep into my heart—Father would never get to me again. Soon I would be just as free as the clouds in the sky...
     "—her dear old dad was right." Another voice snickered. "Definitely worth the price if I can get my hands on that."
I sunk deeper into the ground. There wasn't much I could do anymore—my body was broken beyond repair and my heart had long ago resided itself to the inevitability of death.
     A third voice spoke up then, seemingly more hesitant than the others were. "She's... so young. Just a kid..."
I slowly tilted to enable myself to pierce the man with my eyes, colder than ice. However, the fire that burned so brightly within me in that moment made them smoulder.
I don't need your help.
There was a pang in my heart at the pity in his brown-eyed gaze as they flickered over my form. Upon realizing that I was staring right back, he looked away in discomfort. I glared.
He shifted awkwardly, seemingly searching for the right words. "I thought we were getting someone older, not a child—"
     "Listen, Nishio, if you don't stop running your fucking mouth, I'll shut your trap for you and shoot out what little brains you have." The thickly accented statement was punctuated by a gun being cocked into place. "Don't forget, I. Own. You."
I snorted.
     It was clear to see to anyone involved that this deep, over-bearing voice was that of the leader. He exuded confidence and held an  authoritative demeanour about him. That paired with his naturally intimating stature made him perfectly suited to scare other people into submission—much like Father.
I've never liked people like that.
"Hey, Shitface, I get it," I wheezed through my broken ribs. "You've got a lot to make up for, what, with what you're missing upstairs and downstairs... if you get what I'm saying." I chuckled painfully. "Actually, you probably don't with your lacklustre wit, but seriously? Pipe the fuck down, you barely own yourself let alone someone else."
Everyone fell instantly silent. Though I couldn't be sure, I thought I heard the guy, Nishio, laugh not too far away from me.
I watched as Mr. Dickless spun leisurely around on his heel to face me. He waved his gun. "I think that you've forgotten the position you're in." With crushing force, his boot came down against my head. "And the position that I'm in—maybe I should remind you."
I grunted, but otherwise remained unresponsive. This was nothing compared to the wrath of my father.
"What, is she some kind of masochist? She barely seems fazed at all, Ace."
"Shut up, you worthless nobody." Ace bit back. Clearly, my lack of response irked him more than he was willing to let on.
     Air escaped my lungs as Ace landed a rough blow to my chest with his heavy boot. I heaved and rolled onto my side, instantly coughing up blood.
"Stupid bitch," He sneered. "You're nothing but a pawn for your daddy to use in whichever way suits him best. I'll teach you to undermine me."
     I groaned. How unpleasant.
     The beating was relentless and just as merciless as I was used to. I would expect nothing less from a man my father hand-picked for this job. Rough, scummy, and ruthless—how fitting.
     The blood dribbled down my chin from my fat lip.
     Still, I never expected him to stoop so low as to sell his own daughter just to break her will. Thinking about it now, I really should have.
     Another kick to the abdomen.
     What was the point anymore?
     A punch to the face took away my view of the roiling sky as my eye was already swelling.
     Maybe I should give in. Society has done nothing for me but toss me aside and regard me in the light of a villain—not that I blame them...
     I could see the blurry outline of Nishio attempting to pry Ace's assaulting fists from my body. He had hooked his arms under the much larger man's, but it was no use. Ace shoved him aside with little more than a grunt.
     "Don't." I breathed weakly.
     Quickly following was a resounding bang that rung in my ears like the toll of a bell. Ace had shot Nishio.
      He was dead.
      I was no longer able to move my neck to look at the sight of blood that was surely soiling the earth around the lifeless man's head, but I could smell it. The putrid stench of metallic death.
     Most prominently, I could feel it. His soul, full of regret and anguish, descending into the eternal beyond.
     Tears flooded my vision. I truly was useless. No matter how hard I tried, my life always lead to the end of others'. I wanted to be a hero? Ha! What a joke.
     I can't even save myself.
     Listening to the cracks of my own bones soon became a strenuous task until my hearing faded away completely. My vision wasn't far behind.
     There was nothing left but distant yelling and lights that were just a tad too bright. I squinted against them to no avail. Eventually, I allowed myself the relief of closing my eyes.
Just relax, I soothed the surging internal panic. Death is so much easier than life.
     Black.
     That's all I saw as it crept into my vision and blotted out the last of the world I had been condemned to. My eyebrows furrowed as I realized the pain I was in had vanished. I could move.
     Testing the waters, I flexed my fingers. No twisted bones or torn apart knuckles.
    Taking that as a good sign, I sat up and glanced around. Nothing but darkness as far as the eye could see. It stretched out beneath my fingers like the sea, indistinguishable from the walls and the sky above. Where was I?
     Soft tapping approached me. Footfalls. They were light and playful, almost that of a puppy seeking attention.
     They stopped, suddenly becoming shy.
     Glancing around was fruitless, there was no one in sight. "Come out," I urged.
     "(Y/N)," a tiny voice peeped.
The silhouette of a small girl with wavy, brown hair down to her waist and wide, green eyes appeared before me. There was a bright purple haze surrounding her that told me immediately who she was. It was her aura.
She was a soul.
     A soul I released time and time again from the Underworld, not for battle, but simply to play and enjoy the world she was never granted the chance to explore.
A teddy, ripped and sewn back together with a missing button eye, hung loosely from her hand. Her nightgown's sleeve was pressed to her mouth—a nervous gesture.
      At that one simple phrase, my whole world simultaneously stopped and shattered around me all at once. Who knew that my own name was enough to destroy me?
     I choked.
     "Sayaka."
     "You shouldn't be here yet. It's not your time." She reprimanded in her childish voice.
     I couldn't contain the sobs that began to wrack my body. Through a forced laugh, I said, "It wasn't supposed to be yours, either. I'm so sorry—"
"Don't do that!" I watched helplessly as fat tears spilled onto her rosy cheeks and she began to shout. "You can't give up, (Y/N), you can't! I don't want you here yet, I want you to live!"
"But Saya—"
"If you die, who's gonna let me play? I'll never see the sun again." She tilted her head and took a step forward. "Don't quit yet—continue living."
I gasped loudly. "Saya, baby, you know I don't want to leave you..."
She shook her head with a small smile and tear-stained cheeks. "I don't want you to leave me either. But I know that when I need you, you'll never be too far away!"
We both reached out. Our fingers brushed, but it was just a moment too late. My back was already lurching and the space around me began to warp and cave. Her small body quickly began to recede into the distance as I was hurtled from the place I had long hoped to succumb to.
No, I thought harshly. She's right. It's not your time. The moment you die is the moment she dies right alongside you.
"I won't let that happen."
"What the hell?! I thought she was dead!"
The men had already begun to walk away from me, assuming that my still body was now a corpse—how wrong they were.
It would've been better for them if I was.
Stubbornly, I pushed myself onto my knees with shaky hands. I wobbled onto my feet. It was hard to stand, my legs could barely support my body weight, but I straightened my spine anyways.
     "I'm not your toy. I'm not some object that you can play with and do as you please." My voice was shaking, but growing stronger with every word. I was spurred on by blinding rage and there was no turning back now. "THERE'S A PROMISE I SWORE TO KEEP A LONG TIME AGO AND BECAUSE OF THAT, I WON'T GIVE UP! I HAVE TO LIVE—!"
     I heard a click.
     Suddenly, I was staring down the shaft of a gun directed right between my eyes.
     "Wanna say that again?" Ace smiled maliciously, revealing rows of pearly-white shark teeth.
     Without my conscious volition, I took a step forward, steeling myself for what was about to come next. I pressed my forehead to the barrel.
     "I will not bow to you." My eyes were resolute, refusing to look away from his own. "Pull the trigger. I'd rather die fighting for my soul than submissively down on my knees."
"Gladly."
He squeezed the trigger and I felt the kickback as it released—but nothing happened.
The paralyzed fear in Ace's expression was unparalleled by any reaction I had ever received before and more than enough to make me cackle. He stumbled back, falling onto his ass like a disoriented child.
Before him stood a tortured soul with eyeless sockets and a gaping mouth, wavering in and out of focus. Most notable, however, was the ragged flesh dangling around the morbid hole torn through his skull—it was Nishio.
He spat out the bullet.
"You see," I drawled. "My quirk is known as Undertaker."
I waved my hand around, displaying the plethora of ghastly beings now filling the room. They were all weighed down by the ghostly apparitions of thick, heavy chains cuffed about their throats—all trailing back to me, bounding them to my own wrists and ankles by those very chains.
"The souls of the damned are mine to command. My very own army to aid me in whatever I need." I placed a finger to my lips, pondering. "I guess there is one drawback," I noted. "Feeling all of their remorse, sorrow, and hate flooding into me... Well, it makes me a little bit crazy! Now," I giggled with a wide grin. "Beg."
     With what little courage he had left, Ace mustered up a few final words.
"You're really worthless, you know that?" He chuckled. "Such a powerful quirk is wasted on someone like you. You couldn't even protect your own family—"
In that moment, I finally bent to my Father's will. I caved. Souls of the dead were unleashed in bountiful quantities like some sort of twisted reckoning day that I controlled.
"DON'T SPEAK OF MY FAMILY!" I boomed. "YOU DON'T HAVE THE RIGHT TO EVEN THINK OF HER!"
Ace was now evidently frightened to everyone in the room, scrambling away from me on all fours as I stalked towards him like a predator.
The catastrophic amount of souls escaping the quaking walls of the warehouse were not lost on me, but I didn't even have half a mind to stop them. They could do as they pleased and run amuck as long as I had enough to brutally tear the spirit from within the corrupt man grovelling at my feet.
I demanded again, "BEG!"
Wood paneling creaked and groaned as rusty nails were torn free from their restraints, allowing the boards to peel free from the ground. Soon enough, the warehouse was demolished with no more than a few measly men left standing.
     "D-do something!" Ace commanded his lackeys.
     With nervous glances, they took a step forward.
Wind harshly whipped my hair across my face. The souls were restless, flying about and thrashing against their chains anxiously enough to knock over the rest of the remaining men.
They yowled in terror as the ghosts pounced on them and began ripping their flesh from their bones layer by agonizing layer.
     Ace looked on in horror, watching as the souls of his subordinates were sucked from their feeble bodies.
"Please, don't kill me." Ace snivelled, kneeling at my feet. "I don't want to die."
I slowly lowered myself to his height. He looked up at me with tears streaming down his face.
"Aw, I'm not just going to kill you." A wicked smile curled my lips. "I'm going to torture you. Make you scream. Make you wish you were dead. Then—and only then—will I allow your soul to be devoured and delivered to eternal damnation."
Much to my satisfaction, he cried harder.
I suppose good things can come out of allowing yourself to explode.