MANIA - Katsuki Bakugou

mania ━

chapter 31

THE NEXT NIGHT

6 nights since the kidnapping. Almost a week had passed and no word from the heroes. Not even a peep from the media or any sign of a search party looking for the lost U.A. student.

But Miyazaki wasn't complaining. In fact, she wasn't surprised by any of it. She just assumed she did as good a job as she believed she was capable of.

The Perfect Manipulator really emphasizing on her 'perfectness.'

The copper figurine glided from the corner of the antique black and white board to the opposite side, lying in the way of an escape. A pearl King surrounded by copper orange pieces. No escape. No mercy.

"Checkmate," Miyazaki slurred from her velvet throne.

The white haired girl groaned in front of her. She picked up the copper Bishop and knocked over her own polished pearl King with it, admitting defeat. Miyazaki smirked and leaned back in her chair, slouching and puffing on another cigarette. Shimamura couldn't even count the number of cigarettes Miyazaki had gone through since she'd been here. However, she did notice that the only time Miyazaki smoked excessively was when she returned from somewhere. Shimamura giggled and shook her head.

"One of these days, I'm going to beat you." Shimamura smiled. A pure, genuine smile.

Miyazaki raised an eyebrow behind her mask, flashing her perfect teeth. "One of these days, sure. But I wouldn't count on it."

One more night, Miyazaki thought to herself. One more night and all my work will finally be worth the reward.

Miyazaki didn't need much longer to succeed at the task that she was assigned to accomplish. Well, she volunteered to do it. But if this worked, she'd have more status than even Shigaraki in this League of Villains bullshit. She knew there was someone higher up than them. After seeing what happened in Kamino, she knew what she had to do. Where she had to go. What she had to become to get what she wanted: status, reputation...

Power.

"Twice is coming by later, right?"

"The whole lot of them are." Miyazaki blew out a pillar of smoke towards the ceiling.

"I'll ask him about the medication that he was talking about the other day—"

"He talks nonsense, I wouldn't."

"Right—but it wouldn't hurt to ask—"

"I wouldn't."

Shimamura frowned a bit. Then she nodded. "You're right."

It was amazing to see the kind of authority that Miyazaki held over Shimamura. After five days of conditioning, anything that the Wraith said, Shimamura would listen to. Like a dog on a tight leash performing a trick, without knowing whether or not they'd be rewarded.

"They'll be here soon," Miyazaki confirmed. "Head to your room and I'll call you back later. We have some unfinished business to discuss—nothing bad, just nothing you want to listen to." Miyazaki scoffed, laughing a bit. "Compress really is so boring."

Shimamura smiled as stood and walked down the dark hallway into a room nearby. This room was different from the one she started out in when she first arrived. This one had a bed, a window, and a dresser standing against the dark wooden walls. There were Toga's clothes in the dresser, so Shimamura had assumed that Toga had stayed in the room before her. She wondered where Toga would stay in now that Shimamura resided here.