Inside Your Mind

42 - Tomura Shigaraki

The world is shaking

Tomura Shigaraki was staring at a picture. Dark, greenish hair. Curly. Freckles on a boyish face. There was something about this guy. Izuku Midoriya. Something was off and Shigaraki just knew it. And he saw that Kurogiri was watching him, while pretending to clean the bar counter.

He didn't like it. It was like Kurogiri was up to something and he wasn't supposed to be up to anything. Shigaraki picked up the picture and took a closer look. Why couldn't he figure out what was bothering him that much?

"Are you curious, Tomura Shigaraki, about this boy, Izuku Midoriya?" Kurogiri then asked, breaking the silence. Shigaraki was about to give him a snarky response when he heard the bell on the door ringing. Someone had just waltzed into their little hideout. Shigaraki didn't want to deal with anyone right now.

"Shigaraki! Your League of Criminals has been the talk of the town for the last several days." the intruder said. His voice sounded slimy. Shigaraki didn't like it. He glanced over at him, looking him up and down.

He looked like a middle-aged man with greying hair. He was wearing round glasses and had a condescending smile on his face. Shigaraki liked him even less. What was he doing here? Why was he bothering him? Giran had a reputation as an underground broker for... people. But he had been disappointing so far.

"Word on the streets is you're about to start something big." Giran said and crushed the cigarette he was smoking in his hand.

"And? Who did you bring?" Shigaraki asked, wanting him to get to the point. Giran laughed and pushed the door open wider. Two people walked into the room. One was a tall, skinny man with lots of burn marks all over his face. His hair was black and spiky and he had a pretentious look on his face.

"So it's really you, huh?" the guy said. Shigaraki didn't answer, but just stared him down. Was this the best Giran could do?

"I've seen you in pictures. But I gotta say you're way grosser in person." he added. A smaller girl standing next to him was waving her hands around excitedly. She had her blonde hair done up in two messy buns and looked like she was still in high school or something. Shigaraki raised an eyebrow.

"Wow, it's the weird hand guy! You're friends with my hero Stain, right? Cool! Let me join the League! I wanna be in your group!" she exclaimed in a high-pitched voice. Shigaraki had no idea what was wrong with her, but she was clearly insane. And annoying. And she liked Stain way too much. It really bothered him how people took so much notice of Stain and ignored the League.

"Kurogiri..." he said with a deep breath. He pointed at the two newcomers who were still just standing around waiting for God knows what.

"Get rid of these two. I can already tell they're exactly the kind of trash I hate." he ordered. He looked over at the girl.

"A brat..."

His eyes wandered to the taller man next to her.

"... and a guy with no manners."

"Now, now, Tomura Shigaraki. They came all this way. The least we can do is hear them out." Kurogiri protested, turning around to him. Shigaraki squinted at him. Betrayal. Who did Kurogiri think he was, huh?

"Give them a chance. Besides, this broker is respected in the underworld. They're bound to be valuable assets." he added. Shigaraki looked at Giran who had a self-satisfied grin on his face.

"Like it or not, you still owe me a finder's fee. In cash. I suppose I could introduce the two of them before I go." he said and stepped up to them. Why was he wasting Shigarakis time with this? He pointed at the girl.

"This one looks like an adorable high school girl, right? She's actually the suspect in a series of deaths where the victims all bled out. So far her name and face have been kept out of the media." Giran explained. The girl smiled giddily.

"Toga here. Himiko Toga. Life is too hard. I just wanna make it easier to live in this dumb world. I wanna be Mr. Stainy! I wanna kill Mister Stainy! Come on, handy man, please let me join your League of Criminals!" she babbled.

"You gotta be kidding me! Is she crazy?" Shigaraki asked. Her mannerisms were all kinds of odd.

"Well, she can hold a conversation." Giran laughed.

"For the most part at least. Come on. She could be useful. And this guy..." he continued, pointing at the tall man.

"... hasn't committed any flashy crimes, but he's taken Stains ideology to heart." Giran finished up his explanation.

"I don't like this. Is your group really dedicated to Stains mission? I can't imagine you are, if you're gonna let this little psycho join you." the man said, giving Toga a disparaging look. She just giggled.

"Grow up. She may be a psycho, but at least she knows how to introduce herself to people. Don't just stare. What's your name?" Shigaraki asked. This guy was really starting to piss him off.

"Right now, I'm going by Dabi." he replied.

"No, I want to know your real name." Shigaraki said, his voice sounding more agitated now. What was this guy's deal?

"I'll tell you when you need to know it. In any case, my new purpose is to carry out Stains will." Dabi answered him.

"That wasn't what I asked you, patchwork. Geez, why is everyone so hung up on Stain? He's all I ever hear about. Every damn day..."

Shigaraki was getting up from the bar stool he was sitting on. He heard Kurogiri protest, but he didn't listen. He didn't want to listen. He was sick of it. He was sick of Stain, he was sick of Giran, he was sick of those two and all their senseless, useless babbling about Stain, Stain, Stain.

"It's really pissing me off! You two are dying!" he shouted, running at Dabi. Toga got out her knife and Dabi just grinned at him condescendingly. Before he knew it, Kurogiri had vaulted the bar counter and stepped in between him and the two of them. It was probably for the better.

"Please calm yourself, Tomura Shigaraki.If your desire is to be realized, then we must increase our numbers. Now that we're in the spotlight our chance is at hand. I advise you to be more accepting. You must use them and the ideology Stain has left behind." Kurogiri said to him.

Shigaraki angrily pushed him away and walked towards the door. He was way too pissed off right now to be thinking clearly. And he didn't want to see any of their faces anymore. Not right now.

"I'm outta here." he mumbled and pushed his way through the two new recruits. If they even were going to join. He hadn't decided yet.

"Where are you off to?" Giran asked him.

"Shut up!"