The Flap of a Butterfly's Wings

Rage Tends To Swallow Us Whole

"It was me. I was the one who came up with the plan." It had slipped out without Tomura even having to think about it. He needed to protect Hato; the brat had been through a lot more than he did during their time at the arena. He despised how Hato was so willing to sacrifice himself as if he didn't matter. He hates how the scars on Hato's body kept on growing in numbers every time he went to fight.

So this is why he was willing to accept some pain. Just so he could spare the one person who trusted him less of it.

The big man's smile only seemed to grow more. Oh how badly Tomura wanted to run over and turn him to dust, but he couldn't. All he could do was wait for this to be over. "Oh really? Or are you just saying that to protect your friend, fifty-nine?"

Friend. Tomura had never really thought about that before. Were he and Hato really friends? He's never had a friend before- were there any special qualifications?

Tomura shook his head, this was not the time to be thinking about friends.

"He's lying. I'm the one who planned the whole thing. Blame me, not him." And god damnit, why did Hato have to be so selfless and self-sacrificial? Tomura was trying to do him a favor, something he doesn't do often. Hell, he could almost say he's never given someone a favor before.

So, yes, Tomura was a little pissed at the fact that he got pushed aside so easily. It didn't seem to matter either way, though.

The boss let his smile slip into a deadly serious expression, "I already knew that. I've been watching both of you for a long time now, and I knew that Eighty-eighty would be able to come up with an idea like that. If this situation were any different, I might be impressed, but it's not. In fact, I'm livid."

It was almost like someone had slowed down time. Both Izuku and Tomura watched as the leader slowly opened a drawer from his desk and pulled out on object. That object was a black hand gun, and before either could react, a loud bang had echoed throughout the room.

____________

Izuku watched with a trained numbness as the leader's assistant got their brain's blown out. Blood stained the walls and floor. Chunks of brain flew out of the assistant's head, no doubt the rest of it turned to mush by the impact of the shot. One of their eyes had popped out and rolled across the ground hitting Izuku's foot.

But Izuku didn't look down. He maintained eye contact with the boss the entire time; watching, analyzing, the man's movements. Hato wanted to run towards the man, grab his gun, and shoot him himself, but that would be asking for death. Whether it was from the boss, or one of his workers who would bring him to deaths door. So Izuku watched, making sure the graying man wouldn't try to shoot them, too.

"Ha! Aren't you an interesting one, number eighty-eight. You didn't even bat an eyelash! Quite impressive." Izuku didn't want any compliments from this man. It made him feel sick and disgusting. "Keres, you're the one who brought this kid here. As an award, I'll let you replace my assistant. The way he wore all that makeup was horrendous and unnatural. You'd make a fine replacement." Keres firmly nodded and walked to stand by the evil man's side.

"Thank you, Jude-sama."

Jude. Luck finally came to him; he just got the leader's name!

Izuku was proud of Tomura for keeping a stoic face; he knew it was hard, especially since they just watched someone get their brain's blown out.

"Now, eighty-eight. You not only embarrassed me in front of everyone, but you also got one of my strongest men in the infirmary. You need to be punished. I thought for sure that that branding would have given you enough of a warning to not go out of line, but apparently I was wrong." They graying blonde smirked, as if he knew something that Hato did not.