Chapter Text
Smiling faces.
The ring of laughter.
Overlapping chatter.
The smell of sweet fruit hung in the air. Clear skies allowed for the sun to beat down. With a slight breeze, the weather was actually quite nice. Anyone in the market would say it was a perfect day for perusing the fresh produce and homemade sweets pushed by the local vendors.
Tomura hated it. He hated them. How bright and carefree they all looked, secure in the knowledge that they were safe to shop and go about their daily business in peace.
How was it still like this? He thought after All Might’s retirement, things would be different. Villains were coming out of the woodwork to make their debut; the crime rate had escalated substantially, and yet none of these idiots had even hesitated to come out today. It made him sick.
Izuku Midoriya had been wrong. The symbol of peace was no more, but Tomura was no closer to his goal than before, and to make things worse, Sensei was locked up away from him. The only sense of victory he felt was from seeing Overhaul knocked off his high horse. The memory was enough to bring a small smile to Tomura’s face, momentarily distracting him from the figures passing by.
Misjudging their proximity, one of them managed to knock right into him, causing them both to tumble to the ground. Tomura hissed, directing a murderous look at the person who’d crashed into him. The woman now collecting her spilt produce off the ground was stout, motherly, and not paying any attention to the man she’d mindlessly offended.
“Watch where you’re going!” Tomura growled out, snatching up a couple of oranges that had rolled his way.
“O-oh! Oh dear, I’m so sorry!” The woman’s head popped up to look at him now, her face red with embarrassment. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me today!”
Standing up, Tomura dropped the oranges into the paper bag the woman was gathering her things back into. On her feet, the woman brushed the gathered dirt off her skirt before looking up at Tomura with a flustered smile.
“Thank you! You’re so sweet, helping me even though I’m the one that bumped into you!” She gushed, balancing the bag on one of her hips to free one of her hands, taking Tomura’s to shake it enthusiastically.
“A-ah, it’s fine-!” Tomura froze at the touch, paralyzed at the sight of someone holding his hand so casually.
This woman was lucky he had gloves to cover his fingers, saving her from his quark.
“Are you here alone?” She asked, still holding onto him like they were old friends. “It’s strange to see a boy your age here by himself.”
“I was just going home…” He replied, discreetly trying to pull his hand out of her grasp.
“Really?” She looked up at him with big eyes. “You haven’t even bought anything-”
“I was only looking.”
“Hm…” Her gaze narrowed suspiciously, looking him over quickly. “Well if you’ve got free hands, you can help me carry things. I still have quite a bit I need to buy- you see, my son is coming home to visit tonight, so I’m making dinner for him-”
Tightening her grip on Tomura’s hand, the woman dragged him along down the market street, chattering on all the while.
“H-huh-?! Wait-!”
“-living in the UA dorms, I hardly see him anymore!” Stopping at a nearby table, the woman pushed her paper bag into Tomura’s arms. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m very happy for him, but I’m not used to being all by myself at home.”
Tomura stared down at the bubbling woman, so taken aback by her behavior he could barely form a sentence to escape.
“You know how it is for us mothers. It’s hard seeing our kids leave home. ” She carried on, picking through the boxes of strawberries. “What do you like to eat, uh-... oh dear, I never got your name!”
Depositing the decided strawberries into the bag in Tomura’s arms, she looked up at him with the same wide-eyed expression, her lips upturned in a warm smile. He swallowed, his face hot under her eyes. Why did she look like this? Why did she have such a motherly aura? Why did she have to remind him of her?
“Tomura…” He replied quietly, surprised at himself for answering so easily.
“Tomura?” Her smile broadened. “What a handsome name. I’m Inko.”
He looked away, opting to study the contents of the bag instead.
“So, Tomura, what do you like to eat?” Inko asked again, taking hold of his sleeve and pulling him to the next location. “You’re so skinny, I bet you’re a picky eater, right?”
So that’s it. Tomura thought to himself, allowing himself to be led. A mother’s concern for a skinny boy. I probably remind her of her son.
“I’m not picky…” He replied, trying to think of what foods he actually ate. Nothing was really coming to mind. “I just get busy… forget to eat.”
“Forget to eat?” She replied in shock, looking up at him as they walked arm-in-arm. “Well that’s silly. Do you like grilled mackerel? That’s what I was planning for dinner tonight.”
The two spent at least another hour meandering the market, floating from table to table. Inko was a bit of an absent-minded woman, getting easily distracted from the task at hand by chattering to Tomura. She wasn’t afraid to ask him questions or tell him about herself, no fear at all for what kind of person she’d carelessly latched onto. It was a strange circumstance for him, finding himself in such a normal interaction with such a normal person.
By the time they left, there were three large bags between them. Tomura carried the two heavier ones, still wondering to himself why he let himself get turned into this woman’s helper. If anyone from the League, anyone from the underground world, recognized him-
He pushed the thought from his mind. It was as unlikely as it was irrelevant.
“Well, here we are!” Inko announced as they arrived at a quaint little house, quickly letting them in through the gate. “I hope I didn’t take you too far from home-”
“It’s fine.” Tomura interjected, following her up to the front door. “I don’t live far from here.”
A partial lie. The warehouse the League was still holed up in was on the far outskirts of town, probably a good hour from this suburb. However, the bar he and Kurogiri used to reside was only about twenty minutes from here.
And his childhood home was only a few blocks away.
Tomura shuddered at the thought. He hadn’t thought about that place in over a decade, and yet, he recognized the neighborhood with ease.
Inside the house, Inko put Tomura to work washing the rice for dinner while she fluttered around the kitchen putting the groceries in their proper places. The woman hummed quietly to herself in between carrying on the conversation with her adopted helper, physically directing him from task to task.
“You’re not a Pro Hero, right?” Inko asked, pushing a knife into Tomura’s hand to begin cutting vegetables. “What do you do for work?”
“No… I’m not a Hero.” He replied, trying to hide the bite from his tone. “I’m a… convenience store clerk.”
“Are you still in school then?”
“No.” His brow furrowed as he wracked his brain for a decent answer. “I uh-... Take care of family.”
“Oh! How nice of you!” Inko paused as she walked past him, smoothing her hand over his hair. “Your parents?”
“Siblings. No parents.”
“Oh… Oh dear.” Inko frowned, patting his hair sympathetically. “I’m very sorry for that. Your siblings are lucky to have you around. Are they very young?”
“The youngest is fifteen.” Tomura replied, glancing down at Inko. “But my siblings are… sick.”
“Oh, I see… Fifteen, huh? That’s my son’s age.” She changed the subject softly, not pushing Tomura for details. “They could be friends! Bring your siblings with you next time!”
Next time…? Tomura imagined the League members sitting down for a family dinner with this sweet, unsuspecting woman. It was almost comical.
“That looks lovely!” Inko trilled, looking over Tomura’s work. “You don’t cook at home?”
Tomura shook his head, feeling his face growing warm again. How ridiculous, getting flustered by this woman’s compliments. Who even was he? His fist clenched around the knife, eyes trained on the woman at his side.
“Your gloves. Are they related to your quark?”
The question disrupted whatever violent thoughts he was having.
“I can’t touch things with all of my fingers.” Tomura replied, loosening his grip on the knife and pulling a bundle of green onions towards him. “My quark disintegrates things.”
“Oh! Isn’t that useful!” The warm smile returned to her face as she gathered the finished vegetables into a pan. “An easy way to get rid of trash at home.”
He couldn’t help but laugh at the suggestion. His quark had always been associated with death and violence, yet this woman immediately thought of domestic uses for it.
“Is that why you didn’t become a Hero?” She continued, the hiss of her frying pan nearly drowning out her words. “I imagine a quark like that would be difficult to use without hurting people. But then again… You could probably say the same for people with fire quarks. My husband had one too-”
Clenching his fist again, Tomura quickened his pace in slicing the onions, grimacing as he worked. Even sweet old mothers said careless words to strangers. He should just kill her. He wouldn’t even need to use his quark. It’s not like a woman of her stature could resist a man with a knife-
“Oh, Izuku you’re home!”
Izuku?! He hadn’t even heard the door open.
“Hi, mom!”
The surprise jolted his muscles, sending the knife off route, directing the blade over two of his fingers. With a sharp inhale, the knife fell out of Tomura’s hand and clattered to the floor, drawing Inko’s attention back to him. She rushed to his side to see what happened, immediately cooing at the injury.
“Izuku, hunny, could you grab the bandaids from the bathroom?”
“H-huh? Yeah, sure!”
“It’s fine.” Tomura growled, trying to pull his hand away from Inko.
“Don’t be ridiculous, here- take your glove off-” She turned the sink on and directed him over. “Let’s wash it.”
Before he had a chance to resist, Inko had yanked his glove off and was holding his hand under the running water. Her brows were knit with concern, eyes trained on the injury, soft hands holding his wrist with care- She had the same look his own mother had worn anytime he was injured as a child.
While Tomura was still sifting through the swirling thoughts overlapping in his brain, Midoriya returned and came to stand beside them, holding out the box of bandaids for his mother. Almost immediately, his eyes locked with Tomura’s and they both froze.
“Thank you, Izuku- Hm?” Inko took the bandaids, quickly unwrapping the first while she spoke. “Do you two know each other?”
“That’s-” Midoriya’s entire body bristled, a visible chill running through his body.
“A-Ah, Izuku Midoriya! What a surprise!” Tomura interrupted, quickly adopting a flustered look on his face. “Geeze, what an awkward coincidence, I had no idea this was your house. I ran into Inko at the market and, well, one thing led to another and-”
“You-” Midoriya reached a hand out to his mom, trying to tug her away from Tomura.
“You see,” Tomura directed his words to Inko now. “I’m actually a huge fan of your son’s- I saw him perform at the Sport’s Festival and, well, I made a pretty embarrassing first impression. I saw him at the mall one time and couldn’t resist trying to get his autograph.”
Breaking into nervous laughter, Tomura scrubbed at his neck with his free hand.
“O-Oh! I see!” Inko chuckled good-naturedly, unwrapping the second bandaid.
“I was so nervous about meeting him, I came off a little obsessed. Right?” He looked at Midoriya now, locking eyes with a threatening intensity.
Izuku clenched his jaw, “...Right.”
“It must have been fate running into you, then!” Inko smiled brightly as she finished fixing up Tomura’s hand. “There, good as new! Why don’t you boys get reacquainted while I finish dinner. I think I’ve worked you hard enough, Tomura.”
“Good idea! Thanks, Inko.” Tomura gave a small bow and turned to Midoriya. “Your mom told me you collect really rare All Might merch, do you mind showing me?”
Straining to contain himself, Midoriya nodded quietly and led Tomura out of the kitchen and up the stairs. Once they reached Midoriya’s bedroom, he shut the door and turned on Tomura with striking fury in his eyes.
“Don’t say anything to her.” Tomura ordered, cutting off whatever string of threats Izuku was about to spit at him.
“What?!”
“It’ll only upset her- the knowledge that she unwittingly led the leader of the League of Villains right to her. Right to you.” His attention was on the bandaged fingers, not bothering to look at Midoriya while he spoke. “It really was just a coincidence. I had no idea who she was until you showed up.”
Midoriya’s muscles relaxed slightly. “You really expect me to believe that someone like you just… casually lends a hand to people he meets at the market?”
Tomura shrugged. “Your mom’s kind of pushy. She was practically dragging me around.”
“It doesn’t matter.” He retorted, squeezing his eyes shut and shaking his head. “I can’t let you just walk out of here. You’re a criminal-”
“What did I just say? Are you stupid?” Tomura snapped back, taking a step towards him. “If she finds out who I am, she’ll freak out. Are you going to call the police? Or All Might? Have me arrested right in front of her?”
“Don’t act like you care about her!” Midoriya was struggling to keep his voice down, tears welling up in his eyes. “I don’t know what your plan is here, but I won’t let you get away with it!”
“You’re so dramatic.” Tomura rolled his eyes, turning away from the young hero to let his eyes wander over the various merchandise filling the room. “You haven’t been home in a couple of months. Just have dinner with your mom and deal with me later.”
Midoriya fell silent, bringing a satisfied smirk to Tomura’s face. He was trapped and he knew it. Even if he didn’t believe Tomura gave a shit about Inko, he did and that was all that mattered.
“Get out.” Midoriya said in a resigned tone. “I don’t want you in my room.”
Chuckling, Tomura shrugged again and did as he was told, slipping past Midoriya to return downstairs.
“Remember, I’m just an over-enthusiastic fan you met at the mall.” He whispered. “Don’t slip up and confuse your poor mom. This is an undercover mission, Hero.”
The last word was said in a mocking tone, paired with a bone chilling smile. Midoriya shuddered again, glaring holes in Tomura’s back as they descended the stairs.
-
Dinner was uncomfortable to say the least. Seated across from the leader of the League of Villains. Watching the creep make conversation with his mom like they were friends. It made Izuku’s skin crawl. He wanted nothing more than to jump over the table and pummel him into the ground.
But it would upset his mom. Shigaraki was right and he hated that.
“So, Izuku, how’s All Might adjusting to retirement?” Inko asked, turning her innocent eyes to her son.
“Oh, uh…” Izuku glanced at Shigaraki, not wanting to give the man any information about the Hero. “He’s fine… Taking it well…”
“Crazy stuff!” Shigaraki spoke up, staring at Izuku. “Who knew that’s what All Might really looked like!”
Izuku clenched his jaw, looking down at his food. “Yeah…”
“Are you feeling okay, Izuku?” Inko asked, reaching a hand out to feel his forehead. “You seem upset.”
“O-oh, no! I’m fine, really.” Izuku pulled back, forcing a smile onto his face. “I’m just tired from school, I guess.”
“Are you sure?” She didn’t look convinced.
“I’m sure.”
“Okay… Well,” Inko looked back at Shigaraki, trying to ease the look of concern on her face. “Tomura, you said one of your siblings is Izuku’s age, right?”
“My sister.”
“What school does she go to?”
“She doesn’t.”
Sister? I didn’t know Shigaraki had any family… Is he talking about members of the League? Or just lying for mom’s sake… Why even bother saying he has any siblings then…?
“Like I said, my siblings are sick.” Shigaraki continued at Inko’s prodding. “She doesn’t do well in a school setting.”
“Do you homeschool her?”
“We all help with it.”
“You sound very close with each other!” Inko smiled brightly, seeming to hang on Shigaraki’s every word. “I’d really like to meet them sometime!”
Izuku tensed up.
“If they’re sick, they probably don’t leave the house much, right?” Izuku suggested, picking at the bones in his fish.
“Right. Meeting them would be hard.” Shigaraki agreed.
The evening seemed to last an eternity, but finally Shigaraki excused himself. Izuku waited around patiently while the man thanked his mom for dinner, looking so abnormally polite. After reassuring Inko at least three times that he’d be fine going home so late, she finally let him go. Volunteering to walk him to the bus stop, Izuku followed Shigaraki out of the house. They both stayed silent until they’d made it to the end of the block, well away from where Inko might be able to see them.
“Shigaraki. Tell me the truth.” Izuku said, staring at him intently. “Why did you help my mom today?”
Shigaraki stared back for a long time, his face devoid of emotion. Contrast to the soft expressions he wore around Inko, the aura of intimidation had returned to the man. Izuku swallowed hard, his muscles tensing in anticipation of attack.
“She’s nice.” He said finally, turning his eyes up into the sky. “I like her.”
The response sent a chill down Izuku’s spine.
“You’re lucky. Even though she had to raise you alone, she stayed nice.” Pausing, Shigaraki lifted his hand to look at the bandaged fingers. “For most people, when something bad happens to them, they take that anger out on the people they’re supposed to love. It’s a backwards world.”
“Isn’t that what you do?” Izuku said accusingly.
“Me?” Dropping his hand, he turned back to Izuku with an amused look on his face. “Am I supposed to love you? Or All Might? Hero Society? I’m not taking my anger out on people I’m supposed to love. I’m exposing the hypocrisy of this world.”
“By killing people. You talk about my mom like she’s different, but you don’t discriminate.”
“Why? Because I went after you and your classmates?” Shigaraki laughed. “You don’t get it. You’re part of the problem. You announce what kind of person you are the second you associate yourself with the word ‘Hero’. Stain put forth a dangerous standard in appointing All Might as worthy. Now, because of him, people think they can separate Good Heroes from Bad Heroes. It’s disgusting.”
“Heroes protect people. All Might has saved thousands of people! Who are you to judge him?!” Izuku stepped forward, feeling the anger rise inside him.
“I’m exactly who should judge him!” Shigaraki snapped back, matching Izuku’s motions. “I don’t have to explain myself to you. You can’t understand what’s wrong with an ideology you’ve defined your entire personality by.”
“That’s why you’ll fail. You said you’re exposing the hypocrisy of the world, but you can’t even expose it to one person.” Izuku sighed, crossing his arms over his chest. “You have the support of other villains- people who kill because it’s fun, who side themselves with you because of the power and prestige it brings them. Do you really think they’ll help you achieve your goal in the end? Or will they abandon you as soon as you become inconvenient? If you really think there’s injustice in Hero Society, don’t align yourself with people that are worse.”
“Wars aren’t won by playing by the rules. The League didn’t ally with the Yakuza because I agreed with Kai Chisaki’s vision. We allied with him because, at the time, it was dangerous not to.” Shigaraki’s expression fell slightly. “I can’t afford to care about my reputation or be picky about my allies like you. I’m automatically at a disadvantage going against the societal norm. I’ll filthy myself with people like Kai Chisaki if it means bringing about a world that doesn’t throw people away for being too useless, too ugly, too scary to have value.”
“What happens to the people Heroes don’t save?” Shigaraki continued, standing directly in front of Izuku now. “Who saves the people who’s boogeyman is a Hero? Who saved your classmate, poor little Shoto Todoroki, when his father was beating on him? Did he tell you he used to have a brother? Where was the Hero to save him? Why didn’t your precious All Might step in to stop his colleague from killing his son and traumatizing his wife so badly she had to be hospitalized? How can you call yourself a Hero when you pick and choose what monsters need punishing?”
Izuku was lost for words. What could he even say to something like that? Shigaraki was right. Again. He hated so many things about Shigaraki, felt so repulsed by the man and his methods, but confronted with his actual reasoning, the motivation behind his actions- Izuku could understand it. Just like with Stain, back then, he could understand the bitterness held for Hero Society.
-
Seeing Midoriya speechless, Tomura scoffed and backed off. Why had he even bothered explaining all that to this child? It wasn’t like it would change anything. He did feel satisfied seeing the shocked horror in his eyes when he mentioned his classmate, so maybe it wasn’t a total loss. Regardless, there was no point staying any longer.
“Go home, Midoriya.” Tomura said, letting the rage dissipate from his voice. “Don’t worry about your mom, I won’t do anything to hurt her.”
With that, Tomura turned around and walked away. Having to rely on public transportation, he didn’t get home til nearly midnight. The warehouse was dark, quiet, he was sure everyone had long since gone to bed. He headed towards the back rooms, prepared to do the same when the sound of someone clearing their throat stopped him in his tracks. Looking up to the second floor railing, Tomura frowned at the man staring back at him.
“It’s late.” He said.
“I didn’t realize I had a curfew.” Tomura replied.
“Busy day?”
“Not really.”
The man descended the shaky stairs, coming to stand in front of Tomura before continuing.
“You’re not supposed to keep secrets from me.”
“I was using the bus. It takes a while to get anywhere.” Tomura paused to glance back up to the catwalk, not confident there wasn’t anyone else hiding up there. “Where is everyone?”
Dabi frowned, watching Tomura suspiciously. “Kurogiri and Compress are still out. Toga and Twice are sleeping. Spinner is patrolling.”
Tomura nodded. “Good. I’ll tell you where I was, but no one else can know.”
The frown eased and Dabi followed Tomura down the hall to his bedroom. Inside, Tomura shut and locked the door before shedding his clothes to crawl into bed. Doing the same, Dabi laid down beside Tomura and stared at him expectantly.
“Being in crowded places helps me think. When I’m stumped on something, people-watching gets the gears turning again, I don’t know why.” Tomura said, stretching his arms out above him, talking at the ceiling. “I went to the street market today, trying to decide what to do with the mess our alliance with the Yakuza left us. We got decent resources out of it, but it also took major pieces off the board.”
“What’d you come up with?” Dabi asked, reaching out to touch the new scabs on Tomura’s neck.
“Nothing. I was interrupted. This woman ran into me and roped me into shopping with her.”
“Oh, really?” Dabi asked, taking hold of one of the scabs and ripping it off. “Was she pretty?”
“OW- Fucker!” Batting Dabi’s hand away, Tomura continued to swear under his breath as he scratched at the now-open wound. “She was an older woman, you jealous idiot. Fuck, I shouldn’t even have to justify that to you.”
“Just making sure.” Dabi replied, putting the scab on Tomura’s forehead.
“Stop it.” He hissed, smacking Dabi’s hand again. “She dragged me up and down the market for at least an hour, going on about her UA Student son that was coming home for the first time in two months. So I went home with her and helped her cook dinner.”
“Right, of course you did. That’s a thing we do.”
“It’s stupid. I let this stranger grab me and drag me around like a dog. I carried her groceries and cut vegetables for her.” Tomura slammed his hands over his face, groaning into them. “Pathetic.”
“Are you looking for sympathy?”
“From my boyfriend? No, why would I do that.” He moved his hands, grimacing at the ceiling again. “Just don’t laugh at me.”
“Ok.”
“She reminded me of my mom.”
“Makes sense.” Dabi replied, moving closer to drape an arm over Tomura. “Did she look like her?”
“No. She just… had the same expression on her face when she talked to me.” He explained, leaning into the touch. “It made it hard to say no to her.”
“She made you stay for dinner?” He laughed softly, pressing a kiss to Tomura’s cheek.
“Yep. Met her son.” Tomura replied, “Izuku Midoriya.”
Dabi paused. “Seriously?”
“It’s funny… The last time I was really stumped on something, I went to the mall to think.” He furrowed his brow, bringing a hand to his neck. “I ran into Midoriya then too.”
“It must be fate.”
“Maybe. He’s All Might’s successor, after all.” The thought had stayed in his brain the entire trip home, coming back to the same thing over and over again. “Maybe we went the wrong route trying to get that Bakugo kid on our side.”
Dabi pulled back a bit, studying Tomura’s face before speaking. “You want to go after Midoriya?”
“Not yet… I want to think about it longer.” A small smile played at the edges of his lips. “But he might just be the ally this game needs.”