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“You’re bleeding.”
Tomura barely manages to hold back his screech at the sudden sound of Kumi’s voice. He stares at her as she sits on the couch, blue eyes almost glowing in the dark. It reminds him of all the times he’d gotten up for a midnight snack only to be greeted by Keigo’s stares. “Why are you up?”
“Was waiting for you.”
“You’re five years old. Bedtime is long past for you. Get to bed.”
“Nuh uh. Why are you bleeding?”
“I ran into a knife, happy? Go to bed.”
Kumi frowns at him. “Why’d you run into a knife?”
“I didn’t do it on purpose,” Tomura hisses.
Kumi watches him close the door and walk over. “Why are you walking funny?”
Tomura glares at her. “I fell off a moving truck.”
“Why were you on a moving truck?”
“I was chasing someone.”
“Who were you chasing?”
“What is this, twenty questions? Get to bed.”
Kumi folds her arms. “How come your hair is black?”
Tomura groans. “You’re gonna be the death of me, Kumi.”
“I heard you talking to Kei Papa. Did you go back there?”
Tomura sighs. “If I promise to talk to you, will you let me go wash up?”
“Fine, but if you don’t, I’ll tell Giri that you’re bleeding.”
Tomura’s eye twitches. “Fine. I’ll be right back.”
He heads to the bathroom and washes the dirt and blood from his face. He uses Touya’s hair things to wash the dye out. He fishes out the first aid kit so he can clean and cover the cut on his arm and changes into clean pajamas. Then he braces himself for the demon that is Hinotori Kumi.
“All right,” he says, sitting down next to Kumi. “I’m back.”
Kumi squints at him. Her eyes, though clearly Touya’s blue, look a lot like Keigo’s narrowed gaze. It’s probably the tiny little marks at the corners of her eyes that she didn’t have when she was younger. “Did you clean it properly? Atsu says if you get hurt, you have to clean it or it’ll get infected.”
“Yes, I cleaned it properly. See, I even covered it up.” Tomura lifts his short sleeve to show Kumi the gauze taped down just like Kurogiri taught him ages ago.
“Good. Did you go back there?”
Tomura nods.
“Did you kill them?”
Tomura nods again.
“Is it because they took me from Atsu? Or because they hurt me and Atsu?”
Tomura glances at the bandages on Kumi’s little wrists. She’ll be fine after one more day, but Tomura knows that Kurogiri will keep rubbing them with ointment until the redness disappears too. “Both.”
Kumi tilts her head to one side. “What’s a vigilante? Daichi says that Natsu calls you a vigilante as a joke, but I think he just doesn’t know he’s right.”
Tomura sighs. “A vigilante is kind of like a hero, but you know how heroes have to go to a special school and get a license? Vigilantes don’t do that. They just fight villains without being allowed to. That makes them criminals, but not villains.”
“How come you do that? Touya Papa says we were all villains. He says people all over used to be scared every time they heard of the League of Villains, but now everyone thinks we’re all gone because Kei Papa told the heroes’ bosses that we ran away from here and we’re hiding somewhere deep, deep, deep in the mountains so they’re not looking for us anymore. But even if they’re not looking for us, how come you do hero stuff if you’re a villain?”
“It’s because of you, kid.”
“Me?”
“Yeah. You were very annoying before you learned how to entertain yourself, so I used to go outside. But I never wanted to fight heroes alone because they’re even more annoying. And then a villain tried to attack me, because I look like a teenager, apparently. So I fought back.”
“So, fighting villains makes you a vigilante?”
“I guess. But they only call you that if they know what you’re up to.”
Kumi gasps. “Someone saw you?”
“Several someones,” Tomura grumbles, remembering being on the news and being made fun of by the entire League.
“Hm.”
“What are you thinking about, baby chicken?”
“I think I wanna be a vigilante too.”
Tomura laughs. “No way. Your dads will kill me.”
“But I wanna fight evil villains too! And I wanna rescue people! Like the other kids. It felt nice. They were shaking. Touya Papa says it’s because they were hurt and afraid and I don’t know what traumatised means but he said they were that too. I knew you guys would come for me and Shuichi taught me how to get out of ropes so if they tried to do anything, I would’ve ran away but I know you guys were coming and they just left me in the corner to talk so I stayed there and I know I’m small but I’m not afraid of bad villains. I wasn’t scared when I went to get the other kids.”
“You went to get them?”
“Touya Papa didn’t tell you? I broke the lock myself and I went down with Miko. Papa had to open the door for me, though. It was very heavy.”
“Yeah, I think you wanna be a hero, baby chicken.”
Kumi tilts her head. She looks so much like Keigo, with her messy hair and her little round face. “But heroes have to follow rules. Daichi says they’re not allowed to kill villains.”
“Oh my god,” Tomura groans. “Your fathers are going to skin me alive. Murder is bad, okay?”
“But you do it.”
“I’m twenty-five. I can do whatever I want.”
“Then I’ll be twenty-five one day and I’ll do whatever I want, too.”
“I’m going to die. This is how I go out. Accidentally teaching you about vigilantism. Just throw me off a tall building and put me out of my misery.”
“You’re too heavy for me to throw,” Kumi says seriously.
Tomura stares at her. “I wasn’t being serious.”
“I know. But Miko says it’s funny to mess with you.”
“I’m going to throw her off a building.”
“Then Kei Papa will just have to catch her.” Kumi sighs. “I wanna fly like Kei Papa.”
“Knowing you, baby chicken, I’m sure you’ll figure something out.”
Kumi grins. “Yeah.”
Tomura hopes that she’s done talking about being a vigilante.
“So, do I have to make my hair black too if I wanna be a vigilante?”
“Oh my god!”
“Oh, wait! Is it like a secret identity? Like a spy? Maybe I’ll make my hair blue, then! I like blue. Touya Papa’s fire is pretty.”
“Mm. Like yours.”
“Yeah, but Touya Papa’s is hotter. I can go hotter too.”
Tomura eyes her warily. He’s still not sure if Kumi’s body can handle flames of that temperature. She’s fine with the flames she uses now, but they’re all not entirely sure she can go any hotter safely. “Don’t do it unless he says you can. You don’t want to hurt yourself.”
“I know. Touya Papa is better than his dad. He teaches me how to be safe.”
“Oh? I didn’t know that was something he knew.”
Kumi punches Tomura’s leg. It actually hurts a little bit. “Don’t be mean to Papa. He’s doing his best.”
“Ow, I know.”
“We should be vigilantes against Papa’s dad. He sounds like a bad hero.”
“Y’know . . . that’s not entirely a bad idea. For me. It’s a horrible idea for you.”
Kumi pouts. “You just don’t wanna have to teach me how to fight.”
“Oh, I’ll teach you to fight. As soon as you can learn not to walk into glass doors.”
“Hey, that’s not fair! It’s not my fault. It just sometimes looks like it’s open!”
“I know, baby chicken. I’m just messing with you. That’s your father’s fault.”
Kumi sticks her tongue out at Tomura.
“Did you know that when you were three, you used to make little bird noises like him? Himiko has videos.”
Kumi nods excitedly and Tomura wants to heave a sigh of relief. Himiko’s videos always distract Kumi, no matter what she’s got on her mind.
“Daichi says they’re cute. He says I should keep making them if I want to. I think he thinks someone made me stop.”
“Well, why did you stop?”
“I learned how to talk.”
“Bet I could make you squawk if I scared you.”
Kumi glares at him. “You don’t want to scare me. I’ll accidentally breathe fire on you. Then Touya Papa will just laugh at you and your shiny bald head and no eyebrows.”
“Jesus, okay, fine. No scaring.”
“I’m going to bed,” Kumi says, sliding off the couch. She stands in front of Tomura and points a finger in his face. “But we’re not done talking about vigilantes.”
“Damn,” Tomura says when Kumi disappears down the hallway to her room.
“If it makes you feel better — don’t scream, it’s just me.”
Tomura clutches his shirt as he lands on the floor and stares at Keigo over the couch’s backrest, glowing yellow eyes peering at him. “What the fuck is wrong with the two of you?” he wheezes.
“If it makes you feel better, she’s been asking everyone about vigilantes.”
“Go to bed,” Tomura whisper-shouts. “Stupid glow-in-the-dark demon! And make sure your demon daughter is in bed too!”
Keigo leaves and Tomura lays on the floor, trying to catch his breath. Kumi and her fathers are so totally going to be the death of him.