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"Shigaraki is badly wounded. We need to move before back up arrives!" a voice commands in Sakamata's ear. He watches as the League of Villains' leader clutches his bleeding arm, where Snipe had shot him. He sees Spinner on the other side of the field, wounded and surrounded by three heroes. He's barely standing up on his own, but he does well enough hiding it. Sakamata can see his legs waver ever so slightly though.
"We've got them backed in a corner!" someone boasts beside him. He holds down a scowl- you should never underestimate the enemy. He almost says it out loud when an explosion of fireworks pop off above them.
"So sorry to interrupt the fight, but we simply must be going now!" a voice booms. The newcomer shows off the marbles in his hand with a flair, and it's then that Sakamata realizes that the field is void of villains. "It pains me to cut this meeting short. We haven't even done the grand finale yet! Alas... Our time runs short."
The villain- Mr. Compress, Sakamata recalls- stretches out his arms with a flourish. He falls backwards off the building, and the heroes around him rush towards him in an attempt to catch him, only to watch as a purple portal opens up beneath him. Sakamata stays where he is, frozen to his spot. His eyes are trained on the spot where the villain once stood, or rather where his wrist used to be.
A frayed woven bracelet is loose against the steel grey of his wrist. The grey is a stark contrast compared to his skin.
What happened? a voice screams out. Sakamata refuses to let it come out. The voice eerily sounds like his own but younger. He buries the information.
Sakamata has worked in the hero field for a long time. He's been in various hospitals and has seen more and more of his colleagues get fitted for a prosthetic than he'd wanted to. He knows a prosthetic arm when he sees one. The prosthetic arm Mr. Compress had was longer than his real one (It probably wasn't fit exactly to his proportion, Sakamata thinks sagely. It was quite common within the villain community) which allowed him to see the bracelet in the first place.
What happened? The voice calls out again. Sakamata still can't move his feet- not like he's tried. The image of the villain scorches his mind. It overlaps with the memories he has from seventeen years ago.
Technically it's been sixteen years, eight months and a couple days, a traitorous part of his brain supplies. His teeth grind together in retaliation.
Sako used to have both arms.
What happened?
The thought shocks him back in the present, but he feels... different. He's no longer Gang Orca: The Killer Whale Hero! He feels 17 again, sitting at a Kanagawa coffee shop.
;
"I'm a villain," Sako had said, nursing his drink. Sakamata hadn't even sat down yet. Hadn't even said hello. A pit grows in his stomach as Sako continues. "I... I come from a long line of villains. I'm sorry." For what it's worth, he did sound sorry. It makes it worse to bear with.
"I didn't know you were a hero," he continues. His voice cracks. He looks worn out. "I should've known. I should've seen it coming. You're- Everything you do is so warm , I was a fool for not seeing it." A watery laugh. "Maybe I did and I just ignored it."
When Sako looks up to meet Sakamata's eyes, its then that he realizes they hadn't been making eye contact the entire time. They've never avoided eye contact before. Sakamata hates it. There's a bad omen growing in his stomach.
Don't say it, he silently pleads. Say something else. Anything else.
"We can't continue dating," Sako says.
Realistically, Sakamata knew he was right- there's no way a hero and a villain could work out. It doesn't mean that's what he wanted to hear.
"You're a villain?" he asks. His voice sounds detached from himself. He wasn't even aware that he spoke. Sako nods in front of him. Sakamata takes the chance to sit down.
"...I see."
"I didn't know you were going to be a hero," Sako repeats. He sounds sad. His eyes are scanning Sakamata over and over again- what he's searching for, Sakamata doesn't know. His mouth thins, thinking over a question.
"Would you have changed anything? Had you known?"
"Of course!" The answer comes faster than Sakamata would have liked. He ignores the way it makes his chest ache. "I would have never spoken to you had I known! I mean, I'm a villain, not a monster."
'Some would argue you're a monster right now,' he thinks to himself. He frowns, gripping the table.
"I wouldn't," he admits. "I wouldn't have changed a single thing about us meeting. Meeting you has been everything to me."
"Even knowing who I am?" Sako laughs, but it's humorless. Sakamata doesn't answer, because the answer- to him- is obvious.
'Yes,' his thoughts answer. 'Especially knowing who you are. Especially if it's you, Sako'
But, he doesn't say that. Instead, he changes the topic.
"We have to break up." His voice waivers the tiniest bit. It's a miracle how put together he is during the conversation. "But let's be clear: I cherished every moment together with you."
Perhaps if Sako were a different man, he'd say something else- if he were born in a different family, or even if he disagreed with his family's goals. But he wasn't a different man. He agreed with his family's goals and ideals.
He takes the silence as an admission and gets up from his chair to walk out. Sako doesn't say anything- doesn't acknowledge Sakamata walking away.
"It seems you don't even care enough about us to at least try it out," he says before leaving. Sako's ear twitches, but the rest of him sits perfectly still. His expression is schooled, showing no signs of change. His shoulders are perfectly back and eyes relaxed. The only indication that he has for hearing Sakamata is that his eyes watch his every move.
It hurts that Sako doesn't rush out to try and catch him. He doesn't turn back after leaving the coffee shop.
"I need to find a new coffee shop," he says to himself with a dry laugh.
The woven bracelet feels heavy on his wrist.
;
He doesn't have his bracelet on him. It was tucked away in a box in his attic. It hurt too much to look at, yet he couldn't bear to throw it away.
Sakamata vaguely feels someone brush against his arm, walking past him. He faintly hears someone else rallying the heroes to leave the scene- some urging the heroes to follow after the escaped villains, others bemoaning about how they escaped despite being so close to being defeated.
The heroes didn't technically lose today, but Sakamata feels the bitter feeling of loss anyways.
A hand clasps itself onto his shoulder and he turns to see Best Jeanist beside him. There's a look of concern in his eyes, but Sakamata ignores it.
"Let's get out of here and reconvene another time to discuss what went wrong," he offers. Tsunagu knows more than anyone what Sakamata is like when he's upset. He also knows that Sakamata would never put off tomorrow what could be done today. Still, he nods and lets go of him.
"Okay," Tsunagu agrees. "We'll meet again soon."
Be ready to talk about what happened today, goes unsaid but Sakamata hears it regardless.
"Soon."
He needs to get rid of the bracelet. He needs to move on.