Kidnapped

The Black Sun Swallows Whole

shigaraki x reader

Consumed by grief after the death of your parents, you throw yourself into researching their killers, an organization called The Abyssal Factory lead by All For One, who claim to be for the betterment of society. When you're given the opportunity to fight back against their corruption, you jump at the chance. However, as you get more entangled with your fight against unchecked power, you find that everything is not as it seemed, especially when it comes to the heir to the company, Tomura Shigaraki.

tags: canon typical violence, enemies to lovers, found family, scifi au, alternative universe, science fiction and fantasy, slow burn, plot heavy, no quirks, reader has backstory, shigaraki being an ass

warnings: nonconsentual choking

wc: 6.8k

a/n: this fic has been my baby over the past few months, I really hope ya'll like it!! I changed a few details about canon to make things make sense for a quirkless AU, I hope it makes sense!

An absolutely huge thank you to @scary-grace for the beta read, and for listening to my ideas for this fic!!

Chapter 1

The bar was dim when you first stepped inside, lit only by the lukewarm glow of the orange lights that hung over every booth and the neon signs that crept over the surface of the round bartending station at the center of the room. You shuffled from side to side uncomfortably as a persistent stick gripped your shoes and a smell of cheap booze permeated the air, making your nostrils flare. Groups of intermingling species sat engrossed in their own conversations, yelling at each other over the sound of the music that blared over the speakers. You recognized the song—some musician from the planet Vendere, the tune slow and melodic. It was something you'd want to slow dance to in other circumstances.

Your heart thumped in your chest as you scanned the room. The bar's environment was completely out of your wheelhouse. You were used to spending your time alone. With this level of noise and a huge crowd, it was inevitable for you to feel out of place. It didn't help that you already didn't drink much to begin with, and you certainly didn't have any friends to go out with. At least today you didn't have to socialize outside of the realm of business.

Checking your commlink, you waited for a notification to pop up on the screen. Nothing. It seemed your contacts weren't here yet. In hindsight, meeting up with strangers off of obscure internet forums was probably not the smartest idea, especially considering the nature of what you were planning. There was a non-zero chance you'd get arrested tonight. Regardless, you felt prepared to protect yourself in case anything went wrong. Your blaster felt heavy against your belt, and the three knives you kept strapped to you at all times were easy enough to handle, after all.

After ordering the cheapest thing you could think of, sliding what was probably too-many credits to the bartender, you settled into a booth at the back of the bar, facing the doorway. With a shaking breath, you mentally rehearsed your story, recounting what you were going to say. What drove you. Made you tick.

You could picture Vita, one of the thousands of inhabited planets in the Musutafu galaxy and your home planet, as it was when you grew up. Tall grasses that you loved to weave into little baskets. The water that reflected the sky, vibrant and shining, rippling and distorting from the small animals that disturbed it. Insects and birds that screeched a harmonious, chaotic song late into the night.

Your love for the water enforced your love for Vita. Some of your fondest childhood memories were days spent in the marshlands surrounding your house. Days when you would splash in puddles until the mud caked your boots and flecked your face. You would come home upon sundown, your mother scolding you as she wiped your face and arms with a wet cloth before sending you on your way to the bath.

Vita was dry now. As a child, you knew water was important, but not to what extent. To a young child, water was just what you drank. It was what you played in. Bathed in. You never expected it to become the economic resource it came to be regarded as.

You were ten when your world started to end. When Vita dried.

Drying was what the Intergalactic Empire insisted happened to your planet. A strange occurrence due to the citizens' over-consumption of water. But you knew the reality of its death. What was touted as a scientific breakthrough, capable of changing and revolutionizing the infrastructure of space travel, actually became your planet's downfall. Water was discovered to hold properties to allow for clean engines that didn't require expensive wiring or electrical systems. It was supposed to be better for the planet— for the galaxy. Until someone naturally got greedy.

This greed is what killed your planet.

With so much water ripe for the taking, it was only natural that someone would try to take advantage of the abundance of natural resources.

Your parents, as politicians, advocated for the protection of your planet's natural resources and sustainability efforts. They had taught you to recognize right from wrong and to stand up for what you believe in, despite what others may think.

This same philosophy is what had gotten them killed.

The night they were killed left a stain on your soul that no amount of scrubbing could remove. You were playing in the marsh again, watching the tadpoles swim around your boots and hands in the water. Their screams from the house startled you, the sound echoing across the still waters and sent any animal careening. Your little ten-year-old brain didn't know if you should run or hide with the tadpoles. Your rain boots seemed to sink further into the mud as you stood, blood rushing in your ears as you began to run towards your house, each step loudly splashing as the water speckled you from the waist down. The slight breeze seemed like a vigorous wind as you paused, approaching the house. Parked on the dry patch of land where your parent's ship usually parked was a strange starship, black and aerodynamic, you had never seen before.

Your parents would have told you if they were having guests. Why didn't they tell you?

The sound of two male voices echoed off the water, booming against the quiet sound of insects buzzing in the marsh.

"Wasn't there a brat we were supposed to get too?" An icy chill ran down your spine. Did they mean you? Your shorts became soaked as you scrambled to crouch down, hiding behind the large patches of tall grass. The sides of the grass poked into you painfully as you stilled, willing your body not to move a muscle. You held your breath and hoped your rabbit-quick heartbeat wasn't loud enough to startle the wolves.

They were too far away for you to pick out any discernible features. "There was," he said, bored. "But what does it matter, we can always come back."

The other man began to protest, "But the boss said—"

"I don't care what Shigaraki said, it's one kid. We aren't getting paid enough to care." Recognition sparked in your head. You heard your parents discussing Shigaraki at the dinner table. As the CEO of The Abyssal Factory, a company focused on "clean, water-dependent engines for space travel," he was their biggest opponent when it came to the protection of Vita's water.

Their voices drifted further away. Still crouched, you stood on your toes to peer over the grass. They now stood by their starships. You prayed they were leaving.

"I guess," the taller one muttered, so quiet you could barely make out the words, before climbing into the ship. "We'll come back if he finds out."

Still crouched, knees aching, you started at the ship as it quickly shrank to a dot in the sky, disappearing as it took off. Red-hot tears wet your waterline as your boot, stuck in the mud, pulled off your foot. Panic gripped you.

Damn it. You flinched. You weren't supposed to say damn it. Your socked foot was sopping wet and cold as you raced towards the house, fumbling and crawling up the stairs, leaving thick splats of mud that exploded into stars on each step.

You stood in eerie silence as the back door was left open, white curtains swaying in the wind, the bottom edges tinged with red droplets. Hot tears rose to wet your waterline. The air smelled metallic as you slowly trudged through the house, the water dripping off your clothes and onto the floor, leaving a brown trail of droplets behind you.

The memory of your dead parents stayed etched into your brain in the same way their blood was now etched into every nook and cranny of your living room floor. To this day, you wished you could forget it. The awkward angles your parents laid at. The way their blood pooled, mirroring the same puddles you used to love.

Everything was blurry from that point. You remember crawling towards the commlink to call your aunt, screaming and begging for help until your throat went hoarse. For someone to bring your mom and dad back. For someone to towel you off the way your mom used to. The flashing lights and questions from the Interspace police were locked away in the recesses of your mind, never to be seen again.

A ping on your commlink snapped you out of your thoughts. Wrestling to pull it out of your jacket, you glanced at the notification.

"We're here." Your contact. Finally.

You spotted them by the door— two men casually dressed, covertly glancing around the room for you. You raised your arm in a wave, "here."

You got a better look at them as they approached, sliding across from you in the booth. "I'm guessing you're the one I've been speaking to?" The scruffy one with long, black hair asked, neutral in tone. "Yeah," pulling out your wallet, you tossed your ID on the table. That was the condition you had both agreed upon to ensure you both were who you said you were. Real IDs. No funny business.

The other man, blonde, quickly snatched up your ID, scrutinizing it through his yellow, triangular glasses, mustache twitching. He must have liked it, because he thrust it back at you along with his own. "This better not be a fake."

"It's not." Taking both, you took a minute to look at his. Hizashi Yamada. The ID was old, but he matched the photo, and there weren't any obvious imperfections that would indicate its illegitimacy.

The air in your little booth was as tense and quiet as you switched IDs with the other man, the single hanging light from above elongating your faces. Shota Aizawa. Just like Yamada's, there weren't any issues you could observe from the naked eye. The both of you nodded, satisfied. Your knee bounced from beneath the table. Finally, something was happening.

Your desire to avenge your parents had consumed you, eventually driving you to encrypted online forums to discuss your target: Shigaraki, first name unknown, simply nicknamed All For One on the online forums. You had seen their large, obnoxiously branded ships drain entire planets of everything they had, leaving its citizens with no choice but to seek asylum elsewhere or join them for a "gainful employment opportunity." It was corrupt, unjust, and completely unchecked.

Of course, other people noticed. Others called for the Interspace government take action against them. But The Abyssal Factory's lobbying efforts proved fruitful, causing the forums to turn to turn to other methods of control. They held whispers of assassination, calls for retaliation. You wanted to be part of that. This lead you to where you were today.

The plan was simple; Exchange backstories, see if you trusted each other, and then exchange resources if you did. You had information they needed, they had the manpower you so desperately craved.

Luckily, the bar was loud enough to mask your conversation. "So. How'd All For One fuck your planet?"

If looks could kill, then you'd hate to be on the receiving end of Yamada's. "We're from Focis." Those three words made your stomach drop. Focis was one of the first planets completely drained by The Abyssal Factory. You heard stories of what had happened. Fires that engulfed whole cities, buildings leveled, victims forever trapped among the rubble. It was said that the screams of its citizens could still be heard in the wind.

There were very few survivors, most people unable to escape to the starships in time. Those who managed to escape lived with both the mental and physical scars, a constant smoke in their lungs that wouldn't leave no matter how much clean air they breathed.

It was regarded as one of the largest instances of mass death caused by The Abyssal Factory, earning Shigaraki the title of All For One. All the world's resources, all this death caused by one rich bastard seeking a profit. It infuriated you. You were further enraged by the fact that All For One completely got away with it too, only facing a mild slap on the wrist by the Intergalactic Empire, probably due to his "generous donations." The corruption seemed to never cease.

"Look, how do I know you're telling the truth?" You scrutinized their expressions, looking for a twitch or strange movement. Anything to indicate they were lying. "I need some proof that you're not feeding me bullshit."

Aizawa pulled his hair behind his ear, revealing the dark eye patch covering his right eye. "This is from when my apartment crumbled on top of me. And this," he leaned down, lifting his right pant leg, his newly-uncovered prosthetic shining against the neon lights of the bar. "is from when I was crawling out of the rubble."

"Okay," you nodded, turning towards Yamada. Unceremoniously, he unbuttoned his shirt. A large, blotchy red burn scar etched over the expanses of his chest, disappearing under the sleeves and traveling around his back. His deft fingers began rebuttoning his shirt. "Our friends died in that fire," he sneered, tone soured by grief. "I need to kill those bastards that did it." His eyes were intense when he looked up at you. "What about you?"

You retold your story in the way you had always recited it. The screams. The men who took everything from you. The bloodstains embedded so deep in the walls and rug that no cleaner could remove it. The place you vowed you'd never return to.

Aizawa looked solemn. "So we all lost—"

He was quickly interrupted by the sound of an argument up front. Security was currently arguing with a cop from the intergalactic police force.

"You need a warrant—"

The cop, hulking with muscles that bulged under his uniform, towered over the security guard. "I'm only going to say this once. Here's my warrant," he gestured to his blaster, large and proud on his hip. "Now you're gonna let me in, and you won't have any issues." You eyed the security guard in disgust as he deflated. Some security he was.

"Alright, listen up!" The cop yelled as the music stopped, leaving nothing but the sound of awkward shuffling. "ID check, everyone stay where you are." Anxiety churned in your stomach as some people around you groaned in verbal protest. ID checks were routine at this point to check for anyone wanted for crimes against the Empire, and by extension, the companies that funded them.

You tried to stay cool, quickly switching out your real ID for your fake one under the table, a bored expression on your face as the cop came to your table, his one mechanical eye scanning your ID. You tried not to smile when you noticed Yamada and Aizawa's were different colors than before and touting different names. You felt a drop of sweat run down your back as he continuing examining it.

Shouldn't he be done already? It was a damn good fake.

Suddenly, the loud noise of another man screaming pulled your attention to the front of the bar, where a man was currently running towards the exit. Your ID was thrown down to you as the cop got ready to charge and shoot. "Stop!"

The bar was thrown into chaos as someone started firing. Adrenaline and fear coursed through you as a large— you didn't know what it was, but it was hulking with muscle in a way that didn't seem possible, beady eyes poking through its exposed brain above its massive maw —barreled through the door, sending pieces of metal shrapnel flying.

Eyes wide, your hands reached for your own blaster. "What the fuck is that."

You nearly fell over when you felt a hand clench down on your jacket, pulling you into a crouch. "We need to leave." Aizawa's hand was firm on your back, holding you in place. "Exit is that way, we'll tell you everything later."

The three of you scrambled to leave with everyone else through the back door, holding your breath until you were outside, making your way to the only two electric starships on the lot, yours and theirs.

"Ah, that was scary!" Yamada groaned, suddenly much more animated and less serious than he was inside the bar.

Crossing your arms, you tried not to shudder. "What was that?"

"They're called nomu," Aizawa gave you a strange look, putting away his commlink as yours buzzed. "We can discuss it back at our base. I just sent you the coordinates." Your ears perked up at the mention of their base. "What's at the base?"

"UA flight school," Yamada grinned. "We're teaching students to fly fighter jets."

A sense of giddiness filled your lungs. Fucking finally, something was happening. "I'll be there tomorrow morning."

Your room at your aunt's place was small, but livable. After the death of your parents, she had taken you in with open arms, so it's not like you could complain much. You took a look around your room, wondering if you'd ever set foot in there again. Binders of evidence lined the shelves, spilling out onto the walls with photos and articles you had printed on your aunt's ancient printer. She had always teased you for being so old-fashioned, so tedious with your physical media. But anything digital could be so easily deleted, and you were terrified that your life's work would go to naught.

Staring out the window, you sat on the bed, looking over the bustling city streets, slightly quieted by the late hour. You remembered when you first moved in with your aunt, who lived only a few standard hours away through warp speed on the planet Civitas, you found the city overwhelming. It was bustling, alive and pulsating with the energy of tens of millions of people around every corner. It was so different from Vita—with it's smaller, less populated cities and small towns. As a teenager, you realized the thing you initially despised was your only protection—more people meant more eyes on All For One. Still, even ten years later, it didn't feel like home.

Packing what meager personal belongings you had, your head cocked as you heard a knock on the door.

"Come in."

Your aunt's smiling face greeted you as she walked in, sitting herself in your desk chair. "So, what time are you leaving?"

"I dunno. Early."

Her smile didn't quite reach her eyes. "You know—"

You already knew what she was going to say, because she'd said it many times before. "Are you going to try to talk me out of going again?"

Her tone was soft, quiet in a way that came from a deep sense of melancholy. "I don't think I could, even if I wanted to." Your arms tightened around your bag as she glanced around your room, eyes lingering on your bookshelf before looking at you again. "You have your mind made up and I'm happy for you, I just—" she wrung her hands. She looked tired these days. "I don't want you to forget about your living family in pursuit of your dead one." A wry smile fell over her face as she stood. "Pursue what you think is right, but don't let it consume you."

You stood to hug her, her arms warm around your back.

"I won't, I promise."

But something in the back of your mind screamed that those words were a lie.

When you left in the morning, eyes still blurred from your early rise, you took one last look around the room. The desk that barely fit your computer. Your bed, dressed in plain bed sheets, you outgrew a few years back. As you closed the door behind you, you wondered if you ever really fit that room anyways.

After landing in the clearing, you double-checked your commlink to make sure you were at the correct coordinates. UA was located on the planet Fuga, only a half-days away at warp-speed.

Landing your ship was a struggle, to say the least.

You were expecting some form of concrete structure, large and imposing, with a long landing strip. Instead, you were greeted with the opposite— aside from the small, grassy clearing where you landed, the surrounding area was lush with green vegetation and tall trees with vines that draped along the horizon.

Exiting the ship with your bag in tow, you hoped this wasn't a trap. Suddenly you were being called to, Aizawa's hand raised in a wave as he approached.

"Sorry, I should've been here to greet you."

"It's fine." You shifted the weight of your bag on your shoulder, heavy with the weight of the binders you brought.

"Let me show you around." The top of the compound blended in perfectly with the rolling terrain that surrounded it, except for the large, glass panels along the front. The metal frames that accentuated each pain were covered in rust, giving the impression that the place was abandoned. This impression didn't last long as you entered.

Aizawa led you up a set of stairs around the compound as you looked around in astonishment. There were all kinds of electric ships on the main factory floor, various models and designs you'd only seen on ancient, yellowed pages. It was an eclectic mix of ships in various bronze and copper tones, shapes altered to suit its pilot's flying style. Several of Aizawa's students were working on the ships, some huddled in lively conversation. "This used to be an electrical equipment manufacturing plant, he explained. "We found it abandoned and thought the trees would do a good job of hiding us from any satellites."

You thought back to the trees outside, the way they grew in close, tight-knit patches, with branches like the tendrils of a deep-sea creature, crossing and wrapping around one another and framing bits of the sky in oddly-shaped frames.

"Aren't the trees a little too thick to train fighter pilots?" The grin that stretched Aizawa's face was scary. You were thankful you weren't one of his students. "Oh, they can fly in it just fine. You'll see."

"We'll have a meeting in about two hours to discuss the information you've brought, those nomu we saw earlier, and our future plans. There's a room for you upstairs and down the hall to the right, I think some of the girls made a nameplate for you." he rolled his eyes. "They were excited."

You smiled weakly. You hoped they weren't too entangled in this. That their youth made them eligible for a normal life. "Thank you." Aizawa nodded before turning, leaving you to your own devices.

Aizawa was right. Hung on the door was a small wooden sign, your name painted in a fancy-looking script and colored plastic gems misaligned on the outer edges. The size of your room here was not dissimilar from the size your room back home. While the walls in your aunt's house were covered, these walls were distinctly bare, highlighting the rough texture of the concrete. Your bed was clean and neat as you placed your bag down, a thick blanket near the end the only pop of color. You unpacked your bag in record time with the exception of your binder, deciding it best to keep it on you for the meeting.

Exiting the room and heading towards the maintenance bay, you found yourself still with awe halfway down the stairs. From this angle you could see everything—it seemed Aizawa ran a tight ship, no pun intended. Like yours, all the starships were electric and in near perfect condition despite their age. Electric starships were rare to see, especially after The Abyssal Factory's lobbying efforts.

You hurried the rest of the way down the stairs to take a look. As you reached up to read the model number on one, a voice interrupted you, calling out your name. "You flew in on an GA-FFE37B! All Might himself designed that one, and they hardly manufacture parts for them anymore!" One of Aizawa's students, freckled with green hair that tousled in every direction, padded up to you, furiously scribbling in his notebook. You blinked when you spotted a sketch of your ship already in there. "I'm Izuku Midoriya, do you mind showing me your ship later? There are just so many things I want to see up close!" The words flew so quickly out of his mouth it was like they were traveling at warp speed.

"Sure." Who were you to stop the pursuit of knowledge. You spent the rest of the time before the meeting explaining the mechanisms to the ship and discussing All Might's designs with Midoriya.

The makeshift meeting room was barely large enough to accommodate the table, long and large enough to fit all the UA teachers, a few select students, and yourself. The air in the meeting room was much more serious than in the maintenance bay, lacking the youthful joy that the students seemed to exude. In your eagerness you got there a tad early, leaving plenty of open seats for the time being. You sat down away from anyone else, waiting for the room to fill up. Eventually more people trickled in, and a woman with long, black hair settled into the chair next to you. She barely had time to introduce herself as Nemuri before a hush fell over the room, all eyes falling to a man closely resembling a rodent from your home planet as he scampered in, sitting at the head of the table.

Introducing himself as Nezu, he started the meeting. "As you all know, Aizawa and Yamada made contact with someone who may have information on possible weapons sources for the empire, and by extension The Abyssal Factory." He gestured towards you. "I heard you have some intel?"

Clearing your throat, you stood on shaking legs and introduced yourself. "I've tracked down a weapons supplier for the empire." Pulling out your binders, you passed them to Nemuri. "Everyone can take a look. Kai Chisaki was seen meeting with All For One around four standard weeks ago at a restaurant on Vendere, but it was unknown if any business deals were discussed." Vandere, a merchant hub, was a bustling planet with a city that seemed to stretch along every surface. "He runs Shie Hassaikai, a weapons manufacturing plant."

"What possible reason do they have to meet?" Namuri asked.

"That's what I was wondering as well. I did some digging, and there are records of a transaction from a few days ago, but they're not for weapons. It wasn't until Aizawa mentioned them that I connected the dots."

You don't know how you missed it. The Shie had no ties to The Abyssal Factory on paper until a few days ago, so you didn't have time to do a full deep dive into their business dealings or their paperwork. You also didn't pay much attention to the regular news outside of where The Abyssal Factory was concerned. Intergalactic news proved to rapid to, anyway.

Nomu were the empire's new line of defense, unveiled only a few standard days ago. There was a scarce amount of information on them—no one knew what they were or how they were created.

Pointing at the next page in your binder, you gestured for the next page to be flipped. "Those are the numbers for a recent business deal between Shie Hassaikai and The Abyssal Factory. And look at what's being discussed." At the top of the spreadsheet, printed in small letters read the text: Nomu, 300 count.

"I'd say our next plan of action is to raid the Shie Hassaikai facility. Perhaps the key to understanding the nomu lies there," Sekijiro mused.

Aizawa nodded. "That's right. Weapons are our top priority at the moment, besides excess manpower."

You grinned. Everyone seemed to be in agreement. "I can get us the building's blueprints if you give me a computer and enough time. From there we can plan an attack strategy and hopefully find something out about the Nomu."

With this plan in mind, you set out to hack into Shie Hassaikai's database and find the facility blueprints. You spent the next few days hunched over your new computer, occasionally interrupted by Aizawa or one of his students who'd been sent to remind you to eat.

While it took a bit longer due to a different setup, you managed to locate the files for the blueprints, security schedules, and locations of any security alarms.

The plan was simple—a small group would fly down to a field north of the Shie Hassaikai main warehouse, located on Repono, a small, near-empty planet owned by the Shie Hassaikai to use for their manufacturing. Everyone would then split into groups A, B, and C. Groups A and B would infiltrate the building through the entrance on the north side of the building while group C stayed back, keeping a watchful eye on the outside of the compound.

A larger Group A, consisting of Aizawa, Snipe, Kirishima, Tamaki, and a few more teachers would take the linear path down to the packaging area where weapons that were being sent to the empire were stored before delivery. They would then take as many weapons as they could.

Group B, consisting of you, Izuku, and Mirio would veer left to the security room and disable all cameras and sensors that could possibly alert anyone to your presence. You when then all quickly head back to reconvene with group A to assist with the loud out.

Groups A and B would then run back to the exit, where Group C, Yamada, Ochako, Tsuyu, and Nejire, would be waiting to assist in the load out process before steering the ships back to UA.

The sky was pitch black when you touched down in a field far enough to be away from view. The light from the stars was the only illuminator besides the bright lights that surrounded the Shie Hassaiki headquarters. There wasn't anything in the surrounding vicinity other than the compound. It stood absolutely daunting, the dark, windowless structure a harsh change from the rolling hills and slow-moving rivers that surrounded it. Silence filled the air, occasional low whistles of the wind cooling your face and tousling your hair.

Snipe lead the group down the side of the building, dirt and grass quietly crunching beneath your uniform boots. The doors were lower than the hill you were currently positioned on, giving you a perfect view of the headquarters.

Two armed, masked guards stood still outside the entrance, poised on either side of the doors. You waited as Snipe took out his long-ranged blaster, crouching as he lined up and took the shot.

One. He was quick despite the distance and wind. Two.

Both security guards slumped to the ground with a sickening thwap, one after the other.

There was no time to wait—everyone rushed down the side of the hill towards the doors with you, Izuku, and Mirio at the front, since disabling the alarms was the of the upmost importance.

Rifling through the dead security guard's jacket, you tried not to cringe at how warm the body still was. Eventually you found it—his ID card, clipped into the inside of his uniform. You snatched it as quickly as you could, ushering everyone inside after a quick swipe.

From then you enacted the plan, splitting off into two groups, the sound of group A advancing to the weapons room fading as they advanced. Following the map of long, winding halls you practically had etched into your brain, you continued down the hallway, making it to the security room.

You unlocked the doors with a quick swipe of your stolen ID, the doors sliding back to reveal the back of a security guard's head. He spoke on his commlink in a frantic, irritated tone, too enraptured in his conversation to notice the door.

Shit. He was most certainly calling for backup. A quick tug on the trigger of your blaster and he slumped over the console. You held your breath as a rush of emotions swept through you. Regret, then shock, then guilt. Your throat felt acidic as you swallowed the bile that rose. There was no time for emotions; you had to keep moving.

After pulling away his rapidly-cooling corpse, you stared at the various buttons, differing in size and color.

You took a deep, rattling breath.

It's okay. You could do this.

Making quick work of disabling the cameras, Izuku helped you unlock the doors to the weapons storage, the two of you working in sync as Mirio stood guard at the door. After triple checking that the cameras and sensors were disabled, you ushered Mirio and Izuku down the hall to reconvene with group A, you on their tail.

You were halfway to group A when you felt the wind knock completely out of your lungs. The building spun as someone grabbed you by the collar of your jacket, slamming you against the wall. Metallic ichor felt hot on your tongue as the back of your head kit the hard surface, recoiling from the initial impact.

The tip of a baton, crimson and pulsating with energy, crackled over your stomach as your assailant held it against your skin, their hand wrapped tight around your throat. Your head felt clouded from the lack of oxygen and fear that coursed through your veins.

"Where is Kai Chisaki?" You got a good look at him then, his face inches away from yours as he sneered, crimson eyes glaring at you with utter contempt. His pale skin was engulfed in an all-black ensemble under a blood red cape, various straps crossing the length of his body.

Whipping your head around, you heard Izuku cry out in anger. You couldn't quite hear the exchange due to the distance—too far away to help. He was just down the hall a second before.

You yelled for him with the hope that he'd hear you. "Izuku, Mirio, run! Get to the others!"

One pair of footsteps audibly retreated, before stopping. "Izuku, come on!" Your heart fell from your throat and back to your chest as you heard both boys finally retreat. However, it quickly rose again, the weight of a hand around your neck heavy as you strained to remove it.

With both hands, you tugged his wrist from around your larnyx, pulling him to the side and towards the wall. "Why would I know where he is?" With shaky hands, you reached for your blaster.

Spinning around, he looked down at what you were wearing, eyes widening when he noticed your lack of uniform. Not a security guard. Before you could place the finger on the trigger, he twisted your arm to the side, forcing your wrist to go limp.

You hissed in pain, dropping your blaster with an echoing clang.

"Who are you?" His eyes narrowed, body pressed into yours as he pinned you to the wall. Squirming, you tried to call upon any of the self-defense videos you studied. Your chest felt tight with panic as you realized you couldn't move.

"Who are you?"

The shrill sound of the alarms made you both startle.

The visage of a man, clad all in black, with dark purple burns covering most of his skin appeared in your peripheral. "Shigaraki, we need to go get the weapons before—"

"In a second, Dabi."

You interrupting unabashedly. "You're a Shigaraki?"

He seemed appalled at the question, as if there was nothing that could be gained from this clarification but goodwill. "What's your problem?"

Disgust churned in your stomach, face warm. "Your shitstain of a 'company' is my problem—do you really not know how many innocent people you've killed?"

Everyone in the room tensed, silent other than the ear-splitting screech of the alarm. The man to your left, tall and green with lizard-like features, broke the tension with a grin, a giddiness in his stance that you couldn't identify the reason for.

Shigaraki's voice came out a low whisper, a murmur laced with outrage. "What do you mean, innocent?"

His off-kilter stance allowed you to push him to the side, freeing you from his grasp. More of Shigaraki's team, a blonde alien girl and a man completely covered in spandex emerged down the other end, blocking the exit which you originally came from. There were too many of them for you to pick up your blaster and shoot. They'd surround you too quickly.

Your feet pounded against the floor as you ran in the other direction, the shrillness of the alarms ringing in your ears as you hoped you'd stumble across Mirio or Izuku on the way to the weapons room where group A was.

You stopped dead in your tracks as you heard Mirio call out your name. Down a side hallway, Mirio and Izuku raced towards you. Relief, then confusion filled you as you noticed what, or who, Izuku was carrying—a little girl with a red horn sticking straight through her long, white hair, covered in bandages.

"She was running down the halls," Izuku held her tight as she gripped his sleeves. Poor thing was probably terrified.

"We can bring her once we find the others." The three of you raced down the hall to the weapons room. You stopped as everyone from group A raced out of the room, meeting you halfway, several carts of weapons rolling behind them.

Snipe pointed back to the way you were coming, "We got everything we could grab. Lets turn back now."

Spinning on your heel, you sprinted towards the exit, stopping as Shigaraki's gang ran in your direction. Shigaraki stopped closest to you, his baton crackling at his side. "You aren't leaving until you give me some answers."

The sound of blaster shots boomed over the sound of the alarm. Several uniformed soldiers marched in through a side hall, blasters raised as shots rained upon you.

You turned back to Shigaraki, shoving past him. "You can't get answers if we're dead, now move."

He groaned before turning and running in the same direction. "Fine."

"Tomura, do we have to leave now?" The blonde alien girl pouted. "I wanted to stab Chisaki."

"Not now, you idiot." The one covered in burn scars, Dabi, said, turning and running as well.

The air felt fresh outside as you burst through the exit. The starships—including the branded Abyssal Factory ships that seemed to appear from thin air—were close to the exit, as Group A wheeled the carts in.

Aizawa and Snipe shot back at the impending guards as the doors closed, the rest of the team working together to quickly load the weapons.

Before you could join your team, you felt a hand tug you back, long fingers wrapped around your elbow. The harsh spotlights surrounding the building highlighted the scars on his face, jagged and harsh over his lip and right eye, with dry, flaking lines surrounding his eyes and brow. It looked painful.

You were expecting him to look… different. A typical billionaire's son would be prim. Polished. The longer you stared at him the more he looked beat down. Tired. Unkempt, with long, blue hair that blew in every direction, tangled and frizzy.

He opened his mouth to say something, when the Shie Hassaikai's ships appeared in the sky, creating beacons of bright light against the otherwise dark, starry sky. You internally cursed. Backup had arrived.

"Look out!" Shigaraki pushed you in the direction of UA's ships as he dove in the opposite direction, a laser beam from one of the Shie Hassaiki ships shooting the ground on which you stood only a second prior, sending dirt and grass flying.

You scrambled to join the others in loading up the ships, watching as Shigaraki's ship flew off into the distance, the white-hot bullets from the Shie Hassaikai's ship blasters stark against the black sky.

Your heart thumped in your chest as the cart you were unloading burst into flames, sparks and shrapnel flying into the air.

"Everyone set off, now!" Aizawa yelled from the cockpit of his ship.

Scrambling into the back of Ochako's ship, you watched the fire grow smaller and smaller in the distance. The noise of laser bullets whizzing by were muffled as the ship doors closed. The ship lurched as Ochako enabled the thrusters, bringing the ship to warp speed.

Looking over at all the ships flying in a V-formation, Aizawa as the leader, you should've felt an immense sense of pride. You had done it—the mission was a success. Still, in the back of your mind, you felt like you had more questions than you did before, and an unending sense of dread. Tomura was within your grasp and you failed to kill him.

taglist: @zephlovesspacestuf, @booksooks, @tomurafrlover23, @juni0njup1terr, @deadhands69, @mastercheetos, @kittyhyuka, @blizzardprincess, @moonstonejpg, @lysaisland @tapiocakisses @cryptidfuckerofficial

also when you read sotr you should be annoying in my ask box………..join mine and sammie’s book clubbb!!!!! i got her to start rereading the original trilogy hehehehe

omgff yesss book clubbbb!!! i haven’t read the ogs in so long either but i loooveeee to yappp (if it wasn’t alr obvious 🥲)

getting my hands on the book right tf now!!!! be ready for my gremlin brain to js spam ur ask box (that is a threat)

kenzie drop the address i’m omw to fight your bf my gf says it’s okay

my hairs a bit longer than this rn, but i want this color back so baddd 🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️

SO CUUTTTTEEE omfg pleaasseeee bring her back and also can your boyfriend fight

men have one homoerotic rivalry and make it everyones problem for the rest of their life

Anomaly (Chapter 1) - a Shigaraki x f!Reader fic

Ever since he was rescued by All Might from All For One, Shimura Tenko's led a charmed life - except that he's a beta, in a society where alphas are privileged, omegas are prioritized, and betas are an afterthought. But when Tenko finds himself investigating a series of designation-swaps that have devastated the lives of the victims, he comes face to face with the terrible truths at the heart of society's placid, inflexible structure, and the enigmatic villain who's bent on exposing it all. The one they call Love's Executioner - otherwise known as, you. (cross-posted to Ao3)

dividers by @cafekitsune

Chapter 1

Divorce epidemic: Small town in Okayama Prefecture experiences 200% increase in no-fault petitions since previous reporting period Designation dysphoria? Psychologists in Hyogo Prefecture report an increasingly prevalent set of delusions Google search: can designations change The urban legend that just won’t die: No, you can’t change your designation. Google search: my designation changed Suicide rate spikes in Kagawa Prefecture; threefold increase over the course of a month Government forms task force to investigate reported declines in suppressant effectiveness From Omega to Alpha: Chart-topping idol tells all about stunning transformation!

Google search: change designation back

Tenko’s already late when he wakes up, and the fact that he Decays his alarm clock out of spite doesn’t improve things much. He has a hell of a lot to do before work. He knew that last night, but that didn’t stop him from playing League of Legends until three am with Spinner and Twice, and now he’s paying for it. Tenko changes into street clothes, stuffs a frozen waffle into his mouth, and books it out the door.

He’s back before he can even make it to the elevator, because his medication reminder starts freaking out. He forgot his suppressants, like he does about every other day, and he probably wouldn’t take them at all if he didn’t have an alarm set. Tenko thinks it’s bullshit that he has to take suppressants. He’s a beta, not some alpha or omega who’s constantly at risk of going into heat or rut and sending the office into meltdown mode. There’s no reason for him to take this stupid pill every day.

But Tenko’s a beta, and it’s not worth it. He’ll get busted if he fails a blood test, same as anybody else. He swallows the damn thing dry, grabs another frozen waffle, and races back to the elevator.

He checks his phone on the way and sees that he forgot to log off the hero network again, which means his screen is covered in expired alert notifications — most of them yellow, a few of them orange. He swipes them away rather than reading through them. Angsting about everything that happened while he was off duty is All Might behavior, and Tenko’s number one rule for maintaining work-life balance is taking note of what All Might does and doing the exact opposite.

For off-duty behavior, at least. When Tenko’s out in the street, he’s on duty, and that means that when he hears the screech of metal on metal followed by hideous crunching noises and car alarms going off, he picks up the pace and runs a block and a half to get there first. Just like All Might would do.

It’s a car accident. Two cars, one flipped, one wrapped around a streetlight, and at least one person’s been thrown clear. Tenko drops his backpack and goes to them first, assessing the basics for their injuries. They aren’t breathing well — their chest is rising and falling lopsided — and the air around them is flooded with alpha pheromones and panic. If it was some alpha bullshit that caused this accident —

“Help,” the alpha gasps, and Tenko’s about to tell her he’s still assessing when she elaborates. “My husband — in the car — he’s pregnant —”

Great. Nobody stays calm when babies are involved, and Tenko’s still the only one on the scene. He looks around for the nearest bystander, orders them to call emergency services, and addresses the crowd that’s gathering. “Anybody here with life support training?” A couple of hands go up, and Tenko assigns roles at random. “You, grab an AED. Every store on this block should have one. You two, get over here. Get ready to start CPR.”

He waits for them to move, then races over to the car that hit the streetlight. Just like the injured alpha, the omega victim is flooding the scene, bad enough to make Tenko cough — but even as his eyes stream, his mind stays clear. He Decays the broken window on the passenger side and addresses the victim. “My name’s Shimura Tenko. I’m a pro hero and I’m here to help you.”

Most heroes are alphas with a few omegas mixed in, but All Might’s adamant that betas make the best rescue heroes, and Tenko agrees. Alphas and omegas are vulnerable to pheromone releases no matter how many suppressants they’re on, but Tenko could be surrounded by enough overlapping clouds of pheromones to choke an air purifier and still keep a clear head. Alphas make a situation volatile, omegas defer if there’s an alpha anywhere in the mix, even if it’s the wrong thing to do. For high-stakes rescue heroics, where lives are on the line, betas do it better than anybody else. It’s about all betas are good for.

If that’s all Tenko’s good for, he’ll take it. He does a visual assessment of the victim’s injuries — as much as he can with the way the car’s crumpled — then remembers there’s a second car. “I have to check the other victim. I’ll be right back,” Tenko says, and the omega seizes his arm. An alpha wouldn’t be able to resist what the omega’s putting out, but Tenko’s able to free his arm without trouble. “I’m not leaving. I’ll be right back. Count back from a hundred for me, okay? By threes. I’ll be back before you’re done.”

The driver of the second car is dead. They weren’t wearing a seatbelt and they’re crumpled against the windshield, but Tenko checks the brachial and radial pulses just to be sure. Is there anyone else in the car? He hears muffled crying, Decays the back passenger window, and peers in.

Fuck. There are kids. Two of them. Both buckled in, both bleeding, neither of them with crush injuries, which means it’s safe to get them out. Tenko Decays the door, too, then wedges himself into position to catch the first kid once their seatbelt’s off. The kid flops down into Tenko’s arms, and Tenko supports their head and shoulders, trying to figure out how to maneuver them out of the car.

“We’ve got him!” There’s an EMT out there, with a stretcher and another one coming closer. “Pass him out and get the other one!”

Works for Tenko. He wedges himself further into the car. The second kid is freaking out a lot worse than the other one, and Tenko realizes that this is going to be a more complicated rescue in a hurry. This kid’s quirk is active. And given that she looks to be about six years old, the likelihood that she can retract the claws sprouting from between her knuckles when she’s this scared is pretty low.

Tenko’s been a kid with a dangerous quirk. He knows the drill. “I’m going to get you out of there,” he promises. “I need you to do something for me first. Make an X with your arms like this so your claws stay pointed out. I’m going to unbuckle you —”

“I’ll fall!”

“I’ll catch you. That’s why I’m here.” Tenko knows better than to put on an All Might-style grin. “Cross your arms — perfect — and count to three for me. We’ll go on three.”

“One,” the girl sobs. “Two —”

Tenko Decays her seat, seatbelt and all, and catches her. He kicks out the window on the other side, passes her through it to another pair of EMTs, then crawls out the way he came in. By this point there’s an incident commander, somebody Tenko recognizes vaguely, and he heads her way. “What’s next?”

“We can’t get the victim out of that car,” she says. “His legs are crushed. It’ll be a miracle if he makes it to the hospital, but he won’t if they have to spend an hour cutting him out. Can you —”

“Tell them to get ready. I’ve got this.”

The victim’s got enough people comforting him that he doesn’t get mad at Tenko for leaving and not coming back, so Tenko ignores him and searches for a starting point. He needs to do this fast. Once the EMTs are in position, Tenko plants both hands on the hood and activates Decay at full strength.

He used to think his quirk was evil, that nothing good could come out of destruction, but he knows better now. There’s no such thing as a good quirk or an evil quirk. It’s about how you use it, and as Tenko uses his to free the omega victim from the totaled car and deliver him into the hands of the EMTs, he remembers all over again that his quirk is a good thing. Or at least it can be. Tenko sticks around until the ambulances have left, confirms that the cleanup crew don’t want him to get rid of the cars, and hits the road before the press can put in an appearance. He’s even later to work than he was already going to be, but he has a feeling his boss won’t mind.

There was never really a question about where Tenko would go after he graduated from UA — All Might’s agency, because nowhere else would take a beta hero and it was where he wanted to go anyway. Tenko should probably be a little less shameless about cashing in on the benefits of being raised as All Might’s ward, but he also knows All Might is pretty sensitive to his help being rejected, and after everything he’s done for Tenko, the least Tenko can do is make him happy by accepting a few perks.

Tenko’s a hero because of All Might. Tenko’s alive because of All Might. If All Might hadn’t killed All For One almost fourteen years ago, Tenko would still be under his thumb. Still thinking he was built to destroy, still carrying around Tomura as his name. Tomura. The one who brings mourning. Tenko remembers explaining his new name to All Might in the hospital after he was rescued, and he remembers how All Might’s famous smile shifted into a teeth-clenched grimace. You can pick any name you want, he said to Tenko. Except that one.

In the end, Tenko fell back on his old name, the one his parents gave him before they realized he was a beta and therefore a disappointment. What he did to his family is hard to live with, still. On his bad days, Tenko believes every word Sensei ever told him, and some part of him always will. The rest of the time, the rest of him knows better.

He’s barely set foot on the training floor in Might Tower before Twice tackles him. “Hey! Shimura! Saw you on the news —”

Tenko grimaces and breaks Twice’s grip. “I got out of there way before the cameras got there.”

“People were filming,” Spinner announces, putting Tenko in an instant headlock. All Might must have ordered them to jump him. “The HPSC reposted the video —”

“And it’s already been played ten thousand times!” Midoriya reports from somewhere far away from Tenko. His natural quirk is good for fuck all against Tenko, and All Might doesn’t want him using One For All against anybody but villains. “It’s excellent press!”

“Somebody died,” Tenko says. He winds Spinner with an elbow to the gut and twists free. “They shouldn’t put that on the news.”

“You should have become an underground hero if you wanted your exploits to stay off the news,” Tobita says. He’s keeping his distance, or else Tenko would bite the Twice clone that’s holding him and go kick his ass. “And if you’re going to do hero work in street clothes, you might want to put a little more thought into your look.”

Tenko finally shakes free of his friends and looks down at himself. “What’s wrong with it?”

“It’s tragic that you have to ask,” Tobita says, and sighs dramatically. “Then again, you are a beta. Maximizing attractiveness isn’t at the top of your priorities list.”

Tenko grits his teeth. “Are you sure you aren’t gay?”

“I’m waiting until I’ve found my mate. Then we’ll see.”

If Tenko talks to an alpha or an omega long enough, mating inevitably come up. It’s why he hangs out with betas when he can. Betas don’t talk about ruts, because they don’t have them, and they don’t talk about heats because they don’t have those either, and they don’t care about finding mates in general. Whatever the difference is between betas and everybody else, it strips away the desire to couple up and reproduce along with the fertility. Or at least it’s supposed to.

Tenko thought everybody felt the way he does and was just embarrassed to talk about it. It took him until a few months ago to realize that his fellow betas aren’t secretly yearning for a mate. It’s not an unspoken beta-designation thing. There’s legitimately something wrong with Tenko’s brain, something he’s never going to mention to anyone ever again. He doesn’t give a shit about having kids. It’s probably best for everybody if his quirk dies with him. But his stupid ass is out here yearning anyway, and yearning in the worst possible way. There aren’t even any female betas – betas are all male, and Tenko’s straight. Female alphas want omegas, and female omegas want alphas. Tenko and his fucking yearning are stuck together for the rest of his life.

Tenko doesn’t think about it very much. His life is good. He’s gotten really lucky, multiple times, so much that he could almost call his life charmed if he hadn’t stumbled into it after accidentally killing his family and being kidnapped and brainwashed by a monster. If yearning for a mate is the only thing that’s wrong with Tenko, Tenko has it pretty fucking easy.

All Might arrives, finally, and rescues Tenko from the middle of a pile of Twice clones, giving him a bone-cracking hug. “Well done,” he says, and lets Tenko go. “Gather ‘round, everyone. Today’s assignments are in. As you know, our agency is unique, and there are places for each and every one of your unique talents to protect and serve others!”

All Might’s agency used to just be him and his sidekick, Sir Nighteye. Sir Nighteye didn’t approve of All Might taking Tenko in — he called it letting in a stray — and All Might took it so personally that he turned letting in the strays into his agency’s entire policy. Almost everybody, from the heroes to the support staff to the PR department to the maintenance guys, is somebody who somebody else threw away. People like Twice, who went from the foster system straight to jail. People like Spinner, who grew up in a shit town that treats mutant-type quirks like trash. People like Magne, who’s trans, and Toga, whose quirk scares people, and even Tobita, whose failure to launch fast enough out of high school would have kept him from being a hero. Betas and omegas, people whose designations get them almost uniformly rejected from hero academies across the country, are the majority. The news calls All Might’s agency ‘eclectic’. The tabloids call it a freak show.

The hero community’s gotten used to it. All Might’s always fielding requests for team-ups or visits, so much so that he has to sort through them and pick just a few. Twice and Tobita get a PR visit — going to a foster home to meet the kids and talk about heroes and quirks. Spinner has a surveillance job, like usual, and Toga’s headed down to the hospital like she almost always is. Everybody else gets farmed out to other agencies, until it’s just Tenko and Midoriya and two pieces of paper in All Might’s hand.

He glances at one of them and sighs. “This was for young Todoroki, from Hawks, but unfortunately he’s, uh, indisposed.”

“Again? He was in heat two weeks ago,” Tenko says. He remembers — he got a bunch of horny texts from Touya, because Touya apparently forgets how to read when he’s in heat and thought he was sending them to Hawks or his other alpha fuckbuddy. “He’s making it up for more vacation time.”

“He’s not! Some people experience rapid cycling,” Midoriya, also an omega, pipes up. “It’s very difficult to control. He’s probably not having fun.”

“And everyone at my agency gets the same amount of vacation time,” All Might reminds Tenko. Tenko rolls his eyes. “No designation is privileged over the others here.”

No, but if Tenko took a week off of work just to fuck, everybody would have questions about that. “Which of us is getting sent to Hawks instead?”

“We aren’t able to meet that request,” All Might says. He looks at the last piece of paper. “Young Midoriya, you’ll stay here at dispatch. Tenko, you and I have been summoned to Shiroiwa, in Kagawa prefecture.”

That name sounds familiar. Tenko can’t remember why, but he’s never against an away mission. The fact that All Might hasn’t said what it is means it’s confidential, which means Tenko can lord it over Midoriya later that he got to do something cool while Midoriya minds the desk. “Sounds good.”

It’s eight hours to Kagawa by car, four and a half by Shinkansen, but in All Might’s jet, which All Might takes on long trips so he won’t bring traffic to a standstill, it’s a cool hour and a half. Tenko’s not at all interested in climbing the charts, but he has to admit that there are perks to being in the top 10. Like no crying babies on the plane, and snacks. Tenko’s frozen waffles this morning feel like a distant memory. He starts raiding the pantry.

“Tenko,” All Might says, and Tenko looks up. “I meant what I said. Your work this morning was exemplary. You should be proud.”

“I was just who was there.”

“I’m proud of you,” All Might says. “Even if you aren’t proud of yourself.”

He studies Tenko for a moment. “Is something wrong?”

“No.”

“Let me try again. Something’s wrong. What is it?” All Might asks. Tenko shakes his head. “I’ve known you since you were eight years old, and lying’s not your strong point. What’s going on?”

There’s no way Tenko’s bringing this up to All Might. But he needs to tell All Might something, or All Might won’t let it go. Tenko picks a topic at random. “My phone yelled at me because I forgot to take my suppressants this morning. I’m sick of taking them.”

All Might’s expression shifts in sympathy. “Are you experiencing side effects? There are multiple brands —”

“No, they’re fine. I just don’t want them,” Tenko says. All Might raises an eyebrow. “I’m not a hypocrite. Alphas and omegas not taking theirs fucks them and everybody else over, but nobody suffers if I stop taking mine except some big pharma exec who won’t make money off my prescription. I shouldn’t have to blood test once a month at random like the alphas and omegas do if I’m not the problem. It’s bullshit and you know it.”

All Might sits down in the seat across from Tenko’s. “It’s true,” he says. “Alphas and omegas off their suppressants are a disaster. You’ve read your history. Society’s most significant advancements didn’t occur until after primitive suppressants were developed and distributed. Suppressants provide for a stable society.”

“Yeah, but —”

“And even knowing that,” All Might continues, “alphas and omegas don’t want to take them. Someone needs to set an example.”

“An example,” Tenko repeats. “I have to pop pills my whole life to set a good example?”

“If a rule applies to everyone, no one can claim they’re being unfairly singled out,” All Might points out. He steals a cookie out of the package Tenko just opened. “Betas frequently set a good example. You set one during your rescue today.”

“By doing something.”

“By proving it could be done,” All Might says. “Think about how an alpha or omega hero would have handled those victims and that scene.”

Tenko doesn’t need to think about it. He’s seen it. “Alpha commands,” he says. “And omegas do that weird thing where they’re, like — hitting on you —”

“Platonic seduction,” All Might says, which is one hell of a contradiction in terms. “These approaches both have something in common. What is it?”

“Is this a trick question?”

“No.” All Might eats another one of Tenko’s cookies. “Think about it. They have the same end goal as you did — a controlled scene, calm victims —”

“Except they’re doing it by force,” Tenko says. All Might nods. “You’re saying my way is better.”

“Yes,” All Might says. “Adding extra force to an already stressful scene increases the potential for chaos, particularly given the diverging reactions of each designation to those uses of force — and yet, the prevailing wisdom is still that heroes should use force in controlling a scene.”

“That’s not what you do,” Tenko mutters.

All Might smiles halfway. “I’m not an alpha.”

Everybody thinks All Might’s insistence on training beta and omega heroes is some weird fixation, because they can’t imagine All Might being anything but an alpha. But All Might isn’t an alpha. He’s a beta, just like Tenko is, so he knows it’s possible for a beta to be a hero. “Everyone assumes my ability to control scenes without force is unique to me. You proved that others can do it, too. That makes it much harder to ignore as the preferred strategy.”

“Yeah, yeah. Betas make the world go round, as usual,” Tenko says. He manages to grab one cookie before All Might eats the last one. “I still don’t want the pills.”

All Might sighs. “Are you unhappy with your designation, Tenko?”

“No,” Tenko says. He never envies alphas or omegas, except when he thinks about being alone for the rest of his life. “It’s just a pain in the ass.”

“Indeed,” All Might agrees. “But the fact that you’re a beta is why you’re on this mission and my successor is minding a desk.”

“Huh?”

“Here.” All Might picks up a folder and slides it across the table to Tenko. “I saw your expression. When I mentioned Shiroiwa, it meant something to you.”

“That’s the town where the suicide rate blew up,” Tenko says. “They think heroes should be investigating this?”

“At the moment, it’s not clear what this is,” All Might says. “No one will talk about what happened. It’s the opinion of earlier investigators that shame and distrust are keeping them quiet. They need to see people they can trust, who don’t provoke the sort of intense emotions that alphas and omegas do.”

Betas. “So we’re supposed to interview people about their dead relatives?”

“We’re supposed to interview anyone,” All Might says. “My presence will draw them out. Officially, I’m here to provide support and comfort in this trying time. It’s your job to talk to anyone who will speak and try to discern exactly what happened here. Prior to the first four suicides, which all occurred on the same day, Shiroiwa hadn’t seen a death by suicide in seven years. It’s hard to imagine there wasn’t a precipitating event.”

“Talk to people, figure out what happened,” Tenko says. “You sure you don’t want Midoriya?”

“People who are suffering need to feel listened to and understood,” All Might says. “As evidenced by how you brought so many people who’d previously felt invisible to the agency, the person in my agency best equipped to do that is you.”

Shiroiwa feels haunted. Tenko’s not superstitious, but there’s no other word for it. Something bad happened here, and he needs to figure out what it is so it can’t happen anywhere else. People are slow to talk. Tenko asks them how they’re doing, and it’s fifteen minutes of small talk before anything starts to come out. But once it does, Tenko starts to get a picture of things. Or at least where things started. Everybody who’s killed themselves attended a school festival the week before the first death.

“Did anything weird happen at the festival?” he asks, over and over again. “Or not weird. Even just something that stood out?”

Nobody has a good answer. It’s two hours into the event before someone tells Tenko what happened to some of the people who killed themselves. She’s weird about it, too. Embarrassed, even though she has her face covered. She beckons Tenko away from the others and keeps her voice low, so he has to lean in. “Their designations changed,” she says. “Alphas to betas, omegas to alphas, betas to — anything. Anybody to anything. You knew who it happened to. The scents switched on a dime.”

Designation switching is an urban legend. Or something that happens in porn. Tenko keeps nodding, anyway, and the woman keeps talking. “People who it happened to, they got shunned. Like it was contagious. Maybe it is. I don’t know.”

“Did everybody who got switched kill themselves?” Tenko asks, and she shakes her head. “Was there any pattern to who did or didn’t — or who was affected —”

“No kids,” the woman says. “It was a school festival. The place was covered with kids, but none of them got swapped. Only adults. And as far as who killed themselves and who didn’t — I don’t know. I don’t know why some of them survived it.”

“Can you point to anybody who did?” Tenko asks, and she points to herself.

Now he gets why she’s hiding. If they’re treating people with the switch like they’re contagious, then no wonder. “Come with me,” Tenko says, and she shakes her head. Her original designation and swapped designation don’t matter, but Tenko can’t tell what she is now. “If you talk to All Might, you can explain what you just told me, and we can stop this from happening again.

“Stop it? You don’t even know what started it.” The masked woman shakes her head. “I have to go.”

“Wait.” Tenko catches her arm. It doesn’t matter if she’s crazy — she’s the only lead, and if she got her designation switched, they can confirm it. Her hand closes over his and forces him to let go. “Look, if you won’t come explain, point to somebody else who got switched. Nobody’s going to believe this designation-switching thing without proof. You know that.”

She nods. Beckons Tenko closer again. “Look for Minami Mizuho, Motobuchi Tadakatsu, Shimizu Takako, and Hatagami Arisa. They were too embarrassed to talk. They sent me.”

“Thank you,” Tenko says. “If you’re right about this — what you just told me is going to help a lot of people. Even if it was hard to talk about.”

“It’s weird that it’s so hard to talk about,” the woman says. She’s about Tenko’s age, huddled inside a coat that’s too big for her. “Nobody can be quiet about designations most of the time. Except when they change.”

“Yeah,” Tenko agrees. “It’s probably scary.”

“Scary?”

“Yeah. Saying it makes it real.”

The woman thinks about it for a moment, then shakes her head. “It’s real enough for them,” she says. “Ask them.”

Tenko gets to it. Finds the people she named in the crowd, talks to all of them, and doesn’t remember until he and All Might are back on the plane that he never asked for his source’s name.

taglist: @shigarakislaughter @deadhands69 @minniessskii @lvtuss @xeveryxstarfallx @lacrimae-lotos @issaortiz @dance-with-me-in-hell @aslutforfictionalmen @evilcookie5 @stardustdreamersisi @warxhammer @handumb @f3r4lfr0gg3r @shikiblessed @baking-ghoul @cheeseonatower @agente707 @koohiii @atspiss

reblog to headpat the one you reblogued from!!

y’all i’m so sorry i feel like i’m lacking fr, i haven’t updated l.o.v.e since march 29th

which granted is only a few days ago but i mean i was pumping out chapter after chapter and now i’m js in a funk

blue lock has a chokehold on me currently

my chronic illness (migraines) has been acting up too though so unfortunately i can’t look at a screen for longer than thirty minutes without wanting to kms i’m so sorry

i’ll try to get something out today, maybe like a checkpoint or some tweets but i fear this fuck ass migraine ain’t cutting it

bitch cup mentality // tomura shigaraki

when all you needed was a night with him and a cup of mixed liquor to make some moves

a/n: the fratboy agenda never stops

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mha tag: @lotuslovers @babylambdietcoke @0skullyard0 @kaldurahms-lover @commonmisery @moonstonejpg @twoplayergaymers @simp-plague @xvilluis @haruhi269 @starliightfiend @k0z3me

hawks: where is shigaraki

dabi: hjngng wha