"Make haste and escape for your lives,

look not behind you,

escape to the mountain,

lest you be consumed."

-Jonathan Edwards

"And I'm taking him with me!"

Bakugo unconsciously uttered those words out loud, too caught up in saying the words to know what he was saying in the first place. Until he stopped saying them. It was them that he registered just exactly what he had said. It seemed to have registered with Deku too, as his eyes oozed out a frothy, baleful glare that essentially translated too, 'You better fix the mess you've just caused, or I swear that I will gouge out your tongue-!'. Bakugo's mind raced with the help of good ol' adrenaline and panic.

'I need a better filter, damn it! I can't just say whatever comes to the tip of my tongue! Fucking hell! What can I do to salvage the situation now?! Less panic, more thinking! You've been through worse than this. Let's see... How can you reasonably know him without actually knowing him?... What the hell kind of question is this!'

"...You want to take Deku with you? Why?"

Bakugo looked up with narrowed and slanted eyes at the little villain leader doing his best at intimidating him, eyes unknowingly drifting to the person behind him. He looked as indifferent as usual. He felt his adrenaline settle down a little, allowing him to properly think. There was more at stake here than just himself, and it was messing him up. (Although, he didn't know how it would affect him if the truth did indeed get out. The little wrinkles of malice and cold desperation were good enough though. He could deal with being in the dark from a bit of time.)

His eyes narrowed as he thought of a satisfactory answer.

It would expose another one of Deku's alternative identities (Seriously, how many did this guy have?), but he didn't think he'd mind.

"He's the bastard who infiltrated our school. I've got a grudge to settle with him."

Shigaraki's previous interest evaporated, like snow in spring (although there was still the faint rumbling of anger and cruelty beneath the surface, just waiting to be unleashed). Another person's interest skyrocketed instantly, however. Slowly, Dabi emerged from his tiny corner of the room with a strange sparkle in his eyes - a look of rabid interest and anticipation. It was like a treasure hunter that had searched far and wide, only to find the treasure he had so desperately been searching for right in front of his eyes.

"And you're sure it's him?"

Deku's eyes stared at Dabi, and the latter suddenly felt a chill down his spine.

"Yes, I did infiltrate U.A. for a period of time. He most likely remembers my voice, considering I was in disguise at the time. Although..."

He radiated coldness.

"Why are you interested?"

Tension one-sidedly took over the room, inadvertently wrestling over the attention of everyone else in the room. In other words, it was the perfect opportunity for Bakugo to escape. It wasn't exactly intentional - his instincts had screamed at him to confront the guy and figure out what his deal was - but it was an amazing chance regardless. Slowly, his gaze slid over the people in the room, as Deku tried his best to make the eventual landing on Bakugo look natural. The numbness in his limbs was gone now, so he could try to escape at any second.

Their eyes met, and in a depressingly ironic manner, their synchronicity was on point.

The door of the bar exploded in a volatile concoction of flame, with a zip of electricity in his veins. Deku hadn't entirely dissipated the lightning within Bakugo's body, instead, he chose to let it hide, unseen, to make him a tad bit faster when he made his escape. It proved worthwhile when he rushed out at an almost superhuman level of speed. Several members simultaneously groaned with irritation at the sight.

Deku had to hide a smile.

"Kurogiri, go after him! You're the only one who can catch up now!" Shigaraki's eye twitched, slightly. He wasn't bothering to hide the annoyance in his voice.

"Understood!"

Kurogiri disappeared from the room, and Shigaraki stepped forward. Right in front of Deku.

"Why did you help him escape?"

A lurch of adrenaline made itself known, as his body was almost drowned in panic.

'How does he-! T-That's impossible. There's no way he could-... Yes. There's no possible way that he could have realized it. His quirk is corrosion, not godly sight. I made no audible, or physical actions when I reactivated my quirk. He's just making stabs in the dark.'

Now that the panic had receded, he slowly got a tad bit... irritated. Shigaraki had been trying to get him in trouble, killed, and had just been a general bother ever since he had first fallen into this hellhole. Even someone with the patience of a Saint would have gotten tired of him long ago. Deku wasn't a Saint. Not even close. Regardless, he suppressed the feeling. Now wasn't the time to antagonize Shigaraki, not after he had just been 'falsely accused'. He took a deep breath in and out. There was still a feeling of irritation, but it would have to do for now-

"I saw it. Your quirk slipping into that boy's skin, moments before he escaped. Do you have a soft spot for him after your little adventure in U.A.? It makes sense; you were fiercely opposed to this plan in the first place, after all. Do you have anything to say for yourself?" Shigaraki's voice rang out.

This is why he just sent Kurogiri after Bakugo... It seems that he really does hate him a lot.

"No." He declared with all of the honesty and self-righteousness he could muster. Everyone looked flabbergasted. "No, I didn't do anything to help him escape. In fact, I was the one to restrain him. You told me to release him. I'd say you have more of a motive than I do."

Shigaraki looked incredibly furious and angry.

'Oh, did you think that you had me in a tough spot when I didn't respond right away? You should know better by now, Shigaraki.'

His presence sharpened; his anger hadn't been fully relieved yet.

"More than just that, you don't like me. I think that everyone knows that by now. This mysterious sighting of lightning... How many other people saw it, I wonder? I have a feeling that's going to be a big fat zero."

Silently, people began to move in Shigaraki's general position, and his face lit up with a slightly insane grin.

"Oh, it's a little bit bigger than that."

'Looks like he's been planning this for quite a while. He just needed an opportunity... I wonder what he bribed them with.'

At the end of the little reshuffle, only Toga (who stared disinterestedly at both sides), Dabi (who looked like he was angry, for unknown reasons), and Twice (looking very, very confused) stood near Deku. The rest had fled to the other side of the room, not looking abashed or embarrassed at all. They had a very thick layer of skin, at the very least. Deku knew that what he did do wasn't visible in the least.

He sighed, and the room instantly became alert, caution oozing from their every pore.

"Good for you, you're learning. The truth doesn't actually matter anymore when things get to this point; the majority holds the law in the hands with extreme prejudice. I'm rather curious, really. What did he promise you? Well, it doesn't matter. Let's be straightforward, Shigaraki... What do you want? Nothing too excessive though. I don't care about my reputation, and I can leave whenever I want."

His eyes widened - there was more white than iris - as his veins enlarged with irritation.

"You can leave whenever you want? You're so arrogant, it makes me sick-..." Shigaraki's voice roared out, before stopping, abruptly, mid-sentence.

A large, large ball of pure lightning surfaced on the palm of his hand.

"The moment you people moved a single inch, I started charging my lightning. While I doubt that I can get out, with you people blocking the exit, I promise you that someone will die. Do you really want to be that someone, just for a bribe? Is your life worth some green paper?"

Some silently moved a few steps away from Shigaraki, while others were more open about it.

Shigaraki's face was an interesting sight to behold. A look of rage, struggle, and eventual acceptance.

"...Leave. Leave the League of Villains. I'd rather have you dead, but I'll take what I can get. I'll ensure your death some other time." It was forced out like someone forcefully choked him with copious amounts of food, but it sounded like divine music to Deku's ears.

'He wants me to leave? Wow, this... I'm starting to see you in a new light, Shigaraki.'

He did have plans thought out and ready for getting out of the League of Villains, but they all had one rather huge problem that he hadn't quite found the answer to yet; his agreement with All for One. That is, to stay in the League of Villains. He wasn't sure whether the man would take it as an affront to their little 'game' that they had going, and instantly K.O. him. But if it was like this...

'It was his own protege that kicked me out. What am I supposed to do? Hahahaa! I can't let it show on my face, or he'll likely change his mind just to spite me. Indifferent is the best way to go, or he might get suspicious. Okay, you can do this, Deku.'

"Sure. I'll leave now then."

The sea of villains parted way, like Deku was Moses himself, unconsciously.

Shigaraki looked like he wanted to tear a few of his limbs off, but the jiggly lightning ball dissuaded him from taking any action.

...

Anticlimatically, Midoriya 'Deku' Izuku disappeared into the night with a flash of electricity in his step.