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You froze in place but your eyes followed Shigaraki as he casually explored his room. He opened a drawer and pulled something out - a black long sleeve by the look of it. The smile never leaving his face.

"So," he said, "How are you feeling?"

"... Spectacular."

He chuckled, "Come on. Have I really been that bad of a host?"

Shigaraki was relishing this, and it pissed you off. This small room, and him being the only occupant with you, made you feel claustrophobic and in danger. You had no one else to take energy from in case things went south.

What if he finds out he's immune? Could you fight him without your quirk? Sure - Aizawa and Monarch taught you combat skills. But all Shigaraki had to do was close his fingers around any part of your body and you were dead.

"See. You're not being treated like a prisoner. I want you to feel welcome here," Shigaraki said.

Not gonna happen.

He set the shirt down on the bed and turned to you. You focused on making a brave face or, at least, keeping your emotions blank. From the sound of his dry chuckle, you guessed that you failed.

"What's wrong, (Y/N)?" he brought one of his deadly hands to your face. You turned sharply, so he played with strands of your hair instead. He didn't even have to make contact for you to sense how cold his hands were.

"... Tell me where Shinso is," you said.

"Shinso."

"My friend, you asshole," you leered, "That crazy girl from your team was impersonating him."

To your surprise, he didn't look amused by the topic, "Hmm. I'm afraid I have an embarrassing confession to make."

Your heart sank. What did that mean? Was Shinso already dead?

"You didn't..." your voice cracked.

"No," he said rather gently, playing with more of your hair, "No, no. I wouldn't do that. I want you to like me, remember."

You clenched your jaw, "Just tell me what you did with him!"

"I really think we should wait before we have this discussion," his soft yet maniacal chuckle was anything but calming, "Let's get to know each other. Meet the team?"

Your blood was boiling at this point, "You'll be wasting your time, and mine."

"Oh, fine! Such a party-pooper," he spun on his heel and gave you some space, "We did have plans for Shinso - I even considered taking you both in. His quirk is quite handy.

But we outsourced in the villain department and this lunatic decided to go rouge... People have no sense of loyalty, I swear."

You shook your head, "In words I'll understand, please..."

Shigaraki put his hands up in a guilty shrug, "I had someone else watching Shinso for me, and he ran off with him."

Wait.

Wait.

Do math... solve riddle... brain power!!

"Are you telling me Shinso isn't even here?" You said through your teeth.

"I told you it was embarrassing. I mean, who loses their own hostage to another villain? But don't worry!" His eyes darkened, "I'm not letting this go unpunished."

"But-" you had so many questions, but weren't sure you should stick around to ask. If Shinso wasn't here, you had no reason to be either!

"How do I know you aren't lying? And you didn't kill him already," You asked.

"Good question," he admitted, "I guess you'll just have to take my word for it. But it would be pretty lame to kill him before you got here - right?"

Thinking about the villains harming him in any way made you ball your hands into fists. Shigaraki had a point - sort of. Why would they off Shinso and then kidnap you? Wasn't the point to use him as leverage?

"Who has him now?" You demanded.

He studied your face for a moment, and you actually worried he could read your mind, "Well, if I told you, you might not stick around."

"You're right."

"See, this is why I wanted to wait until you were settled in... you're getting all worked up."

He's not going to tell me. I did all this for nothing!

Now I'm just another problem for the heroes to fix... A burden.

"I don't know what fantasy you had," you said, "but I'm never going to 'settle in' with you or your band of freaky criminals."

His tone was almost threatening, "Maybe you should sit down, (Y/N)."

"Fuck. You."

Shigaraki tilted his head back, just enough that his red eyes could see you clearly through his shaggy hair. His smile was gone.

"(Y/N)..."

He approached you again, much slower this time. You weren't sure what to expect from him - he was crazy, wasn't he? If you pissed him off would he kill you?

Had you pissed him off..?

You shrank back into the wall, but lifted your heel - ready to push off and run for it. It wasn't a great plan, but your only plan.

He suddenly lunged at you. Your life flashed before your eyes. Now you had done it; gotten yourself killed after ten minutes of being a hostage.

You narrowly dodged him by diving to the right, but the only thing there was the bed. While your landing was soft, you had to crawl through bed sheets to get away. It slowed you down enough for him to grab your ankle and yank you towards him.

Your heart stopped at the touch of his hand. It was impossible to see from your position but you tried to count how many fingers you felt digging into your skin. You wanted to kick and flail, but you worried that nudging him at all would cause his fifth finger to bump against you.

Once he got you close enough he flipped you onto your back and pinned both of your hands above your head. Both wrists were held down by four fingers each.

1, 2, 3, 4...

Your chest lifted and sank with every harsh intake of air. Shigaraki continued to stare down at you with no clear expression. The anticipation would kill you even before he did.

"You should relax, (Y/N)," he said, "Take some time to think things over."

"RELAX," you scoffed, "You kidnapped me - fuck relaxing! And I don't need time to think about anything, I need to get away from you!"

He released one of your wrists and grabbed a handful of your t-shirt. Instantly, the fabric started to shrivel and fall apart.

Your mind went to some dark places - fearing the worst. Cold air tickled your newly exposed skin. Soon, you were left only in your bra as your shirt was reduced to flakes. You decided then that it would be better to die fighting than let this guy see anything else.

Before you could act, black cloth dropped on your face. It had the pleasant scent of cheap laundry soap. You quickly realized it was the shirt Shigaraki had retrieved earlier.

"Your shirt was filthy," Shigaraki stated, his eyes had shifted towards the wall.

A prude..? Doubtful.

You were free to move both arms now and you held the shirt against yourself. Shigaraki didn't completely back off just yet. He hovered above you with a drained look on his face.

It was hard to tell what hid behind those red eyes of his. He looked sad or tired, but every now and then his eyes would light up with a crazed intensity.

Right now, you saw the sad young man version of Shigaraki, but possibly a blush deep beneath those cheeks too. His skin didn't change color like most people's, so it was hard to tell.

"You know what I find strange," he mulled, "I thought I'd be able to feel your quirk working against me."

You pressed your lips together and waited to hear the rest of his thought bubble.

"But the many times, I haven't felt a thing. Toga had a very different experience."

What did she say - you wanted to ask, but remained silent.

"I wonder," only using his index finger, he dragged a line from your shoulder to your elbow, "If maybe, it doesn't work on everyone..."

Denying it so abruptly would only confirm it, but you honestly didn't know for sure why your quirk didn't work on him. What could you say without raising suspicion?

Shigaraki's smile returned on his chapped lips, "Wouldn't that be crazy! So crazy in fact, I think I could be right."

You shook your head, "You're wrong."

"Oh?" He tilted his head, "If you say so."

He stepped away from the bed, "I hope you don't mind, I have a busy afternoon. So, make yourself comfortable."

You opened your mouth to blurt another useless retort but his frightening, blank stare returned.

"I may not have Shinso, but his fate is in my hands all the same," he said.

You sat up from the bed, hugging the shirt tightly. Shigaraki didn't even have to use his quirk to make you feel as if you were falling to pieces.

Do you stay and hope you can eventually save Shinso? Or try to escape and get the pro heroes to help? What if it's too late by then?

"It didn't have to get this messy, (Y/N)." Shigaraki said. He walked towards the door and opened it again, "I hope we can come to an understanding"

You glared at him with all the hate you could muster, "It's not going to work, Tomura."

"Really?" He smiled before closing the door behind him. At least you could be alone now for your pity party.

Hoo-fucking-ray!

It sickened you, but you slipped the black shirt on. The way the fabric clung to you reminded you of his sick obsession with you. You wanted to claw it off, but it was that or being naked. The sleeves were longer than your arms so they swallowed up your hands, making you feel even more trapped.

You couldn't stay on this bed. It felt wrong being in his room. You wanted to destroy everything, take your foot to his computer, but what would it accomplish?

You considered taking your anger out on the door, but you were an empty battery right now. Without any energy you probably couldn't break it down. If you managed to, you still had to face the villains outside in your current state.

All your life you battled against your abilities. Even now, you couldn't shake the feeling that your powers were evil, but that didn't stop you from craving a body to drain and feel strong again.

You pressed you back against the wall, slid until you sat on the floor and hugged your knees to your chest.

I'm sorry Midnight. Aizawa. Monarch. All Might. My friends. Shinso...

Now that Shigaraki was gone and no one could see, you let yourself cry.

Shigaraki leaned against the door and lingered for a moment. He couldn't hear a peep out of you, and he wondered what you were doing now. When he heard the faintest sniffle he pitied you, but still grinned at the fact that you were here.

Finally.

He looked down at his hands, remembering how it felt to touch your skin. Still, it was strange - he expected you to use your quirk on him and escape. Especially after telling you the bad news.

I wonder...

He entered the bar of their hideout and sat across the table from Kurogiri. The warp villain was cleaning some glasses, and their only other company was a very unconscious Katsuki Bakugo.

The boy's restraints were more severe than yours, as Shigaraki expected the explosion hero to blast the place if he got the chance. He would need some time to come around, just as you did.

"So," Kurogiri said, "How is she?"

"As expected I suppose," Shigaraki shrugged, "Not too happy with me."

"Did you tell her about the other boy, Hitoshi Shinso?"

"Yes... I shouldn't have."

Kurogiri paused with a rag and mug in his hands, "You can probably use this to your advantage, Tomura."

"How, exactly?" He asked with the sass of a five year old.

The warp villain pulled something out of a cupboard from beneath the bar. He then set a wrapped bundle of roses in front of Shigaraki.

"It's a nice touch, Kurogiri, but I don't think she'll go for it," Shigaraki rolled his eyes.

"They're not for her," he explained, "They were left by Valentini. As an apology of sorts for betraying you. But his motives remain."

Shigaraki examined the roses more closely. Though, the red petals were rich and vibrant, it couldn't hide the gnarly thorns that took over the stems.

"They also came with this," Kurogiri slid a photo across the table.

"What is this... a threat?"

The image was of a woman. In pieces. Her body sat elegantly in a vintage chair while wearing a frilly dress, but her head had been removed. In its place was a sprouting bouquet of roses.

"I believe it's simply his creative expression," Kurogiri's yellow eyes narrowed, "But if you want my idea to work, we'll need to act fast before the boy becomes another one of his masterpieces."

Shigaraki crumpled the photo and it turned to dust, "Tell me your idea then."

"Rescue the boy with her at your side. She'll cooperate if she knows she'll find him. Consider it a bonding experience."

"Hmm..."

"In order for her to understand your vision for a new society, she'll need to trust you - at least a little. As it stands, I'm afraid she will only continue fighting you.

Using Valentini to work her through the press was a brilliant start, even if he wasn't reliable in the end, but she's still clinging to her heroes for safety."

"Oh, I see," Shigaraki smiled, "You think I should play hero?"

"I still want to refer to it as a team-building exercise."

Shigaraki tapped his chin, "I don't hate the idea. Besides..." he crushed the rose bouquet in his hand and watched the petals crust and fall apart, "I'm in the mood to kill an artist."

😁😂