Ch. 50 Shigaraki at the Bar

It was a slow night at the bar. You'd actually brought your book and read a little in-between making a drink here or there. It was infinitely more fun to read about someone else's fantasy beach romance than deal with the dark, sticky reality of life.

Like Bakugo had said, the book really did get better as you got further into it.

The weekend crowd was gone, and now it was you, your book, and a couple regulars. You'd just put your book down when you happened to see a certain murderous super villain with dusty blue hair emerging from the back.

"Hey!" you called out to him, but either Shigaraki didn't hear you or he didn't feel like acknowledging you. Probably the latter.

"Hey!" you yelled again, coming out from behind the bar to go talk to him, but he was walking away quickly.

Shigaraki was alone, which was perfect, with no sign of Dabi anywhere. Blue hair hung over his face, hiding his features, but you saw his red eyes glance your way for a split second before he started walking the other direction.

Most of the time Shigaraki steered clear of the public area of the bar, preferring to do only god knows what in the backrooms. But it seemed like tonight was your lucky night, and since the bar was mostly empty, the League's very own leader had ventured out.

Normally you'd rather pretend like he didn't exist, but you had a new plan in mind tonight.

"Let me make you a drink," you said, trailing after him, "I've been making a couple new cocktails, and I want your feedback...."

"....Boss."

That last word was at least enough to get him to pause for a second.

"Boss, now, huh? All of a sudden you're employee of the month? Hard pass," he muttered before continuing to walk away. "I don't drink that shit anyway."

"If you're scared of me reading your mind, you could just say so."

That made him stop.

"You're avoiding me because you're scared of me," you continued. "Scared of what I might find out, hm? I get it; the last time I was in your brain was a doozy, you even had to tie me to a chair so..."

There was no reason for him to know that you'd rather stab out your own eyeballs than go back into his thoughts again.

"I'm not scared of things that don't matter."

"Just try one of the new drinks. Then I'll leave you alone. No mind reading. I promise."

"Will you shut up if I do that?"

"Probably."

Reluctantly he followed you back to the bar, and he sat on the barstool at the end, far away from anyone else there. After mixing both of you a drink, you came back around the bar and slid onto the stool next to him, watching as he cautiously took a sip. The more he drank, the easier this was going to be.

"This isn't awful," he admitted. "There, now leave me alone."

"But you're sitting at my bar."

"I'm currently regretting that decision."

"Come on," you said, "even a guy like you enjoys having someone to talk to every now and then."

"No, really, I don't."

"Whatever you say. I'll just sit here then." You tapped your fingers some more, tapping out the song in your head. "I'll sit here quietly. You'll never know I'm here. Because I'll be so quiet."

Shigaraki sighed and put his drink down.

"Aren't you supposed to be working?" he asked you, not even glancing your way.

You looked around the empty bar. "For what customers?"

"You're being weird."

"No, I'm trying to be nice. I get that you might not be familiar with such a concept since you always feel like being such an asshole to me. I'm finally seeing that working for you, and being part of the League, might benefit me after all."

"Oh yeah? How so?"

"Well, I have this now," you said, holding up the engagement ring.

As long as you were out from under Shoto's watchful eye, there was no way that thing was going back on your hand, so when you were away from him, the ring lived in your pocket. Thankfully, Shoto had it resized the very next day so at least now you could put it on and take it off whenever you wanted.

"You robbed someone?"

"No. I got engaged. But not really. I'm not marrying him."

"And I care why?"

"Because he's a hero. Shoto Todoroki."

Shigaraki finally gave you his attention. "Now that's funny."

"Why?"

"You got engaged to pro hero Shoto. The youngest Todoroki. Wow. Dabi was right; you really are stupid."

"Want me to read your mind again, asshole? Because if you want, I can start talking about your cute little dog --"

You hadn't even seen him get up from his seat, yet there he was, standing inches from your face, several of his fingers around your throat.

The scariest part was that he didn't even seem angry. If anything, his expression was outwardly calm and apathetic.

"Do you want to die?" he asked you.

"Sometimes."

Shigaraki tilted his head and stared at you, as if trying to figure you out. He let go and took a step back, shaking his head as he sat back down.

You hadn't planned on making him mad, but if standing up to him worked, then you'd have to keep pushing that angle.

After you both finished that drink, you went behind the bar and made the two more, sliding his across the bar to him before coming back to sit next to him again. He caught it, but you noticed his reaction time was a little slower. That was good. That would help.

"You're a little less annoying than the other ones Dabi kept around. I guess that's why you're still alive."

"Lucky me. You never planned on letting me quit, did you? No matter what I found out about Hawks."

"I figured if we kept you around long enough, Dabi would kill you himself, so what was the point?"

"Well, now I have a mission of my own," you said, "and as one of your team members, I am formally requesting your help."

"What mission?"

"I want to end this stupid engagement."

"Sounds lame. Why should I care?"

"Well, first, he's a hero, and isn't getting back at heroes sort of your whole schtick?"

"I guess."

"And second..."

Before he could react, you reached out and put your hand on his head, just as you'd done with Bakugo. You had zero desire to get trapped in the misery of Shigaraki's thoughts again, but that didn't mean you couldn't send him some of yours, now that you knew how.

It was easy to get into his mind, but you had to work fast.

Everything you remembered from the time you'd delved into his mind came flooding from yours to his. You sent the thoughts fast, as fast as you could, hammering them in, remembering each thing you'd seen from his childhood, his dog, his parents, his grandmother...all the vivid details and screams and tears and --

Shigaraki knocked your hand off him and stood up.

Maybe it was the intensity of what you were doing, or maybe it was because now you knew how, but you didn't stop just because you weren't physically touching him anymore. You kept at it, thinking of all of the horrible things you'd learned about him, forcing them into his mind.

"Stop it," he said, gritting his teeth and clutching at his head. "Now." He would have reached for you, just to get it to end, but all he could do was put his hands on his own head to try to make it stop.

You could tell by the way his entire body was tight and rigid that it was taking everything in him to stay calm. His bored expression had twisted and now his red eyes glared into yours. You willed yourself to match his glare.

"I want your help and then I want out of the League."

You kept your voice low enough that only he could hear you.

"Give me what I want or I will live in that brain and torment you all day long with every thought you don't want to think. Do you understand, Tenko?"

You let go of his mind and held your breath, scared to move, scared to exhale, scared to exist, hoping that you looked strong enough in that moment to keep your bluff.

"And I'm going home early."

Slowly, he took his hands off his head and straightened himself, his red eyes still trained on you. You could feel yourself about to start shaking, but you desperately clung to your composure, forcing yourself to stay firm and still.

That is, until he laughed.

It was a strained laugh, probably forced. Shigaraki straightened out his shirt, tossed back the last of his drink, and rolled his eyes. "Fine. Whatever."

"Wait. Really?"

"Yeah. Why not? It will piss off Dabi and that's always sort of fun. As for leaving the League, just remember that we found you once and we can do it again. After this, if you ever so much as lift a finger against me or the League, I will hunt you down and take away everything you care about."

He wasn't mad. It was a plain statement of fact, and you knew he meant it.

"Jesus Christ," he exhaled and for the first time, as he ran his long fingers through his stringy blue hair, you noticed that he was sweating. "At least pour me another drink after all that."