Vigilante

Forty Six

A few more days had gone by, and Kosuke had finally had enough. She was so done with all of this bullshit, she didn't even care anymore. Fuck everyone. Fuck society, fuck UA, fuck Aizawa, fuck her classmates, fuck the league of villains, fuck them all.

By God, Kosuke swore she'd save her dad. And then she'd kill herself and be done with it. That was her only solution and not a goddamn soul could talk her out of it. So, she brainstormed. First, she'd need Dabi to trust her. Second, she'd need the league to trust her. She needed them to trust her so much that they'd let her lead them into combat at Tartarus in broad daylight when her quirk was the strongest.

The rest of the plan could come later. Thus, swallowing the rest of her pride and dignity, Kosuke called for Dabi. The patchwork villain came in a second later, sauntering over to her with a happy hum. "What's up, cupcake?"

"I need your help," The girl told him, turning her face to where she could hear Dabi standing.

"Alright, tell me," Dabi said, his voice slightly curious but firm. Kosuke hadn't ever asked him for anything, not like this, so he was intrigued to hear what the request would be.

"I wanna rescue my dad from Tartarus," she just came out and said it, knowing that cryptic talk wouldn't be helpful in this situation.

"Yeah. I'm pretty sure everyone does, but that's impossible right now," Patchwork chuckled. "Jokes aside, what do you actually--"

"It's not impossible if we work together," Kosuke didn't let him finish. Narrowing his eyes, Dabi looked at his captive. She didn't exactly look good, but that made sense. However, the conviction on her face was second to none, and that look was infectious. "If you and the league help me, I won't struggle anymore. I'll submit completely, and I'll help you however you need me to. That way, instead of being my jailer like you are now, we can be companions under one flag. I just.." She gritted her teeth for a moment. "Can't stand my dad behind bars."

"...So, you're saying you'll kill anyone that gets in your way of freeing him?" Dabi felt a smirk creeping onto his face, but he made sure to keep it out of his voice. He needed Kosuke to be honest and not effected by what she heard in the villain's voice since this might be some sort of ploy to escape. It hadn't been long since the last one, but this was too interesting to pass up.

"Yes. I don't care if it's pros, civilians or villains. Nothing," The girl growled. "Will keep me from my father."

"Except the chains and blindfold you have on right now."

"...yeah, I guess."

"Ha," The patchwork villain shifted his weight, still looking down at his captive on the bed. "I want to believe you, but I'm not so stupid as to just take you at your word. For now, I'll think about it."

"More like you're gonna let the rest of the league know, right?" Kosuke reiterated, causing Dabi to snort.

"Yeah, you could say that," He stroked a hand through Kosuke's hair, smiling when the girl didn't flinch away and stayed put. "As much as I love you, I can't trust you just yet."

"I know," she sighed with a slight shrug, which was all she could really manage in the position she was in. "Do what you have to do, Dabi."

"Sure thing," He hummed, and then he was gone.

Kosuke knew this had been a win for her. Dabi could have just shut the idea down and burned her again to teach her a lesson, but no, he was going to consider it. He didn't reject it. The seed had been planted. Feeling a smile slide onto her face, the captive allowed herself to feel victorious. She hadn't felt anything but pain in forever, so the positive vibes in her body really felt better than they ever had before. It might be a long wait, but they would be getting somewhere.

And from the ambitions of Shigaraki, she doubted he'd say no. At the very least, she suspected the villain leader would demand to meet her to discuss further details. It was then that she'd show them that she was no longer a threat to them, and that she wanted to work with them rather than fight them.

Besides, with her and her power of shadows, there was no way they'd lose. Shadows couldn't be killed with bullets, which was mostly what Tartarus boasted of as a defense mechanism. Bullets also couldn't enter her shadow when she was inside it, so that was also a plus.

These thoughts tided Kosuke over as the day went by, and before she knew it, Dabi had come with an answer to her proposal. "Handman wants to see you."

"Shigaraki does?" Kosuke repeated, feigning surprise.

"Yeah, and for some reason, he told me not to knock you out, but you'll be keeping the blindfold on," The villain explained as he unhooked the chains from the wall, and took them off of the girl's wrists. Kosuke couldn't even feel the chains slide off, so the clanking was what told her that she was free. Hesitantly, she tried to flex her arm. Obviously it didn't work, but it did tingle.

It was something, Kosuke decided as she sat up and was assisted in standing. Dabi stood on the side of the leg he'd burnt, his arm around the girl's back to support her. "Ooh, I'll help too!" Toga's voice rang out, and soon another arm slid around Kosuke's waist.

"Thanks," Kosuke nodded to her, causing the villain to giggle.

"Of course! I'm so excited to get Mister Stainy out of prison, it's gonna be so much fun and so much blood!"

"Ha, you got that right," The captive muttered. "Anyway, are we just gonna be walking there, or is Kurogiri coming to get us? As much as I wanna be nice about it, you don't exactly blend well."

"Kurogiri's gonna be here any minute," Was what Toga said, and sure enough, another presence filled the room a second later.

"Hello Dabi, Toga, it's been a while," The warp gate's voice spoke. "It's also good to see you, Akaguro."

"Yeah, thanks for this, I appreciate it," Kosuke said with a slight smile.

"Of course. Now, Let us go. Tomura Shigaraki is waiting for you," Kurogiri said, and with that, the warp engulfed them.