[UP FOR ADOPTION] Nozomu (A My Hero Academia fanfic)

Chapter 23: A 'Friendly' Warning

"Shigiraki..."

"I had a hunch you would stop by at some point, but to be so soon! Anyways, we seem to have gotten off to a poor start," Shigiraki began.

'I wonder why.'

He continued "I think it's about time we have a good chat and really get to know each other!" At that all too gleeful statement, a spiraling lavender portal made itself known. Black clawed at its perimeter, continuously dragged around its purple cage. "Needless to say, enter alone." He spoke just as jovially, juxtaposed to his worded intentions. So with a simple hand signal indicating the patrol's end, he dismissed Minarai and walked into the wispy ring that beckoned his presence.

What greeted Nozomu upon his entrance was a peculiar sight. A bar, oddly quaint, made up of a long chestnut table guarding an even longer and larger cabinet, filled to the brim with an assortment of beverages of all kinds. This, coupled with crimson seats spaced at equal intervals next to it, gave off the impression that mere villainy was not all they got up to here.

He quickly noticed that one seat was occupied by Shigiraki himself, the rest being surprisingly vacant. Cautiously, he took a seat near the villain, as the bartender passed him a glass across the counter. The room maintained a deathly silence.

The nothingness echoed for some time, neither opting to make the first move. That was, until Shigiraki, by now becoming the personification of impatience, finally divulged. "Surely you must be wondering why I brought you here? Well we simply have a proposition for you. We could work together, with your intellect and my manpower, society will crumble to ashes, with a new, better one rising in its place-"

"Are you ignorant? Or just plain stupid? I can't tell!" Nozomu interrupted. "Of course I hate society as it stands currently, especially with my predicament, but it is better to change it rather than outright destroy it, because otherwise people won't learn. If anything, you prove them right by acting like this; it's how they expect you to react. Long story short, the answer is no."

"Who said you had a choice?" Shigiraki replied, ditching his previous persona.

It was here Nozomu learned why you should never take drinks from strangers.

His movements began to slur, as did his senses. His legs shook with newfound tiredness, his eyes fluttered between  open and shut. Regardless, a fight broke out in the room with each side now on equal footing for Nozomu, despite being riddled with fatigue, was still just as able as his opponent. They exchanged fierce yet botched kicks and punches, chairs snapped and tables were overturned. Finally, as a cup was about to shatter in a crystalline explosion, both it and the vigilante were swiftly warped away, the bottle landing in its original location whilst Nozomu ended up in the same alley from which he entered the hideout.

"Why did you let him escape?!" Shigiraki demanded. He was absolutely furious and, if it weren't for the bartender's usefulness, they would be dead where they stood. "Patience Tomura Shigiraki, we will capture him eventually," Kurogiri responded in a monotone manner, seemingly oblivious to the building tension.
"Besides, our next attack is imminent. It will draw him out," A third voice, more intimidating and seething with confidence, added.

"Yes… Sensei,"

2 days remain.