A Villain's Journey

Chap. 7

Another scar to add to the fast increasing numbers of them. This time, right in the middle of his neck. His fingers traced over the scar, noting the jagged feel it had. A smile etched onto his lips and he removed his fingers, his eyes closing. He didn't know why he was smiling but he didn't really want to question it.

His smile dropped when he remembered the feeling of the blood dripping down. The feeling of the knife gliding across his neck. The memories brought shivers down his spine. It seemed with every death, his mind plagued him with those awful memories. But did he complain? No. No, he dealt with it like he always did. But with the more times he did end up dying, the pain and memories became easier to deal with. Within the past six months, however, All For One noticed how much of a strain this was taking on Izuku, so, he cut the quirk training down to once a month.

A knock sounded on the door and Izuku opened his eyes to open it. Shigaraki stood looking at him. Izuku waited for Shigaraki's next words.

"Yes?" Izuku asked when Shigaraki didn't speak for a few moments.

"Look, I get it. You like looking at yourself, but you've been in the bathroom for ten goddamn minutes so I'd advise you to get out," Shigaraki said. Izuku crossed his arms and leaned on the doorframe.

"Someone's pissy today," Izuku said.

Shigaraki narrowed his eyes at him. Then, without warning, Shigaraki grabbed Izuku by the collar of his bloodstained shirt and pulled him out of the bathroom. Shigaraki then made his way into the bathroom, ignoring the small grunt Izuku made as he attempted to keep himself from falling face-first onto the wood floor.

"I'm not in the mood today, Midoriya," Shigaraki said and slammed the door shut.

Izuku furrowed his eyebrows at Shigaraki's weird demeanor. He leaned against the wall beside the door and decided to question him on it once he came out. Sure, maybe it was weird that he was waiting but he was also very curious. Izuku tapped his fingers on his arm as he waited, not knowing what else to do.

Shigaraki walked back out after a few minutes, saw Izuku, then scoffed. "Yes?" Shigaraki asked.

"What's up with you?" Izuku asked and pushed himself off the wall.

"It's just... stress, what with the stress of finding good members for the league for the upcoming attack on U.A., Kurogiri and I have been working nonstop," Shigaraki said. "I've been barely getting sleep."

Izuku raised an eyebrow. "Y'know, I never took you for a people person. I'm surprised you're helping Kurogiri recruit," Izuku said.

"Kurogiri has helped me so much in the time that he's been here, so in turn, I will help him," Shigaraki said and walked off.

Izuku had never seen Shigaraki stressed before. He knew he should feel something, anything for his poor friend. He should feel sympathy, at the very least, for him, but he really didn't care. He just hoped that stress would go away soon because it was pretty damn annoying.

Wait.

What the hell was he saying? Shigaraki needed a friend and all Izuku could care about was how annoying his stress was? Izuku groaned. He was just tired from dying. He wasn't in the right headspace. A wave of guilt washed over him as he was walking towards his room. His tiredness didn't excuse his thought process.

When he entered his room, he quickly took off his bloodied clothes and put on new ones. He combed his fingers through his hair, plopped down on his bed, and leaned back against the wall. As tired as he was, he didn't want to sleep. Instead, he grabbed his phone off of his bedside table. The phone was a gift from All For One. He knew just how bored teenagers could get with almost nothing to do.