Ok so the pov this chapter is a little weird at times but it I think fits well. Please let me know if you have any suggestions. enjoy
We didn't even get a second to breathe.
Twelve Nomu hit the plaza at once coming out of kurogiris portals, landing hard enough to rattle the broken tiles. They snarled, twitching in unnatural spasms as Shigaraki waved them forward with bored flicks of his fingers.
"Go on," he said lightly. "Let's see how long they last."
All twelve lunged.
I pushed One For All to 35%.
Lightning tore up my arms, violent and unstable. My muscles screamed from the strain.
But I didn't hesitate.
The first Nomu swung at my head; I ducked and countered with a 35% punch that snapped its jaw sideways. The impact shot pain down my entire arm far too much to maintain this for the long term.
I lowered the output immediately.
30%
Lightning shrank, but the pain stayed.
Another Nomu leaped from the right—Nerissa fired a concentrated beam of white-hot light that exploded against its shoulder and knocked it off-balance.
She was breathing hard already and she still hadn't recovered from the earlier fight.
"Nerissa—don't burn yourself out!" I shouted, blocking another blow.
"I have to!" she shot back, already forming another beam. "You're taking too much damage!"
A glancing blow smashed into my ribs—I tasted blood and staggered back.
Her hand slammed against my back, light flooding into my skin, mending the worst of the bruising just long enough for me to move again.
She wasn't just attacking.
She was rapid-healing me.
Small bursts—fast, shallow, panicked.
It drained her twice as fast.
She swayed slightly as I pushed off the ground again to meet the next wave.
'I need to conserve strength ill lower the out put as we take out nomu' i thought and dropped to 28%
Still fast enough to stagger a Nomu, slower enough that my bones didn't feel like they were cracking on impact.
A Nomu grabbed my wrist; I twisted under it and drove my elbow into its throat. Another approached Nerissa from behind—she pivoted and fired a scatterburst of white light, shredding its face and knocking it backward.
"Nerissa—!"
"I'm fine!" she lied through clenched teeth.
Her light flickered weaker with every blast.
Her healing pulses slower.
Her hands were shaking more.
She was trying to keep me standing faster than she recovered herself.
Five Nomu came through at once.
I slid in front of her and pushed to 30% again, ignoring the tearing feeling in my shoulder. A spin-kick sent one flying. I slammed my fist into another's chest, blasting it back in a burst of green lightning.
The remaining three swarmed—
but Nerissa threw up a dome of pure light around us, the strain ripping a cry from her throat.
"Izuku—!" she gasped. "Break—through—NOW!"
I gathered all the energy I had left and smashed through the barrier with full momentum, the force slamming into the cluster of Nomu like a shockwave.
Four down.
Seven left.
Nerissa grabbed my arm again, flooding healing light into my cracked ribs.
Her knees hit the floor.
"Nerissa! Stop—!"
"I can't!" she cried. "You'll collapse if I don't!"
Another Nomu rushed her—I drove a 30% kick into its side, launching it across the plaza—but the recoil nearly dislocated my hip.
I landed on one knee, gasping.
Twenty-five percent.
I couldn't go higher without something breaking.
I couldn't go lower without dying.
Nerissa fired another desperate burst of light, barely strong enough to stagger the next Nomu. Sweat streamed down her face, her breath shuddering with each exhale.
She was burning out.
Fast.
Five Nomu still pushed forward.
Two flanked.
One grabbed my arm.
Another forced Nerissa to backpedal.
We were drowning.
And every second, Shigaraki just watched.
Like a child observing insects struggling to climb out of a pit.
He tilted his head.
"Huh," he mused. "You two really are stubborn. This is fun."
I smashed one Nomu's head into the ground—
Nerissa shot another through the knee—
I elbowed a third in the jaw—
She healed the fresh bruise forming on my back—
But we were slowing.
Both of us.
Every attack was half a second slower than the last.
Every dodge a little less precise.
Every breath heavier.
Nerissa missed a shot.
I missed a block.
A Nomu's claws scraped across my ribs, sending me stumbling.
Another Nomu slammed Nerissa to the ground—she screamed, firing instinctively, blinding the creature long enough to crawl away.
I punched it off her—but the recoil sent shockwaves up my arm.
My body was failing.
Hers was worse.
She collapsed to one knee, light flickering like a dying flame. Her hands trembled violently. She tried to raise them again—
They didn't respond.
"Nerissa!" I shouted, grabbing her shoulders. "You can't keep healing me—!"
"Izuku," she panted, "if I stop… you'll… die."
Her voice broke.
Her arms shook.
She could barely stay upright.
And that was when Shigaraki—finally, inevitably—got bored.
Shigaraki sighed dramatically, brushing dust off his hoodie as if the entire life-or-death struggle bored him.
"Okay, okay… that's enough playing."
The lesser Nomu instantly stopped their assault, stepping back in eerie, synchronized movements.
Shigaraki pointed lazily at me first.
"Restrict the green-haired one," he said, voice light, almost sing-song. "Make sure he can't move anymore. I want him conscious."
My stomach dropped.
The main Nomu stepped forward.
Before I could react—it was just there.
Its massive hand clamped around my torso, crushing my arms against my sides like they were nothing. I tried to power up—25%, 30%, anything—
Lightning sputtered and died.
The Nomu squeezed harder, and pain exploded through my ribcage. My breath left me in a choked gasp.
"Izuku!" Nerissa screamed, scrambling up onto her feet.
Shigaraki didn't even look at her.
He flicked his fingers toward two of the remaining lesser Nomu.
"And bring me the girl."
They obeyed instantly.
"No—NO—!" Nerissa backed away, firing blasts of light in raw panic. Her beams scorched their chests, but her power was too weak, too drained—the shots barely slowed them down.
One Nomu seized her wrist.
She fired again, point blank—nothing.
Her strength flickered out like a dying candle.
The second Nomu grabbed her other arm.
She screamed, kicking and twisting, but her legs gave out beneath her, her remaining energy bleeding away far too quickly.
"Izuku—!" she cried, tears streaking down her face. "Help—!"
I strained against the main Nomu's grip, pushing One For All up to 50% until my bones creaked.
"LET—HER—GO—!"
No movement.
No give.
Pain lanced down my spine, stealing the strength from my limbs.
Shigaraki crouched as they brought us toward him, his head tilting, fingers twitching with excitement.
"Aww… look at that," he cooed. "The little hero can't even protect his girlfriend."
Nerissa's struggles weakened further as the Nomu hauled her forward, her feet dragging uselessly across the shattered tile.
"Bring them here," Shigaraki commanded.
Both of us were thrown at his feet—me pinned under the Nomu's crushing hold, Nerissa held upright only by the monsters restraining her arms.
Shigaraki tapped his neck impatiently, leaning in close enough for me to smell the decay of his gloves.
"Now," he said softly, "let's have some fun."
Shigaraki's grin stretched beneath the hand-mask as he crouched in front of me, fingers dragging lazily across the cracked tiles.
"You know," he murmured, "this would be so much easier if you'd just accept you lost."
He stood slowly, brushing dirt off his hoodie.
Then he pointed at me with a single, casual finger.
" Nomu," he said sweetly, "grab the green-haired one by the wrists. Hold him up."
The Nomu obeyed instantly.
Its massive hand released my torso, only to seize my left wrist with a crushing grip. Pain shot up my arm like lightning. Before I could pull back, its other hand clamped onto my right wrist.
Then it lifted.
My feet left the ground.
My shoulders screamed.
The strain felt like it was tearing muscle straight off the bone.
"A-ah—!"
I couldn't stop the sound that ripped from my throat.
I dangled helplessly, arms stretched outward, chest exposed, legs barely able to kick.
Nerissa cried out, thrashing weakly as the two lesser Nomu held her.
"Izuku! STOP—LET HIM GO—LET HIM GO!"
Shigaraki didn't even glance at her.
He stepped right up to me.
Close enough that I could feel each breath behind that awful hand-mask.
Close enough that I could see the thrill in his eyes.
"You fight better than I expected," he said, almost conversational. "But you break just as easily as everyone else."
He hummed softly, tapping his chin with one finger.
"Hm… Let me think… how do we make this really hurt?"
He turned to the Nomu holding my arms and snapped his fingers.
"Pull a little harder."
The Nomu obeyed.
My shoulders jerked violently.
White-hot pain exploded down both arms.
"Ghh—AH—!"
I clenched my teeth until they almost cracked.
Nerissa was screaming now, voice raw.
"STOP! STOP! PLEASE—HE'S HURT—STOP—!!"
Shigaraki tilted his head toward her.
"Oh, don't worry," he cooed. "You're next."
She froze—
just long enough for the Nomu restraining her to tighten their grips, locking her in place.
I tried to summon even a spark of One For All—
But the Nomu's strength crushed the movement before it even started.
My fingers twitched uselessly.
I couldn't even curl them into fists.
Shigaraki reached up and tapped the Nomu's massive arm.
"Higher."
My wrists were lifted further.
Pain detonated across my shoulders—sharp, sickening, blinding. Something tore. I gasped, breath hitching, vision blurring.
Shigaraki laughed softly.
"There it is…" he whispered. "The moment you stop pretending you can win."
He stepped back a few paces, admiring the sight.
Izuku Midoriya—
broken posture, arms pulled taut, dangling helplessly between two monstrous fists.
Nerissa Ravencroft—
held down, forced to watch everything, tears streaming silently down her face.
Shigaraki spread his arms, delighted.
Then Shigaraki started pacing in front of me like a child trying to decide between two toys, eyes bright with sick delight, fingers twitching at his neck.
"Hmmm… what to do, what to do…?"
His voice was high, playful, wrong.
Nerissa thrashed against the Nomu restraining her, her voice already hoarse from screaming.
"STOP! LEAVE HIM ALONE! PLEASE—STOP—!!"
Shigaraki ignored her completely.
He tapped his fingers together.
Stopped.
Then slapped his closed fist into his open palm like he'd just solved a puzzle.
"Oh! I know!"
His grin stretched unnaturally wide beneath the hand-mask.
"I'll give you to Sensei as a gift."
My blood ran cold.
He took a few slow steps toward me, head tilted, examining my face with cruel curiosity.
"But… I don't think you'll need those arms for that."
My breath froze.
Nerissa went still—her scream choking in her throat—before erupting all at once.
"NO! DON'T—DON'T TOUCH HIM—DON'T—PLEASE—!!"
Shigaraki turned, arm extended casually like a teacher calling on a student.
"You," he said to one of the Nomu.
The one with long, curved blades where forearms should be.
"Cut his arms off. Just above the elbow."
I couldn't breathe.
"And break his legs," he added, almost cheerfully.
"Make sure he stays put."
The bladed Nomu stepped forward.
"No—NO—NO—!!" Nerissa shrieked. "STOP—PLEASE—STOP—!!"
I pulled against the main Nomu's grip, desperation flooding my veins—but its strength tightened, crushing my wrists until I could barely think, barely breathe.
The bladed Nomu raised its arm.
The metal gleamed.
My heart slammed against my ribs. I tried to use 100% of ofa but the nomu just crushed my arm it was enough to force my quirk off.
"Nerissa—run—!" I barley choked out, voice breaking, even though she couldn't move, even though we both knew it was useless.
She screamed until her voice cracked.
"IZUKU—!!"
The blade came down.
White-hot agony exploded through my left arm—
not a cut—a severing.
Something warm sprayed across the floor.
My vision blurred.
My scream tore out of me raw and primal—
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH—!!"
The second blade fell before the first scream even finished.
My right arm hit the floor.
My knees buckled.
The world tilted.
Nerissa screamed his name so loudly it broke into choking sobs.
"IZUKU—!! IZUKU—PLEASE—NO—NO—!!"
Pain devoured everything.
"No arms… barely conscious… but you're still trying so hard not to pass out."
He leaned closer.
"You heroes really ARE stubborn."
I couldn't answer.
Breathing was barely manageable.
Shigaraki tapped the main Nomu's arm lightly.
"Now break his legs."
Before I could even inhale—
CRUNCH.
Pain detonated up my right leg.
My scream tore out again, raw and broken.
A second impact.
My left leg snapped violently.
My body convulsed in the Nomu's grip, every nerve firing at once, vision fracturing into white and red.
Nerissa fought so hard the lesser Nomu restraining her had to plant their feet.
"IZUKU!! PLEASE—PLEASE STOP—DON'T HURT HIM ANYMORE—!!"
Shigaraki didn't look at her.
He smiled.
He was enjoying this.
"This is fun," he said warmly, almost lovingly.
"You break beautifully."
'
He stood, brushing dust off his pants and admiring me dangling there—
a boy with no arms, shattered legs, and no strength left to even lift his head.
"Sensei will be VERY pleased."
Blood dripped down my sides in thick, uneven trails.
My legs dangled uselessly.
Every breath was a battle.
My arms—my arms were on the floor.
My thoughts were all over the place
WHY, WHY, WHY, AM I STILL AWAKE' was all i could think through the pain
'Then it hit me even if just this I cant let him win!!! I will not give him the satisfaction!!' I roared in my head.
But when Shigaraki leaned close—
I looked him in the eye.
Defiant.
Silent.
Refusing to cry or beg or look away.
It was all I had left.
Shigaraki froze.
The amusement drained from his posture.
His shoulders stiffened.
His fingers twitched at his neck.
Then he let out a slow, irritated exhale.
"Ohhh… I REALLY hate that."
He straightened, head tilting like an animal assessing prey that refused to behave correctly.
"You're… still looking at me like that? After everything I did to you?"
His voice wavered at the edge of a tantrum.
"You still have THAT expression. Like you think you matter."
I didn't look away.
Not even when blood blurred my vision.
Not even when my body trembled uncontrollably.
His glare deepened behind the mask of fingers.
"Stop that."
I didn't.
he started frantically scratching his neck
A low, frustrated growl rose from his throat.
"STOP. LOOKING. AT ME. LIKE. THAT."
I lifted my chin—barely.
But enough.
Enough to say: You didn't break me.
Shigaraki shivered with fury.
Then he stopped scratching abruptly
"Well," he whispered, "if this isn't enough to break you…"
He slowly turned his head toward Nerissa.
She froze where she was being held, her eyes wide and wet, breath shaking.
"…then maybe I should use something else."
Her face drained of color.
My heart heart plummeted.
Shigaraki looked back at me—
and smiled.
A wide, eager, perfectly evil smile beneath the hand-mask.
His voice softened into a cruel purr.
"I know exactly how to destroy that defiance in your eyes."
He pointed at Nerissa without even turning fully toward her.
"You. Stab her in the heart."
The Nomu holding her tightened its grip.
She screamed—
"NO—!! IZUKU—!!"
My voice shattered in my throat.
"N–NERISSA—!!"
But Shigaraki's laughter rose, delighted and vicious.
"Ohh yes… This will break you…"
Nomu didn't hesitate.
Its arm snapped forward—
a blur of motion—
and the blade punched straight into Nerissa's chest.
Her breath hitched.
Her eyes widened.
A wet, broken gasp escaped her lips.
"NOOOOOOO!!"
"I—Iz—u—ku—"
The Nomu yanked the blade back out and stepped away on Shigaraki's command, leaving her body sagging in its grip for a moment before releasing her entirely.
She collapsed onto the tile like a puppet with its strings cut.
Blood spread quickly beneath her, dark and glistening, forming a pool that crept outward like a blooming flower.
For a moment, the world stopped moving.
Then Shigaraki flicked his wrist.
"Drop him."
The main Nomu obeyed instantly.
Its massive hands released me, and I fell like a dead weight.
I hit the floor HARD—
My shattered legs buckled under me.
My torso slammed against the tile.
What remained of my upper arms scraped violently across the ground.
Pain detonated everywhere at once.
A strangled cry tore out of me—but it didn't matter.
Nothing mattered except—
"Nerissa…"
I tried to move.
There was no leverage.
No balance.
No arms to push with.
No legs to crawl on.
Just pain.
Just desperate, choking breaths.
Just the vision of her lying there, bleeding out, her body twitching faintly before going still.
I dragged myself forward.
Not with strength.
Not with power.
With my forehead.
My shoulders.
The stumps of my upper arms dragging, leaving streaks of blood behind me.
Inches.
Each one worse than the last.
My breath broke with every shove of my body.
"Nerissa… Nerissa… please…"
Behind me, Shigaraki followed at a lazy pace, hands in his pockets, voice calm and mocking.
"Ohhh, look at you," he purred. "No arms. No legs. Barely breathing. And you STILL think you can reach her?"
He kicked me lightly in the ribs—not enough to break anything more, just enough to send me rolling onto my side before I forced myself back.
I kept crawling.
"You're PATHETIC," he hissed happily. "You can't save her. You couldn't save ANYONE."
I groped for traction with whatever I still had.
My chin scraped the ground.
My chest burned.
My breath stuttered with sobs as I inched forward.
"Neri…ssa…"
Shigaraki waleked beside me, walking just fast enough to keep pace with my broken crawl.
"Oh this is beautiful," he whispered. "Look at you dragging your useless body across the floor. If I'd known it was THIS pathetic, I would've cut your legs first."
I ignored him.
I pushed myself another inch.
Another.
Another.
My face pressed into the cold tile.
Blood smeared under me.
Her blood.
My blood.
Everything blurred.
"Come on," Shigaraki coaxed, voice dripping with mock sympathy. "She's not even moving anymore. Why try?"
I shoved myself forward, body convulsing.
Another inch.
Another inch.
I could hear Nerissa's faint, wet breaths.
So faint.
So weak.
"Nerissa… please… I'm… I'm coming…"
Shigaraki tilted his head, delighted.
"Oh YES—keep going—crawl for me. Crawl for the girl you FAILED to save."
I felt nothing but the desperate, agonizing need to reach her.
To hold her.
To do anything.
"Inch by inch… look at you," Shigaraki crooned. "This is ART." he threw his head back laughing
I dragged myself across the splitting tile, my broken body screaming with every movement.
I ignored him.
I ignored everything—
Except her.
Her blood.
Her stillness.
Her fading warmth.
"Nerissa…"
My voice broke into a sob.
"Please… don't… leave me…"
And I crawled.
And crawled.
And crawled—
Until something began to crack inside me.
"Neri…ssa…"
Her blood pooled around her, warm against my cheek as I collapsed beside her. Her chest rose in tiny, broken stutters—barely there, fading fast.
Her eyes fluttered open only halfway.
Izuku…
Izuku…
I forced my body upward, pressing my forehead against her shoulder, the stumps of my upper arms trembling as I leaned in close, desperate just to touch her.
"Nerissa—please—please—look at me—"
Her lips trembled.
Her breath hitched painfully.
Shigaraki didn't stop me.
He stepped lightly around us, circling until he stood precisely where he could watch my face. Then he crouched, tilting his head as if settling in to enjoy the finale of a show.
"Go on," he whispered. "Let's see the moment you break."
I ignored him.
I focused on her.
Her trembling fingers lifted—slow, weak, shaking uncontrollably. She reached for my face… missing the first time… then the second…
I leaned down so she could reach.
Her hand brushed my cheek.
So soft.
So cold.
"I…zu…ku…" Her voice cracked into wet breaths. "I'm… sorry…"
"T–t–talk to me," I begged, tears hitting the floor. "Stay with me—please—I'm right here—I'm right here—"
Her lips trembled.
Her eyes softened.
Then—
with everything she had left—
she lifted her head the smallest amount…
And pressed her lips to mine.
Barely a kiss.
Just a trembling brush of warmth.
But it was everything.
I froze.
My breath shattered.
My heart cracked open completely.
She pulled back only enough to look at me one last time.
"I… love… you…"
Her hand slipped from my cheek.
Her eyes went unfocused.
Her chest fell—
Once.
Twice.
Then stopped.
Completely.
My whole body went still.
Shigaraki leaned in a fraction, breath shallow with excitement.
"There it is…"
His smile widened behind the hand-mask.
"…the moment you lose everything."
For a long, hollow second, the USJ went silent.
No movement.
No breath.
Just Nerissa's stillness.
And my world collapsing in on itself.
Shigaraki rose slowly to his feet, stretching his back like someone waking from a nap.
"Ohoho… this is great," he purred. "This is a chef's kiss moment."
He pinched his fingers together and kissed them theatrically.
"Perfection."
He stepped lightly around us again, savoring every angle like a director admiring his final shot.
"The helpless boy… the dead girl… the blood… the silence… mm, mm, MM! You couldn't WRITE a better tragedy cutscene!"
I didn't move.
I couldn't.
My body was frozen in agony, shock, and loss so deep it hollowed me out from the inside. The pain in my limbs was fading into numbness. My vision blurred at the edges. My breathing grew shallower.
But what broke me wasn't the pain.
It was the way Nerissa's hand lay limp beside her.
The way her eyes didn't blink.
The way her lips still carried the ghost of that last, trembling kiss.
Something inside me cracked.
At first, only a tiny sound escaped my throat—
a strangled, breathless whimper.
Then another.
Then—
The dam burst.
A sob ripped out of me—raw, shuddering, animal.
I collapsed fully over her, pressing my forehead to hers, shaking so hard the tiles beneath us vibrated. My broken upper arms twitched uselessly beside her body as I tried—failed—to hold her.
"Nerissa… Nerissa… please… please come back… please don't leave me… please…"
Each breath hurt.
Each sob tore something inside me.
Each heartbeat felt weaker than the last.
Shigaraki's grin widened.
"Ohhh, there it is," he whispered in delight. "That is DELICIOUS. Cry more. I want to see your soul crack."
And then something else happened.
The tears that welled at the corners of my eyes weren't tears.
They were thick.
Dark.
Liquid shadow.
A viscous, shimmering black that caught the faint dome lights and bent them, swallowing color.
The first drop fell onto Nerissa's cheek—
solid enough to make a soft tap upon contact.
The second rolled down my face and smeared across her lips and into her mouth.
The third slid into the wound in her chest, pulled by gravity and the broken rise and fall of my sobs.
More followed.
Drop after drop.
Falling like heavy beads of black ink.
Splattering over her cheeks, her mouth, her collarbone.
Flowing into her wound with each convulsive shudder of my body.
Her skin grew smeared with the dark sheen of my grief.
I didn't notice.
I couldn't.
Everything blurred.
My breath broke again, weaker this time.
"Mmm—N… Nerissa—please—don't… go—don't… leave me…"
Shigaraki leaned in closer, eyes hungry.
"Oh, little hero… keep crying," he whispered. "This is the sweetest thing I've ever seen."
And the shadows in my tears kept falling onto her—
Drop.
Drop.
Drop.
A thick, dark trail of grief painting her skin in the moment before everything shattered.
All the pain, all the grief, all the fear…
It didn't stay grief for long.
Something inside me shifted.
Like every emotion I'd ever felt was being poured into a funnel—
compressed—
twisted—
forced into a single burning point inside my chest.
And then…
Wrath.
Rage.
Hatred.
Words weren't enough.
No vocabulary could describe it.
It was heat—
raw, choking heat—
filling my lungs, my bones, my skin.
It burned so hot I thought my ribs would melt.
I felt like I would explode from the inside out.
My heartbeat hammered like I was dying—
or becoming something else entirely.
Then—
Something cracked inside me.
Not physically.
Deeper.
A sound like stone splitting.
A sensation like a chain snapping.
And then something… moving.
A presence.
A shadow.
A giant stirring after a thousand years of sleep.
A titan uncoiling from the depths of my soul.
It rose inside me—
slow, deliberate—
stretching limbs I didn't know existed,
opening eyes I had never seen through.
My vision flickered.
My breath caught.
My blood turned black.
The sorrow didn't fade.
The despair didn't vanish.
They curdled, consumed by something infinitely darker.
Every good thing inside me—
every hopeful thought,
every gentle instinct,
every piece of me that ever wanted to help or heal—
was drowned beneath an ocean of pure, undiluted hatred.
Shigaraki's laughter faded.
So did Nerissa's blood on the tiles.
So did the brokenness of my body.
All that remained—
was the darkest version of me the world had ever feared.
Wrath.
Rage.
Vengeance.
And the sense of something massive inside my soul finally opening its eyes.
A mark of dark shadow sprawled out above my forehead right above my left eye and the whites of my eyes were dyed black.
The cracking in my chest spread outward—not breaking me, but rebuilding me.
My legs, twisted beneath me only moments ago, suddenly tightened.
Bones snapped back into place.
Muscle regrew.
Skin sealed.
I felt everything knit together in an instant—
not gently, not slowly—
but with violent purpose.
And then I stood.
No effort.
No hesitation.
I simply rose.
Shigaraki took an involuntary half-step back.
Before he could speak, shadows surged from my upper arms—thick, coiling tendrils that shot downward and across the ground, wrapped around my severed limbs on the and dragged them back to me.
They lifted my arms with reverence,
positioned them perfectly against the bleeding stumps—
And locked.
Shado poured from the seams in blinding streaks.
Black and blue energy flared outward,
burning through the air as muscles reformed,
as bones fused,
as nerves reconnected with precision that felt almost mechanical.
My fingers twitched.
Then curled.
Whole again.
More shadows poured from my back, flowing like liquid night before hardening into shape—
forming a cloak, heavy and regal,
leaving my chest and arms bare,
falling to my ankles in jagged, shifting folds of darkness.
My torn pants melted away, reformed into clean black fabric that clung perfectly, shaped by my will alone.
Above me, a ring of shadow condensed.
A crown—
formed from pure darkness—
lowered onto my head with surprising gentleness.
It pulsed once.
So did I.
Throughout all of it, I never took my eyes off Shigaraki.
Not once.
He stood stiff, breath uneven, fingers hovering at his neck like he was fighting an instinct he didn't understand.
I stepped forward.
tiles cracked beneath my foot.
When I spoke, my voice didn't sound like I remembered.
It was deeper.
Steadier.
Rage wrapped in ice.
"I am going to kill you."
It wasn't shouted.
It wasn't dramatic.
It was spoken like a fundamental truth of the world.
As certain as gravity.
As permanent as death.
Shigaraki flinched.
For the first time that day, he looked afraid.