aftermath of attack byĀ ____ MYSTERY.
Consciousness fades in and out. He canāt muster the strength to try and pull the knife out of his hand, no matter how hard he tries. He only hopes that he managed to send out an SOS.
Ā ā¦If not, he supposes that would be alright too. It would all beā¦
..just fine.Ā
Ā He breathes out a shaky breath, his vision swirling again. He doesnāt know how long itās been. He doesnāt care.
Ā ā¦He closes his eyes again, head resting against the door.
Shigaraki doesnāt really think before he starts runningāhe just kind ofā¦ does. Itās sometimes a good thing, most times a bad thing, but right now, none of that really matters; not after receiving a message as cryptically vague as that one. Itās all so annoying, troublesome, infuriating. Shigaraki hakes the indirect nature of it, wishes people could just tell him things straight-up butā (But that would be too easy.)Ā
Ā When he finally arrives at the destination, his heart is racing and his chest is burning and dear god does he hate the feeling of sweat. He doesnāt bother with any formalities when he throws open the door to the marked location, eyes desperately scanning the dark room. āDekuā¦?ā
Curiosity is what sets Hawks flying toward Deku. He wanted to know what pushed him to send out an SOS-always so independent, secretive, to an annoying extent. The fact that it was just another opportunity to kiss Shigarakiās ass helped. He landed smooth, eyes flitting around and feathers twitching as he sought out the presence of someone else anywhere near him-catching Shigaraki ahead of him, flinging the door open, running in after him. He feels Dekuās ragged breathing before he sees him, not pausing before running toward him, what happened becoming more clear as he got closer. He was really hurt. Not as invincible as he likes to act.Ā
Ā His gut twisted. Satisfaction. Heād be thinking about this for a while. Hawks turned back to Shigaraki, āHeās over here.ā
He can just barely make out the sound of wings. Footsteps. Voices. He lifts his head up, just barely able to lift it all the way, spotting the gleam of Hawksā eyes in the dark. Even as he teeters on the edge of death, lips weakly curl into a smile.
Ā āThis must be ā¦ aahahahā¦ a dream come true for youā¦ā
Oh. Oh fuck he does not look good. Shigarakiās quick to run to the otherās side, chest still heaving from the earlier brunt of his effort as he kneels by Deku to get a closer look at whatās happened. āStop talking,ā he breathily orders, brows knit in slight concern. āSave your energy.ā (He canāt tear his gaze away from Dekuās hand. And itās not because of disgust or revulsion or even just fucking worry. Really, itās more like Shigaraki canāt feel anything in this moment. But he canāt look away.) He addresses Hawks next, stare still fixed onto Dekuās body. āDoubt weāll find a fully-fledged first-aid kit here, but see what you can scavenge.ā
Ā Shigaraki doesnāt bother asking whatās happenedāitās easy enough to assume, and hearing it spoken aloud will only infuriate him more. And he doesnāt need that right now.
Ā He doesnāt need that right now.
Hawks scoffs. Heās eating it up. Looking at the gleam of the blood running down his arm, his face, his body. Enticing. He wants to touch him. Dig his fingers into the wound. Wonders if heād be able to touch the bone, maybe, make him scream.Ā
Ā "Still makinā jokes when youāre half dead, huhā¦ā Doesnāt matter. Canāt happen. Maybe later. He strips his jacket and shirt off, throwing the shirt to Shigaraki and slinging the jacket back on. "Probably not the most - ah - sterilized thing, but itāll work for now.ā He says, finally tearing his eyes away to look for something else thatād be more helpful. A disinfectant, alcohol, ideally something thatād burn a real hole through your stomach, but he canāt be sure of what the hell Deku has stashed away back here.
A breathy laugh erupts softly from the back of his throat. He looks bad. As he holds his free hand out, it can be seen more clearly. Skin has been pierced so heavily, jagged tooth marks- about half of his pointer finger is literally hanging off of his hand. He āpointsā to a drawer on the other side of the room. āDisinfectantā¦.there. Andā¦ scissors. Knives.ā He looks at his finger- still barely hanging off, because turning his gaze to Shigaraki, offering another smile- softer. Soft. Just for him.Ā
Ā āIām gladā¦ youāre here.ā
Shigaraki catches the shirt without much thought. āYeah. Itās a start.ā Heās about to press the cloth to Dekuās hand in an attempt to staunch the bleeding, but stops himself at the mention of nearby disinfectant. In all honesty, he has no idea what the fuck heās doingāno idea how heās supposed to properly care for the damage thatās been done, no idea if thereās anything he can even really do, reallyāand so heās stuck pretending. Itās nothing new for him. Not really. But this time heās a little more aware of it. He knows that thereās no point in ordering Hawks to go fetch the supplies for him; itās pretty much a given. And so he uses that as an excuse to keep his attention on Deku, finally tearing his gaze away from the otherās hand to look him in the eyes at the sound of his voice. The gentleness of the otherās expression is one that Shigarakiās not used to seeing. And given their circumstances, the gentleness makes him feel almost guilty.
Ā āOf course I am. Iāll always be here.āĀ
Ā He lets the words linger, not realizing how sappy they must sound until itās too late. He means it, of course, but itās not something heās ever bothered to actually say out loud. āā¦ For how long did he leave you like this?ā
The piece of flesh hanging off of Dekuās finger is disgusting, to say the least. That he was implying that they were going to cut it off was even worse. Hawks would enjoy every second of it. He rushes to the drawer, digging through it to find what he needs, trying to be careful so he doesnāt split his finger on some insanely sharp knife or dip them into some intestines. Thereās one bottle in there, something vaguely medical-ish written on it, deciding itās good enough he sets it on the counter. The knives and scissors and a grand assortment of other sharpā¦ things are in a separate drawer, filled to the brim with shit only Deku would be able to name. He stands there, idly looking through things while he waits for their moment to be over. Just listening. Heād hate to interrupt. And once it is heās back and dropping into a crouch, setting everything down with a light āAlright,ā and expectant look up at Shigaraki and Deku. He has no idea what heās doing. His usual method is more cover-it-and-go. And he has a feeling that wouldnāt work well with a knife through a hand.
āIāunnoā¦ā Deku mumbles barely coherently. He canāt even begin to comprehend the idea of time right now. āNotā¦ long enough for me to die, apparentlyā¦ahaha.ā He feels his stomach churn when Hawks drops the stuff. āYouāre ā¦ gonna have to do most of the workā¦.Hawks.ā Eyes flick to his. Thereās a brief gleam to them- challenging. Ā He looks at Shigaraki. āNo offense. Hawks has ā¦ more Ā precise movements. Justā¦hold me.ā He wiggles for a moment, trying to prop himself up before pointing to the bandages.Ā
Ā āTake the ā¦ knife out. As soon as itās out, wrap the hand as tight as you can. Weāll deal with that in a secondā¦ā Using his disgustingly disfigured but free hand, he weakly pulls some supplies from the pile- grabbing scissors first. āYouāre gonna have to ā¦ ahahahā¦ cut this off.ā His finger hangs. Itās not completely off, but it hangs from a good portion of bone. āAfter you cut it off, put the disinfectant on the wound. Then wrap it as tight as you can. Save the finger. Iāllā¦ reattach it later.ā He takes in a breath, shaky. ā
Iāmā¦ ready whenever. Heheh.ā
Shigarakiās scowl deepens at Dekuās reply to his question; heās not quite sure what he had been expecting instead, but the sheer vagueness of everything going on is really starting to take its toll on him. He does feel relieved though when Deku charges Hawks with the brunt of the work. āJustā¦ hold me.āĀ
āYeah. I can do that,ā he mumbles, shifting his position to better cushion Dekuās body. It isnāt until after the words have left his mouth that Shigaraki realizes that holding him is actually not the easiest jobānot with a quirk like his. The result is Shigaraki awkwardly cradling Deku in his arms and thereās no way that itās comfortable. But then again, heās sure that his awkwardness is hardly noticed since Deku has a fucking knife protruding out of his hand and an entire finger about to fall off.Ā
Hawks laughs. The look in Dekuās eyes makes the corners of his lips curl up more. āOf course, of courseā¦.ā He hums back to Shigaraki. āBy the looks of it it couldnāt have been too long. Mightāve just missed the bastard. Maybe we shouldāve sent someone to go huntingā¦ā One hand braces him against the wall while he stares at the knife, thinking about the process, about what heāll do, how itāll lookā¦. āKill everyone within a few miles if necessary. Just to get rid of them.ā He doesnāt warn him before moving his free hand up and pulling the knife straight out, holding Dekuās hand as it falls and grabbing the bandages to wrap it as tight as he can as quickly as he can. No sadistic, unnecessary tricks needed. Knowing how much pain Deku was already in is enough for now.
When he feels the knife comes out he yells and squirms against Shigaraki- and heās suddenly hyperaware of the throbbing sensation at the center of his palms. His vision swirls again, white flashes clouding his view. Heās suddenly hyperaware of his finger hanging on by so little, knowing that what comes next is going to hurt worst of all.
Tears form in his eyes- heās not sure if itās out of fear, or pain, or justā¦ everything. But itās all too much.Ā
Ā āG..god damn iitt ā¦ hahahahahahaā¦ hurry the FUCK up. HURRY UP!ā He hisses and kicks Hawksā leg- not too hard, but hard enough to be still somehow be a brat about it. Ā He glares him down, eyes still filled to the brim with pathetic, delicious tears.
Shigaraki says nothing at Hawksā late suggestionāhe knows that, at this point, Mystery is already long, long gone. But that doesnāt mean the League canāt go on a killing spree later, just to get their frustration out; it just means that thereās no rush. When Deku screams, Shigaraki holds him tighter, as though itāll somehow help. A pause. And then he finally turns to address Hawks with a cocked head. He just nods.
Oh, Hawks wants to lean in and lick those tears right off his pretty little face. Catch some of his blood on his tongue, maybeā¦ He doesnāt bother to hide the lingering smile, watching Deku struggle and scream and bleed. His tongue darts out to wet his lips. The kick to his leg pulls him out of it, a slight frown taking over. āIām goinā as fast as I can, relaxā¦ā He says gently, reaching out to take Dekuās other hand, picking up the knife again. āI didnāt wanna leave that in. Couldāve ripped through more of your hand, and Iām sure you wouldāve hated that even more so stop bitching and stay still,ā He snaps the last bit at him, knowing full well that Deku had a problem staying still as it was, but like this? He doesnāt stand a chance. He worries the inside of his lip as presses the blade to his finger and slowly slices the bit still attached away, eyes flicking up to him quickly returning to make sure he didnāt mangle his finger even more. One adjustment of the knife has to be made before he can completely tear it away. Or maybe he just wanted to draw it out. That one, he could have done much quicker. But once itās off he holds the fingertip proudly and grins at Deku.
Heavy breaths come from his chest as Deku tries to center himself enough to focus, already feeling like heās going to vomit.
Ā And even then- no matter how hard he tries, he still canāt prepare himself the pain that shoots up his and and arm when he feels that blade to his skin. He screams again, tears running down his face heavily- Ā vision turning hot white for a moment.Ā
In his head, voices playback like a tape recorder. It feels like a memory, but none of it seems possible.Ā
He recognizes one of the voices as his own.
Ā He doesnāt know the other.Ā
āDo you ever get tired of it? Justā¦ doing this. Constantly. Over and over again.ā
āI canāt get tired of it. If I stop moving, who knows what will happen.ā
Ā āWhatever you sayā¦ justā¦ donāt overwork yourself too much, okay? We only ever have each otherā¦every time.ā
Ā āHahaā¦yeah.ā
Ā āI love you.ā
Ā āI love you too. No matter what happens.āĀ
Heās pulled back to reality and his own screaming rings in his ears- and before he knows it itās over, and his fingerās off.
He eyes Hawks, sweating heavily.Ā
Ā āDonāt eat itā¦psycho.ā
Deku seems so distant as Hawks finishes and heās finally, disappointingly, quiet. He smiles at the dirty look Deku is giving him. "No?ā He muses, āNot even a taste?ā He brings it closer to his mouth slowly, grin widening, just to get close enough to cause a real sense of dread that he really would get a taste before he laughs and finds a place to set it that wasnāt the dirty ground. Heād hate to have to deal with Deku bitching about an infection. He picks up the disinfectant and quietly warns about how it might sting before heās pouring it over the exposed flesh, nose crinkling as if this was finally the thing getting to him, quickly getting the bandages to wrap them around the finger as well. It was over in a flash. āGood now?ā
He flushes quietly, glaring Hawks down. He knows heās just teasing him- but at a time like this- all it does is piss him off. When he quietly warns he quietly panics before Hawks is pressing the chemicals to his finger and he cries again, gasping for air as it bubbles and fizzes in his flesh.
Ā Donāt you ever get tired of it?
Ā Yeah.
Ā Justā¦doing this.
Ā Yeah.
Ā Over and over again.
Ā Yeah.
Ā ā¦Ā
āIām fine.ā He glances to Shigaraki, slight concern in his eyes- only for him. āHeyā¦you okay, Shiggy?ā
For the most part, Shigarakiās allowed himself to get lost in his own thoughts. The conversation between the other two men momentarily becomes background noise; the relentless back-and-forth, the fucked up banterā¦ itās something that Shigarakiās become accustomed to. But this time. Deku was fucking attacked. And by him no less. Was it to prove some kind of point? To egg him on? Or Ā for some other higher purpose that Shigaraki has no way to effectively guess at? Shigaraki has no way of knowing for sure. He doesnāt fucking know anything about Mystery for sure. But evidently itās time to change thatā¦ Now that one of their own has been targeted like thisā¦ Rightā¦? (Shigaraki doesnāt like to care about others. But this is different: the League, theyāre his.) Heās only pulled from his thoughts at the sound of Dekuās voice. His eyes slide over to meet his, drinking in the way his own disheveled expression is reflected in the otherās eyes. For a moment, he does nothing but stare. And thenāĀ
Ā "Yeah. Iām fine. Now letās get you home.ā
stormborns
2087
gracieabrams
romaincrisis
