Shigaraki scratched his neck, staring dead at the repulsive smile planted on Giran's face.
"How many are there?" Kurogiri asked from behind the bar as the underworld broker smoked a cigarette.
Giran, standing at the small bar's entrance, let out a puff of smoke.
Even two weeks after the Hosu City incident, Villains all over the country kept calling and coming to him, asking about Hero Killer: Stain.
Everyone wanted to hear more.
Everyone wanted to see more of that man who had rooted Pro Heroes, paralyzing them with his words.
Yet, despite his ideology becoming viral across the seas, there was no sign of Stain anywhere.
Everyone had seen Dr. Blessed, the mysterious character of the Hosu City incident, taking away Stain.
Still, had it been kidnapping or rescuing, the question kept jumping off online platforms.
"Not many," Giran admitted, smiling. He was missing a few teeth on the upper side. "There is still dissent among the interested parties, you know. They don't know if Stain was with you all or against you…"
Giran looked at Kurogiri with one open eye, letting out a sly smile.
Kurogiri looked at Shigaraki, knowing that they needed to grab this opportunity. There was no saying when Dr. Blessed would pop up and where. What if Stain came back and declared war upon them for trying to kill him?
So, guessing Giran's underlying meaning, Kurogiri nodded. "He was…"
"Go away…" Shigaraki said, standing up. "We don't need more extras."
"Tomura Shigaraki," Kurogiri said, putting the glass and cloth down. "League of Villains is not much of a league if all we do is hire Villains to do our work. We need a force, bound by strong ideology. This is…"
"Tch!" Shigaraki stood up, lifting his head.
Through the fingers of the hand grabbing his face, his gaze seeped out. Together, both Kurogiri and Giran stepped back.
The dense bloodlust was just too much to handle even for them.
"Oi-Oi…" Giran told Kurogiri, smiling and pointing at Shigaraki. "You need to do something about that… Call me if you want me to go through with it."
When Giran was gone, Kurogiri looked at Shigaraki, who hadn't sat back down.
"What is it?" he asked, his yellow eyes narrowing.
"Stain — Stain — Stain!" Shigaraki hissed, slamming his fist on the bar. "And Dr. Blessed, that clown! That's all they are talking about! We have become side characters in our own story!!"
A media helicopter had captured Shigaraki and Kurogiri standing on a water tank just before they had left Hosu City.
But, despite the Nomu wreaking havoc across the city, there wasn't much coverage on them.
For Shigaraki, who wanted the League of Villains to become the most powerful and greatest organization in the world, it was the worst outcome.
Then there was the matter of that bird boy — Luke!
"Did you find where that brat lives?" Shigaraki asked, his bones itching to crumble someone to dust.
Kurogiri shook his head. "Forget it, Shigaraki," he replied, picking up the cloth and glass again. "Even Master has warned us to be wary of the Saionji Group. The boy lives with his stepbrother and sister in a small mansion, surrounded by bodyguards from all over the world. There is no point in even thinking of going there without having an army behind us…"
Shigaraki clenched his teeth. "Haaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"
Bam!
Slamming another fist on the table, Tomura walked away, the tips of his fingers throbbing.
"Where are you going now?" Kurogiri asked.
Shigaraki took off the hand over his face, grinning ear to ear. "If I can't get my hands on the bird boy, then I will just kill his family.
"One way or another, he must be taught a lesson for mocking me… Haha!"
…
In a black hoodie, Shigaraki walked through the people, eying Mountain Hero: Mt. Lady, who was patrolling the city.
Walking next to her was Rikuya Saionji.
"It must be my luckiest day that I met you," Mt. Lady said, pinching Rikuya's cheeks. "My shining bank… I mean shining star!"
Rikuya blushed, stepping away from her.
"Hey, your brother was at Hosu, right?" Mt. Lady suddenly asked, waving at a crowd of men taking her photo from afar. "Is he…"
Rikuya's entire face contorted in disgust. "Please… don't…"
Mt. Lady ignored the boy's expression, though. "I wonder why Dr. Blessed took away Hero Killer? Old friends, perhaps?"
Rikuya hadn't known that his face could make a more disgusting expression.
But as he heard that name, it did happen.
Rikuya ran his hands through his hair, trying not to lose control lest he begin cursing Luke on the spot.
Behind Rikuya and Mt. Lady, Shigaraki took his hands out of his pockets and scratched his neck.
Shigaraki couldn't control it anymore. He had already planned it out. One touch was all he needed.
He was — just a step behind them.
Grinning under the hood, Shigaraki reached out.
Suddenly, a group of small children walked out of a store. One of them was small enough not to have his Quirk, yet.
To the little boy's surprise, he activated his Quirk right at that moment.
Tiny, steel balls shot out of the boy's palms, out of his control.
One of the steel balls hit Shigaraki's hand, deflecting it.
The other steel ball hit an older boy who was skateboarding, tiny bursts of fire coming off from the holes on his heels.
As the ball hit the boy's head, he stumbled and fell headfirst, his heels rising in the air… pointed at Shigaraki.
With a massive hiss, the fire went out of control and burned Shigaraki's face.
Confused, shocked, and disturbed beyond bounds, Shigaraki tried to move away from the fire, his eyes closed.
Feeling his face getting burned, Shigaraki's hand landed on a tree planted on the sidewalk.
Coincidentally, Shigaraki's urge to kill Rikuya combined with the burning pain, and his Quirk got activated involuntarily.
And, as the people gasped, the entire tree decayed right in front of their eyes!
*********************
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100 Power Stones: +1 Bonus Chapter