chapter 34

2 ½ WEEKS AFTER THE KIDNAPPING
League of Villains' Bunker: Location Unknown

The black and red clothed villain stood stretching her neck in the center of the room. Her eyes were closed but she could hear a glass bottle fly across the room and shatter against the rock wall. She reached her hands up and threaded her fingers through her black and white hair, combing through it peacefully.

However, the others in the room were not quite as calm as she was.

From the direction the glass bottle had come from, Tomura Shigaraki stood tense with his gloved hands balled into fists. The deathly hand that was normally attached to his face was sitting on a nearby table. His chapped lips quivered as he strained himself to not yell at his followers. Twice was huddled somewhere in the back corner of the room, as was Spinner and Magne. Kurogiri stood with his gaseous arms crossed, standing guard of the fragile situation behind Shigaraki.

The Wraith was in the center of the room, obviously unaffected by Shigaraki's little outburst. Dabi, Mr. Compress, and Toga stood on either side of her. They all seemed a bit unnerved while the Wraith flat out didn't care. Dabi chuckled lowly, knowing this problem wasn't all pinned on his shoulders.

"You mean to tell me... you lost the girl?" Shigaraki spat, his voice low and raspy.

Miyazaki shrugged. "The pro-heroes found the location and took her. How many times must I repeat myself?"

"And you didn't put up a fight?"

Mr. Compress put his hand up to interject. "Actually, we did. We were heavily outnumbered."

"If I was there we might've stood a chance—no, you guys were screwed regardless." Twice piped up from the back.

Miyazaki rolled her eyes from behind her beak-like mask which covered her face. She stuck her hand out in front of her, examining her sharp red nails. One was chipped. She groaned.

"When I was told you were the 'Perfect Manipulator,' I actually expected results, Miyazaki." Shigaraki stepped forward threateningly, craning his neck so her eyes were on him and not her nails.

She raised an eyebrow at him, unamused, although it was unseen. "You doubt me?"

"Here we go..." Dabi murmured from behind Miyazaki.

"I see one less converted hero than you promised me. So yes... I do doubt the great Wraith." The sarcasm practically dripped from his scratchy voice.

Miyzaki's nose snarled from behind her mask, but she kept her composure. Kurogiri twitched from the corner, signaling to Miyazaki to keep her distance. But she knew their limits. They just didn't know hers.

That was the only catch in their little team bond they had since Miyazaki joined the League. Given her title was someone who could convert even the greatest heroes, it would only make sense that she could weed out information easily. So she did. She knew everything about the League. All their secrets. Their weaknesses. Their breaking points.

If she turned on them, they'd surely lose everything.

But they knew practically nothing about her. They knew of her title, her status, and the amount of power she held in the villain world. The only thing they could know for sure was that she wanted more. Miyazaki was greedy. But not to the point of desperate insanity.

"All I have ever asked from you was a little bit of trust, Shigaraki. Come now..." Miyazaki shook her head. "But I know you still need me. I know you need my skill set and everything I have to offer. You know how I know that?" Her voice was somehow still sultry and seductive even when threatening those that could probably kill her.

Shigaraki glared at her. "Enlighten us," he growled.

Miyazaki smiled. She took a peaceful breath, glancing around at her surroundings for a moment. Then she struck.

With cat-like reflexes she unsheathed her curved dagger from the holster against her hip and held the blade to Shigaraki's throat. The cold metal stopped centimeters away from his neck. One wrong move and she would've killed him. One wrong move and the League would've killed her.

But they didn't. They stood tense. Kurogiri had his arms outstretched but kept himself from stopping Miyazaki. As if he knew she wouldn't leave a scratch on Shigaraki. She needed them as much as they needed her.

"Because you wouldn't let me do this if you didn't need me..." She hissed, leaning her face towards his. Her golden eyes pierced his with a certain hunger that he couldn't describe. A hunger for power.

"The heroes taking back their precious U.A. student is only a minor inconvenience. Trust me," she smirked, "the damage I did can't be undone. The only thing we have to do is wait for our prey to come crawling back...

"Then we'll have a feast like no other."

She cocked her head to the side, grinning maniacally behind her mask. She took her mask from her face and held it in her grasp. She brought her dagger away from his neck and licked a clean stripe along the silver metal. The long scar that stretched diagonally across her face only made her beauty more terrifying...

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

The alabaster haired student walked with her head held high through the Class 1-A dorm. The crows and blue jays had silenced themselves outside, leaving only room for the owls that were hooing in the dead of night. It was nearing the late hours in the night. Everyone was either heading to bed or working on last minute homework due the next morning, bright and early. Because everyone knew Aizawa would absolutely murder them if they didn't do their work (Kaminari could attest to that).

Shimamura hummed to herself as she read a book, heading towards her dorm room. She wasn't particularly paying attention to her surroundings.

It had been four days since she'd returned to class. And she was feeling a lot better... especially after her talk with Bakugou the other night. Talking to someone who understood at least a part of what she went through felt like a huge burden being taken off her shoulders. Her mind wasn't entirely clear after her experience... but she knew she could let her thoughts spill through her mouth to Bakugou if necessary.

Current bipolar level: 6. The highest it's leveled out lately. She couldn't enter a higher state since the warehouse...

"Shimamura!"

She glanced up from the pages of her book. Her blue eyes locked with a set of green ones.

"Oh, hi Midoriya." Shimamura greeted, politely.

He smiled awkwardly at her and stuck his towel underneath his arm. He must've been just leaving his dorm room to head to the bathroom. She somehow always forgot they were on the same floor of the dorm. He shifted his weight between his feet as if he was nervous. She raised an eyebrow at him as he kept his mouth shut.

"Am I... in your way?" she asked.

She moved to the side to let him through but he shook his head profusely. "N-no! You're fine!"

But he still didn't walk past her. So she readjusted in the hallway and stared at him, confused.

He glanced off to the side, pursing his lips. How can I phrase this where she won't run away immediately?

"I just wanted to talk to you about something actually..." He muttered.

"You did?"

"Yeah... Um..." He took a deep breath and locked eyes with her again. He knew before he said anything that he would regret this. "Shimamura, I saw you at the Final Exam."

She blinked, confused. "I saw you too?"

"No." He sighed. "I mean, I saw you. I saw you take your medication when no one else saw."

It felt as if her heart sank into the pit of her stomach. She couldn't hear anything besides the screaming of her own voice in her mind. Sounding every alarm possible. Her hands and legs went numb. She felt as if she might faint...

She blinked. Snapping herself out of it momentarily. "O-oh... That was just pain medication for... um..." C'mon Tikki, think of a lie!

Midoriya fiddled with his fingers in front of him. "They were lithium carbonate. I know."

How does he know? Why does he know? Maybe he doesn't know that—

"I know you're bipolar, Shima."

Shimamura's mouth fell open slightly, staring at him with parted lips. Her eyes stared at him without blinking. As if she were frozen. "W-what...?" She could barely find her voice.

"It took me a while to figure out, but I eventually did. I just wanted to—"

"No..." Shimamura cut him off. She bit her lip and shook her head, staring at everything except for him. Her eyes frantically searched for a way out. "No. No, you're wrong."

Get me out of here!

Tears welled up in Shimamura's eyes and she balled her fists. Without letting him finish his sentence, she pushed past him and ran straight into her dorm room, dropping her book in the process.

"Shimamura, wait!" Midoriya tried to reach out for her but she was already gone.

She slammed the door shut behind her and receded into the darkness of her room. Midoriya stood in shock in the middle of the hallway, reaching for empty air. His face drained of all color.

There was only one other figure in the hallway that saw a bit of the interaction. And the only part he saw was Shimamura running with tears in her eyes away from dumb Deku. The blond student slouched into the hallway, picking up the book that Shimamura had dropped behind her. His crimson eyes traveled from Shimamura, down the route she took, and to the source of the problem.

Deku.

Bakugou scrunched up his nose and stormed towards his green haired rival. Midoriya yelped upon noticing him and went to run away. He couldn't handle confrontation with Bakugou right now.

But Bakugou latched onto the collar of Midoriya's t-shirt, yanking him backwards.

"Not so fast, Deku! The hell was that?!"

"N-nothing, Kacchan!"

Bakugou growled and threw Midoriya against the wall. He raised his palm towards his face, threatening to explode his cheek, but Midoriya was quick with his short explanation. He raised his hands in surrender.

"Kacchan don't! I-I can't tell you!"

"Why the hell not?! You either tell me or eat a fistful of sparks!"

Midoriya didn't have enough time to weigh his options thoroughly. "I had to come clean to her about what I knew!"

"What you knew?! The hell does that mean—?!"

"Shimamura is bipolar!"

Both students stopped. Bakugou's eyes widened and he backed off slowly, putting his hands down. Thank god they were the only two in the hallway and no one else heard. Bakugou cocked his head to the side, not believing Deku at first.

"What did you just say...?"

Deku shook his head, muttering to himself. "I did my research, trust me. It was for her sake. I had to know..."

Bakugou opened his mouth to argue again, but for the first time he was at a loss for words. She's bipolar...? He knew what it meant in scientific terms but... what did that mean for Shimamura? It all seemed like too much to process. And he almost regretted hearing it from Deku's mouth before he heard it from Shimamura herself.

"But that's not the reason I wanted to confront her..." Midoriya continued, unable to help himself. He adjusted his wrinkled shirt collar as he spoke. "After doing more research, I was concerned for Shimamura's wellbeing. I thought that once I came to the bipolar conclusion, I'd be done. But something was wrong. Something seemed off. You see, most bipolar patients witness bipolar shifts a few times in a year, but Shimamura seems to witness it multiple times in a single day. So I looked into the medication that she takes—lithium carbonate. It's an inorganic compound that usually comes in the form of—"

"Just spit it out, you damn nerd."

"Right, sorry. Well the lithium carbonate medication isn't the reason why she shifts multiple times a day, but I found something else. Lithium carbonate is an antimanic agent."

"Meaning?"

Deku sighed, forgetting how much he had to explain. "Meaning, it's a drug for bipolar patients to decrease their manias—their happier-energetic states, let's say. It's for decreasing highs. Shimamura is constantly, or more often than not, in a depressive state—the lower, saddened state."

Deku stopped and waited for Bakugou to digest all the information he just spit out. But he couldn't stop himself from expressing his conclusion.

"She's taking the wrong medication."