The moment Akaya Kaiun saw the iron bat coming at her head, she knew she couldn't dodge.
It was too close.
Too fast.
Her body locked up on the spot.
Almost reflexively, she shut her eyes.
But even then, her mind didn't go blank.
What rose first wasn't fear.
It was regret.
Not for stepping in.
Not for trying to help.
It was regret over how useless she had been.
She hadn't saved him.
She had only made things worse.
If she hadn't rushed in, maybe he wouldn't have had any hope to begin with.
But she did.
She stepped in, made him think someone was helping—
and then failed right in front of him.
That kind of hope, only to have it torn away a second later…
Even if he never blamed her for it, she couldn't forgive herself.
And yet—
the pain never came.
A second passed.
Then another.
Nothing.
Her brows slowly drew together.
Then, cautiously, she opened her eyes.
And froze.
The bat had stopped in midair.
Caught.
Held firmly in one hand.
By the same boy she had been trying to save.
"…Huh?"
Her mind went completely blank.
Shigaraki glanced at her and smiled.
It wasn't a big smile.
Just a small one.
Casual.
As if this were nothing.
Then he moved.
He twisted his wrist, yanked the green-haired thug forward with the bat still in his grip, and smashed him straight into the wall.
Bang.
The sound was ugly.
Heavy.
A few bloodied teeth bounced across the ground.
The man slid down the wall in a heap, limp and twitching.
Shigaraki let go of the bat and casually straightened his sleeve.
Only then did he look back at Kaiun, who was still sitting on the ground in a daze.
"Kid," he said.
"I'll count today as a favor."
He paused, then added, "But next time, don't be this reckless."
His eyes sharpened slightly.
"Wanting to save someone is fine."
"But you need to know what you can and can't do."
"If you rush in without the ability to back it up, you're not saving anyone."
"You're just dragging yourself down with them."
Kaiun opened her mouth, but nothing came out.
Because he was right.
Completely right.
Shigaraki went on.
"Saving people matters."
"But so do you."
"You've got family. Friends."
"If something happened to you, what do you think they'd feel?"
His tone wasn't gentle.
But it wasn't cruel either.
It was just flat. Matter-of-fact.
"Think before you move."
"Not every time will you run into me."
Then he turned away.
The moment he did, the air in the alley seemed to change.
The smile on his face faded.
What was left behind was something colder.
He looked at the other two thugs, who were now standing there pale-faced and stiff, not even trying to hide the fear in their eyes.
"And you two…"
His voice dropped.
"You don't need to envy your friend."
A faint, chilling smile touched the corner of his mouth.
"You're next."
What happened after that left Kaiun with only one thought.
Terrifying.
Just a moment ago, this boy had looked weak enough that she thought she needed to protect him.
Now he felt like a completely different person.
No—
not different.
More like he had stopped pretending.
The drunken thug sobered up the instant he saw his friend get slammed into the wall. With a hoarse shout, he pulled a knife and lunged straight at Shigaraki's chest.
Shigaraki didn't dodge.
He didn't step back.
He just threw a punch.
Crack.
The knife shattered on impact.
Not bent.
Not knocked aside.
Shattered.
The punch kept going, slamming into the thug's chest and launching him backward into the wall hard enough to leave a spiderweb of cracks before he crumpled to the ground.
Out cold.
The blond one lasted even less time.
He turned to run.
That was his mistake.
Shigaraki caught him by the arm, twisted, and threw him over his shoulder so cleanly it barely looked like force had been used at all.
The thug hit the ground face-first and stopped moving.
From start to finish, it took less than a few seconds.
No wasted movement.
No panic.
No hesitation.
Everything was smooth.
Efficient.
Like this was routine for him.
Akaya Kaiun could only stare.
Her thoughts had stopped keeping up a long time ago.
This was the same boy from just now?
Shigaraki didn't seem interested in what she thought.
He crouched beside the unconscious men and began searching their pockets.
Wallets.
Cash.
Anything worth taking.
He swept it all up without the slightest shame.
Because he hadn't forgotten why he had bothered with this whole act in the first place.
"Redistribution," he muttered.
Then, after a beat, "From human trash to me."
Just as he stuffed the last of the cash into his pocket, footsteps burst into the alley.
Several at once.
Fast.
Closing in.
Shigaraki frowned.
"…More?"
For half a second, he thought the thugs had backup.
Then a sharp voice rang out from the alley entrance.
"Everyone inside, stay where you are!"
"This is the police!"
"We've received a report of violent criminal activity!"
"Do not resist!"
Shigaraki's expression went blank.
The smile on his face vanished.
What?
Why are the police here?
Then his eyes slid sideways and landed on Kaiun.
Still sitting there.
Still stunned.
And then he remembered what she had shouted earlier.
…I'll call the police.
"…Ah," he said.
"So it was you."
Before she could react, he was already in front of her.
He grabbed her by the arm, hauled her up, and jumped.
One step onto the wall.
Then another.
Then a third.
By the time the police actually rushed into the alley, the two of them were already gone.
Because Shigaraki still had plans.
And he had no intention of letting something like this leave a mark on his record.
As for the girl—
he glanced at her once while moving.
He couldn't leave her there.
Not after showing her all that.
Besides, loose witnesses were annoying.
And he hated unnecessary trouble.
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