Latest Posts by chr1sk0 - Page 7
𝐌𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐲 • 29 • she/her
⋆｡ﾟ☁︎｡⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡⋆ ☁︎｡⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡⋆ ☁︎｡⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡⋆
I love the League of Villains in a very unhealthy way
⋆｡ﾟ☁︎｡⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡⋆ ☁︎｡⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡⋆ ☁︎｡⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡⋆
✨uwu✨ ♡ Tomura ♡ ✨uwu✨
gif by: @akiema
You: “Sometimes you can get a little over protective.”
Tomura: “I do not.”
You, hitting your leg on the coffee table: “Ow.”
Tomura, decaying the coffee table.
You: “…”
Tomura: “… Perhaps that was an over reaction.”
Switched au part 16
start / prev / next
read the whole thing here or on webtoons !
i update the comic weekly on p/treon! / leave a tip!
You’re standing in the League of Villains hideout, mindlessly scrolling on your phone as you lean against the wall.
Another figure enters the room and you glance up to see Tomura walking in.
He looks your way, pausing for a moment as he studies your appearance. Unbeknownst to you, he starts making his way over to you. You’re too preoccupied with your phone to notice him, until he lays a fist on the wall next to you.
You’re cornered as he leans in closer to you, his lips mere inches away from your ear. His other hand lifts up, pressing a single finger to the shirt you’re wearing— a Fortnite shirt.
“Name 10 Fortnite locations.” he whispers.
My sister and her husband got me some Legaue of Villains card packs for my birthday and they wanted to watch me open them and I was like “You don’t even know these characters” and they’re like “Of course we do!” and started listing off names for them— so here are some of the names
Twice — “Punisher” and also “Deadpool”
Spinner — “Turtle Man” (not heteromorphobia 👀)
Mr. Compress — “V for Vendetta Guy Fawkes Man”
Toga — “Lil Fangy”
Dabi — “Franken-Face” (RUDEEEE)
Kurogiri — “Bartender” (I mean, accurate 🤷🏻♀️)
Shigaraki — “Hand-Face” (of course)
And my favorite:
Moonfish — “BDSM Guy”
Vote for Tomura Shigaraki in the MHA Worldwide Popularity Poll
⬇️⬇️⬇️ VOTEE ⬇️⬇️⬇️
Like some kind of “Man-Child”
Shigaraki is constantly compared to a child by the other characters around him. Whether it’s the staff at UA calling him a manchild, Ujiko saying he’s a twenty year old brat who has accomplished nothing with his life, or Spinner saying he chases his dreams like a child, Shigaraki’s immaturity and underdeveloped psyche is something constantly commented upon others.
There are two questions to ask now. One, why did Shigaraki turn out this way, and two what does it mean for his character and future growth?
Keep reading
^ - ^
#OUR SAVIOR #tomurashigaraki
Fake anime scene of a panel of Shigaraki
Better quality + audio
The panel in the manga
Alright, so here’s pt. 2 of the childhood friends to lovers fic that I started for Shigaraki & (y/n)!
Honorable mentions: @bat-eclecticwolfbouquet-love @fertilize-my-eggs (there’s a few more but their tags weren’t popping up 🙃)
Anywho, enjoy 🤍
See You Again:
Three weeks had already passed since you found yourself bumping into Tenko unexpectedly at the tech store.
You both found yourself exchanging numbers again on that day with hopes of catching up to speed with each other.
Almost everyday you two were excessively on the phone for hours and sending constant text messages throughout the day.
Though at first it felt a bit weird getting to know someone that you thought that you knew everything about again.
However, you began to realize that things had really changed for the both of you ever since middle school.
For instance, you learned more about his dysfunctional family and his experience growing up with the full manifestation of his quirk.
It honestly saddened you to hear about the mistreatment that he endured during that time and even now.
Luckily if it weren’t for his grandmother stepping up into his life and raising him properly, Tenko felt as if things would’ve turned out differently for him.
Well, that and the fact that he mentioned that you were always at the source of his mind when it came to how others perceive and treated him.
Eventually you two began hanging out together in person again.
Most of the time you’d hang out at your house due to Tenko not wanting his grandma to ‘embarrass’ him around his company.
But this time, you insist that you two head over to a nearby arcade to have some fun.
Which is exactly how you found yourself currently getting your ass handed to you, again mind you, at some stupid joystick game that Tenko suggested.
“This is bullshit!” You yelled out as you tried not to slap the game in defeat.
Tenko watched you with a small smirk forming onto his face as he tried to hold back his laughter.
“We can always.-“
“No! Every game that you choose is a damn cheat!”
A frown began to form onto your face as you grabbed your game card and headed back towards your booth.
Tenko slightly grabbed your wrist mid step while urging you to turn around.
“Ok, how about that one?”
Confusion rose onto your face as you looked over to see two racing games glimmering with dramatic lights.
A bit of hope began to rise into your being as you instinctively agreed while walking over towards the machines.
Now you might’ve not been the best at most of the joystick games like Tenko, but racing? Oh the ball is definitely in your court now.
“You sure you want to race against me?” You inquired while skipping backwards.
“Because I can guarantee you that you’ll-“
You stopped yourself mid sentence as a big ‘out of order’ sign was displayed on one of the racers.
Tenko approached next to you to see the same sign with a disapproving look on his face.
“Just my luck, this is ridiculous.” You deadpanned while crossing your arms.
The white haired man next to you began to ease himself into the functional chair while pulling the seat all the way back.
“Here, come sit and I’ll guide you while you’re racing.”
Eyes widening in surprise, you began to look between the semi small space where he insisted that you sat and him.
“You want me to sit in between your legs?”
“You wanted to race, right?” He asked nonchalantly while looking for the credit slot to insert his game card.
Your face began to heat up in embarrassment as you sheepishly rubbed the outside of your arm.
It’s true that you did want to race, but you actually wanted to race against him and finally gain a win of your own.
But this? This was completely different from what you were expecting when it came to racing.
The sound of the game booting up brought you back to reality as he looked at you with a waiting expression.
“Come on, I already used my credits for this. I’ll keep my foot on the gas and switch gears while you just steer.”
Letting out a deep sigh, you decided to give in and push all awkwardness into the back of your mind as you sat in between his legs.
“Fine, just make sure that I don’t lose.”
A small chuckle left his lips as he watched you switch through the different cars, worlds, and specs for the race.
“Hm, you just make sure that you don’t crash into anything with your steering.”
Scoffing, you turned around to give him a smug look before attempting to tell him off.
“I’m a GREAT driver you know? I actually-“
“The race is loading.”
You quickly snapped your head back to pay attention to the race on the screen with a determined look on your face.
The thought of you being so close to Tenko completely left your mind for those short yet long lived few minutes as you finally crossed the finish line in first place.
“Told you so!”
A triumphant laugh erupted from your being as you turned around to stick your tongue out at the amused young man.
“And you tried to say that I’m a terrible driver!”
Shaking his head, the young man began to wrap his arms around your waist and legs while standing up from the racing chair in one swift motion.
“I’ll admit that you’re not that bad of a driver…even though you still couldn’t beat me in any of the other games though.”
Your eyes widened in realization as you instinctively wrapped your arms around his neck to support yourself from falling.
Honestly you forgot just how strong your childhood best friend actually got.
“Let’s head over to the prize counter then, yeah?”
Is it wrong that you suddenly found yourself staring at him for a longer period of time while being in his arms?
Was it wrong to feel butterflies forming inside of your chest from being held in his embrace?
Is it wrong to have the urge to kiss that cute little beauty mark that adorned his face?
“(Y/N)?”
Blinking, you looked away from his concerned eyes while beginning to climb out of his grasp.
“Right! Yes! The prize counter…”
You wanted the ground to open up and swallow you whole right here on the spot as you smoothed out your outfit.
Inwardly cursing yourself, you began to walk over towards the booth to gather all of your belongings.
“I’ll meet you over there.”
-after the walk home-
The whole walk home had been a bit too silent for your liking as your thoughts had been the only thing occupying your mind.
You didn’t even notice that you two had already made it back to your home within the span of 10 minutes.
Let alone had you noticed that Tenko actually ended up using his prize money on getting you a plushie that you were eyeballing ever since you stepped foot into the arcade.
Yet here you were standing at your front door with a bashful look on your face while rubbing your eyes in embarrassment.
“So that’s why you were beating me in all of those games...”
“Well, that and because it’s not that hard to beat you.”
Frowning, you playfully slapped his arm while rolling your eyes.
“Not everybody spends their free time playing video games unlike you.”
Giggling to yourself, you reached into your bag to grab your keys out.
“I really did enjoy spending this time with you. It was a lot of fun, you know?”
Looking back up, you felt as your smile began to fade as you found yourself staring at Tenko.
He had been holding all of your things in his arms just like he used to do in your younger days while trading classes.
A sudden wave of nostalgia began to wash over you as you solemnly tilted your head to the side.
Would things have actually turned out differently if you told him off bat how you’ve always felt?
“Did you forget your keys at the arcade or something?”
He inquired while shooting you a questionable look.
Regret instantly clouded your mind as you suddenly cupped his face while connecting your lips onto his.
You knew that it was wrong to do such a thing upon a selfish whim, but the urge to at least have some clarity became too much as the night progressed.
“I’m sorry.” You whispered in between each kiss as you pulled him closer.
A needy groan escaped his mouth as you caressed his cheek before successfully pulling away from him.
Uncertainty filled your eyes as you tried your best to maintain eye contact while being in his embrace.
“(Y/N).”
A sigh left his lips as he resisted the urge to practically devour you right then and there.
“Are you sure that you want me?”
Thanks for reading 🫶🏽🤍
blind date (part ii) - shigaraki x reader
After endless failed attempts to help Tomura up his game, his friends have settled on their last resort: A blind date. Even before you show up, it's not going well. No quirks AU, female reader.
Part 1
Part 2
“No.”
“Yes,” you say. You look sort of embarrassed. “Eight times.”
“No way.” Tomura studies you across the table. His eyes feel blurry with exhaustion and alcohol, but he’d prop his eyelids open with toothpicks before he’d let you think he was falling asleep. “I don’t buy it. Two, maybe. Not eight.”
“Why would I lie about this?” You take a sip of a drink. It might be yours, or it might be Tomura’s. There are so many mostly-empty glasses on the table between the two of you that Tomura’s forgotten which ones he ordered. “If anything, I’d lie the other way. Being stood up for eight first dates isn’t exactly a good sign.”
Tomura finds another drink, finishes it, and gives his verdict. “It’s a sign you met eight stupid guys.”
“I don’t think that’s it,” you say. “If it was one person, or two – but eight? At that point it’s more likely that I’m the problem.”
Tomura doesn’t think so. Tomura’s been talking to you for a while. Probably hours. He lost track of time at some point, probably around when he lost track of which drinks were his and which were yours, and there’s nothing about you that looks like a problem to him. Except the fact that nobody else is dating you, and that looks more like a crazy stroke of luck for Tomura than anything else.
Tomura might not be good at this shit, but he’s not naïve. He keeps checking in with himself, trying to make sure his interest in you isn’t just because you’re a woman who’s talked to him for longer than five minutes without looking at your phone. He hasn’t seen you take your phone out except once, and that was to put it on silent. Which was – hot isn’t right, but Tomura doesn’t really have a better word, except nice, which isn’t right, either. It’s not just because you’re a woman who talked to him or held his hand or ran to meet him even though you were late. He likes a lot of other things about you, too.
He likes that you showed up looking the way you actually look most of the time, instead of dressing up like Magne told you to. He likes that you don’t try to pretend to be something you’re not. When Tomura started talking about video games, you didn’t act like you knew something about them – just like he didn’t pretend he knew something when you started talking about horror movies or novels or manga. You’re funny, but not on purpose. Or at least that’s what Tomura thought, until he glanced at your face after you’d said something that made him laugh and realized that it was what you’d been hoping to do.
“Sorry,” you say, and Tomura snaps out of it. “Talking about past dates on a first date is kind of a red flag, isn’t it?”
“I asked,” Tomura says, wondering if you called this a first date because you’re hoping for a second one. You shrug. “If you’ve met that many shitty guys, how come you agreed to this? What did Magne tell you about me?”
“What did she tell me.” You finish one of the drinks and grimace slightly. “Um, she said you were my age.”
“Okay.”
“She said you have a job,” you continue, “and friends.”
“Yeah,” Tomura agrees. “We have an apartment. We were friends before we had the apartment. It’s not just because we have an apartment.”
“Magne said you’ve all known each other forever,” you say. You smile slightly. “It sounds nice.”
It’s a good thing Tomura’s known them forever. He hasn’t had a lot of luck making friends as an adult. The closest he’s come to making a friend as an adult is probably Dabi’s stupid fiancé, and that’s only because he never leaves. Toga keeps saying that she thinks he’ll like her girlfriend, but she also never lets her girlfriend within a kilometer of the apartment. One time Tomura asked her why not and Toga gave him the weirdest look he’s ever seen. “You’re all boys,” she said. “You’re gross.”
Maybe that’s true. Tomura’s never been in a woman’s apartment, so he doesn’t really have a way to confirm. How gross could it be, really? He should probably ask Toga for specifics. “Did Magne say anything else?”
“She said online dating and the apps weren’t really working for you,” you say. “You do better in person. I don’t know what you’re like online, but – I feel like she was probably right.”
Tomura’s face flushes. He finishes another drink to cover it up. “Your turn,” you say. “What did Magne tell you about me?”
“Uh,” Tomura starts. He finds another drink, but can’t quite stomach finishing it just yet. He’s already about to screw this up, and it’s going to be worse if he throws up on you afterwards. “Not much. Just that you were a girl and you were my age and that you agreed to it.”
You laugh at that. “That’s the important stuff,” you say. “She did a good job managing your expectations.”
“No,” Tomura says. You blink. “She should have told me more.”
“She doesn’t really know more,” you say. “I only see her at work. She got my number so I could tell her when I’m on shift and my boss is off.”
“What’s your boss’s deal, anyway?” Tomura asks. “Just an all-purpose asshole, or –”
“He’s not great to us. The employees, I mean.” You don’t like talking about this. Tomura can tell. “But he makes things really hard on customers who have certain prescriptions. HRT and stuff like that. He doesn’t do anything they can report him for, but he makes it so miserable for them that they don’t want to come in to pick their meds up.”
Tomura knows that type. Magne runs into that type a lot. If it happens when all of them are out together, Tomura and the others take care of it, but they can’t be there every second. “A few people have my number,” you continue. “I give them a heads-up when their prescriptions are in and he’s out.”
“Why didn’t she tell me that?”
“She did,” you say. Tomura meant before, and says so. “Maybe she thought you’d think I was too nice.”
Tomura snorts. “That guy who tried to cut us in line didn’t think you were too nice.”
If he’d been by himself, Tomura would have let it slide just because he doesn’t care enough, but you blocked the guy’s way with your arms crossed, and when he told you to move, you stared at him until he backed off. “Okay, so not too nice,” you say. You pick up another glass, see it’s empty, and wince. “But if she’d told you more about me, you’d have found a reason not to show up.”
“If she’d told you more about me, you’d have said no.” Tomura feels pretty confident in that, and more so with however many drinks under his belt. “She told you I was bad at app dating.”
“Lots of people are.”
“So bad at it that I’ve never been on a date.” Tomura feels pretty good about one-upping you right up until he sees your eyes widen, but his mouth is way ahead of his brain. “Beat that.”
It’s quiet for a second. Tomura stares at you, feeling his face heat up with embarrassment, while you peer into glass after glass, trying to find one that hasn’t been emptied yet. “I don’t know,” you say. “I think being stood up eight times is worse.”
“No, it isn’t.”
“My record is terrible,” you say. You find one more glass and drain it. “Your record, on the other hand – you’re one for one. I’d say that’s pretty good.”
“One for one on what?” Tomura asks.
“Dates,” you say. “This one’s going well.”
“Yeah?” Tomura’s mouth goes dry. He looks around for a glass with something in it, so that he’ll be able to speak without swallowing his tongue, but he comes up empty. You slide your water glass across the table to him and Tomura gulps half of it. “You think it’s going well?”
You looked pretty calm until he said that. Tomura sees you getting nervous. He slides the glass of water back across the table to you in case you want to drink it, but you leave it alone. “I mean,” you start, “we met up at five-forty-five, and it’s almost last call. Maybe it’s just me, but I wouldn’t spend eight hours hanging out with somebody if it wasn’t going well.”
“Last call?” Tomura says, like a dumbass, only for the bartender to shout it out to the room at large a few seconds later. “Eight hours? Really?”
You nod. “So either it’s going well,” you say, “or you just didn’t have anything better to do.”
If Tomura doesn’t want to be somewhere, he goes home even if there’s nothing better to do. He’d rather spend hours watching the most boring vintage simulation game streams in history than spend two seconds longer being social than he wants to. Eight hours hanging out with one person is a record, even once Tomura subtracts the bathroom breaks he had to take because he was dumb enough to break the seal four drinks in. Has he ever spent eight hours doing nothing but talking with someone without getting bored? No. Not even close.
“It’s going well,” he says, and you look relieved. Not happy, just relieved. That’s – not good. “They’re kicking us out now.”
“Yeah.” You get to your feet and stagger a little bit. You probably drank at least as much as Tomura did, but you’re shorter than him, and you’re a woman. Are you okay? “I’m going to go pay. We should figure out rides home. The trains don’t run this late.”
Tomura fucked up somehow. He can’t figure out how, but he’s pretty sure he did. But you’re still about to get kicked out, and somebody has to pay the tab – and somebody has to figure out how you two are getting home. He gets to his feet, too. “I’ll get it. It can’t be that much.”
You look back at all the glasses on the table. “I think it’s going to be a lot. We’ll split.”
Even with the split, it’s more than Tomura’s spent on a night out, ever – and the longer he spends upright, the clearer it is that he’s trashed. You’re trashed, too. Maybe less than he is, because you’re still trying to work out how to get home. “It’ll be cheaper if we split a rideshare,” you say, and hold out your phone. “Put in your address.”
Tomura forgets his own address for a second. Then he types it in, and you take your phone back. “Okay. It’ll drop you off first, then me. Let’s go.”
Tomura follows you out, only weaving a little bit, and then the two of you are on the sidewalk again. The air’s still warm and humid, but at least there’s more of a breeze than there was before. You lean against the boardwalk railing and Tomura copies you. He leaves one hand open at his side in case you want to reach for it. You don’t, so Tomura goes for yours instead, and you look up at him. “Tomura?”
“It’s going well,” Tomura says. Your eyes slide away from his, and he asks a question that’s been on his mind since an hour or so in. “Want to do it again?”
“Stay out until two am on a work night and blow five times my hourly rate on drinks?” You shake your head. “Go on another date? Yeah.”
Tomura hears all of that in the right order, except the thing in the middle that he actually asked about. “It’s a work night?”
“For you, too. You said earlier.” Your hand moves in Tomura’s, unfolding your fingers to lace them together with his. “We should have called it quits four hours ago.”
“Yeah, well, I didn’t want to.” Tomura shouldn’t have had this much to drink. He’s saying stuff he probably shouldn’t. Or should he? He doesn’t see the point in lying about shit on a regular basis. Why start now? “I still don’t.”
Next to Tomura, you take a deep breath, then let it go. “Okay. Give me your phone.”
Tomura fishes it out of his pocket with his free hand and passes it to you, then has to take it back to unlock it. He watches as you navigate to his contacts and add yourself to them – your first name, plus the words “blind date”, like Tomura’s going to forget who you are. How many women do you think he has in his phone? You hand it back to him after saving your contact and Tomura waits for you to hand yours over so he can add his number to yours. You don’t. “I need your phone. You need my number.”
“If you text me, then I’ll have it,” you say. “If you don’t, I won’t need it.”
Tomura feels weird about that. “Is this some kind of test?”
“I’ve gotten stood up eight times. I’m done chasing after people who don’t want me.” You loosen your grip on Tomura’s hand, like you’re giving him the chance to let go. “I ran sixteen blocks to meet you. You can send me a text.”
Tomura can see where you’re coming from. Sort of. The rideshare shows up, and the two of you slide into the backseat. Going from standing up to sitting down gives Tomura some kind of drunken headrush, and he slumps sideways against you. “Sorry –”
“It’s fine.” You shift around in your seat until Tomura’s cheek is resting on your shoulder. You’re still holding his hand. “I don’t mind.”
Tomura doesn’t mean to fall asleep, but the next thing he knows, the rideshare’s coming to a stop outside his apartment building and you’re shaking him awake with the hand that was holding his. “We’re here,” you say. “It was nice to meet you, okay? I had a really good night.”
Tomura nods. His mouth tastes like something died in it, and his mind feels foggy, but not so foggy that he can’t figure out how he wants to say goodbye. Maybe you know. “What do we do?”
“How about a hug?”
Sounds good. Tomura’s mouth tastes too bad for kissing, anyway, and his lips are gross enough to make you wish you’d never met him. He reaches out and drags you awkwardly across the backseat and into his arms, and you – fit. Tomura normally hates touching people, and he hates it even more when he’s drunk, but you fit, still and quiet with your head tucked in against his shoulder and your eyelashes brushing the side of his neck when you blink. Tomura could go back to sleep like this, easy. He’s having a hard time keeping his eyes open.
“Hey,” the driver says from the front seat. “Are you staying or going?”
“Are you in a big hurry or something?” Tomura pulls away from you with an effort and gets out of the car. The door shuts behind him, and Tomura turns to say goodbye, but he’s too slow. All he gets is a glimpse of your face through the window as the rideshare drives away.
Tomura should text you right now. The thought occurs to him, but then a mosquito bites him, and he slaps it a second too late. He’ll get inside the stupid building and get to his room, and then he can text you. It’s a good plan. Whether Tomura will remember it by the time he gets to the apartment is an entirely different story.
Tomura and his friends live on the top floor. The entire top floor. It used to be a penthouse, back when both the building and the neighborhood weren’t shit, but now the rent is cheap enough that the seven of them can afford it together. They all get their own rooms, three bathrooms is usually enough for everybody, and usually there’s at least one person who’s willing to cook dinner and let the rest of them mooch. Tomura and his roommates all keep weird hours, but by two-thirty in the morning everybody’s usually in their rooms, even if they’re awake. He’s not going to bother anybody as long as he’s quiet.
Or at least that’s what Tomura thinks. He’s dead wrong, because when the elevator doors open, he finds all the lights on in the living room, and most of the people he lives with sitting in there, wide awake. It looks like they’re waiting for something. It occurs to Tomura with slowly dawning horror that they’re waiting for him.
He makes the first move out of shock more than anything else. “What the fuck?”
“We decided to wait up for you. Since it’s baby’s first date and all,” Dabi says with a smirk. His stupid fiancé is here, too, perched on the arm of the chair Dabi’s in. “So how’d it go?”
Tomura doesn’t want to talk about this when he’s drunk. He wouldn’t want to talk to Dabi about it stone sober. He shakes his head. “Come on,” Twice announces from where he’s sprawled out on the rug next to Toga. “Nobody comes back from a date at three in the morning and gets to shake his head about it. Spill. No, don’t spill! I don’t want any nasty details.”
“I want all the nasty details,” Magne says. “What happened?”
“Perhaps we shouldn’t quiz him,” Sako says from the other chair. “Shigaraki will tell us what he wants to, when he wants to.”
Sako is officially the only person Tomura’s not pissed at right now. “No, he has to tell us now,” Toga says. “We’ve all been working on this for a month. We have to hear how it went!”
“Give us at least a few details,” Dabi’s idiot fiancé says. “We need something to base our wild speculations on.”
“You don’t live here,” Tomura says. Dabi glares at him. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Wait, it was bad?” Spinner runs the opposite way with it. “Why didn’t you just come back? Or you could have called us – we’d come drink with you –”
“It wasn’t bad,” Tomura snaps. “I got her number.”
He was hoping that would shut everybody up. Instead they all trade glances. “That’s it?” Dabi asks, incredulous. “You get back an hour after last call and all you got was her number?”
That’s not all Tomura got. “She said we should go out again. And we held hands.”
“Are you thirteen or something? That’s so lame,” Dabi’s idiot fiancé says. “Was she like, not –”
“She’s not that kind of girl,” Magne says. She reaches over from the couch to punch Dabi in the arm, even though it was the goddamn fiancé who said it. “You think I’d set Shigaraki up with that kind of girl?”
“Yeah, because that’s the kind of girl he’ll be dealing with in Vegas. Did you time-warp back to the fifties when I wasn’t looking?” Dabi grimaces. “You’re supposed to be upping your game. This is a setback.”
Tomura finally gets his feet under him. “No, it isn’t,” he says. “I had fun.”
He feels weird saying it, even though it’s true. He had fun walking around with you trying to find a bar you both wouldn’t hate, because both of you hate when things get too loud. He had fun talking about any of the fifty things the two of you talked about over the course of the eight hours you spent together. He liked seeing you square off with the asshole who tried to cut you both in line and he liked seeing you order the weirdest drink on the menu, even though it was disgusting and neither of you could finish it. He liked that he didn’t notice you trying to make him laugh until it already happened. He liked holding your hand.
Tomura had fun on his date, end sentence. “You guys are assholes. I’m going to bed.”
“We’re not assholes! We want to help,” Twice protests. “You don’t need our help! You’re doing fine.”
“Yeah, I’m with Twice,” Spinner says. Twice starts arguing with him, but Spinner ignores it. “It’s a win if you say it’s a win. Hanging out with somebody who’s not us for that long is definitely a win.”
“It’s not a game,” Toga says. She rolls over on her back and stares up at Tomura. “Are you going to text her?”
Right. Tomura was going to do that. He fumbles his phone out of his pocket. “No,” Dabi and his fucking fiancé say at the same time. Dabi keeps talking. “It hasn’t even been an hour. Are you trying to look desperate?”
“I texted Ochako while I was on the train home from our first date,” Toga says. Toga’s the only one other than Dabi who’s in an actual relationship, rather than a bunch of situationships, friends-with-benefits things, and hookups they block the next day. “I wasn’t desperate.”
“You’re the most desperate person I’ve ever met. But you’re a girl, so it’s cute on you,” Magne says. “It’s not cute on guys. It’s weird.”
“I don’t think it is,” Spinner says. Tomura adds Spinner and Toga to the list of people he doesn’t hate right now. “Sending a dick pic or begging for nudes would be desperate. Just saying something is – nice. I’ve never had a date text me the same night before. I wouldn’t mind.”
“In that case, your date would be a girl,” Magne points out. “Cute when girls do it. Weird when guys do. I’d know.”
Tomura lost the plot a few sentences back. “I wasn’t going to send a dick pic. I don’t even have a dick pic.”
Dabi’s fiancé wheezes. “What?”
“Okay, that’s enough!” Toga pops up off the floor. “Tomura-kun has work tomorrow and so do I – and so does Spinner – so we’re all going to go to bed.”
“We are?” Spinner asks, then yelps as Toga yanks him off the couch. “Hey!”
“That’s right,” Toga sings out. She grabs Tomura’s arm, too, and Tomura barely manages to avoid getting yanked off his feet. He stumbles down the hall after her, colliding with Spinner a few times. It’s all he can do to keep ahold of his phone.
Toga’s bedroom, Spinner’s, and Tomura’s are all along the same hallway, sharing the same bathroom. Once they’re in the hallway, Tomura plants his feet. “Why are you kidnapping me?”
“We’re not kidnapping you. Your room is right there.” Toga points, like there was any way Tomura was going to forget. He’s drunk, but not that drunk. “They were being mean. I’m happy for you. So is Spinner. Right, Spinner?”
“Like I said. A win’s a win.”
“It’s not a game.” Toga elbows him. Then she looks at Tomura. “They’re making it sound complicated and it’s not. If you like her, text her. If you don’t, don’t. Easy. Now go to bed.”
It’s not a puzzle game. It’s a yes or no question. Tomura likes that a lot better than whatever the hell the others wanted him to do. Still – “Do I need a dick pic?”
It’s quiet for at least a minute. “You know what,” Spinner says finally, “we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. I’m with Toga. Go to bed before you get yourself in trouble.”
Tomura’s tempted to tell them both that he’s doing it because he wants to, not because they’re telling him to, but then he decides not to waste the air. The sooner he goes to his room, the sooner he can send you a message without everyone bothering him about it. He shuffles back to his room, flops down on the bed – which he didn’t make this morning, because he’s just going to get back in it later – and pulls out his phone. When he taps the contact icon, the first thing he sees is the contact you set for yourself.
Your name (blind date). Tomura opens a message and gets stuck trying to think of what to say. Short is probably better. His mind is off on some weird paths right now, a lot of which have to do with you and his dick and all of which would be a lot more of a problem if he wasn’t still drunk. And none of which you need to know about. You also don’t need to know about the ambush his friends set up for him when he got home. Or the fact that Tomura’s friends only sent him on this date so he could get better at women before the trip to Vegas in two months.
That might have been why Magne set you and Tomura up, but that’s not why Tomura’s texting you. this is tomura. i want a second date. That gets the point across for sure. If you texted Tomura that he’d count it as a win, so he sends it. But Toga said it’s not a game. Spinner said it would be nice to get a text from a date. What would Tomura want you to say, if he got a text from you?
Tomura overthinks it. He overthinks it so hard that he falls asleep, and only wakes up when he drops his phone on his face. You haven’t texted back yet, but it’s only been fifteen minutes since he sent the message, and you’re probably asleep. What kind of text would Tomura want to see from you when he woke up in the morning? That you liked him. That you had fun. Maybe you’d say something funny, too. Tomura doesn’t do funny. He almost falls back asleep again, then hauls himself up to wakefulness hand over hand, sitting up in the bargain. One more message. It should be easy.
sorry I fell asleep on you is what Tomura says. He barely manages to plug in his phone before he falls asleep for good.
He wakes up to his alarm howling, right on schedule. He can hear Spinner’s alarm doing the same thing from across the hall. Tomura’s mouth tastes like he threw up in it in his sleep. He fumbles for his phone to hit snooze on the alarm, but in the split second before he does, he sees a text notification. Everybody he texts has been asleep for the last – Tomura looks at the time and groans – four hours. So who –
Tomura unlocks his phone at warp speed and taps the message icon. He remembers texting you last night, but he didn’t remember how stupid he sounded. Sorry he fell asleep on you? You’re probably texting him to fuck off. Tomura glances down at your message. His head hurts badly enough that he has to read it five or six times to process it all the way.
You gave his first text a thumbs-up, then asked what he wants to do on the second date. But you replied directly to his stupid second message. it’s okay. next time it’s my turn.
Tomura’s lips split as an uncontrollable grin crosses his face. He got four hours of sleep. He’s got a full day of work and a hangover to go with it, and the instant he sets foot in the living room, his friends are going to start up on him about how he’s handling this all wrong. But Tomura must not be handling it all that badly, because he’s got a second date, and for a few seconds, the hangover and work and everything else doesn’t matter at all.
MY BABY
"Thank you for your hard work" illustration from My Hero Academia animator Anna Yamaguchi.
You know, despite not getting much information on the villains in the last chapter, I'm growing content with what we did get. Spinner presumably wrote, edited, and found a publisher within an eight year time span. While in prison/rehab and with minimal writing knowledge. That means someone was interested in their side of the story enough to pick it up and mass produce it.
Then the brief showing of Compress and the bittersweet smile he had when he was reading it...
That was his found family. While some of the contents of the book may hold some bad memories, he seems... content... given his circumstances. He and Spinner are the only confirmed members of the League alive as well. So reading about his friends, his family, that he either watched die or heard that they died as he sits in prison has to give him some comfort.
we'll meet again
don't know where, dont know when
but I know we'll meet again
some sunny day
"Short Lived" (1/1)
[Vestige Tomura AU]
Deku breaks his new suit and Tomura helps? Kacchan, what would you really do?
Can we all just agree on one thing
Compress definitely has marbles hidden in his ass🌀
@marbled-magician
If heroes are supposed to help those in need, comfort the distressed and protect the vulnerable, then Tomura Shigaraki deserves the title of the greatest hero. Not because he had the highest ranking or saved the most lives or was the "goodest person" but because he did that shit. He gave a place to the disenfranchised he kept them safe and fed to the best of his ability and fought for their happiness. Not out of want for fame or glory. Not even because of some grand sense of altruisim. But because he saw the league as people, as his friends.
In spite of AFO's schemes, in spite of hero society's apathy, in spite of the fucking narrative both in universe and in our lives, Tomura Shigaraki was a hero. And even when he failed he never stopped trying.
Tomura Shigaraki is the greatest hero in the series.
im glad i got to know characters like Tenko, Touya, Himiko, Jin, Sako, Oboro/Kurogiri, Magne, and the rest of them
Okay, so here's where we're at apparently
Tomura is dead
Toga is dead (or, let's just call it as it is, she committed suicide) - this is despite the fact that if she died other characters (read: heroes) should have died as well, but didn't (Bakugo and Edgeshot for example)
Dabi is presumably still in the hospital (since we didn't see a funeral), unable to move or do anything on his own
Spinner wrote his book, but where he is and how he's actually doing is unknown - presumably he still has to deal with multiple quirks that aren't his own and are tearing at his body
Compress is alive but where he currently is is unknown - he read Spinner's book (and that's it)
Kurogiri exploded?? And unbody has bothered to mention anything about him since
Twice has been dead for a while, but his murderer is not only free of charge but also the head of the HPSC (which still exists btw)
Other things:
The hero ranking system still exists
Seemingly no real changes have been made which would help victims like the LOV before they felt like they had to turn to villainy to be hear/seen/understood
Deku gets to be a hero again by the power of ~technology~ - kinda making the whole deal about him losing his quirk feel pointless
Not from this chapter, but I still feel like it's very important to point out that it's heavily implied that Rei is just gonna take care of Enji (her abuser) now and probably for the rest of time
The few good things:
Ochako bringing more focus on mental health
That was it, I have nothing else
Horikoshi, release the League of Villains book that Spinner wrote or else
✨ Join the League of Friendship ✨
You don’t understand I HAD to make this
Shigaraki is so pathetic he’s able to cum untouched just from kiss
shared seat (nsfw)
fem!reader x loser!shigaraki
cw: dacryphilia, premature ejaculation, mutual pining, desperation, cowgirl, multiple orgasms, no use of y/n (blank name space instead!!), tomura is a mega computer nerd, reader plays dumb kinda, some light hurt/comfort i guess?? making out, afab/fem reader, implied virgin shiggy :)
ʕ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•
naturally.
you have tomura in the palm of your hand. every time you walk by him, brush against him awkwardly, tap his shoulder to get his attention, it sends sparks through his touch-starved limbs and makes him dizzy. every night, he begs and pleads for you to come into his room, even just to sit in there. he wants you in whatever way he can, to see you, smell you, touch you, hear you. gods, of course he wants to taste you, but he's learned the hard way to take whatever he can get.
so when you knock on his door and ask him to teach you how to sort out your PC and mod a few games, his heart lurches in his chest. of course, of course he will. he trudges behind you to your bedroom, watching your ass jiggle lightly in the dingy sweatpants you stole from him a few months back. he takes a deep breath before sitting in your desk chair, immediately clicking through PILES of random trash files and download files.
"_______" he starts sternly, brow already furrowed at the sight. "have you not been deleting the download files after you download a mod?"
you shake your head. "won't that delete the mod?" you lean on your desk next to him, uncomfortably close to him. he smells the conditioner in your hair, your sweet perfume. he tightens his gloved grip on your mouse as he shakes his head and tidies your desktop up.
"fucking idiot" he mumbles as he clears a few gigabytes from the system, "this is why it's so slow, stupid". you giggle and mumble, "ohhhhhh" under your breath.
who's to say you didn't know that. who's to say you just wanted an excuse to have him in your room, huffing at your desk, having his scent fill the room and his frustrations cloud your thoughts. but he didn't have to know that.
he keeps clicking through folders, and you nudge the chair. he turns to face you and you mindlessly sit in his lap, telling him "let me in", spinning the chair back to face the desk.
his breath hitches as your plush ass presses against his dirty pajama pants and half-hardened cock. you watch the pointer on the screen as he sorts through different game files, his breathing unsteady in your ear. you giggle as he groans at the unnecessary folders and shortcuts.
"why...dude, what's with all the sims mods?" he asks, voice filled with genuine concern as he clicks into the mods folder. you panic and spring up, sending the chair back a bit with him still in it. your ass is directly in his face as you scramble, closing the folder.
tomura's eyes widen and he forgets the folder entirely for a moment as your shirt rides up, the small of your back exposed, the waistband of your underwear pulled slightly above the baggy sweats. he starts again and rolls his eyes.
"dipshit, just let me make sure there aren't duplicates, okay?" he pulls you by the waist into him again, your ass falling back onto him. he closes his eyes for a moment to regulate his thoughts.
the mods folder flashes back open. he scrolls through hundreds of mods, your body tensing as he pauses and reads through them all.
"what the hell are you doing to those poor sims" he laughs nervously as his cock grows tighter against you. you grimace as he closes out of it and goes into the save files folder.
he stops when he notices his name front and center, paired with yours.
he nods and stays silent, and you readjust in his lap. your eyes gloss over, unable to confront the clear tension between you two as you shift, his free arm lacing around your waist slowly, holding you tightly as he tries his best to hold back.
he closes out of the tabs and sits on the blank screen for a moment, clearing his throat.
"did...you need me to do anything else here?" he leans forward with you a bit, greedily inhaling your scent again as he awaits a response.
"hm...yeah, can you help me set my new speakers up? they won't connect for some reason." any excuse to keep him here.
"hmph. yeah, sure" he bites his lip and scoots the chair in, opening the program.
"they're plugged in, right?" he asks, and you nod.
"mhm, i'm not that dumb" you playfully lean back, your face all-too-close to his. he rolls his eyes and hums to himself as your weight presses more against him, and he's painfully trying to conceal how hard he is. if you don't stand, maybe you won't notice. he's so fucking close already, he's afraid any small movement will ruin it all.
you lean forward to turn the dial on the speaker and his breath hitches. he twitches in his pants and feels the moisture beading from his tip, hissing lowly to himself as you readjust again.
"jesus, _________. can you figure your shit out" he snips, and you laugh. he groans as he twitches again, dangerously close to finishing right here.
"sorry" your words come out as a whisper as he grips you closer now, his fingers tracing the exposed skin under your shirt as he fiddles around with the settings. you smile as he touches you.
you take it one step too far when you scoot back into him, using his thigh to steady yourself. as you grind into him, he loses control and feels himself cumming sporadically in his fleecy pants. he shakes against you, his head falling into your shoulder as he crumbles underneath you. he nearly crushes your brand new mouse as his hands clench, his uncovered fingers digging into your midriff. he shakes as you feel the moisture seeping from the material, leaking onto the back of your own pants. you don't dare to speak a word, you refuse to ruin it for him.
you go to look at him, but his head is still pressed against your shoulder, his baby blue hair draped over you. his breathing is slowing now, but he's still shaking.
"i'm sorry" he shudders before you can say anything. you grab his hand, still slung across your legs, and squeeze it.
"tomu, it's okay" you comfort him quietly as he continues to shake. you stand and he plants his face into his hands, soft tremors coming from the pale man.
you flip the armrests of the chair up and wrap your legs around him, facing him now. you stroke his hair gently and coax him to look up, his cherry eyes teary and glossed.
you kiss him gently, feeling the tears still running down his cheek. his lips are rough, but they taste like candied apples, and you hold his face in your hands as he falls into the kiss shakily.
as you pull away, he sniffles.
"i'm sorry" he repeats, and looks back down.
you kiss his head, his soft hair tickling your face. he wraps his arms around you and presses his face into you, his tears soaking the front of your shirt. you shush him and brush his hair back. you comfort him best as possible, but feel him hardening underneath you again.
"c'mon" you stand from the seat again, and take his hand. you bring him to the bed, and he sits slowly. you wipe the tears from his cheeks, and he shakes his head.
"why?" he asks quietly, and you kiss his nose, "why aren't you mad at me?".
you tug him into you, kissing him. he moans into the kiss this time, his cock tenting again. your mind swirls with thoughts of him inside of you, making him shiver and cum and whine. why would you be mad at him, your sweet pathetic leader?
no one else would ever see him like this. maybe it played a part in your arousal, knowing that this display was solely for you. that his orgasm was because of you. that he was crying because he was afraid he upset you. your scary, villainous, domineering leader was crying in your room, cock twitching desperately against his minecraft pj pants, because he just came from you sitting in his lap.
the heat between your legs swells as your tongue presses into his mouth, tasting the same sugary sourness from before. his tongue slides forcefully into your mouth, his saliva mixing with yours. he palms aggressively at his erection, trying to push it down nervously before you tug him by his sweater, pulling him on top of you. he instinctively grinds down into you, and as you feel him press against your clothed sex, you moan.
the heavy petting stresses you out. you can't keep kissing him and touching him without feeling him inside of you. tomura's eyes are half-lidded and hungry as you shove him back, and he looks at you nervously for a moment before you pull your pants off, urging him to do the same. he throws the pants off the bed, his cock springing free and tapping against his stomach. the knot in your stomach pulls deeper as you gaze upon the soft sky-blue tuft of hair leading down to his dick, his breathing ragged as you pull yourself on top of him again. you grind down, and he moans as the wetness soaking through your underwear squishes on his admirable length.
he's ready to cum again already, and you can tell from the way he grinds into you from below. you shift your underwear off, awkwardly shimmying as he helps you. he doesn't seem to care as he tugs at the garment, his hands exploring your curves with a greedy grip. as his cock rubs against you, you kiss him, coating him with the slick heat. you help position him against your tight hole, and he thrusts it in, stretching you with a snap. you throw your head back from the sensation and steady yourself for a moment before rocking back and forth, his moans and huffs growing louder. you ride him slowly at first, helping you adjust to his size, and he watches you bounce on him with a feverish daze. he grabs at your shirt and you allow him to bring it up over you, throwing it mindlessly. his hoodie comes off next, yanking haphazardly as you continue to grind and bounce on him. he bites his lip as he cums again, not holding anything back as the sticky seed coats your insides. you don't stop, feeling yourself growing closer. his orgasm brings you even further, and you gyrate your hips against him, his soft hair creating a friction against your clit that is fucking unimaginable. you moan and cry out, chasing the orgasm. you squeeze against him, the searing pain from being stretched before now replaced by a deep craving from the pit of your sex, needing more and more of him to fill you up. his pitiful whining grows in volume as his cock re-hardens inside of you quickly, and his hands grip against your hips and he thrusts from below as you slam down into him, furthering the sensation as his tip nudges your cervix. as you both rock into each other, your climax rushes over you, flooding his cock with a deep heat that sends him over the edge for the third time. tears brim his eyes again as he sprays your cunt with more pearly fluid, and your body shakes as you clench and rub the end of your orgasm out on him. your chest heaves as you both finish, and you fall on top of him with his dick still throbbing inside of you. he whines out and kisses you, tangling his fingers in your hair. the aftershock of your orgasm sends shivers through your body, and you pull yourself off of him. you already miss the feeling of him stuffing you with his cock, but he's spent. he shakes and squeezes his eyes shut, his legs and arms splayed out, vibrating.
you kiss his cheek and reach for something to help him clean up. you grab your shirt and wipe him off, and he frowns.
"didn't have to do that" he chokes out, and you shrug.
"i could never be mad at you, tomura" you say to him as you find clean clothes. as you dress, he drags a blanket over himself.
he nods and doesn't speak again for a moment. you climb in next to him, and he smiles weakly.
"promise?"
you nod. "pinky promise" you lace your fingers with his, the gloves brushing against your soft skin.
the two of you lay together in silence, growing more and more tired with each passing minute. you won't send him back to his room, you'd rather keep him here as long as possible. even if it was left unsaid, you loved him, and you spent every day worrying which day might just be the last. especially with the league growing in infamy, the unknown became scarier every day. but for right now, it felt more than okay. and for right now, you'd rather spend the time with him like this than having to worry about your futures.
"so what's up with that save file on the sims?" his voice snaps you out of your thoughts, and you groan.
"i think the next thing im gonna ask you how to teach me is hiding folders".
╰(*´︶`*)╯♡
thank you for the ask <3 yummy yummy suggestion!!!!!! 🩷🩷🩷
Jin Bubaigawara + Wreck It Ralph Speech
blind date (shigaraki x reader)
After endless failed attempts to help Tomura up his game, his friends have settled on their last resort: A blind date. Even before you show up, it's not going well. No quirks AU, 2k words.
this was originally in the x reader lovers community, but I figured I'd release it into the wild as well!
Tomura gets being a little late. “A little late” is practically his middle name. He waits until the last minute to do almost everything, and that means any complications mean he’s running behind. Hypocrisy pisses him off so much that he tries to avoid it all costs, so that means he has to put up with it without bitching when somebody else is a little late, too.
Except half an hour isn’t a just a little late for anything, let alone a blind date Tomura didn’t want to go on in the first place. He’s been waiting outside the bar you were supposed to meet at for half an hour, and he’s pissed.
“That’s it,” he says after the eighteenth time a woman his age has walked past and hasn’t been you, whatever the hell you look like. “I’m out of here.”
“Just a little longer, honey,” Magne says. She’s smiling, but she’s also got her arm around Tomura’s shoulders, and if she squeezes any harder, Tomura’s going to pop like a balloon. “She’ll be here.”
“No, she won’t.” Tomura crosses his arms over his chest, tucking his hands in so nothing will bite them. They’re on the waterfront, in the summer, and there are insects everywhere. Whose dumb idea was this? “You showed her a photo of me and she changed her mind.”
“It’s a blind date,” Magne says. Like Tomura’s supposed to know what that means. “She doesn’t know what you look like, either. That’s why you have to stay right here and keep wearing that baseball hat. Otherwise she won’t know it’s you.”
Tomura hates the hat. Right now he hates everything. “So she got here on time, saw me, and left. Can I go?”
Magne shakes her head. “You promised you’d try.”
“I showed up. I waited for fucking half an hour. I’ve tried.” Tomura finally shoves Magne’s arm off his shoulders. “I’m done.”
Tomura wishes he could say he didn’t know how he got here, except he does. One of his friends is getting married, and there’s supposed to be a wild bachelor weekend in Vegas, one last blast of stupid before settling down. Most of the groomsmen are planning to hook up with as many people as possible, and that’s where the problems start. According to his friends, Tomura has no game. Zero game. Negative one hundred game. If he was rolling for his game stat, it would be a critical failure – and none of his friends want to babysit him when they could be getting laid.
Tomura wouldn’t want to babysit when he could be getting laid, either. His solution was to skip the bachelor weekend and just show up for the wedding in his stupid rented suit. But apparently his friends really want him to come to the party, and they decided that what he needed was to get some practice in before the trip. Which means that for the last month, Tomura’s spent every Friday night and weekend getting dragged through his own personal hell.
They made him try dating apps, which were a disaster, even though Tomura let Toga set up his profile and make the first move. Then they tried traditional online dating, which also sucked, because Tomura’s too picky and other people have standards. Hanging out in bars and clubs worked exactly how it’s always worked – it doesn’t – and when Dabi pulled out the big guns and dragged Tomura to the sex club where he met his fiancé, the only people who talked to Tomura were guys. Tomura thought that was sort of a good sign, even though he’s not into men, until he remembered that guys will fuck anything with a hole in it. He’s not high on himself on his best day, but that was a really shitty night.
He thought they were going to quit after that, but his friends had one last ace up their sleeve – a blind date, Magne’s idea, which Toga enthusiastically signed off on when she saw a picture of the woman Magne wanted to set Tomura up with. Toga’s type and Tomura’s type line up, sort of, and Spinner giving the photo two thumbs way up sealed the deal.
It’s not like Tomura was hopeful or anything. He just wanted to get his friends off his back. Still, rejection sucks, and ghosting sucks worse. He’d rather have you show up and tell him to his face that you weren’t interested than stand him up.
Magne collars Tomura again, but her phone starts ringing at the same time, Toga’s contact info popping up. “Don’t go anywhere,” she warns Tomura as she raises the phone to her ear. “We’re here. She’s not here yet. Can you tell him –”
Tomura ducks out from under her arm and books it into the crowd of people on the waterfront, figuring he can make it to the metro stop before Magne figures out which way he’s going. But even that can’t go his way today, because he runs into somebody who’s moving at warp speed in the opposite direction, colliding at the shoulder hard enough to make him stagger. Tomura’s not confrontational, but it’s the wrong fucking day. “Can you watch where you’re going? It’s not like you matter to whoever you’re going to –”
“Are you Tomura?”
Tomura’s heart lurches. He stares hard at you as you right yourself, picking up the backpack you dropped in the collision. There’s no way this is happening. There’s no universe in which his blind date would be someone like you.
He can see right away why Toga and Spinner approved of you, but he thought you’d be someone in his league, not somebody who’s several kilometers above it. Maybe Tomura’s too excited that you actually showed up to evaluate what you actually look like. He looks away, then looks back. Nope – you’re still pretty, even though your face is flushed and you’re breathing hard like you’ve just been running. Did you run here to meet him? Only one way to find out. “I’m Tomura.”
“I’m so sorry,” you say. “My boss held me back at work, and I missed my train –”
You’re wearing some kind of work uniform. Scrubs, maybe. Are you a nurse? “And then I couldn’t decide whether to wait for another train or just run, so I ran – but I don’t really run, so it took even longer –”
Tomura doesn’t run, either. When he was doing the stupid online dating thing, he sorted out everybody who said more than one sentence about working out. You pause to suck down a breath, then keep talking. “I know everything I just said sounds like an excuse, and I know you’re leaving,” you say, “but I was hoping I could catch you so I could say I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to stand you up. I get it if you want to call it off.”
Before Tomura can answer or even think about what he’s going to say, Magne bursts out of the crowd. “I told you not to run off,” she scolds, collaring Tomura again. “If you don’t stay put, there’s no way she’s going to – oh! You’re here!”
You nod. Magne looks you up and down. “I told you to dress cute,” she scolds. “And to get here on time. I practically had to chain him to a streetlight so he wouldn’t escape.”
“I’m sorry,” you say. “My boss –”
“Of course,” Magne says, scowling. “He’s never met a good time he doesn’t want to ruin.”
Magne knows who your boss is? “How do you to know each other?”
“She’s a pharmacy tech at the place I go to pick up my E,” Magne says. “She’s the only one who works there who isn’t an asshole, and her boss is the biggest asshole of them all. I only go in there when she’s on and he’s off. But let me introduce you the right way. Shigaraki, this is – ”
Tomura misses your name the first time Magne says it, catches it the second time, but it barely registers except as something he probably shouldn’t forget. You’re pretty. You’re not an asshole, or at least you’re the same kind of asshole as Magne and everybody else Magne’s friends with, including Tomura. Your boss is the wrong kind of asshole, which means you probably didn’t blow Tomura off on purpose. And you ran here so you could meet him even when you knew you were really late. You must have really wanted to meet Tomura. What did Magne tell you about him?
Tomura can ask you about that later. “So?” Magne is saying expectantly. “Can I leave you two alone, or are you going to run away again?”
“No,” Tomura says. “You can go.”
You look surprised. “Um –”
“Now.”
Magne cackles. She snatches the hat off Tomura’s head, ruffles his hair, and slaps him on the back hard enough that he staggers. “Have fun! I want all the details later!”
“Sure,” you say, bewildered, as she kisses you on the cheek. Tomura’s going to have to talk to you about that – any details you share with Magne will be fair game for the rest of Tomura’s friends, and he’s not sure how much he wants them to know. “Um, bye.”
Magne waves and vanishes into the crowd. Now it’s just you and Tomura standing on the sidewalk. You shuffle off to one side, out of the way, and Tomura follows you. “Are you sure you still want to do this?” you ask once you’re both leaning against the railing. “I get it if you’re not in the mood. When I’ve gotten stood up, I haven’t wanted to –”
“You’ve never been stood up in your life,” Tomura says, and your expression changes from confused to offended. “Look at you.”
You look down at yourself, then back up at him. “What does that mean?”
“I didn’t know anything about you and I got here on time. If I knew what you looked like beforehand I’d have been two hours early.” It sounded like a compliment in Tomura’s head, but he can’t tell if you’re taking it that way. “People like you don’t get stood up for dates.”
“I wish that were true,” you say. You look away. “I know how it feels. I get it if you don’t want to go out anymore.”
Tomura pretends he’s thinking about it. “How far did you run to get here?”
“Sixteen blocks.”
“You ran sixteen blocks to meet me. That cancels out being late,” Tomura says. You look up, surprised for a second or two before the relief kicks in. “I still want to go out.”
“Me, too,” you say. You smile at him. Women don’t usually smile at Tomura. People don’t usually smile at Tomura. He doesn’t know what to do with it. “Thanks, Tomura. For giving me a chance.”
“Yeah,” Tomura says. “What do we do now?”
“I don’t really know,” you admit. “It’s been a while since I went on a date.”
“Same,” Tomura says. ‘Never’ counts as a while in his book. “I don’t know – grab drinks or something?”
You nod. “Can we find somewhere to sit down for a second first? I don’t usually run that much, and I don’t want to pass out on you.”
“You can pass out on me if you want,” Tomura says. You blink. Tomura facepalms even though you’re looking right at him. “There are benches back there.”
The crowd on the sidewalk is only getting denser. Tomura doesn’t want to get separated from you, so he tells you to hold onto the back of his shirt. You grab his hand instead, and you’re still holding it when the two of you find a place to sit down. Still holding it once you’re both settled, searching for something to talk about. Tomura’s not optimistic about this. You’re too good to be true – the kind of woman who’d run sixteen blocks to meet him and hold his hand is a kind of woman who doesn’t exist. Even so, it’s – nice. Tomura laces his fingers with yours and decides to enjoy it while it lasts.