Fly High, Burn Bright

Chapter 55

"Oh! Sorry about that, I just got a little caught up with something," I replied to the villain, giving him an innocent smile in thanks for him cutting Dabi off before he could continue the list of everything that was wrong with me. "Toga said you wanted to see me?"

"I need to make sure you won't go squealing back to the heroes." When I raised an eyebrow in question, Shigaraki rolled his eyes in annoyance at me. "I'll be questioning you. You'll tell me everything you know about the agencies, and you won't leave a single detail out."

"Sounds cheery," Dabi interrupted, "but she'll be doing that after she recovers properly."

He tried to pull me away and back to the room, but I nudged his hand off. I didn't need to be babied, especially not by someone who changed his mood faster than a flash. Then again, at least now I knew he was worried. "I think I'll be fine," I chirped a little too happily for my own good, not wanting to admit that I was already starting to feel tired even though I'd barely even done anything. Hopefully it was just the fact that I hadn't had any coffee since I woke up, and not that my entire body felt sore for some reason. For a second, I wondered what the League had done to me while I was unconscious, but I decided that maybe it would be better not to know.

"Shiggy, tell her that it can wait until she fully recovers," Dabi ordered, completely ignoring what I'd said, and both Shigaraki and I looked at him with shock. I hadn't been around for too long, but I couldn't really imagine anyone giving Shigaraki commands to follow. "You'll only make it worse for her if you interrogate her now."

"She's had four days to recover," Shigaraki hissed, and my eyes widened - four days? Was that how long I'd been out? "I'm sure she can handle a few questions, especially since I was nice enough to actually let her stay."

"Wait a second," I tried to butt in, "I was unconscious for four days?"

"Yes you were," Dabi snapped back at me, and I involuntarily flinched away, but neither he nor Shigaraki seemed to notice or care - Dabi was back to glaring at the other villain. "I swear, Shigaraki, if you go to question her now, she'll break down. It's too soon!"

I was about to shoot back with a retort of my own - although I knew it was Dabi's bad way of expressing his worry about me, which I was once again thankful for, I wasn't about to let it slide - but Shigaraki was already ahead of me. "If she breaks down, that's too bad for her. I'm not about to let a pro hero into the League just because you begged me to let her stay," he snarled at Dabi, and I felt myself starting to grow a little dizzy with confusion. Dabi begged him to let me stay as part of the League? Wasn't that Shigaraki's goal, anyway, or did something change that? Had he decided I wasn't worth the risk after actually meeting me properly?

"If she breaks down," Dabi growled, talking about me as if I wasn't even there, "then you'll be the one that has to deal with the consequences." I watched the two argue, eyes following them as if it were a game of tennis, and I could feel the tension between the two rise even more - not only had Dabi tried to order him around, but now, he's threatened Shigaraki, too. Sure, they were all villains, but I was fairly sure that this wasn't the usual kind of behavior for them.

"Getting a little cocky now, aren't we?" Shigaraki scoffed, eyeing Dabi up and down. "You know threats don't go well with me. You should be grateful I even let your little girlfriend into the League in the first place."

My cheeks flushed bright pink, but I forced myself to calm down. Dabi was a little red now, too, and although he'd been fuming moments ago, he didn't have a brave response now. I cleared my throat, partially to get rid of the awkward feeling building up in my throat, but also to remind the two that I was present in the conversation, too, and not just as a side piece. I turned to Dabi first, placing a hand on his arm. "Hey, I'll be fine, alright? It's just a few questions. I've been through worse. Besides, if Shiggy here tries anything, I'll just stab him," I grinned up at Dabi, who seemed to relax a little, but Shigaraki was not amused. 

"You heard her. She'll manage." Only then did Dabi give a defeated nod and an encouraging smile, which was nothing like the overconfident smirk that I was used to, but maybe I preferred this version a little more. Shigaraki tilted his head to the door Dabi had originally brought me to, and I marched straight to it, uncomfortably aware of how unstable I felt on my feet. I probably needed some coffee, or at least an energy drink, because every step seemed more than exhausting. Shigaraki followed after me before pushing the door open. "Ladies first," he snickered, though with the hand over his face, it almost looked eerie.

The room was similar to the interrogation room back at the agency, with the same metal table and two chairs, and a massive mirror hung from one wall. At least back at the agency, someone oblivious wouldn't have been able to tell that it was actually a window of sorts. Here, however, it couldn't be more obvious. I shook it off - I didn't expect the interrogation to go unwatched anyway - and sat down on one of the chairs, almost sighing in relief. The arguing from before had made the pounding headache come back, and with it, my body felt considerably weaker. Maybe Dabi had been right. Maybe I should've waited until later to get the questioning over with. Oh well. It was too late to go back, anyway.

Shigaraki sat across from me, placing his elbows on the table and interlocking his fingers. "Let's start off easy. Why did you join the League?"

"Revenge, I guess," I shrugged, not really knowing what else to say. "And I didn't exactly have many other options about what I should do. I could either join the League or live on the streets and be known as the pro hero that slaughtered someone. It was a pretty easy choice, though."

"And how do we know that this isn't a ploy to help the agencies?" He queried, leaning forward.

"With all due respect, Shiggy or Shigaraki or whatever you prefer, I literally have nowhere else to go. I'm almost certain that my entire agency is relieved I'm gone and out of their hair now, and even if I tried to go to them with information against the League, they'd turn me away." Though I kept my voice monotone, it hurt a little, talking about how the people I spent the most time with probably wished I was dead and gone. 

"And is there any proof of that?" I rolled my eyes, but it was a fair question. At least Shigaraki wasn't being absurd with what he was asking. "You could just be bluffing right now."

"Yeah, I could," I agreed after thinking for a moment. "But how about this? You give me a few days to recover properly so Dabi doesn't murder you, and then I'll help on a mission against the agency. Until then, I won't even ask to leave the League's headquarters. Hell, I don't even know how to get to the mess hall from my room, much less where we even are right now. Oh! And I'll also give you information about Hawks' personal weaknesses. Does that sound like enough proof that I'm not planning on going back to being a hero?"

Shigaraki paused for a few seconds, considering my offer. "Fine. That works. Don't you dare make me regret it, though," he huffed. 

"Wouldn't dream of it," I grinned back, even though my thoughts were a jumbled, screaming mess. One side yelled at me for betraying Keigo like that, but the other side cheered me on. "Anything else you need to know?" 

"Do you have the blueprint of Hawks Agency memorized?"

"'Course I do, I'm not a barbarian," I scoffed, ignoring the feeling of guilt that started to slowly rise.

"Good. You'll be providing a detailed blueprint of every floor of the agency then," he leaned back, seemingly satisfied with my response. "Are there any ways to get into the agency unseen?"

I thought for a second, trying to imagine the building and location of every single camera. "The second floor window. It's right next to an apartment building and the wall hides it from the sight of pedestrians. Really easy to climb to, and unless you're too loud, no one will notice."

"And how many heroes are currently serving under the agency?"

"Total of sixteen, with a few interns. If I remember correctly, we were supposed to accept some U.A. students for hero training next week."

The questioning dragged from minutes into hours, with every question leaving a guilty stab in my heart, and I felt myself grow more and more tired with each passing second. Maybe I should've listened to Dabi, I thought as the never-ending banging in my head only got louder. And yet, I sat still, revealing every single weakness that the agency had without a single hesitation.