Spinaraki Week Level 2 Day 2: Canon Divergence

Spinaraki Week Level 2 Day 2: Canon Divergence

Now That You’re Alive and Kicking

When the heroes are closing in, and Shigaraki still won’t wake up, and there is no time left to think of a way to bring him back to consciousness, Spinner doesn’t think. He acts. A sequel to To Soothe This Aching Body.

~~~~~

When Spinner fantasized about his reunion with Shigaraki, after he was finally separated from his boss’s floating body and kicked out of the tank so Dr. Ujiko could begin the final stages of the surgery, he liked to imagine that he’d be there to help his boss out of the vat of stabilizing goo, that he’d be the first person to feel Shigaraki’s heartbeat return, and the first one his boss saw when he woke up from his death-like state. What was happening now was not what Spinner had in mind. Sure, he was once again holding Shigaraki close, just as he did when he last left him, but the threats of strangulation and sucker punches were incredibly unwelcome additions, especially because Shigaraki was showing no signs of waking up.

So much was happening and there was barely any time to do anything, even with the extra seconds that Mr. Compress was gracious enough to buy them. Lemillion was still dealing with the magician’s decision to hurl his bloody body at him and be as much of a nuisance as possible, but that distraction wasn’t going to last long. At this point, Spinner had finished quickly combing through his memories for anything that could help wake Shigaraki up from his unconscious state, but had only come up with one idea.

He remembered how his boss had linked his overwhelming feelings of rage to those cold hands he frequently attached to himself. Could it be possible for Shigaraki to use that rage as a means to overcome his own unconsciousness? Maybe it was, for Spinner had definitely seen him achieve the impossible with determination and spite alone on multiple occasions.

With that, Spinner rummaged through his boss’s pockets, pulled out the remaining hand, and began to gently angle Shigaraki’s head for the incoming hand. But just as he was about to place it onto the scarred face he was cradling, Spinner paused.

What if it… didn’t work? After all, didn’t Shigaraki also say that the hands on his body made him feel all kinds of sick to his stomach? He’d already been through so much during this fight alone, going up against almost every top hero, his serious injuries were proof of that! What if instead of powering Shigaraki up, he instead ended up feeling too awful to move? Spinner didn’t want that! And what if, what if…

What if Shigaraki just needed to feel an overpowering emotion in general to wake up? Did it have to be negative? How would Spinner even get a positive emotional response from him? What would he have to do? What could he do?

Lemillion had pushed Mr. Compress off of him. There was no time left, not even to enough to think. So, Spinner didn’t think, he let his impulsivity take over and dictate his next -and maybe final- move.

He dropped the hand, pulled Tomura’s face close… and kissed him.

Three things shortly followed. First, it immediately surprised Lemillion, who was most certainly not expecting to encounter anything remotely romantic on the battlefield, from villains even less so. Naturally, seeing the kiss threw him off somewhat, causing him to miss the punch he had tried to throw at them.

Secondly, Spinner’s actions proved to work perfectly, as the first thing Tomura became aware of as he woke up was the sensation of scaled lips pressed desperately to his own, and the first emotion he felt that had catapulted him into consciousness was overwhelming bliss.

Lastly, the kiss -and the love that Spinner had poured into it- triggered one of Tomura’s new quirks to activate, in an attempt to protect this moment from any outside interference. Within seconds, a forcefield rapidly expanded out from Tomura to cover the entire length of Gigantomachia and a bit beyond, hurling the heroes caught in its path far across the wreckage while keeping his allies safe and sound.

It took some time before Spinner and Tomura broke the kiss. How could they break the moment quickly when it was the best they had felt in a long time? Once it was over however, Spinner swiftly began to panic once again.

“Are you okay?!” Spinner questioned, moving his hands to support Tomura’s body as he started to sit up.

“Yes,” Tomura answered breathlessly, “Why wouldn’t I be when you’re here? But, are you alright?” He reached out, gently brushing his fingers against the necklace of dark bruising around Spinner’s strong neck.

“I’m fine, I’ve never felt better,” Spinner soothed, planting a kiss to his beloved’s temple, just as he did when he last saw him. And as Tomura knocked their foreheads together affectionately, Spinner went on, “Now that you’re alive and kicking.”

Spinaraki Week Level 2 Day 3: Folklore

The Dragon and the Beauty, or The Fall of Kakuri

A prophecy tells of the romance between a horrible dragon and a beautiful being, and how it will eventually cause the destruction of the isolated town of Kakuri. In their desperation to prevent it from coming true, the townspeople secure their own downfall.

~~~~~

When the dragon with wild, garnet eyes falls in love with the beauty whose eyes are full of cherry blossoms, this town shall collapse to the ground and lie forgotten in the dust.

It was a prophecy that came from a wandering fortune teller, who just so happened to being traveling through Kakuri on the day commemorating the first anniversary of the isolated town’s establishment. Built on top of what was once a meadow, and hidden within the center of a swampy forest, the town was isolated yet protected from much of the outside world. To hear that this natural protection was threatened struck fear into the superstitious inhabitants, and they proceeded to keep their eyes open for the dragon that would bring about ruin.

Many decades passed before the Iguchi family, who lived at the edge of Kakuri, welcomed their youngest son into the world. But the welcome was not a warm one, for the child was born with the appearance of a gecko, with scales of iridescent green and fingers that clung to everything he touched if he so willed it. This horrified the townspeople, who quickly took it upon themselves to torment the supposed dragon boy with the hopes of eventually driving him out of Kakuri. Unfortunately, their harassment only caused him to leave the Iguchi home less and less, until he completely shut himself up inside the house, only going out under the cover of darkness to hide his appearance.

Twenty-one years after the supposed dragon’s birth, a stranger arrived in the isolated settlement. The townspeople were not used to newcomers, and no one could really tell what business he had there, but that did not stop them from becoming captivated by the stranger’s ethereal appearance. His loose-fitting clothes could not hide that his body was lean yet clearly toned. His milky pale complexion was rivaled by his long, white locks that the sun’s rays playfully bounced off of, making it look like his hair was aglow with heaven’s light. He strolled along the streets with confident posturing, his long coat streaming behind him as he set a slightly brisk pace. Yes, he truly was a sight to behold.

Sadly, while a beauty mark was prominently displayed below the right of his lips, his hair hid the rest of his face, including his eyes. While the people of Kakuri certainly theorized about what he fully looked like, no one was brave enough to approach the ethereal stranger to get a closer look, some for fear of embarrassing themselves in his presence, others hesitant to walk next to someone who seemed to have the aura of a deity, an aura of someone who was of a class higher than human. So, the townspeople were content to dream about the possible shape of the ethereal stranger’s face, the gentle curve of his smile, and the soft color of his eyes.

One day, just after sunset, a group of young men noticed the ethereal stranger approaching the Iguchi house, which had long since abandoned by the whole family except the supposed dragon. They were inclined to pay the stranger no mind, until they saw him enter the house and close the door behind him. News of the incident spread through Kakuri within a few short hours, the rumors building to a crescendo as the townspeople collectively agreed that the beautiful stranger had been kidnapped by the dragon and was being tortured into submission. By the early morning, the people of Kakuri all gathered in the darkness and made their way to the house on the edge of town to confront the dragon and force him to give up the beauty. As if they knew of the unexpected guests, the beauty and the dragon were already standing outside the doorway, waiting for everyone to arrive.

The townspeople were just a moment from pouncing onto the dragon to finally slay him once and for all, then the sun started to peak over the horizon. The first light of dawn fell upon the scaled man’s face, his hair brushed back for the first time since he was young, and it was in that light where his eyes could finally be truly seen by the townspeople. They were softly lit with the morning glow, and were as pretty pink as the cherry blossoms that danced in the spring air.

As they realized the true nature of the supposed dragon’s eyes, the townspeople’s sights quickly shifted downwards, to where the ethereal stranger was now crouched protectively in front of him. The stranger’s hand was placed firmly on the earth, his fingers flexed, and his eyes -his finally visible eyes- were alight with a wild gleam, and shown like garnets in the early morning light!

The maw of the dragon opened wide in a smile that split his face in two, and the beauty stood by his dragon’s side as the morning sun refracted daylight off of his iridescent scales, and off the cloud of dust slowly rising into the air.

~

It’s said that the old Iguchi house remains standing to this day, surrounded by the meadow that regrew from the destruction of Kakuri. However, one must take heed not to go anywhere near the place where the town once stood, as everyone who has entered the encircling swamp since that day has never returned alive.

Spinaraki Week Level 2 Day 1: Chase

Give Myself To You

When Spinner had the idea to visit his hometown and show off his old hideaways to Tomura, he thought it would be romantic. He could turn these sad places where he went to cry into secluded havens where he could spend some quality alone time with the love of his life, and do something he's wanted to do since their third date. He was not expecting a neon orange pickup truck to interrupt the date by hurtling towards them at high speed.

In which Spinner's old bullies want to run him over with their truck, Tomura wants to beat the shit out of them for daring to try, and Spinner just wants to pop the question.

~~~~~

This was not how this date was supposed go. Spinner just wanted to show his boyfriend around his hometown, give him a tour of all the isolated spots he would hide away in before he eventually shut himself up inside the Iguchi house. It was gonna be a nice romantic getaway, where the places he associated with some of his worst memories could be re-contextualized as he turned them into secluded little havens where he could woo his boyfriend –and eventually propose to him– in peace.

There they were, sitting together at the edge of the forest that semi-surrounded the town, watching the sun start to set over the hilly meadow that lay below them. Tomura was fully relaxed for once, leaning heavily on his boyfriend as he reminisced about the utter disaster that was the one time they tried to go clubbing, while Spinner was mustering up his courage and fidgeting with the rings in his jacket’s pocket. Just as he turned to face Tomura and was about to start the speech he had been revising in his mind since –admittedly– their third date, he saw the unmistakable neon orange pickup truck that belonged to Spinner’s worst nightmares, Nōtarin, Iyaga, and Rase, speeding in the background. And the truck was gunning straight for them!

“Oh no.”

“Hm, what do you mean ‘oh no’?” asked Tomura, who also uttered an “oh no” once Spinner pointed towards the truck that was now only a hundred meters away. With reflexes that were still etched into his bones after years of dealing with the trio, Spinner clutched his boyfriend close and launched the both of them down the hill in a barrel roll, barely missing the thick tires of the truck as it blew past them.

“What the hell was that shit?” yelled Tomura, as Spinner shot up, grabbed his hand, and lead them towards one of the few trees that dotted the meadow.

“Those are the assholes I told you about, the ones who always went after me. One of them must’ve seen me and recognized me, and now they’re picking back up from where we last left off!”

“You last left off with them trying to turn you into roadkill?!”

As they ducked into the hollow, a chorus of brash voices with heavy country accents boomed across the meadow.

“Shuichi, you purse designer’s wet dream! Why don’t you let us mount your lizard head to the wall like the hunting trophy you are!”

“Nōtarin, I saw someone with him, hey gecko geek, do you mind if we mount your friend too?”

“Damn Iyaga, keep it in your pants. Though to be fair, compared to talon-hands you’d probably be a better fit!”

At this point Tomura was already struggling against Spinner to march out of the hollow and wreak vengeance. “C’mon Spinner, I’ll mount their heads on our base’s wall!”

“Would you just gimme a sec to cool down a bit?!” Tomura relented and stopped squirming, letting Spinner hold him as he tried to stop trembling.

“Ugh, I swear, they always know how to get under my skin. And I really thought I’d be over them by now.”

Tomura turned to face Spinner and squeezed him back, taking his boyfriend’s scaly beak and pressing it into his scarred neck. “You’ll be alright. You’re just a little stuck, I’m right here if you need a push you know.”

Spinner sighed as he nuzzled the curve of Tomura’s shoulder. “I know I’m not the pinnacle of dating material but damn, people can have different tastes.”

Tomura snorted, “Oh please, as if those hillbilly bitches know anything about ‘good taste’. If your loyalty and empathy for empty husks like me aren’t enough to prove ‘em wrong, then you having the muscles to be able to wield a giant ‘fuck you’ sword should’ve done the job. The fact they can’t see any of that just shows that their IQ scores are all in the negatives.”

Looking up and seeing Tomura’s self-assured smile, the smile graced his face whenever he was so sure that he was right, knowing that he truly believed that his boyfriend was really all that, melted Spinner’s heart into a puddle of goo.

“Marry me.”

Maybe melted it a little too much.

“Huh?”

Realizing what just came out of his mouth, Spinner blushed violently and tried to start some damage control. “Uh shoot I mean um-”

“Hey Nōtarin, let’s ram into that tree! I think I hear them over there!”

Hearing that brought Spinner back to his senses, and he dragged Tomura out of the hollow, Nōtarin swerving just enough to only nick one of the headlights off the truck before resuming the chase.

“Son of a bitch, I had it all planned out and I messed it up!”

“Had what planned out?” asked Tomura, still in a whirl from what he was pretty sure he heard Spinner blurt just seconds ago.

“You know what, it’s fine, I’ll just do it on the fly. Follow me!”

They booked it across the meadow, Spinner weaving them around the hidden hills and valleys camouflaged beneath the waist-high grass. The truck kept slowly gaining on them, but the constant bangs and thumps of the truck bouncing against the uneven ground and the arguing between the driver and his passengers betrayed how little the tormentors knew about the terrain.

“Dammit, stay still you lizard-fuck!”

“Nah, let him keep running. Makes the chase more exciting!”

“Maybe if you’d gotten your driver’s license, you’d actually be able to hit him Nōtarin!”

“Fuck off Rase!”

Jumping over a particularly thick mud puddle, Spinner finally began the speech that had been previously interrupted.

“I’m sure you already know that I fell for you pretty fast-”

“Understatement of the year, but I’m not one to talk.”

The neon orange paint was splattered with mud, with the new coat of brown getting bigger as the wheels spun, sluggishly making its way through the puddle.

Spinner laughed breathlessly as he continued, “-yeah, and I don’t think I’ll ever be able put how much the love you gave me in return means to me into words. I couldn’t do it even if the ocean was made of ink and the earth was paper, it just wouldn’t be enough.”

“Shuichi…”

“And, well, since I can’t use words, I thought I’d show my devotion with some kind of gift, but I don’t really have much to give you except myself. Still, I’ll give that to you for the rest of my life if you want it.”

By this point they had stopped just a few feet in front of a moss-covered boulder, one that blended in with the green grass and was in the direct pathway of the truck that continued driving towards them at top speed.

Ignoring the oncoming truck, Spinner took Tomura’s other hand into his own, and softly asked, “Tomura, will you marry me?”

The truck hit the rock, skyrocketing up and over the couple. The screams of the driver and his passengers fell on deaf ears as Tomura gazed into bright, cherry-petal eyes and answered the proposal:

“You’re more than enough for me, you’re more than I could ever dream of asking for. Of course I’ll marry you.”

Not even a moment after he accepted, a loud crash echoed across the meadow as the truck collided with the ground, flipping over as it did so. The bullies were quick to exit the wreck and make their way towards the still lovestruck duo to attack them. It was a farce from the start, the newly established fiancés barely paying them any attention as they began to brawl.

“Look at you all smiley and shit,” said Tomura as he kicked Rase across the field.

“Why wouldn’t I be all smiles? I’m gonna get to marry to the love of my life! You should see your face right now, looks like your smile’s gonna split your face in two with how big it is!” exclaimed Spinner, dodging Nōtarin’s sluggish punches with ease.

“Touché, fiancé. I bet you’ve already got a plan for everything that comes next, you gooey romantic.”

“Well, I was thinking we could have a small ceremony, just us and the league. Nothing too fancy, we’d just do the vows, ring exchange, ‘I do’s’, and sealing it with a kiss, all within fifteen minutes tops. That way we can splurge on the reception, the best music-” Nōtarin screamed as his arm was sliced by Spinner’s hunting knife.

“-the most delicious food and drinks-” Nōtarin gurgled as the knife ran through his neck.

“-and a cake so big that’ll make everyone sick. We’d just have to grab someone to officiate the thing and make it official.”

“We can get Giran to do it, he’s got just enough connections that he could make it happen.” Iyaga howled as his chest caved in.

“And for the honeymoon, I was thinking about taking a joyride on the coastline. We could stock up the van and make stops at all the beaches, and maybe get rid of a few heroes along the way if we’re up for it.”

“That sounds good to me, I’m certainly looking forward to having some fun alone time to ourselves!” Tomura cried happily, as Rase joined Iyaga in the pile of dust that lay at his feet.

~

By the time they came down from the high of the fight, the sun was dipping below the tree line, Tomura and Spinner sprawled out next to each other on the bloodstained earth.

“Ah shit,” said Tomura, “I just realized that there goes my future date idea of murdering your hometown bullies.”

Spinner chuckled at his fiancé’s annoyed tone, “That’s okay, we only murdered a couple of them. Next time we can take down the town leaders who encouraged everything, make a day out of it.”

“Hmm, alright, but I’m planning it. It’s only fair.”

Satisfied, Spinner let out a sigh before suddenly sitting up. “Oh right, I gotcha these,” he said as he pulled the rings out of his pocket.

“It’s just a pair of those plastic rings from the arcade we went to a while back, but I figure we’re not gonna wear these for too long because they’re just engagement rings. We can rob a jewelry store together to pick out the wedding rings.”

“Sounds perfect,” said Tomura, as they each took turns slipping the rings onto each other’s fingers. Taking a second to let the presence of a ring on his finger sink in, Tomura smiled and said, “I don’t think I’ve ever been more grateful that Re-Destro only snapped off my first three fingers.”

“Well, that’s one way to say you’re happy to be engaged,” Spinner joked.

“Hm. Then I’ll say it more romantically, just for you.” This time, it was Tomura who took Spinner’s hands into his own as he spoke his piece:

“Shuichi, you are one thing in this world that I could never hate, and the only person I will ever promise myself to. I’ll do whatever it takes to give you the life you want to live. I love you, and I’ll continue to love you until the stars grow cold, and even after that.”

If that speech hadn’t already swept Spinner off his feet, then the deep kiss Tomura initiated sent his heart skyward with how much it fluttered. When they both came down to earth, they went about flipping the thoroughly beat-up truck right side up, and as the last rays of sunlight disappeared beneath the horizon, the newly engaged couple drove off into the ink and lavender sky.

AU where Tenko Shimura is a good nugget by day who looks strikingly similar to his late grandmother and follows in her footsteps, but some nights he drinks a potion that changes his appearance -his hair turning from black to white and the scars on his face becoming far more pronounced- so he can act like a chaotic gremlin under the alias of Tomura Shigaraki.

It’s basically the premise of the original “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” book where the doctor uses Hyde as a way to live out his base “evil” instincts (which are never explicitly stated in the book and could be practically anything considered socially unacceptable by Victorian England’s standards).

With this AU, we have Tenko playing nice with All Might and the authorities to gain information and favor, while Tomura can act like the little bitch he wants to be and mess with them in retaliation for their mishandling of societal problems.

The LOV would be a bunch of outcasts who team up with Tomura to wreak havoc, later learning about Tenko and keeping the secret so their new friend and inside-man is safe.

Re-Destro, trying to find a suit for Shigaraki to wear for the official PLF formation ceremony: “So Grand Commander, what do you know about fashion?”

Shigaraki: “How much Chanel No. 5 do you think I can drink before I just get sick?”

Re-Destro: “...what?”

Shigaraki, clearly proud of himself: “Wrong, it’s 7!”

Re-Destro, dying inside because this is the kid who kicked his ass and is leading his army: 

So it looks like most of my predictions/hopes for bnha 304 in this post were actually off by one chapter. Oh and we got some extra baby Tenko and Izuku time...